USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Chelsea > Documentary history of Chelsea : including the Boston precincts of Winnisimmet, Rumney Marsh, and Pullen Point, 1624-1824, vol 1 > Part 37
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3 5
4 6
June 3. Samll Tuttle Tanner Dr. To a Lottery Tickett .
£6
00 00
Mr. John Rachall, Dr., To two Lotterry Ticketts £12.
350
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. VII
After Stoddard, Dr. To two Lotterry Tiek- etts £12.
June 5. Stephen Kent, Dr. To one Lotterry Tickett £ 6.
6. Capt. Bass Dr. To one £ 6. Mr. Thos. Pratt Dr. To two £12. " 66
Aug. 19. Wm. Adams, of Rowly Dr. To Horse and Chaise to Newbury p. order of the Comtee of War £ 5 Mills at Chelsea Dr.
Sept.
To 320 feet of pine plank, at 32/ p hundred £ 5
2 6
To carriing them to the Mill . 0 10 0 To boards of Joshua Eustes for the Uper floor 8 00 0 To nails,
To Mr Goddards Work.
Oet. 4. The province of the Massathusetts-Bay, Cr. By 961b. of Tallow, at -, of Mr. Williams Cattle.
1745/6, Feb. 7.
8. By 1451b. of Tallow, and 191b. of Kidney. By 1731b. 1/2 of Tallow, and 91b. 1/2 of Kidney. Setteled. Danll Watts, Dr. To 8f Land Bank Bills Equal to £42: 11 -4 old tenr.
April 2. The Provinee Dr. To a Qur of Beef put on Board Capt. Linkhoine The Abigail and Anna p Mr. Wheel- wrights Order. Qy: 1421b, at /10 5: 18: 4.
April 5th. Mr Saml Adams, Esr. Dr To 78 bushels of barley. [This was the father of the patriot, who carried on the business of his father, and by the Tories was called " Malster Sam."]
Samuel Watts kept an account of his personal expenses, which has been preserved for 1761-1770; and as these show something of his and his family's life, I give several of them :
1761, Oet. 26. Cato Bread 1: 10
mutton
13
rum
1: 7
fish 4/6 Sand 2/
6 : 6
rum, one Dollar 2: 5: 0
1762, Jan. 30. Samll Kent for Ticketts (No. 3, 24) 13: 10:
Feb. 10. Gouldthwait for sweepg ye Chimny . 1: 1
3
Mareh 17. give Wife a Dollar 2
5. 0
April 10. Murrey for Shaving 2. 5
13. Mr. Grant Upholster . 4: 8: 11/2
May 8. Mr. Hawes for Saddle baggs 4: 10
Two bridles 4: 00 00
To Saddle Cloath 3: 10 00
1763, Feb. 3. Bot. a wigg Box .
7
Oet. 28. Testament & Salter for Saml. Watts' Children
18
1764, Aug. 15. Mr. Forster of Salem for 6 Seyths last year 13: 10
Ditto for Ditto, this year 13: 10
351
APPENDIX 5
CHAP. VII]
20. Mr. Bradlely, for Shultoon ( ?), Ozinburgs, Buckram, & Buttons for Charles' Suit 7: 13: 11
26. Pratt's Negroe Woman, for pegans & Eggs 14: 11
1765 Jany.
Negroe Prince for the House 16: 3
Mr. Pemon, the Barbers in full 10: 10:
Mr. Miller for a Book Calld the Sociall Compact 1: 13 9
Mr. Jackson the Brazr for two Rat Trapps 2 -
John Gore for painting Canvis 10: 10 Cloth, for Kecpg Room, Silas [?] Ser- geant in full 21: 17
Bot. a Checse 2: 10
May Lottery Ticket No. 2409 in Boston Lot- tery one 3d. for me & Hannah pd. one Dollar. Estate of Saml. Watts, Esqr., Dcc'd, To Nath. Brown, Dr., To 2 pr. Leather Breeches yr. Negroes £3 12 0
An example of the custom of allowing accounts to run for years without settlement is seen in the following account,27 which ran more than twenty years. It also gives some curious details of the expense of maintaining the family carriages.
