Stephen Waters

Stephen married Sarah Carter about 1662. Sarah was born about 1642; died after 1663. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Emigration: Bef 1632, England

Notes:

Death record:
Early Records of Lancaster Massachusetts by Henry Nourse 1884, p 325.

Ancestors of Eleanor Igleheart
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/b/r/o/David--Broad/GENE2-0023.html?Welcome=1021771767

Notes for John Prescott:
"JOHN PRESCOTT (C1604-1681) was born about 1604" in England. John "become a blacksmith, and eventually appeared in Sowerby in Yorkshire to ply his trade, marry, and establish his family." Several families that ended up in Lancaster, MA had connections with this area in England
. "Eventually, probably to avoid persecution, and to seek further opportunity for economic growth and security for their family, John and Mary emigrated to the New England Colonies, landing at Watertown, Massachuset about 1640. Their is much in writing to state that they travelled first to the Barbados and came from there to New England, but recent documentation hasproven that although there was a John Prescott there, baptisms of his children appear in that locality long after our John was firmly established in Massachusetts. Accordingly, there must have been another John Prescott involved, a fact that helps to muddy the waters of our research.
"John and Mary, together with their children Mary, Martha, John Jr. Sarah, and possibly Hannah, settled first in Watertown in 1640. Their daughter Lydia was recorded as having been born there on August 15, 1641.
"Their first task was to find land for a farm. There were nine divisions of land at Watertown, according to the Book of Lands and Possessions. The first division was made in 1636, but John Prescott's name first appears in the 9th division when he was granted, in 1641, 90 acres "for a farme" - lot 13, Bond, History of Watertown, page 1028
"John Prescott bought his homestall of three acres, probably about 1642, from Daniel Peirce, a blacksmith, and later he bought from his six acres more adjoining his homestall. His home was situated near the First Church in Watertown. After the sale of his lands and homestall, Peirce removed to Newbury (Bond, History of Watertown, pages 1012, 1013, and 1027.)
"Prescott also bought 25 acres of John Griggs, (lot no. 29), in 1641, after which Griggs removed from town (Bond, 263). This was in the Great Dividends and Beaver Brook Ploughlands. (Bond, 910 and 1012). The inventory of Prescott's lands reveals the following:
90 acres, 9th Division (lot 13)
25 acres, bought of Griggs (lot 29)
3 acres, homestall.
6 acres of upland bought of Peirce
1 acre of Ploughland in the further Plain in the 63rd lot.
1 acre of Meddow in the Remote Meddowes
Total 126 acres.

"Also, since the previous blacksmith had moved away, it seems only logical that John would have installed himself as his successor, and thus had a ready cash (or barter) business to sustain his family before crops were available
. "This layout apparently did not fully satisfy John Prescott, and he remained alert for further opportunity as it might develop. A look at the history of the Nashaway area gives us an insight into what had been happening in the years just prior to this, leading to events that would profoundly affect the Prescott family.

