First Generation  

1. William Dyer ^{1 2 3 4 5 6 7} was born about 1620 in England and died on 16 Aug 1689 in Sheepscot, Lincoln, Me about age 69.

General Notes: William Dyer had the titles of Esquire and Justice of the Peace.

DYER, WILLIAM; bought land from the Indians at Sheepscot, 1663; kill ed by natives in August, 1689; children Christopher, the eldest, John, bo rn 1648, and Mary, who married Samuel, son of Joseph Bowles, of Cape Porpo ise. (Pioneers on Maine Rivers, by Wilbur D. Spencer)

William Dyer first appears in America in 1662 when he purchased from t he I ndians Daniel, Sagamore and Dick Swash, Sagamore on Feb,11,1662/3 la nd at Massoemek, later called Dyer's Neck, at Sheepscot, and on Mar.29,16 64 purchased of Robin Hood, Sagamore and his son, land at the Neck, Massoe mek, as recorded in York Deeds 15-224. William Dyer and family lived he re until forced away by the Indian Wars.
He came to Braintree about 1678-9, returned to Dyer's Neck about 1683, a nd was killed there about Aug.-1689 by the Indians after which his survivi ng son John and daughter Mary Bowles with their families settled in Braint ree where John's descendants remain to this day. (Genelogies of the Famili es of Braintree, Ma, by Waldo C. Sprague #1463)

"Mr." (William) "Dyer left all behind him, who sowed 16 bushells of whea t, planted a bushell and a half of Indian corne, sowed 9 bushells of pea s, left 56 hed of Cattell, 30 swine, and household goods, and tackling f or a plow and carte." (Pioneers on Maine Rivers, by Wilbur D. Spencer) (Hi st. of Scituate, 402)

"The plantations at Sheepscot and Damariscotta were again deserted on t he same fatal day in August 1689. At that time the northern Indians kill ed several members of the planter's families, among whom were William Dy er and Nathaniel Draper. (Pioneers on Maine Rivers, by Wilbur D. Spencer)

The lands at Dyer's Neck in Maine (600 acres) were conveyed in 17 12 a nd in 1732 to Henry Flint of Cambridge by Samuel Boles of Rocheste r, Plymouth Co., husbandman, and wife Mary, daughter of William Dyer a nd by William Dyer of Weymouth, eldest son of Christopher Dyer, the elde st son of the first William Dyer - York Deeds 15-226, 227. [Sprague #1463]

On Jan.19,1732/3 John Dyer aged about 85 years, formerly an inhabita nt of New Dartmouth, alias Sheepscot, now living in Braintree, Norfolk, Ma de affidavit that he was living with his father William above 60 yea rs a go for several years at said Sheepscot or Dyer's Neck, whose eldest s on was Christopher, and he also had one daughter Mary who afterwards inter married with one Samuel Bowles. His said father was killed by Indians on s aid Neck in or about August above 42 years since and in the lifetime of h is eldest son Christopher; and himself was grievously wounded in several p arts of his body by the same party of Indians and was carried by his broth er Christopher to a doctor at Pemaquid, and some few months after his elde st brother Christopher was himself about the month of December killed by I ndians, and Christopher left a son William, his eldest son, besides so me o ther children, which William now lives at Weymouth in Co. of Suffo lk - York Deeds 15-227. [Sprague #1464]
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The founder of the Dyer family, represented in the present generation by D r. Ebenezer A. Dyer, of Whitman, was William Dyer, an early settler of She epscott, Maine, his name appearing on the list of those who took the oa th of allegiance, in 1665, also that of his son, Christopher Dyer, bo th of whom were massacred by the Indians during King Philip's War. [Encycl opedia of Biography, Ebenezer Alden Dyer, M.D.]
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DEPOSITION OF ESTHER ROBERTS
Esther Roberts of Boston, aged about sixty-four years, testifieth & sai th that she very well know Mr. William Dyer of Shipscot, father of Christo pher and John Dyer and Mary Dyer who married to Samuel Bowles; said Christ opher was sd William's eldest son, and had by his first wife two sons, Wil iam and John, & one daughter called Grace who intermarried with one All ic et: The first mentioned William Dyer lived on a neck of Land that w as known by the name of Dyer's Neck, and had there a house , a field, orch ard, garden and cattle & at theat same time there lived on ye sd Ne ck at a little distance from him, his second son John Dyer. The sd Willi am Dyer was mending his garden or orchard fence when the Indians came a nd knocked him down, which I saw, and they killed and scalped him, and wou nded grievously his second son John Dyer, but he recovered of his wounds.C hristopher Dyer was killed by the Indians a few months afterwards, whi ch I also well remember. The above William & Christopher Dyer were kill ed upwards of forty years ago.
Esther her mark Roberts Suffolk SS. Boston March 31, 1733. Then the with in named Esther Roberts personally appeared and made oath to the tru th of the Declaration signed by her on the other side Taken in perpetuam r ei Memoriam
Edwd Hutchinson Just Ps.
John Ruck Quorum Unus
A true copy of ye original received May 21, 1733
State of Maine
York SS Registry of Deeds
A true copy as recorded in book 15, folio 228
Attesst: Justin M. Leavitt, Register.
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William Dyer of Weymouth also made an affidavit as published in the Histo ry of Weymouth under Dyer Family, by which he testified Aug.31,1738 that h is grandfather lived at Dyer's Neck where were "two houses wherein lived W illiam Dyer, Esq., his second son John Dyer, and his only daughter Ma ry Bo wles until 1689 when his said grandfather and his father Christoph er Dyer, eldest son were killed by the Indians, his grandfather about 16 A ug. 1689 and his father about Dec. -1689 - York Deeds 20-225. [Sprague #14 65]
The lands in Maine were conveyed June 10,1712 by John Dyer of Braintree, h usbandman, William Dyer of Bridgewater, John Allicet of Boston, mariner, a nd Grace his wife, Rebecca Briggs of Boston, daughter of William and Rebec ca Briggs, deceased, to our loving kinsman Samuel Boles of Rochester and M ary his wife, being 600 acres at Dyer's Neck, etc. - York Deeds 15-256. [S prague #1465]
He is said to have been of Weymouth and went to Sheepscott, Maine, whe re he was killed by the Indians [Frank Amasa Bates; NEHGS]