The Estate of ye Honle Samll Watts Deceased to Edwd Goodwin Dr. 1750, May ye 12. To putting in a New Hind Piller & a four piller a New Seate & Canvaising To 2 Seale Skins for ye Cheacks [ ?] . 8 2
£8 00 00
To Corse Lining for ye body & Chusshing
1
To 3 yds. of half thick to Line it .
3
6
To 25011 brass nails
1 5
To 51Ì of tacks
10
To Worke in tryming ye bodey & making ye Chusshi- ing
3
old tennor
£19 09
To putting in two four pillers & one hind piller a Seate panill & one Side paniell & laying a New Seate, & Canvissing it
£10
To Corse Lining for ye bodey, & Chusshing
1 00 00
To 3 yds. of Half thick to Line it
3
6
00
To brass nails & tacks
1 15 00
To 1 Hide of Leather for ye Cheacks .
3 00 00
To New tryming ye Chaise & making ye Chussing
3 00 00
old tennor
£41 10 00
To putting a New back Raile & molding & two Hind pillers & one Elbow a fore bar & a middle bar a
27 Chamberlain MSS., ii. 131.
1763, Nov.
352
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. VII
Seate paniell & one side paniell & Canvissing . £12
00 00
To a New bottom board & Leather to Hang it
1 10 00
To Corse Lining, for ye bodey & Chusshing
1 00
00
To 3 yds, of half thick to Line it .
3 6 00
To 511 of tacks & 70011 of brass nails
2 19 00
To Rivetts & brads for ye Irons
3
00
00
To New tryming ye bodey & making ye Chusshing . To painting ye 3 bodeys
3
00
00
old tennor
£75
10
00
1764. To 2 Riding Chayse & Harnis with Canviss tops as a Greed for
280
00
00
1768, Deebr. 26. To putting in 4 fellowes & five spoaks to your wheels
7
the Smith work in Repairing ye Streaks & nails
3
10
00
old tennor in Lawfull money
£365
00
00
To 2 fellowes 2 Spoakes a Reviting ye tyer, & nails for it .
8
00
To putting two axelltrees
10
8
To mending 2 wheels Iron work & nails
9
4
Lawfull money
£ 50
1
4
Contra Cr Received by Major Watts's account
41 16 9.1
8 4 6.3
April ye 8th 1772 Received of Capt. Jonathan Green Adminr by Cash -
8
4 6.3
Edwd Goodwin.
Edward Watts was of " the Parish of St. Buttolph Aldgate, in the city of London, sawyer." Edward and Rebecca, with their children, came to Winnisimmet in 1710, where they died, he, June 5, 1714, aged 47; and she, March 25, 1715, of the same age. Their grave-stones are in the Revere burial-ground. After coming over they managed the ferry, the inn, a grocery, and their farms, which had been in the charge of an agent. More may be seen in chap. xvi, and her will, supra, p. 329.
They had four children: Edward, alias Bellingham, Samuel, Daniel, and Rebecca. Elizabeth Bellingham's will mentions a daughter Elizabeth, but I hear no more of her. Rebecca Watts' will speaks of a nephew, Thomas Cooper, and of a niece, Mary Cooper, in England; of a grandson, John Turner, and of an uncle, Robert Smith.
