USA > Massachusetts > History of the Military company of the Massachusetts, now called the Ancient and honorable artillery company of Massachusetts. 1637-1888, Vol. I > Part 46
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
Mr. Whitman (1810) says concerning him : "He was an officer of the Boston militia, and his fame as an orator and politician was so great that his military title is lost sight of. He pursued such measures as rendered him obnoxious to the prerogative party. He was extremely popular in Boston, and principal leader of the opposition party in the House, the other Boston members and a majority of the country members adhering to him through several administrations. His eloquence swayed the public mind, and he continued in constant favor with the people until near his decease. His oratory is spoken of as animating, energetic, concise, persuasive, and pure.
" His opposition might have been caught from his father, who was of the violent party, adhering to the old, and opposing the new, charter. Mr. Cooke, Jr. [1699], was of the Land-Bank party in 1711, a disastrous speculation, but he sided with the promi- nent men of the day. He 'had the character of a fair and open enemy, was free in expressing his sentiments, and the Governor was informed of some contemptuous language in private company, with which he was so much offended as to procure Mr. Cooke's [1699] removal from the place of clerk of the Superior Court.' A dispute arising respecting the conduct of his Majesty's surveyor of the woods in Maine, Mr. Cooke [1699] immediately embarked in the controversy, and, with horse and foot, was ever after the great partisan warrior of the opposition. This accounts for his rejection from the council in 1718, and as speaker in 1720.
" He was chosen by joint ballot of the House and council, agent of the Province to England, and sailed Jan. 18, 1723. He had been a violent opposer of Gov. Shute, and, meeting him in England, refused to be reconciled with him. He continued in England two years, but his mission was unsuccessful. In May, 1725, he was chosen into the
Elisha Cooke, Jr. (1699.) AUTHORITIES : - Whitman's Hist. A. and H. A. Company, Ed. 1842;
Eliot's Biog. Dict .; Boston Records.
318
HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT AND
[1699-1700
council, and Lieut .- Gov. Dummer [1702] did not negative him. This may be con- sidered as a mark of approbation for his conduct in England ; his salary, while absent, was small, but he 'acquiesced therein, for the sake of peace.' In 1731, he seemed to favor the idea of a fixed salary for the Governor, and his popularity began to decline, so that in 1733 or 1734, he obtained but a very small majority, after repeated trials, to be representative. The usual votes cast in those days, even of excitement, rarely exceeded six hundred. Hutchinson says of him, 'that he differed from most who, from time to time, have been recorded in history for popular men. Generally, to preserve the favor of the people, they must change with the popular air. He had the art of keeping the people steady in the applause of his measures. To be careful never to depart from the appearance of maintaining or enlarging rights, liberties, and privileges, was all he found necessary.'
" When Gov. Burnet arrived, he lodged at Mr. Elisha Cooke's [1699] while the Province House was being repaired. He had become acquainted with him in England, and there was apparent friendship, but it did not last long. The shopkeepers and trades- men (mechanics) directed the councils of the town, and were Mr. Cooke's [1699] sup- porters. The Governor had been somewhat free in his jokes upon them ; this Mr. Cooke [1699] knew how to take advantage of in 1728. In 1730, Gov. Belcher, with whom he had been a favorite, appointed him chief-justice of the Court of Common Pleas in Suffolk County.
" Mr. Cooke [1699] died in August, 1737, aged fifty-nine years. The inventory of his estate, real and personal, amounted to £32,515 75. 3d., - probably in paper currency. Among other things are enumerated, 437 ounces of silver plate, prized at £590 15s., and his library, valued at £81. He owned lands at the Eastward of nominal value. He never held any office in the Artillery Company."