"From the Prescott Memorial, page 35, which quotes from material originally published in The History of Lancaster we read:
""Early in the seventeenth century, some eight years before the settlement of Plymouth, many of the tribes of Massachusetts Indians had been swept over by a dreadful pestilence reducing their numbers from many thousands to a few hundreds. In this severe affliction the Nashaway tribe suffered, though not equally with the others. The Nashaways had also been greatly reduced by the wars and incursions of the Maquas or Mohawks, a powerful and warlike tribe on the Mohawk River (in the now New York State). This tribe had become the scourge and terror of all the New England Indians. These circumstances induced the peaceful Sholan, the Sachem of the Nashaways, to seek the friendship and protection of the English.
"Sholan occasionally visited Watertown for the purpose of trading with Mr. Thomas King who resided there. He recommended Nashawogg as a place well suited for a plantation. He told King of the choice intervales, the woods and waters aboundinn supplies - that the Great Spirit had been very bountiful to the place, and that his people would rejoice in the presence of that great people who had come from a distant world.
"Finally King decides to visit the place, perilous though the undertaking might seem. He accordingly takes the journey through the wilderness, and becomes enamored with the place and returns to Watertown. He makes such a favorable report of the adaptation of the territory to agricultural and mechanical purposes, etc., that in 1643 he enters into an association and agreement with John Prescott of Watertown, Harmon Garrett of Charlestown, Thomas Skidmore of Cambridge, Stephen Day of Cambridge (the earliest printer in any of the colonies), a Mr. Simonds and sundry others whose names have not been transmitted, for the purpose of purchasing thetract, (ten miles by eight). The purchasers entered into an agreement to appear and begin the plantation at a specified time. The deed of Sholan was sanctioned by the General Court, but there were many circumstances which combined to retard the growth of the plantation, all the associates except Mr. Prescott refusing or neglecting to fulfil their contracts, though choosing to retain their interest in the property purchased. John Prescott was "faithful among the faithless".
"The Prescott Memorial continues the description. "Mr. Prescott, having chosen this for his future home, petitioned for a bridge to be built over the Sudbury River but did not get it. He tried to ford it on horseback one time but in the process he lost his horse and everything he was carrying. His wife and children tried the same technique a week later and very nearly drowned."
"We have a birth date for Jonathan Prescott of c1643 which may indicate that he was either born at Watertown shortly before their departure, or he was born at Lancaster shortly after their arrival.
""Mr. Prescott has the reputation of being the first settler in Nashaway, now Lancaster, although it has been stated that RICHARD LINTON, LAWRENCE WATERS and *JOHN BALL were the first inhabitants, and that they had tilled the soil and were ready to receive Mr. Prescott on his arrival. If correct, they might have been hired and sent there by Mr. Prescott and others to prepare for their own accommodation when they should remove there. The phrase that "they had tilled the soil and were ready to receive Mr. Prescott on his arrival" is significant of this fact."
(Presc. Memorial, page 37.).

