1Lydia B. (Phinney) Brownson and Maclean W. McLean, Lt. John1 and Elizabeth Ellis of Sandwich, Mass., NEHGR Vol. 119, pp. 162-163, 167, 172-173 (Jul 1965).
"The first list of Sandwich settlers is dated 3 April 1637 (see "Annals of Sandwich" in Frederick Freeman, History of Cape Cod, 1858, vol. 2, p. 15). No one of the Ellis name appears on it, but in the list of 1643 (ibid., p. 44) John Ellis' name is among those between the ages of 16 and 60 and able to bear arms. Therefore we know that he was born not later than 1627 and it seems safe to assume that the date of his birth was not far from the year 1620.
. . .
At any rate, Lt. John1 Ellis was dead before 23 March 1676-7, when his widow presented to the probate court the following two instruments:
. . .
Child perhaps by an unknown first wife (not proved):
i. JOHN3 b. perhaps about 1637; d. intestate before 23 March 1676/7, probably without issue, although Captain Perry (op. cit.) thought he married a Joanna Clark and had issue. We have found no documentary evidence to support such a claim.
Children by Elizabeth Freeman:
ii. ELIZABETH, b. about 1645; m. about 1664 SAMUEL3 BRIGGS* (John2). He was among the original settlers in Scippican and he held land in common with William3 (see No. 7 below for details). We believe that there can be little doubt that Samuel Briggs' wife was a daughter of Lt. John1 Ellis, particularly since his first two daughters were named Elizabeth and Bennet, presumably after the wife's mother and the grandmother, Bennet (Hodsoll) Freeman, and that the printed accounts which claim that Briggs married the daughter Bennet2 Ellis are mistaken, since as noted below, Bennet Ellis was born in 1649, yet the wife of Samuel Briggs had a daughter born in April 1665 when Bennet2 Ellis would have been barely sixteen years old.
Children (surname Briggs), b. in Sandwich: 1. Elizabeth, b. 30 April 1665. 2. Bennet, b. 14 Oct. 1667. 3. Ebenezer, b. 9 June 1671. 4. Samuel, b. 12 Dec. 1673. 5, Hannah, b. 14 Feb. 1675.
iii. BENNET, b. 27 Feb. 1648-9; m. about 1668 OBADIAH3 EDDY (Samuel,2 Rev. William1). A deed, dated 1 jan. 1701-2, proves conclusively that the wife of this man was named Bennet: "Obadiah Eddy of Middleborough" conveyed land there to Thomas Parker of Beverly, in which the concluding phrase reads: "I and my wife Bennett Eddy." It is signed and acknowledged by both Obadiah and Bennet Eddy (Plymouth County deeds, vol. 21, p. 64). The name Bennet was by no means a common one at that period and when this fact is coupled by the fact that of the twelve children of this couplke the first was named John, the seventh Joel (another uncommon name which was popular in this Ellis family), the eighth Elizabeth and the tenth Bennet, we have a rather strong case for identifying the wife of this Obadiah Eddy as Bennet2 Ellis. One additional bit of supporting evidence lies in the fact that in 1700 William2 Ellis (No. 7 below) of Middleborough bought land from Obadiah Eddy of the same town.
Children (surname Eddy), probably all b. in Middleborough: 1. John, b. 2 March 1669. 2. Hasadiah, b. 10 April 1672. 3. Mercy, b. about 1674; m. Samuel Sampson. 4. Benjamin, b. about 1676; m. Abigail Hathaway. 5. Samuel, b. about 1678; m. 3 Feb. 1702-3 Melatiah Pratt. 6. Jabez, b. about 1680. 7. Joel, b. about 1682; m. 22 Sept. 1708 Sarah Harris. 8. Elizabethm n. about 1684; m. 9 Jan. 1705 David Delano. 9. Mary, b. about 1686; m. Isaac Fuller. 10, Bennet, b. about 1688; m. Israel Woodward. 11. Hannah, b. about 1690; m. ------ Clark. 12. Zachariah, b. about 1692.
2. iv. MORDECAI, b. 24 March 1650 (i.e. 1650-1).
v. DEBORAH, b. about 1652; d. in Rochester 21 June 1711 (Rochester VR); m. about 1673-4 JOSEPH2 DOTEY, b. in Plymouth in April 1651, d. probaby in Rochester about 1732. An excellent article by Mrs. John E. Barclay, F.A.S.G., "Notes on the Dotey and Churchill Families" in The American Genealogist, vol. 36, p. 9-11, January 1960, sets forth her reasons for believing that the indiresct evidence placing Joseph Dotey's wife here is convincing. In addition to the evidence of which Mrs. Barclay so ably presents we add the fact that the eldest son, Theophilus2 Dotey, married Ruth2 Mendall, daughter of John1 Mendall, whom Mrs. Barclay calls "of Marshfield" (where he was born) we think that it was he who was living in Scippican in 1687 when the widow Elizabeth (Freeman) Ellis was admonished to "leave a sufficient outlet for John Mendall into the common."
Children (surname Dotey): 1. Theophilus, b. 22 Feb. 1674-5; m. about 1695-6 Ruth2 Mendall. 2. Ellis, b. 16 April 1677; m. about 1705 Eleanor -------. 3. Elizabeth, b. about 1680; m. 28 Feb. 1705 John Lewis. 4. Joseph, b. 21 March 1683; m. 2 July 1708 Hannah Edwards. 5. Deborah, b. 31 March 1685; d. in Sharon, Conn., 13 Jan, 1781; m. 7 Feb. 1710 Joseph2 Landers. 6. John, b. 1 March 1688; m. Elizabeth -------. 7. Marcy, 12 Jan. 1691. 8. Faith, b. 18 Jan. 1696; m. 14 April 1719 James Shaw. 9. Mary, b. 28 July 1699; m. 23 Aug. 1722 Samuel Waterman.
vi. JOEL, b. 20 March 1654 [1654-5] (Sandwich VR in Mayflower Descendant, vol. 14, p. 166). He evidently died young, unm., but the name Joel was carried on by his siblings.
3. vii. MATTHIAS, b. 2 June 1657.
4. viii. MANOAH, b. about 1659.
5. ix. FREEMAN, b. about 1661.
6. x. GIDEON, b. about 1663.
7. xi. WILLIAM, b. about 1665*.".