John Prescott and Mary Gawkroger (Platt)
Husband John Prescott
Born: 1604-1605 - Standish, Lancashire, England Christened: Died: 20 Dec 1681 - Lancaster, Massachusetts Buried:Marriage: 24 Jan 1629 - Wigan, Lancashire, England
Wife Mary Gawkroger (Platt)
Born: 15 May 1607 - Halifax, Yorkshire Christened: 7 Feb 1612-7 Feb 1613 Died: 1674 - Lancaster, Massachusetts Buried:
Children
1 M Jonas Prescott
Born: 6/31/1648 - Lancaster, Massachusetts Christened: Died: 31 Dec 1723 - Concord, Massachusetts Buried:Spouse: Mary Loker (1653-1735) Marr: 14 Dec 1672 - Lancaster, Massachusetts
2 F Mary Prescott
Born: Christened: 24 Feb 1630 - Sowerby, Halifax, Yorkshire, England Died: Buried:Spouse: Thomas Sawyer ( -1706) Marr: 1648 - Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts
3 F Martha Prescott
Born: Christened: 11 Mar 1632 - Sowerby, Halifax, Yorkshire, England Died: 24 Jan 1656 Buried:Spouse: John Rugg ( - ) Marr: 1655 - Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts
4 M John Prescott
Born: Christened: 1 Apr 1635 - Sowerby, Halifax, Yorkshire, England Died: Buried:Spouse: Sarah Hayward (1644- ) Marr: 11 Nov 1668 - Lancaster, Worcester, MassachusettsSpouse: Mary Haynes ( - ) Marr: 15 Nov 1710
5 F Sarah Prescott
Born: Christened: 1637 - Sowerby, Halifax, Yorkshire, England Died: Buried:Spouse: Richard Wheeler ( - ) Marr: 2 Aug 1658 - Lancaster, Worcester, MassachusettsSpouse: Joseph Rice ( - )
6 F Hannah Prescott
Born: 1639 - Prob Barbadoes Christened: Died: 11 Sep 1697 Buried:Spouse: John Rugg ( - ) Marr: 4 May 1660 - Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts
7 F Lydia Prescott
Born: 15 Aug 1641 - Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts Christened: Died: Buried:Spouse: Jonas Fairbanks ( -1675) Marr: 28 May 1658 - Lancaster, Worcester, MassachusettsSpouse: Elias Barron ( - )
8 M Jonathan Prescott
Born: 1643 - Prob Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts Christened: Died: 5 Dec 1721 Buried:Spouse: Dorothy ( - ) Marr: 3 Aug 1670 - Lancaster, Worcester, MassachusettsSpouse: Elizabeth Hoar ( -1687) Marr: Concord, Middlesex, MassachusettsSpouse: Rebecca Wheeler ( - ) Marr: 25 Sep 1687Spouse: Ruth Brown ( -1740) Marr: 18 Aug 1718
9 M Joseph Prescott
Born: Abt 1645-1646 Christened: Died: Buried:
General Notes (Husband)
A blacksmith from Lancaster came 1640 with his wife. Mary Gawkroger (Platt) a Yorkshire girl, JOhn born Lancashire but lived at Sowerby in Halifax inW.
Yorkshire.
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No record of his death is found, but when upon his death-bed, feeling that the chagned condition of his own and his son Jonathan's affairs required some modification of the will made in 1673, he summoned two of his townsmen to hear his nuncupative codicil to that document. The date of the affidavit here appended makes it certain that his death occurred about the middle of December, 1681.
Early Records of Lancaster MA ed by Henry S. Nourse. p 121. 17th ffebr 1681. Consented to by the deputies
William Torrev Cleric [Massachusetts Archives, cxn, 330.]
1681 Dec 20, The Deposition of Tho: Wilder aged 37 years sworn, sayth that being with Jno Prescott Sen; About six houers before he died he y* sd Jno: Frescott gaue to his eldest sonn Jno : Prescott his house lott with all belonging to y same & y two mills, corn mill & saw mill with y° laml belonging therto & three scor Acors of land nere South medow & fourty Acors of land nere Wonchesix & a pece of entcrvile called Johns Jump & Bridge medow on both sids y1' Brook. Cyprian Steevens Testi- fieth to all y1' truth Above writen.
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to Ralph Prescott, son of James Prescott m Elizabeth Standish, b 1510 Standish, Lancashire, Roger Standish, son of Ralph Standish and Alice Harrington, to De Bold, Harrington, Radcliffe; of royal blood.
The identity of John as son of Rasph of Shevington is still challenged. Se TAG 34: 180 and elsewhere. Whilse evidence is not conclusive, the alternatives are not conclusive, either.
The deposition of Mary Prescott of Lancaster dated 1678, when she was 66, NEHGR 95:8) id's John Prescott of Lancaster, MA w Halfax, Yorkshire, where his children were baptized, while the will of his reputed father Raloph does not id him w the Presctott and STandish families of STanish Parish in co Lancaster, Engl (Prescott Memorial 187- 32-40, Ancestry of John Barber White 107-8, etc.
He must have been something of a character; he came with a much prized gun that was well used and handed down to sons three or four times before being turined over to a local historical society, and a full suit of armor.
He with a Thomas King (there were two of them, one is my ancestor, the other lived in Watertown) founded Lancaster,MA.
An alternative explanation of the quixotic armor is by Nourse, Records of Lancaster: Two, at least, of her earliest pioneers, John Prescott and William Kerley, had probably served in the army of the mother land ; certainly they brought with them into the wilderness the arms and armor characteristic of teh Cromwellian soldier.
