John Sheldon (1658-1733) was born in 1658, the third of 13 children born to Isaac and Mary (Woodford) Sheldon of Northampton, Massachusetts. He was among the orginal settlers at the permanent village of Deerfield, Massachusetts, after the town was reoccupied following its abandonment in King Philip's (Metacom's) War (1675-1676). Sheldon quickly established himself as a leader in the community, serving in town office and as a militia officer. During the 1704 attack on the town by French soldiers from Canada and their Indigenous allies, Sheldon's wife and youngest child were killed, and three of his children and his daughter-in-law were captured. Sheldon went to Canada to retrieve captives on three separate journeys between 1705 and 1707. He succeeded in bringing home 113 captives, including his son's wife. His captured children were all eventually redeemed as well.
On April 5, 1710, the estate of Henry Wolcott (1643-1709) of Windsor, Connecticut, "Dooe thare fore sell unto him the sd John Sheldin a negro lad Called Lundun of a bout foreteen years of age, by the best account wee Can come at, Which sd negrow rode behind sd John Sheldin towards Dearefeild on the last day of march in the yeare 1710-" (from the bill of sale) Sheldon of Deerfield, Massachusetts, paid 45 pounds for Lundun "in province bills." (George Sheldon, History of Deerfield, Massachusetts (facsimile edition printed from the original in 1972; original edition printed by E.A. Hall for the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield, MA, 1895-96), Vol. II pp. 891, 293-296.)
John Sheldon married Elizabeth Pratt of Hartford, Connecticut, in 1708, where he relocated permanently and died in 1733, aged 75. A probate inventory taken after his death reveals that Sheldon enslaved seven more people after he left Deerfield: Coffee and his wife and child, George, Coffee, Robbin, and Sue. In his will dated 1726, Sheldon specified "I give to my wife my negro boy named Coffe during her widowhood, then to return to my son John Sheldon or to my daughter Abigail Sheldon, to which their mother shall please to give it." (A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records, Hartford District 1729-1750. Vol. III. n.p., 1906. (A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records, Hartford District, 1729-1750, Vol. III. n.p. 1906; an online database may be accessed via ancestry.com.) Note: No enslaved people appear in the probate inventory of John's son, John Sheldon Jr. (1681-1713) in 1713. The John Sheldon referred to in John Sheldon Senior's will refers to his son by his second marriage, John Sheldon, Jr. (1718-1796.)
operson_detail.html