USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Lancaster > The early records of Lancaster, Massachusetts. 1643-1725 > Part 27
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enteruail Lott His enteruail Lott being twenty acors Lying on the west side of the North River bounded east by the River and west by the Common upland and South by the Lott of William Kerley Sener which he bought of Richard Smith and north by a Littel Run of water or Brook Ranging acording as the Brook Runs it being his due and his Lott Giuen and Granted him by the town.
John Smith was father to Richard before named, and to Ann, the wife of John Moore. He came from Sudbury with wife Mary, who died 27 .. 10": 1659. In 1660 he gave the intervale lot above described to John and Ann Moore, and March IS, 1663, he deeded to Adam Waters "all my dwelling house in aforsaid Lanchaster wherein I lately lived." with the house lot described above. Adam Waters died A. D. 1670, and his brothers, Stephen Waters and John Skeath, sold the Smith lot to Thomas Ross, a weaver
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MASSACHUSETTS. 1643-1725.
from Woburn. On the 5th of 24 month, 1669, John Smith transfers all his then estate to John Moore, with this condi- tion : "Now in my old age I being old and infirme, & not able to improve land, nor to maintayne myself by my labours nor to pay publique charges for my land, therefore in consideration of my foresaid son John Moore & his wife are to keepe mee duringe my naturall life." . .. . He died July 16, 1669. His will mentions children - John, Rich- ard, Ann and Alice.
LANDS OF WILLIAM KERLEY JUNER
house Lott his house Lott which is acording to his Grant in the old town book the ninth Lott from John Prescutts Lying and being on the west side of the highway that Goes to the north enteruail and to Wallnuit Swamp and it buts Easterly upon that highway and westerly upon the Stated Common and it is bounded Southardly by the Lott of John Smith and north by sum second deuision Land of William Kerley Sener and It Lyeth for twenty acors be it more or Less ---
enteruail Lott More he hath his enteruail Lott Lying and being in the north enteruail and according to his Grant apears to be the fourth Lott thare and it buts easterly upon the North Riuer and westerly upon Com- mon [land] and is bounded Southerly by the Lott of John More and northardly it is bounded by the Land [of ] William Kerley Sener and it Lyeth for twenty acors be it more or Less
William Kerley, junior, came from Sudbury, signing the Nashaway covenant in 1653. He was made a freeman in 1666, having removed to Marlborough, where he became ensign. Ile died January 4. 1684. No children are named in his will, although by first wife, Jane, he had three daugh- ters : Mary, 1667; Sarah, 1668; and Hannah. 1670. A second wife, Anna. daughter of Thomas King, survived him. He sold his Lancaster lands to Abraham Joslin, Jr., who perished with his wife and child in the massacre of 1676. In 1693-4. Henry Kerley and the Joslin heirs trans- ferred the "House lot of Ww Kerley" to Thomas Harris, a butcher from Boston, who had married the widow Rebecca Crocker, or "Croakham," Abraham Joslin's sister. Thomas
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ANNALS OF LANCASTER,
Harris in 1682 had bought the lands of John Ball, who was killed in the massacre. Ball's lands are not described in the Book of Lands, although he was one of the first inhab- itants. Harris died 1698. Abraham Joslin also sold fifty acres to Nathaniel Robinson, with a proprietor's right. Nathaniel Hapgood possessed lands at Bare Hill and else- where, laid out to the right of William Kerley, junior.
THE LANDS OF JOHN MORE
his house Lott The house Lott of John More Lyeth on the west side of the North Riuer and on the east side of the highway or Street that Runs betwen the two Ranges of Lotts that are Laid out in the South end of the town being called the first Lott from the Lott of John Prescutts in the Records of Grants in the old town book and it Lyes bounded South by a highway that Runs betwen the Lott of John prescutt Called the Ry field and it and bounded north by Gipson hill and buting cast upon the Common and west upon the Street or highway Runing betwen the two Ranges of Lotts his Lott being four score Rods in Length and fourty Rods wide Lying for twenty acors be it more or Less --
his enteruail Lott His enteruail Lott Lying in the north enteruail being Called the fifth Lott In the Records of Grants in the old town Book and it Lyes bounded north by the Lott of William Kerley Juner and south by the Lott of John Roper buting east upon the North Riner and west upon the upland being twenty Rods wide and Eight Score Rods in Length it Lying for twenty acors be it more or Less.
