Gates Family, Lancaster, MA
Source:
Early Records of Lancaster, MA 1643 to 1725 by Henry S.Nourse,
A.M.,
Lancaster 1884
p. 30 Stephen Gates, Sr. among those listed as subscribed to Lawes & orders by the Genrall Court. Gates subscribed Aprill 3, 1654 at Lancaster.
p.39 Mens Estates To Draw Meddow & 2nd Devision at Lancaster - Steeven Gats Sen'r among those listed.
p.40 Devision of Medowes Allredie Devided. Steeven Gates Sen. 12 accors 1/2 and l/20 pte.
p.42 ...and that evrie man may have as neare to equalities as may in truth and faithfullness be Judged of, by the men hereafter mentioned, that is to say William Kerley Sen, Steeven Gats, William Kerley Jun. and Ralph Houghton.
p.46
To
Mary Gates of Lancaster
By
Virtue heerof you are to apeere at the next Countie Court at Cambridge
to answer the complaint of John Prescott & James Atherton for your
sinfull cariage in the assembly one the lord's daye - hereof you are not
to faille at your peril.
Datted
this 27th of the 11th mo 1656 [signed] Simon
Willard
p.47
April
7, 1657.
This
Court grants an Attachment against Mary Gates of Lanchaster and to Jno.
Prescott a bill of costs for himselfe & witnesses being 24 shillings
to be pd by the said Gates and shee to appeare at ye next Court to Answ'r
ye Compl't of the said Prescott & James Atherton for her sinfull
Cariage in the assembly on ye Lords day.
To the honoured Governour, Deputy Governour with the rest of the honoured magistrats assembled at the County Court holden at Charlestown the 16 of this instant June 1657, in most humble wise sheweth and complaineth petitioner Mary Gats of Sudbury lat of Lancaster was summoned to appeare at the County Court held at Cambridge the seaventh of Aprill last past and did not, your petitioner thought that full satisfaction had been given befor the honoured Major Willard for the offence, also acknoledgement and satisfaction was farther rendered by your petitioner to all or any persons at lancaster, whom it might concern, further your petitioner was informed that if shee did appeare by an agent it might be exepted, hence what your petitioner did was out of ignorance and not of any contempt of athoryty or aversnes farther to acknoledge the evill of my rash spech and shall by at your mercy, submitting to your favorable sensur, allways praying for you. [signed] Mary Gats
April
23, 1657.
Mary
the daughter of Steven Gates of Lanchaster being complained of to this
Court for Bold and unbeseeming speeches used in the Publique Assembly on
the Lords day and especially agst Mr. Rowlanson minister of Gods word there
the evidence whereof appeareth by the testimony of Jno. Prescott &
James Atherton, Lidea Kibbie & Sarah Waters weh are on file with ye
records of this Court, the sd Mary Gates appearing in Court freely, acknowledge
her great evill therein, the Court admonished her & ordered that shee
should pay the Witnesses their charges & cost of Court.
p.52 Steeven Gats hath not right to a Lott. That Steeven Gats hath noe right to those Lands claimed by him from this said plantacion.
p.57 In the inventory of Steven Gates' estate, A.D. 1662, we find the item "thatching tools".
p.63
1658.
John Whettcombe for and in consideration of three swine killed and
spoiled by his three sonnes, doth hereby promise to pay unto Steven Gates
the sum of forty five shillings in wheate within a week after michaeltyde
next 1658 to be paid at his house in Sudbury the said Steven Gats
allwinge for the carriage of the wheate tenn shillings 6d.
Date
April 2, 1658
[signed John Whetcom]
Oct
28, 1658 Jno Whetcombe owned this bill in Court to be his act.
[signed]
Tho. Danf: Recorder
p.63
To
the Honored County Court at Charlestown.
The
humble Petison of Jno. Whetcome humbly sheweth that wheras yor Petitioner
hat set his hand to a note to pay fortie and five shillings to Stephen
Gates of Sudbury. It was through my age and weakness that I did not
consider of it that I had no right to pay anything to him, before he
did duly make it apeare that I had damnified him, he did complaine before
the deputie Gov'r his worship, that I or my Sonnes had killed and spoyled
three of his swind in the woods and made as if we stole them & with
many threats which did somewhat amaze your petitioner so that I could not
declare my case which is such as I have now gotten to be drawne upp fairly
in wrighting, by which it may appeare to this Honor'd Court that I had
not wronged Stephen Gates nor was indebted to him anything for which I
should agree to pay him anything. Wherefore your petitioner being
aged & weak and mean in estate hath wronged himselfe and family in
loss of so much, besides this means of giveing satisfaction there is an
imputation of theft cast uppon mee and the family of yor petitioner (to
your great Greef being inoscent in that respect) and we are much defamed
in our names and creditt, and therefore do humbly request this honor'd
Court that our case may be considered and my bill may be suspended untill
the next County Court and that then the case may be fully heard on both
sides and determined accordinge to evidenc and equtie and yo'r petition'r
shall be redy and willing freely to yeald unto what is right and shall
thankfull remain -
Yor
worshipful humble servant [signed] John Whetcombe
[Middlesex
Court Records]
The court decided that the bill must be paid.
