Isaac Stearns (February 25, 1598 – June 19, 1671) was an English emigrant who, on April 8, 1630, embarked from Yarmouth, England, aboard the ship ''

Arbella ''Arbella'' or ''Arabella'' was the flagship of the Winthrop Fleet on which Governor John Winthrop, other members of the Company (including William Gager), and Puritan emigrants transported themselves and the Charter of the Massachusetts Bay C ...

''. He was among the original settlers of the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...

. Stearns was born c. 1598. He worked as a tailor and married Mary Barker (c. 1604–77) on May 20, 1622, with whom he fathered eight children. His pedigree is unknown, and it is uncertain from where in England he came, but his wife was from the parish of

Nayland Nayland is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Nayland-with-Wissington, in the Babergh District, Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is in the River Stour, Suffolk, Stour Valley on the Suffolk side of t ...

, in Suffolk, and their first three children were born there. The ''Arbella'' arrived in Salem, Massachusetts, on June 12, 1630, but the passengers disliked the location as a place for a permanent settlement, so they proceeded to Charlestown and were among the first settlers of Watertown, near Mount Auburn, Massachusetts. Stearns was declared a

freeman Freeman, free men, Freeman's or Freemans may refer to: Places United States * Freeman, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Freeman, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Freeman, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Freeman, South Dako ...

on May 18, 1631; he was elected to the area's

Board of selectmen The select board or board of selectmen is commonly the Executive (government), executive arm of the government of New England towns in the United States. The board typically consists of three or five members, with or without staggered terms. Three ...

several years later. In 1647, Stearns was appointed by the community's selectmen to plan a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

over the

Charles River The Charles River (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ), sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles, is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, Hopkinton to Boston along a highly me ...

. This is the first mention of a bridge over the Charles River at Watertown. Isaac was accompanied on the ''Arbella'' by a brother, Shubael Stearns, who died, leaving his children to Isaac's care, but the records are unclear which children belonged to whom. Isaac is thought to be the first American ancestor of the Massachusetts Stearns. Every attempt to trace the Stearns lineage in the United States has led back to him, or to Charles or Nathaniel Stearns, men believed to have either been Isaac's brothers or nephews. Notable descendants of Isaac Stearns include

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

Jacobus, Donald Lines, ''

The American Genealogist ''The American Genealogist'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academic disc ...

'', Volumes 52–53, D.L. Jacobus, 1976, p.19 and

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...

. Isaac Stearns died on June 19, 1671. The appraisal of his estate suggests he was relatively wealthy; it included fourteen parcels of land, amounting to , with a significant quantity of stock and farming utensils, provisions, and household goods.

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* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stearns, Isaac 1598 births 1671 deaths English emigrants to Massachusetts Bay Colony People from Watertown, Massachusetts People from colonial Massachusetts People from Nayland