Richard Ayer

Other Events:

• Probate: 6 Jun 1781

Notes:

Biography:
He was a tanner and lived in the west parish of Haverhill. He fought in the American Revolution. He was Captain of a Company in Col. Johnson's Regiment that marched to the "Alarm" of April 19, 1775. He served seven and a half days. He was also a member of a Committee of Correspondence for the town - appointed July 20, 1774. On January 30, 1775 he was appointed member of the Committee of Inspection for the town.

Richard married Martha Mitchell on 14 Jun 1753 in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Martha (daughter of James Mitchell and Martha Bradley) was born on 5 Aug 1729 in Haverhill, Massachusetts; died on 26 Sep 1767 in Haverhill, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Abiah Ayer was born on 5 Apr 1754 in Haverhill, Massachusetts; died on 15 Jun 1762.
2. Peter Ayer was born on 5 Apr 1756 in Haverhill, Massachusetts; died on 31 Mar 1825.
3. James Ayer was born on 5 Feb 1760 in Haverhill, Massachusetts; died on 7 Oct 1762.
4. Richard Ayer, Jr. was born on 28 Apr 1762 in Haverhill, Massachusetts; died after 1797.
5. Abiah Ayer was born on 6 Feb 1764 in Haverhill, Massachusetts; died after 1790.
6. James Ayer was born on 1 Feb 1766 in Haverhill, Massachusetts; died on 13 Mar 1839; was buried in Evans Center Cemetery, Evans Center, New York.
7. Jonathan Ayer was born on 20 Sep 1767 in Haverhill, Massachusetts; died after 1818.

Richard married Jane before 1774. Jane died in 1781. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Will: 10 Jan 1774
• Probate: 7 Jul 1774

Notes:

Biography:
He lived in the west parish of Haverhill and was a tanner. He was a deacon.

Peter married Lydia Perley on 17 Jan 1720/21. Lydia (daughter of Jacob Perley and Lydia Peabody) was born in 1697 in Boxford, Massachusetts; died on 29 Sep 1750 in West Parish Cemetery, Haverhill, Massachusetts; was buried in Ancient West Parish Cemetery, Haverhill, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Name: Lydia Ayer

Notes:

Biography:
Her last name is often given as Peaslee.

Died:
Her gravestone reads:
Here lies buried the body of
Mrs. Lydia the wife of Deacon Peter Ayer,
Died Sept. 29, 1750,
In the 53 (rd) Year of Her Age

Notes:

Biography:
He was a yeoman and lived in Haverhill. He had a significant amount of property including an African American slave named Lot. He was a Lieutenant in the Militia. His gravestone reads: HERE LIES BURIED THE BODY OF LEFt SAMUEL AYER WHO DIED JANy The rest is scaled off.

Samuel married Elizabeth Tuttle on 21 Nov 1693 in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Elizabeth (daughter of Simon Tuttle and Sarah Cogswell) was born on 24 Nov 1670 in Ipswich, Massachusetts; died on 29 Nov 1752 in Haverhill, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Name: Elizabeth Ayer

Notes:

