USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Dorchester > History of the town of Dorchester, Massachusetts > Part 6
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HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
thers of William, whom they probably accompanied to Windsor. There was also a Richard Phelps, a son to one of the preceding. The name ceases at Dorchester from that time.
John Pierce (spelt Pears), admitted freeman in 1631; selectman in 1633, '36 and '41; proprietor of lands in 1656.
There were two of this name in Dorchester, both early. One was a cooper. His first wife, that we have any account of, was Mary; his second, Rebecca. His children were-Nehemiah, born February 17, 1631-32; Samuel, probably older, as he is mentioned first ; Mehitable, who married Jeremiah Rogers ; Mary, born March 6, 1638; Mercy, and one other child, probably Exercise. About 1642 he removed to Boston, and sold his house in Dorchester to Richard Curtis. He died in Boston in 1661. His son Nehemiah was a cooper also.
John Pierce and Parnell his wife had a son Jo- seph, born in Dorchester October 30, 1631 ; Abigail, born July 17, 1633; John, born 1634, and died the same day ; Nehemiah, born July 12, 1637, and died in October, 1639. Parnell, wife of John, died in October, 1639. This John, it is supposed, is the one designated mariner, and was of Stepney, county of Middlesex, in England.
John Phillips, one of the first settlers ; freeman in October, 1630; grantee of land in 1634; held property in Dorchester in 1656, but removed to Bos- ton in 1645 ; one of the founders of the Old North Society in 1649. He was styled " Biskett Maker." By his wife Johanna he had a daughter Mary, born
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in 1633 and died in 1640; John, born April, 1635 ; Israel, born June 3, 1642, and died September, 1643. Mary, supposed to be a daughter of his, married a Mr. George Mountjoy, of Boston. Mr. Phillips was a man of good circumstances, among the best in the town. After his removal to Boston, he sold some of his property in Dorchester to Augustine Clement, and the latter sold property in Boston to him. Mr. Phillips also sold house and lands in Dorchester to William Robinson, in 1651. He lived in Leeds's Lane, now Savin Hill Avenue, and sold his place to Mr. Gurnsey.
George Phillips was among the earliest settlers. He removed to Windsor.
Widow Purchase, grantee of four acres in 1633, and proprietor of Dorchester Neck in 1637; proba- bly mother of Oliver Purchase, who was admitted freeman and church member in 1636. O. Purchase sold his property at Dorchester and removed to Lynn, which he represented many years from 1660. Wil- liam Purchase was also in Dorchester early.
Andrew Pitcher, grantee in 1634, '37 and '47. Freeman and church member in 1641. By his wife Margaret, he had children - John ; Experience, baptized Sept. 25, 1642; Mary, baptized November 25, 1644, and married Mr. Mills; Ruth, baptized July 25, 1647; Samuel, baptized April 18, 1652; and Nathaniel. Experience married Joseph, son of Edward Bugbee, of Roxbury. Mr. Pitcher was a farmer, and lived, the latter part of his life, in what is now Milton. He died Feb. 19, 1660. His grand- son, Andrew, born in Dorchester, 1685-graduated
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at Harvard, 1703-settled in the ministry at Sci- tuate, Mass., and died Sept. 27, 1723.
George Proctor, grantee in 1634, '37 and '56. Town bailiff in 1642. His wife was Edith. His children were-Sarah and Mary, who probably came with their parents ; Abigail, born August 24, 1637, married Joseph Lowell, of Boston, March 8, 1659; Thomas ; Samuel, born November 8, 1640. Sarah married Thomas Trott. Mr. Proctor died 29 (11), 1661. After his decease his widow removed to Bos- ton, and undoubtedly lived with her son Samuel, who settled there. Mr. Proctor's residence appears to have been on the north-east side of Meeting-house Hill, on or near the spot where Samuel Downer, Jr. now resides. After Mrs. Proctor removed to Boston, it was sold to David Jones, then to John Beighton.
