USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Groton > Brief account of some of the early settlers of Groton, massachusetts > Part 2
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Their grandmother, the widow of Benjamin Crispe, April 13, 1698, made her will, which was admitted to probate on the 28th of the following December, and in it she remembered these absent children as follows : -
"I give and bequeath Vnto my three Grand-Children yt are in Captivity if they returne Vizdt three books one of y" a bible another a Sermon booke treat- ing of faith and the other a psalme book."
John Longley returned about the time that his grandmother died.
In the month of July last, I was in Montreal, where I pro- cured, through the kindness of the Mother Superior, a copy of the record from the Congregation of Notre Dame, of which the follow- ing is a translation : -
" On Tuesday, April 24, 1696, the ceremony of baptism was performed on an English girl, named Lydia Longley, who was born April 14, 1674, at Groton, a few miles from Boston in New England. She was the daughter of William Long- ley and Deliverance Crisp, both Protestants. She was captured in the month of July, 16So [ 1694 ?] by the Abenaqui Indians, and has lived for the past month in the house of the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame. The godfather was M. Jacques Leber, merchant ; the godmother was Madame Marie Made-
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leine Dupont, wife of M. de Maricourt, Ecuyer, Captain of a company of Marines : she named this English girl Lydia Madeleine.
[Signed ] LYDIA MADELEINE LONGLEY, MADELEINE DUPONT, LEBER, M. CAILLE, acting curate."
NOTE. - The date of capture in this record is written out in full, and the omission of one word would cause the mistake ; i.e., "mil six cent quatre-vingt," omitting quatorze.
Martin. The name of William Martin heads the list of petitioners for the plantation of Groton. He was an original pro- prietor of the town, owning a twenty-acre right. He came here at an early date from Reading, where he had been one of the select- men. He married the widow of William Lakin, Jr., - though neither the date nor the place of marriage is known, -and he lived near Martin's Pond, which was named after him. His wife died August 14, 1669, and he died March 26, 1672, aged about 76 years. IIe left a will, dated twenty days before his death, in which he bequeathed ten pounds " towards purchasing a meeting house bell for the town's use." It was sixty years, however, before the town obtained the legacy, and even then only by a suit brought against one of the legatees, who had wrongfully received a portion of Martin's estate.
floors. Abraham Moors, the progenitor of various families bearing the name in this neighborhood, came from England, near the beginning of the last century. He was a weaver by trade, and lived in the south part of the town. He married, November 21, 1717, Elizabeth Gilson, and they had six sons and three daughters. Mr. Moors died in March, 1780, aged 87 years, and his wife December 4, 1770, aged 72 years. Their youngest son, Joseph, was in active service during a part of the French War, and served with distinction as an officer in the Revolution. He filled many posi- tions of trust and responsibility among his townsmen, and died July 25, 1820, aged 82 years.
Nutting. John Nutting, the common ancestor of the different families in Groton bearing this name, was an original proprietor of the town, and owned a seventeen-acre right. His land lay on the northerly side of James's Brook, and his house, which was one of
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the earliest garrisons, stood near the present site of Liberty Hall. It was from this garrison house that the Indian chief, on the night of March 13, 1676, " did very familiarly in appearance, call out to Capt. Parker that was lodged in another Garrison house," situated near where Captain Asa S. Lawrence now lives.
John Nutting married, August 28, 1650, Sarah Eggleton [?], at Woburn, where a son was born, who may have been John, men- tioned below, and probably other children. A daughter, Mary, was born January 16, 1656, at Chelmsford, at which place John, James, and Mary were baptized August 3, 1656 ; also Sarah, born Janu- ary 7, 1660, and died soon afterward.
He was one of the petitioners for the town of Chelmsford, and he removed probably from that town to Groton, where three of his children were born, - Sarah, May 29, 1663 ; Ebenezer, October 23, 1666 ; and Jonathan, October 17, 1668.
Parish. John Parish was an original proprietor of the town, and owned a five-acre right. He was one of a committee with John Page and Ensign Lawrence, chosen December 23, 1683, to prove the proprietors' title to their land. In the year 1693, he represented the town in the General Court. Thomas Parish, a son of Thomas l'arish, of Cambridge, and a graduate of Harvard College in the class of 1659, was living in Groton at an early date.
