Tag: Colonial

April 3, 2011 Dennis Ayers No comments exist

Folks, this is a little longer post than normal, but it contains a lot of historically important information to help put our ancestors lives in perspective. Sorry, but you gotta learn some history.

 

The Revolutionary War started in Massachusetts in 1775.  However, by 1779, the British had been slowly driven from most of the North, and in frustration shifted their hopes to military campaigns in the South.  They were hoping to take advantage of much loyalism in the Southern back-country.  In 1780, after first taking South Carolina, the British Army, commanded in the South by Lord Cornwallis, was ordered to reclaim North Carolina from the rebels and push on into Virginia.  Refer to the map at the end of this post for battle locations.

 

As mentioned earlier, Thomas Ayers had several sons in his family.  While residing in Surry County, NC, they were drawn into the war.  Although much of the time they were involved in informal, but violent, battles between loyalists and rebels, one of them also participated in two major battles with regular British troops which turned the tide of the war in the South.

 

It is not known if Thomas’ family, like his father’s, were also Quakers who were against violence. However, it is known that some Quakers, out of necessity, temporarily suspended their memberships during the war and then rejoined afterwards.

 

The extreme delay of providing pensions to veterans after the war was a sad, drawn out affair, and not until a Special Act of Congress in 1832 were pensions made available to the majority of surviving veterans. Fortunately, due to these detailed pensions applications in which they had to explain when and where they fought, we are able to get a glimpse into the lives of our Ayers ancestors during the war.  I’ll try to capture some of the significant highlights below.

 

In 1780, Thomas Ayers Sr., was about 46 years old, his son Nathaniel about 25 years old, son Elihu about 19 and son Thomas Jr. about 9.  While it would be unthinkable today, Thomas Jr., when still only a young lad, saw much violence and fighting action as he later stated in an affirmation for another pension applicant:

“I was too young to be put on a list of soldiers but I prefomed a voluntary servitude as hard as any soldier that is against Tories.  I had to run many a time when over powered by them to save myself.  I fought in my Father’s place he being old. Old and young had to fight it was a time of trouble in this country as I before stated the Tories was so bad.”

 

Elihu Ayers saw the most service.  He first entered as a volunteer private in the militia in January 1778.  He served a little over 12 months during which he only participated in skirmishes against the Tories (loyalists) and not against the foreigners.  He traveled the area around Surry and Wilkes counties defending Whigs (rebels) and their property from the ravages of the Tories.  During this term of service, he was present and assisted in “half hanging” William Combs whom they let off on promise of better behavior, and in hanging two other men condemned by a Court Martial.  He obtained a discharge from this term of service which was some years afterwards burned in his Father’s House.

 

Elihu entered his next tour of duty in April 1780.  Initially, he again was employed in the surrounding country to keep down the Tories and retaking and restoring property to the Whigs taken by the Tories.  Then in the Fall of 1780, he was marched to South Carolina where he participated in the famous Battle of King’s Mountain. The British, under Colonel Ferguson, fought in their traditional close-packed European fashion. The frontiersmen, however, played by different rules, moving from tree to tree picking off Ferguson’s men with their long and much more accurate frontier rifles. Many British were killed with few prisoners taken, and Elihu Ayers personally witnessed the death of Colonel Ferguson. King’s Mountain was a stunning defeat for Lord Cornwallis. After that General Washington sent one of his most experienced officers, Nathaniel Greene, to the South to drive the British out.

 

Elihu returned to North Carolina for a short furlough, but in the Spring of 1781, he was marched to the very important battle of Guilford Courthouse in Guilford County, NC, which was only 50 miles from his home in Surry County. There, he was part of the militia who panicked and ran from the scene of action. It was a terribly bloody battle from which the Americans, led by General Greene finally retreated, but it left both sides grieviously wounded. The battle was significant, however, in that Cornwallis began to fully realize that he could no longer count on the Loyalists for help, and that victories in the Carolina territory would always elude him.  Frustrated he turned his attention back to Virginia where he was also unsuccessful and the war finally ended with an American victory at Yorktown later in 1781.

 

In 1786 Elihu married Lydia Owen and they later moved to Patrick County, VA.  He finally received a pension beginning in 1834 until he died in 1844.  You can read a complete transcription of Elihu Ayers’ pension application in his own words here (R335).