Humphrey Pinney came from Somersetshire, Eng., 1630, in the Mary and John. Grantee of land in 1633 ; moved to Windsor in 1635. His residence in Windsor was about one mile north of the present congregational church, adjoining Mr. Gaylord-his old well is still in existence. He married Mary Hull, probably daughter of George Hull. He died Aug. 20, 1683. She died August 18, 1684. Had children-1st, Samuel, born in Dorchester, who went to Windsor with his parents, and married Joyce Bissell, Nov. 17, 1665-they had three children. 2d. Nathaniel, born December, 1640, married Sarah Phelps, widow of Samuel Phelps, son of William. She was daughter of Edward Griswold. They had two children. He died August 7, 1676. She died Nov. 6, 1715. 3d. Mary, born June 16, 1644, mar-
£
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HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
ried Abraham Phelps, son of George; had children, She died July 2, 1725. He died Jan. 28, 1728, aged 85. 4th. Sarah, born Dec. 3, 1648; married William, son of Wm. Phelps, as his second wife, Dec. 20, 1676; left no children. 5th. John, born October 19, 1651; died in Windsor, 1697. 6th. Abigail, born November 26, 1654; married John Addoms (or Adams), Dec. 6th, 1667-had children. 7th. Isaac, born Feb. 24, 1663; married Sarah Clarke; had seven children.
John Pope, grantee of land in 1634, '47 and '56 ; one of the first signers of Church in 1636. There appear to be matters relating to his name which are not reconcilable, unless there were two of the name and generation. The first wife of his, we know of, is Jane. They had a son John, born June 30, 1635 ; Nathan, born and died in 1641. Thomas, son of John and Alice, born December 27, 1643. There was a Jane Pope, of Dorchester, who died the latter part of 1662, or early in 1663, who left a daughter Patience, the wife of Edward Blake. There was a Margaret, wife of John Pope, died October 20, 1672, aged about 74 years, buried in Dorchester burying ground. John Pope, sen., died October 19, 1686 ; left a widow Margaret, who administered on his estate. There was a John Pope who was a roguish fellow, and was arraigned before the General Court, which resulted as follows, 30 (2) 1640 : " John Pope, for his unchast attempt upon a girle, and dalliance wth maydes, and rebellios, or stubborn carriage against his master, was censured to bee severely whiped." This could not have been our John ; his
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HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
respectability and character forbid it; so do the character and habits of his numerous descendants. He was a shoemaker by trade, and was more likely to be hard at work on his bench, than dallying " with maydes."
Richard Pope. There appears to have been a person here by that name, in 1635, probably not long after. Farmer says he was brother of Joseph, one of the early settlers of Salem.
Eltweed Pomeroy, proprietor in 1633, and first Selectman in 1633. Removed to Windsor.
Mr. Pincheon, mentioned in the list, is the very respectable William, of Roxbury, who was among the founders of that place, and one of the most im- portant settlers of Springfield. The following letter was written by him from the latter place.
SPRINGFIELD, the 2 of ye 4th m. 1645.
Mr Wintrop my best respect rembred the occasion of this letter is in ye behalf of one Mary Lewis the bearer hereof who hath dwelt wth my sonn Smith sundry yeres : & she was seruant to me in dorchester before she came to my son : she came to me for Councill in a difficult case & I aduised her to make a journey to you on purpose for Counsell : she was maried in wales to a papist that vsed her extreme badly : and at last her husband went from her & she hath not herd of him thes many yeres & she would take aduise whether if god giue her a good opportunity she may not marry againe : I asked her if she were free from all intanglemente she saith she is and that she will kepe her so till she haue liberty granted her to marry by ye magis- trates : therefore I intreate you so to Consult about her case that she may be eather fully set at liberty or smith tyed from mariage and not left in doubtfull suspence as now she is.
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I haue ye testimony of one Alexander Edwards who is a member of our Church this 2d of ye 4. m. 1645.