Parker. In the early history of Groton, this was the most numerous family in town. James Parker and Joseph Parker, prob- ably brothers, were original proprietors, the first named owning a fifty-acre right, and the other a twenty-acre right. James was a distinguished man, and a leader in all public affairs. A sketch of his life and a copy of his will are given in Mr. Butler's " History " (pages 281 -¿ 85). He was living at Woburn in the year 1640, and he married, May 23, 1643, Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Long, of Charlestown. Their children were Elizabeth, born March 12, . 1645, married - Gary ; Ann, born March 5, 1647 ; John, born February 18, 1649 ; Sarah, born August 29, 1650, died next year ; Joseph, born, 1651 ; James, born April 15, 1652; Josiah, born 1655 ; Samuel, born 1656 ; Joshua, born March 13, 1658, married Abigail (Shattuck) Morse, widow of Jonathan Morse ; Zechariah, born January 14, 1659 ; and Eleazer, born November 9, 1660. He
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married, for his second wife, Mrs. Eunice (Brooks) Carter, widow of Samuel Carter, and had a daughter Sarah, who was born December 12, 1697, after the father had reached the age of 80 years. His six oldest children were born at Woburn ; before coming to Groton, he lived for a while at Chelmsford, where several others were born. He died in the year 1701, aged about 84 years. James's house lot lay on both sides of the principal street in the village, just south of the small stream which to this day is called James's Brook, named after him. His house was one of the garrisons during King Philip's War, and it was with Captain Parker that the Indian chief, on the night of March 13, 1676, talked, as mentioned in Hubbard's " Nar- rative." In the assault made on the town, July 27, 1694, his son James and Mary, his son's wife, were killed by the Indians, and " several " of their children carried away captives. Another son, Josiah, was a captain, and served in the war against the Indians ; he was in command at Groton, July 21, 1706, when Nathaniel Healy, of Newton, one of his company, was "waylaid " and slain, together with Ebenezer Seger, also of Newton, " as they were going to Meet- ing On the Sabbath day." A brother of Seger's was taken captive at the same time. Joseph Parker, the other original proprietor, was probably a brother of James, and the ancestor of the most numer- ous branches of the family in this neighborhood. He was a large landowner in Groton, Chelmsford, and Dunstable. The town's brandmark, used probably for marking cattle, was approved by the Governor and magistrates, on his petition dated May 31, 1666. He married Margaret -, and had the following children, born at Chelmsford, on the dates set against their names : Joseph, March 30, 1653 ; Anna, February 2, 1655, died young ; Mary, October 28, 1657 ; John, November 4, 1660, died October 8, 1661 ; Anna, November 16, 1663 ; Sarah, November 16, 1666, died Sep- tember 15, 1704. Joseph, the father, died in the year 1690, leaving a large estate. Joseph, the son, married, first, Elizabeth -, and, secondly, November 19, 1684, Hannah Blood ; he had three chil- dren by his first wife, and four by his second. He died about the year 1725. .
Isaac Parker, of this town, was one of the early settlers of Charlestown, New Hampshire, where he went about the year 1740. He was taken prisoner by the Indians, April 19, 1746, and re- mained in captivity until the following winter, when he was released.
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Prescott. This is the most distinguished name in the annals of Groton, and the families bearing it have been numerous. Jonas, the progenitor, was the son of John and Mary (Platts) Prescott, and was born at Lancaster, in June, 1648. He was a blacksmith by trade, and owned the mill in the south part of Groton, now within the limits of Harvard. It is said that a grant of land made by the town, about the year 1675, when it was much in need of a black- smith, induced him to remove nearer to the village. He built a house and shop on the lot, which was situated on the easterly side of James's Brook, perhaps a third of a mile south of Lawrence Academy. He bought lands, until he became one of the largest owners of real estate in the town. Two years ago, a piece of wall was removed, which separated a part of this lot from the highway, near where it forks from the Boston road, and which contained a stone bearing this inscription : -
I. P. 16So Rebuilt by O. P. 1784 Rebuilt by S. J. Park 1841.
The initials I. P. are those of Jonas Prescott, and O. P. those of his grandson, Dr. Oliver Prescott.
Jonas married, December 14, 1672, Mary, daughter of John and Mary (Draper) Loker, of Sudbury, and they had four sons and eight daughters. Two of the sons died young, but all the other children lived to grow up and have families. The eight daughters, with one exception, married Groton men, and were blessed with a numerous offspring. Jonas filled many important positions in the town, and represented it in the General Court dur- ing the years 1699 and 1705 ; he died December 31, 1723, aged 75 years.
His youngest son, Benjamin, was a man of strong character and commanding appearance, and like his father filled many places of usefulness. He married, June 11, 1718, Abigail, daughter of the Honorable Thomas and Mary (Wilson) Oliver, of Cambridge, and
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they had three sons and four daughters. He lived on the old homestead, where he died August 3, 1735, at the age of 42 years, after a short illness caused by over-exertion while haying. His three sons were all remarkable men, and exerted much influence in shaping public affairs during an important period.