Biography:
From M. V. B. Perley:
JACOB PERLEY was born in Rowley about 1670, and died in Bradford in April, 1751, at the age of eighty years. He married, first, 6 Dec, 1696, Lydia Peabody, who was born 9 March, 1673, and died about 1707 or 8. She was daughter of Capt. John, one of the most prominent of the early settlers in the town, and Hannah-Andrew Peabody, both of Boxford. She and her husband were admitted, 25 April, 1703, to the church that had been organized there the year before. He married, second, 9 May, 1709, Lydia Peabody, cousin to his first wife and daughter of Joseph and Bethiah-Bridges Peabody of Boxford, where she was born 4 Feb., 1683, died 30 April, 1732, and was interred in Harmony Cemetery, where upon a slate slab is this inscription :
[CENTER:]HERE LYES BURIED
ye BODY OF
LEDYA PEARLEY
ye WIFE OF mr
IAcOB PEARLEY
WHO DIED APREL
ye 30th 1732
& in ye 59th
YEAR OF HER AGE[:CENTER]
His third wife, (published 24 June, 1733), was Mrs. Mehitable Brown, widow of Ebenezer Brown of Rowley, who was published with her, 24 March, 1721-2, she being then the widow of John Hovey, who married her 25 May, 1702, when she was Mehitable Safford. He died 17 Aug., 1720. She died in Bradford, intestate, and "her son," Samuel Hovey of Rowley, was her administrator, appointed 23 March, 1754. In Rowley she had a wood lot and other land, and her estate was valued at £111 2s. 8d.
Mr. Perley removed to Boxford with his father's family, wherein he remained till 1696, or perchance a while longer. He owned the estate on the north side of Baldpate pond in Boxford, in after years owned and occupied by Mr. Augustus M. Perley. He built a dwelling a few rods north of the present barn, and lived there. The house was taken down about 1817, and the present residence was built. A peculiarity of the old house was the construction of its chimney upon the outside, with an oven opening outward, from which on baking-days, or rather the nights following, it is said, the contents were sometimes purloined, so that occasionally the family must attend the church without the usual inspiration of a baked-bean and suet-pudding breakfast.
He lived there till 1786, when he removed to Bradford, where he built a house. Meanwhile he retained an interest in his old residence in Boxford. He also owned an extensive tract of land west of Baldpate pond, and an interest in the Hazzeltine meadows in the northern part of the town. A road was laid, '25 Nov., 1702, from his house by Thomas Hazen;s house, etc. In 1710 he sold five acres of land to the town for the minister's use. The town 14 March, 1710, passed the following vote: "The Town have voted and given liberty to Ensien Thomas hazen, Jacob perley and david wood to seat up a Saw mill upon the parsioneg fearm, whear they shall see meet and to have a Convenient yard Rouem with a way to the mill and to have all the towens wright and Interest in sd Convenient sies for thorty years after this tiem without enny lawful molestation from the towen the sd hazzen Pearly and david wood alowing for the damieg that may bee don by Reason of sd Saw mill as Rasionel men shal Judg." After a few years the mill came into the possession of Dr. Wood, one of the proprietors. It was located on the "old Dresser road,” in the East Parish, on the site of the mill whose ruins are still observable near the residence of the late John Q. Batchelder’s family.
He had a long and varied experience in town affairs; was selectman in 1705, 1712, 1729 and 1732; a constable in 1705; a surveyor of highways in 1706; a juror in 1703 and 1711; a moderator of town meetings in 1729 and 1731; served on various committees and was town treasurer from 1718 to 1720, and in 1781 and 1782. He commenced his official military career as sergeant in 1705, was promoted to cornet in 1717, and to lieutenant in 1724, wherein he served till his feeble health forbade further duty. With his cousin jeremiah—which see—he served his people faithfully, efficiently and bravely in the famous expeditions of Capt. Lovewell against the Indians.
He joined the church when his first wife died, as above. His will is dated 18 Feb., 1750-1, and says he was in health. The probate of his will was taken 29 April, 1751, which argues a short sickness, if indeed he had any. In it he is called housewright, and he bequeathed to his wife Mehitable "all the household goods shee Brought and whatever else shee brought with her Into my estate at our marriage"; also the use of half his house in Bradford, or "if she chouse Instead of it, she shall have all my Interest in the house I formerly Dwelt in at Boxford." He also devised land in Boxford to his sons. Daniel Black, Paul Pritchard and Solomon Wood witnessed his will and were all present when it was proved. The probate value of his estate was £654 7s. 3d. The inventory valued "Half ye old house & half ye bam in Boxford £6 18s. 4d."; "the house and six acres of land in Bradford £133 6s. 8d.," and "about six acres of pasture land in Bradford £20." His son Francis was his executor.

Jacob married Lydia Peabody on 6 Dec 1696. Lydia (daughter of Capt. John Peabody and Hannah Andrews) was born on 9 Mar 1673; died in 1708. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Name: Lydia Perley

Other Events:

• Immigration: Abt 1638, Massachusetts

Notes:

Biography:
He settled in the West Parish part of Haverhill, was mad a freeman in 1666, and was a representative of there in 1683,5,9 and 1698. He was a cornet in the military forces. His gravestone reads: Peter Ayres of Hauerill aged about 66 yeares dyed January ye 3 1698/9

Buried:
Inscription:
Peter Ayres
of Hauerhill
Aged About 66 Yeares
Dyed January Y3 1698/9

Peter married Hannah Allen on 1 Nov 1659 in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Hannah (daughter of William Allen and Ann Goodale) was born on 17 Jun 1642 in Salisbury, Massachusetts; died on 22 Dec 1729; was buried in Pentucket Cemetery, Haverhill, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Name: Hannah Ayer

Notes:

Buried:
[CENTER:]HERE LYES BURIED
the BODY OF MRS
HANNAH AYERS
THE WIFE OF MR
PETER AYERS WHO DIED DECEMBER Ye
22ND 1729 & IN
the 88 YEAR OF
HER AGE[:CENTER]

Other Events:

• Baptism: 10 Jan 1630/31
• Immigration: 1635, Massachusetts

Notes:

