Isaac Stedman

     Isaac Stedman was baptized on 21 April 1605 in All Saints Church, Biddenden, Kent.^1,2 He was the son of Thomas Stedman.¹ He married first Elizabeth before 1631 in England.¹ He married second Pilgrim Eddy, daughter of John Eddy and Amy Doggett, on 11 January 1676/77 at Watertown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.³ He died on 3 October 1678 in Muddy River at age 73.^3,4
     
     Isaac Stedman secured passage on the ship Elizabeth from London, England, on 8 April 1635.^1,5 His wife, Elizabeth, and young sons, Nathaniel and Isaac, don't appear on the list of passengers bound for New England on the Elizabeth until 17 April, which was apparently the day they embarked.⁶ As Isaac "Studman" he was certified by the clergyman of Alphage Cripplegate, and by two men from Blackwell Hall, which was the cloth market of London, to which all the cloth-weaving centers such as Biddenden sent their goods. It was in connection with this trade that Isaac Stedman probably went to London.¹

     Isaac Stedman settled in Scituate where he was admitted to the church 17 July 1636.^1,7 He is on a list of those able to bear arms in New Plymouth Colony in 1643.⁸ He appears in the Scituate Company as a non-commissioned officer or private, probably the latter, on a company roll "containing the names of all male persons residing in Plymouth Colony, between the ages of sixteen and sixty years, who were able to perform military duty, in August, 1643, as shown by the official returns of an actual examination and inspection made at that time."⁹ He was constable and freeman on 7 June 1648 in Scituate.^1,10

     Isaac Stedman sold his farm (house, land and saw mill) to George Russell in 1650, and removed to Boston.¹¹ He was often employed in public transactions of the town while living in Scituate, and in Boston he seems to have been a merchant, by certain transactions of the town of Scituate with him, after his removal in Scituate.¹² He later moved to Muddy River.¹

     Isaac Stedman left a will dated 2 October 1678 at Muddy River by which he named his sons Nathaniel and Thomas co-executors and left them the bulk of his estate. He made specific bequests to his three married daughters, Elizabeth, Hannah and Sarah, and provided for his wife who is not called by name in the will.¹³