Edward Watts, the younger, was married January 8, 1715/6,
5
00
To Leather for ye Cheaks
3 00
00
1751, Octr. ye 16. To Repairing your Chaise & making a New wing Lined with Scarlett Cloth and mend- ing ye back Raile brass nails & tacks
4 00
00
£ 48 13
04
353
APPENDIX 5
CHAP. VII]
by Rev. Samuel Myles, reetor of King's Chapel, to Ann, perhaps a daughter of William Antram, of Boston, whose name often appears in the town records in respectable connections. Edward and his wife conveyed to him, May 1, 1716, 19/30 of the Winni- simmet farms, and all their right to the ferry, for £3,000. The reason is not apparent, as he reconveyed them a few days later.28 Edward and Ann had one child, whose birth is recorded May 27, 1718, and his death July 27 following. April 6, 1724, Edward Watts was chosen vestryman of [Christ Church].29 After the death of Edward and Rebecca (1714 and 1715), their son Edward managed the Winnisimmet estates until his own death, September 17, 1727, aged 34. This fixes his birth at about 1693. I do not find his burial-place. [According to the records of Christ Church he was buried September 20, 1727.]
The inventory of his estate, June 17, 1728, is of uncommon interest. It shows the business capacity of one who, dying young, left a personal estate of £2,878. 18. 11. a large sum, when sterling and provincial money were less differentiated than at a later day. It also shows the furnishing (though, perhaps, exceptional) of a house outside of Boston, and the apparel of an English emigrant of the middle class. But its chief interest is in the fact, of which there is no printed evidence nor even a tra- dition, that Winnisimmet at that time was the centre of a con- siderable trade for the country north of the Mystic and south of- the Lynn marshes.30
Samuel Watts, second son of Edward and Rebecca, was married March 8, 1715/16, by Rev. John Webb, to Elizabeth Shute [pre- sumably daughter of Richard and Lydia, born in Malden, Febru- ary 20, 1698/9]. Their children were:
Richard, b. Jan. 23, 1718/9; d. July, 1771; wife Sarah d. Feb., 1758, aged 36.
Samuel, b. March 28, 1717; d. Nov., 1791. Inventory, Feb. 9, 1792.81
Elizabeth, b. Nov. 25, 1720; [bapt. Dec. 4, 1720; d. Nov. 25, 1721.32]
[Elizabeth, bapt. Sept. 16, 1722;] m. Benjamin Kent [H. C. 1727], Nov. 6, 1740.
Edward, b. Aug. 1, 1724.
Anne, b. March 9, 1726; m. [intention filed at Chelsea Sept. 3, 1749] Ebenezer Hough, who died Jan., 1772, aged 47.
Rachel, bapt. March 2, 1729.
28 [Supra, p. 308, note 40.]
Foote, Annals of King's Chapel, i. 324.
30 Supra, p. 323.
31 Suff. Prob. Rec., L. 91, f. 96.
32 Gravestone at Revere. VOL. I .- 23
.
354
IIISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. VII
His wife Elizabeth died March 16, 1731[aged 32]. He married, November 18, 1731, Hannah Hough [widow of Ebenezer Hough of Boston and daughter of Captain John Foye of Charlestown. She had by her first husband, who was a son of William Hough of Boston, tallow chandler, five children: Ebenezer, b. 1724; Hannah, b. 1725; Sarah, b. 1727; Mary, b. 1728, died 1729; John, b. 1729.33 In 1750 Ebenezer and Sarah were living in Chelsea. In 1755 they mention their brother John Hough, " Mariner deceased." 34] The children of Samuel and Hannah Watts were:
Bellingham, b. Aug. 30, 1732; [bapt. Sept. 3].
[Bellingham, b. May 22, 1734; bapt. May 26.]
Belcher, bapt. June 8, 1735.
William, bapt. Aug. 1, 1736; m. widow Mary Pratt, Aug. 8, 1760; [d. May 31, 1806, aged 70].
Edward, b. July 25, 1737; m. Mary Oxnard, May 22, 1765.
Isaac, b. July 31, 1738; bapt. Aug. 6, 1738.
Hannah [b. Aug. 6, 1741]; bapt. Aug. 9, 1741; m. Dr. Samuel Danforth [in Boston Dec. 24, 1770].