By a deed dated March 25, 1682, "John Moore of Sud- bury sometime of Lancaster" transferred to Daniel Hud- son "All his House lot in the sd Lancaster upon wh. he the said John More built a House & for some time Lived, Ly- ing betweene Gibsons Hill, & John Prescot his Rye field, & is bounded southerly by a Highway " . . reserving "14 acre in some place neer the highway, as also Liberty for the occupiers of John Ropers house for ever free liberty to fetch water from the Brook that runs on the Lot near the west end." Daniel Hudson being slain by the Indians, September II. 1697, his son Nathaniel possessed the Moore lot. but removing to Billerica. sold it to John Buss of Con- cord, a tailor, for 400 pounds, June 1, 1709. March 25,
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MASSACHUSETTS. 1643-1725.
1719, John and Hazadiah Moore transfer to John Buss the reserved one-fourth acre above named, describing it as "on the north side of a Highway wh lies between it and a Lott now belonging to the Reverend Mr John Prentice Something in a square form. in south east corner of sd lott, bounded south by sd Highway, east by land that was called stated Common, North & west by part of sd lott." Samuel Locke became the next owner, purchasing of the second John Buss in 1742.
Two John Moores signed the Lancaster covenant - one in 1653, the other a year later. But one, however, shared in the first allotments, if we may trust the Book of Lands. John Moore of Sudbury, in his will proved in 1674, leaves to his son John of Lancaster, "five shillings and no more, for I have given him his portion formerly." This John married in Sudbury, November 16, 1654, Ann, daughter of John Smith. Their children born in Lancaster were Mary, 1655 ; Elizabeth, 1657; Lidia, 1660; John, 1662 ; Joseph, 1664: Ann, 1666; Jonathan, 1669; and. Maria. The same date, 10 .. 1 !! 1670-1, marks the birth of Maria and the death of the mother, Ann. John Moore became Ensign, and died in 1702, leaving a widow Mary. He re- moved from his first home and built upon Wataquadock about 1665, for in that year, in an exchange of lands with Ralph Houghton, he mentions " my new dwelling house at Wataquadoke." John Moore, junior, was delegate to Gen- eral Court from Lancaster, in 1689. His sons John and Jonathan lived to ripe old age upon the paternal acres, south of Wataquadock.
THE LANDS OF THOMAS SAWYER
house Lott his house Lott Lyeth on the east side of the Street or highway that Runs betwen the two Ranges of Lotts on the south end of the town bounded west by the Street or highway and east by the Common that Lies betwen the enteruail and it bounded south by the Lott of Jacob farrah and north by the Lott of John Prescutt called the Rie feld this lott being Eightie Rods in Length and fourty Rods wide and Lyeth for twenty acors be it more or Less
19
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ANNALS OF LANCASTER,
his enteruail Lott His enterual Lott Lyes in a peace of enteruail that Lies on the west side of Nashaway Riuer bounded northward by the highway that Goes to Wataguadok and south by sum part of the enteruail Lott of John prescutts and east and south east by the River and west it buts with an angle upon the Common or pine hill acording to the Rec- ords of Grants in the old town book it was first Laid out for twenty acors but upon trial by exact meashur it was found to want five acors which the town Granted to be made up twenty and it was Confirmed by the Com- mittee and is made up with and by a peice of enteruail that Lies up Nash- away Riuer.
