LAWRENCE WATERS [#978], b. abt. 1602, d. Charlestown, MA 9 Dec 1687, m. abt. 1635 ANNA LINTON (dau. of Richard Linton), b. abt. 1615, d. Charlestown, MA 6 Feb 1680.
Lawrence Waters settled in Watertown where he had a home-stall of eight acres by 1635. He received additional grants of land on July 25, 1635, Feb. 28, 1636, June 26, 1637, and May 10, 1642.[1] The first inventory of grants and possesions taken in or before 1639, shows that his holdings included 1) the homestall of eight acres bounded south with the highway, north by Nathaniel Bowman, east by Edward Lamb, and west by John Ellet; 2) four acres of plowland in the further plain, lot 111; 3) four acres of meadow in the remote meadows, lot 94; 4) twenty five acres of upland being a great Divident in the third division, lot 10; 5) twelve acres of upland beyond the further plain, lot 14; 6) a farm of 105 acres of upland in the sixth division.[2/1:43] The second inventory, taken in 1644, shows the same possesions except the last item, which was replaced by a one acre meadow in Patch Meddow, bounded with common land. The four acres of plowland was described as bounded east by Thomas Bartlett, west by Garret Church, north with the highway, and south with the river.[2/1:967] In the early records Lawrence was refered to as a carpenter.
By 1646 Lawrence Waters had disposed of all of his holdings except his home-stall of eight acres. He was one of three men sent up in 1645 by the grantees of Nashaway Plantation, now Lancaster, to make suitable preparation for their coming. The other two were his father-in-law Richard Linton and John Ball, all three of them being ancestors of Hattie Bruce. The proprietors assigned to him a lot of seventeen acres on which he built a house. This was probably the first dwelling house built in Lancaster. The trucking house, used for trading with the Indians, on George Hill was probably the first building in Lancaster.[1]
Lawrence Waters and Richard Linton had probably moved to Nashaway Plantation by 1646 and were certainly established there in 1647. In a deed dated Aug. 5, 1647 John Cowdall of Boston deeded to John Prescot fifty acres of intervale land in Nashaway Plantation "on which parcel of land Richard Linton and Lawrence Waters have planted corn".[3/275] Before 1650 he had sold his original house-lot and house to John and Elizabeth Hall. He then moved a few rods to a 6 « acre lot where he built another house. Lawrence then owned nine acres of intervale land bounded on the north by Richard Linton's lot, 13 1/2 acres of upland on the east side of Swan's Swamp, and 11 acres of intervale lying on the east side of Penacook River. In 1651 he testified before the Court in Cambridge in the slander case of Elizabeth Hall and George Whaley. At that time Elizabeth Hall was living in the house in Lancaster built by Lawrence Waters while her husband John Hall was in England. Lawrence received two shillings and six pence per day for four day's time.[1] Soon after, John Hall sent for his wife, and the suit never came to judgement.[3/1719]
On March 15, 1653 Lawrence signed the first laws and orders of Lancaster.[3/30] On September 20th the same year, he was one of the signers of the agreement with John Prescott, blacksmith, regarding the building of a corn mill in Lancaster. On March 9, 1654, he was one of the 25 townsmen present at a town meeting. On May 10, 1654 he was one of the signers of the petition to the General Court for the setting up of a township at Lancaster. The same year his estate was rated at 277 pounds and he drew lot no. 4 of eleven acres in the second division of meadows. On September 8, 1657 a committee of three, of which Simon Willard was the chairman, which had been appointed by the General Court to settle affairs at Lancaster, ordered the Selectmen to lay out additional land to Lawrence Waters. He also had land granted to him on Feb. 5, 1659.[1] In Oct. 1662 he was released from ordinary training by paying five shillings per anum to the military company.[3/74] It was usually the case to be released from military duties after the age of 60 years, and this fits nicely with Lawrence's suspected age. He was a freeman in 1663. On August 18, 1663 the church land bounded on his land.[1]
