These research notes are provided as-is and contain supplementary working research.
Finding
Recognised standing in the Braintree community
John Gurney held recognised standing in the Braintree community — signing the 1645 plantation petition, serving as probate witness and inventory-taker for Gregory Baxter (1659), and appearing across a dense Braintree creditor network in his own 1663 estate accounts.
Why this conclusion
- Supported by Evidence 1645 Braintree plantation petition (signed)Petition signature evidences community standing.
- Supported by Evidence 1659 Baxter estate: witness and inventory-takerServing as will witness and appraiser evidences trust.
- Supported by Evidence 1646 Braintree meadows petition (imaged; Mass. Archives vol. 45)Co-signing the 1646 meadows petition with the founding cohort is a documented act of town collective action, evidencing standing.
Related context
- Context from Evidence 1661/2 Gurney–Thayer deed ('John Gurney, tailor')Deed associates (Brackett, Rockwell) show community ties.
Sources
- New England Historic Genealogical Society. "Suffolk Wills." The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 12 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1858), p. 53., vol. 12 (1858), p. 53
- Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Probate Records, Case #338, John Gurney Senr probate inventory, Braintree, 16 March 1663; manuscript image supplied by Allen Gurney, file 102840311_00516.jpg., John Gurney Senr inventory and debts, Braintree, 16 March 1663
debts due … to Peter Brackett, Joseph Adams …
Appears in
- John Gurney fact sheet — Highlight 'A trusted neighbor': signed the 1645 petition and 'served as a witness and appraiser for other families' estates.'
Topic file location: Colonial Braintree community
Technical details
- Research item:
G13-RI-000016 - Graph revision:
244 - Machine-readable JSON:
/assets/g13-graph/findings/G13-RI-000016.json
This is one research item from the John Gurney research graph; the fuller narrative treatment is in the linked topic above and the research library.