p.177
Simon
Gates upon ye Right of Steeven Gates 314 - 0 - 0 among those listed "[we]
do hereby demand all & every of our respective Rights & Devisions
of in & unto all Rights & Devitions of Lands Made or the be made
in that tract of Land Last Granted by the Great & Generall Court of
the Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England the 27 of May 1713
to be added & Confermed to ye Town of Lancaster as part of that Township
in which Tract of Land we have & clame our Just Rights of property
in proportion as being Invested with the Original Rights in said
Town of Lancaster.
[signed]
John Sherman, Sam'll Wright, Danil How, Fra Fullam, John Barnes, David
Chruch, James Keyes, Benj Bailey, Simon Gates.
p.184
1718
Wednesday ye 26 of March 1718 the Town met at ye Meeting house upon ajournment
of theire Late ffebruary Meeting: Captain Joslin being Moderator &
first some Lands Laid out by Bejamin Bellows to ye Right of Stephen Gates:
but Simon Gates Made some objections against that Laid out by Bellows being
l00 acres mostly beyond cannoo brook all being third Divission.
p.229
Dec'a
Of Persons Wn Ye 10 Indians Were Killed Jacob Gates (among those listed)
At
Killing of them 10 Indians, Lovell & White
[Massachusetts
Archives LXXII 368.]
p.248
The
Estates of the First Inhabitance of Lancaster
Stephen
Gates 314 pounds 0 shillings
p.267
Stephen
Gates came to Hingham from England in the Diligent, A. D. 1638 with
wife Ann and two children.
From Hingham he removed to Cambridge and thence to Lancaster, MA in 1654. He was made freeman and chosen constable in 1656. He had sons, Stephen, Simon and Thomas and daughters Elizabeth & Mary. The Gates blood seems to have been of decidedly tropical nature. The daughter Mary very boldly contradicted the minister in the public assembly. Stephen Gates quarreled with his neighbors, the Whitcombs, was deprived of his constable's staff, and moved away from Lancaster after less than three years' residence. He died at Cambridge 1661 and his sons attempted, without success to break his will, alleging that their father "was not of disposing mind." By this will Stephen the eldest son received the house and lot in Lancaster. Direct descendants in the male line continued to hold land here, ending with Captain Thomas Gates, who led the Lancaster troop to Cambridge at the Lexington alarm. In 1718 Peter Joslin was in possession of the Gates Homestead. Mary Gates married John Maynard of Sudbury.
p.312
Births,
Marriages & Deaths in Lancaster Families 1645 to 1700 A yellow and
torn leaf from original records in the hand writing of Ralph Houghton was
in 1826 discovered by Josiah Flagg, town clerk, among the papers of Captain
Hezekiah Gates and has been carefully preserved - it contains the dates
and names of fifty births in Lancaster previous to 1666.
p.315
May
17, 1665 Steeven Gates born, son of Steeven & Sarah (Woodward) Gates.
p.320
April
5, 1658 John Maynard and Mary Gates were married in Sudbury.
p.323
Deaths
1661
September - Stephen Gates, at Cambridge. [Inventory 29 7 mo]
p.334.
Among
the Representatives of Lancaster 1775 Hezekiah Gates
Transcribed
by Janice Farnsworth
The following information comes from
A GENEALOGICAL
DICTIONARY of THE FIRST SETTLERS OF NEW ENGLAND, SHOWING THREE GENERATIONS
OF THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE MAY, 1692
ON
THE BASIS OF FARMER'S REGISTER.
BY
JAMES SAVAGE, published 1860
GATES, DANIEL, East Haddam, son of George, by wife Rebecca had Daniel, born 5 February 1707; David, 27 June 1709; Rebecca, 27 June 1711; Abigail, 18 March 1714; Joseph, 7 September 1716; Mary, 29 March 1719; Ruth, 10 August 1721; Ephraim, 18 August 1724; and Judah, 2 August 1727; and died 24 November 1761.
GEORGE, Haddam, an original proprietor 1662, was of Hartford the year preceding by wife Sarah, daughter of Nicholas Olmsted, who died 7 November 1709, had Joseph, born 7 November 1662; Thomas, 21 January 1665; John, 5 Apr 1668; Sarah, 16 March 1670; Mary, 16 March 1674; George, 16 August 1677, infirmed; Daniel, 4 May 1680; and Samuel, 8 November 1683; was one of the first settlers representatives 1668-73, and later, a Capt. removed after 1685 to the East Haddam side of the river and died 12 November 1724, in 90th year. Sarah married 1694, Timothy Fuller.