Samuel and Elizabeth were admitted to the church [at Rumney Marsh] October 19, 1718. His negro woman, Phillis, and her children, were baptized, - she January 1, 1743/4, and Cato, Bal- indon, and Violet, September 29, 1745. [Resident on the Town- send farm, and a member of the church at Rumney Marsh, Samuel Watts, though born in England, became closely identified with the life of the district. He was chosen to serve as fence viewer in 1718 and 1722, and to assist the selectmen of Boston as surveyors of highways for the district in 1723, and was sent to neighboring church councils as a representative of his church. In 1733, in the right of his second wife, he came into possession of a brick dwelling opposite the north side of the Court House or Exchange, on King Street, now State Street, in Boston.35 This opened to him a wider career. In 1733 he joined the Ancient and Honor- able Artillery Company, and the title of Captain, in the militia, appears before his name in the record of his children's baptisms and elsewhere. In 1734 he was a Justice of the Peace. His two eldest sons - Samuel and Richard - entered Harvard College, - the former graduating in 1738, the latter in 1739.36 In March,'
83 Boston Vital Records; Wyman, 372, 520.
34 Suff. Deeds, L. 103, ff. 192-195; L. 117, f. 154; Prob. Rec., L. 48,
f. 380; also Hough vs. Watts, Court Files of Inf. Court of Common Pleas for Suff. Co., July 1, 1770.
85 Suff. Deeds, L. 99, ff. 212-215.
36 Harvard Catalogue of 1794, with MSS. notes by Wm. Winthrop, Harvard College Library.
355
APPENDIX 5
CHAP. VIII
1734/5, he was one of the " Principal Subscribers " to the petition for the separation from Boston, and the incorporation of the Rum- ney Marsh district.37 In October, 1737, he was one of a committee of four to draw up an address from the town of Boston to the General Court.38 By his own marriage to Hannah Foye Hough and the marriage of his brother's widow to Thomas Greaves hc became allied with the most influential families in Charlestown. His wife's step-mother married, in 1736, Charles Chambers; in 1738 Thomas Greaves' daughter married James Russell.3º Pre- sumably William Foye, a member of the Governor's Council, 1741-1751, was her uncle. The first service of Samuel Watts on a working committee of the House of Representatives was under the chairmanship of Thos. Greaves.40 As a member of the General Court, Chelsca's first Representative, his advancement was rapid. During his first year in the Assembly he served on thirty-one working committees, of three of which he was chairman, and was appointed also on some five or more committees less im- portant. Although the three committees of which he was chair- man were of minor importance, he served on the joint committee to consider the Governor's message on the Engrossed Supply and Tax Bill,41 the House Committee to prepare a bill for the supply of the Treasury,42 to examine the accounts of Mr. Wilks, the agent of the Province in England, and provide instructions for the new agent, Christopher Kilby.43 He served also on committees for the erection of sundry new townships and for the settlement of church disputes. 44 He was a member of the joint committee of the House and Council to prepare a memorial to the King on the financial difficulties of the Prov- ince, 45 of a joint committee to consider of some more effectual means for the more equal payment of all private debts hereafter to be contracted,46 of a joint committee to meet appointees of the Colony of Connecticut to rectify the boundary between the colo- nies, 47 of the committee to sit during the reeess of the Court to