Alexander Edwards* doth testifie that when he lived in wales wch was about 5. y. since, he knew Mary Lewis re- sorting often to M' wroths ministry where he also was a herer : he saith that he knew her cominge often thither for about 2. y. space : and in that space she did often com- plaine yt her husband was dpted from her, and that she could not tell where to find him, & she did vse means in inquier him out : when she could here no tidinge of him she was aduised by some to come for N. E. & when she ppar- ed to come for N. E. Alexander Edwards saith he mett. her at Bristro [Bristol ?] and yt she intended to come in ye same ship he did : But some that herd how her conditi. was aduised her to returne againe & to sek vp her husband or else to aduise wth Mr wroth what she might do in the Case : accordingly she returned back to inquire after her husband and to take further aduice in ye Case : so she lost her pas- sage in that ship that he came in but yet she came into N. E. ye same yeare in another ship about 6 weeks after so that now it is full 7 y. since her husband left her.
Alexander Edwards also saith that he often heard her say in wales that her husband was a Ranke papist and his 2 sisters and that she liued in continuall danger of her life for he did often threaten to do her mischiefe if she would not be a papist and do as he did, or else dept from him : and in this regard he saith that Mr wroth & diuers other godly people did much pitty her case.
Mary Lewis also saith that Mr wroth intreated Mr Erbu- ry to write to M' Blindman in her behalfe to desyer him to ps her as a sister and to see her placed in some godly family : if Mr Blindman can rember this passage of Mr Erburies letter it were euidence that she left ye land & so
* "The Oath of Aleagence " was administered by Major Pynchon to several of the inhabitants of Northampton, Mass., February 8, 1678, among whom was Alexan- der Edwards. He died in N. Sept. 4th, 1690 .- See N. E. Hist. and Gen. Register, vol. iii. p. 400; vol. iv. p. 26.
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all hopes to find her husband wth Counsell and aduise of godly ministers :
What further testimony she can pduce to proue that her husband hath left her for many yeares it is like she will search further : one of her witnesses is not at home in our Towne at this time :
So not doubtinge but you will dispatch her & send her home wth such aduise as you conceive well be according to god.
The Case of Galeasyns I doe often rember : and I thinke is such a case it is lawfull to giue liberty for a 2ª mariage : but what to aduise in this case I rather choose to leave it to you and such magistrates as you think mete to decide ye Case wthall : and so I rest
yr euer assurred louing ffriene
PYNCHON.
The howse of deputies desire or hono'd Magsts to make choyce of some of themselues to joyne wth ye Speaker Major Gibbons & Liftente Inncombe to Consider of M Pinchons Line and to returne theire thoughts of it to ye Courte.
ROB. BRIDGES.
Mr Bradstreet & M' Di-h are appointed
to ioyne in this Courtte. Jo WINTHROP : D : Go :
William Preston. He is in Mr. Savage's list. Came to New England in the Truelove, Capt. Gibbs, in September, 1635. His wife Marie came with him, also his children-Elizabeth, born in 1624; Sarah, born in 1627; Marie, in 1629; and Jo-, in 1632. Mr. Preston was probably the person of that name who was among the first settlers of New Haven.
David Price. But little is known of him. Dr. 7*
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Harris has a Daniel also. These may be the same person. There was a Francis Price, who had a daughter Mary, baptized in Dorchester, July 12, 1702; son Gornel, baptized July 20, 1704. Jonas Humphrey, Jr., had a grand-daughter, Elizabeth Price. Francis Price lived where Mr. Poole lived previously.
Edward Raymond was in Dorchester early; pro- bably in 1630. Did not remain long.
Philip Rendall, or Randall, was here in 1633; made freeman in 1634; called Goodman. . He re- moved to Windsor. A daughter of his married George Phelps.