John Edwards (1699), goldsmith, of Boston, was a son of John Edwards, of Boston, a "Chyrurgeon," who came from Lymehouse, Stepney, Middlesex County, England, and was taxed in Boston in 1688. John, Jr. (1699), was born March 13, 1686-7. He was the father of Capt. Thomas (1724), and of Capt. Joseph Edwards (1738). John Edwards (1699) was a member of the Boston militia and a tithing-man in 1701, 1708, and 1711 ; fourth sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1704; constable in 1715, and an assessor from 1720 to 1727 inclusive. He is given in the Boston town records the title of " Mr.," and was prominent in the affairs of the town. In 1722, he, with Col. Penn Townsend (1674) and Jeremiah Allen (1694), constituted a committee, with the selectmen, to visit " the wrighting School at the Southerly End of Boston," and examine the scholars under the teaching of Mr. Ames Angier (1708). The committee did so, April 24, 1722, and reported to the town, they " are of opinion that it will be no service to the town to continue Mr. Angier [1708] in that employ."
At a meeting of the selectmen, Feb. 18, 1729, "the Selectmen executed a lease the same day to Mr John Edwards [1699], of Boston, goldsmith, of a shop or tenement now in his possession called number six situate and being in Boston, fronting upon Dock Square," having the square on the south, westerly by Mr. Dyar, the town dock on the north, and Mr. Casno on the east, for the term of seven years, at twenty pounds per annum.
The following is taken from the Selectmen's Minutes, March 5, 1722 : -
John Edwards (1699). AUTHORITIES: Boston Records; Savage's Gen. Dict.
319
HONORABLE ARTILLERY COMPANY.
1699-1700]
" Upon a petion of mr John Edwards of Boston Sheweth.
" That whereas there is a Tomb in the South Burying place belonging to the Late Governour Endicot, which has bin unimproved for many years, and there being no family in Said Town nearer Related to the Said Governour Endicot famaly then his, Desires he may haue Liberty granted him to make use of it for his family. . . .
" Granted that the Said John Edwards has Liberty to improue the Said Tomb until a person of Better Right to it appears to claim it."
His will, dated in 1743, was proved April 22, 1746.
Samuel Gaskell, Jr. (1699), shopkeeper, of Boston, was probably a son of Samuel, and was born in Salem. He was approved by the selectmen to retail wines and liquors out of doors, July 13, 1691. He was a constable of Boston in 1696, and a tithing-man and member of a militia company in Boston in 1698. He became a member of the Old South Church, April 3, 1692.
The family became noticeable on account of the persecutions to which Samuel, the father, was subjected. He was a Quaker, or rather attended a Quaker meeting, and Sept. 16, 1658, " he had his right ear cut off in prison." No other family of the name seems to have been in the colony at that time.
Samuel Keeling (1699), merchant, first appears in Boston about 1695. He married, Sept. 14, 1699, Elizabeth Oliver, whose brother, Capt. Nathaniel Oliver, Jr., joined the Artillery Company in 1701. Her grandfather, Peter Oliver (1643), was captain of the Artillery Company in 1669. Samuel Keeling (1699) was a partner in business of Charles Chauncy (1699), both of whom, in June, 1701, signed a petition, with others, to Lord Bellomont, asking him for a bankrupt law.
Samuel Keeling (1699) was third sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1700, lieu- tenant in 1710, and captain in 1716. He served the town in various capacities, among which were : constable in 1699 ; overseer of the poor in 1707, 1708, and 1709; auditor of accounts concerning repairing fortifications in 1709 and 1710; captain of a military company in 1707 and 1708, and was appointed a justice of the peace, Dec. 24, 1715. He was on several special committees of the town, to whom important matters were entrusted. He was of that important though temporarily defeated committee of 1717, which reported in favor of the erection of a public market. The report was rejected, and the committee, enlarged, considered the matter for two years, and the same report was voted down again. The matter then rested until 1734.
Administration was granted on his estate, Jan. 26, 1729. Inventory of estate, two hundred and six pounds.
Oliver Noyes (1699), physician, of Boston, son of John and Sarah (Oliver) Noyes, of Boston, was born in 1675. His father, John, joined the Artillery Company in 1676,
Samuel Gaskell, Jr. (1699.) AUTHORITIES : Boston Records; Bond's Watertown.
Samuel Keeling (1699). AUTIIORITY : Boston Records.
"Capt Keelings funeral attended by Rev. Mr. Cooper, Dec. 25, 1729." - Sewall's Diary.
Oliver Noyes (1699), AUTHORITIES: Boston Records; Whitman's Hist. A. and II. A. Company; Descendants of Thomas Brattle.
