JOHN BUSHNELL (Francis), baptized at Horsham, co. Sussex, England 23 APR 1615, died at Boston, MA 5 AUG 1667, married about 1650 Jane (?). She married 2nd, 14 APR 1670, John Hill of Saybrook, CT by whom she had a son Samuel Hill and two unnamed daughters.
John Bushnell, erroneously stated to have been the father of all the Bushnell emigrants, was a glazier and embarked from the Port of London, England in the spring of 1636 in the ship 'Hopewell.' He first settled at Salem, MA, where he on 25 DEC 1637, had a land grant for three heads or less. On the 15 JAN 1637/8 he was paid 7s. 4d. for glazing the meeting house windows, and a year later, on 15 APR 1639, he was received as a member of the town, where three months later, on 15 APR, he made application for a land grant.
Nothing further is known of him until he appears in Boston, where on 01 FEB 1648/9 he made a sale of merchandise to Francis Knight of Pemaquid, NH, for which he was to be paid in beaver skins, witnessed by a note, 'I, ffrancis Knight of Pemaquid - - to pay - -John Bushnell of Boston - - L4, 15s, 3d - - on demand - - in beaver skins - - as witness my hand this 1 ffeb 1648.'
On 10 DEC 1650 he appears as a witness in Boston, at which time he was aged about 40, and about 1655 he bought a piece of property on Dock Square, 13 � feet wide and 50 feet deep, near Bendalls Dock, on the site of the present 3 and 4 Dock Square in sight of the famous Faneuil Hall, where he built a small house, which, about 1752, was torn down to make room for a larger building to be errected on this and adjoining property, having stood nearly a century.
On 29 DEC 1657 he and a Mr. Glover were granted permission to solicit funds for the repair of the town pump and well, and in the will of John Ruggles, whose estate was inventoried 20 SEP 1658, he is mentioned as 'Glazier Bushnell', due for glass; he is also mentioned in the will of Robert Buttoms.
He died 05 AUG 1667, and his inventory taken in the same month totaled L94-1s-2d, his homestead being valued at L140, the balance being personal property. Administration was granted to his widow but she had removed from the jurisdiction of the court soon after his death, having gone to Saybrook, CT, where on 14 APR 1670, she married John Hill. She took her youngest son, William, with her, who died there 31 AUG 1684, but evidently left her other children in Boston, where the town records show an order to Goodwife Alexander to deliver the daughter of Widow Bushnell to Hope Allen, to relieve the town from charge thereby.
On 14 SEP 1685, a second administration was granted to his son John, then of full age, for himself, his sister,and the child of a deceased sister. John Bushnell, the father, must have changed his occupation some time before his death, for William Sewell, in his diary, commenting on the action of the court, under date, 'Monday, 14 DEC 1685' writes, 'Something of Bushnell the barber relating to his estate was now done. He died in 1667, about the same time as Mr. Wilson did as I remember'. The son John also calls his father a barber in his deed to Sampson Stoddard for the property on Dock Square, 'I, John Bushnell, of Boston, cordwainer, the only son of John Bushnell, once of Boston, barber, deceased and guardian of Sarah Covell, the daughter of Richard Covell by Sarah his wife, and Richard English of the same place, butcher; and I, Jane his wife, daughter of the said John Bushnell, deceased -- convey to Sampson Stoddard, the house and land of John Bushnell, deceased.' The births of all the children of John and Jane Bushnell are shown in the Boston records, except that of his son John, administrator of his estate.
Children, 7:
1. Dorothy, born 19 FEB 1651/2, probably died young,
2. Sarah, born 24 MAR 1654/5, died before 1685, married Richard Covell of Boston, MA,
3. Elizabeth, born 30 AUG 1657, died Boston, 17 APR 1662,
4. John, born 19 JAN 1658/9, died Boston 17 APR 1662,
5. Jane, born 18 DEC 1662, married Richard English of Boston, a butcher,
6. John, born about 1664,
7. William, born 28 JUN 1666, died Saybrook, CT 31 AUG 1684."
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