Rev. Ebenezer Devotion (1684-1741) of Massachusetts Colony
Ebenezer Devotion was born about 1684 in what is now Brookline, Massachusetts (baptized October 19, 1684, in Roxbury, Massachusetts), to John Devotion and Hannah (Pond) Devotion. He graduated from Harvard in 1707. In 1710, he was ordained at the church in Suffield. He married three times and had at least six children, several of whom were either involved in or married into the ministry. He died April 11, 1741, in Suffield, Connecticut, and was buried in Old Center Cemetery.
Tomb inscription as transcribed by others:
"Here lies the body of the Rev. Mr. Ebenezer Devotion, late minister of the Gospel in this Town, who died April the 11th, 1741, in the 31st year of his ministry @57. He was a man of sound judgement, great Stability of Mind & singular Modesty & Humility, a True Friend and Faithful Minister, steady in his attendance upon the Altar, close and pungent in his preaching and very exemplary in his life, a Pattern of Industry and Resignation and of all Christian Graces. As while living he was greatly beloved, so his death was very much lamented."
He married (1st) Hannah Breck (1687-1719) October 4, 1710, in Dorchester, Massachusetts. They had at least two children:
1. Ebenezer born May 8, 1714, in Suffield, Connecticut. He was an ordained minister after graduating from Yale in 1732. He married Martha Lathrop (1716-1795) July 25, 1738, in Windham, Connecticut. He died July 16, 1771, and is buried in Old Scotland Cemetery (North), Windham Co., Connecticut.
2. Hannah born April 24, 1716, in Suffield, Connecticut. She married Capt. Joseph King (1689-1756) about 1740 in Suffield. She died May 4, 1805, and is buried as “Mrs. Hannah King” in Old Center Cemetery, Suffield, Connecticut.
Rev. Ebenezer Sr. married (2nd) Naomi Taylor (1695-1739) in the early 1720s. They had at least four children:
1. Ann born July 31, 1724, in Suffield, Connecticut. She married John Webb (1719-1787) July 30, 1746, in Scotland, Connecticut. She died July 27, 1805, and is buried in Old Scotland Cemetery (North), Windham Co., Connecticut
2. Jemima born May 13, 1727, in Suffield, Connecticut. She married Rev. Adonijah Bidwell (1716-1784) about 1760. She died February 7, 1771, in Tyringham, Massachusetts, and is buried as “Mrs. Jemima Bidwell” in Woods Cemetery, Monterey, Massachusetts.
3. John born about 1729 in Suffield, Connecticut. He was also an ordained minister. He married Phebe Murdock (1738-1803). He died September 6, 1802, in Saybrook, Connecticut, and is buried next to his wife in Old Burying Ground, Westbrook, Connecticut.
4. Keziah born May 27, 1733, in Suffield, Connecticut. She married Daniel Smith (1728-1762) in 1752. She died March 17, 1761.
Rev. Ebenezer Sr. married (3rd) Sarah Hobart (1688-1761) in 1740. They had no known children before his death the following year.
Devotion is another line in My Lineage from the Roots Up, vol. 1 (Aliconia Publishing, 2019). All references can be found in the publication (read the ebook for free with Kindle Unlimited).