"John was the most faithful in doing his part to develop the area, whereas the others found one excuse after another to delay their share of the work. When it came time for incorporation as a village, the settlers wanted to call it "Prescott", but the Court refused to name it that, saying that it smacked of "Man-worship", but they compromised and named it Lancaster after the county of John's birth in England." "One may sense from research into Lancaster history that there was something a little unorthodox about John's religious views which postponed his becoming a freeman for many years, and this may have been the real reason why they hedged at naming the town after him, in spite of their admiration of his industry. At the same time, the name of Lancaster instead of some other reference to Yorkshire, would tend to identify John with an English county of origin prior.
"John's sharp shooting ability and ingenuity saved his house, barn and sawmill from being burned many times when he had no one to help him but Mary. With her to reload, one time he held off a band on Indians who were convinced there were several men inside. John was busy firing form all sides and shouting orders to imaginary soldiers while Mary reloaded for him.
"Trouble with the Indians continued, and finally came to a head in 1676. Major Simon Willard was in charge of the Middlesex County militia, and was doing his best to station soldiers in strategic areas where they could patrol and keep guard, but the numbers of them were few, the area large, and no one knew for sure where the Indians were likely to strike. In February, 1676, some 1500 Indians descended on Lancaster in a surprise attack. In Marvin's History of Lancaster there is a gruesome description of the massacre that took place at Rev. Rowlandson's garrison house. The building was set on fire from the rear and the people slaughtered as they came out the front way, - women, children, babies, dogs, everyone, except those they saw fit to take as prisoners. A few of them, including Mrs. Rowlandson, the minister's wife, survived the ordeal of captivity and returned, and we have her to thank for the account of it all.
"In the meantime, fighting was going on around the other garrison houses - Wheeler's Prescott's and Sawyer's. This Prescott family lost two sons-in-law, Jonas Fairbank married to Lydia Prescott, and Richard Wheeler who was the husband of Sarah Prescott. Also, two grandsons were killed -Joshua Fairbanks and Ephraim Sawyer. Richard Wheeler, and Jonas and Joshua Fairbank(s) were killed at Wheeler's garrison house, and Ephraim Sawyer was killed at Prescott's garrison house. Those who were left gathered at Sawyer's garrison house and a runner was dispatched with a note pleading for a company of soldiers to come to their rescue. Captain Wadsworth's Company arrived with wagons, and after about two weeks' speculation as to what to do, finallytransported the remaining villagers to towns farther east, such as Watertown, where they scattered to stay at the homes of various friends and relatives.
"It is felt that the "Old Burying Ground" does not have the 50 or so people killed there at this time. An historian "Hosmer" has said of the burial of those who died in the massacre detailed in Mrs. Rolandson's diary, "We're positive they dug a common grave." A study of the Wilder family reveals that it was only later that Thomas Wilder III, son of the pioneer Thomas Jr., donated the land from his farm surrounding his father's grave, for the town burying ground.
"With the burning of this town, of which only one house was left standing and all but a fragment of the town records destroyed, nearly every personal record of the families was lost. As a result, all clues that might have been available from personal family knowledge to link any of them with earlier generations in England were gone. The research required to replace and prove these links has been painfully slow and expensive since then.
"Three years passed, during which time the refugee families probably came to feel as though they were a burden on their friends and were anxious for their own homes again. By 1679 it seemed safe to return and the first planters to do so were the Prescotts, the Houghtons, the Sawyers and the Wilders. A Samuel Carter family came along shortly afterwards.
"John and his sons set about rebuilding the grist and saw mills, which became the beginning of the industrial activity which later became the town of Clinton. (Towns of the Nashaway Plantation). The other families rebuilt their own homeplaces, or sold to others who did, and the town was "in a fair way to being in a prosperous condition again before he died on December 1, 1681, but unfortunately he left no written account of his life and family in England to replace anything he might have had in the way of documents prior to the fires.
"Although we do not know whether Mary survived him, we do know that she was living in 1678 at which time she made a legal deposition, and it is this document that officially validates her own age and identity and provides the connection between the family of Lancaster, Massachusetts and Sowerby in Yorkshire, England.
"John did leave a non-cupative will which has survived, dated Aug. 8, 1673, and probated April 4, 1682. This identified all of his children but a Hannah who is supposed to be his daughter. A Hannah, (allegedly Prescott), married John Rugg following the death of his first wife, Martha Prescott, daughter of John and Mary. The will also mentioned a granddaughter Martha Rugg, of whom The Prescott Memorial gives no record.
(Ref: Pope: Pioneers of Massachusetts, page 372).
"John Prescott is buried in the Old Settlers' Burying Ground there in Lancaster, Mass. On John's grave is a rough field stone with the carving on it:
"John Prescott,
Deceased"
"Behind it is an historical marker erected much later by citizens and descendants describing the man. It reads:
"HERE
WITH HIS CHILDREN AROUND HIM LIES
JOHN PRESCOTT
FOUNDER OF LANCASTER AND FIRST SETTLER
OF WORCHESTER COUNTY.
BORN AT STANDISH, LANCASHIRE, ENGLAND.
DIED AT LANCASTER, MASSACHUSETTS, DEC. 1681.
INSPIRED BY THE LOVE OF LIBERTY AND THE FEAR OF GOD
THIS STOUT-HEARTED PIONEER
FORSAKING THE PLEASANT VALES OF ENGLAND
TOOK UP HIS ABODE IN THE UNBROKEN FOREST
AND ENCOUNTERED WILD BEAST AND SAVAGE
TO SECURE FREEDOM
FOR HIMSELF AND HIS POSTERITY.
HIS FAITH AND VIRTUES
HAVE BEEN INHERITED BY MANY DESCENDANTS
WHO IN EVERY GENERATION HAVE WELL SERVED THE
STATE IN WAR, IN LITERATURE, AT THE BAR, IN
THE PULPIT, IN PUBLIC LIFE AND CHRISTIAN HOMES."

"To visit the "Old Burying Ground", one must go to the Middle Cemetery, just south of the Nashua River bridge on Route 70. At the far northeast corner of that cemetery, a path enters the woods between two evergreens. The path goes to railroad tracks and 20 paces north continues east to the "Old Burying Ground."
(From: the Sunday Telegram, Worcester, Mass. August 28, 1983, by Donald Swinton of the Regional Staff. Quoted in "PRESCOTTS UNLIMITED" Vol. V. #2 (June 1984), page 5.)

