USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > North Brookfield > History of North Brookfield, Massachusetts. Preceded by an account of old Quabaug, Indian and English occupation, 1647-1676; Brookfield records, 1686-1783 > Part 7
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98
The order in which the home-lots were laid out, is as follows - begin- ning at Coy's brook : 1. Richard Coy; 2. Thomas Parsons ; 3. John Warner ; 4. Samuel Kent; 5. Samuel Warner ; 6. John Younglove ; 7. Thomas Wilson [in Second Settlement, the Grosvenor, and later Rev. T. Cheney's lot] ; 8. Thomas Millett ; 9. Meeting-house lot - " half an acre ; " 10. Sergt. John Ayres (now D. H. Richardson) ; II. Wil- liam Prichard (the Watson place) ; the broken land adjoining was reserved for "Common ; " 12. James Travis ; 13. Judah Trumble : 14. Daniel Hovey ; 15. James Hovey ; 16. Thomas Hovey. These three Hovey lots were located easterly of the little brook, and on the north side of the road, and contained 30 acres each ; Thomas did not come to occupy, and the lot was granted to John Chadwick.
Besides " meadow " and " plain," each home-lot carried a right to 40 acres of "upland," - the precise application of which term is not easy to determine. All undivided lands were held in common, for fire- wood, lumber and pasturage.
The meadows, which were allotted and occupied in the First Settle- ment, were those on the river, on Coy's and Hovey's brooks, and on the Great brook that runs into Wekabaug pond, and particularly those on the eastern branch then called Mill brook.
The "Great Field," where all the families had their planting-ground, comprised the plain lands lying westerly from Coy's brook, extending towards the Indian planting-field. It covered the site of West Brook- field village as far west as the "Common." The same land was held for a like purpose in the Second Settlement.
Ministry Land. One full home-lot, with its due proportion of meadow and plain, and all accruing rights, was set apart for the use and improvement of the minister. As no one was installed in that office in the First Settlement, this lot was not taken up. Mr. Younglove, who officiated as the first preacher, received a grant as an inhabitant, and his heirs held the fee and sold the same after the town was re-settled. The same is true of Mr. Millett, the second preacher. The following scrap, preserved from the general destruction of ancient records, relates to the ministry lot : "At a meeting of the Committee for Brookfield July 2ª 1668, Present John Pynchon, John Ayres, Richard Coye, Wil- liam Pritchard, then ordered and agreed that the land that is lying between John Younglov's and Samuel Warners' land be reserved for a ministry ; there is six acres of meadow secured for it on the west side Coy's brook next the Pine plain."
60
FIRST SETTLEMENT, 1660-1676.
Burial Place. - It was customary in the early days of New England, to bury the dead around the meeting-house. But there is no tradition or other evidence to connect the old Brookfield meeting-house lot with such uses. Indeed the land was wet, and unsuitable for such a purpose. As neither the records nor tradition pointed to the old cemetery by Wekabaug pond (then covered by Indian wigwams), nor to the cemetery at the South village, as the place of the first interments, the question, Where were the first burials made? promised to remain unanswered. To the observing habits and good memory of Mr. Thomas Knowlton, librarian at West Brookfield, belongs the credit of furnishing the probable answer to the question. Mr. K. states that in his boyhood he often noticed a smooth plot of ground, containing about one-quarter of an acre, where there were then plainly distinguishable eight or ten grave-mounds, having rude stones set to mark the head and foot. One of the larger head-stones contained a monogram ; but time had ren- dered it practically illegible. The writer has visited the spot in com- pany with Mr. K. and others. It lies about 100 rods northerly from the old meeting-house site. And although considerable changes have been made by building a wall across the graves, and utilizing the grave- stones in its construction, enough remains to verify Mr. K.'s early observations, and render it reasonable to conclude that here was the place of the earliest burials. The soil was favorable ; the spot was in plain sight from the meeting-house ; and the distance was not objection- able. The land is now owned by A. W. Smith and D. H. Richardson, and is occupied for pasturage. The Brookfields owe it to their good name, and filial instincts, to enclose and forever consecrate this spot to the memory of their pioneer dead ! Near the burial place are some very ancient cellar holes. And there is evidence that in early times the road ran from the Ayres tavern to this spot, where it parted, one branch leading round the hill towards the west, the other striking more north towards the Owen place.
