Jabez Fairbanks

Notes:

Captain Jabez Fairbanks, son of Jonas Fairbanks, was born at Lancaster, January 8, 1670-1, and he settled there after the war. He died March 2, 1758, aged eighty-seven. He was a very efficient soldier and officer in the Indian war, and was no doubt incited to heroic exploits by the massacre of his father and brother in 1676 and of his only surviving brother in 1697 during a raid on the town. At the time his brother Jonathan and one of his children were killed, Captain Jabez was the means of saving a garrison and perhaps many lives including that of his own little son Joseph. Twenty-one persons were killed in this raid, two were wounded and six carried off captives, of whom five were ransomed later, including the wife of Jonathan Fairbanks. In 1700 Jabez had lands laid down to him on both sides of Dane's brook above Thomas Sawyer's saw mill. This site was the homestead of Jabez and his descendants for a hundred years. He was deputy to the general court in 1714-21-22-23.

He married Mary Wilder, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Houghton) Wilder, who died February 21, 1718 in her forty-third year. He married (second), March 25, 1719, Elizabeth Whitcomb, who died May 11, 1755, aged about eighty years. The children of Jabez and Mary were: Joseph, born 1693, see forward; Jabez; Elizabeth, married Deliverance Brown, December 24, 1718; Jonas; Thomas; Abigail, married Major Henry Willard, of Ashburnham, descendant of Major Simon Willard; Jonathan, baptized June 18, 1710; Grace, baptized February 27, 1712, married Joseph Brown, March 27, 1733; Joshua, baptized March 28, 1714; Anna, baptized November 18, 1716, married April 5, 1738, Simon Butler.

Jabez was well educated for the times. He was his father's only son who left any male descendents and he shines in history. His military dispatches preserved in the records show him to have been a man of marked intellectual ability, and he was certainly a hero of great physical stamina and bravery. His children and their descendants contributed largely o the population of Lancaster and the neighboring towns, especially Sterling and Harvard, originally parts of Lancaster. The name did honor to the towns in those days. The marriages were generally with the foremost families.

About 1720, the Indians at the East again began to manifest open hostilities to the whites, which soon assumed the proportions of war. There had been occasional fights previous to 1722, instigated by the French Jesuits, and in August 1723 the General Court met and approved of the proclamation of war which had been issued by Governor Samuel Shute, July 25, 1722. By the death of Governor Shute the conduct of the war fell to the lot of Lieut-Governor William Dummer, acting governor of the colony; hence it is sometimes known as Dummer's War. Expeditions were sent in successive years, with great loss of men and money, until the natives were subdued. The people of Lancaster bore their part of the public burden, and probably volunteered more than their proportion of fighting men. Prominent among these were the Willards, White, Fairbank and Hartwell. (See Marvin's History of Lancaster).

"First in the order of time of our military heroes in these days of trial," says Marvin, "was Lieut. afterwards Capt. Jabez Fairbank. He was a famous scouting officer, and traversed large sections of the country to the north, east and west, in search of prowling Indians. More than sixty parties were engaged in this service. Some of names of the men under his command, between 1721 and 1724, were the following; Edward Hartwell, Ephriam Wheeler, Daniel Osgood, Isaac Farnsworth, Isaac Lacain, John Bennett, Joseph Wheelock, Ezra Sawyer, Moses Willard, John Eams"

Gov. Dummer immediately sought the services of Fairbank to enlist men. He offered him the choice of the office of sergeant, if he remained at home in Lancaster, or that of Lieutenant, if he were willing to serve at Groton or at Turkey Hill. He chose the latter, and at once entered the service. He reported directly to the Governor during the war, and the published correspondence between them furnishes many interesting chapters of history. (See Mass. Archives and Marvin's History of Lancaster; also History of Groton).

In the year 1700 he had lands laid out to him "on both sides of Danes Brook about Thomas Sawyer's Sawmill." This site became the home of the Fairbanks, and so remained for a hundred years or more."

He was elected as a representative to the General Court in 1714, 1721, 1722 and 1723.

Jabez married Mary Wilder in 1691 in Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. Mary (daughter of Thomas Wilder and Mary Wheeler) was born on 21 Feb 1676 in Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA; died on 21 Feb 1718 in Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Jabez married Elizabeth Whitcomb on 25 Mar 1719 in Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. Elizabeth was born in 1674 in Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA; died on 11 May 1755 in Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Elizabeth married Deliverance Brown on 24 Dec 1718 in Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. Deliverance (son of Boaz Brown and Abiel Abigail Parmenter) was born on 4 Oct 1692 in Stow, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA; died in 1744 in Stow, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Willard. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Brown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Butler. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]