"The text on the large Memorial Stone was prepared by U.S. Senator, George F. Hoar."
_________
Notes for John Ball:
John Ball was born in England probably about 1585 and came to America between 1630 and 1640. He settled in Watertown where he was made freeman 22 May 1650 and later moved to Concord where he lived with his son Nathaniel until his death in 1655. John Ball is reported to the the son of William Ball of Wiltshire, England, whose six sons emigrated to New England. If this was the case, no proof can be found to support the report. In the scanty records no mention is made of his wife (by some authorities his wife was Joanna King). It is thought that she did not come to this country and had probably died before embarkation. The records show only two children, sons John and Nathaniel, although there may have been others.

The son *John Ball later removed to Lancaster, a town on the western frontier at the time of King Phillips's War. It was originally called Nashaway Plantation when Cholan, cashem of the Nashaway Indians, deeded an 8 by 10 mile tract to Henry Symonds and Thomas King. Sholan offered to sell this tract, which is 35 to 40 miles west northwest of Boston, if King and Symonds would build a trucking house on the land and trade with the Indians. The General Court confirmed the deed, and the trucking house was built on the southeast side of George Hill.

Three mem were sent out to occupy the land and take care of the trucking house. These men were LAWRENCE WATERS, RICHARD LINTON, and John Ball, all three of whom are ancestors of Hattie Bruce. The first two built houses and settled with their families, but John Ball disappeared from the records. He evidently moved back to Watertown and possibly was the John Ball who died in Concord in 1655, although it was more likely his son John.

A petition to incorporate Nashaway Plantation as a town was sent to the General Court. The people wished the place to be called Prescott, after John Prescott who went there in 1647, but the Court gave it the name West Towne. The petitioners were unhappy with the name and petitioned for the name of Lancaster, which was approved. Thus Lancaster became a town in 1653. John Ball's son John was an inhabitant of Lancaster and played a part in its history. For more on Lancaster, see the text on him.

The inventory of John Ball's estate was taken on 6 October and totaled 30.6.10.[3/1:73]

____________________
http://www.tomclough.com/p164.htm#i4099

James Savage, A Genealogical Dictionary of The First Settlers of New England, Before 1692, 4 vols. (Boston: Little, Brown, 1860-1862; reprint Rio Vista, California: American History and Genealogy Project, 2000). Online version used. Alphabetical by surname. [WATERS], "LAWRENCE, Watertown, 1634 or earlier, by w. Ann, d. of Richard Linton, had Lawrence, b. 14 Feb. 1635; Sarah, 7 Dec. 1636; Mary, 27 Jan. 1638; Rebecca, Feb. d. 1 Mar. 1640; Daniel, 6 Feb. 1642; in 1638, he or his w. or both, were warned for hav. danced, and may have been induc. to rem. early to Lancaster, where the high authty. of Willard makes him build the first ho. in that settlem. See Centenn. Celebr. 75. There prob. he had, Bond thinks, Joseph, Ephriam, Jacob, and Rachel; was blind in 1676, but happily rem. bef. the Ind. whirlw. fell on L. and resid. at Charlestown, there d. 9 Dec. 1687, aged near 85. Adam his s. d. 15 Sept. 1670 at Charlestown."

Laurence married Ann Linton about 1632 in Massachusetts. Ann (daughter of Richard Linton and Elizabeth (..) Linton) was born about 1614 in Somerset, England; died on 6 Feb 1680 in Charlestown, Suffolk Co, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Emigration: Bef 1632, Somerset, England

James* married Phebe* Manning about 1600 in London, Middlesex, England. Phebe* (daughter of George* Manning and Joan* Wallis) was born about 1566 in Downe, Kent, England; was christened in England; died about 1642 in Salem, Essex Co, Massachusetts; was buried in Salem, Essex Co, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

"We are descended from the Mannings thro Phebe Waters,whose mother [grandmother] was Phoebe Manning, daughter of George Manning of Downe, Kent.We have an ancestor that was the royal stabdard bearer for Richard the Lionhart :). I am currently working on the West side and our possible connection to the De la Warr Wests,which could make us descendants of Mary Boelyn. I hope to contact the current West that is still a Lord, and see if he will submit DNA to West dna project, would help for any direct descendants of the 1st govenor of Virginia, Thomas West, earl de la warr"
posted by WZacharuk at ancestry.com boards
http://boards.ancestry.com/thread.aspx?mv=flat&m=5958&p=surnames.west

Other Events and Attributes:

• Emigration: Bef 1632, Somerset, England

Notes:

(see note of Lawrence Waters.)