Corn Mill. - This was a necessity to a new plantation. A saw mill was a convenience, but not a necessity. For in its place, the first set- tlers built a saw-pit, viz., a platform and pit, set in a steep hillside, where two men, one above and the other below to operate the saw, would supply the few boards for inside casings, and the joists and small stuff for a frame ; and the large timbers were hewn by hand ; and the outside covering consisted of cleft-boards, i.e., boards split from oak and chestnut " bolts," and laid on as we lay clapboards. - The records state that Mr. Pynchon had built a grist-mill at Quabaug, before 1674, probably as early as 1667. It stood on the east branch of the brook that enters the head of Wekabaug pond, which branch was then called " Mill brook." The site is about fifty rods from the point where the
61
PETITION OF 1670.
brooks unite. This mill was burnt by the Indians when the town was destroyed in 1675. Not finding sufficient water for summer use, a ditch was dug across the meadows above Whortleberry hill, with a view to turn the water from the west branch into this mill branch - hence the name " Ditch meadows." For his labor and pains in the matter, Mr. P. received the following grants : "Granted to Mr. John Pynchon 7 acres of meadow upon the Mill brook about 40 rods off where the mill now stands, and all the meadow above the mill upon both sides the brook, and 3 acres along the brook to his mill, together with the stream." And for this and other services and expenses, Mr. P. had granted to him at Quabaug " 50 acres of upland, laid out and measured to him together on the westerly side of the Brooke which runs through Matchuck meddow ; and 25 acres of meddow, laid out in two parcels, one at the small falls in the brook, 20 acres on both sides, at Matchuck, joining Samuel Kent's meddow." "Measured and returned by corp. Richard Coy, the measurer of land there."
Thus the new plantation started on its hopeful, but as the event proved, short life.
As might have been foreseen, but probably was not fully weighed, the liberal allotments of "meadow lands " made to each of the first under- takers, consumed all the handy grass-bearing intervales on the Quabaug river, Coy's brook, Hovey's brook and Great brook. And a desirable class of adventurers were not attracted by the small and scattered patches of meadow on the more distant streams which fell within the six miles grant. More land was craved for the sake of more " meadows ; " and the people desired "the privileges of a town," so that they could dispose of their territory in a way to promote what appeared to be their true interests. And it was in furtherance of this desire that they sent the following petition to the General Court :
" To the much honored Gent Court held at Boston the 12th of October, 1670 -
" This honored Court being pleased upon petition presented to them by some of the inhabitants of Ipswich for land to settle a plantation at Quo- boag ; so far to favor their motion as to grant them a tract of land of six miles Square for that end, and farther since to encourage the poor inhabitants that are upon it : The humble petition therefore of the poor inhabitants of Quoboag to this honored Court is that according as they were pleased to intimate their readiness to grant us the liberty of a township (whereby meet inhabitants upon the place we should be capable of it) so they would be pleased at this time to do it, Our humble petition to this hon'd Ct. is farther that they would be pleased to enlarge our grant, if they see good - for that we may go six miles every way from the centre, The reason of this our request to the hon'd Ct. is because we find the meadow to lie very much
62
FIRST SETTLEMENT, 1660-1676.
scattered about the place in many small parcels far distant one from the other & therefore we fear that unless the hond Ct. grant us some considera- ble further enlargement we shall not be able to fetch within our bounds a sufficient quantity of meadow to accommodate families enough to make a comfortable society in a place so remote in the wilderness as ours is. We would further crave leave to acquaint the honored Ct that there is a great farm of land laid out very near our plantation for Peter Tuft as we do adjudge within a matter of three or four miles from the river which runs through our place to Springfield as we humbly conceive that it will fall within our bounds, If it should not we humbly crave that the hon'd Ct would grant that it may pay public charge with us; it being very difficult to carry on a place so remote from all other plantations in the woods as ours is ; And this hond Court so far countenancing us as they have already doth persuade us by way of humble petition to present these things to this hon'd Court, submitting ourselves their good pleasure concerning us herein.