Biography:
Simon was a piece of work. Simon was hot headed when just being hot headed could land you in jail. In letters from her mother we find out that he was cheating his father (see the write-up on Simon’s mother to see the letters) which eventually contributed to his mother to being destitute. Apparently the family, and especially Simon, was involved in trade with Barbados. It also seems that Simon spent time in Barbados. In the first letter from 3 October 1656, Joanna says, “simon deals very bad with his father - he lies at Barbados and sends noe Retorns butt spends all, his father will have no mor goods sent to him.” In the second letter from 6 April 1657 she says her husband’s death “left me disolat In a strang land and in dept by Reson of Simans keeping the Returnes from barbadous”. She even believes that problems with her husband’s only two sons contributed to his death. She says, “grife that [he] hath taken for his to sonns hath brought [upon him] a lingring deseas lost his stomuce and pined away never sick tell the day before he died”. In the third letter from 20 March 1657/8 she concludes with “I pray send no goods to simon I heare that of him which will bring my gray head with sorow to the graue with tears”.
Simon spent a lot of time in court. His first time in court was March of 1659 when he was about 28. He was being sued by John Hasletine for stealing a mare and colt. Even though Simon brought many witnesses in his support including a letter from his mother in Ireland (one of the three above), he lost the case. Then, in September, Simon sued John Hasletine for stealing a mare and colt. This time Simon had more witnesses and two more letters from his mother (the other two above). From the best I can tell, when Simon’s parents moved to Ireland the hired Joseph Jewett to manage the estate and the included taking care of the horses. As it turned out, Mr. Jewett was not too honest. He sold the horse to John Hasletine. Joseph Jewett was forced to repay the money he got for the horses.
By 1662, Simon must have patched things up with his mother because he represented her when she was suing Richard Shatswell for non-payment of rent and damage to the estate.
In September of 1663, Simon was ordered to pay fees when his horse got lose:
Symon Tuttle, presented for a rescue of his horse from Mighill Cresie, was fined, and ordered to pay fees to John Pinder, Aron Pengry and Hernry Osborne.
Aaron Pengry deposed that Goodman Cressy, heading Mr. Tuttle’s horse out of the common gate with him, Mr. Tuttle went hastily up to him and struck the horse with a short stick two or three blows, making the horse start out of his hand and run away. Sworn in court.
Symon Tuttle confessed that Said Cressie told him he was driving the horse to the pound.
Obviously he and Cressie did not get along too well. Simon may have let the horse wander often and Cressie decided to get rid of it.
In March of 1664, Simon had his biggest run in with the law:
Symon Tuttle, for his seditions and mutinous carriages, was sentenced to be committed to prison until he put in a bond of 200 li. (pounds), with sureites in 200 li. more for his appearance at the next General Court of election at Boston, the day after the election, and to be of good behavior in the meantime. Richard Shatswell, William Evans and John Gould, sureties.
It’s interesting that Richard Shatswell is now vouching for Simon after he lost the judgment against him by Simon’s mother for back rent and damages. Apparently on the day before the court was meeting, while the soldiers were parading on the green, Simon was went into a treasonous tirade. According to the testimony of Theophilus Willson and William Pritchett:
the day before the Court being traineing day, we being upon the meeting house greene Symon Tuttle being there looking on the souldyers, the sayd Symon broke out into these words, upon ocation speaking of the libertie of the choise of officers, he sayd it were better to live in turkye than heere, wherupon William Pritchett sayd to him, not soe, for it is better heere then there, and if you weare there, you must be subject to the Laws and Goverment of the same and soe you must heere, whervpon he made slight of or laws heere and spake contemptuously of them, and sayd if he weare in England againe, he would soone have our laws and law makers layd neck and heeles, and further sayd if we cannot have the libertye the King gave us, we would winn it by ye edge of the sword, and further saith, but we have lost our opptunitye, but we hope we shall gaine it againe, though the Friggotts be stopt for the prsent. And that the Gouverment of the Country, was in a few sneakeing fellows hands, and hopt we should have a turne and upon a brush would soone be cutt off and have our necks from under the yoke.
Simon’s call for liberty was about 110 years too early. Instead of getting him a position in the army or the Continental Congress, it landed him in jail with a £200 fine. It’s interesting he mentioned Turkey as an alternative to England or New England. Turkey (or more formally the Ottoman Empire) was the most powerful empire at the time. For hundreds of years they had been encroaching on Europe (this ended in 1683 when the Ottomans failed in an attempted siege on Vienna). But, other than that, his tirade seems awfully familiar. Realizing the err in his ways, Simon issued a formal apology prior to being sentenced:
To the Honered court now sitting at Ipswich Humbly sheweth yt wheras your worships have received a complaint against me, I acknowledge the same to be iust and that what I spake was pverse and sinfull, and of a very haynous nature, and therfore I cast my selfe at ye feete of your justice and mercy, and if [you ] should censure me acording to the demerritt of my great offence I have noe reason to complaine, what I have spoken I confesse is much of the nature of that which sometimes Shimen spake against david, & I may truly take up his words, yt your servants doth know that he hath sinned, and I am hartily sorry for my soe great Folly and with him I humbly request that your worships would not impute iniquitye to me, neither remember what your servant did perversly speake, against the laws & authority of this country & that I (though unworthy of it) may have the benifitt of your Clemency, and I trust by the helpe of God I shall not alow my selfe heerafter, for ever speake well as of your selves psonally, soe of the laws & government heere established, but stir up others to doe the like, and if I shallever speake soe vildly againe, I shall never open my mouth to request the like favour, as desireing the very strictnes of iustice agst me ; be pleased therfore but this once to pitty me, and pas by this my offence and you shall for ever ingage your poore peticioner to honer you & speake highly of your clemency "Symon Tuttle”.
The apology did not work too well. We don’t know how much time he spent in jail or if he ever paid the £200 fine. In May, someone named Caleb Kimball was fined for hitting Simon and for breach of the peace. In November Simon acknowledged a debt to Mr. Eleazer Hathorne of a little over £10. In December Simon is sent to prison for non-payment of that debt. Then in March of 1665, Simon is sent back to jail until he paid his £200 fine. His bond for god behavior was removed. They may have let him off as long as he didn’t get into trouble. The trouble may have been not paying his other debt. We don’t know, nor do we know how long he spent in prison this time and whether he paid the fine or not. This was the last time Simon was in trouble in court. He may have learned his lesson. A couple years later he was helping measure the town boundaries so he must have improved his image.