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From: <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> Subject: FAIRBANKS SURNAME ~ PRESCOTT Marriages MA Date: Tue, 1 Jun 1999 17:45:25 EDT
<A HREF="http://sml.simplenet.com/smlawson/fairbank.htm">Fairbanks <http://sml.simplenet.com/smlawson/fairbank.htm> Eng to MA</A> (Lawson pages - excellent) ============================================================ Subject: John Prescott - Lancaster, MA - and Indian attacks. Sources: Early Records of Lancaster, MA p.32 Prescott Memorial p.37 "John Prescott was a man of strict integrity and great energy and perseverance. He took an active part in all measures calculated to improve and enhance the interest and prosperity of Lancaster. He took the oath of fidel- ity in 1652 and admitted freeman in l669. By occupation he was an agriculturist, blacksmith and millwright. In Nov. l653 he received a grant of land on condition he build a corn mill. He built the mill in season to comm- ence grinding on the 23d of May l654. The erection of a saw mill soon followed. The town voted that if he would erect one he should have the grant of certain privileges and a large tract of land lying near his mill for him and his posterity forever and to be more exactly recorded when exactly known. In consideration of these provisions, Goodman Prescott forthwith erected his mill." Its location was on the spot where Lancaster Mfg. Co. have extensive works. The people from neighboring towns came to Prescott's gristmill. The stone of this mill was brought from England and now lies in fragments in the vicinity of the factory" - Early Records of Lancaster, MA p.32 Lancaster, in common with other frontier towns suffered greatly by Indian depredations whenever there was a war between the mother country and France. On the 22nd of August, l675 eight persons were killed at Lancaster. On the l0th of Feb., old style, l676, early in the morning a body of fifteen hundred Indians attacked the town in five distinct squadrons, completely investing it. There were at that time more than fifty families in town. Of this little band, fifty persons, if not more, were kill- ed or taken prisoners. Among them were: Richard Wheeler Jonas Fairbanks, sons-in-law of John Prescott, and Joshua Fairbanks and Ephraim Sawyer, his grandsons. The three former were killed at Wheeler's garrison and the latter at Prescott's which stood about thirty rods southeast of Messrs Poignard and Plant's factory. The inhabitants (after the destruction of all but two houses) left the place under the protection of Capt. Wadsworth's company of soldiers. The alarm of the people was so great that the return of peace on the death of the Indian, King Philip, August, l676, did not restore courage and con- fidence. For more than three years, Lancaster remained uninhabited. In l679 some of the first planters (among them were the Prescotts, Houghtons, Sawyers and Wilders) returned and the Carters came in soon after. John Prescott lived to see the town rebuilt and in a fair way to a prosperous condition. He died in l683. But, subsequently to this, the town suffered severely at sundry times from the incursion of hostile Indians. In l702 the war between England and France was renewed, and l704 was a period of great distress and suffering from Indian depredations. They made an attack on Lancaster in July l704 and after defeating the soldiers and driv- ing them into their garrisons, they burned the church and six houses and destroyed much live stock and other property. In l705 Thomas Sawyer, Jr. and his son Elias (grandson and great grandson of John Prescott), together with John Biglo (now written Bigelow), were taken pris- oners and carried to Canada. Thomas Sawyer, on arrival of the party at Montreal, offered to build a saw mill on the Chamblee River, provided the French government would obtain a release of the captives. This he prom- ised, if possible, to do. The son Elias and Biglo were ransomed but the Indians determined to put the father to death by a lingering torture. His deliverance was finally effected by the timely appearance of a friar who told the Indians that he held the keys of Purgatory in his hand and that unless they immediately released their prisoner he would unlock the gates and cast them in headlong. Their superstitious fears prevailed. They unbound Sawyer from the stake and delivered him to the Governor. Sawyer finished the mill in a year and was sent home. Whitney says this was the first saw mill erected in Canada. _____________________________________________________
From Butler's History of Groton. John, ... was born in Lancashire, England, and married Mary Platts, if Yorkshire, by whom he had three sons and foru daughters. On leaving England, he first went to Barbadoes, where he was a proprietor of lands, in 1638. About the year 1640, he came to Massachusetts, first stopped at Watertown, but soon settled at Nashua, afterwards incorporated and called Lancaster, probably from his native county in old Enlgand. He was a blacksmith by occupation, and was also a builder of mills. He had in his possession, brought from England, a caot of mail armour [a long footnote appearing here is reproduced below], and habilimients complete, such as were worn by field officers of that day; whence it had been supposed, that he or some of his ancesotrs were warriors, and some one of them might have received teh order of knighthood.
John Prescott haed three sons, John, Jonathan and Jonas.
On p 286 Butler includes this footnote:
"Of this armour and its owner the following anecdotes are told: -- "'John was a sturdy, strong man of a stern countenance, and whenever he had any difficulty with the Indians, he would clothe himself with his coat of mail, helmet, curiass, and gorget, which gave him a fierce and frightful appearance. They having once stolen from him a horse, he put on his armour and pursued them; and in a short time overtook the party. They were surprised to see him alone, and a chief approached him with uplifted tomahawk. John told him to strike, which he did, and finding the blow made no impression on his cap, he was much astonished, and asked John to let him put it on, and then strike his head, as he had done to John's. The helmet being too small for the chief's head, the stroke settled it down to his ears, scraping off the skin on both sides of his head. They gave him up his horse, thinking him to be a supernatural being. "'At another time, the Indians set fire to his barn. Old John put on his armour, rushed out, drove them off, and let out his cattle and horses from the burning stable.' 'Again, the Indians set fire to his saw-mill. The old man, armed cap-a-pie, as before, drove them off and extinguished the fire.' 'Once more, they attacked John's house. He had several muskets in the house, which his wife loaded, and he discharged upon them with fatal effect. The contest continued nearly half an hour, John all the while giving orders, as if to soldiers, so loud the Indians could hear him, to load their muskets, though he had no soldiers but his wife. At length they withdrew, carrying off several of their dead or wounded.'" The Prescotts Unlimited newsletter (19(3):29, September 1998) gives the following update on the ancestry of John Prescott: "Evidences on hand do not support that this John is the son of Ralph Prescott of Shevington as published in 1870 by Dr. William Prescott and as published in 1959-61 by Dr. Frederick L. Weis. The evidence that John, son of Ralph, died in Shevington in 1651 was presented in detail in Prescotts Unlimited, June 1992, under the heading 'The Ancient Prescotts of Shevington.' Additional information about John's sojourn in Sowerby, Halifax Parish, Yorkshire, has surfaced; however, his parentage and his Lancashire connection remain illusive [sic]." He married Mary PLATTS-GAWKROGER85 <src009.html>,86 <src009.html>, 8G Grandmother, on 11 Apr 1629 in Halifax Parish, Yorkshire, England.