 

Meanwhile, Thomas Ayers’ oldest son, Nathaniel, who is our direct ancestor, was also called into service as a militia man in August of 1780.  He too was marched to South Carolina to the Battle of King’s Mountain.  However, he did not participate in the battle, as he had been sent to a powder maker, for powder.  As it turned out, the Tories had already taken the powder maker, and his powder and the main battle was over before Nathaniel returned.  He met the victorious soldiers with the prisoners and marched with them and was held in service until some time in November or December and was discharged.

 

In February, Nathaniel was again called into service with the same militia company.  The object was to join General Greene’s forces, but they kept missing them as Greene, endeavoring to avoid an early engagement with Cornwallis kept changing his positions.  As a result, they never did join with Greene before the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. On the other hand, they frequently fell in with parties of the enemy and had little skirmishes. He was then discharged in May 1781.

 

Since Nathaniel Ayers did not complete at least six months service, he was deemed not eligible for a pension.  You can read a complete transcription of his pension application in his own words here (R336).

 

I wonder if the Ayers clan in North Carolina, was aware that some of their cousins back in New England and New Jersey also fought and helped win the Revolutionary War.

 

I heartily recommend viewing “The Patriot” movie released in 2000 starring Mel Gibson, which does a very creditable job in depicting the horrific conditions and events in the Carolinas during the Rev War.

Revolutionary War in the South
April 3, 2011 Dennis 1 comment

Folks, this is a little longer post than normal, but it contains a lot of historically important information to help put our ancestors lives in perspective. Sorry, but you gotta learn some history.

 

The Revolutionary War started in Massachusetts in 1775.  However, by 1779, the British had been slowly driven from most of the North, and in frustration shifted their hopes to military campaigns in the South.  They were hoping to take advantage of much loyalism in the Southern back-country.  In 1780, after first taking South Carolina, the British Army, commanded in the South by Lord Cornwallis, was ordered to reclaim North Carolina from the rebels and push on into Virginia.  Refer to the map at the end of this post for battle locations.

 

As mentioned earlier, Thomas Ayers had several sons in his family.  While residing in Surry County, NC, they were drawn into the war.  Although much of the time they were involved in informal, but violent, battles between loyalists and rebels, one of them also participated in two major battles with regular British troops which turned the tide of the war in the South.

 

It is not known if Thomas’ family, like his father’s, were also Quakers who were against violence. However, it is known that some Quakers, out of necessity, temporarily suspended their memberships during the war and then rejoined afterwards.

 

The extreme delay of providing pensions to veterans after the war was a sad, drawn out affair, and not until a Special Act of Congress in 1832 were pensions made available to the majority of surviving veterans. Fortunately, due to these detailed pensions applications in which they had to explain when and where they fought, we are able to get a glimpse into the lives of our Ayers ancestors during the war.  I’ll try to capture some of the significant highlights below.

 

In 1780, Thomas Ayers Sr., was about 46 years old, his son Nathaniel about 25 years old, son Elihu about 19 and son Thomas Jr. about 9.  While it would be unthinkable today, Thomas Jr., when still only a young lad, saw much violence and fighting action as he later stated in an affirmation for another pension applicant:

“I was too young to be put on a list of soldiers but I prefomed a voluntary servitude as hard as any soldier that is against Tories.  I had to run many a time when over powered by them to save myself.  I fought in my Father’s place he being old. Old and young had to fight it was a time of trouble in this country as I before stated the Tories was so bad.”

Elihu Ayers saw the most service.  He first entered as a volunteer private in the militia in January 1778.  He served a little over 12 months during which he only participated in skirmishes against the Tories (loyalists) and not against the foreigners.  He traveled the area around Surry and Wilkes counties defending Whigs (rebels) and their property from the ravages of the Tories.  During this term of service, he was present and assisted in “half hanging” William Combs whom they let off on promise of better behavior, and in hanging two other men condemned by a Court Martial.  He obtained a discharge from this term of service which was some years afterwards burned in his Father’s House.

 

Elihu entered his next tour of duty in April 1780.  Initially, he again was employed in the surrounding country to keep down the Tories and retaking and restoring property to the Whigs taken by the Tories.  Then in the Fall of 1780, he was marched to South Carolina where he participated in the famous Battle of King’s Mountain. The British, under Colonel Ferguson, fought in their traditional close-packed European fashion. The frontiersmen, however, played by different rules, moving from tree to tree picking off Ferguson’s men with their long and much more accurate frontier rifles. Many British were killed with few prisoners taken, and Elihu Ayers personally witnessed the death of Colonel Ferguson. King’s Mountain was a stunning defeat for Lord Cornwallis. After that General Washington sent one of his most experienced officers, Nathaniel Greene, to the South to drive the British out.

