Jonathan Fairbanks was born 3 May 1594 in Heptonstall, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom to John Fairbanks (1547-1625) and Isabella Stancliffe (1556-1597) and died 5 December 1668 Dedham, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States of unspecified causes. He married Grace Smith (1599-1676) 20 May 1617 in Halifax Parish, Yorkshire, England.
Siblings
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| George Fairbanks (c1575-c1620) | |||
| Joseph Fairbanks (c1575-c1575) | |||
| John Fairbanks (c1575-) | |||
| Richard Fairbanks (c1588-1667) | |||
| Jonathan Fairbanks (1594-1668) | 3 May 1594 Heptonstall, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom | 5 December 1668 Dedham, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States | Grace Smith (1599-1676) |
| Susan Fairbanks (c1595-c1595) | |||
| Anna Fairbanks (c1601-) | |||
| Abigail Fairbanks (c1614-) | |||
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Helen Fairbanks (1599-1599) | |||
| Joseph Fairbanks (1600-1600) | |||
| Anna Fairbanks (c1601-) | |||
| Michael Fairbanks (c1603-) | |||
| Jeremy Fairbanks (c1608-) | |||
| Susanna Fairbanks (c1612-) | |||
| Abigail Fairbanks (c1614-) | |||
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Marie Fairbanks (c1616-) | |||
Biography
Jonathan Fairbanks was an English colonist born in Heptonstall, Halifax, Yorkshire, England who immigrated to New England in 1633. Around 1636 Fairbanks built the Fairbanks House in Dedham, Massachusetts which is today the oldest surviving wood framed house in North America.
Jonathan Fairbanks arrived in Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony, with his family in 1633. Fairbanks' wife's name was Grace Lee. The Fairbanks family remained in Boston about three years, before settling in Dedham, as one of the earliest settler families. Jonathan Fairbanks signed the Covenant when the town was founded and named.
Conversion to Christianity
Jonathan Fairbanks had "long stood off from the church upon some scruples about public profession of faith and the covenant, yet after divers loving conferences..., [In 1646] he made such a declaration of his faith and conversion to God and profession of subjection to the ordinances of Christ in the church that he was readily and gladly received by the whole church."[3] Fairbanks became a member of the First Church in Dedham, which espoused a Reformed theology (Calvinist) in the seventeenth century.[4]
Jonathan Fairbanks died in Dedham, December 5, 1668. Grace Fairbanks died 28th 10 mo. 1673, or 19: 3: 1676.[2] Fairbanks was buried in the Old Village Cemetery.[5]
As was common at the time Jonathan used several spellings of his surname: Fairbanke, Fairebanke, Fayerbanke, and on his will Fairbanck.[6] His sons and grandsons began spelling the name Fairbank or Fairbanks. The spelling Fairbanks carried on for 15 generations.
Fairbanks House
The Fairbanks House in Dedham, Massachusetts is a historic house built between 1637 and 1641 making it the oldest surviving timber-frame house in North America that has been verified by dendrochronology testing. Puritan settler Jonathan Fairebanke constructed the farm house for his wife Grace (lee' Smith) and their family. The house was occupied and then passed down through eight generations of the Fairbanks family until the early 20th century. Over several centuries the original portion was expanded as architectural styles changed and the family grew.
In the year 1636/37 Jonathan acquired land and settled in Dedham, Massachusetts, where he built the house on his farm land. The house is likely the oldest dwelling house in New England and the oldest house continuously owned by the builder and his lineal descendants. Since the original purchase, the estate has never had a mortgage incumbrance upon it. The house museum is now a well-known Dedham attraction.
Today the Fairbanks house is owned and operated by the Fairbanks Family in America, a member-based non-profit organization, as a historic house museum. The Family Association has preserved, studied and interpreted their ancestral home and its collections for over 90 years. The house was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Burial Place
The Old Village Cemetery in Dedham is the final resting place for many members of the Fairbanks family.
Children
References
- Genealogy of the Fairbanks Family in America, 1633-1897 by Lorenzo Sayles Fairbanks - author, 1897 - 882 pages, free on Google Books.
- Jonathan Fairbanks - Wikipedia
- Fairbanks House - Wikipedia
- Fairbanks Family History
- Jonathan Fairbanks 1594 List of Famous Descendants
Footnotes (including sources)
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