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From David Nourse, Annales of Lancaster. (He has several books with similar titles and they're variously available at Ancestry.com and at Google books.)
John Prescott, the Founder of Lancaster, 1605 - 1681.
Excerpts.
The House of Deputies in 1652 vted ti to be rightly his, and marked it by incororative enactment with his name - Prescott. Unfortunately , however, some years before this he had favored Doctor Robert Childe's critciisms of the colnoial system of taxation without representation; criticisms that grew, and bore good fritage when the times were riper for individual feredom, when Samuel Adams and James Otis took up the peoples'cause where Sir Henry Vane and Robert Childe had left it. Therefore when, in 1652, what had been known as the Nashaway Plantation was fairly named for its founder in accordance with teh petition of its inhabitants, some one of influence, whether magistrate or higher official, perhaps bethought himself that no Governor of the colony even had been so honored, adn that it might be well, befoer dignifying this busy blacsmith so much as to name a town for him, to see if he could pass examination in the catechism deemed orthodox at that date in Massachusetts Bay. Alas! John Prescott was not a freeman. Having a conscience and fixed religious convictions of his own, he had never given public adhesion to the established church covenant, and was threfore by law debarred from holding any civil office, and even from teh priviiledge of voting for the magistrates. There was a year's delay, ad, in 1653 ... "Prescott" was expunged from the Court's grant, and Lancaster began its history.
Prescott was a Puritan soldier, a seeker of liberty not license; rebellious against tyranny, but no contemner of constituted authority or moral law. It was no accident that put him in the advance gaurd of Anglo-Saxon civilization, ... When he set up his anvil and with skilful blows hammered out the first plough-shares to compel the virgin soil of the Nashaway valley to its proper fruitfulness, ... no neighbor surpassed him in natural personal force, whether physical, mental or moral.
We may ... trust the tradition ... telling that he was of commanding stature, stern of mien and strong of limb, and had a heart devoid of fear, great physical endurance and an unbending will. These qualities his savage neighbors early recognized and bowed before in deep respect, and because of these no Lancaster enterprise but claimed him as its head. His manual skill and dexterity must have been great, his mental capacity and business energy remarkable, for we find him not only a farmer, tarder, blacksmith and hunter, but a surveyor and builder of roads, bridges and mills. The records of the town show that he was seldom free from the conduct of some public labor. The greatest of his benefactions to his neighbors were his corn-mill erected in 1654, and his saw-mill in 1659.
We ahve the authority of Camden, the antiquary, writing in 1586, that in the nrothern counties of England many of the smaller towns gave names to families having freeholds therein. Thus originated the Lancashire names so familiar among us: Atherton, Farnsworth, Houghton, More, Rigby and Prescott. Mentions the ancient town of Prescot, one of 14 townships forming Prescot parish, wherein certain manorial rights were granted by Edward III, in 1333, to Sir william de Dacre, then its rector. The name is compunded of two Anglo-Saxon words, preost and cote, hence meaning the priest's dwelling place. In the adjoining parish of Standish, John Prescott, the youngest son of Ralph and Ellen of the hamlet of Shevington.... was batpized in 1604/5. ... January 21, 1629, being then a land-holder of Shevington, Prescott was married to Mary Platts at Wgian. Probably within a year he moved to Sowerby, Halifax aprish, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, where he lived for about seven years. It has been alleged that he crossed theocean to escape from political tyrrany, but there is no evidence.
His first ahven was Barbadoes, where is recorded as ownign lands in 1638. For reasons now unknown that prolific but hurricane-swept island did not prove a satisfactory residence, adn in 1640 Prescott landed in Boston. He at once chose a home in Watertown, and became possessor of six lots of land, aggregating one hundred and twenty-six acres. In 1643 his name is associated with those of Thomas King of Watertown, Henyr Symonds of Boston, and others, the first proprietors of the Nashataway purchase.
Of Prescott's wife we known only her name; but her daughters were sought for in amrriage by men of whom we nkow nothing that is not praiseworthy; and her sons all honored their mothers's memory by useful and unblemished lives. His children were eight in number, and all were married in due season.
In May, 1664, John Winthrop records that "Many of Watertown and other towns joined in a plantation at Nashaway"-- and Rev. Timothy Harrington in his Century Sermon states that the organization of this company of planters was due to thomas King. The immediate and fnial disappearance of this original proprietor has seemed to our historians good warrant for charging that King and his partnerm, Henry Symonsd, were but land speculators, who bought the Indians'inheritance to retail by the acre to adventurers. I believe this is an unjust assumption. At the date when Wninthrop recorded teh inception of the Nataway comany, Henry Symonsd had already been daed seven months. He was that energetic contractor of Boston, noted as the leader in the project for establishing tide mills at the Cove, and was no doubt the capitalist of the trading firm, Symonds & King, who set up their "trucking house" as early as 1643 on the sunny slope of George Hill. Symond's widow, a few months after his death, married Isaac Walker, who in 1645 was active among the Nasataway proprietors. If King sold his share of the Indian purchase, may it not have been threfore because, his senior partner being dead, he had no means to continue the enterprise? He too died before teh end of the year 1644, not yet thirty years of age. The inventory of his estate sums but one hundred and fifty-eight pounds, including his house and land in Watertown, his stock in tarde, and seventy-three pounds of debts due him from the Indians, John Prescott, and sundry others. King's widow made haste to be consoled, and her second husband, James Cutler, soon appears in the role of a Nashaway proprietor.