37 Boston Rec. Com. Rep., xii. 97. Files of the Boston City Clerk.
85 Ibid., xii. 177, 178.
30 Wyman.
40 House Journal, June 7, 1739.
41 Ibid., June 29.
42 Ibid., September 20.
43 Ibid., September 19, 28; January 1, 1739/40.
41 Ibid., June 11, June 27, September 26, December 19, etc.
45 Ibid., December 27, 1739; January 1, 10, 1739/40.
48 Ibid., September 21, 1739.
47 Ibid., December 7, 27.
356
IHISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. VII
compile for publication a book of the laws of the Province, other members of this latter committee being the Speaker of the House, Paul Dudley, and Thomas Greaves.48. This in brief is the record of his first year in the Legislature. Though not one of the original petitioners for the establishment of a Land Bank, he was one of four members of the House of Representatives to accept the office of Direetor in the Company in July, 1740, the others being Thomas Cheever of Lynn, George Leonard of Norton, and Robert Hale of Beverly. As he continued in this office, not- withstanding the Governor's proelamation of November 5, 1740, he was removed as Justice of the Peace December 5, 1740, and dismissed as Captain of the Chelsea militia April 22, 1741.49 The following month he was elected Speaker of the House (nega- tived) ; July 31, 1741, by the General Court, Collector of Excise for Suffolk County,50 in 1742, Captain of the Ancient and Honor- able Artillery Company, and a member of the Governor's Couneil. His later career is sketched briefly in the text.]
Daniel Watts, youngest son of Edward and Rebeeea, born about 1704, died in June, 1760, aged 56; and Elizabeth Mason, his wife, in March before, aged 57. [They were married September 14, 1726.] They had :
[Rebeckah, b. April 17, 1727; bapt. April 23 at the Brattle Square Church.
Edward, b. May 18, 1729.]
Elizabeth, bapt. [at Rumney Marsh] March 14, 1731.
. Sarah, bapt. July 29, 1733.
Daniel, b. Feb. 18, 1734/5, [bapt. Feb. 23, 1734/5.]
Rachel [b. 1737-4th day-3d month ] ; 51 bapt. March 6, 1736/7; m. Wm. Leverett, April 12, 1759.
Daniel [b. 1738-6-11]; bapt. Oct. 12, 1738. [sic.]
[Ebenezer, b. 1740-27-10; d. 1740-9-10 (sic).]
Katharine [b. 1741-2-10]; bapt. Oct. 4, 1741.
John, bapt. Sept. 23, 1744, [presumably married the widow Elizabeth Bill, Jan. 29, 1775. Births and deaths of two children of John and Elizabeth Watts were recorded at Chelsea, 1775-1778.]
Did Daniel Watts have a son Edward? The Probate Records 52 say Daniel Watts administered on the estate of his son Edward, March 25, 1757.
In these genealogies I am perplexed by variances between the
48 March 17, 1739/40.
49 Boston Weekly News-Letter, December 11, 1740; April 24, 1741.
60 House Journal.
51 Chelsea Town Records.
52 L. 52, f. 204.
357
APPENDIX 5
CHAP. VIIJ
printed Boston records of births and the ehureh records of bap- tisms. The former affiliate [Rebeekah, Edward], Elizabeth and Sarah, to James Watts instead of to Daniel, as the latter do.
The Brattle Square Church, Boston, dismissed Daniel Watts to the Rumney Marsh Church, which received him, February 9, 1748/9, and chose him deaeon in September following.
The last ehild of Edward and Rebeeea Watts, I find, was Rebeeea, who married John Muzzy of Lexington, innholder [grandson of Benjamin Muzzy of Rumney Marsh]. They released her interest in her father's estate Deeember 10, 1730. [She mar- ried, first, Deeeniber 24, 1711, John Turner, the reetor of King's Chapel officiating, and had a son John,53 born April 21, 1712, mentioned in his grandmother Rebecca's will; m. seeond, Febru- ary 16, 1715/6, James Ingham; third, December 6, 1722, John Muzzy.]
