Benjamin Bruce

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: John Eli BRUCE
• Residence: 1790, Templeton, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
• Residence: 1800, Worcester, Otsego, New York, USA
• Residence: 1810, Worcester, Otsego, New York, USA

Eli married Sarah Gibbs on 16 Jan 1773 in Sutton, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. Sarah (daughter of Jacob Gibbs and Mary Lilley) was born on 18 Oct 1750 in Hopkinton, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA; died in 1788 in Summit, Schoharie, New York, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Louise-Sarah Gibbs

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: 1757, Grafton, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
• Probate: 24 Nov 1758, , Worcester, Massachusetts, USA

Charles married Martha Coburn on 21 Jan 1743 in Westborough, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. Martha (daughter of Benjamin Coburn and Elizabeth French) was born on 21 Oct 1717 in Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Martha Bruce

Jacob married Mary Lilley on 19 Nov 1747. Mary (daughter of Samuel Lillie and Hannah Boutell) was born on 18 Aug 1709 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA; died in 1809 in Sutton, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

In 1719 Lieutenant Abijah Bruce (1698-1774) arrived in Westborough and opened a tavern in the house he built at 210 East Main Street. A soldier in the French and Indian Wars, Bruce served as moderator of town meeting in 1735. As a member of the committee to build the second meeting house in 1749 the innkeeper provided the rum for that building's raising.

Abijah Bruce not only worked as a tavern keeper but raised cattle, horses and sheep on his land. He often sold his stock to drovers who stopped at the Bruce Tavern on the way to market. In 1750 the tavern was mortgaged to Captain Stephen Maynard and seems to have ceased business soon after.


Abijah Bruce served in the military. Rev Ebenezer Parkman's diary says that Abijah was a Sergeant in Sep 1740 but was an Ensign by Jul 1744. He made Lieutenant Aug 1748 and must have been in Captain Baker's Company as on 11 Oct 1748 Parkman "dined with the south Company Officers - Lt Bruce had the Command by Means of Captain bakers being engag'd as one of the Referrees upon the Case of messers [ William] Nurse and [Cornelius] Cook." Abijah doesn't appear in any Massachusetts Military records but might be found in the Westborough Militia records. To show what the soldiers and even the populace had to contend with during the French and Indian Wars, this July 1745 entry from Parkman's diary is included "Ensign Bruce (who went up to Fort Shirley to bring back his son Jonathan) return'd - and informs that last Friday about 10 a.m. Mr. William Phipps was kill'd by the Indians about 30 Rods from the Garrison at [Putney] (nigh which lives Mr Nehemiah How who went from Grafton) and his body was treated inhumanly, Scalp'd, his Heart taken out, etc."

Abijah Bruce was moderator of the town meetings in 1735. In January 1749 some land was bought for the purpose of building a new meeting house in the town of Westboorough. The house was to be fifty feet long by forty feet wide with posts 23 feet high. In April it was ready for raising and accordingly the precinct voted on the 17th "to provide Half a barrel Roum, by the cost and charge of the precinct, for the Raising of the frame of the meeting-house which the precinct voted to build..." Capt. John Maynard, Lieut. Simeon Tainter, and Lieut. Abijah Bruce were voted to be a committee to take care to provide the Roum for raising the frame of the meeting house.

Abijah at one time kept a tavern (during the 1750's at least). It was located on the road between Westborough and Marlborough about two miles from the center of Westborough.

A letter written by Abijah Bruce, dated at Westborough June 5th, 1772, reads "Whereas my brother David Bruce of Soutb'r is a person Naturally wanting Understanding and not capable of taking care of himself and there being some Estate left by our hon'd Father Roger Bruce late of Said Southb'r Deed for the Support of said David who is not Capable to manage the Same for that purpose, These are to desire your Hon'r to enquire into the truth of the above & appoint Him the said David a Guardian". Signed Abijah Bruce by mark, witnessed by Artemas Bruce and Isaac Johnson.