Wee whose names, are here under written have subscribed hereto in the behalf of the rest,
RICHARD COY JOHN AYRES WILLIAM PRICHET
From QUOBOAG, October 9th 1670" 1
No action of the General Court on this petition is found in the State Archives. Perhaps the largeness of the quantity of land asked for, con- trasted with the fewness of the then inhabitants, may have been a reason for non-action. And it is fair to infer that the slowness of the people in settling a minister may have been another reason. And the two restric- tive provisos in the Act of 1673 (soon to be quoted) suggest other reasons.
The " Peter Tufts farm," referred to in this petition, was a tract of 600 acres, originally granted, Apr. 29, 1668, to Capt. John Pierce, who sold the same June 4, 1669, to his brother-in-law Peter Tufts of Charles- town, said farm being " southwest about 5 or 6 miles from Quabaug, upon the road to Springfield "- in what is now the southwesterly part of War- ren, and adjacent part of Brimfield.
The Town Incorporated. - The next paper in order, in our annals, is the petition of 1673, which led to the passage of an Act to incorporate the town, and which furnishes a list - probably complete - of the then settlers. "The files of the General Court had been repeatedly searched in vain for the petition, on which was based the legislative action of Oct. 1673 ; and the discouraging conclusion was arrived at that this most im- portant link in the chain of the early history of the town was forever lost. But by the merest accident of time and place, the original petition
1 Mass. Archives, CXII .: 212.
To the Mighty Horns y Gente 3 of the Massachufett -
The Amable Petition of the inhabitants of Inanbangs. Shewith That whereas wit bing not yet a low Ship wet and drafted is to comfortably carrying on y afferres of the place asy requifile for the outlikeis our own convem- ences m diverse reports, asjon the Ordering The InDentiall- affaires of the Town proper to Selectthen making @ coller- trig of Rates of. Her have mais a Committee to helpe- in the matters, but in regard we cannot rationally de fire onexpect the phar Gaffiftance of One of the ComitTEE Gris the Home majo L'unchent . Por offen as WE need
his remotenes, And yest without his plants on tog corrente the fomitted camiof manir a validade: The print con- formed Sur Amable reguEpris that this much forma" fo would or pleased to grant us the privileda: (8) Libertines f a country whereby we may be the bitter inable to carry on our own - matters whout too much Deffraction. And you Istitions shall we pray for profipurity
place for Brookhits :
Deforte y2 20the LET3.
Cohn young for 1). william Frathat
John SYNES Sin's. 1 Ricard Coy Sont! Join Ayres: June Sumof Bont nahamand women
The deputyvo fficigo morti to graus rgb *post eshat off name of rer plan for Brookwould ad it a four I front of Hono? margitand Confortmy Witham Sorry Offrir. The magiste Con faut fun to provier they vivir 1 Samuel: Phares
ym it means kust of the divinity oft warefor. Rua Thomas payyo ! farms : - avery;
hair and then Borgven the deparyo Berto Conjuntos Sow Rawson Search
Thomas - Milion
Confrutos to feil Octob . 11. 1673 .
Fring
i have long pefired to be discharged from being of the C
Committe Qualang: in regard of my many occasions & remotenejs having bin linde perviceable tony A doenter. ly decline y morte, sidefire their motion for being al- lower a Jonone maybe accepted & Granted by y Honored Court, hoping it may que beneficial to them is the Publike:/ John Lynchony
The man phony En intens to
63
INCORPORATION OF BROOKFIELD.