On July 29, 1995 Frank E. Dyer, Jr. and wife Carol Ann, and cousin Norm an C. Dyer and wife Toni visited the Sheepscot area of Maine to try and g et a little more information on William. We visited the Nobleboro Historic al Museum and met with a George F. Dow who was 90 years old and very infor mative. He published our visit with him in the Lincoln County News of Au g. 3,1995 quoting passages from the History of Ancient Sheepscot and Newca stle by Rev. David Quimby Cushman (1882) (Copy in my possession). We fou nd the area around Sheepscot to be very scenic and it is no wonder that Wi lliam settled there. Dyer's River, which flows into the Sheepscot River, w as named for William, as were also Dyer's Long Pond and Little Dyer's Pond .

William married Unknown. Unknown died on an unknown date.

Children from this marriage were:

+ 2 M    i. Christopher Dyer ^{4 6 8 9} was born between 1640 and 1645 in England and died in Dec 1689 in Sheepscot, Lincoln, Me.

+ 3 M    ii. John Dyer ^{3 10 11 12 13} was born about 1648 in England or Maine and died before 23 Apr 1733 in Braintree, Norfolk, Ma.

+ 4 F    iii. Mary Dyer ^{14 15 16} was born about 1650 in Sheepscot, Lincoln, Me or England and died before 1723 in Rochester, Plymouth, Ma..

1. Waldo Chamberlain Sprague, Genealogies of the Families of Braintree, Norfolk, Ma. (1640-1850) (Including the modern town of Randolph & Holbrook and the city of Quincy, after the separation from Braintree in 1792-3.), 1463.

2. Wilbur D. Spencer, Pioneers on Maine Rivers (Portland, Maine: 1930).

3. Frank Amasa Bates, Some Notes on Six Generations of the Descendants of John Dyer of Braintree, Norfolk, Ma. (Compiled for the Dyer Association in 1913).

4. Ebenezer Alden Dyer, M.D, Encyclopedia of Biography, 360.

5. History of Scituate, Plymouth, Mass, 405.

6. York County, Maine Deeds.

7. Proceedings of the Dyer Association, Ancestry of William Dyer "The Abington Pioneer" (Organized Sep.16,1911........Re-typed copy with index by Aurie W. Morrison 2004.), 68.

8. Waldo Chamberlain Sprague, Genealogies of the Families of Braintree, Norfolk, Ma. (1640-1850) (Including the modern town of Randolph & Holbrook and the city of Quincy, after the separation from Braintree in 1792-3.), 1466 , 1467.

9. Proceedings of the Dyer Association, Ancestry of William Dyer "The Abington Pioneer" (Organized Sep.16,1911........Re-typed copy with index by Aurie W. Morrison 2004.), 26.

10. Waldo Chamberlain Sprague, Genealogies of the Families of Braintree, Norfolk, Ma. (1640-1850) (Including the modern town of Randolph & Holbrook and the city of Quincy, after the separation from Braintree in 1792-3.), 1466, 1469-1471.

11. Clarence Almon Torrey, New England Marriages Prior to 1700 (1994).

12. Lora Altine Woodbury Underhill, Descendants of Edward Small of New England, Volume 3 (Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin Co.: 1934), 1281.

13. Proceedings of the Dyer Association, Ancestry of William Dyer "The Abington Pioneer" (Organized Sep.16,1911........Re-typed copy with index by Aurie W. Morrison 2004.), 65-66.

14. Waldo Chamberlain Sprague, Genealogies of the Families of Braintree, Norfolk, Ma. (1640-1850) (Including the modern town of Randolph & Holbrook and the city of Quincy, after the separation from Braintree in 1792-3.), 1466.

15. Sybil Noyes, Charles Libby & Walter Davis, Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire (Southworth-Anthoesen Press, 1928-1939), 101.

16. Cutter, William Richard, New England Families Genealogical & Memorial: Third Series, Volume III. 1915 (Reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Printing Co., Inc. 1996), 1420.