Abijah apparently had a violent temper. in several places in Parkman's diary Abijah is mentioned as having "warm Speech" or answering "Sharply, and coarsely, and asking....with great Anger". An example of his temper is found in the diary from June 1755 when Rev Parkman forgot to mention to the congregation Abijah's desire for prayers for his sick wife. "Lieutenant Bruce came into my House, and the Storm was great, Thunder, Lightening, and Rain. Yet the Storm of Brother Bruce's Passions was more grievous; uttering many bitter grievous Things; neither could I at all lay his Passionate Heat by anything I could Say. he went away talking and in a Rage, notwithstanding it was the Sabbath, and the Storm which Should have Struck Terror, into each of our Hearts. I could not Suffer him to go away in Such a Frame. I put on my Great Coat, and went to the Meeting House, ready to declare it was not with Design that I omitted the Note, but through forgetfullness - as I went I Spake to him at the Stables to Mollifie him - and entreated him and all others that were there to go into the Meeting House; but neither of them did. When I got into the meeting House I was Somewhat out of Breath by my running through the Rain. There were many more in the Meeting House (probably) than I expected; Yet I then conceiv'd it best for the prevention of further Mischief to declare that it was thro my Infirmity and no otherwise that his Case was Neglected; I also mention'd to them the Reason of my coming to Speak of it to them, viz. the violent Anger which he was in, and continued in, though I did all in my Power to Compose and Satisfie him; and that he assur'd me he would never bring me any Papers (to desire Prayers) any more. When I return'd from the Meeting House, he being Still at the Stables, I Stop'd there again and there labour'd to pacifie him; but all was in Vain. So that I left him with telling him that I had done and Said enough (and indeed it was too much) I would not trouble my Self any more. This was a just Chastizement from God upon me, for my own Sloth and Negligence! the Lord be mercifull to me a Sinner! The next day I made it my Business to Visit Mrs. Bruce...As to Lieutenant Bruce, he now receiv'd me civily - no word of yesterday; only when I parted while I had him by the Hand I told him I would not have any Difficulty between him and me, and he answer'd Smiling, ' with all my Heart' ." Abijah apologized a month later to Rev Parkman for his outbursts, " Lieutenant Bruce here and acknowledg'd he did amiss on june 22 and what he said was writ and sign'd".

Perhaps Abijah had cause to be angry. His wife Mary remained ill the rest of the year and was very close to death.

According to Parkman's diary Abijah died 2 Dec 1774, "Lieut. Bruce dies about 2 o'clock p.m. He was nigh 81, was born Nov.27.O.S. 1693".

A later entry for 27 Mar 1775, "Calld at Mr Stone's & desired him, if he should be sent for by those concerned, to attend the Funeral of old Mrs, Bruce, who dyd on ye 26th, aged 88 & one Day".

REF:
[1] The First Parish Church of Westborough Records
[2] The Diary of Rev. Ebenezer Parkman - Francis G. Walett, 1974
[3] Worcester County, MA Probate
[4] Westborough Vital records (Bruce births on pg.29)
[5] Diary of Reverend Ebenezer Parkman (copied by S.I. Briant
in 1906 - in Westborough Public Library)
[6] The History of Westborough - Town of Westborough, 1891

Children:
1. Mary, b. Marlborough 4 Oct 1719, bap. 19 Jun 1720, m. Westborough 20 Nov 1740 Simon Tainter
2. Elizabeth, b. Marlborough 4 Nov 1720, bap. 18 Jun 1721, m. Westborough 10 May 1739 Richard Barnes, Jr., b. Marlborough 12 Feb 1716-7
3. Charles, b.[4] Westborough 13 May 1722, m. Westborough 21 Jan 1742-3 Martha Coburn
4. Ephraim, b.[4] Westborough 15 Nov 1724, m. Westborough 5 Oct 1744 Mary Maynard, d. Westborough 13 Jan 1801 Chil.: 1) Zipporah, b. Westborough 7 Feb 1753
5. Jonathan, b.[4] Westborough 4 Sep 1726, m. Westborough 24 May 1749 Hannah Beeman, b. Westborough 23 Apr 1730
6. Artemas, b.[4] Westborough 20 Dec 1728, d. Newfane, VT 31 Jul 1811, m. Westborough 20 May 1756 Mary Latiny, b. abt. 1732, d. Newfane, VT 29 Sep 1811
7. Abigail, b.[4] Westborough 2 Jul 1730, m. Westborough 7 Apr 1752 Merodach Baladan Smith

Abijah married Mary Woods on 14 Jan 1719 in Marlborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. Mary (daughter of Isaac Woods and Mary Maynard) was born on 13 Mar 1686 in Marlborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA; died on 26 Mar 1775 in Westborough, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Probate: 1746, , Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA

Benjamin married Elizabeth French on 6 Jun 1704 in Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. Elizabeth (daughter of Joseph French and Elizabeth Knight) was born on 5 Jan 1681 in Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA; died in 1732 in Bedford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Probate: 1718, , Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA
• Residence: 1718, , Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA

John married Sarah Cutler on 31 May 1694 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. Sarah (daughter of Nathaniel Cutler and Mary Gould) was born on 15 Mar 1665 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA; died on 31 Aug 1725 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Sarah Gibbs

Notes:

Married:
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/50479:3824?ssrc=pt&tid=196577703&pid=152560453096

Samuel married Hannah Boutell on 23 Dec 1692 in Woburn, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. Hannah (daughter of John Irving Boutwell and Hannah Elizabeth Davis) was born on 3 Jun 1672 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA; died on 17 Jun 1721 in Sutton, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Hannah Boutelle

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: 1733, Southborough, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA

Notes:

Roger BRUCE was born about 1670 in Marlborough, MA. He was noted as a miller with grants, etc. He died about 16 Dec 1733 in Southborough, MA. Land Records are given for this person in the Roman Genealogy. Other sources include by Roman: History of Marlborough, Mass. Charles
Hudson, 1862. Middlesex County Deeds. NEHGR, 1982, Fahey et all, Thomas Bruce of Sudbury and Marlborough," Thomas disposed of his forty-acres house lot and ten acres of meadow by deed of gift to his sons Roger and David. To David he gave the Northern half (Middlesex Deeds 13: 5,6,) and on April 13, 1706, the southern portion went to Roger. (Middlesex Deeds 15: 149, 150).

Roger Bruce was born possibly about 1670 and is stated to have died 16, December, 1733, (Vital Records, Southborough, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849, [Worcester, Mass, 1903], but his will was signed 8 Dec. 1733 and proved 7 Feb. 1733/4 [Worcester County, Massachusetts, Probate, Series A, file 8553]. He does not appear with John Bruce on the 1688 Andros Tax List. About 1690 he married Elizabeth Forbush. The author above suggests that he may have been living in the household of his father at the time.

He came with his parents from Sudbury to Marlborough and was living there in 1691 when his first child was born. In 1695 he removes to Framingham, returning to Marlborough by 1701. During the next fifteen years, there is no clear record of him, but it is assumed he, for the major part, operated the mills at the original site. In 1711 he has a child born in Southborough. Roger's will disposed of his possessions to living children, not mentioning Rebecca and Deliverance, thus they were probably deceased. Samuel was not mentioned, however he had received land earlier.

He was married to Elizabeth FORBUSH in 1690 in Marlborough, Middlesex, MA.(442) Roman only names her as Elizabeth. Adams names her as Elizabeth Gould Children were: Samuel BRUCE, Abijah BRUCE, Elisha BRUCE, Rebecca BRUCE, Sarah BRUCE, Daniel BRUCE, Thomas BRUCE, Hannah BRUCE, Deliverance BRUCE, David BRUCE.

Like his father, Thomas, Roger Bruce wa a miller, and he inherited some of his father's mills. He later bought another corn mill from James Taylor situated on Stony Brook. The records sometimes called Roger "husbandman", which indicates he must have had a farm to supplement his livelihood in addition to the mills. Roger's parents, Thomas and Magdalen and brother David are also mentioned in these records. Roger signed deeds, Elizabeth signed by mark.

In 1711 during the French and Indian War, Roger Bruce and Isaac Woods were assigned to Jonathan Newton's garrison in Marlboro. In another record Roger stated that his dwelling house was on the easterly side of Stony Brook. He and fortynine others, representing their families, petitioned the General Court to set off the Stony Brook area as a seperate town because the house of public worship in Marlborough was at too great a distance to travel each week. The Court consented, and on July 6, 1727 the town of Southborough was established. The town was originally in Middlesex County, and fell within Worcester County when it was established in 1731. As a result land deeds of the town are found in both counties.