has been recently brought to light, not from the Archives of the State, where it ought to have been found, but from the apparently uninteresting material of a junk-shop, where it was rescued by Dr. John F. Pratt, of Chelsea, who has kindly allowed the following copy to be made : " I
" To the Highly Honnrd ye Genrll Corte of the Massachusett :
The humble Petition of the Inhabitants of Quaubauge, Sheweth That whereas wee being not yet allowed a Township wee are disabled as to com- fortably carrying on ye affaires of the place as is requisite for the publicke & our own conveniences in diverse respects, as for the Ordering the Pru- dentiall affaires of the Town proper to Select Men, makeing & collecting of Rates &c. Wee have indeed a Committee to helpe in these matters, but in regard we cannot rationally desire or expect the prsence & assistance of One of the Comittee (viz t. the Honnord Major Pynchon) Soe often as we need by reason of his remoteness, And yett wthout his prsence or concurrence the Comittee cannot make a valid act: The prmises considered Our Humble request is, that this much Honnord Corte would be pleased to grant us the Priviledge & libertyes of a Township whereby we may be the better inabled to carry on our owne matters wthout too much distraction.
And yor Petition's shall ever pray for yor prosperity If Yor Honnors please let ye Name of ye Place be Brookfeild.
Octr. ye 10 1673.
JOHN AYRES, Senr JOHN YOUNGLOVE JOHN AYRES, Junr
RICHARD COY, Senr
WILLIAM PRICHET
NATHANIEL WARNER
SAMUEL KENT THOMAS PARSONS JAMES TRAVIS
JOHN WARNER
THOMAS WILSON RICHARD COY
SAMUEL WARNER
SAMUEL PRICHET
JAMES HOVEY
SAMUEL AYRES
JUDA TRUMBULL "
Accompanying this petition was the following letter :
" SPRINGFEILD, Octob. 11th 1673.
I have long desyred to be discharged from being one of the Committee for Qvabaug : in regard of my many occasions & remoteness having bin little serviceable to ym : I doe vtterly decline ye worke, & desire their motion for being allowed a Towne may be accepted & granted by ye Honored Court, hoping it may prve beneficial to them and the Publike :
JOHN PYNCHON."
" The Deputyes Judge meete to graunt this pet. & that the name of the place be Brookefeild as is above desired, or Honord magistrates consenting hereto.
WILLIAM TORREY, Cleric."
" The magists Consent heereto provided they divide not the whole land of ye Township till they be forty or fivety familyes, in ye meane time yt their
I Henry E. Waite, Esq., in N. E. Hist. and Gen. Register, Oct. 1881.
64
FIRST SETTLEMENT, 1660-1676.
dividings one to another exceed not two hundred acres apeec. to any prsent inhabitant, their brethren the deputyes hereto consenting.
EDW. RAWSON, Secrety.
" 2 OCTOBER 1673.
Consented to by the deputies
WM TORREY, Cleric."
On the back of the original document is this entry :
"In ansr to ye peticon of the Inhabitants of Quabaug The Court Judgeth it meet to grant their request i.e. the liberty & priviledge of a Township and that the name thereof be Brookefeild Provided they Divide not the whole land of the Towneship till they be forty or fivety familyes, in the meane tjme that their Dividings one to another exceed not two hundred acres apeece to any present Inhabitant. originale, E. R. Se :"
Two months later, Lieut. Thomas Cooper of Springfield, who was named as grantee in the Indian deed of 1665 [see ante, p. 53], made assignment of the said deed to the inhabitants of the new Town as follows :
I Thomas Cooper above mentioned doe hereby relinquish & resigne up all my right & title in ye lands within mentioned to be bought of Shattoock- quis, hereby declaring that my acting in ye prmises was only in the behalfe & for the use & behoofe of the Inhabitants of Quabauge (now called Brook- feild) & their successors :- The purchase of the above mentioned land being at their pper cost & charge, who had obteyned a grant thereof from ye Honn- ord Genrll Crte & are now allowed a Towne: I doe therefore hereby deliver up this Instrument or deed of sale to John John Warner, Richard Coy, & William Pritchard of Quabauge alias Brookefeild for the vse & as the propp' right of the Inhabitants of Brookefeild: - The said Persons beinge betrusted by the Towne or present Inhabitants of Brookefeild for taking in & receiving this present Deed : Wherefore I doe hereby deliver it up to them hereby declaring it & the land therein mentioned to be sold to be & belong to the prsent Inhabitants of Brookefeild as they are a Township, and to per- ticular psons only according as they have or shall have grants of land con- firmed to them : The whole Tract of land above mentioned, I doe fully & absolutely resigne up to the Inhabitants of Brookefeild aforesaid and to their successors & their heires for Ever, As witness my hand this 19th day of December : 1673.