New England Marriages Prior to 1700 by Clarence Torrey 1985, pages 63 and 438, Henry Kibby married Rachael "Lindon" " daughter of Richard" (page 438) George Bennett married Lydia Kibby "granddaughter of Richard Lindon" (page 63) In his will Richard Linton mentions daughter Ann, wife of Lawrence Waters, and granddaughter Lydia, wife of George Bennett (see page 287 of Pioneers of Massachusetts by Charles Pope 1965).
_----------------
Descendants of Edmund Sawyer

http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/c/o/n/Kenneth--M-Conaway/GENE1-0005.html?Welcome=1021778951

THOMAS4 SAWYER (JOHN3, THOMAS2, EDMUND1)10,11 was born 1616 in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England12,13, and died Abt. September 12, 1706 in Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts14,15. He married MARY PRESCOTT16,17 July 02, 1648 in Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts17, daughter of JOHN PRESCOTT and MARY GAWKROGER. She was born February 24, 1629/30 in Sowerby, Halifax, Yorkshire, England18,19,20, and died April 171621,22.

Notes for THOMAS SAWYER:
Published in the " Raven Genealogy and Family History "

Thomas Sawyer was born in 1616 in Lincolnshire, England. He participated in the second division of land about 1645 in Rowley, Essex, Massachusetts. He moved in 1647 to Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts. He had his home used as a town garrison during King Phillip's War in 1675/76 in Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts. He was buried on 12 September, 1706 in Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts.

New England Ancestry of Dana Converse Backus, page 152

THOMAS SAWYER is first on record at Rowley, Mass. the settlement of which had been begun in 1639 but the earliest town record is dated 1643. In the second division of land, about 1645, his name appears. He is thought to have been the younger brother of the other Rowley settlers of that name. In 1647 he removed to Lancaster and there married, in 1648, Mary Prescott ( baptized at Sowerby, Halifax parish, Yorkshire, England, February 24, 1630, daughter of John and Mary ( Gawkroger ) Prescott.
During King Phillip's war the Sawyer house was one of the town garrisons and in the fierce attack of February 10, 1675/6 it escaped destruction, but Ephraim Sawyer, aged twenty-six, was killed at his grandfather Prescott's garrison house. Though the town had to be abandoned for about three years, the Sawyer's were one of the first families to return. Thomas died in Lancaster September 12, 1706, " aged about 90 ". His will, dated March 6, 1705/6, appointed his wife Mary sole executrix. He named in it his eldest son Thomas, " other fouer sons" Joshua, James, Caleb, and Nathaniel, and daughter Mary Wilder, widow of Lt. Nathaniel Wilder, who had been killed by Indians the 31st of July, 1704.

THE STORY
OF
MY ANCESTORS
IN AMERICA
BY
REV. EDWIN SAWYER WALKER, A. M.


THOMAS SAWYER was one of these first settlers. Another was John Prescott, whose daughter, Marie Prescott, Thomas Sawyer married in 1648. There were nine families in the place in 1646, and but few additions were made to the number until 1653, when it was incorporated under the name of Lancaster. The next year, 1654, the names of twenty-five men, who were heads of families, were signed as "Townsmen," the full list giving the name of Thomas Sawyer, as the sixth in order. For the next twenty-one years the settlement increased and prospered, and friendly relations with the Indians were maintained. Soon after his marriage, Mr. Sawyer "set up a house near that of his father-in-law," Prescott, and followed the business of a blacksmith.