The direction of teh company wwas at the outset in the hands of men whose names were, or soon became, of some note throughout the colony. Doctor Robert Childe, a scholar who had won the degrees of A.M. and M.D. at Cambridge and Padus, a man of scientific acquiremetns, but inclined to somewhat sanguine expectations of mineral treasure to be discovered in the New Engalnd hills, seems to have been a leading spirit in the adventure; and unfortunately so, since his views about certain inalienable rights of man, which now live and are honored in the Constitution... naturally seemed vicious republicanism to the ecclesiastical aristocracy tehn ruling ... Massachusetts Bay; and the odium that drove Childe across teh ocean, attached also to his companion planters, and perhaps through the prejudice of those in authority unfaovrably affected for several years the progress of the settlement of Nashaway. ....
John Prscott, deserted by all his early co-partners, was sufficient for the emergency, a host in himself. He sells his one hundred and twenty-six acres and hosue at Watertown, puts his all into the venture, prepares a rude dwelling in the wilderness, moves thither his cattle, and chattels, and finally, mounting wife and children and his few remaining goods upon horses'backs, bids his old neighbors good-bye, and threads the narrow Indian trail through the forest westward. The scorn of men high in authority is to follow him, but now the most formidable enemy in his path is the swollen Sudbury River and its bordering marsh. We find aristocratic scorn mingling with the story of Prescott's dearly bought victory over this natural obstacle, told in Winthrop's History of New England among what the author classes as remarkable special providences:
Prsecot another favorer of the Petitioners lost a horse and his loading in Sdubury river, and a week after his wife and children being upon another horse were hardly saved from drowning.
This Sudbury swamp was the lion in the path from the bay westward during many a decade. In 1645, an earnest petition went up to the council drom Prescott and his associates, complaining that mcuh time and means had been spent in discovering Nashataway and preparing for the settlement thre, and that on account of the lack of bridge and causeway at the Sudbury River, the proprietors could not pass to and from teh bay towns -- "without exposing our persons to perill and our cattell and goods to losse and spoyle;
John Winthrop seemed to scorn their efforts. He wrote that their minister left them for their delays, but neglected the role played by the lack of a passable way, even for horsemen, over a small river.
"
The General Court ordered the construction of the causeway and bridge.
Prescott at least was chargeable with no delay. By June, 1645, he and his family had become permanent residents on the Nashaway. Richard Linton, Lawrence Waters the carpenter and John Ball the tailor were his only neighbors.
Ball left his children and their mother at Watertown because she was at times insane.
In 1650 John Prescott was the only member of the company resident in Nashaway.
We get very few glimpses of Prescott from the meagre records of succeeding years, bu tthose serve to show that he was busy, prosperous and annually honored by his neighbors with the public duties for which his sturdy intergrity, shrewd business tact and wisely directed energy peculiarly fitted him. He had taken the oath of fidelity in 1652. Such owning of allegiance was by law prerequisite to the holding of real estate. Refusing such oath he might better have been a Nipmuck so far as cviil rights or privileges were concerned. He was not yet a member of the recognized church, however, and therefore lacked the political dignities of a freeman; although his intimate relateions with Master Joseph Rowlandson, and his personal connection with the earlier cases of church discipline in Lancaster, sufficiently attest the austerity of his religious views. Doubtless Governor John Winthrop, in his hasty and harsh dictum respecting the nashaway platners, classed John Prescott among those "corrupt in judgement". All who didn't conform to the prescribed religious doctrines were considered corrupt in judgement.
Prescott's mechanical skill and business ability ahd more than a local reputation. In 1667, we find him contracting with the authorities of Groton to erect "a good adn sufficient coren mill or mills, and the same to finsih so as may be fitting to grind the coren of the said Towne". For the fulfillment of this agreement, he received five hundred and twety acres of land, and mill and lands were exempted from taxation for twenty years. Prescott's youngest son, Jonas, was the first miller.
In 1669, John Prsecott was proclaimed a freeman. He may have been long a church member, or may not even at this date have yielded teh conscientious scruples that had a quarter of a century earlier dubjected him to Winthrop's reproach.
Prescott had the true Englishman's love of landed possessions, and about this time added a large tractto his acreage by purchase from his Indian neighbors.
James Wiser alias Quanapaug, the Christian Nashaway chief who appears as grantor of the land, was a warrior whose bravery had been tested in the contest between teh Nipmucks and the Mohawks, and was so firm a friend of his white neighbors at Lancaster, that when Philip persuaded teh tribe with Sagamore Sam to go upon the war path, James refused to join them. He even served as a spy and betrayed Philip's plans to the English at great risk of his life, doing his utmost to save Lancaster from destruction. General Daniel Gookin acknowledged that Quanapaug's informaiton would have averted the dire massacre of Febraury 10, 1676, had it been duly heeded. The fact of the friendly relations existing between Prescott and the tribe whose fortified residence stood between the two Washacum ponds is interesting, and confirms tradition. It is related that at his first cmoing he soon won the respect of teh savages, not only by his fearlessness and great strength, but by the power of his eye and hisdignity of mien. They soon learned to stand in awe of his long musket and unerring skill as a marksman. He had no doubt seen some military service in England. He had brought with him from England a suit of mail -- ehlmet and cuirass -- probably such as were worn by the soldiers of Cromwell. Clothed with these, his stately figure seemed to the sons of the forest something almost superhuman. One day, some Indians, having taken away a horse of his, he put on his armor, pursued them alone, adn soon overtook them. The chief of the aprty seeing him appraoch unsupported, met him menacingly with uplifted tomahawk. Prescott dared him to strike and was immediately taken at his word, but the rude weapon glanced harmless from teh helmet, to the amazement of the red men. Naturally the Indian desired to try upon his own head so wonderful a hat, and the owner obligingly gratified him, claiming the privilege, however, of using the tomahawk in return. The helmet proving a scant fit or its wearer neglecting to bring it down to its proper bearings, Prescott's vengeful blow not only astounded him, but left very little cuticle on either side of his head and nearly deprived him of his ears. Prescott was permitted to jog home in pace upon his horse.