[Samuel (3) Watts (H. C. 1738) was born Mareh 28, 1717; married Hannah Rachell January 8, 1740/41; died in November, 1791. His wife died in November, 1780, aged 63. (Hannah, daughter of John and Hannah Rachel, was born July 16, 1718.) From the Chamberlain MSS.54 it appears that he lived at one time in 'Rhode Island. During the first year after his father's death he leased the two farms at Winnisimmet exeept the mansion house and the parts improved by Captain Richard Watts, William Watts, and Ebenezer Hough.55 Possibly he returned from Rhode Island after the death of Daniel Watts to take possession of that farm; his name reappears in the Chelsea town reeords about that time. From the correspondenee between Jonathan Green and Dr. Edward Watts it appears that Samuel Watts was heavily in debt when his father died.56 He sold some 35 aeres of marshland to Dr. Samuel Danforth. He held many town offiees, and during the early years of the War of the Revolution was sent as a delegate to several County and Provincial Congresses. On August 25, 1774, he was chosen one of three delegates to meet the Committee of Correspond- ence of the County of Suffolk at Dedham on the sixth of Septem- ber ; on October 3, 1774, he was ehosen a delegate to the Provincial Congress ealled to meet at Coneord, October 11, and a repre- sentative to the General Court summoned to meet at Salem on October 5. On November 21, 1774, he was appointed on a eom-
53 April 9, 1734, John Turner of Charlestown, housewright, with his wife Sarah, quitclaimed to Samuel and Daniel Watts the two farms at Winnisimmet. Suff. Deeds, L. 74, f. 168.
54 Vol. ii. 127.
55 Ibid., ii. 69.
53 Ibid., ii. 135, 139.
358
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. VII
mittee of three to see that the resolves of the Continental and Provincial Congresses were enforced in the town, and to serve as a Committee of Correspondence; on May 30, 1775, he was again chosen a member of the Committee of Correspondence, which then numbered ten and was under the chairmanship of Rev. Phillips Payson. But Samuel Watts did not, like his father, become the leading man in the town, nor acquire an extensive reputation beyond its limits.
The children of Samuel (3) and Hannah Watts as recorded at Chelsea were :
Hannah born 1742-17th day-2d month; m. Benjamin Comee of Lexing- ton March 25, 1762.
Samuel
1743-20- 7; m. Nancy Watts, Nov. 11, 1773.
Rachel 66 1745-18- 3; m. Benjamin Brintnall, Jr., Oct. 11, 1770.
John
1747-15- 1.
Isaac
1748- 5- 5; m. Rachel Pratt of Malden Dec. 3, 1779.
Mary
1750-16- 2; m. Richard Watts June 24, 1773.
Susanna 1752-27-11; m. Reuben Weston of Reading Feb. 18, 1777. [ ?]
Elizabeth 1754- 5- 9; m. Ezra Brintnall June 2, 1774.
Sarah 66 1756-27- 4; m. Ezra Upham Aug. 15, 1782.
Belcher 66 1762-15- 3; m. Elizabeth Bulfinch of Boston Dec. 16, 1781.
The following heirs of Samuel Watts, who died in 1791, signed a discharge to their brother Samuel Watts, administrator, July 16, 1793, Isaac, Richard, and Belcher Watts; Ezra and Rachel Brintnall; Benjamin and Hannah Comey; Ezra Upham.57 The same, with their wives, signed the conveyance to Williams in April.
Captain Richard (3) Watts (H. C. 1739), second son of Hon. Samuel Watts, died in July, 1771, aged 52. He managed the inn and the store during the later years of his father's life. At his death he owed over £400 to eighty-one creditors. Over half of his inheritance from his father was consumed in meeting these obliga- tions. David Bradley, administrator, charged for forty-six days spent in settling the estate.58 The children of Richard and Sarah Watts of Winnisimmet were all baptized by the pastor of Christ Church in Boston. They were:
Anno Die Mense
Richard born 1740- 2- 9; bapt. Sept. 14, 1740. Elizabeth 1742- 9- 3; m. April 16, 1761, Benj. Bill of Boston. [?]
Sarah 1744- 2-10; m. March 22, 1764, David Bradley of Boston.
Richard 1746-16-12[ ?]