Thomas Sawyer was a blacksmith, of Rowley, 1643. He came to Lancaster in 1647, and married Mary Prescott, by whom he had children : Thomas, 1649 ; Ephraim, 1651 ; Mary, 1653; Joshua, 1655; James, 1657; Caleb, 1659: John, 1661 : Elizabeth, 1663; Nathaniel, 1670. Over his grave in the old yard the headstone records that he died Sept. 12, 1706, aged about ninety years. Thomas, junior, who seems to have inherited a share of his grandfather John Prescott's energy and capacity, established the second saw-mill in Lancaster before 1700, upon Deans. now Good- ridge, Brook, at the dam near the Deer's Horns school-house. Upon the Sawyer house lot now stand the church and sev- eral dwellings of the Seventh Day Adventist Society. The venerable Mrs. Sally (Sawyer) Case, a direct descendant of Thomas Sawyer, lives very near the original house site. An ancient dwelling, with stone chimneys, was torn away, just in the rear of the present house, when it was built in 1812. June 18, 1701, Sawyer transferred half of this house lot to his youngest son, Nathaniel, it being described as the " south side of the Lott bounded north by rest of lott & south by a narrow Lane or way lying betwixt it and the lot of Jacob ffarer & it butts east & west on highways." June 14, 1706, he transfers the above described intervale to Nathaniel, stating its southern bound to be upon "some intervale land in the possession of Thomas Sawyer. Jun. & known by ye name of Johns Jump about 15 acres." At the same date he gives eight acres of the northern half of
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MASSACHUSETTS. 1643-1725.
his house lot to his oldest son, Thomas, "he having sold 2 acres before " to him. This last is the farm lately owned by L. G. Cilley.
THE LANDS OF JACOB FARRAH
house Lott The house Lott of Jacob farrah upon which his house stands Lying South from the North Riuer and west from Nashaway Riuer in a Rang of Lotts on the east side of the Street or highway that Lyes betwen two Ranges of Lotts buting west upon that Street or highway and east upon the Common that Lies towards Johns Jump a place so called bounding north by the Lott of thomas Sawyer and South by the Commons where thare was a Lott sum time Laid out to John Rigbe a Littel Brook Runing cros the west end of it near to the end, and a highway of a Rod wide Lying betwen the Lott of Thomas Sawyer and it which Lott being fower score Rods in Length and fourty Rods wide ondly upon his Request for a Convenient place to build a house the Square of his Lott was altered and the South west corner Runs out twenty Rods further and the South east corner so much in which Lott Lyeth for twenty acors be it more or Less.
his enteruail Lott The enteruail Lott of Jacob farrah Lyeth on the east side of Nashaway Riuer by which Riner it is wholley Bounded on the west side and on the east side at the east end it is bounded by sum mead- ow called the frog holes and so downward by the pine plain buting South by a Swamp called pins Swamp and north by John [Ruggs] Lott one highway Going threw it two ways the bay [road] and another highway Goes down the enteruail to the meadows both of them being two Rods and half wide either of them so much of which Lott is his own Lott of enteruail Granted him by the town and was laid out to him for twenty acors
The "highway of a rod wide" above stated as the north bound of Farrar's land is the east and west street, known as the Narrow Lane, on which the Seventh Day Adventist meeting-house stands. Near an unfailing spring beside Roper's Brook there was visible, many years ago, a de- pression marking a half filled cellar ; and various relics of a residence were there frequently ploughed up, but no one could remember even a tradition of a house standing there, or of its ownership. Possibly this may have been the loca- tion of the Farrar home, though the extension of the south- west corner would rather indicate a site on the high ground
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ANNALS OF LANCASTER,
opposite of Jonas Goss barn. The Farrar entervale was just east of the Atherton bridge.
Jacob Farrar came to Lancaster with an older brother John, in 1653, from Woburn. John returned thither, trans- ferring his land allotments to Jacob, who prepared a home for his family left behind him in Lancashire. England. His wife Ann with four children - Jacob, John, Henry and Mary-joined him in 1658, bringing 168 pounds 7 shil- lings additional estate. Two of the sons, Jacob and Henry, were slain by the Indians in 1675 and 1676, the former leaving a wife Mary ( Hayward) and four sons - Jacob, George, John and Henry. John, another son, died Nov. 3, 1669, leaving two children, Mary and John, and wife Mary (Hillard). In his inventory is the item, "Timber prepared for a house." After the massacre, Jacob Farrar, with his wife and daughter Mary, who had married John Houghton, junior, in 1672, fled to his relatives in Woburn. where he died Aug. 14, 1677. The name Farrar very sel- dom appears thereafter in Lancaster. The widow Ann married John Sears of Woburn in 16So. In the old bur- ial ground is a venerable headstone inscribed. "ANNA SERS," which, perhaps, marks her grave. John Houghton purchased all the Farrar lands, A. D. 1700.
