1Claude W. Barlow, The Children of Thomas Sawyer of Lancaster, The American Genealogist, Vol. 30, pp. 74-77 (1953).
"Thomas Sawyer was born in England about 1616, was in Rowley, Mass., in 1643 with his supposed brother Edward, then became one of the original settlers of Lancaster, Mass., in 1647. His marriage to Mary Prescott in 1648 and the births of ten children between 1649 and 1673 are recorded in the vital records of Lancaster, also the death of an infant daughter. The death of Thomas Sawyer occurred in Lancaster on Sept. 12, 1706, aged about 90 years according to the inscription on his stone.
. . .
In the most recent history of the Sawyer family [Ancestry of Col. John Harrington Stevens and his wife Frances Helen Miller, by Mary Lovering Holman, Concord, N.H., 1948, pp. 47-93], the approximate date of April 1716 is given for the death of the widow Mary.
. . .
With the help of vital records of neighboring towns, a complete record of the children of Thomas and Mary (Prescott) Sawyer can now be given for the first time as follows:
1. Thomas, b. July 2, 1649; d. Lancaster, Sept. 5, 1736, m. (1) Oct. 11, 1670, Sarah Fairbanks, b. Dedham, Dec. 9, 1645, d. Lancaster, Mar. 2, 1671, dau. of John and Sarah (Fiske) Fairbanks; m. (2) Oct. 21, 1672, Hannah Lewis, b. Roxbury, Mar. 18, 1649, d. Lancaster, before 1718, dau. of William and Amy (Weld or Wells) Lewis; m. (3) July 15, 1718, Mary (Rice) White, widow of Josiah White, b. Sudbury, Sept. 4, 1656, d. Lancaster, Aug. 22, 1733, dau. of Thomas and Mary (King) Rice; m. (4) Dec. 31, 1733, Anna (-------) Ross, who d. Sterling, Mass., Nov. 1753 in her 74th year, widow of Thomas Ross. Thomas Sawyer had a child Mary by his first wife, and children Hannah, William, Joseph, Bezaleel, and Elias by his second wife.
2. Ephraim, b. Jan. 16, 1650/2; killed by Indians at Prescott's Garrison (now Clinton), Feb. 10, 1676. There is no evidence that he ever married.
3. Mary (recorded as Marie), b. Jan. 4, 1652/3; living Nov. 5, 1740, when her father's estate was settled, d. before Jan. 22, 1740/1, when her son Ephraim Wilder was appointed administrator of her estate; m. Lancaster, Jan. 24, 1673/4, Lt. Nathaniel Wilder, b. Charlestown, Nov. 30 (3?), 1650, killed by Indians at Lancaster, July 31, 1704, son of Thomas and Anna Wilder.
4. Joshua, b. Mar. 13, 1655; d. Woburn, July 14, 1738; m. Concord, Jan. 2, 1677, Sarah (Wright) Potter, widow of Samuel Potter, b. Feb. 16, 1652/3, dau. of John Nd Priscilla Wright. Their children were Abigail, Joshua, Sarh, Hannah, Martha, Elizabeth, and possibly Mary.
5. James, b. Mar. 22, 1657; d. Pomfret, Conn., Jan. 27, 1753; m. (1) Concord, Feb. 4, 1677/8, Mary Marble, who d. Marlborough, Mass., Mar. 20, 1707/9; m. (2) Mary (said to have been Mary Prerscott), who d. Pomfret, Dec. 28, 1763. Children by first wife, b. Marlborough: Epohraim, James, Mary, Benjamin; by second wife, b. Pomfret: Cornelius, Mary, Jonas, Martha, Joseph, Sarah, Thomas.
6. Caleb, b. Apr. 20, 1659; d. Harvard, Mass., Feb. 12, 1755; m. Lancaster, Dec. 28, 1687, Sarah Houghton, b. Lancaster, Mar. 17, 1661/2, d. Harvard, Nov. 16, 1751, dau. of Ralph and Jane (Stowe) Houghton. Their sons were John, Jonathan, and Seth; daughters, Heohzibah and Abigail.
7. John, b. Apr. 6, 1661; d. Lyme, Conn., about 1705; m. Lancaster, June 16, 1686, Mary Bull of Worcester, perhaps dau. of Isaac and Sarah (Parker) Bull of Boston, who were in Worcester in 1686. Her name was not Ball as sometimes given. Before jan. 5, 1705/6, she m. (2) William Sterling as his fourth wife. She was living in Lyme Feb. 8, 1720/1, when she signed a receipt. The children of John Sawyer were listed in the probate records as Edward, Jacob, Elizabeth, Moses, and James.
8. Elizabeth, b. Jan. 5, 1663/4; d. Woodstock, Conn., Jan. 16, 1745; m. Concord, Feb. 6, 1687/8, James Hosmer of Marlborough, b. Concord, Oct. 26, 160; d. Woodstock about 1728, son of James and Sarah (White) Hosmer.
10. Nathaniel, b. Nov. 24, 1670; d. Lancaster, Nov. 10, 1756; m. (1) Lancaster, about 1692, Mary ------, who d. after Sept. 23, 1709, when she signed a deed; m. (2) probably before 1715, Elizabeth ------, who probably d. Lancaster, Dec. 28, 1768. Children, perhaps all by the first wife: Amos, Ephraim,Samuel, John, Ezra, Nathaniel, Mary, Thomas, Phineas, and Jonathan.
11. Martha, b. Aug. 10, 1673. The evidence from the probate of her father's estate is that she m. ------ Woods and d. before 1739. Since she had a brother and sister in Marlborough, it is very probable that she was the Martha, wife of John Woods, jr., who d. there Apr. 1, 1697. John and Martha woods had two children b. Marlborough: David, b. Jan. 5, 1695/6, and John, b. Mar. 25, 1697, d. Oct. 19, 1699. David Woods should then be one of the heirs of Thomas Sawyer in his mother's right, but the index to the Worcester County deeds does not have any entry under his name conveying property inherited from his maternal grandfather.
12. Hannah, birth not recorded; d. before 1739; m. Concord, Apr. 15, 1706 [Groton V.R.], Joseph Blood, b. Groton, Feb. 3, 1681, probably living 1748, son of Nathaniel and Hannah (Parker) Blood. Their children were Joseph (probably the eldest, bapt. Groton 1709), Mary (b. 1708), and "Habsabah" (b. 1711).".