" Dr. Noyes died 16 Mar. 1720-1, being taken very suddenly and awfully." - Snow's MS. note.
" He had 'a house and land near Fort Hill.' Wife Katherine, sons Belcher and Oliver; daus. Anna, wife of Mather Byles, and Sarah, wid. cf - Pulcepher."- Record of 1738, quoted by Drake, Hist. of Boston, p. 536.
"[1720-1, Tuesday ] March 14. Dr Oliver Noyes is seized with an Apoplexy at 10 at night. ...
320
HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT AND
[1699-1700
and his grandfather, Peter Oliver, became a member in 1643. Samuel Keeling (1699) seems to have had the pecuniary assistance of Capt. Oliver Noyes (1699) in the potash works of Chauncy (1699) and Keeling (1699), as shown by a deed of Nathaniel Byfield (1679), dated 1700. His brother, Ensign John Noyes, joined the Artillery Company in 1698.
Capt. Oliver Noyes (1699) graduated at Harvard College in 1695, and was by profession a physician, yet he found time to manifest a deep interest in everything that concerned the welfare of Boston.
Mr. Whitman (1810) says, " He must have entered into public life and enterprise, to improve his native town, early in life; and from the magnitude of his undertakings, resembled the great author of India and Central wharves, Broad, India, Market (now new Cornhill), Brattle streets, and the Milldam, solid causeway, - Uriah Cotting.
"He was one of the original projectors of Long Wharf, and the erection of that noble pier may justly be attributed to his enterprising spirit. The work was commenced soon after the great fire in 1711, called by Snow the fourth great fire in Boston, which commenced in Capt. Ephraim Savage's [1674] house, in Williams Court, and swept off both sides of old Cornhill, part of Court (Queen) Street and State (King) Street, to the dock, together with the town-house and the First Church (old brick) where 'Joy's buildings' afterward stood. The rubbish of this fire was chiefly used in filling up Long Wharf."
Mr. Hutchinson, who knew him well, speaks of his character, Vol. II., p. 249 : " He was strongly attached to the popular party and highly esteemed by them ; was of a very humane, obliging disposition, and in private life no man was more free from indelicacies." He was of the party which followed the leadership of Elisha Cooke, Jr. (1699), one of the most active and prominent men of his time.
Capt. Oliver Noyes (1699) married Ann, daughter of Hon. Andrew Belcher, of Cambridge, who was a son of Capt. Andrew Belcher (1642), of Boston. Jonathan, a brother of Ann (Belcher) Noyes, was Governor of Massachusetts from 1730 to 1741. Capt. Noyes (1699) was an officer of the Boston militia, having been promoted to the captaincy after years of service. He held various offices in the town, and was selectman in 1708, 1711, and from 1719 until his decease. He represented Boston in the General Court in 1714-6, 1719, and 1720. He died March 16, 1721. His inventory, real and personal, without lands at the Eastward, or in other counties, amounted to £17,193. He was a member of the Old South Church, second sergeant of the Artil- lery Company in 1701, and ensign in 1708.
Edward Proctor (1699) was a tailor, of Boston. He married Elizabeth Cock, Nov. 24, 1691, to whom several children were born in Boston. He was grandfather of Col. Edward, who joined the Artillery Company in 1756. Edward (1699) was clerk of the market in 1700, 1701, and 1704; constable in 1706; assessor in 1728, and tithing-man in 1697, 1704, 1712, and from 1722 to 1727. In 1713, with Capt. Timothy Clarke (1702), he was collector of taxes. May 25, 1735, he gave five pounds in “ Goods toward the erection of the new Workhouse." June 5, 1721, the selectmen permitted
[March] 16, Mr Foxcroft preaches, prays for Dr Noyes, who died at 4 P. M. . . . March 20. Monday, Dr Noyes is buried in his New Tomb in the South
Burying place." - Sewall Papers, Vol. III., MP. 28.4, 285. Edward Proctor (1699). AUTHORITY: BOS- ton Records.
321
HONORABLE ARTILLERY COMPANY.
1699-1700]
Mr. Edward Proctor (1699) to erect a bark house near Snow Hill ; and Aug. 25, 1731, he was one of a committee from the North Church for liberty to erect a small building fronting on Ship Street.