 

Elihu returned to North Carolina for a short furlough, but in the Spring of 1781, he was marched to the very important battle of Guilford Courthouse in Guilford County, NC, which was only 50 miles from his home in Surry County. There, he was part of the militia who panicked and ran from the scene of action. It was a terribly bloody battle from which the Americans, led by General Greene finally retreated, but it left both sides grieviously wounded. The battle was significant, however, in that Cornwallis began to fully realize that he could no longer count on the Loyalists for help, and that victories in the Carolina territory would always elude him.  Frustrated he turned his attention back to Virginia where he was also unsuccessful and the war finally ended with an American victory at Yorktown later in 1781.

 

In 1786 Elihu married Lydia Owen and they later moved to Patrick County, VA.  He finally received a pension beginning in 1834 until he died in 1844.  You can read a complete transcription of Elihu Ayers’ pension application in his own words here (R335).

 

Meanwhile, Thomas Ayers’ oldest son, Nathaniel, who is our direct ancestor, was also called into service as a militia man in August of 1780.  He too was marched to South Carolina to the Battle of King’s Mountain.  However, he did not participate in the battle, as he had been sent to a powder maker, for powder.  As it turned out, the Tories had already taken the powder maker, and his powder and the main battle was over before Nathaniel returned.  He met the victorious soldiers with the prisoners and marched with them and was held in service until some time in November or December and was discharged.

 

In February, Nathaniel was again called into service with the same militia company.  The object was to join General Greene’s forces, but they kept missing them as Greene, endeavoring to avoid an early engagement with Cornwallis kept changing his positions.  As a result, they never did join with Greene before the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. On the other hand, they frequently fell in with parties of the enemy and had little skirmishes. He was then discharged in May 1781.

 

Since Nathaniel Ayers did not complete at least six months service, he was deemed not eligible for a pension.  You can read a complete transcription of his pension application in his own words here (R336).

 

I wonder if the Ayers clan in North Carolina, was aware that some of their cousins back in New England and New Jersey also fought and helped win the Revolutionary War.

 

I heartily recommend viewing “The Patriot” movie released in 2000 starring Mel Gibson, which does a very creditable job in depicting the horrific conditions and events in the Carolinas during the Rev War.

Rev War in the South
March 31, 2011 Dennis No comments exist

Colonial families migrating to the Southern Virginia and North Carolina Piedmont area had to traverse rutted dirt wagon roads no more than 10 feet wide with very few routes to follow.  Before the French and Indian War in the 1750s, the preferred route going south first took them across the Potomac river via Noland’s Ferry, near what is now Point of Rocks, MD. The Carolina Road then took them east of the Blue Ridge Mountain along a trail which essentially followed Routes 15 and 29 in present day Virginia straight to the Piedmont area. The road was favored by Colonists – as it had been favored by their predecessors, the Algonquin and Iroquois Indians – because of numerous springs along its route, milder temperatures east of the mountains and relatively safe fords across major rivers and streams.

March 29, 2011 Dennis 1 comment

John Ayers of New Jersey died in 1732.  He left no will but did record the births of his nine children, including a son named Nathaniel born in 1700.  Unfortunately, no other records are available to help define Nathaniel’s life in NJ.

 

Instead, in 1723, a young man by the name of Nathaniel Ayers appears in Maryland where he is named in Baltimore County court records.  He is about the right age to have been the Nathaniel born in NJ, but is he in fact the same person?  The DNA test results previously mentioned indicate this is highly probable.  Although Nathaniel is listed as an immigrant in one reference book, I believe it was because he came to Maryland by sailing ship from NJ. He probably sailed up the Chesapeake Bay into the Patapsco River and disembarked at Elk Ridge Landing.  At that time, the Maryland colony had about 70 thousand residents, but Baltimore City would not be founded at the mouth of the Patapsco until 1729.

 

By about 1729, Nathaniel Ayers is married to Rhoda, last name unknown, and by 1733 they have three children, Ruth, John and Thomas who are registered in St. Paul’s Parish, one of 30 such territorial units established in colonial Maryland associated with the Anglican (later Episcopal) Church.