On August 11, 1666 Lawrence Waters of Lancaster, house carpenter, and Anna his wife, for love and affection, gave to their son Stephen one half of the second division land on Four Mile Brook between Wataquadock Hill and Long Hill, together with 4 « acres of second division meadow and also fifty pounds of town rights. This deed was witnessed by George Bennit and John Bush. Lawrence and Anna survived the Indian massacre of February 1675-6 (see John Ball Family for a more detailed account of the Indian attack) and on March 20, 1675-6, with his wife, his son Samuel and his wife and two children, he sought shelter in Charlestown where his son Stephen became responsible to the authorities for them. At this time he was blind, as shown by the order of the General Court, dated October 12, 1676, directing the treasurer to pay to him 7.15.04, "being aged and blind".[1] Whether Lawrence lost his sight because of the Indian raid is not given, but this could easily have been the case. Survivors of the attack took shelter in and near two fortified houses or garrisons, one of them on the land of Lawrence Waters.[6/110] On May 28, 1684 Lawrence was taxed in Lancaster as an out of town resident 1.3.5 for the meeting house and 1.17.0 for the minister. He died in 1687, aged about 85 years, having outlived his wife by seven years. On May 4, 1688 his son Lawrence of Boston, heir of Lawrence Waters of Lancaster, late of Boston, deceased, deeded to Stephen Waters of Charlestown, house carpenter, and John Skoth (or Sheath), cordwainer (Sheath had married Sarah Waters), land in Lancaster. This deed was most likely in settlement of Lawrence's estate. The land included a seven acre house lot, nine acres of intervale, 13 acres of upland, 70 acres of upland in the second division, and fifty acres of second division swamp, including ten acres of upland which was sometime part of the house lot of Richard Linton.[1]
Lawrence Waters married Ann Linton. The court records regarding her show the severity with which the puritan authorities ruled their citizens. "Lawrence Waters wife was enjoyned to give John Finch 18 pence & Nico: Theale was to give John Finch 18 pence & Edward Lambe to give him 2 shillings & Lambe was fined 15 shillings 6 pence for his contempt & all of them were admonished to avoyde dancing".[8] Although I admire her spirit, this record doesn't mean that Ann was an overly wild woman. The case is included to give more insight into her life and personality and also to show the standards that had to be lived up to in those days.
Lawrence Waters may have come to Massachusetts in 1630 in the Pelham company from the vicinity of the Stour Valley textile town of Bures, Suffolk. There were 42 persons in this company, including the John Warren family of six, the Isaac Stearns family of seven, and the John Waters family of five.[7/238] What relationship there was between Lawrence and John I can not say, but that they were related I have little doubt.
REF: [1] The Warner-Harrington Ancestry - Frederick C. Warner,
1949 (pg.728-729)
[2] Watertown Records, 1894 (Lands, Grants, and Possessions)
[3] Early Records of Lancaster - Henry S. Nourse, 1884
[4] Charlestown Genealogies and Estates - T.B. Wyman, 1879 (pg.997)
[5] Middlesex County Deeds
[6] The History of the Town of Lancaster - Rev. Abijah P. Marvin,
1879
[7] The New England Historic Genealogical Register, Vol. 146,
1992
[8] Records of the Governor & Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England",
Vol. IV, Part I, pg. 233
Children:
1. Lawrence, b. Watertown, MA 14 Feb 1635-6, d. Boston, MA 26 Sep 1693, m. Hannah ____, d. aft. 26 Oct 1693 2. Sarah, b. Watertown 7 Dec 1636, m. Weymouth, MA 1 Jun 1658 John Sheath 3. Mary, b. Watertown, MA 27 Jan 1637-8, d. Groton, MA? aft. 29 May 1713, m. Lancaster, MA Samuel Davis, d. 28 Dec 1699 4. Rebecca, b. Watertown Feb. 1639-40, bur. 1 Mar 1640 5. Daniel, b. Watertown 6 Feb 1641-2, d. young 6. Stephen, b. Watertown 24 Jan 1642-3, d. Charlestown 15 Jan 1719-20, m. 12 Jun 1674 Sarah Carter, d. 5 Jul 1724 7. Rebecca, b. abt. 1644, d. 1726, m. 4 Jan 1664-5 Josiah Whitcomb (son John Whitcomb and Frances Coggin), b. abt. 1638, d. Dorchester, MA 21 Mar 1718 Chil.: 1) David, b. Lancaster 20 Feb 1668, d. Bolton, MA 11 Apr 1730, m. Concord, MA 31 May 1700 Mary Hayward (dau. Joseph Hayward and Hannah Hosmer), b. Concord 21 Sep 1667, d. Lancaster 5 Jan 1734 8. Adam, b. abt. 1645-6, d. Charlestown 15 Sep 1670 9. Joseph, b. 29 Apr 1647, d. Groton 19 Oct 1720, m(1) Elizabeth ____, m(2) Hannah ____ 10. Jacob, b. 1 Mar 1649-50, d. Charlestown 15 Dec 1714, m(1) abt. 1675 Sarah Hudson, d. 20 Jun 1709, m(2) 4 Nov 1709 Abigail Hudson 11. Rachel, b. 1 Mar 1649-50, d. Lancaster 31 Mar 1650 12. Samuel, b. 14 Jan 1651-2, d. 2 May 1729, m. 21 Mar 1672 Mary Hudson 13. Joanna, b. 26 Mar 1653, d. Lancaster 21 Apr 1654 14. Ephraim, b. 27 Jan 1655-6, d. Lancaster 17 Jun 1659
Send e-mail to Michael Roman