On june 24, 1715 Samuel forbush mentioned his " Kinsman Abijah Bruce" in a deed. Abijah was the son of Roger. The connection between Samuel and Abijah is made clear by the April 27, 1746 entry in Rev. Ebenezer Parkman's diary. "On the Occasion of The Death of my Honoured Mother and Several Bereavments (Ex. gr. Captain Forbush amd Mrs Byles mourn for the loss of their sister Bruce and Ensign Bruce and Mrs Miller the loss of their Mother;...) Captain Samuel Forbush and Rebecca (Forbush) Byles, wife of Joseph Byles, were the children of Daniel Forbush. They had only one sister, and she was named Elizabeth, for whom no marriage record exists. The other two named persons in the entry, Ensign Abijah Bruce and Sarah (Bruce) Miller, wife of James Miller, were the children of Roger Bruce and his wife Elizabeth. Elizabeth (Forbush) Bruce obviously died toward the end of April 1746.

The vital records of Southborough give the date of Roger's death as Sept. 16, 1733, but since he signed his will on December 8, 1733 and the heirs agreed to the terms of the will on December 25 of that year, the correct date would most likely be December 16 rather than September 16.
*

Thomas Bruce transferred ownership of his home and mills by deeds to his sons David and Roger. David received his portion on 29 Jan. 1699. Roger received the southern half of Thomas' house lot and five acres of meadow in several pieces at Stoney Brook and at Pine Brook with all the housing and corn mill and half of the sawmill standing thereon with the streams thereto belonging; also his whole estate, all his moveables, utensils, irons, etc..

On 6 Nov. 1717, Roger Bruce of Marlborough purchased a corn mill and adjoining fulling mill, house, buildings, etc. on Stoney Brook from James Taylor for L55. On 4 Jan 1727, Roger and wife Elizabeth sold this property, plus two acres, to John Britton for L60. On 4 Dec 1726, Roger Bruce, miller, sold to his son Samuel Bruce for a sum of money ten acres iin Southborough where Samuel lived.
Source: Middlesex County, Mass. Land Transactions

By a deed dated 11 Feb. 1731, acknowledged 21 Apr. 1732 and recorded 16 Jan 1733/34, Roger Bruce and wife Elizabeth sold for L110 to Jonathan Newton ten acres. This was probably the remainder of Roger's forty-acre house lot. Source: Worcester County, Mass. Land Transactions

According to the Southborough Vital Records, Roger died on 16 Sep 1733; but his will was signed 8 Dec 1733 and was proved 7 Feb 1733/34. Perhaps he died on 16 Dec 1733. He mentioned his wife Elizabeth, sons Abijah, Daniel, Thomas, Elisha and David, and daughters Sarah, wife of James Miller, and Hannah Townsend. Source: Worcester County, Mass. Probate Records

Roger's eldest son, Samuel, was not mentioned in the will. Roger had previously established Samuel on a farm and there was no reason to leave more property to Samuel.
Roger married Elizabeth Forbush before 1691, when their first son, Samuel, was born. Elizabeth Forbush's identity was discovered through an entry dated 27 Apr 1746 in The Diary of Ebenezer Parkman, 1703-1782, in which "Captain (Samuel) Forbush and Mrs. (Rebecca) Byles mourn the lost of their sister Bruce and Ensign (Abijah) Bruce and Mrs. (Sarah) MIller the Loss of their Mother..." Source: The Diary of Ebenezer Parkman, 1703-1782

Roger Bruce may have been born in the vicinity of Sudbury, Mass. However, the first record of his father Thomas appeared in 1676 at Sudbury and it is therefore impossible to be certain of Roger's birthplace. Source: "Thomas Bruce of Sudbury and Marlborough, Massachusetts", The NEHGR, Vol. 1982





Thomas Bruce transferred ownership of his home and mills by deeds to his sons David and Roger. David received his portion on 29 Jan. 1699. Roger received the southern half of Thomas' house lot and five acres of meadow in several pieces at Stoney Brook and at PIne Brook with all the housing and corn mill and half of the sawmill standing thereon with the streams thereto belonging; also his whole estate, all his moveables, utensils, irons, etc..


On 6 Nov. 1717, Roger Bruce of Marlborough purchased a corn mill and adjoining fulling mill, house, buildings, etc. on Stoney Brook from James Taylor for L55. On 4 Jan 1727, Roger and wife Elizabeth sold this property, plus two acres, to John Britton for L60. On 4 Dec 1726, Roger Bruce, miller, sold to his son Samuel Bruce for a sum of money ten acres iin Southborough where Samuel lived.


