Edmund Greenleaf

Edmund Greenleaf, known as Captain Edmund Greenleaf, was a silk dyer, tavernkeeper, and early resident of Newbury, Massachusetts. Family material identifies him with an Edmund Greenleaf baptized at Ipswich, Suffolk, England, on 2 January 1574, but also cautions that this may be too early and that other sources place his birth about 1590. He was in Massachusetts by the mid-1630s, became a freeman in 1638/9, kept a house of entertainment in Newbury, and later moved to Boston, where he continued his dyeing trade. His will was dated in 1668 and proved in 1671.

Edmund Greenleaf was known in later accounts as Captain Edmund Greenleaf. Family material identifies him with an Edmund Greenleaf, son of John and Margaret Greenleaf, baptized at St. Mary's la Tour, Ipswich, Suffolk, England, on 2 January 1574. That identification is uncertain: the same material notes that this date may be too early for the Edmund Greenleaf who emigrated to Massachusetts and that other sources suggest a birth about 1590. A family tradition or interpretation held that the family may have had Huguenot origins and that the name Greenleaf translated the French name “Feuillevert”; this has not been established by the supplied records.

He was a silk dyer by trade. The family material states that he came to Massachusetts from England aboard the Mary and John in 1634, while an immigration year of 1635 is also given. He was among the early settlers of Newbury, then associated in the material with the Agawan Plantation near Ipswich. He was described as one of Newbury's first 18 principal settlers. The same account states that nine of his children were born in England and that their baptisms and deaths appeared in the parish records of St. Mary's la Tour.

In Newbury, Greenleaf lived near the old town bridge and for some years kept a tavern. He was admitted a freeman on 13 March 1638/9 and, on 22 May 1639, was permitted to keep a house of entertainment. He was granted 122 acres and was described as a captain and later an ensign. Records cited in the family material place his name on a Newbury commission on 1 June 1642; in an order concerning the return of an Indian woman on 8 September 1642; on a committee concerning certain council orders on 27 September 1642; in a request for discharge from military service on 11 November 1647; and in an appraisal of real estate on 2 May 1649.

About 1650, Edmund Greenleaf moved to Boston with his wife Sarah. There he continued as a silk dyer; his dyehouse was located by the spring on 30 May 1655. The supplied material says that his wife Sarah died in Boston and that he later married Mrs. Sarah Hill, widow of Wilson and identified as the second wife of William Hill of Fairfield, Connecticut. It further states that she had children by her earlier marriage. Accounts supplied with the material characterize this later marriage as unhappy, but no further documentation is provided here.

Greenleaf made his will on 22 December 1668, with a further date of 25 December 1668 appearing in the attestation. In it he directed that his debts be paid and made bequests to his son Stephen Greenleaf; his daughters Browne, Elizabeth Browne, and Judith Coffin; and several grandchildren, including Elizabeth Hilton, Enoch Greenleaf, Sarah Winslow, and James Greenleaf. He named his son Stephen Greenleaf and Tristram Coffin as executors and asked his cousin Thomas Moon, mariner, to oversee performance of the will. The estate inventory totaled £131-5-9. A separate statement appended to the probate record addressed financial matters involving his wife and members of the Hill family, as well as silver items she had brought to the marriage.

The supplied material gives differing dates for his death: 21 March 1671 in the life dates, 24 March 1670/71 in one account, and “early part of 1671” in another. His will was reported as probated on 12 February 1671 in one passage and as probated on 12 (2) 1671 in another. He was said to have been buried in the Burying Ground of the First Settlers at Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts. A family relic was said to be a cane brought to America by Edmund Greenleaf, bearing the initials “J. G.” on a silver band near the handle.

Historical context

In early Massachusetts, a freeman held the right to vote. The supplied material explains that church membership was required for this status under the colony's laws. Greenleaf's 1639 permission to keep a house of entertainment reflects the formal regulation of taverns and public lodging in the colony.

Sources & research

St. Mary's la Tour parish records, Ipswich, County Suffolk, England: baptism of “Edmund Greenleaf, son of John and Margaret,” 2 January 1574; the supplied material also reports baptismal and death records for nine children.
Massachusetts Bay Records, Vol. I, p. 258; Vol. II, pp. 16, 23, 30, 215, 276: entries dated 1 June 1642, 8 September 1642, 27 September 1642, 11 November 1647, and 2 May 1649.
New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. VI, p. 102: cited for the move of Edmund Greenleaf and his wife Sarah to Boston about 1650.
Boston Probate Records, volume for 1669–1674, p. 112: will of Edmund Greenleaf and related probate material.
Family Tree Maker notes and supplied family material: immigration, Newbury settlement, occupations, land grant, family tradition, burial, cane, and other biographical statements.