Thomas Rawlins (Rollins). He appears to have came to Roxbury in 1630, and brought his wife Mary and five children with him, viz., Thomas, Mary, Joan, Nathaniel and John. His wife Mary died in 1639. He married his second wife, widow Sarah Murdock, of Roxbury, in 1656. He was in Dorchester in 1634; may have been here before, but attended the Roxbury meeting on account of being near that place. He removed from Dorchester to Weymouth, and from the latter place to Scituate. He was in Scituate previous to 1646, and was that year one of the Conohasset partners. He bought Anthony Annable's lot in 1642. He died in Boston in 1660. He left a house in Boston to his son Thomas, and Nathaniel succeeded to his father's residence in Scituate. His daughter Mary married William Parker, of Scituate, in 1639. Joan married Ephraim Kempton, in 1645.
Edward Rosseter, the Assistant, was elected by
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HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
the patentees in London, October, 1629, at the same time with Gov. Winthrop. Was of a good family in the west of England .* He was one of the prin- cipal promoters of the formation of the Dorchester Company, which came in the Mary and John. He accompanied them, and left his home to avoid reli- gious persecution. He sat down at Dorchester with his companions, and attended to his official duties as member of the colonial government, until his death, October 23, 1630. After this event, the name often occurs in the court records and the town records, always as Mr. Rosseter-christian name being omitted. Mr. Rosseter and Mr. Stoughton are the largest grantees of land in 1633. Mr. Rosse- ter's farm made the bounds, at Squantum, of Dor- chester and Mt. Wollaston. This is supposed to refer to the son of the Assistant, who lived after- wards at Combe, in England. Dudley says of Ed- ward Rosseter, in his letter to the Countess of Lin- coln, he was " a godly man of good estate." One of the name lived where Mr. Howard afterwards resid- ed, and one of them owned a fish house near what is now Savin Hill.
Hugh Rosseter, grantee of eight acres in Dor- chester, in 1635.
Bray Rosseter, on the Windsor list, in 1636.
William Rockwell, freeman in 1630. The first deacon with Mr. Gaylord of the Dorchester Church ; signed the first land grants of the plantation. Mov- ed to Connecticut. His wife (probably second) was
* See Hutchinson.
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Susanna Chapin ; his children were-John, Ruth, Mary, Samuel, Joseph and Sarah. He had land granted him near what is now Savin Hill, June 27, 1636. By this it appears that he did not go to Windsor with the first Company.
Richard Rocket removed to Braintree, and had a son John born in 1641. His wife Agnes died in 1643. There was a John, also, among the early set- tlers of Dorchester.
Thomas Richards was in Dorchester early, remov- ed to Weymouth, and died there in 1650. His wife was named Welthean, and died at Boston in 1679. He is not probably the person of that name who joined the Ancient and Honorable Artillery, in 1648, and called Thomas Richards, Esq., of Boston. The following order was passed in Dorchester, Feb- ruary 1, 1634. " It is also ordered that there be a sufficient cartway betwixt the rock and Mr. Rich- ards's house, or else go through his lot, according to a former order." In his will, dated 17th Decem- ber, 1650, proved 28th Jan., 1650-'51, he names sons-John, James, Samuel, Joseph and Benjamin ; and daughters-Mary, Ann, Alice and Hannah. Of his sons, James only had male issue-viz., Thomas, who married Joanna, and died Dec. 5, 1714, leaving two daughters, Joanna and Mary. This Thomas, therefore, grandson of the American ancestor, was the last of the family, so far as the name is concerned.
Thomas Sanford (called Goodman) was in Dor- chester in 1634; was admitted freeman 1637. He kept the cows of the plantation in 1635-37. Very possibly it was his widow who married Mr. William
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Pynchon, of Roxbury, before his removal to Spring- field-if so, she was widow Frances Smith at the time of her marriage with Sanford, for she had a son Henry Smith, who " was a godly wise young man, and removed to Agawam with his parents." The Roxbury church records say Mr. Pynchon, after the death of his wife, married Mrs. Frances Sanford, a grave matron of the church at Dorchester.