James, the eldest son, represented the town in the General Court, as his father and grandfather had done before him ; was a member of the Senate and of the Executive Council. At the beginning of the Revolution, he was a member of the Provincial Congress and of the Board of War, and subsequently Sheriff of Middlesex County, and a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He died February 15, 1800, aged 79 years.
William, the second son, settled on a large estate owned by his father, in that part of Groton called the Gore, now included in Pepperell. He was a Lieutenant in the expedition sent in the year 1755 to remove the French Neutrals from Nova Scotia, and a Colo- nel of Minute Men enrolled in this neighborhood in the year 1774. As commander of the American forces at the Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775, his name will never be forgotten. In subsequent years, at various times he filled the offices of town clerk, select- man, and representative in the General Court. He was the father of William Prescott, the lawyer and jurist, and the grandfather of William H. Prescott, the distinguished historian. He died October 13, 1795, aged 69 years, and was buried at Pepperell ; his widow died October 21, 1821, at the advanced age of 88 years.
On the opposite page is a representation of the monument in the Pepperell Burying Ground, erected to their memory. It consists of a thick slate slab, resting on a solid granite foundation.
Oliver, the third and youngest son, graduated at Harvard Col- lege, in the class of 1750, and studied the profession of medicine, in which he afterward had a wide reputation and an extensive prac- tice. He was town clerk during thirteen years, and selectman during thirty-two years. Before the Revolution, he held the re- spective offices of Major, Lieutenant-colonel, Colonel, and General, in the militia. Subsequently, in the year 1778, he was appointed third Major General of the militia, and in 1781 second Major General ; but soon afterward he resigned the position, on account of ill health. He was a Justice throughout the Commonwealth, a member of the Board of War, a member of the Council of Massa- chusetts until he declined the office, and, in the year 1779, was
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appointed Judge of Probate, and continued as such until his death. He took an active part in suppressing Shays's Rebellion, which had many supporters in this neighborhood. He was one of the original Trustees of Groton Academy, and the first President of the Board of Trustees. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and of various medical societies. He died November 17, 1804, aged 73 years.
Sartell. A family of this name settled in Groton about the beginning of the last century. It is said to be distinct from the Sawtells, who were here before them, though it is not improbable that they both came from the same stock. The head of the family was Nathaniel, and he had two sons and two daughters. Na- thaniel, the elder son, lived at Charlestown, and was a mariner. He sailed on a voyage, and was never afterward heard from. Josiah, the second son, lived in Groton, and was the last rep- resentative of the town to the General Court, under the charter of William and Mary. By his will, dated September 3, 1775, he bequeathed to the town and church three farms and some other property, of which the proceeds constitute the greater part of the present Groton Ministerial Fund. He was buried in the old Bury- ing Ground. Some years ago, his gravestone was taken to the new cemetery, and the following is a copy of the inscription on it : -
JOSIAH SARTELL ESQ. died Aug: 30™ 1784. aged 74 MARY SARTELL his widow, died March. 30th 1790. aged 80. and their Children who died in minority NATHANIEL SARTELL EsQ. his father, who died Jan! 16ª 1741. aged 60 ABIGAIL GREEN her sister, who died Dec! 201h 1790. aged 83. and other relations. From death's arrest no age is free.
Removed from the Old Cemetery to the new by Nathaniel Gillson to the lot of Simeon Gillson.
His widow, Mary, also made a bequest to the church. The following is the first clause in her will, which is dated November 28, 1789, and on file in the Middlesex Probate Office at East Cambridge : -
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" I give and bequeath to the first church in the Town of Groton aforesaid my Silver Tankard, and the sum of Fifteen pounds Lawfull money, to be for the use of said Church Forever "
Sawtell. Richard Sawtell, the ancestor of numerous families bearing this name, was an original proprietor of Groton, and the possessor of a twenty-acre right. Two of his sons were also original proprietors, Jonathan having a five-acre right, and Zecha- riah a ten-acre right. He came here from Watertown, where he was living as early as the year 1636. He was town clerk of Groton in 1662 and the two subsequent years. He died August 21, 1694, at Watertown, where he went, doubtless, in the spring of 1676, after the destruction of this town by the Indians. In his will, dated May 16, 1692, he mentions his wife Elizabeth. She died October 18, 1694. They had a large family, born probably at Watertown, three of whom, Obadiah, Jonathan, and Zechariah, lived at Groton. Obadiah, the eldest, married Hannah, daughter of George Lawrence, had Abigail, born March 13, 1665-6, and probably Obadiah. Jonathan, born August 24, 1639, married, July 3, 1665, Mary -, and had six children, of whom Jonathan, the youngest, was born April 6, 1676, at Watertown. Jonathan, the father, died January 6, 1690-1, and his wife, April 26, 1676, a few days after the birth of her youngest son. Zechariah, born about the year 1644, married -- , and had Anna, born March 14, 1673-4, and probably Nathaniel.
