1Janet Ireland Delorey, The Poulter Family of Rayleigh, Essex, England, and Billerica, Massachusetts, NEHGR Vol. 141, pp. 224-227 (Jul. 1987).
"4. JONATHAN3 POULTER (John2, John and Mary1) was born at Billerica, Mass., 25 January 1668/9 and died intestate 27 April 1708 at Lexington, where he is buried in the Old Burying Ground (Lexington Epitaphs, 104). He married, about 1692, ELIZABETH, whose surname was perhaps Coolidge as suggested by Clarence Almon Torrey (New England Marriage Prior to 1700 [Baltimore, 1985], 598). She died 9 February 1741/2 and is buried in the Old Burying Ground at Lexington, where her gravestone indicates that she died in the 71st year of her age (Lexington Epitaphs, 104).
Torrey's suggestion is supported by the birth of an Elizabeth Coolidge of Watertown, Mass., 1 November 1673, daughter of John and Hannah (Livermore) Coolidge who was not traced by Emma Downing Coolidge in her reliable Descendants of John and Mary Coolidge of Watertown, Massachusetts (Boston, 1930). The sources offered by Torrey (Lexington VRs, 2:545 and The Register 58[1904]:128) present no proof. . . .
Children, born at Lexington, Mass., (Lexington VRs, 20, 24-26, 41-43, 48-49, 61, 175; Hudson, History of Lexington, 2:367; Bond, Watertown, 639, Samuel Sewall, The History of Woburn [Boston, 1868], 626):
i. ABIGAIL4, b. 5 Sept. 1692; d. before 29 Dec. 1737; m. (1) ------- LOCKE; m. (2) 8 Jan. 1720/1, as his second wife, THOMAS FESSENDEN (Lexington VRs, 1:114), who was b. 12 Aug. 1684 and d. 6 March 1738/9, son of Nicholas and Margaret (Cheney) Fessenden (Hudson, History of Lexington and suggested by John Goodwin Locke in the Book of the Lockes (Boston, 1853, pp. 314-315), that Abigail Poulter was Thomas Fessenden's first wife, also named Abigail, who died on 25 April 1719. History of Lexington (2:203) further states that Abigail Locke was the daughter of Joseph and Mary Locke, b. 26 Oct. 1712, although she would have been too young to have married in 1720. Abigail (Poulter) (Locke) Fessenden's position as Thomas' second wife is proven by the deed from Thomas Fessenden and his wife Abigail, dated 22 March 1735/6, conveying one-sixth of the property of "our honoured father, Jonathan Poulter" (Middlesex Co. Deeds 37:600).
. . .
ii. ELIZABETH, b. 13 Feb. 1694/5; m. about 1716 EBENEZER LOCKE, probably an unrecorded son of William Locke, Jr., and his first wife, Sarah Whitmore, who were m. 29 May 1683 (Sewall, History of Woburn, 626). Although no marriage record has been found, proof exists in the deed of 27 June 1732 whereby Ebenezer Locke and his wife Elizabeth conveyed one-sixth of Jonathan Poulter's estate (Middlesex Co. Deeds, 35:444). (Nothing has been found to substantiate the statement in History of Woburn that Elizabeth pre-deceased Ebenezer and that he m. [2] Abigail, widow of Jonas Merriam of Lexington.)
. . .
iii. HANNAH, b. 12 Nov. 1697; d. at Lexington, 3 March 1725/6; m. JOHN DANFORTH. Her gravestone reads "Mrs. Hannah Danford wife of Mr. John Danford, died March 3, 1725 in the 28th year of her age" (Lexington Epitaphs, 29).
. . .
iv. MARY, b. 11 jan. 1699/1700; d. Jan. 1763; m. BENJAMIN MERRILL, bp. at Lexington, Jan. 1701/2, d. 28 Aug. 1773, aged 74, son of John and Mary (Wheeler) Merriam (Hudson, History of Lexington, 2:425).
