The LAWRENCE Family of Groton, Middlesex, MA, Littleton, Middlesex, MA, and Watertown, Middlesex, MA | Send comments and corrections to anneb0704@yahoo.co.uk |
JOHN LAWRENCE (d. 1667)
of Watertown and Groton m. Elizabeth Unknown (d. 1663)
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EXPERIENCE LAWRENCE
(b. 1719) m. Capt. Jabez Keep
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JOHN LAWRENCE (d. 1667) of Watertown and Groton
Parents: Unknown [Ref] It has been shown that there was no connection between John Lawrence of Charlestown, son of Henry Lawrence, and John Lawrence of Watertown. [Ref]
John Lawrence died on 11 Jul 1667. [Ref] He married Elizabeth Unknown. She died on 29 Aug 1663 in Groton. [Ref] He married second Susannah Bachelor. [Ref] Susannah was the daughter of William Bachelor. [Ref] She died on 8 Jul 1668 in Charlestown. [Ref]
John was a carpenter. [Ref]
John was a freeman on 17 Apr 1637. [Ref] He was the Watertown constable on 25 Oct 1658. [Ref]
John moved to Groton in 1662. [Ref] John is on a list of the original proprietors of Groton, presented at 4 Mar 1716/7 town meeting. [Ref, p. 26] He was a selectman there on 24 Dec 1662 and 11 Dec 1666. [Ref]
In 1665 there was a dispute between the town of Groton and John Lawrence, Sr. It seems that John had enclosed common land and that the town's arbiters found against him. But, at a town meeting held on 21 d. 7 m. 1665 it was agreed that John could have a parcel of the land that was in controversy. [Ref, p. 35]
John signed his will on 24 Apr 1667 in Groton. He requested that £60 be given to his wife, in addition to that which is her due under a former contract, for the maintainance of her and the children. He ordered that the residue of his estate be given to the children of his former wife in equal porportion "only provided that my daughter Mary shall have but half the proportion with the rest, to teach her a remembrance of her disobedience & unfaithfulness to me in my distress". The other half of the share that would have been hers was to go to his son Zechariah, he "being the youngest & incapable of present shifting for himself". He appointed his sons Nathaniel and Joseph administrators of the portion of the estate left to his children. He mentions by name his children who are under 21: "Enosh, Samuel, Isaack, Jonathan, and Zechariah" and Elizabeth, who was under 18. Inventory on John's estate, presented on 8 Mar 1667/8, amounted to £278 4d. [Ref]
Susannah's undated will was proved on 16 Dec 1668. She left her estate to her two daughters Abigail and Susannah Lawrence. If they were both to die, it was to go to "my honored father & mother Bachelder and after their death unto my two sisters Rachel Atwood & Abigail Asting". Her "father Bachelder and my brother Atwood of Maulden" were to be executors. [Ref]
Children of John Lawrence and Elizabeth Unknown:
Children of John Laurence and Susannah Unknown:
PELEG LAWRENCE (1647 - 1692) of Groton
Parents: John Lawrence and Elizabeth Unknown
Peleg Lawrence was born on 10 Jan 1647 [Ref][Ref, p. 16][Ref] He died on 14 Feb 1692. [Ref, p. 17][Ref: only the year] He married Elizabeth Morse [Ref, "when twentry-one years old", p. 16] on 22 Dec 1668 in Medfield. [Ref] He had seven or more children recorded at Groton. [Ref]
Peleg is not named by his father as one of his underaged children in his 24 Apr 1667 will. If his birthday is interpreted as 10 Jan 1646/7 then his father may have thought of him as sufficiently close to being of age that he grouped him with his older brothers. [Ref]