57 Suff. Prob. Rec., L. 92, f. 635.
58 Suff. Prob. Rec., L. 71, ff. 32, 414; L. 74, f. 166.
1
359
APPENDIX 5
CHAP. VII]
Anna 1748- 1- 1; m. Nov. 11, 1773, Samuel (4) Watts, son of Samuel (3).
Mary
1749-18- 3; d. 1750-7-5.
Richard 66 1754- 7- 3; m. June 24, 1773, Mary, daughter of Samuel Watts; d. Nov., 1793.
Ebenr
1756- 9- 4.
Sarah, the wife, died 1758-20-2 aged thirty-six.59 His heirs were allotted no land in Chelsea.
Bellingham (3) Watts, born May 22, 1734; married Hannah Aubings December 19, 1757 (intention filed) ; was a sea captain and lived in Boston. His children were baptized at Christ Church. October 23, 1767, his will was probated. January 5, 1771, his widow Hannah was appointed guardian of the children, Samuel, Bellingham, and Hannah, to receive the inheritance from their grandfather, Hon. Samuel Watts.60
The widow died in January, 1782, and was buried from Christ Church January 29. June 12, 1782, the guardians of Bellingham, Samuel, and Hannah Watts, minors, sold the inheritance in Chelsea.61
William (3) Watts, son of Samuel (2) and Hannah Watts, married, August 8, 1760, Mrs. Mary Pratt, widow, who died in October, 1799, aged 76. He died May 31, 1806, aged 70.62 At the settlement of his father's estate he was living on the Ferry farm, in a small house east of his father's mansion. The Day Book of Samuel Watts says: " Son Wm Watts Came here to work on the Farm," April 15, 1765.63 Later he lived on his inheritance in what is now Revere, the farm near the meeting-house purchased by Samuel Watts from the widow Abigail Chamberlain. His chil- dren as recorded at Chelsea were:
William Brintnall Watts, b. 1760-29th day-Ist month. Benjamin, 1763-3-3; m. Mary Pratt May 19, 1803.
Hannah, 1765-24-9; m. May 22, 1786, Capt. James Brown. [ ?]
Benjamin lived on the farm with his father, and had five chil- dren recorded at Chelsea between 1804 and 1821.
Samuel (4) Watts was born July 20, 1743; m. Nov. 11, 1773, Nancy Watts, presumably his cousin daughter of Capt. Richard
60 Chelsea Town and Church Records.
60 Suff. Prob. Rec., L. 66, f. 173; L. 70, f. 12; L. 84, f. 362.
61 Suff. Deeds, L. 138, ff. 87-91; see also Suff. Prob. Rec., L. 72, f. 429.
62 Chelsea Church Records.
63 Chamberlain MSS.
360
HISTORY OF CHELSEA
[CHAP. VII
Watts. The children of Samuel and Aun Watts recorded at Cliel- sea were:
Samuel, b. 1774-4th day-12th month; d. 1777-15-3. Samuel, b. 1777-4-8.
Sam!,, b. 1778-9-8.
Saml., b. 1779-5-10.
Samuel Watts of Boston, boatman, died in November, 1802, leaving a widow Nancy and a son Samuel. Ebenezer Watts of Boston, tailor, presumably his brother-in-law, administered on his cstate, David Bradley and Samuel Watts, merchants, giving bonds. In the inventory was a large and a small sail-boat, and part of a pew in Chelsca meeting-house.64
Isaac (4) Watts, born May 5, 1748, married Rachel Pratt of Malden, December 3, 1779. Three children of Isaac and Rachel Pratt were recorded at Chelsea, Rachel, born 1780-3d day-6th month; Hannah, 1781-24-12; John 1784-8-2.
Richard (4) Watts, son of Richard and Sarah, married, June 24, 1773, his cousin Mary, daughter of Samuel (3) Watts; died in November, 1793. Three children were baptized at Chelsea, Mary, April 21, 1776; Sarah, March 15, 1778; Elizabeth, Jan- uary 23, 1780.