 

In the new colony of Maryland, all land was originally owned by Lord Baltimore and only at his discretion or his representatives could it be assigned to any tenant. Between 1663 and 1683, every adventurer who could claim to have brought five persons to settle in Maryland became entitled to a grant of 2000 acres.  After 1683, however, land patents (titles) were issued only against payment of money or tobacco.  At first the rate charged was 200 lbs. of tobacco for every 100 acres granted, but that rate increased with time.

 

Three separate documentary processes were required to authenticate new grants of land: (1) warrants, which were instructions to lay out a specified number of acres for a named person, (2) certificates of survey, which stated the exact location and boundaries of the new tract, and (3) patents, or essentially titles of ownership.

 

It appears that Nathaniel was actually in Baltimore County several years before he initiated the process for obtaining land.  Perhaps he didn’t have enough money when he first arrived.  Then between 1727 and 1745, Nathaniel obtained 4 separate grants of land on the north side of the Patapsco River in Baltimore County, and he is listed as a farmer and a carpenter in the records.  Since tobacco was the primary medium of exchange, it appears Nathaniel was farming successfully on his early land acquisitions and using his extra tobacco to add to his land holdings.  It is not known if he employed the use of slaves or not.

 

In those days, it was customary to name tracts of land after the owner or with whimsical names.  Nathaniel’s purchases, two of which are shown in the map below, were called:

Ayers Lott – 100 acres – 1727                    Ayers Desire – 28 acres – 1734
Bucks Range – 45 acres – 1745                 Nathaniel’s Hope – 15 acres – 1745

Nathaniel Ayers’ Land in Baltimore County

As can be seen, the land purchases of Nathaniel in Baltimore County were all near the Patapsco River not far from where the Ellicott brothers would later establish the new town of Ellicott Mills in 1772.

 

My father, Ira Ayers, knew nothing about his ancestors beyond his grandfather.  It is an ironic twist that in 1950 he purchased land only 4 miles upriver from where Nathaniel, his 6th great grandfather, purchased and farmed land 200 years earlier!!

 

March 24, 2011 Dennis Ayers No comments exist

After reading the first half dozen of these posts, you now have seen many familiar Given (first) names like John and Mary used over and over again.  Well, that is because the early settlers of our country more often than not followed the same customs used for naming children in Europe at the time, while also leaning towards Biblical names.

 

In many families the oldest son and daughter were named directly after the father and  mother.  In other families the eldest boy was ofter named after the father’s father and the oldest girl was typically named after the mother’s mother.  The second boy was then named after the mother’s father, while the second girl was named after the father’s mother.  These customs obviously created a high replication of names across generations.  In early Massachusetts over 50 percent of girls were named Mary, Elizabeth or Sarah.  Some of the popular names for boys were John, Benjamin, Joseph, Jonathan, Nathan and Samuel.

 

The prevailing use of so many of the same names, along with the general scarcity of records back then, sure make it tough on family historians today. In fact, I bet our ancestors are smiling down on us as they watch us struggle to put the pieces of the family puzzle together.

 

March 21, 2011 Dennis No comments exist

The youngest son of John AYRE, the immigrant, was Obadiah, born about 1635.  In 1659 Obadiah married Hannah PIKE, the daughter of John Pike who had also come over from England on the same ship as John AYRE.  “Obadiah and his brothers Robert and Thomas received from their father land and they were to maintain the fences and pay all rates on this land. He also received two oxe and two cow.”  However, land in the area was rocky and farming must have been difficult.

 

In 1664, the English claimed the area settled by the Dutch further south.  As they pushed out the Dutch they renamed New Amsterdam as New York, and New Netherlands as New Jersey. The English governor of the New Jersey colony began attracting people to the area by offering land and guaranteeing religious freedom.  In return for the land, the settlers were supposed to pay a yearly tax called a quitrent.

 

As a result, about 1667, a number of persons from Newbury, Massachusetts sailed southward and settled Woodbridge, Middlesex County, in northeast New Jersey. John Pike was one of the leaders, and Obadiah AYER and his family joined his father-in-law as one of the migrating group.  Obadiah received several parcels of land for a total of 171 acres.  Woodbridge was so called in honor of the Rev. John Woodbridge, of Newbury, Massachusetts. It is presumed that this distinction was conferred upon him by his friends and admirers, who came from New England.

