Tag: Farmer

April 1, 2011 Dennis Ayers No comments exist

Thomas Ayers, Nathaniels’ oldest son was born in Baltimore County, MD in 1734.  Growing up, he and his brothers worked alongside their farmer father and eventually moved with him to Pittsylvania County, VA about 1755.  However, Thomas initially ventured even further south into Surry County, North Carolina for a time before returning to Pittsylvania County.  There, like his father, Thomas also became a landholder, obtaining a land grant of 400 acres on Double Creek in 1758 and another 200 acres on Wolf’s Hill Creek in 1763.

Thomas married first Ellender (or Eleanor), last name unknown, and later Barbary (Barbara) Murphy.  He had four sons, Nathaniel, Elihu, Thomas Jr, and Joseph, along with three daughters, Elizabeth, Jane and Phoebe. In 1780, Thomas sent his son Elihu back down to Surry County to buy land, which he did, but then got caught up in the Revolutionary War (more in the next post).  He did not return home until he had served his tour, believing his father would not move on account of the Tories (British sympathizers) raging in that country so violently.  After receiving a letter from his father, Elihu returned home in 1780, and his father perhaps erroneously thinking the fighting had ended, immediately moved to the new land.

Colonial Surveryors

When Thomas moved to Surry County, his brother Moses also moved there with his family. In the very first U.S. census in 1790, we find a total of six Ayers households located near each other: Thomas Ayers along with two sons, Nathaniel and Elihu; and Moses Ayers along with two sons John and Samuel.

Of special note is that a tract of land belonging to Moses and Thomas Ayers on the Yadkin River was used to establish the town of Rockford, the original Surry County, NC, seat.

It seems that Thomas Ayers was always on the move.  In 1791 he again moved, this time to Patrick County, Virginia which was a newly formed county just across the VA border from Surry County. There he purchased 100 acres on Johnson’s Creek.  He died in Patrick County in November 1814. The inventory of his estate included household furniture, side-saddle, cotton, wheel, tomahawk, corn, sheep, cattle, horse, loom, books and hay for a total of $185.80.

 

Surry County, NC where Thomas Ayers settled ……for a while
April 1, 2011 Dennis No comments exist

Thomas Ayers, Nathaniels’ oldest son was born in Baltimore County, MD in 1734.  Growing up, he and his brothers worked alongside their farmer father and eventually moved with him to Pittsylvania County, VA about 1755.  However, Thomas initially ventured even further south into Surry County, North Carolina for a time before returning to Pittsylvania County.  There, like his father, Thomas also became a landholder, obtaining a land grant of 400 acres on Double Creek in 1758 and another 200 acres on Wolf’s Hill Creek in 1763.

 

Thomas married first Ellender (or Eleanor), last name unknown, and later Barbary (Barbara) Murphy.  He had four sons, Nathaniel, Elihu, Thomas Jr, and Joseph, along with three daughters, Elizabeth, Jane and Phoebe. In 1780, Thomas sent his son Elihu back down to Surry County to buy land, which he did, but then got caught up in the Revolutionary War (more in the next post).  He did not return home until he had served his tour, believing his father would not move on account of the Tories (British sympathizers) raging in that country so violently.  After receiving a letter from his father, Elihu returned home in 1780, and his father perhaps erroneously thinking the fighting had ended, immediately moved to the new land.

Colonial Surveryors

 

When Thomas moved to Surry County, his brother Moses also moved there with his family. In the very first U.S. census in 1790, we find a total of six Ayers households located near each other: Thomas Ayers along with two sons, Nathaniel and Elihu; and Moses Ayers along with two sons John and Samuel.

 

Of special note is that a tract of land belonging to Moses and Thomas Ayers on the Yadkin River was used to establish the town of Rockford, the original Surry County, NC, seat.

 

It seems that Thomas Ayers was always on the move.  In 1791 he again moved, this time to Patrick County, Virginia which was a newly formed county just across the VA border from Surry County. There he purchased 100 acres on Johnson’s Creek.  He died in Patrick County in November 1814. The inventory of his estate included household furniture, side saddle, cotton, wheel, tomahawk, corn, sheep, cattle, horse, loom, books and hay for a total of $185.80.

 

Surry County, NC where Thomas Ayers settled ……for awhile
March 31, 2011 Dennis Ayers No comments exist
Colonial Wagon Road

In 1746 Nathaniel Ayers began selling his land in Baltimore County, Maryland.  By about 1755, he and his wife, Rhoda, and family had migrated to Halifax County in southern Virginia (near Danville today), on the border of North Carolina.  Why did they leave what appeared to be a prosperous livelihood in MD?   Why did they undertake such an arduous journey which took them over 300 miles to the south?  The answers are not known for sure, but it is believed that religion was a primary factor along with a desire for more land, and perhaps opposition to slavery.

 

After 1735, as the supply of land grew short in colonies farther north, numerous farmers from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and northern Virginia began packing their possessions and making the long journey to the Southern Piedmont in the Virginia colony.

Quaker Man

 

In addition, it seems that Nathaniel converted to the Quaker religion in Maryland, perhaps when he married Rhoda.  The Quakers were one of the first groups to oppose slavery, which was heavily employed by most tobacco farmers. In the 1750s, there was a large Quaker migration to the frontier areas of Virginia and North Carolina, and Nathaniel’s family probably joined in with others from Pennsylvania and Maryland moving southward. The proceedings of the Quaker South River Monthly Meeting (held near what is today Lynchburg, VA) show that Nathaniel  Ayers was accepted into membership in 1758. This Quaker Meeting covered many of the southern VA counties including Halifax County.

 

Also, in 1758, Nathaniel purchased 116 acres of land on Little Double Creek. In 1767, the western part of Halifax County where Nathaniel and his family lived became Pittsylvania County, and not long after that he was granted 200 acres on branches of the Dan River.  Before he died, he also acquired another 600 acres of adjoining land. In 1760, Nathaniel and several of his neighbors are credited with “laying a road”.

 

Nathaniel Ayers died in early 1777, and his will was probated at the courthouse in Chatham, in Pittsylvania County.  His oldest living sons, Thomas and Moses were the executors.  Mentioned in the will were his wife Rhoda and 5 surviving children.

Nathaniel Ayers in Pittsylvania County, VA

The map above shows the general Piedmont area where Nathaniel settled.  I have been to this area on a research trip in 2006.  Pittsylvania County and the surrounding counties in both VA and NC contain beautiful gently rolling farmland as far as the eye can see.  One can certainly understand why northern colonists migrated to this area.

 

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 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 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.