. . .
v. RACHEL, b. 11 May 1702; d. at Temple, N. H., ca. 1795 (Hudson, History of Lexington); m. (1) JOHN CUTTER, b. at Watertown, 23 July 1700 (ibid.), d. 20 Nov. 1747 in his 48th year and bur. in the Old Burying Ground, Lexington, possibly the son of Ephraim amd Bethia (Wood) Cutter. Rachel m. (2) BARNABAS DAVIS of Littleton, Mass., and removed to New Ipswich, N.H., and later to Temple, N.H.
. . .
vi. JONATHAN, b. 11 Jan. 1704/5; d. 23 March 1725/6; bur. in Old Burying Ground, Lexington.
vii. SUBMITTE, b. 16 June 1708; d. at Woburn, 1 June 1799, aged 91; m. NATHANIEL BROOKS, b.at Woburn, 17 Aug. 1703, son of Jabez and Hephzibah (Cutter) Brooks (Register, 58[1904]:129).
. . .
vii. SON, d. 25 April 1708.".
1Dedham, MA: Vital Records, 1635 - 1845, pp. 1, 8-13 (1845).
"1635 A Register of the Births,Marriages and Deaths in this Towne,in which the yeare is accounted to begin the first day of the first mo. called March.
. . .
Samuell, the Son of Samll & Mary Gay, was borne 4, 11 mo., 62.
BIRTHS.
Edward, the Son of Samuell & Mary Gay, borne the 13th of Apr., 1666.
1668
. . .
John, the Son of Sam. & Mary Gay, was borne 25th June, 1668. [died June 17, 1758.]
1674
. . .
Timothy, ye Son of Samll, & Mary Gay, was borne 15:7:74.".
1Frederick Lewis Gay, John Gay of Dedham, Massachusetts and Some of his Descendants, p. 5 (1879).
"7. JOHN,sup>3 (Samuel,2 John1), b. June 25, 1668; married May 24, 1692, Mary Fisher. Selectman at Dedham, 1721. He died June 171, 1758; his wife died May 18, 1748. They had:
i. MARY, b. May 30, 1693; m. Nathaniel Metcalf, Feb. 17, 1712.
ii. MERCY, b. Feb. 17, 1696.
iii. JOHN, b. July 8, 1699; settled in Litchfield, Conn.; ancestor of the Gays in Sharon and Farmington, Conn.
iv. SAMUEL, b. July 12, 1702; m. Sarah -----. They had:--1. Sarah,5 b. oct. 18, 1725;m. Elkanah Willis, of Bridgewater, Oct. 19, 1748. 2. Mary,5 b. June 27, 1727; d. young. 3. Samuel,5 b. June 23, 1729; d. Dec. 4, 1736. 4. Rachel,5 b. June 7, 1732; d. Sept. 30, 1736. 5. Mary,5 b. April 18, 1737; m. Ebenezer Wilkinson, of Bridgewater, Nov. 25, 1760. 6. Rachel, b. July 23, 1739; d. Aug. 13, 1739. 7. Samuel,5 b. April 1, 1743; m. Mary Ross, April 30, 1763.
v. MARGARET, b. July 27, 1705.
vi. ELIPHALET, b. Sept. 24, 1706; m. Dorothy Hall, dau. of Andrew and Susanna hall, of Newton, 1732. They had:--1. Ephraim,5 b. Sept. 13, 1734; m. Lois Fisher, Sept. 29, 1758. 2. Susanna,5 b. Jan. 21, 1737; m. John Harris, of Stoughton, April 11, 1753. 3. Lydia, b. June 19, 1739; m. Elijah Esty, of Sharon, Jan. 26, 1762. 4. Mehitable,5 b. March 21, 1747; m. Eben French, May 10, 1766. 5. Ebenezer, b. -----. 6. Eliphalet, b. -----.
vii. EBENEZER, b. April 25, 1711; d. May 1, 1711.".