Thomas Perley

1641 - 1709  (68 years)

• Name	Thomas Perley  [1]
  Born	1641	Ipswich, Massachusetts
  Gender	Male
  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.
  Died	24 Sep 1709	Boxford, Massachusetts
  Person ID	I862	Our Family
  Last Modified	4 Oct 2016

  
  

  Father	Allan Perley,   b. 1608, Wales ,   d. 28 Dec 1675, Ipswich, Massachusetts  (Age 67 years)
  Mother	Susanna Bokesen,   b. England ,   d. 11 Feb 1692, Ipswich, Massachusetts
  Married	1635
  Family ID	F301	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Lydia Peabody,   b. Abt 1640, Hampton or Ipswich, Massachusetts ,   d. 30 Apr 1715  (Age ~ 75 years)
  Married	8 Jul 1667
  Children	1. Thomas Perley,   b. 24 Sep 1668, East Boxford, Massachusetts ,   d. 13 Nov 1745, East Boxford, Massachusetts  (Age 77 years)   2. Jacob Perley,   b. 1670, Rowley, Massachusetts ,   d. Apr 1751, Bradford, Massachusetts  (Age 81 years)   3. Lydia Perley,   b. 21 Apr 1672,   d. 1685, Boxford, Massachusetts  (Age 12 years)   4. Mary Perley   5. Hepzibah Perley   6. Sarah Perley,   b. Between 1683 and 1684,   d. 17 Jun 1769, Bradford, Massachusetts  (Age ~ 86 years)
  Last Modified	18 Dec 2016
  Family ID	F304	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map		Born - 1641 - Ipswich, Massachusetts Died - 24 Sep 1709 - Boxford, Massachusetts  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Documents

  Thomas Perley (1641-1709)

  
  

• Sources

  [S16] Perley, Perley Family (Reliability: 0).