After hostilities began, it is said that at one time the savages set fire to his barn, but fled when he sallied out clad in armor with his dreaded gun; adn thus he was enabled to save his stock, though teh building was consumed. More than once attempts were made to destroy the mill, but a sight of the amn in miail with the far reaching gun was enough to send them to a safe distance and rescue teh property. Many stories have been told o Prscott's prowess.
In 1673, Prsecott had nearly attained the age of three score adn ten. The weight of years that had been full of exposure, anxiety and toil rseted ehavily upon even his rugged frame, adn some shartp touch of bodiy ailment warning him of his mortality, he made his will. It is signed with his mark, although he evidently tried to force his unwilling hand to its accustomed work, his peculiar J being plainly written and followed by characters meant for teh other letters of his first name. To earlier documents he was wont to affix a simple, neat signature, and although not a clerkly penman like his friends... , his writing is superior to that of Major Simon Willard.
His will mostly discussed property, but it did specify a bequest to a great grandson, apparently, on the condition that he be trained as a blacksmith.
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Below is from an article in The American Genealogist:
In his Ancestral Roots of Sixty New England Colonists, Dr. F. L. Weis, under Line 170, sought to show that John Prescott, early settelr of Lancaster, MA, descended via Alice STandish from Alfred the Great. Unfortunately no evidence was presented by Dr. Weis showing that Alice Standish had any issue by James Prescott, the husband assigned to her, or even that the said Jaems had any children. A review in this quarterly (supra, 37: 117-19) discusses some of hte weaknesses of Dr. Weis's attempts to prove his thesis in a more recent publication. The numerous descenants of John Prescott, the blacksmith, of Lancaster MA will include some who will be interested in...
Robert Prescote was living about 1350 in Lancashire; he married by 1316 Isabel Nevill, daughter of Sir Edumnd de Nevill by his wife Isolda de Flamboro of Liversedge, Yorks. Robert adn Isabel Prescote had atleast two sons, Edmund and Thomas, and probably a third son John. The aforesaid Edmund de Prescote had a son James Prescote whose descent from Edmund de Nevile is proved when in 1445 he claimed a messuage in Coppul, Lancs. He was aseemingly either a lineal or collateral ancestor of Richard Prescott who died in 1631 holding land in Coppul. The last-named Prescott thus seems to have descended from the above Edmund de Nevill, whose ancestry will be discussed below.
This Richard Prescott of Coppul died testate, his will being in print in abstract form (pp 79-80, Dr. weis's The Parentage of John Prescott of Lancaster, Mass, 1645 (1959)]. Richard seesm to have been the son of William Prescott of Coppul (see p 73, op cit].
Dr. Weis asserted that this Wm Prescott of Coppul was the son of James Prescott adn Alice his wife, said James being son of William, son of Richard, son of Thomas, son of Robert de Prescote who in 1350 with Thomas his son held lands in Shevingotn of Robert de Nevill of Hornby Castle (see p 46 of Dr. Weis's work last cited). WHile we have seen no evidence that James Prescott aforesaid and Alice his wife had any children, it does seem highly probable that very many of the Prescott families, numerous in STandish and surrounding parishes in teh 16th and 17th centuries, did descend from the aforesaid Robert Prescote (living 1350). Two of his sons, and perhaps a third, were his children by Isabel de Nevill.
This lady descended from Alfred the Great via her grandfather, Geoffrey de Nevill of Hornby Castle, whose ancestry is set forth in brief in Line 247, Supplement, Ancestral Roots of Sixty New England Colonists, by Dr. Weisss. See also pp 104, 105, col 46, pulibcations of the Record Society for Publication of Origional deomuments Relating to the History of Lancashier and Cheshire (1902), entitled Lancashire Fines, Part II, 1308-1377; idem., vol. 88, p 232, no 1328; and Victoria County History of Lancashire, VI: 224, no., and 218, n.
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From [email protected], 6/2/99; Weis' 7th ed of "Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists". "The identification of John Prescott of Lanceaster MA with the son, John, of Ralph of Shevington is still challenged. See TAG 34:180 and elsewhere. "
43.JOHN PRESCOTT, founder of Lancaster, Mass, 1645, b.ca.1604; made his own will, 1673, pro. 4 Apr 1682., d. Lancaster Mass Dec 1681; perh. the one who m. Halifax County York, 11 Apr 1629, Mary Platts, bp. Sowerby Parish, Halifax, co. York, 15 Mar 1607; d. Lancaster, Mass, aft 1678, dau. of Abraham and Martha (Riley) Gawkroger -Platts. The deposition of Mary Prescott of Lancaster, Mass dated 8, when she was 66 or thereabouts (NEHGR 95:8, in Middlesex files) identifies John Prescott of Lancaster, Mass., with Halifax, Yorkshire, where his children were bapt., while the will of his reputed father Ralph (no 42) does not identify him with the Prescott and Standish families of Standish Parish on co. Lancaster, Eng. ("Prescott Memorial" [1870], 32-40; "Ancestry of John Barber White" [1913], 107-28, pedigrees of Fleming and Harington, 107-112, Standish and Prescott, 102-104, 122-128, are based upon the research of Mr. Holding, but the other pedigrees in this section of "Ancestry of John Barber White" are dubious or defective. For fullest details and authorities now available see: Weis, "The Families of Standish of Standish and Prescott of Standish Parish, Lancashire, England", ms, types, 203 pp., 1948, cf. 43-49, 53-4, 58-60, 67-68, 78-79, 84-88......." [p 39, ARCAC]
