Generation 1

RICHARD FRANCIS (abt 1606 - 1687) of Cambridge

Parents: Unknown

Richard Francis was born about 1606. He died on 24 Mar 1687, age 80, in Cambridge. [Ref] He married Alice [Ref], who was possibly Alice Wilcox. [Ref]

In his will of 28 Nov 1653, William Wilcockes of Cambridge mentions his sick wife; his cousin John Woodes; his sister the Widow Hall; his "honest bro: Richard Frances"; his brother John Taylor; his sister Christian Boyden's children in Old England. [Ref] William Wilcox died on 28 Nov 1653. [Ref] He was a freeman in 1636. [Ref]

He was a freeman on 13 May 1640. [Ref]

Savage [Ref] says that Richard was in Dorchester before moving to Cambridge. Dall [Ref] appears to find this curious. She points out that there was a Richard Francis who signed a petition for the continuance of religious liberties in 1661 in Dorchester and that in 1669 a Richard Francis heads the list of young men who could not prove that they had an "orderly living" in Dorchester.

On 22 Mar 1687 Samuel Sewell wrote in his diary, "Now about, Goodman Francis, an ancient and goodman indeed, of Cambridge dies." [Ref]

Richard and Alice had the following children:

1. Stephen Francis was born on 7 Feb 1645 in Cambridge. [Ref][Ref] He married first Hannah Hall on 27 Dec 1670 [Ref] in Cambridge. [Ref] Hannah was the daughter of the widow Mary Hall. [Ref] She died on 2 Apr 1683. [Ref] Stephen married second Hannah Dickson on 16 Sep 1683 [Ref] in Cambridge. [Ref]
   Stephen is on a 24 Aug 1676 list of soldiers in King Philip's War. [Ref] He is on a 31 Aug 1688 tax list in Medford. [Ref] He was a freeman in 1690. [Ref]
2. Sarah Francis was born on 4 Dec 1646 in Cambridge. She was living in 1713. She married John Squire.
3. John Francis was born on 4 Jan 1650 in Cambridge. [Ref][Ref] He married Lydia Cooper in 1687/8 in Cambridge. [Ref] He was on an Aug 1688 list of people taxed in Cambridge. [Ref]
4. Rebecca Francis was born in Cambridge. [Ref]
5. Anne Francis was born in Cambridge. [Ref]

Generation 2

SARAH FRANCIS (b. 1646 - living 1713)

Parents: Richard Francis and Alice Wilcox

Sarah Francis was born on 4 Dec 1646 in Cambridge. [Ref][Ref][Ref] She was living in 1713. [Ref] She married John Squire by 1667. [Ref]

References

Diaries

Editors, "Samuel Sewall's Diary," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 6, 1852.

Encyclopedias

Savage, James, A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, Vol. I-IV, Boston, 1860-1862.

Local Histories

Paige, Lucius R., History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1630-1877, with a genealogical register, Boston, H.O. Houghton, c. 1877.

Public Records

Bodge, George, "Soldiers in King Philip's War," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, many volumes.

Editors, "Town Rate of Medford," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 32 1787, 316-7.

Puzzles

Dall, Caroline, "Genealogical Notes and Errata," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 27, 1863, 135-139.

Vital Records

Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850, New England Historical and Genealogical Society.

Pulsifer, David, trans., "Records of Boston," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, various issues.

Torrey’s New England Marriages Prior to 1700. (Online database. NewEnglandAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.)

Wills

Trask, William B., comp., "Abstracts of the Earliest Wills from the Records and Files at East Cambridge, Mass., in the County of Middlesex," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 16, 1862, 76.