JOHN JOY.
The name of Joy was probably derived from Jouy in Normandy and may have reached England in the form of "de Jouy." William Joy was a Vicar in England in 1395. The name was borne with distinction in England and Ireland for at least five centuries.
Thomas Joy, of Boston, Massachusetts, was born about 1610 in the county of Norfolk, England. The first time he appears in Boston records is "on the 20th of 12th Month, called February, 1636." By trade he was a builder and probably continued that occupation in Massachusetts. He married in 1637 Joan Gallop, the daughter of a well-known townsman, and she became mother of the American Joys. Her father's land included several of the harbor islands, one of which still bears his name.
Thomas Joy built in 1657-8, the house in the Market Place, which was at once the armory, court house, and town hall of Boston, and the first seat of government in Massachusetts. On account of political troubles, Thomas Joy exchanged part of his possessions in Boston for property in Hingham. In 1648 he removed to that town, but his Boston connections were still maintained. He had interests in mills at Hingham, and died in that town, October 21, 1678. His widow survived him more than twelve years, dying in Hingham, March 20, 1690-1. Both are buried in the hill, back of most ancient Protestant church in the United States, where they worshipped. They had ten children.
Joseph, the fourth child, was born in Boston, April 1, 1645. He lived on Bacheler (Main Street,) Hingham, nearly opposite the meeting house, of which he is thought to have been the builder. He married August 29, 1667, Mary, daughter of John and Margaret Prince, of Hingham, and by her had fifteen children. He died in that town, May 31, 1697.
Joseph Joy, his eldest son was born in Hingham July 30, 1688. He was constable in 1697-1711. He married May 22, 1690 Elizabeth, daughter of Captain Thomas Andrews. He died in Hingham, April 29, 1716. His gravestone with inscription still legible in the Hingham churchyard is the most ancient Joy grave mark in America.[244] He had nine children.
John, the fourth child, was born in Hingham February 7, 1695-6. He lived on Main street at Hingham Centre. December 7, 1724, he married Lydia, daughter of Samuel Lincoln, and by her had seven children. His death is not recorded.
John Joy, the second child of the preceding, was born in Hingham June 4, 1727. He lived in Boston, and by trade was merchant and housewright. He married Sarah, daughter of Michael and Sarah (Kneeland) Homer, of Boston. In 1767 and 1773 he was one of the "principal citizens" to visit the schools with the Governor. In 1774 Mr. Joy was an addresser of Hutchinson, and in 1775 of Gage. In 1776 he went to Halifax with his family and in 1778 he was proscribed and banished. In 1779 he was in England, where he remained, though several of his sons afterwards returned to America. Hutchinson in his diary, June 7, 1776, speaks of a number of Loyalists who had recently arrived at Dover. Mr. Joy's name was among those mentioned. The Loyalist died in London, December, 1804. His portrait by Copley, is an heirloom in the family of the late Charles Joy of Boston. Mrs. Joy died in England in 1805.
A letter of John Wendell (1806) mentions among his early friends in Boston, "Mr. John Joy, who served his time with our respected neighbor, Captain Benjamin Russell, and who afterwards married Mr. Homer's daughter." Mr. Joy had seven children.
Dr. John Joy, the eldest son, was an apothecary, and returned to America in 1783, and lived in Boston. His estate on Beacon Hill, once the "elm pasture" of Judge Samuel Sewell, the diarist, was bounded by Beacon, Walnut, Mt. Vernon and Joy street, and included about 100,000 sq. ft. of land. Bowditch says Dr. Joy was desirous of getting a house in the country, and selected this locality as "being country enough for him," "the barberry bushes were flourishing over this whole area." His land cost about $2000, and in 1833 his heirs sold this lot for $98,000. On the southeastern part of this estate he built a modest and graceful wooden building, which was eventually moved to South Boston Point. He married Abigail Green of Boston, and died in 1813.