THE LANDS OF RICHARD WHEELER
house Lott first he hath his house Lott whereon he built near unto danes Brook bounded southerly by the Lott of John Houghton and partly by the Common and northardly by the Stated Common and easterly and westerly it buts upon the Stated Common Lying for twenty acors be it more or less together with sum small additions one adioyning to it and another Lying near Johns Jump -
Enteruail Lott More he hath twenty acors of enteruail laid being his enteruail Lott in the first deuision Lying on the east side of Nashaway Riuer lying in two peices bounded westwardly by the Riuer and easterly by the upland and buts Southerly upon sum enteruail of thomas Sawyer and northardly upon the upland and Riuer meeting -
Wheeler's home lot must have been partly included in the estate of the late Sally Flagg. One portion of his in-
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MASSACHUSETTS. 1643-1725.
tervale is mentioned more than once in early records as Abram's Hole. Old residents sometimes used this name, applying it to a deep place in the river, near the Scar now called Emerson's Bank. It seems to be, however, a chance survival of the disused provincial English term koll, mean- ing a small area of ground sunken below its surroundings. Abram's Hole is a depressed and hill-girt meadow seen across the river east from the north extremity of High street, in Clinton. Richard Wheeler came here from Med- field. He married John Prescott's daughter Sarah, Aug. 2, 1658, and had children born in Lancaster : Jacob, 1663 ; Zebediah, 1664 ; Sarah, 1666; Elizabeth, 1669; Samuel, 1671. He was made a freeman in 1669, and was killed by the Indians in 1676. His widow married Joseph Rice of Marlborough. Samuel went as a soldier in the Canada expedition, and died 1691. David and Hezekiah Whit- comb came into possession of Wheeler's rights.
THE LANDS OF JOHN HOUGHTON
his house Lott his house Lott where upon he hath built and planted Lyeth on the north side of Deans Brook bounded Southerly by the said Brook and northerly by the Lott of Richard Wheeler and easterly it buts upon the mill path and westerly it buts upon sum Land of his own that is part of his second deuision and it Lyeth for twenty acors be it more or Less.
his enteruail Lott His enteruail Lott [is] on the east side of Penicook Riuer and is bounded westerly and norwest by the said Riuer and it is bounded easterly by the enteruail Swamp a highway of two Rods and half Runs through it to Go to the meadows and to Groten and that part of it that Lyeth on the east side the path buts southerly by sum Land of James butler and northerly it buts upon a high way that Goes into Goodman Wateres Littel Round Meadow that Way Lying betwen it and sum Land of Jolin More now in the possession of Jeremiah Rogers and the other part of it that Lyeth on the west side the path is bounded southerly by sum enteruail Land of Goodman Wateres Runing with a Corner up into the bent of the River and it buts northardly with an angle upon Goodman White his feild so called both percels of enteruail Lyeth for his Lott and for twenty acors be it more or Less.
John Houghton came from England in the Abigail, 1635,
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ANNALS OF LANCASTER,
being then a mere boy. A rude slate stone in the old yard records his death April 29, 1684. His wife's name was Beatrix. Although he signed the covenant in 1653, it is doubtful if he came here to reside for several years, as the records of his children's births are not found as of Lancas- ter until that of Beatrix, in 1665. In his will he mentions his "seven children." They were John, born about 1650; Robert, 1658; Jonas ; Mary ; Beatrix, 1665 ; Benjamin, 1668; Sarah, 1672. During the desertion of the town the family sought refuge in Charlestown. At the re-settlement the sons established new homes east of the river, upon Bridecake Plain, now known as the Old Common. The intrusion of so fanciful a baptismal name as Beatrix among the otherwise rigidly scriptural designations of the family, denotes, perhaps, an imaginative tendency in some mem- ber of it, and this found freer scope in the naming of real estate acquired. Thus we find in John Houghton's various parcels of land, "Rosemary meadow," "Horse swamp," "Houghton's park," " Cranberry meadow." "The meadow of the three fountains," "Job's corner conveniency," and "Tobacco pipe meadow." The daughter Beatrix married John Pope, Sept. 20, 1683. The oldest son, John, became the most prominent citizen of Lancaster in his day, for many years serving in various town offices, and as repre- sentative, and justice.