Matthew Sension was in Dorchester in 1634; one of the keepers of the cows in 1637. He removed to Windsor, but not in the first company.
John Smith. Born in Lancashire-had served abroad in the army as quarter-master, and retained this title all his life. He came early to Dorches- ter, where he became freeman and grantee of land in 1633, selectman in 1634. He is supposed to have returned to England for his family, as Mr. Mather makes mention of him and his family as fellow passengers in the James in 1635. He had been a parishioner of Mr. Mather at Toxteth before coming over, and may have influenced that gentle- man to prefer the Dorchester invitation. Mr. Smith was a brewer, and had a malt-house in Dorchester. He filled various offices in the town, and frequently for the space of twenty years was employed to run out lots. Mr. Smith and Mr. Clement were a com- mittee to erect a pillar over Mr. Mather's grave. He lived to old age, and died in 1678. Lawrence Smith, of Dorchester, was probably his son. His daughter Mary married Nathaniel Glover, and after his de- cease she married Gov. Thomas Hinckley.
The late Judge John Davis remarked that he had
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seen a manuscript of the Rev. Thomas Prince, who was a descendant of Gov. Hinckley, in which Mrs. Hinckley is represented as an elegant, excellent and accomplished woman.
Henry Smith was here in 1634. He was the son of Mrs. Sanford, who married Mr. Pinchon of Rox- bury, and was the " godly wise young man." He removed to Springfield.
George Strange was in Dorchester in 1634, and removed to Hingham.
Capt. Southcote. This name is twice mentioned in the memoirs of Capt. Roger Clap. He says, " I went to live with a worthy gentleman, Mr. William Southcoat, about three miles from Exeter " (Devon). Again he says, " On first landing in Charles river, I was one of the sentinels-our captain a low- countryman soldier, one Mr. Southcoat." Winthrop says, " June 27, 1631, there came to the governor Capt. Southcote of Dorchester, and brought letters," &c. In July, 1631, the Colony Records state, " The Court grant liberty to Capt. Southcote to go to Eng- land, he promising to return with all convenient speed," which latter condition he did not probably comply with, for the Dorchester Records, Dec. 1632, state that "lands that were Southcote's " were granted to Horseford and others.
Thomas and Richard Southcoat, both with the title of Mr., applied for freemanship, Oct. 1630. They probably both belonged to the Dorchester Company, and came from the Western counties, but soon returned home, as no record is found again of them in New England. Thomas Southcoat, of Dor-
1
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HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
chester, Dorset, was one of the original patentees of Massachusetts.
Israel Stoughton, said to have arrived with the first comers, the place of his nativity unknown. He first appears on the Dorchester Records as grantee of land, April, 1633 ; was admitted freeman, No- vember, 1633, and was chosen ensign of the Dorches- ter Band, then commanded by Capt. Mason. The position which he occupied in the affairs of the colony and the plantation, points him out as a man of superior intelligence and large property. He was doubtless a young man on his arrival, and most of his children were born in Dorchester. In his will, dated July, 1644, he makes provision for his mother, then residing in his family. On the division of town lands, his share and Mr. Rossiter's indicate these gentlemen as the largest adventurers residing in the Dorchester plantation. On the 3d of No- vember the plantation grants him leave to erect a mill at Neponset Falls, and leave to cut timber on their lands to build his mill, and permission to build a fish wear near the same. The first General Court by deputies, from eight towns, convened May, 1634, in which body Stoughton appears as deputy from Dorchester, and he then obtains from the Court con- firmation of all the mill grants he had received from Dorchester, upon condition of supporting a suffi- cient horse bridge over the river, and selling ale- wives at five shillings per thousand ; in pursuance of which grant he erected a corn mill at the Lower Mills, and there ground the first corn ever ground by water in New England. At the same Court