Immigration:
The family arrived on the Planter.

Simon married Sarah Cogswell in 1663. Sarah (daughter of John Cogswell and Elizabeth Thompson) was born about 1646 in Ipswich, Massachusetts; died on 24 Jan 1732; was buried in Old Burying Hill, Ipswich, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Name: Sarah Tuttle

Notes:

Biography:
All genealogies show her being born in England and there was a Sarah who came with her parents on the Planter. However, we can be very confidant that our Sarah died in 1732 at the age of 85 (in her 86th year). That would put her birth at about 1646 a full 13 years younger than the Sarah on the Planter. It is likely that the Sarah from the Planter died and John and Joan had another child named Sarah while living in Ipswich. This works well with her marriage age. Sarah married Simon Tuttle in 1663 and had 13 children. This is a little unlikely for someone born in 1633.
The following obituary is almost definitely our Sarah. It's from the Weekly Rehearsal, 31 January 1732:
Ipfwich, January 14
Died here, Mrs. Sarah Tuttle in the 86th Year of her Age. A gentle woman of a vertuous and pious Character; and what may deferve this Pumblic mention, was blesft with a very numerous Offspring. She had Thirteen Children, and by Seven of them only, One Hundred & Seventy seven Grandchildren and great Grandchildren.

Died:
Her obituary said:
Ipfwich, January 24
Died here, Mrs. Sarah Tuttle in the 86th Year of her Age. A Gentleworman of a vertuous and pious Character; and what may deferve this Public mention was blefed with a very numerous Offspring. She had Thirteen Children and by Seven of them only, One Hundred & Seventy feven Grandchildren and great Grandchildren.

Notes:

