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David was a member of the scouts called "Rogers' Rangers." They moved toHollis, N. H., and in 1764 to the new township of Plymouth, N. H., wherethey were among the first settlers. They built a tavern near the site ofthe present (1950) railroad station.
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M.D. *JOSEPH (PEASLEY) PEASLEE:
The Peaslee's and Barnard's were close, apparently these relations we recloser than some liked, for on July 14, 1672, less than six month s afterthe wedding, Joseph and Ruth had their first child."Consequen tly, at thequarterly court session at Salisbury on April 8, 1673, Jo seph Peasleeand Ruth, his wife were presented for fornication, the y confessed andwere sentenced to be whipped tomorrow or pay a fine o f six pounds. Therecord does not state which they chose"
About the time of the marriage, Joseph built a house in Haverhill whe rehe then settled with Ruth. This house became known as the "Peasle eGarrison" and still stands st 790 East Broadway, Haverhill. It wa sconstructed with bricks imported from England. (An interesting side noteis that Robert Hastings, the mason who built the house, had a da ughter,Elizabeth, who later married Joseph's son, Joseph.) The hous e is twostories high and has three rooms upstairs and three rooms do wnstairs. Achimney is located at each end of the house. During Kin g Philip's Warthe home was used as a garrison house where soldiers w ere stationed andpeople could flee if need be.
In 1956 the house was owned by Reginald C. Bacon. He had extensive renovations done on the house to restore it to it's original look.
In an article written about the house Mr. Bacon states:
"Joseph Peaslee must have been a man of some means and artistic
imagination, because by any standards, his dwelling was a fine
house for the times. Its woodwork is in some details more
elaborate than was customary in the late 17th century. Included
in the original woodwork was a complete casement window frame,
still in existence after nearly 300 years"
The richness of this house indicates that Joseph was a very successfu lfarmer and businessman. Unfortunately, for the first part of his li feJoseph was not a very good person. He was in court on numerous occ asionsboth as a plaintant and defendant. In November of 1676 he wa s chargedwith assaulting a person with a chain. In 1681 he was charg ed withassaulting a Peter Green "on August 12 last, by kicking an d striking himso that he was taken for dead at the time and was fo r a long time infear of death by the blows". He was found guilty, fi ned and forbidden tobear any weapons. After this case he seemed to c alm down and turn hislife around. This may have been due in part o r all to his having becomea Quaker. In 1698 he and others petitione d the town to allow them toopen a meeting place for the Quakers.
In 1687 he was chosen to be the Town Constable for 1688. He was mad e aSelectman in 1689, 1690 and 1696. In 1701 a fire caused Joseph Pe asleeserious grief.
On November 5, 1723 Ruth died. Joseph married the widow Mary (Potter )Davis a short time later.From internet site "bearclaws.basken.com/peasleybio"
Joseph Peasley, Jr. was born in Haverhill, MA in 1646. He was the son ofJoseph, Sr, the immigrant, and his wife, Mary (perhaps Johnson). Josephwas raised in the eastern part of Haverhill, near to Amesbury in the oldriverfront settlement of Rocks Village. The Peasley family members wereof a dissenting frame of mind, especially when it came to church affairs.They spoke their minds on many occasions, and often what they had to saydidn't agree with the doctrine of the established church. That they gotaway with this behavior, may be because they were eminently useful to thetown, and also, probably due to the fact that they didn't live in themore populated area of Haverhill. When, in 1699 the town of Haverhillvoted to build a new meeting house, Joseph formally requested permissionfor himself and those who worshipped in their own way (Quakers) to holdtheir meetings in the new building, but the town refused to grant therequest. So, he and the other dissenters, met at his house, and this bandof Friends held the first meeting of the society in this part of thecountry, at that site. Large groups of folk would assemble at the socalled quarterly meetings, there to listen to addresses by the morenotable speakers of the day. Earlier, in 1693, Joseph had built a sawmillon a local river, and he was also a physician who ministered to hisneighbors. He owned a fortified house, to which people could repair, inthe event of an Indian attack. This house was built in the 1690's andstill stands in the eastern part of Haverhill, known as Rocks Village.Joseph and his first wife, Ruth (Barnard) Peasley were ancestors, throughtheir daughter, Mary, of John Greenleaf Whittier. After Ruth's death in1723, Joseph married Mary (Tucker) Davis, widow of Stephen. Joseph died21 March 1734/35, and as those of the Quaker faith eschewed any largestones at gravesites, the site of his grave is unknown.
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MINISTER *JOSEPH (PEASLEY) PEASLEE:
The origin of the name Peaslee is unknown. Some claim it comes from thename Peter, while others feel that it is the combination of the two wordsPeas and lea (pasture).Still others feel that it is a combination of thefamilies Pease and Lee.