Peleg sold his brother Nathaniel 13 acres of upland in Groton in 1669. [Ref, p. 16] Peleg and Nathaniel went to Concord in 1676, after the Indians attacked Groton. [Ref, p. 16] Peleg was a selectman in Groton. [Ref, p. 16]
Children of Peleg Lawrence and Elizabeth Morse:
MAJ. ELEAZER LAWRENCE (1675 - 1754) of Littleton and Groton
Parents: Peleg Lawrence and Elizabeth Morse [Ref]
Maj. Eleazer Lawrence was born on 28 Feb 1674/5 [Ref says 26 Feb 1674][Ref][Ref, p. 10] in Groton. [Ref][Ref] He died on 9 Mar 1754 [Ref] in Pepperell. [Ref] He married Mary Scripture about 1698. [Ref]
Littleton was incorporated in 1715. Much of the town was originally in Groton. Eleazer was one of the original proprietors of Littleton on 15 Dec 1714. [Ref] He was a frequent moderator of town meetings, he was a selectman and a constable. [Ref]
On 17 Jan 1724 Lieut. Lawrence was on a committee to find a school teacher for Littleton. [Ref] On 20 Nov 1727 the town paid him 14 shillings for birds' heads. [Ref] On 8 Dec 1729 Capt. Eleazer Lawrence was again on a committee to hire a school teacher. [Ref] On 11 Jan 1730/1 he was on a committee to find a minister. [Ref] On 5 Mar 1743 he was chosen to keep the streams open for fishing. [Ref]
Eleazer signed his will on 29 Dec 1749; it was proved on 13 Jan 1755. [Ref] His wife and his son David were executors. [Ref] The following children and grandchildren of Maj. Eleazer Lawrence consented to his will on 19 Dec 1754 in Littleton: Peleg, David, Eleazer and Samuel Lawrence; Benjamin and Sarah Davis; Isaac and Mary Russell; Jabez and Experience Keep; John and Sarah Cummings; Peter and Prudence Parker. [Ref]
Children of Eleazer Lawrence and Mary Scripture:
EXPERIENCE LAWRENCE (b. 1719)
Parents: Maj. Eleazer Lawrence and Mary Scripture
Experience Lawrence was born on 22 Jun 1719 in Littleton. [Ref] Experience Lawrence of Littleton married Capt. Jabez Keep at Littleton on 3 Apr 1740. [Ref][Ref says 3 Feb and that Jabez is of Westford]
On 19 Dec 1754 Experience and Jabez Keep were among the children and grandchildren of Maj. Eleazer Lawrence who consented to his will. [Ref]
References
Butler, Caleb, History of the Town of Groton, Boston, T.R. Marvin 1848. Click here to read it on Google Books.
Cummins, Albert Oren, Cummings Genealogy: Isaac Cummings, 1601-1677, of Ipswich in 1638 and some of his descendants, Montpelier, A.O. Cummins, 1904.
Great Migration Study Project, "John Lawrence," Great Migration Biographical Sketches, http://greatmigration.org, Aug. 2005.
Green, Samuel A., Groton Historical Series: a collection of papers relating to the history of the town of Groton, Massachusetts, Groton, unknown, 1887-1899.
Hill, Frank Alden, The Mystery Solved: facts relating to the "Lawrence-Townley," "Chase-Townley," marriage and estate question: with genealogical information concerning the families of Townley, Chase, Lawrence, Stephens, Stevens, and other families of America, Boston, Rand Avery Co., 1888.
Lawrence, Robert Means, Historical Sketches of some Members of the Lawrence Family, Boston, Rand Avery, 1888.
Loop, Kate Lawrence, Descendents of John Lawrence and Lydia Sweet, Belvidere, IL, unknown, 1990.
Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850. Online Database: NewEnglandAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2007
Morse, J. Howard, Morse Genealogy: Comprising the descendants of Samuel Anthony, William, and Joseph Morse and John Moss: Being a revision of the Memorial of the Morses published by Rev. Abner Morse in 1850, New York, unknown, 1903.
Town of Littleton, Records of Littleton, Massachusetts, 1900, Online database: NewEnglandAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004.