JOHN, East Haddam, son of the preceding had Sarah, baptized 12 February 1716; Rachel, 14 July 1717; Hannah, 12 April 1719; and Esther, 26 February 1721; gave all his estate by deed, 4 October 1742, to these four daughters his wife whose name is not found, then living.
JOSEPH, East Haddam, brother of the preceding by wife Elizabeth had Joseph, born 28 December 1695; Elizabeth 23 May 1697; John, 20 September 1698; Sarah, 20 August 1700; Jonathan, 17 December 1703; Susanna, 21 September 1705; Jacob, 10 July 1708; Samuel, 29 March 1710; and Patience, perhaps posthumously at least when baptized 23 March 1712, she is call "a child of Joseph Gates's relict," but the careless town record marks her born 31 March of that year His widow died 17 November 1759 in her 89th year.
SAMUEL, East Haddam, youngest 8 of George, by wife Esther had Sarah, born 15 July 1712; Hannah, 4 February 1714; Samuel, 14 August 1715; Esther, 26 February baptized 2 March 1718; Mary, born 29 July 1719; James, 29 August 1721; Stephen, 30 June 1723; and Jonah, baptized 25 April 1725.
SIMON, Cambridge, son of first Stephen, by wife Margaret had Abigail, born 1671; Simon, 1673, died 11 April 1675; Simon, again, 5 January 1676; George, 1678, died next year; Amos; Samuel, 11 August 1685; and Margaret, 13 August 1689. He had removed a short time to Lancaster, after was of Boston, living at Muddy river.
STEPHEN, Hingham 1638, came in the Diligent with wife and two children that year; was from old Hingham, removed to Cambridge, thence 1654 to Lancaster, where he was constable 1657, freeman 1656, went back to Cambridge there died 1662. He calls himself of Cambridge in his will, made 9 June, probably 7 October of that year. He had Stephen, Simon, and Thomas, born I think, on this side of the ocean; and those he brought probably were Elizabeth who married November or 22 December 1649, John Lazell; and Mary, who married 5 April 1658, John Maynard. His widow Ann married 1663, Richard Woodward of Watertown, outlived him, and died 5 February 1683, at Stow, where George had sometime resided.
STEPHEN, Boston, son of the preceding by wife Sarah, probably dauhter of George Woodward of Watertown, had Stephen; Simon, born 5 June 1667; Thomas, 31 December 1669; Isaac; Nathaniel; removed to Marlborough, and had Sarah, 27 April 1679; Rebecca, 23 July 1682; and Daniel, 25 April 1685; he was some years at Charlestown; and his will was proven 1707.
THOMAS, Marlborough, brother of the preceded married 6 July 1670, Elizabeth Freeman of Sudbury, had Elizabeth born 1671; Sarah, 1673; removed to Charlestown, there had Mary, born 10 March 1676; thence to Sudbury, where were born John, 9 April 1678; and Joseph, 16 March 1680; removed to Stow, there had Josiah, 8 March 1682; Deborah, 22 February 1684; Ann, 18 July 1686; and Abigail, 18 February 1689. He was constable of Sudbury and had landed in Lancaster; but East Haddam, sold all his estate in Massachusetts after removed to Norwich, in 1703.
THOMAS, East Haddam, second son of George of the same, married a 1692, Hannah, daughter of Deacon Daniel Brainerd, had Thomas, born 3 October 1693; Daniel, 26 May 1695; Jeremiah, 17 March 1697; Hannah, 1 June 1699, died at 14 years; Esther, born 24 February 1701, died at 19 years; Mary, 29 August 1703; George, 17 November 1705; and Joshua, 26 April 1708; was town clerk. Capt. Deacon represented 1725 and died 20 April 1734. His widow died 7 September 1750.
The following information comes from various sources
Stephen Gates, son of Thomas and Rose Gates lived in that part of Marlborough, Massachusetts that is now known as Stow, Massachusetts. Stephen's ancestry has been traced back to the year 1350 where Thomas Gates was born in that year in High Easter England. Thomas had a son William Gates born about 1375 in the same village. Williams son Sir Knight Geoffrey Gates was born about 1420 in also in High Easter, England. The family continues with Geoffrey's son William who was born 1450 in Norfolk, England; his son Sir Geoffrey Gates was born 1484 in Kentwell, Suffolk England; his son Sir Knight Geoffry Gates born 1506 in High Easter, England; his son Geoffry Gates born 1525 in Essex, England; his son Peter Gates born 1550; his son Thomas Gates born 1575 in Essex England and finally Stephen Gates born May 20, 1599 who came to the New World.
