Family of Thomas * HARTSHORN and Sarah AYERS

Husband:	Thomas * HARTSHORN (1614-1683)
Wife:	Sarah AYERS (1625- )
Children:	Timothy HARTSHORN (c. 1663- )
Marriage	10 Apr 1661	Reading, Middlesex, MA, US1

Husband: Thomas * HARTSHORN

Wife: Sarah AYERS

Name:	Sarah AYERS
Sex:	Female
Father:	-
Mother:	-
Birth	1625	England

Child 1: Timothy HARTSHORN

Name:	Timothy HARTSHORN
Sex:	Male
Birth	1663 (est)

Note on Husband: Thomas * HARTSHORN

1. Thomas HARTSHORN (1) was born about 1614 in England, deposing 3 Apr 1654 that he was age 40. He signed a will on 26 Oct 1681 in Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. The will, No. 10545. is in fair condition in Middlesex County Court House,. The estate was inventoried 18 May 1683 and was entered in Probate 16 June 1683. The will is very brief. The son Thomas is mentioned, perhaps because he is eldest; Benjamin was named executor and had the home place, evidently by previous agreement; daughter Susanna received valuable keepsakes. The others are not mentioned at all, and we have no record of what had been previously given them; some had been put to a trade or profession, and we know that Timothy had enough Reading land to hand down to his children, some of it Hartshorn land. The inventory included "...32 Ackers Land £74" "... tables, chears, books, and other ware £1-7s-0d." Total £122-7s-0d. Sarah's living was carefully provided and laid out, unless she remarry or remove, in which case she was to have only a small yearly sum.

 

Mr. Bartlett adds the comment that "The will, still to be seen, is in the handwriting of Major Jeremiah Swain, 'the most prominent citizen in Reading in his generation'".

[J. Gardner Bartlett: a Hartshorn family manuscript] He died before 18 May 1683 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts. He had an estate probated on 16 Jun 1683 in Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Thomas Hartshorn (or Hartshorne) arrived about 1636-38 by unknown passage, and settled in Lynn by 1635. Some suggest that he was of Reading, Berkshire, England but parish records there list none of that surname. More probably he was from an area between Derby and Leicestershire.

 

A tailor, Thomas was living in Reading in 1639, five years before its incorporation in 1644. "About 1640 settled on Elm Street. The old Thomas Hartshorn place remained two hundred years in the family." [Lily Eaton: History of Reading, 1874]. Arnold's history [James N. Arnold: The Arnold Genealogy] also states that a house on a hill was occupied by two Hartshornes who kept tavern, that Reading had 59 houses in 1667, including those of Daniel Hartshorn and Thomas Hartshorn. Probably the name Daniel is a misreading, and Thomas and one of his sons is meant. No other suggestion has been found that any other Hartshorn besides Thomas and Susanna were among the first settlers of Reading. Thomas was recorded as freeman 10 May 1648. A member in full of First Church 29 Sep 1648, his Church rate was £1-9s-7d. Susanna was also a member, and Rev. Samuel Haugh was the pastor.

 

In 1650, Thomas received a grant of 10 acres; in 1655 a lot in Jeremiah Swain's meadow; in 1665, a lot north of the Ipswich River, and in 1666, land in the Great Swamp. Some of the old land records are clear enough during the twentieth century to show the approximate location of his land.

 

There is an interesting account in the Ipswich Court Recordsof 28 September 1658 where a John Hakes took action against a Joseph Cooke for his questionable possession of "a mare colt." The action had lasted over six months and the writ was served by Thomas Hartshorn who was serving as constable, an office he held in 1658 and 1672. During the period of litigation, it appears that he had custody of the colt in question. The case was eventually decided for Mr. Cooke.

 

Thomas was a Reading selectman in 1661and 1667. In 1662, he was one of 20 members who paid a dog-whipper and in 1672 it was voted to hang any dog whose owner refused to pay the dog-whipper. In 1680, Reading enacted that freemen in voting should use Indian corn. In 1677, Mass. state records have a petition from Reading of which Thomas is a signer. He is listed as being a juror during the court held at Hampton on 9 October 1677.

 

After Susanna's death, several of her children were put out as apprentices, as most of the Lamson children already had been. No legal record of their apprenticeship had been found, except Jonathan. He was on the rolls of the First Church on 6 Apr 1663, by letter from the church in Ipswich.

 

He was old during the time of King Philip's War but was a sergeant in the Reading Militia Company in 1679.

 

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Thomas HARTSHORN was born about 1614 in England, deposing 3 Apr 1654 that he was age 40.

He was married to Susanna BUCK in 1640 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts.