He resided on Wood Lane (Proctor's Lane), in 1736, where he was permitted to lay a drain from his house to the common sewer, having removed from Fish (North) Street, where he resided in 1711. Sept 9, 1718, the selectmen granted liberty to Edward Proctor (1699) to build a tomb in the new range of tombs on the southerly side of the North burying-place ; he to make the wall next to Hull Street sufficient for a fence. His will was proved Nov. 26, 1751.
Richard Proctor (1699), a shopkeeper in Boston, was born in 1652. He was a constable in that town in 1694; surveyor of highways in 1696; clerk of the markets in 1708, and tithing-man in 1706 and 1715. July 22, 1718, Richard Proctor (1699) and Obadiah Proctor (1718) were allowed to dig up the highway, to lay a drain in Queen (Court) Street, and thence in Cornhill (Washington Street) to the sewer. He was second sergeant of the Artillery Company in 171I.
Richard Proctor (1699) died Jan. 28, 1719, and his widow, Rachel, died June II, 1748, aged eighty-eight years. Their remains were interred in the King's Chapel Burial-Ground.
His residence on Queen Street, so near the town pump standing in Cornhill, was probably the reason of his having charge of its repairs in 1709, when he expended £3 6s. upon the pump. He had charge of the same work in March, 1714-5, and expended £6 Ios. June 20, 1711, the selectmen signed a lease, giving to Richard Proctor (1699) and John Cookson (1701) the monopoly of sweeping the chimneys. Three years later they were authorized to prosecute persons who swept chimneys con- trary to law. In 1715, the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Proctor (1699) having charge of the chimney sweeping within the bounds of the four south military companies (or wards), and Mr. Cookson (1701) of the chimney sweeping within the bounds of the four north companies.
Richard Proctor's (1699) business place was burned in the fire of 1711. On account of his loss, the selectmen granted him, Dec. 20, 1711, the sum of ten pounds. At the previous meeting of the board, Dec. 17, they leased to him the shop which was the watch-house, at £3 Ios. per annum.
Joseph Russell (1699), of Boston, was born in 1665, and he married, June 5, 1693, Susanna Cheever. She was a daughter of Ezekiel Cheever, the famous school-master. The latter mentioned his grandchild, Ezekiel Russell, in his will.
Joseph Russell (1699) was a constable of Boston in 1693 ; clerk of the market in 1696, 1697, and 1700; in 1706 was chosen a tithing-man, and was fined for not serving.
Aug. 9, 1704, John Mountfort (1697), Jonathan Mountfort, John Farnum, Timothy Wadsworth (1691), Joseph Russell (1699), John Bucanan (1695), and Edward Proctor (1699) petitioned the selectmen for liberty to sink a well and place a pump, at their own expense, in the highway, "at the southerly side of the house in which Mrs. Eliza- beth Mountfort deceased lately dwelt at the parting of the two ways nigh to the North meeting-house in Boston." The petition was granted.
Joseph Russell (1699) died March 13, 1713, aged forty-eight years.
Richard Proctor (1699). AUTHORITY : Bos- Joseph Russell (1699). AUTHORITY : Boston ton Records.
Records.
322
HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT AND
[1699-1700
Thomas Sandford (1699), of Boston, son of Robert (1661) and Elizabeth Sandford, was born in Boston, April 27, 1673. He does not appear to be mentioned on the Boston records, except "Thomas of Robert Sanfford " was christened in the First Church, " 4 day 3 mo," 1673.
Habijah Savage (1699), apothecary, of Boston, fourth son of Lieut .- Col. Thomas Savage (1665), was born in Boston, Sept. 10, 1674. He was a grandson of Major Thomas Savage (1637). The uncles of Habijah Savage (1699) -brothers of Lieut .- Col. Thomas Savage (1665) - were Benjamin (1682), Ebenezer (1682), Capt. Ephraim (1674), Capt Habijah (1665), and John (1694). Capt. Habijah Savage, Jr. (1733), was a son of Lieut .- Col. Habijah (1699); and Col. Thomas Savage, Jr. (1693), was a brother of Lieut .- Col. Habijah (1699). The latter married, on the 8th of July, 1703, Hannah (Phillips) Anderson, daughter of Samuel Phillips (1693), bookseller. They had Habijah (1733), Thomas (1739), and Arthur (1738).