Sylvanus Gates, son of Stephen and Damaris (Howe) Gates, served at Dorchester Heights and in 1777 enlisted in Capt. David Prouty's company of Worcester county, Massachusetts troops to re-enforce the northern army. He removed in 1815 to Mount Pleasant, Pennsavania, where he died.
Silas
Gates, son of Simon and Sarah (Woods) Gates,
was a Lieutenant in Captain William Brigham's Company, Colonel Jonathan
Ward's Regiment, which marched on the alarm of April 19, 1775, to Cambridge.
He was also a Captain of a company raised in Marlborough, Southborough,
and Northborough; service in Dec., 1775, and Jan., 1776. He was a Captain
of the Massachusetts militia which reinforced the Continental Army and
joined Colonel Jonathan Ward's Regiment commissioned Jan. 29, 1776. A letter
from Josiah Stone, one of the committee for Middlesex county, to the Council,
dated Sept. 5, 1776, states that he had raised 45 men in the town of Framingham
who had marched July 29, 1776, under command of said Captain Gates, of
Marlborough, in Colonel Reed's Regiment. He participated with Colonel
Jonathan Reed's Regiment, Brigadier Geneneral Bricket's brigade at
Ticonderoga.
Samuel Gates, son of Simon and Sarah (Woods) Gates , was a Private in Captain Silas Gates's Company; in Dec., 1775 and Jan., 1776. He enlisted Dec. 4, 1775. He was also in a Company of men raised to serve in the Continental Army from Captain Brigham's Company, Colonel Ezekiel How's (4th Middlesex Co.) Regiment. He joined Captain Barnes's Company, Colonel Bigelow's Regiment for a term of 3 years. He was also a Private in Captain Daniel Barnes's Company, Colonel Timothy Bigelow's Regiment in the Continental Army from March 17, 1777, to Dec. 31, 1779. He was on the muster roll for Jan.-Aug., 1777, dated Van Schaick's Island and sworn to in Camp near Stillwater and Colonel Bigelow's Regiment Feb. 2, 1778. He was enlisted by Captain Daniel Barnes Company mustered by Continental Muster Master, muster roll for March and April, 1779, dated Providence. He was with Captain Dow's Company, Colonel Bigelow's Regiment of the Continental Army from Jan. 1, 1780, to March 17, 1780.
John Gates, son of Silas and Elizabeth (Bragg) Gates was part of the men raised in Marlborough, Middlesex Co., Dec. 2, 1780, by Joseph Hosmer, Superintendent for said county. He was described as age, 16 years.; stature, 5 ft. 8 in.; complexion, dark; hair, dark; eyes, gray; his occupation, farmer. On May 17, 1781 he engaged for the town of Marlborough for a term of 3 years as a Private in Colonel Benjamin Tupper's (10th) Regiment. He died at St. Albans, Vt.
Silas Gates, son of Silas and Elizabeth Bragg, kept the old Williams Tavern near the pond (Lake Williams) for many years. The Tavern at that time was called the Gates Hotel and the map of 1835 shows the pond as being "Gates Pond". He made a bequest of $1,000.00 to an academy, probably the Bys Acdemy, in Marlborough. Silas was a Private in Captain Caleb Brooks's Company, Colonel Dike's Regiment with service from Dec 1776, to Feb. 1777, guarding stores at Boston. He also served with Captain Joseph Cole's Company, Colonel John Jacobs's Regiment Oct. 17, 1778 for 2 mos. 18 days, at Rhode Island. His enlistment expired Jan. 1, 1779.
Samuel Gates, son of Silas and Elizabeth (Bragg) gates, was on the ist of 6 months men returned as received of Joseph Hosmer, Superintendent for Middlesex Co., by Justin Ely, Commissioner; also, descriptive list of men raised to reinforce Continental Army for the term of 6 months June 5, 1780, returned and was at Springfield, July 13, 1780. He was described as being age 19 years.; stature, 5 ft. 11 in.; complexion, ruddy. He engaged for town of Marlborough; marched to camp July 13, 1780, under command of Captain Thomas Pritchard. He was also on the list of men raised for the 6 months service and returned by Brigadier General Paterson as having passed muster in a return dated Camp Totoway, Oct. 25, 1780; also, pay roll for 6 months men raised by the town of Marlborough for service in the Continental Army during 1780. He was a Private in Captain Michael G. Houdin's Company, Colonel Rufus Putnam's (5th) Regiment; which mustered Jan., 1781 at West Point.
Abrham Gates, son of Silas and Catharine (Williams) Gates, like his father, gave $1,000.00 to endow the Academy in Marlborough.
Back to List