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Date: Wed, 2 Jun 1999 15:33:40 -0400 From: "ROBERT E. BOWMAN" <[email protected]> <mailto:[email protected]> To: [email protected] Message-ID: <[email protected]> Subject: Re: Gawkroger/Platts & Prescott Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Hi, Muffy, It's been some time since we corresponded, hasn't it ? Frederick L. Weiss, author of the pamplets I have, as well as the earlier editions of Ancestral Roots, and his wife were both descended from John Prescott and his wife Mary Gawkroger als. Platts. Weiss was determined to prove that Prescott, a blacksmith, was descended from the gentry family of Prescott and thereby, in turn, from Royalty. None of the "biggie" genealogists (FASG's and the like) have really accepted Weis's arguments for royal descent as likely or even probable. Gary Boyd Roberts told me at a luncheon a year and a half ago that the Prescott family association had recently sponsored a genealogical research effort to prove Weis' contention. This effort, to the contrary, proved that John Prescott was not the son , or had the descent that Weiss had insisted was likely. I have not been in touch with that association. This loss of royal descent has infuriated some of the Prescott descendants. On of them in particular has had what I would call "fits" on other fora about this, claiming that since it is in "books" the royal descent has been demonstrated. Such people cannot be reasoned with and are best avoided in my opinion. I have not seen the ms. in the library up in Massachusetts on Standish/Prescott etc. I asked Claudia Cridland to look at it if she went that way, but she replied that that town had such horrid traffic that it was to be avoided. I purchased from Tuttle a few year's ago Weis's "The parentage of John Prescott of Lancaster Massachusetts and of James Prescott of Hampton and Kingston, New Hampshire. (1959) In this he sets forth the arguments for saying that Mary (G-Platt) was the daughter of James Prescott and his wife Martha Ainsworth (James 6 ; James 5; Richard 4;-3 and 2; John 1) Bound in with this pamphlett was an addendumwritten by Torrey ahowing that the Mary daughter of James and Martha could not be the wife of John---she married someone else and died before Mary (G-P)Prescott did. He said that Mary was daughter of Abram/Abraham and Martha Riley
From: <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> Subject: FAIRBANKS SURNAME ~ PRESCOTT Marriages MA Date: Tue, 1 Jun 1999 17:45:25 EDT
<A HREF="http://sml.simplenet.com/smlawson/fairbank.htm">Fairbanks <http://sml.simplenet.com/smlawson/fairbank.htm> Eng to MA</A> (Lawson pages - excellent) ============================================================ Subject: John Prescott - Lancaster, MA - and Indian attacks. Sources: Early Records of Lancaster, MA p.32 Prescott Memorial p.37
"John Prescott was a man of strict integrity and great energy and perseverance. He took an active part in all measures calculated to improve and enhance the interest and prosperity of Lancaster. He took the oath of fidelity in 1652 and admitted freeman in l669.
By occupation he was an agriculturist, blacksmith and millwright.
In Nov. l653 he received a grant of land on condition he build a corn mill. He built the mill in season to commence grinding on the 23d of May l654. The erection of a saw mill soon followed. The town voted that if he would erect one he should have the grant of certain privileges and a large tract of land lying near his mill for him and his posterity forever and to be more exactly recorded when exactly known. In consideration of these provisions, Goodman Prescott forthwith erected his mill." Its location was on the spot where Lancaster Mfg. Co. have extensive works. The people from eighboring towns came to Prescott's gristmill. The stone of this mill was brought from England and now lies in fragments in the vicinity of the factory" - Early Records of Lancaster, MA p.32 Lancaster, in common with other frontier towns suffered greatly by Indian depredations whenever there was a war between the mother country and France. On the 22nd of August, l675 eight persons were killed at Lancaster. On the l0th of Feb., old style, l676, early in the morning a body of fifteen hundred Indians attacked the town in five distinct squadrons, completely investing it. There were at that time more than fifty families in town. Of this little band, fifty persons, if not more, were killed or taken prisoners. Among them were: Richard Wheeler Jonas Fairbanks, sons-in-law of John Prescott, and Joshua Fairbanks and Ephraim Sawyer, his grandsons. The three former were killed at Wheeler's garrison and the latter at Prescott's which stood about thirty rods southeast of Messrs Poignard and Plant's factory. The inhabitants (after the destruction of all but two houses) left the place under the protection of Capt. Wadsworth's company of soldiers. The alarm of the people was so great that the return of peace on the death of the Indian, King Philip, August, l676, did not restore courage and confidence. For more than three years, Lancaster remained uninhabited. In l679 some of the first planters (among them were the Prescotts, Houghtons, Sawyers and Wilders) returned and the Carters came in soon after. John Prescott lived to see the town rebuilt and in a fair way to a prosperous condition. He died in l683. But, subsequently to this, the town suffered severely at sundry times from the incursion of hostile Indians. In l702 the war between England and France was renewed, and l704 was a period of great distress and suffering from Indian depredations. They made an attack on Lancaster in July l704 and after defeating the soldiers and driving them into their garrisons, they burned the church and six houses and destroyed much live stock and other property. In l705 Thomas Sawyer, Jr. and his son Elias (grandson and great grandson of John Prescott), together with John Biglo (now written Bigelow), were taken prisoners and carried to Canada. Thomas Sawyer, on arrival of the party at Montreal, offered to build a saw mill on the Chamblee River, provided the French government would obtain a release of the captives. This he promised, if possible, to do. The son Elias and Biglo were ransomed but the Indians determined to put the father to death by a lingering torture. His deliverance was finally effected by the timely appearance of a friar who told the Indians that he held the keys of purgatory in his hand and that unless they immediately released their prisoner he would unlock the gates and cast them in headlong. Their superstitious fears prevailed. They unbound Sawyer from the stake and delivered him to the Governor. Sawyer finished the mill in a year and was sent home. Whitney says this was the first saw mill erected in Canada. _____________________________________________________
General Notes (Wife)
Her colorful set of names comes from the fact that her large Yorkshire family originated in a village called Gawkroger. In the 16th or 17th centuries it became customary in families that had grown large, atleast surname-wise (not so long ago, they hadn't used surnames), to append an "alias". This branch of the Gawkroger family's alias was Platt. Sometimes they were the Platt Gawkroger's, and sometimes they were Platt.
Mother may have been Ainsworth. SMGF shows her haplogroup as H5.