Lieut .- Col. Habijah (1699) graduated at Harvard College in 1695. He was an officer of the militia in Boston, captain of a company for several years ; became major of the Boston regiment in 1717, and its lieutenant-colonel in 1727. He was third sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1701, lieutenant in 1709, and its captain in 1711, 1721, and 1727, continuing a useful member until his decease. After he commanded the last time, -being a field officer of the Boston regiment and in the ranks of the Company, - upon the day of field exercise, April 7, 1729, all the commissioned officers of the Artillery being absent "by illness and other avocations," he was, by hand vote, selected to lead and exercise the Company on that day. He united with the Old South Church, Jan. 16, 1708-9. He served as selectman of Boston from 1715 to 1718, and was a representative of Boston in the General Court in 1717, 1718, and 1732. He was chairman of a committee chosen in town meeting, Sept. 28, 1720, "to consider about promoting of a Spinning School or Schools for the instruction of the children of this town." The committee reported Dec. 27 following, and later the town devoted three hundred pounds to the project. The school was established on Tremont Street, between School and Winter, about where Hamilton Place now is. "Spinning wheels then became the hobby-horses of the public. The females of the town, rich and poor, appeared on the Common with their wheels and vied with each other in the dexterity of using them." He was an auditor of the town treasurer's accounts in 1731, moderator of the town meeting, Sept. 14, 1731, and, May 5, 1731, was one of a committee to draw up instructions for the representatives. He was appointed a special justice of the Court of Common Pleas, Dec. 15, 1732, and a justice of the peace, Dec. 19, 1728 ; reappointed July 6, 1732.
Lieut .- Col. Habijah Savage (1699) died Sept. 16, 1746, aged seventy-two years.
John Wharton (1699), of Boston, was probably a son of Richard, of Boston. He married, Oct. 14, 1698, Sarah Ballentine, who was born in Boston, Sept. 18, 1664. He was second sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1704. Col. Daniel Henchman (1712) died Feb. 25, 1761, at the age of seventy-two years. In his will he mentions a John Wharton, "who lived with him."
Habijah Savage (1699). AUTHORITIES: Boston Records; Savage's Gen. Dict.
323
HONORABLE ARTILLERY COMPANY.
1700-1]
The entry on the Company record for 1699 is as follows : -
" April 3ª 1699. The Artillery Company met and chose the Rev. Mr. Samuel Willard to preach the next election sermon and desired Lt. Col. Elisha Hutchinson [1670], Maj. Penn Townsend [1674],. I.t Thomas Hunt [1685], and Ensign Samuel Marshall [1685] to acquaint him with it and desire him to do it. Accepted by him.
" June 5th 1699, The Rev. Mr. Samuel Willard preached from 1 Kings ix. 22."
Rev. Samuel Willard,1 of Boston, delivered the Artillery election sermon of 1699. He was a son of Simon, of Cambridge, and was born Jan. 31, 1640. He began to preach at Groton in 1662, was admitted a freeman in 1670, and was ordained July 13, 1664. He married, Aug. 8, 1664, Abigail, daughter of Rev. John Sherman, minister at Water- town. March 31, 1678, he was installed over the Old South Church as successor of Rev. Mr. Thacher, the first minister. He delivered the sermon on Fast Day in 1683, before the General Court, and, on the resignation of Increase Mather as president of Harvard College, he became his successor as vice-president, Sept. 6, 1701, and resigned Aug. 14, 1707. He died on the 12th of September following.
The officers elected were : Samuel Checkley (1678), captain ; John 1 700-I . Barnard (1677), lieutenant ; Zechariah Tuttle (1697), ensign. Thomas Savage (1693) was first sergeant ; John Ballentine, Jr. (1694), second sergeant ; Samuel Keeling (1699), third sergeant ; William Sutton (1695), fourth sergeant ; Robert Gibbs (1692), clerk, and Samuel Marion (1691), drummer.
