Jonathan Fairbanks

Jonathan Fairbanks (1594 – December 5, 1668) was an English colonist born in Heptonstall, Halifax, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. He immigrated to New England in 1633. Around 1641, Fairbanks built the Fairbanks House in Dedham, Massachusetts, which is today the oldest surviving wood-framed house in North America. Family Fairbanks married Grace Smith in Halifax on May 20, 1617. Together, they had six children. To celebrate the Fairbanks' 400th wedding anniversary, the Fairbanks Family in America offered half-price admission to the house, as well as wedding cake and popcorn on May 20, 2017. Settlement in New England Jonathan Fairbanks arrived in Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony, with his family in 1633. The Fairbanks family remained in Boston for about three years before settling in Dedham as one of the earliest settler families. The family purchased 12 acres of land, and in 1641, master carpenters began constructing their home. Jonathan Fairbanks signed the Covenant when the town was founded and named. He served a single term as selectman in 1658.