THE LANDS OF JONAS FAIRBANKE
his house Lott The house Lott of Jonas fairbanke Lyeth on the west Side the Street or highway that Lyeth betwen two Ranges of Lotts in the South end of the town buting east upon that highway or Street and it buteth west upon a hill Called George hill and it is bounded South by the Common and north by the Lott of John Prescutt this Lott being eighty Rods In Length and fourty Rods wide Lyeth for twenty acors be it more or Less -
his enteruail Lott His enteruail Lott Lyeth on the east side of Peni- cook Riuer below the Common feild bounded south by the Lott of Jacob farrah which came to him by the acount of his brother Jobn farrah and north it is bounded by a Lott which is since Granted to Daniel Gains it
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MASSACHUSETTS. 1643-1725.
buts East upon a peice of Swampie brushie enteruail the highway Crosing that end of it and it buts west upon Penicook Riuer which Lott is Laid out to him for twenty acors be it more or Less -
Jonas Fairbank came from the same English township as the Prescotts, bring the son of Jonathan Fairbank, who settled in Dedham. His marriage to Lydia, daughter of John Prescott, 28 .. 3mº. 1658, is the first recorded in Lan- caster. He had seven children : Mary, 1659; Joshua, I661 ; Grace, 1663; Jonathan, 1666; Hazadiah, 1668; Jabez, 1670; Jonas, 1673. He, with his son Joshua, were killed by the Indians, Feb. 10, 1676, and his widow mar- ried Elias Barron of Watertown, afterwards of Groton and Lancaster. Fairbank's home was upon the farm now owned by Jonas Goss. By later allotments he acquired lands southward, including much of the farm now belong- ing to George A. Parker. Certain items in his inventory indicate that he was a carpenter by trade. His house lot had originally belonged to George Adams, whose right fell to the town through his inaction and absence. Of Fair- bank's sons, Jonathan was killed by the Indians in 1697; Jonas removed to Watertown ; Jabez retained the paternal estate, attained prominence in town affairs, and as a lieu- tenant, gained some reputation in the Indian war. In the year 1700 he had lands laid out to him, "on both sides of . danes Brook abone Thomas Sawyers Sawmill." This site became the home of the Fairbanks, and so remained for a hundred years or more. George W. Howard now owns their homestead,
THE LANDS OF JOHN RIGBE
house Lot! The house Lott of John Rigbe Lyeth on the East Side the highway or Street that Lyeth between two Ranges of Lotts in the South end of the town buting west upon that high way and east upon the high way that Goes to the South meadow bounded south by the Common which he hath now taken ten acors of it for part of his Second deuision and bounded north by the house Lott of Jacob farrah where he now dwelleth, this Lott is Laid out for ten acors and is Eighty Rods Long and twenty Rods wide and Lyeth for half a home Lott be it more or Less -
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ANNALS OF LANCASTER,
His enteruail Lott His enteruail Lott Lyeth on the east side penicook Riuer a Littel below whare the North Riuer and Nashaway Riuer meeteth buting west upon the Riuer and east partly upon the upland and part upon the Still Riuer the Still Riuer Runing down through part of it bounded South by the Lott of Richard Smith now in the possession of Maior Simon Willard and bounded north by the Lott of Phillip Knight now in the pos- session of thomas Wilder this Lott being Laid out to him for ten acors be it more or Less --
The marriage of John Rigby and Elizabeth -- , in Lancaster, August 30, 1662, is duly recorded. Rigby was probably of Dorchester, son of John. He survived the massacre of 1676, but thenceforward disappears from Lan- caster records. The family name clings to an old highway between Clinton and the Deer's Horns district, and a little brook long bore the same name, for reasons not discovered. In 1715, James Wilder sold to Jabez Fairbank lands once Rigby's. His first house lot is perhaps mostly included in the estate of the late Stedman Nourse. Near Roper's Brook thereon is a hollow marking an old cellar, close to which, fifty years ago, were the decaying trunks of two . huge apple trees - perhaps relics of the Rigby home.