This family is largely represented at Charlestown, New Hamp- shire, where the name is spelled Sartwell. This branch sprang from Obadiah, an early settler of that town, who went from Groton about the year 1740. He was taken prisoner by the In- dians, May 24, 1746, and was held until August 20, 1747. He finally met his death at their hands, June 17, 1749, being attacked while ploughing in his cornfield, without suspecting any danger.
In the printed " Journal " of the House of Representatives, June 16, 1738, is found
" A Petition of Josiah Sartell, shewing that he was a Soldier in the Service of the Province for sundry Years, and was in divers Fighis against the Indian Enemy, wherein many of them were slain, and he himself was wounded in some of the Engagements, that he has received nothing in Consideration of his Smart and Services, but the established Pay, that he has a large Family, and under low Circumstances ; that he lately presumed for want of Lands and Means of pur- chasing, to go upon some of the Province Land on the West side of Connecticut
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EARLY SETTLERS OF GROTON ..
River, adjoining to Northfield, a new Canada Town and some Farms, has built a small House thereon, and improved some of the Lands there, praying that he may obtain a Grant, or be allowed to purchase such Part of the Province Land there, as the Court shall think convenient in Consideration of the Premisses. Read and Ordered, That the Petition be considered on Tuesday the 20th Instant."
It was voted June 22, that one hundred acres of the unappro- priated lands of the Province be granted the petitioner, and, in the record of this date, the name is spelled Joseph Sautell.
In the same " Journal," June 13, 1759, there is
" A Petition of David Sartwell of Groton, in the County of Middlesex, set- ting forth, that his Son Abel Sartwell, went forth in the Expedition against Canada the last Year ; that near Half- Way. Brook (so called) he was in an Engagement with the Enemy, and killed ; that his Gun was then lost; he therefore prays the Stoppage may be taken off, and the Treasurer be directed to allow him the three Pounds mentioned."
Shattuck. John Shattuck is the ancestor of all the families in Groton and its neighborhood, who bear this name. He was the son of William and Susanna Shattuck, of Watertown, where he himself was born, February 11, 1647. He married, June 20, 1664, Ruth, daughter of John, Jr., and Ruth Whitney, who was born April 15, 1645, at Watertown. About the time of his marriage, lands in Groton were granted him, but it does not appear that he ever was an inhabitant of the town. In King Philip's War, he was a sergeant of a military company raised in Watertown to protect the remote settlements in the Connecticut valley. On one of the marches the company was attacked by the Indians, and more than one half of the command were slain. Sergeant Shattuck was de- puted to bear the news of the affair to the Governor of the colony, and, on his way, while crossing the ferry between Charlestown and Boston, September 14, 1675, the boat was sunk, and he was drowned. His widow afterward married Enosh Lawrence. In the year 1678, the date of the re-settlement of the town, Lawrence and his wife removed to Groton, bringing with them the four young children of her first husband, all born at Watertown. They prob- ably occupied the land previously granted to John Shattuck, which was situated in the north part of the town. The children were John, born June 4, 1666, and married Mary, daughter of James and Elizabeth (Longley) Blood ; Ruth, born June 24, 1668, and married, probably, Jonathan Farnsworth ; William, born September
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11, 1670, and married, first, Hannah Underwood, and, secondly, Deliverance Pease; and Samuel, who married Elizabeth Blood, a sister of his brother John's wife.
The eldest of these children, John Shattuck, and his son, John, Jr., a young man in the nineteenth year of his age, were murdered by the Indians, May 8, 1709. They were attacked, as they were crossing the Nashua River, in the vicinity of the Stony Ford-way, near the present site of Hollingsworth's paper mills, while return- ing from the west side of the river, where Mr. Shattuck owned land.
A remarkable fatality seems to have followed Mrs. Shattuck's kindred. Her husband and eldest son were killed by the Indians, as has just been mentioned. Her father, James Blood, was like- wise killed September 13, 1692. So also were her unele, William Longley, his wife and five children, July 27, 1694, and three other of their children were carried away into captivity at the same time. A distant relative, James Parker, Jr., and his wife were killed in this assault, and their children taken prisoners. Her stepfather, Enosh Lawrence, received a wound in an engagement with the Indians, probably in the same attack of July 27, 1694, which almost wholly prevented him from earning a livelihood for himself and family. The three Tarbell children, who were carried off to Canada by the Indians, June 20, 1707, were cousins of Mrs. Shattuck. John Ames, the father-in-law of her niece, Ruth (Shattuck) Ames, was shot by the savages at the gate of his own garrison, July 9, 1724. And lastly, her son-in-law, Isaac Lakin, the husband of her daugh- ter Elizabeth, was wounded in Lovewell's fight at Pigwaeket, May 8, 1725. These calamities covered a period of only one generation, extending from the year 1692 to 1725.