In August, 1675, all the horrors of Indian warfare broke upon the town of Lancaster. Under the lead of King Philip, of Mount Hope, an attack was made, when eight persons were killed. On the 10th of February, 1676, another attack was made by King Philip, with a force of 1500 allies, consisting of Wampanoags, Narragansetts, Nipmucks, and Nashaways. They invested the town, which consisted of fifty families, in five distinct bodies and places. They were met by the heroic resistance of the settlers, but it was not until they had burned every house but two, and killed over fifty people, and carried away captive twenty more, that the awful work of devastation ceased. Than this, there is no bloodier chapter in New England history. The town was then utterly abandoned for four years, after which time the survivors returned, and rebuilt their desolated homes, and reared anew their family altars. The capture and death of King Philip, on August 12, 1676, just six months after the destruction of the town of Lancaster, closed the bloody drama, in which he was the chief actor, and for a time gave peace to the settlers. Thirteen years later, in 1689, King William's War, again sent the Indians on the war path. The Colonists were for the next eight years, subject to constant alarms. In September, 1697, another attack was made upon Lancaster, when Rev. John Whiting, the minister, and twenty of his people, were killed, gallantly fighting to the last. Soon after this came the peace of Ryswick, and for a time the settlers had rest.

Through all these vicissitudes, and conflicts of border life, from 1644 to 1697, a period of fifty-three years, THOMAS SAWYER was an active participant; and one of the few, of the earliest settlers of Lancaster, who survived to see the close of the 17th century. He died in Lancaster, September 12, 1706, at the age of 80 years.


New England Families Genealogical and Memorial: Volume IV

Author: William Richard Cutter

Thomas Sawyer, the immigrant, appears to have come as early as 1642 from England with brothers. Edmund and William. He lived in Rowley and perhaps other Essex county towns for a time, and in 1653 was one of the nine founders of Lancaster, Worcester county, Massachusetts. He was a blacksmith and farmer. During the Indian raid in King Philip's war his son Ephraim was slain. After the war he returned with others and was prominent during the next thirty years. He was admitted a freeman in 1654. He died September 12, 1706, aged about ninety. His will was dated March 6, 1705-06, and proved April 12, 1720. He married Maria, daughter of John Prescott, a blacksmith from Sowerby, in the parish of Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, where he married Mary Blatts. Children of Thomas Sawyer: Thomas, mentioned below; Ephraim, born January 16, 1650-51; Mary, November 4, 1652; Elizabeth, January, 1654; Joshua, March 13, 1655; James, January 22, 1657; Caleb, February 20, 1659; John, April, 1661; Elizabeth, baptized January 5, 1663-64; Deborah, 1666, died young; Nathaniel, October 24, 1670.

Thomas Sawyer1 of Rowley in 1643. He was a blacksmith, came to Lancaster in 1647, and m. in 1648, Mary, dau. of John and Mary (Platts) Prescott, bapt. in Sowerby, Eng., Halifax Parish, Feb. 24, 1630.

Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worchester County vol1
Author: Ellery Bicknell Crane
Call Number: F72.W9C8vol.1

Thomas Sawyer, born in England about 1616, settled first at Rowley, Massachusetts, about 1643. He removed to Lancaster in 1647, when there were but three permanent settlers there: John Prescott, Richard Linton and Lawrence. John Ball had apparently left the settlement after being there for some time in behalf of the proprietors. In May, 1653, Thomas Sawyer was appointed by general court one of the prudential managers of the town. They had full powers to allot land, govern the town and admit freemen. The other members of the board were Edward Breck, Nathaniel Hadlock, William Kerley, John Prescott and Ralph Houghton. Thomas Sawyer was admitted a freeman 1654, and was a proprietor of Lancaster 1648. Naturally he became one of the leading men. He was a blacksmith by trade. His farm was on the present grounds of the Seventh Day Adventists, between South Lancaster and Clinton. There is a stone to mark his grave in the old graveyard in Lancaster. He died September 12, 1706, about ninety years of age.