THOMAS COOPER
December 19th 1673: Leivt Thomas Cooper above mentioned subscribed hereunto & acknowledged the resigning up this Deed & all his intrest in the premises to the Inhabitants of Brookefeild :.
Before mee JOHN PYNCHON Assistant :.
This Deed 5 was
Recorded March ye 1673-4 By mee ELIZUR HOLYOKE, Record,
65
FOUNDERS OF BROOKFIELD.
A brief notice of the heads of families of these, the original founders of Brookfield, should be given in this connection.
JOHN AYRES, SEN. He was of Haverhill, 1645; Ipswich, 1648 ; a petitioner for Quabaug, 1660, whither he removed with the first under- takers, and was a leading man in the new plantation. He was killed by the Indians Aug. 2, 1675. His first wife was Sarah, daughter of John Williams of Haverhill ; second wife was Susanna, daughter of Mark Symonds of Ipswich, who with the younger children returned to I. after the destruction of Brookfield. Of the sons, John, Jr., and Samuel were signers of the petition for the township, and perhaps then had fam- ilies. The other brothers, Thomas, Joseph, Mark, Nathaniel and Edward (and the heirs of John, Jr., and Samuel), received large grants in Brook- field, ostensibly in their father's (and grandfather's) right, after the Sec- ond Settlement. One of them, viz., Joseph, came to reside at B., and left large posterity.
RICHARD COY, SEN. In 1638, he, aged 13, and his brother Matthew, aged 15, came to Boston, perhaps with a sister Mary, who married John Lake. Was of Salisbury, 1650, and in 1658 he is found at Wenham with a wife Martha and sons Richard (a signer of the petition of 1673) and John, and had Jebuz, b. at W. June 16, 1660; and at Salisbury, Caleb, b. Aug. 16, 1666. He was in Brookfield 1667; a leading man ; " Coy's brook " and "Coy's hill " perpetuate his name. He was killed by the Indians Aug. 2, 1675, and his widow " fled to Boston " with her children. In 1699, John Coy of Wenham, wife Elizabeth, sold to Thomas Barns, all his farm in Brookfield, together with the rights granted to his father "Richard Coy, Senior."
JOHN WARNER. He was born in England about 1616 ; came to New England with his father William, brother Daniel and sister Abigail in 1637, and settled at Ipswich. Mar. 10, 1655, he married Priscilla, daughter of Mark Symonds of I. He was probably an original petitioner for Qaubaug, and among the first undertakers there. In August 1665, he sold his homestead in I. and took his family to Brookfield, whither he himself had gone in the spring. He held honorable position at B. After the destruction of the town, he took refuge at Hadley, where his son Mark had settled, and where he died May 17, 1692. Of his chil- dren (some of them by a first wife), 1. Samuel, b. 1640, came to Qua- baug with his father, had a home-lot and other lands, and was an inhabitant till 1675. He married Oct. 21, 1662, at Ipswich, Mercy, daughter of Richard Swan. He was of Dunstable, N.H., 1685 ; had 8 children, 5 or 6 of which were born at B. 2. Mark, settled in Hadley. 3. John, probably settled in Springfield. 4. Nathaniel, signed the peti- tion 1673, though only 18 years old, a weaver ; was post-rider between Springfield and Boston, 1675-80 ; settled in Hadley. 5. Joseph, b.
66
FIRST SETTLEMENT, 1660-1676.
1657. 6. Mehitable, b. 1658. 7. Daniel, b. 1661, d. Ipswich, 1688. 8. Eleazar, b. 1662, settled Hadley. 9. Priscilla, b. 1666.