 

Basking Ridge Church with original Oak Tree

Obadiah and Hannah had a large family with about half born in Massachusetts and half born in New Jersey.  Their oldest son, John, born about 1662, married Mary WALKER about 1689 in Woodbridge.  The area prospered and attracted many others who occupied the land so completely that many of the young generations sought other locations.  So, in 1710, John and his family moved to Basking Ridge, NJ in Somerset County about 20 miles to the northwest of Woodbridge, where he was one of the founders of the First Presbyterian church and a principal donor of the land for church use.

 

John AYERS and Mary also had a large family.  However, records of their deaths and marriages, etc., simply don’t exist.  No doubt this is due to courthouse fires and other mishaps over the centuries.  Some of their offspring went off to seek opportunity in other colonies, but most remained in the Basking Ridge, NJ area.  Many of the original AYERS of New Jersey are buried in the cemetery at the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church.

 

March 17, 2011 Dennis Ayers No comments exist

One of John AYER, the immigrant’s daughters was named Mary. She married Nathan Parker about 1652, and they moved from Haverhill to Andover where Nathan died in 1685.  As a widow she was unfortunate to be involved with one of the greatest tragedies in early New England – The Salem Witchcraft Trials. [Note that Haverhill, Andover and Salem are all within about 10 miles of each other.]

 

There are many good accounts of the Salem Witchcraft Trials on the internet.  I think the one below is the best summary of what happened to Mary and all the chaos surrounding the event.  It is Taken from Womenhistory.blogspot.com Mary Ayer Parker.

 

The Year:  1692

From June through September of 1692, nineteen men and women, all having been convicted of witchcraft, were carted to Gallows Hill, a barren slope near Salem Village, for hanging. Another man of over eighty years was pressed to death under heavy stones for refusing to submit to a trial on witchcraft charges. Hundreds of others faced accusations of witchcraft. Dozens languished in jail for months without trials.  Then, almost as soon as it had begun, the hysteria that swept through Puritan Massachusetts ended.

 

                                                                  The Accusation

Mary Ayer, daughter to John and Hannah Ayer, married Nathanial Parker. She was 55 years old and a widow in 1692.  Mary was accused of witchcraft, but refused to confess during the witchcraft trials saying, “I know nothing of it, there is another woman of the same name in Andover.” She was referring to her sister-in-law, Mary Parker, the aged and senile widow of Joseph Parker, who had a documented history of mental instability. Essex County Court records from the period show that both Joseph’s wife and his son Thomas were perceived to be mentally ill. And at the time, insanity was sometimes associated with other deviant behavior, including witchcraft.

 

In fact, there were not one but three other Mary Parkers in Andover. The reputation of “Mary Parker” was further tarnished by the lengthy criminal history of a fourth Mary Parker from Salem Town. Throughout the 1670s, that Mary appeared in Essex County Court a number of times for fornication offenses, child support charges, and extended indenture for having a child out-of-wedlock. She was a scandalous figure and undoubtedly contributed greatly to negative associations with the name Mary Parker.

Witch Hunt

 

A disreputable name could have been enough to kill the wrong woman, in a society where the literate were the minority, and the spoken word was the most damaging. Gossip, passed from household to household and from town to town was the most prevalent source of information. The damaged reputation of one woman could be confused with another as tales of “Goody so-and-so” filtered through the community.

 

William Barker Jr., who testified against Mary Ayer Parker, may have been confused as well. In his own confession, William accused a Goody Parker, but he didn’t specify which Goody Parker he meant. There was a good possibility that Barker heard gossip about one Goody Parker or the other, and the magistrates of the court issued a warrant for the arrest of Mary Ayer Parker without making sure they had the right woman. [Note: Goody seems to have been a common name used for older women…perhaps widows.]

 

                                                                        The Trial

Generally, the process of the trials consisted of citizens making complaints against individuals who were then brought before magistrates for preliminary hearings. When the magistrates felt that there was sufficient evidence for a trial, the accused was jailed pending a hearing before a grand jury. And if those juries handed up a “true bill” (signifying evidence of misbehavior), a formal trial by jury could follow.

Salem Hanging

 

The formal trial followed 17th-century English precedents, in which the accused were not represented by lawyers but could question accusers and witnesses. Most, however, were not emotionally or intellectually equipped to defend themselves against a hanging court and hysterical witnesses – more than forty persons confessed to being witches. The historical irony is that only those who did not confess to being witches were actually tried and convicted.