The year opened hopefully and prosperously. Additional free schools were estab- lished in Boston and the outlying districts ; generous provisions were made for town expenses, and five hundred pounds additional were levied on account of the great num- ber of poor people, reduced to want on account of the eastern war with the Indians, who had come to Boston. In 1700, Boston instructed its representatives to endeavor for the abolition of slavery. Two years later a duty was laid on negroes imported into the province.
Judge Sewall (1679) wrote in his diary : " April 7, 1701. Last Satterday's News was brot by the Post of my Lords [Bellomont] Interment, March 27 ; So 46. Guns were ordered to be fired at the Castle and 22. at the Sconce ; were fired about 6-p. m. . . . The Artillery Company gave three Volleys in the middle of the Town when they came out of the field, with regard to my Lord. Col Townsend wears a Wigg to day."
The members recruited in 1700 were : Silence Allen, Benjamin Cushing, Waterhouse Fernly, Thomas Fitch, John Gerrish, David Jesse, Henry Jones, Edmund Knight, Edward Oakes, Jonathan Pollard, Wigglesworth Sweetser, Penn Townsend, Jr., Edward Winslow, and Peter Wyer.
Silence Allen (1700), cordwainer, of Boston, believed to have come from Dor- chester, was born in 1667, as he testified in 1731 that he was sixty-four years of age.
Rev. Samuel Willard. AUTHORITIES : Hill's Hist. of Old South Church; Sprague's Annals of American Pulpit; Eliot's Biog. Dict.
Silence Allen (1700). AUTHORITY : Boston Records.
1 " [1699] June 5. Mr. Willard preaches an
excellent Election sermon. Gov'r dines at Monks. Major Walley [1671] chosen Capt., Capt Byfield [1679] Lieut., Tho. Hutchinson [1694] Ens. Gov'r Bellomont delivers the Badges, saying that IIe approv'd of the choice." - Sewall Papers, Vol. I., P. 497.
324
HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT AND
[1700-1
He married, Jan. 20, 1692, Esther Wiswall, of Dorchester, who was born Dec. 28, 1669. He was active in town matters, being a clerk of the market in 1698; surveyor of high- ways in 1702 ; constable in 1703 ; assessor in 1715, but declined to serve ; tithing-man in 1716 and 1717, and was a sealer of leather in 1700, 1706-13, 1715, 1722-5, 1730, and 1731. In 1724, March 30, the selectmen granted liberty to Mr. Silence Allen (1700) to build tomb No. 28 in the South Burial-Ground. April 19, 1732, he resided on Orange Street.
Benjamin Cushing (1700), merchant, of Boston, the youngest son of John and Sarah (Hawke) Cushing, of Scituate, was born Feb. 4, 1679. Mr. Savage says, " Benja- min [1700] traded to Barbadoes, perhaps never married, and is thought not to have left a family." He was a lieutenant in the militia. He gave a power of attorney, dated at Barbadoes in 1702, whence it is inferred he did business there.
Waterhouse Fernly (1700).
Thomas Fitch (1700), merchant, of Boston, son of Thomas and Martha (Fiske) Fitch, was born Feb. 5, 1668-9, in Boston. He married Abiel, daughter of Rev. Samuel Danforth, of Roxbury, who delivered the Artillery election sermon in 1667. Her mother, Mary (Wilson) Danforth, was the youngest child of Rev. John Wilson, of Boston, who is believed to have preached the first sermon before the Military Company of the Massa- chusetts in 1638, and who was a brother-in-law of Capt. Robert Keayne (1637), the founder of the Company. Mr. Fitch (1700) was very prominent in town affairs, and held many offices during the thirty-six years of his active service. In 1700, he was cap- tain of a company of Boston militia ; in 1712, major of a Boston regiment, and subse- quently became its lieutenant-colonel and colonel. He was first sergeant of the Artillery Company in 1701 ; ensign in 1703 ; lieutenant in 1705, and its captain in 1708, 1720, and 1725. He was selectman of Boston from 1703 to 1705 inclusive ; representative to the General Court in 1709, 1711, and 1712 ; councillor from 1715 to 1730 inclusive, and in 1734, and was appointed a special justice of the Superior Court, Jan. 7, 1718-9.
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.