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From: [email protected] (Kay Allen AG) Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.medieval Subject: Gawkrogers/Platts Date: 27 Sep 1999 11:29:08 -0700 Last February, I attended a NEHGS conference on the development of surnames. The lecturerer was George Redmonds. He has a book, Surnames and Genealogy: A New Approach. Since he is from Yorkshire, the book has Yorkshire examples. P.78, "The term by-name has come into general use in recent years, almost as a technical word, to define a non-hereditary surname. It is usually associated, therefore, with the earliest centuries of surname evolution, and so far it has been employed in that sense in the text. However, the same word has been commonly used in the north of England, if not elsewhere, to describe a kind of nickname which occurred in some social and regional groups at a much later period." P.228. "GAUKROGER (sic) For a long time this was considered to be a derogatory nickname, but early references in the court rolls of Wakefield manor prove that it derived from a Sowerby place name. Locally, 'rocher' was a crag or rock, and the element is found in several minor place names... The change to 'roger' as a suffix took place very early and seems likely to have been an intentional play on the word." Then it gives some examples which date back as early as 1402. P.83. "Local 'by-names' The unusual surname Gaukroger derived from a minor locality in Sowerby (Halifaz), probably c.1400, and it is still well established there. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the family ramified, but persisted with the traditional Christian names, and a number of aliases were used, e.g. 1569 John Goukroger alias Plates, Sowerby 1610 Joseph Gawkroger alias Barker, Halifax 1651 John Gawkroger alias Brigge, Sowerby The origin and use of the alias 'Platts' is quite well documented, and it can be seen to derive from property called Platts held by the Gaukrogers from c.1465. Initially this family was said to be 'of Platts,' but from c.1540 they were more usually 'alias Platts.' At that time different branches of the family were acquiring interests in a number of Sowerby properties, some of which were sub-divided and occupied by tenants... It is not yet known just when the family acquired this property, and Platts may have been a by-name over the generations. More probably it came into their possession in the late 1400s and the alias served to identify one branch of the rapidly expanding family. The 'byname' Platts was then inherited along with the property."
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From: "ROBERT E. BOWMAN" <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> Subject: Gawkroger/Platts Date: Tue, 1 Jun 1999 15:37:06 -0400
This is the information I have on the line of John Prescott's wife. I wish it were better documented >From Weiss "The Parentage of John Prescott of Lancaster Massachusetts" (1959) Pedigree of Gawkroger Platts of Sowerby, Halifax Parish this is evidently taken from Hall, "Ancestry of John Barber White" (Gawkroger-Platts pedigree 1447-1648) he also states "Mr. Holding's "The Gawkroger alias Platts Pedigree gives many more details " I do not know what this is John Gawkroger of Sowerby, Halifax, York whose name occurs 1447-1505 died before 10 Jan 1505. He surrendered lands called Platts to his grandson, John Gawkroger, son of his son Richard 10 August 1487. Richard Gawkroger of Sowerby is mentioned 1452-1487. He was a constable, married Margaret, died 11 May 1509 John Gawkroger Weiss goes off the track, thinking John's brorher, another Richard, was the correct ancestor, but Torrey corrected this in his pamphlet "Mary Gawkroger Wife of John Prescottee (1959) as follows: Richard Gawkroger b. probably 1504-1508, married first Isabella, buried 12 Feb 1559/60. He married second Elizabeth James Gawkroger born ca. 1540 He married 2 Dec 1571 Janet (or Joan) Fairbank. He was buried 22 March 1591/2 Abraham Gawkroger bapt 21 Nov 1574 at Halifax. He probably married second, 10 May 1605 Martha Riley bpt 27 March 1579/80 a dau of Thomas Riley of Sowerby. She was of Warley Halifax in 1605. ABraham was of Warley 1625 when he died Mary Gawkroger bapt 7 Feb 1612/13 married John Presoctt 11 April 1629 I understand "Gawkroger" means "left-handed Roger" All these above people were Gawkroger Alias Platts, in my understanding; the people who stayed behind eventually used the name Gawkroger alone, while those who came to America chose Platts. Nevertheless, I believe, also that there was a place name of Gawkroger, as well as of Platts These poeple are not strictly Essex County, but some of the Platts of the Gawkroger Platts family did settle in Rowley and Cambridge.and Watertown Robert Bowman
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In one of my messages on this subject I said , incorrectly "In this he sets forth the arguments for saying that Mary (G-Platt) was the daughter of James Prescott and his wife Martha Ainsworth (James 6 ; James 5; Richard 4;-3 and 2; John 1)" I should of said " daughter of James Gawkroger als. Platts and his wife Martha (Ainsworth)" These were the parents of the Mary who instead of marrying Prescott married Richard Eccles and died 1675 at Cambridge Mass; and parents as well of Samuel b prob 1618 or 19 who came to Rowley and used the names Platts. Robert
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From: <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> Subject: Re: Gawkroger/Platts & Prescott Date: Wed, 2 Jun 1999 11:42:19 EDT
Hi Robert, I have Abraham Gawkroger in my tree and was very interested in your messgae. He appears in Jacobus' "Botsford Family" book but I had never seen any generations prior to him.. Mr Prescott, of course, appears in Weis' seventh edition of "Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists". Here is what he says, in part: "The identification of John Prescott of Lancaster Mass with the son, John, of Ralph of Shevington is still challenged. See TAG 34:180 and elsewhere. While evidence is not conclusive, the alternatives are not conclusive either. This line requires further work. 43.JOHN PRESCOTT, founder of Lancaster, Mass, 1645, b.ca.1604; made his own will, 1673, pro. 4 Apr 1682., d. Lancaster Mass Dec 1681; perh. the one who m. Halifax County York, 11 Apr 1629, Mary Platts, bp. Sowerby Parish, Halifax, co. York, 15 Mar 1607; d. Lancaster, Mass, aft 1678, dau. of Abraham and Martha (Riley) Gawkroger -Platts. The deposition of Mary Prescott of Lancaster, Mass dated 8, when she was 66 or thereabouts (NEHGR 95:8, in Middlesex files) identifies John Prescott of Lancaster, Mass., with Halifax, Yorkshire, where his children were bapt., while the will of his reputed father Ralph (no 42) does not identify him with the Prescott and Standish families of Standish Parish on co. Lancaster, Eng. ("Prescott Memorial" [1870], 32-40; "Ancestry of John Barber White" [1913], 107-28, pedigrees of Fleming and Harington, 107-112, Standish and Prescott, 102-104, 122-128, are based upon the research of Mr. Holding, but the other pedigrees in this section of "Ancestry of John Barber White" are dubious or defective. For fullest details and authorities now available see: Weis, "The Families of Standish of Standish and Prescott of Standish Parish, Lancashire, England", ms, types, 203 pp., 1948, cf. 43-49, 53-4, 58-60, 67-68, 78-79, 84-88......." [p 39, ARCAC] I confess I do not know what he is talking about, since I have not seen any of the books involved, and all this is a roundabout way of asking you if you have seen this stuff; I am wondering if the Gawkroger descent is one of the ones considered "dubious or defective" (or if it is even in the "John Barber White" book at all). Thanks in advance for your comments, Muffy Moore [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
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June 2, Muffy adds that In the ARCAC 7th ed, it looks like Weis was holding out hope that a royal line might be established but he had little to go on. ... I have never seen anything that suggested convincingly that Prescott had [a royal line].