There is little of interest on the records about Thomas Sawyer until 1676, when King Philip's war was raging and Lancaster suffered greatly. His son Ephraim Sawyer was killed by the Indians at Prescott's Garrison, now in Clinton. Sawyer's house was one of the garrisons, and he was in command there. It was just behind the house now or lately owned by John A. Rice, of Lancaster. It is interesting to note that other heads of Worcester county families of note, written about in this work, were in the same garrison. In 1704 the garrison was at the house of Thomas Sawyer, Jr., the aged father in command. Sawyer had nine men under him: Andrew Gardner, Thomas Sawyer, Jr., Mr. Gardner, Jabez Fairbanks, ancestor of the vice-president; Nathaniel, another son of Thomas Sawyer; John Harris; Daniel Rugg, ancestor of Arthur P. Rugg and most of the Worcester county Ruggs; Samuel Prescott, ancestor of the historian and of Worcester families of the name. These families all lived on the west side of the Nashua river, at what is now called South Lancaster. In the following year Thomas Sawyer, Jr. was taken captive, as will be related later. Thomas Sawyer. Sr. lived with his daughter, Mary Wilder, while Thomas was a captive in Canada.

Thomas Sawyer, Sr., married, 1648, Mary, daughter of John Prescott of Watertown and Lancaster. (See Prescott family). His will is dated March 6, 1705-6, proved April 12, 1720. The children of Thomas Sawyer and Mary (Prescott) Sawyer were: 1. Thomas, born July 2, 1649. 2. Ephraim, born January 16, 1650-1. 3. Marie, born January 4, 1652-3; married (???) Wilder. 4. Elizabeth, born January, 1654. 5. Joshua, born March 13, 1655. 6. James, born March 22, 1657. 7. Caleb, born April 22, 1659. 8. John, born April, 1661. 9. Nathaniel, born November, 1670, mentioned in father's will; three of foregoing not living at time father's will was made--Ephraim, John and Elizabeth





More About THOMAS SAWYER:
Burial: September 12, 1706, Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts23,24

Notes for MARY PRESCOTT:
[Sawyer.FTW]


The New England Ancestry of Dana Converse Backus

MARY PRESCOTT, baptized at Sowerby, Halifax parish, Yorkshire, England, February 24, 1630, eldest child of John and Mary (Gawkroger) Prescott, was about ten years old when they came to New England. She married at Lancaster in 1648, Thomas Sawyer of Rowley and Lancaster. (See Sawyer)



The New England Ancestry of Dana Converse Backus

MARY PRESCOTT, baptized at Sowerby, Halifax parish, Yorkshire, England, February 24, 1630, eldest child of John and Mary (Gawkroger) Prescott, was about ten years old when they came to New England. She married at Lancaster in 1648, Thomas Sawyer of Rowley and Lancaster. (See Sawyer)


" MARY PRESCOTT SAWYER
"Mary Prescott was born in Sowerby, Parish of Halifax in Yorkshire, England where she was baptized on February 24, 1630. She was the daughter of John and Mary (Gawkroger/Platts) Prescott. She emigrated from Sowerby to Watertown in the Massachusetts Bay Colony with her family somewhere around 1638. She lived there with them until about 1643 when they moved to their settlement on the Nashaway Plantation which became Lancaster, Mass.
"In 1648 she married another early settler, Thomas who had come in from Lincolnshire, England, and finally moved to the new settlement at Lancaster. He had taken up land, and they built their home there, undertaking all the hard work entailed in wresting a living from the land in that pioneer settlement. They had a family of eleven children - six sons and five daughters.
"In 1676 they suffered through the massacre of Lancaster along with the others, and Mary knew the grief of losing her second son, Ephriam, as well as other relatives and friends in that ordeal. They were evacuated back to Watertown on the coast and remained there for about three years until it seemed safe to return. The Sawyer family came back and rebuilt their farm home and helped with the restructuring of community affairs.

Richard married Elizabeth (..) Linton about 1610 in England. Elizabeth was born about 1590 in England; died in 1673 in Lancaster, Worcester Co, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Emigration: Bef 1632, Somerset, England

George* married Joan* Wallis on 13 Aug 1540 in St Mary Cray, Kent, England. Joan* (daughter of Richard* Wallis and (..)* Burton, Miss) was born in 1524 in of, Downe, Kent, England; died on 5 Jun 1582 in Downe, Kent, England; was buried on 5 Jun 1582 in Downe, Kent, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]