THE CHURCH LANDS RECORDED
the enteruail for as much as in the begining of this plantation of Lancaster the men apoynted by the General Court to Sett forward and to order and dispose of the affairs of this plantation and amongst the Rest of thair fundimentall orders which are upon Record in the old town book and also to be found in the Book of orders thare is an act Stating of thirty acres of upland and fourty acres of enteruail but upon seueral Con- siderations the town not well waying that former act haue nesesitated disposing of the Greatest part of the enteruail Land so as that thare is none left for the use aforesaid but a little peice by master Rowlandsons house about four acres which Lyeth bounded northardly by the Brook and part by master Rowlandsons fence and Southerly by the pine hill that is Laid out for Church Land and easterly it buts upon a hill of upland of master Rowlandsons and westerly it buts upon the meadow at Gipson hill :--
the upland the thirty acres of upland is Laid out Southerly from the enteruail and is bounded northerly by the said enteruail and by sum Land of master Rowiandson and Southerly by the Stated Common one Corner
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MASSACHUSETTS. 1643-1725.
mark being a pine tree by the enteruail hill Gate and another in a Little Swamp and easterly it is bounded by Goodman Prescutts and Goodman Sawyers fence and westerly it is bounded by the Stated Common and is laid out for thirty acors be it more or Less by Jacob farrah and Ralph Houghton :-
the meadow The meadow Laid out by the four men apoynted and Im- powered to Lay out the first dcuision of meadows on the east side of the hemp Swamp and Lyeth bounded easterly by sum pine Land of Ralph Houghton and westerly by sum brushie enteruail Land of Edward Brick and thomas Joslin and Ralph Houghton which is there for Conueniancie and it buts northerly upon a swamp of the said Ralph Houghtons and southerly upon a piac hill.
Recorded this 15 : March 1669/70: by me RALPH HOUGHTON
THE LANDS OF THOMAS WILDER
his house Lott his house Lott pte wherof is situate Lying and being within a Certain tract of Land Stated by the town for a Common it being allowed by the town at the same time the Common was Stated Lying near to the Walnutt Swamp and Red Spring upon the Riuer a Littel below both buting east upon the North Riuer and west upon the Common and also ^ bounded South and north by the Common there being Seuenteen acors Laid out to him : and three acors Lying bounded east by his enteruail at the Walnutt Swamp whare he hath fenced and brok up Land and west by the Stated Common buting north upon the North River and Runs with a Sharpe angle coming to nothing at the south end and Runing into the Line of his enteruail both of which percels of Land are Laid out to him for twenty acors be thay more or Less ---
his enteruail Lott His enteruail Lott Lying at the Walnutt Swamp the Gratest part of it bounded easterly by the North Riuer and westerly by his three acors of upland and partly by the Stated Common butting northardly upon the North Riuer and Southardly upon his Seuenteen acors of upland part of his house Lott a highway Crosing the enteruail from the neck to the Commons at the usual place where the herd useth to pass ouer the North Riuer the highway being fiue Rods wide there being sixteen acors and fourty Rods the Rest by which it is made up twenty acors Lyeth below upon the Riuer begining where his Seuenteen acors of upland ends and so foloweth the Riuer to an elbo or bend in the Riuer and a Great pine tree on the Common on the upland a Litle before Goodman Joslins enter- vail coms in bounded easterly by the River and west by the Stated Com- mon buting north upon his Seuenteen acors of upland and Southarly upon that bent in the Riuer and Great pine tree both of which percels of enteruail is Laid out to the said Goodman Wilder for twenty acors be they more or Less.
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