Source: Middlesex County, Mass. Land Transactions





By a deed dated 11 Feb. 1731, acknowledged 21 Apr. 1732 and recorded 16 Jan 1733/34, Roger Bruce and wife Elizabeth sold for L110 to Jonathan Newton ten acres. This was probably the remainder of Roger's forty-acre house lot. Source: Worcester County, Mass. Land Transactions





Accordin g to the Southborough Vital Records, Roger died on 16 Sep 1733; but his will was signed 8 Dec 1733 and was proved 7 Feb 1733/34. Perhaps he died on 16 Dec 1733. He mentioned his wife Elizabeth, sons Abijah, Daniel, Thomas, Elisha and David, and daughters Sarah, wife of James Miller, and Hannah Townsend. Source: Worcester County, Mass. Probate Records





Roger's eldest son, Samuel, was not mentioned in the will. Roger had previously established Samuel on a farm and there was no reason to leave more property to Samuel.


Roger married Elizabeth Forbush before 1691, when their first son, Samuel, was born. Elizabeth Forbush's identity was discovered through an entry dated 27 Apr 1746 in The Diary of Ebenezer Parkman, 1703-1782, in which "Captain (Samuel) Forbush and Mrs. (Rebecca) Byles mourn the lost of their sister Bruce and Ensign (Abijah) Bruce and Mrs. (Sarah) MIller the Loss of their Mother..." Source: The Diary of Ebenezer Parkman, 1703-1782




Dianne_Fraser
Dianne_Fraser originally shared this to DKFraserfamilytree

01 Sep 2011 story
Above information taken from Thomas Bruce of Sudbury and Marlboro, Massachusests by Pitman, Fahey and Newman

Like his father, Thomas, Roger Bruce was a miller, and he inherited some of his father's mills. He later bought another corn mill from James Taylor situated on Stony Brook. The records sometimes called Roger "husbandman", which indicates he must have had a farm to supplement his livelihood in addition to the mills. Roger's parents, Thomas and Magdalen and brother David are also mentioned in these records. Roger signed deeds, Elizabeth signed by mark.
Suring the French and Indian War, in 1711, Roger Bruce and Isaac Woods were assigned to Jonathan Newton's garrison in Marlboro. In another record Roger stated that his dwelling house was on the easterly side of Stony Brook. He and fortynine others, representing their families, petitioned the General Court to set off the Stony Brook area as a seperate town because the house of public worship in Marlborough was at too great a distance too travel each week. The Court consented, and on July 6, 1727 the town of Southborough was established. The town was originally in Middlesex County but fell within Worcester County when that county was established in 1731. Thus land deeds of the town are found in both counties.

No marriage record for Roger and Elizabeth has been found, but Katherine Fahey was able to discover Elizabeth's maiden name through another source. On june 24, 1715 Samuel forbush mentioned his " Kinsman Abijah Bruce" in a deed. Abijah was the son of Roger. The connection between Samuel and Abijah was made clear by the April 27, 1746 entry in Rev. Ebenezer Parkman's diary. "On the Occasion of The Death of my Honoured Mother and Several Bereavments (Ex. gr. Captain Forbush amd Mrs Byles mourn for the loss of their sister Bruce and Ensign Bruce and Mrs Miller the loss of their Mother;...) Captain Samuel Forbush and Rebecca (Forbush) Byles, wife of Joseph Byles, were the children of Daniel Forbush. They had only one sister, and she was named Elizabeth, for whom no marriage record exists. The other two named persons in the entry, Ensign Abijah Bruce and Sarah (Bruce) Miller, wife of James Miller, were the children of Roger Bruce and his wife Elizabeth. Elizabeth (Forbush) Bruce obviously died toward the end of April 1746.

The vital records of Southborough give the date of Roger's death as Sept. 16, 1733, but since he signed his will on December 8, 1733 and the heirs agreed to the terms of the will on December 25 of that year, the correct date would most likely be December 16 rather than September 16.

Roger married Elizabeth Forbush in 1690 in Marlborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. Elizabeth (daughter of Daniel Fforbes (Forbush) and Rebecca Perriman) was born on 16 Mar 1669 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA; died on 27 Apr 1746 in Worcester, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Daniel FORBUSH was born about 1640 in Cambridge, Middlesex, MA?. (1047) Placekeeper that he was about 20 when married. This is a strong possibility. A bereavement notice (See Elizabeth) that captures her as being Elizabeth Forbush, also mentions brother Samuel. This Daniel had both a son, Samuel, and a daughter Elizabeth, she being born at Cambridge, March 16, 1669.