 

Mary Ayer Parker was convicted on little evidence, and even that seems tainted and misconstrued. The Salem trials did her no justice, and her treatment was indicative of the chaos and ineffectiveness that had overtaken the Salem trials by the fall of 1692.In less than one month, she was arrested, examined, found guilty, and executed. Historians have paid little attention to her case, one in which it is nevertheless possible to discern where confusion and conspiracy could have arisen, leading to her untimely death.

 

                                               The Execution

On September 17, 1692, Mary Ayer Parker was tried and condemned to death. On September 22, 1692, she and Martha Corey, Margaret Scott, Mary Easty, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator, Wilmott Redd, and Samuel Wardwell were hanged on Gallows Hill.

 

March 16, 2011 Dennis Ayers No comments exist

Before 1660, most of America’s immigrants came from England and, like most of those that would follow them, they brought their beliefs and traditions with them. They established the language, the laws, and the culture that would evolve into America. Our AYERS ancestors were among those that led the way.

 

John AYRE (or sometimes written AYER) was our first ancestor to arrive in America, and in genealogical terms he is called “The Immigrant” for this bloodline. Like many other immigrants of the time, John and his family most likely came primarily for religious freedom. It must have taken great courage to travel to the new world when he was already in his forties with a half grown family.  They arrived in the Massachusetts colony in 1635 just 15 years after the Mayflower in 1620, and when there were only about 1000 people in the colony.  Most Massachusetts colonists were Puritans who wished to reform the established church of England, and largely Congregationalists who believed in forming churches through voluntary compacts.

 

Thanks to books and records preserved about the early New England colonists, other researchers have pieced together some interesting facts about John Ayre’s life.  I have provided several summaries on the Family Tree website (see link or right).  However, the best summary I have found is on the website of Janson Ayer and I’ll repeat selected portions below.

 

The Story of John Ayer of Haverhill, Massachusetts

This is the story, to the best of my (Janson Ayer) knowledge, of John Ayer and his time in Haverhill, MA. I want to thank people like Willis Brown, Robert Ayers, and Warren Ayer for sharing so much of their research and knowledge. Clearly their input has helped my research significantly and made this website possible.

 

The immigrant John Ayer was said to have come from England, arriving on The James in 1635 with his wife Hannah and their first 4 children – Thomas, Rebecca, Robert, and Peter. There is no documentation found for his journey, but in John’s case he came with money, and perhaps was one of the people who were not allowed to leave without surrendering money and property to the Crown. Per Willis Brown’s research, we place him on the James because of his later close association with other listed passengers on that ship, such as the Pike family, and his kinsman, John Evered alias Webb.

 

The James itself is a part of history, surviving the Great Hurricane of 1635. The James, out of Bristol, England, met the hurricane off the Isles of Shoals, (near the New England coast) there losing three anchors and being forced to put to sea, for no canvas or rope would hold. The storm winds drove her to within feet of the Pascataquack rocks. “At this moment,” wrote Increase Mather (his father, mother, and four brothers being among the one hundred passengers), “their lives were given up for lost; but then, in an instant of time, God turned the wind about, which carried them from the rocks of death before their eyes.” On Aug 13, 1635, The James manages to make it to Boston Harbor proper with “…her sails rent in sunder, and split in pieces, as if they had been rotten ragges…”

So were the parents of’ a great American family delivered from death at the hands of the tempest. Of the one hundred plus aboard the James, none were lost.

Pilgrim House

 

A farmer, John Ayre and his family resided in Salisbury, Massachusetts  from 1640 – 1646, and then moved to Haverhill in 1647, where they were one of the first families to own land.  John and Hannah had 5 more children – Mary, John Jr., Nathanial, Hannah, and Obadiah.

 

According to the “New England Heritage” John was made a freeman, and was a well respected member of Haverhill.  A freeman in those days was not the opposite of a slave. A freeman was more of a citizen with benefits in the Puritan culture. The Church had to vote on who became a freeman, and the process and questions were excruciating.

 

To the best of our knowledge, our John was married once, to Hannah, whose maiden name is lost to history. She survived her husband, and was the mother of all of his children, easily proven by the land deeds of MA.