Shopley. This has been a common name in Groton, from an early date. The first settler who bore it, and all his family, ex- cepting a son John, were massaered by the Indians. The sad event took place in the assault on the town, July 27, 1694, when his house was burned, and the boy John carried off into captivity by the savages, and held during several years. The knowledge which he obtained of their language and customs while a prisoner was of much use to him in dealing with them in after-life. Tradi- tion relates that, when buying furs and skins of the Indians, he used to put his foot in one scale of the balance instead of a pound
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weight. In the summer of 1704, while he and thirteen other men were reaping in a field at Groton, they were attacked by about twenty Indians. After some skirmishing, Shepley and one of his comrades, Butterfield by name, succeeded in killing one of the assailants, for which act they were allowed each four pounds by the Government. He is the direct ancestor of the late Honorable Ether Shepley, formerly Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of Maine, and of General George F. Shepley, now a Justice of the Circuit Court of the First Circuit of the United States.
John Shepley, who lived at Wenham, was probably the pro- genitor of the Groton family. He removed to Chelmsford in the year 1656, at the time the Reverend Mr. Fiske took a majority of his church to that town.
Stone. This has been a common name for nearly two centu- ries, and the families bearing it have lived in the south part of the town. Deacon Simon Stone was an original proprietor, owning an eighteen-acre right. He was the oldest of the children of Deacon Simon and Mary (Whipple) Stone, of Watertown. Perhaps he is the person referred to by Mather (Magnalia, vii. 74), who was severely wounded by the Indians, July 4, 1690, at Exeter, New
Hampshire. Simon Stone and John Stone, mentioned in the distribution of garrisons, March 17, 1691-2, were probably father and son. Simon married Sarah -, and it is probable that several of his children were born before he came to Groton, as their births are not recorded in the town records. Among these were John and Simon, Jr., who were often chosen town officers ; James, a son of Simon, Jr., was a deacon in the church.
Tarbell. Thomas Tarbell, the ancestor of this family, sold his house and land in Watertown in the year 1663, and about the same time removed to Groton. He and Thomas, Jr., were original proprietors of the town, the father owning a twenty-acre right, and the son a six-acre right. The name is sometimes written Tar- bole. He married Mary -, and had Elizabeth, born January 5, 1656-7, and William, born February 26, 1658-9, both at Water- town. The names of two other children, Thomas, Jr., and Abigail, do not appear in the town records of Watertown, and they probably were born before he settled in that town. He was one of four men, to whom twenty acres of land were granted by the town of
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Groton, in the year 1665, on condition that they should build a grist-mill. At the outbreak of King Philip's War, he went to Charlestown, where he married, for the second time, August 15, 1676, Susanna, widow of John Lawrence, Jr. He died at Charles- town as early as the beginning of 1681, and his widow at the same place, January 5, 1692. Thomas Tarbell, Jr., married, June, 30, 1666, Hannah, daughter of William and Joanna Longley, and had four children. He died in the autumn of 1678, and administration on his estate was granted his widow, December 18, 1678. Thomas Tarbell, 3d, eldest child of the preceding Thomas, married, Decem- ber 1, 1686, Elizabeth, daughter of Richard and Isabel Blood, and had ten children. He was town clerk of Groton in the years 1704 and 1705. He lived on what is now known as Farmers' Row, a short distance south of the Lawrence Farm. He was probably the "Corpo Tarboll," who commanded, in the autumn of 1711, one of the eighteen garrisons in the town. Three of his children, Sarah, John, and Zachariah, were carried off by the Indians, June 20, 1707, and never came back to remain. They were picking cherries early one evening -so tradition relates- and were taken before they had time to get down from the tree. They were carried to Canada, where, it would seem, they were treated kindly, as no inducement was strong enough afterward to make them return. The girl was sold to the French, and placed in a convent near Montreal ; the boys remained with their captors at Caughnawaga, an Indian village near Montreal, and subsequently married squaws and became chiefs of their tribe. Their case was brought before the Council and House of Representatives, April 20, 1739, in Boston, by Governor Belcher, when he made a speech, in which he said that -
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