Biography:
From M. V. B. Perley:
THOMAS PERLEY was born in Ipswich in 1641, and died in Boxford 24 Sept., 1709, aged sixty-eight years. He married 8 July, 1667, Lydia Peabody, who was born in 1644 and died 30 April, 1716. She was a daughter of Lt. Francis and Mary-Foster Peabody, of Topsfield. Mary was a daughter of Reginald Foster, or Forster, whose family is honorably mentioned in "Lay of the Last Minstrel,” and in "Marmion." Her father came over from St. St. (great St.) Albans, in England, in the same vessel and at the same time, 2d Aprilis, 1635, that Allan Perley did. Lydia was a member of the church at Rowley, and by a letter of dismission was admitted to the Boxford church 21 Feb., 1702-3. By her father's will she received five pounds besides what she had already had.
Mr. Perley settled in Rowley. In 1676, Dec. 12, Richard Dole of Newbury, for £75 sold him 170 acres, "one half of that parcel of land which he bought of Mr. Anthony Crosbie, lying in Rowley.” The 8th of January, 1677, he and his wife confirmed to her brother William Peabody, then of Topsfield, later of Boxford, for £82, land lying on the south side of the Andover road in Boxford. Before his removal to Boxford with his brother John, in 1684, he deeded, 31 March of that year,. for £20, eighteen acres of upland lying in Boxford, which they bought of Zaccheus Gould. In 1687, he was assessed on the following property, besides three "heads" or polls: 1 house, 25 a. land, 4 oxen, 2 horses, 10 cows, 7 young cattle, 22 sheep, 8 swine. This year he paid the largest tax of any in the town except his brother-in-law, John Peabody, who paid four pence more.
His residence was on the site of the residence of the late Isaac Hale, marked of late years by the umbrageous elm pictured in family-70, and earlier by its proximity to the apple tree and stone bound which then marked the bound between Ipswich, Topsfield and Boxford, but now, by a change in the line, the salient angle of Topsfield.
He was one of the most prominent and influential citizens of the town, and in an enlarged sense was one of "the fathers of the town." He was made freeman 28 May, 1677. He and John Peabody were chosen, 8 June, 1689, representative to the General Court, "teell government shall be seated, only they bee to sarve but one at a time." They were again chosen 11 March, 1689-90, but Peabody "sarved" both times. They served together at the quarterly session beginning 8 June, 1692. He was chosen a representative 31 Oct., 1698, and 8 May, 1700, he and John Peabody were chosen, only one to serve at a time. He was again chosen for 1702. He was a selectman, 1690, 1694, 1699, 1701, 1704, 1709; a constable 1688; a grand juror 1695; trial juror 1692, 1698, 1707; moderator of town meetings 1698, 1701, 1704, 1706, 1707 and 1709; he was made quarter master of the Boxford militia company about 1688, and lieutenant in 1691. He served in the committees on settling the boundary between Topsfield and Boxford, on erecting the first church, on organizing the first religious Society, on assigning pews and building galleries. In January, 1701, he was one of the committee to receive the deed of the town of Boxford from the Indians, Samuel and Joseph English and John Umpee, grandsons of the old Sagamore Masconnomet. They all assembled at his house to make the transfer and seal it. His name is found on numerous committees, all of peculiar importance. He was extensively interested in promoting iron-smelting, which was begun in the town in 1669. He sold to Mr. John Ruck of Salem, one-sixteenth of the works, 7: 10, 1671, for £60 sterling. He was one of those who composed the jury that condemned Elizabeth Howe of Linebrook Parish, et al., of witchcraft, and who afterwards signed a recantation. He was deacon in the First Church till his death. His will is dated 9 May, 1704, and, without the usual verbiage, says: "I bequeath my soul to God and my body to a decent interment in the earth." He devised to his son Thomas all his land not already disposed of by deed to his son Jacob, and to his beloved wife Lydia all the personal estate during her life-time, and after her death in equal portions to his two sons Jacob and Thomas, requiring his ''son Thomas to furnish his mother a horse to ride upon and a suitable person to ride before her as often as she wishes to go abroad”—which manner of riding is illustrated on the opposite page. He mentions in his will his daughter Mary Hazen and granddaughter Alice Cummings.

Thomas married Lydia Peabody on 8 Jul 1667. Lydia (daughter of Lt. Francis Peabody and Lydia) was born about 1640 in Hampton or Ipswich, Massachusetts; died on 30 Apr 1715. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Name: Lydia Perley
• Baptism: 30 Aug 1640

Notes:

Biography:
The exact date of her birth is not known. According to Peabody there was a historian of Hampton who saw a record of her baptism for Aug. 30, 1640 but this date has not been independently verified. Savage says that she was born in 1654 but this not likely because she would have only been 13 at the time of her marriage to Thomas Perley. A 1640 birth would have her one year older than her husband which was common but married at the age of 27 which was not common. She probably was one of the first children because she is named after her father's first wife.

Other Events:

• Probate: Aug 1720

Notes:

Biography:
He was of Boxford. He was a freeman in 1674 and a representative to the General Court in 1689-91.

Buried:
[CENTER:]CAPT JOHN
PABODY DIED
JULY Ye
5th 1720
& IN Ye 78 YEAR
OF HIS AGE
Ye ACTS & DEEDS
WHICH HE HATH DON
DESARVES TO BE
INGRAVED IN STON
AS YOU ARE
SO WARE WE
AS WE ARE
YOU SHALL BE[:CENTER]

John married Hannah Andrews on 23 Nov 1665. Hannah (daughter of Robert Andrews and Grace) died on 25 Dec 1700. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Name: Hannah Peabody