Nathaniel Stedman

     Nathaniel Stedman was born say 1630 (age 5 in 1635) in Biddenden, Kent, England.³ He was the son of Isaac Stedman and Elizabeth (—?—) (Stedman).² He was baptized on 9 September 1632 in All Saints Church, Biddenden.^4,5 He married first Sarah Hammond, daughter of Thomas Hammond and Elizabeth Cason, before 1655 at Hingham, Massachusetts.^6,7 He married probably third Temperance Willis, daughter of Michael Willis and Joan (—?—), after 21 June 1669 when Michael Willis indicated in his will that his daughter Temperance was not married.^1,7,8 He died on 10 November 1678 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts.⁷
     
     On or about 17 April 1635, Nathaniel (age 5) and Isaac (age 1), sailed with their parents from London on the Elizabeth, bound for New England.⁹ The family settled first at Scituate removed to Boston in 1650, and thereafter to Muddy River (now Brookline).¹⁰ It is usually stated that Nathaniel married twice, and by his second wife, Temperance, had Nathaniel, Hannah and Mary. However, it appears likely that Nathaniel married three times, and that Nathaniel, Hannah, and perhaps Mary, are by an unidentified second wife. The reasoning is that Temperance was single when her father made his will on 21 June 1669, several years after the births of Nathaniel and Hannah. It is not clear when Mary was born, but judging by the dates of her marriage and the birth of her last child, it was probably between 1668 and 1674. John Lisle, Webmaster of the Stedman Family Organization site, reports that the Boyd Patterson Ancestry (1967) by H. Minot Pittman, FASG, and Katherine Patterson Boyd Hunt, gives a marriage date of 27 January 1677/78 for Nathaniel and Temperance. If correct, Mary was likewise not the child of Nathaniel and Temperance.