The following items as to houses on the Ferry farm are gleaned by comparing the division of the estate of Samuel Watts in 1772,65 the inventory of the estate of his son Samuel in 1792, and the assessors' report for the direct tax of 1798. In 1772 the mansion house with three-fourths of an acre of land was valued at £145- 6-8; in 1792 at £75; in 1798 with one acre three perches of land at $880. It was of two stories, covered 1520 feet, had 31 win- dows, and in 198 was " Verry old," and was occupied by Henry Howell Williams, Jr. In 1772 the " Dwelling House near the ferry where the Tavern is kept " was valued at £66-13-4; in 1792 at £45. It was of two stories, covered 1080 feet, had twenty win- dows, and was "Verry Old" in 1798. With a stable covering 1144 feet and one-fourth of an acre of land, it was then valued at $1100, and was occupied by John Hill.66 In 1772 forty feet of the westerly end of the great barn, the new barn, the chaise house, and an old blacksmith shop were valued at £116, and 24 acres 110 rods adjoining the tavern and these barns, etc., were valued at £412-1-8. These were assigned to Samuel Watts. In 1792 a barn with a large stable was valued at £40; two-thirds of a barn at £20.
14 Suff. Prob. Rec., L. 101, ff. 77, 129; L. 102, ff. 85, 95.
65 Ibid., L. 71, f. 395; L. 91, f. 96.
66 See also supra, pp. 334-337.
1
361
APPENDIX 5
CHAP. VII]
Thirty feet of the east end of the great barn with 12 rods of land adjoining were valued at £21-13-4 in 1772, and assigned to Mrs. Ann Hough; also a warchouse near the tavern and "on the left hand side of the Ferry ways as you go down to them," at £12, and 40 rods of land near the warehouse at £4. In 1772 the small house in which William Watts was living with a corn house was valued at £12, and eighty rods of land adjoining thereto at £7; in 1792 the house and three-fourths of an acre of land were valued at £19. The house in which Mrs. Ann Hough was living was valued at .£8, and eight acres of land under and near her house, at £116-13-4. These two houses stood east of the mansion house. As their site is not marked on the plan of the Ferry farm in 1830, it is possible that they stood on the land sold in 1825 by Thomas Williams to the United States for the Marine Hospital. They are not listed in the direct tax of 1798. The assessors for the direct tax prepared two lists; in one were all houses over $100 in value, with a house lot not to exceed one acre; in the other, farmlands, outbuildings, and houses worth less than $100. The Ferry farm was omitted from the latter list. December 22, 1793, Benjamin Kent Hough of Gloucester, trader, for £300 lawful money conveyed to Henry Howell Williams of Noddle's Island the land set off to his mother, Mrs. Ann Hough, from the estate of Hon. Samuel Watts, except 12 acres of salt marsh sold to Dr. Samuel Danforth.67 Mrs. Ann Hough of Gloucester had conveyed this land to her son March 14, 1793.68 It included 40 rods of land with a warehouse thereon which lay "on the left- hand side of the Ferry ways as you go down to them," and touched also the yard of the " Great House"; 8 acres with a dwelling- house thereon, bounded by the "Great House" with its yard before and garden behind on the west, and the farm in the pos- session of Mr. Batchelder (Eustace-Shurtleff farm) on the east ; 12 acres of pasture; and 12 rods of land adjoining the great barn, with 30 ft. of the barn at the east end; the latter two parcels lay west of the road. The house was in the occupation of Ezra Brintnall, who had married a daughter of Samucl (3) Watts. According to this conveyance the 3/4 acre on which the house occu- pied in 1772 by William Watts stood, set off to Samuel Watts in the settlement of the estate of Hon. Samuel Watts, was enclosed on all sides except toward the harbor by Mrs. Hough's eight-acre lot. By this conveyance, and that from the heirs of Samuel Watts . mentioned in the text,69 Henry Howell Williams came into pos-
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