 

He signed a will on 26 Oct 1681 in Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. The will, No. 10545. is in fair condition in Middlesex County Court House,. The estate was inventoried 18 May 1683 and was entered in Probate 16 June 1683. The will is very brief. The son Thomas is mentioned, perhaps because he is eldest; Benjamin was named executor and had the home place, evidently by previous agreement; daughter Susanna received valuable keepsakes. The others are not mentioned at all, and we have no record of what had been previously given them; some had been put to a trade or profession, and we know that Timothy had enough Reading land to hand down to his children, some of it Hartshorn land. The inventory included "...32 Ackers Land £74" "... tables, chears, books, and other ware £1-7s-0d." Total £122-7s-0d. Sarah's living was carefully provided and laid out, unless she remarry or remove, in which case she was to have only a small yearly sum.

 

A tailor, Thomas was living in Reading in 1639, five years before its incorporation in 1644. "About 1640 settled on Elm Street. The old Thomas Hartshorn place remained two hundred years in the family." [Lily Eaton: History of Reading, 1874]. Arnold's history [James N. Arnold: The Arnold Genealogy] also states that a house on a hill was occupied by two Hartshornes who kept tavern, that Reading had 59 houses in 1667, including those of Daniel Hartshorn and Thomas Hartshorn. Probably the name Daniel is a misreading, and Thomas and one of his sons is meant. No other suggestion has been found that any other Hartshorn besides Thomas and Susanna were among the first settlers of Reading. Thomas was recorded as freeman 10 May 1648. A member in full of First Church 29 Sep 1648, his Church rate was £1-9s-7d. Susanna was also a member, and Rev. Samuel Haugh was the pastor.

 

In 1650, Thomas received a grant of 10 acres; in 1655 a lot in Jeremiah Swain's meadow; in 1665, a lot north of the Ipswich River, and in 1666, land in the Great Swamp. Some of the old land records are clear enough during the twentieth century to show the approximate location of his land.

 

Thomas was a Reading selectman in 1661and 1667. In 1662, he was one of 20 members who paid a dog-whipper and in 1672 it was voted to hang any dog whose owner refused to pay the dog-whipper. In 1680, Reading enacted that freemen in voting should use Indian corn. In 1677, Mass. state records have a petition from Reading of which Thomas is a signer. He is listed as being a juror during the court held at Hampton on 9 October 1677.

 

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Thomas was recordede as Freeman 10 May 1648. A member in full of First Church 29 Sept 1648, his Church rate was 1pd-9s-7d. Susanna was also a member, and Rev. Samuel Haugh was the pastor. IN 1650, Thomas received a grant of 10acres; in 1655 a lot in Jeremiah Swain's meadow; in 1655, a lot north of the Ipswich River, and in 1666, land in the Great Swamp, Some of the old land records are clear enough during the twentieth century to show the approximate location of his land. There is an interesting account in the Ipswich court records of 28 Sept 1658 where a John hakes took action against a Josph Cooke for his questionable possession of "a mare colt". The action had lasted for over six months and the writ was served by Thomas Hartshorn who was serving as constable, an office he held in 1658 and 1672. During the period of litigation, it appears that he had custody of the colt in question. The case was eventually decided for Mr. Cooke. Thomas was a Reading selectman in 1661 and 1667. In 1662, he was one of 20 members who paid a dog-whipper. In 1680, Reading enacted that freeman in voting should use Indian corn. In 1677, Massachusetts state records have a petition from Reading of which Thomas is a signer. He is listed as being a juror during the court hels at Hampton on 9 Oct 1677. After Susanna's death , several of her children were put out as apprentices, as most of the Lamson children already had been. No ;egal record of their apprenticeship had been found, except Jonathan. He was on the rolls of the First Church on 6 Apr 1663, by letter from the Church in Ipswich. He was old during the time of King Phillip's War but was a sergeant in the Reading Militia Company in 1679. The will of Thomas Hartshorn, dated 26 October 1681, is in fair condition in Middlesex County Court House, No.10545. His estate was inventoried 18 May 1683 and was entered probably inate 16 Jun 1683. The will is brief. The son Thomas is mentioned, perhaps because he is the eldest; Benjamin was named executor and had the home place, evidently by previous agreement; daughter Susanna received valuable keepsakes. The others are not mentioned at all, and we know that Timothy had enough Reading land to hand down to his children, some of it Hartshorn land. The inventory included "...32 acres land 74pd"... tables, chairs, books, and other ware 1pd-7s-0d." Total 122pd-7s-0d. Sarah's living was carefully provided and laid out, unless she remarry or remove, in which case she was to have only a small yearly sum. Mr. Bartlett adds the comnient that "The Will, still to be seen, is in the handwriting of Major Jeremiah Swain, 'the most prominent citizen in Reading in his generation'".³

Sources

1	"MA Marriages 1633-1850" (Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Film # 1761394 and 0859998).

2	Charles Henry Pope, "Pioneers of Massachusetts, 1620-1650" (Genealogical Publishing Co, 1998).

3	"Find a Grave".