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From: <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> Subject: Prescott~Platts~Gawkroger back to Sowerby, Yorks, England Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1999 09:54:36 EDT
Someone recently asked me about the Gawkroger(s) of Sowerby, Yorks, ENG and I sent him the file. For some time I have wanted to check for links in Yorkshire of the Fairbanks family of Lancaster MA having noted they also came from Sowerby Yorks, England. Going over the Gawkroger Line I find that Fairbanks of Yorks frequently married the Gawrogers of Yorks and, as I suspected, into the very Gawkrogers (PLATTS) family who married John Prescott founder of Lancaster, MA <http://www.smokykin.com/ged/f001/f26/a0012684.htm> Jenet (Janet) Fairbanks b 26 Apr 1552, Halifax, Yorks, , Englandd Halifax, Yorkshire, , England 28 Jul 1556, Halifax, Yorks, , England William Fairbank61 03 Dec 1958, !& John FairbankeMrs. William FairbankGilbert Fairbankeb 1480|b 06 May 1505Mrs. Margaret FairbankeGeorge (Gilbert, John,_William) Fairebankd Mar1577b 1482|b 1530||d 03 Mar 1577|Jenet (Janet) Fairbanks| James Gawkroger-1 +|m 28 Dec 1571|Halifax, Yorkshire, , England| Sybil Wadeb 1532|d 21 May 1573 - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Children 1Sarah Gawkroger2<Abram Gawkroger3Isaac Gawkroger4<James (Gawkroger)_Plat5Judith Gawkroger6Samuel Gawkroger7Judith Gawkroger8 Samuel Gawkroger9Pryssilla Gawkroger - ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Bound in with this pamphlett was an addendumwritten by Torrey ahowing that the Mary daughter of James and Martha could not be the wife of John---she married someone else and died before Mary (G-P)Prescott did. He said that Mary was daughter of Abram/Abraham and Martha Riley Weiss agreed with this new finding stating "Mr. Clarence A. Torrey has very kindly pointed out to the writer that the wife of John Prescott of Lancaster was not...the daughter of James and Martha (Ainsworth) Gawkroger . ." Weiss goes on to agree that she was the daughter of Abraham, baptized Sowerby 7 February 1612/13 ...which agrees with the age that Mary Prescott gave in a depostion much later. There were several Abraham Gawkrogers ---the one who married Riley who was the father of Mary; Anna; Sarah; Martha and perhaps Abram, bapt. not found and another Martha. James 6 and Martha Ainswoth also had a son Abram bapt 22 Dec 1611 who probably m. 1 June 1635 Judith Briggs. There were also an Abram Gawkroger who married Mary Strickland and had a daughter Mary bapt 6 March 1630 in Ovenden in Halifax parish and an Abram who m. Grace Chadwick who had a daughter Mary bapt. 12 April 1590 , Norland Elland Parish Weiss says "Mr. Torrey has also kindly furnished twenty eight other baptism marriages and burials from Halifax Parish Registers. Several of these have been cited above. The others are not pertinent to the search. Hope this helps ! I suspect the material in the other books are correct in maing real Gawkroger Platts but whether they got the lines mixed up like Weiss did at first I dont know. Robert
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========================================================================= Date: Thu, 3 Jun 1999 07:09:46 -0400 From: "ROBERT E. BOWMAN" <[email protected]> <mailto:[email protected]> To: [email protected] Message-ID: <[email protected]> Subject: Re: Gawkroger/Platts & Prescott Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit In one of my messages on this subject I said , incorrectly "In this he sets forth the arguments for saying that Mary (G-Platt) was the daughter of James Prescott and his wife Martha Ainsworth (James 6 ; James 5; Richard 4;-3 and 2; John 1)" I should of said " daughter of James Gawkroger als. Platts and his wife Martha (Ainsworth)" These were the parents of the Mary who instead of marrying Prescott married Richard Eccles and died 1675 at Cambridge Mass; and parents as well of Samuel b prob 1618 or 19 who came to Rowley and used the names Platts. Robert ______________________________ ------------------------------
A couple of versions of her immediate ancestry.
Jenet (Janet) Fairbanks, b 26 Apr 1552, Halifax, Yorkshire, c 28 Jul 1556 m James Gawkroger, 28 Dec 1571, Halifax, Yorkshire, Englanand.
Son Abram/ Abraham b Halifax, m Martha Riley 10 Feb 1605, had Mary GAwroger or Platts.
James GAwkroger-Platts b 7 Sep ___ Halifax, m Martha Ainsworth, 5 Sep 1601, had Abraham b 1611 and Mary Gawkroger Platts.
Mother possibly named Ainsworth; SMGF shows her haplogroup as H5.
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