 

John passed away in Haverhill in 1657, his will was dated March 12, 1656.   His wife, Hannah, survived him, and died Oct. 8, 1688, having remained his widow. John AYER devised his homestead to his oldest son John Jr., a common practice for those times.

 

Note from Dennis:  The town of Ayer, Massachusetts, which in reality is a part of Haverhill, was named after the early AYER settlers.  No doubt it was because John AYER was one of the most prosperous land owners in the area. Below is a picture of the sign entering town which I took when Sheryl and I visited in Oct 2007.

 

March 16, 2011 Dennis No comments exist

Before 1660, most of America’s immigrants came from England and, like most of those that would follow them, they brought their beliefs and traditions with them. They established the language, the laws, and the culture that would evolve into America. Our AYERS ancestors were among those that led the way.

John AYRE (or sometimes written AYER) was our first ancestor to arrive in America, and in genealogical terms he is called “The Immigrant” for this bloodline. Like many other immigrants of the time, John and his family most likely came primarily for religious freedom. It must have taken great courage to travel to the new world when he was already in his forties with a half-grown family.  They arrived in the Massachusetts colony in 1635 just 15 years after the Mayflower in 1620, and when there were only about 1000 people in the colony.  Most Massachusetts colonists were Puritans who wished to reform the established church of England, and largely Congregationalists who believed in forming churches through voluntary compacts.

Thanks to books and records preserved about the early New England colonists, other researchers have pieced together some interesting facts about John Ayre’s life.  I have provided several summaries on the Family Tree website (see link or right).  However, the best summary I have found is on the website of Janson Ayer and I’ll repeat selected portions below.

The Story of John Ayer of Haverhill, Massachusetts

This is the story, to the best of my (Janson Ayer) knowledge, of John Ayer and his time in Haverhill, MA. I want to thank people like Willis Brown, Robert Ayers, and Warren Ayer for sharing so much of their research and knowledge. Clearly their input has helped my research significantly and made this website possible.

The immigrant John Ayer was said to have come from England, arriving on The James in 1635 with his wife Hannah and their first 4 children – Thomas, Rebecca, Robert, and Peter. There is no documentation found for his journey, but in John’s case he came with money, and perhaps was one of the people who were not allowed to leave without surrendering money and property to the Crown. Per Willis Brown’s research, we place him on the James because of his later close association with other listed passengers on that ship, such as the Pike family, and his kinsman, John Evered alias Webb.

The James itself is a part of history, surviving the Great Hurricane of 1635. The James, out of Bristol, England, met the hurricane off the Isles of Shoals, (near the New England coast) there losing three anchors and being forced to put to sea, for no canvas or rope would hold. The storm winds drove her to within feet of the Pascataquack rocks. “At this moment,” wrote Increase Mather (his father, mother, and four brothers being among the one hundred passengers), “their lives were given up for lost; but then, in an instant of time, God turned the wind about, which carried them from the rocks of death before their eyes.” On Aug 13, 1635, The James manages to make it to Boston Harbor proper with “…her sails rent in sunder, and split in pieces, as if they had been rotten ragges…”

So were the parents of’ a great American family delivered from death at the hands of the tempest. Of the one hundred plus aboard the James, none were lost.

Pilgrim House

A farmer, John Ayre and his family resided in Salisbury, Massachusetts  from 1640 – 1646, and then moved to Haverhill in 1647, where they were one of the first families to own land.  John and Hannah had 5 more children – Mary, John Jr., Nathanial, Hannah, and Obadiah.

According to the “New England Heritage” John was made a freeman, and was a well-respected member of Haverhill.  A freeman in those days was not the opposite of a slave. A freeman was more of a citizen with benefits in the Puritan culture. The Church had to vote on who became a freeman, and the process and questions were excruciating.

To the best of our knowledge, our John was married once, to Hannah, whose maiden name is lost to history. She survived her husband, and was the mother of all of his children, easily proven by the land deeds of MA.

John passed away in Haverhill in 1657, his will was dated March 12, 1656.   His wife, Hannah, survived him, and died Oct. 8, 1688, having remained his widow. John AYER devised his homestead to his oldest son John Jr., a common practice for those times.

Note from Dennis:  The town of Ayer, Massachusetts, which in reality is a part of Haverhill, was named after the early AYER settlers.  No doubt it was because John AYER was one of the most prosperous land owners in the area. Below is a picture of the sign entering town which I took when Sheryl and I visited in Oct 2007.