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Stoughton and Mr. Henry Wolcott obtained leave to look out farms for themselves, probably without the limits of the plantation. In September, 1634, the Court granted Mr. Stoughton one hundred and fifty acres of land eight or nine miles up the Neponset. At the September session Ludlow and Stoughton were appointed a committee to examine Gov. Win- throp's accounts. In January, 1635, Mr. Stough- ton, having given offence to the Governor and Assist- ants by publishing a pamphlet denying them some of the powers they claimed, was adjudged disabled from holding any public office for three years, and the Dorchester people petitioned the Court without success for a remission of the sentence. In 1635-6 he was much engaged in the Connecticut enterprise ; but the Court became reconciled in 1636, and he was again a member that year. Said to have been an active opponent of the Antinomian heresy, which assisted the remission of his disability. At the election of the Governor and Assistants, May, 1637, when the Vane party was defeated, Stoughton was chosen Assistant, and his popularity was such that he was elected by the Court, over two other candi- dates, to command the Pequod expedition. He may have been selected for this place to act in conjunc- tion with his old military teacher, Capt. Mason, already in command of the Connecticut troops in the Pequod country. Stoughton and his forces were hospitably received by Roger Williams at Provi- dence, and derived much benefit from his advice and experience in Indian affairs. Stoughton arrived soon after the decisive battle at Mystic fort, and
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HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
nearly completed the destruction of the Pequod tribe. He here encountered fire-arms for the first time in the hands of Indians. The Colonial Government proclaimed a thanksgiving, and Stoughton and his troops returned home in triumph. In consideration of his services in this war, the town relinquished his rate for one year. Col. Stoughton and his wife were among the first signers of the Church Covenant in 1636. He was always of the rigid Puritan school. He perhaps officiated sometimes as an officer of the church. Lechford, in 1637, mentions Stoughton as assisting in administering a church censure at Dor- chester. He was a member of the synod which tried Mrs. Ann Hutchinson, in 1637. In 1639 he served with Gov. Endicott in running the Old Colony line, and the same year assisted in preparing the general laws of the colony. In 1641 he served as commissioner to administer the government of New Hampshire. Col. Stoughton went to England about his own affairs in 1643, on which occasion he became inti- mate with some of the leaders of the Revolution, and determined to devote his services to the Parlia- mentary cause. He returned home and prepared for his purpose, and persuaded sundry others to em- bark in the same undertaking. He was again in London in July, 1644, when he made his will. He served as lieutenant-colonel under Rainsboro', until his death, which occurred at Lincoln in 1645. He left three hundred acres of land to the College. He mentions three sons and two daughters in his will- Israel (died early) ; John (born about 1638, lost at sea 1647); and William, afterwards Governor of the
8
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HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
Province. Hannah married James Minot in 1653; and Rebecca (bap. Aug. 1641) married - Taylor, of Boston, father of Lt. Gov. William Taylor. One daughter married - Danforth, one -
- Nelson, and one - Tucker.
Thomas Stoughton, one of the early settlers of Dorchester, freeman in 1631. Mentioned in Colony Records, March, 1631, as a constable or bailiff of Dorchester, and was fined five pounds for undertak- ing to marry a couple. Was an emigrant to Wind- sor, and member of the first court held in the River Colony in 1637. Descendants numerous in Connec- ticut and New York. He is called Ancient in the list, which signified Ensign. He was a brother of Israel Stoughton.
William Sumner, with Mary his wife, came from Burcester, Oxford county, England. Was made a freeman in 1637. Their children, William, Roger and George, probably came with them. Samuel, born in Dorchester, May 18, 1638; Increase, Feb- ruary 23, 1642; Joan, who married a Mr. Way (probably Aaron); Abigail, died 19 (12) 1657; Mary, married Nicholas Howe, 19 (11) 1671. Mr. Sumner was a very respectable man, and was a representa- tive to the General Court thirteen years. He died 1688. His wife died June 7, 1676.
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