WILLIAM PRICHARD. He was of Lynn 1645, and of Ipswich 1648, where he was taxed in 1667, in which year he removed to Quabaug. He was killed Aug. 2, 1675. His son Samuel (who signed the petition of 1673) was killed during the siege of B. by the Indians. His sons, John of Topsfield and Joseph of Amesbury, in 1690, sell to their brother William of Suffield, all their lands in Brookfield, with their rights in the estates of their father and brother Samuel. Previous to this, however, a part of the father's estate had been sold to Hezekiah Dickinson of Had- ley, who perhaps lived in Brookfield long enough to erect the " frame of a house," which he sold in 1693, with 55 acres of land, to Stephen Jennings of Hatfield, whose son Joseph (the second representative of B. to the General Court) with wife Mary, sold the same with other par- cels, in 1717, to Tilly Merrick of Springfield.
JOHN YOUNGLOVE. Perhaps he was son of Samuel of Ipswich. In the Memoir of Rev. Michael Wigglesworth by John Ward Dean, it is stated that Mr. W. being in poor health, was encouraged by John Young- love to visit the Bermudas with him. They sailed from Boston, Sept. 23, 1663, and were absent nearly a year. In 1667, he is in Quabaug, and the next January administered on the estate of his brother James of Q., who died without a family. He preached to the Quabaug people till 1674, probably with no great acceptance to them or himself. After the destruction of Q. he removed to Hadley, where he taught the gram- mar school for several years. In 1681, he is found as a preacher at Suffield. Probably he was never ordained, and when the Court advised him to cease preaching, it may derogate nothing from his moral worth, for as a correspondent says, "he may have had an unhappy temper, but it is not unlikely that the temper of the people was worse than his." He died in Suffield, June 3, 1690, leaving a wife Sarah and several children. The eldest son John was born in Brookfield, the others in Hadley and Suffield. In March 1703, his home-lot, and the principal part of his estate in Brookfield was sold to Rev. Joseph Smith, then minister at B.
SAMUEL KENT. Was from Gloucester, perhaps son of Thomas, who was in G. 1643. Settled in Brookfield after 1667. On the destruction of the town, he removed to Suffield, where he died Feb. 2, 1691. In 1686, he sold his home-lot and rights in B. to John Scott, Sen., of Suf- field, whose sons Ebenezer and William, in 1703, sold the same to Thomas Barns of Brookfield. His wife was Frances ; children, Sarah, b. 1657, Mary, b. 1658, Samuel, b. 1661, John, b. 1664. His brother Thomas Kent, says Savage, " was of Brookfield in 1671," and of Gloucester 1690.
67
FOUNDERS OF BROOKFIELD.
THOMAS PARSONS. Was son of Thomas of Windsor, born Aug. 9, 1645 ; was in Brookfield 1665 or 6 ; married Dec. 24, 1668, Sarah Dare of Windsor, and had Sarah, b. 1669, Hannah, b. 1671, Thomas, b. 1674. His wife died June 14, 1674, and he removed to Suffield, where in 1699, with a wife Priscilla, they " being old and having no posterity," adopt Nathaniel Austin, who, in 1702, then of Suffield, with wife Abigail (daughter of Lieut. Thomas Hovey of Hadley), sold Thomas Barns and Samuel Owen of Brookfield all lands there formerly granted to Thomas Parsons.
THOMAS WILSON. Was son of Theophilus of Ipswich. He was living at I. 1657, when his daughter Mary was born ; probably went to Brook- field with the first undertakers in 1665. He was known to the Indians as " Major Wilson "; was wounded during the siege of the town ; re- turned to Ipswich. Felt says that he was " allowed £1., Oct. 7, 1675, for his losses by the Enemy at Quabaug." His daughter Hannah died at I. 1682.
JAMES TRAVIS. Was son of Henry of Newbury, where he was born Apr. 28, 1645. He married in Gloucester, Apr. 18, 1667, Mercy, daugh- ter of John Pierce, and had Mercy, b. Feb. 8, 1668 (m. Benj. Whitney of Framingham), in which year he sold his house and land in Gloucester to Thomas Millett, Sen., and removed to Brookfield, where he had James (who settled in Framingham), and perhaps others. He returned to Essex Co., and died before 1717, when his heirs applied for a grant of land in B., "in their father's right," and received " 60 acres near Brook- field Saw mill."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.