Joseph, the first bearing that name who came to New England, wasoriginally from Gloucestershire, England. Peaslee tradition places Joseph origin near the banks of the River Severn in Gloucestershire whic hflows not far from the border of Wales. He is referred to as havin g beenof Bristol which is the metropolitan center of the area. His f irst threechildren were born in England with the last being born i n 1629. This 13year gap plus the fact that Mary Johnson was much you nger indicates thathe was married before and Mary Johnson is his sec ond wife.
Joseph Peaslee and his family came to America abt 1635/38 from Bristo l,England to settle in Newbury, MA. He moved to Salisbury, Newton Co , MA,from there to Colchester (now Salisbury) in 1641 where he was g rantedadditional land. In 1642 he was made a Freeman of the communit y. He wasone of 32 land holders who founed Haverhill,MA in 1645.He a nd his familylived in the "eastern part of the town near the head o f what is now EastBroadway on the side towards the Merrimac River" . He was chosen to serveHaverhill as a Selectman in 1649, 1650, an d 1653. Joseph w3as a farmerand a cattle rancher. He was also rememb ered as one who had muchknowledge of herbs and roots and used them t o aid people medically.
In 1656 he moved to Salisbury, MA. The section he settled in is now p artof Newton, NH. According to Fredrick Lamphere, early settlers o fSalisbury were reluctant to take up their abode in the western hal f ofthe town and that in 1642, thirty families were either forced t o werepersuaded to settle there. When there the settlers felt they s hould havetheir own church and not have to travel to the church in S alisbury. Theypetitioned the General Court for theis right. The cour t ruled againstthem and added that anyone not attending their churc h would be finedfive shillings.
When Joseph narrived in this part of town, this controversy was stil lgoing on. Joseph then took a leading part in it aas he began to pre achat the "new church". Joseph got into trouble over this on a numbe r ofoccasions. At one point a warrant was issued ordering Joseph t o appearbefore the court and answer for his disobedience to authorit ies. Herefused to stop preaching and in 1659 he was fined by the cou rt. Acompromise was finally reached where the new residents would hi re thepreacher from Salisbury church to travel to their church and p reach.
In 1741 when the state was established, his settlement was within th epresent lines of Newton, N.H where his homestead of 200 acres was . Hecontinued to preach the doctrine that resulted in the formatio n of the"Society of Friends" (Quakers) in 1653. This is from "Earl y Settlers ofEssex and Norfolk" page 357.
While residing in East Salisbury, he fell out of favor with the established church and moved out of it's jurisduction to west of the Powo wriver in what is known as Amesbury Mills. He continued to have prob lemswith the East Salisbury church who extended their jurisdiction , forcingJoseph and others to move farther west and making a permane nt settlementin Haverhill, in that part which was in MA before the s tate line wasestablished in 1741. He was a Quaker and continued to b e prohibited bythe Puritans in practicing his belief. Joseph, a succ essful farmer,owned a large amount of property both in Salisbury an d Haverhill.On November 11, 1660 his will was written: (copied as written)
The last will and testament of Josef Peasly is that my debts shall b epayed out of my Estate and the remainder estate---my debts being pa yed Idoo give and bequeath unto Mary my wiff during her life and I d oo mydaffter Sara all my hous and lands that I have at Salisbury an d I doogive unto Josef my sonne all my land that I have upon the pla in atHaverhill and doo give unto Josef my sonne all my medo ling i n East medoat Havehill and doo give unto Josef my sonne five share s of the commonrites that doo belong to me on the plain. I doo giv e unto my daffterElizabeth my fourty fower acres of upland ling west wards of Haverhilland do give unto my dattfer Elizabeth fower acre s and a half of medolingin the ---at Haverhill and doo allso give m y daffter Elizabeth fowerof the common rites that doo belong to th e plain and doo give unto mydaffter Jean fower shillings and to my d affter Mary fower shillings. Idoo give unto Sara Saier my grandchil d my upland and medo lingin---medo.And I doo give unto my sonne Jose f all the remainder of myland at Haverhill which is not herein dispo sed of.I doo allso make Marymy wiff my Soule executrer and do alls o leave Josef my sonne and theestate I have given him to my wiff t o poss on till Josef my sonne betwenty years of age.
This will was proved on February 9, 1661."New England Marriages Prior to 1700" page 566
Salisbury, Haverhill, Newbury MA Vital Records.
"Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury" Page 314 & 1006
Pillsbury Gen. 2nd Pealsee line
H.E.H.G.R. 15-269 P.O.P.- 1:1
Also from information received from Chuckn Hanson.
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Mary was born in Wales. Her grandfather Edmund, along with her six siblings drowned while on a boating trip in Ponty Pool, Wales in 1600 . Theonly child to survive was Mary's father, John
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From the Historical Register of Revolutionary War Officers: Amos waskilled in the Revolutionary War. He may have been with the Third NHcontinental Regiment and killed at the battle of Saratoga.
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A tanner and a yeoman.