Other children of this family included Daniel, Thomas, Rebecca . Daniel marries Deborah Rediat at Concord and has children born in Marshfield. Thomas marries Deborah Rice at Cambridge. Rebecca marries a Byles.


He was married to Rebecca PERRIMAN on 26 Mar 1660 in Cambridge, Middlesex, MA. (1048) Children were: Elizabeth FORBUSH .




Elizabeth FORBUSH was born on 16 Mar 1669 in Cambridge, Middlesex, MA. (1049) The diary was edited by Francis G. Walett (Worcester, Mass., 1974): page 15, for 27 April 1746 reads: “On the Occasion of the Death of my Honoured Mother, and Several other Bereavments (Ex. gr. Captain [Samuel] Forbush and Mrs. [Rebecca] Byles mourn for the loss of their sister Bruce and Ensign [Abijah] Bruce and Mrs. [Sarah] Miller the Loss of their Mother; . . .).” Parents: Daniel FORBUSH and Rebecca PERRIMAN.


She was married to Roger(1) BRUCE in 1690 in Marlborough, Middlesex, MA.(1050)Roman only names her as Elizabeth. Adams names her as Elizabeth Gould Children were: Samuel BRUCE, Abijah BRUCE, Elisha BRUCE, Rebecca BRUCE, Sarah BRUCE, Daniel BRUCE, Thomas BRUCE, Hannah BRUCE, Deliverance BRUCE, David BRUCE.





source: http://mayflowerfamilies.com/?page_id=1337

Notes:

Notes on Isaac Woods

Isaac Woods moved to Marlborough with his family when he was about six years old. He married there about 1682 to Mary Maynard, daughter of his neighbor John Maynard. She apparently died of complications from childbirth two days after the birth of their fourth child. Isaac was taxed four shillings in the Andros tax of 1688.[4] In 1696-7 school was kept at Isaac Woods' old house which was then unoccupied.[1/99] In 1702 he opposed the settlement of Mr. Emerson as minister for Marlborough.[1/102] In 1711, during Queen Anne's War (one of the French and Indian Wars), Isaac was assigned to Jonathan Newton's garrison, the same one to which Roger Bruce was assigned.[1/110] This was in the part of town that soon after became Southborough.

His will, dated 8 June and proved 17 Aug 1720, mentioned his wife Mary, eldest sons Isaac and Joseph, youngest sons Charles and Solomon, daughter Dinah, and daughters by a former wife Mary and Elizabeth. His wife was made the executrix. The inventory of the estate was taken 2 Aug 1720 by Isaac Bellows, David Fay, and Edward Goddard and totaled 515.18.06. It included housing and lands valued at 337.10.00 and personal property valued at 178.08.06.[2/16:134]

1 - 3 ISAAC WOODS m. Mary ____. She d. Feb. 3, 1689, and he m. May 8, 1700, Mary Fairbanks, of Sherborn. He d. July 18, 1720. His will, dated June 8, 1720, mentions wife Mary, and dau. Mary and Elizabeth, by a former wife, and sons Isaac and Joseph, Charles and Solomon.
children of Mary -----
3 - 15 Ephraim, b. March 14, 1685; d. Sept. 27, 1698.
3 - 16 Mary, b. March 13, 1687; m. Abijah Bruce.
3 - 17 Elizabeth, b. Feb. 1, 1689.

children of Mary Fairbanks
3 - 18 Isaac, b. April 11, 1701.
3 - 19 Margret, b. July I1, 1703; d. March 12, 1719.
3 - 20 Joseph, b. Aug. 20, 1705.
3 - 21 Dinah, b. Oct. 31, 1708.
3 - 22 Bethia, b. Nov. 11, 1710; d. June 29, 1715.
3 - 23 Charles, b. April 28, 1714. ************* Probably the one! !**********3 - 24 Solomon, b. Oct. 12, 1717.

References: [1] The History of Marlborough - Charles Hudson, 1862 [2] Middlesex County Probate (First Series Docket 25441)

Isaac married Mary Maynard in 1682 in Marlborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. Mary (daughter of John Maynard and Mary Hill Gates) was born on 3 Aug 1658 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA; died on 3 Feb 1689 in Marlborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Robert married Mary Bishop on 16 Mar 1669. Mary was born in Chelmsford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Joseph married Elizabeth Knight on 2 Jan 1672 in Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Nathaniel married Mary Gould on 29 Sep 1655 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. Mary (daughter of John Gould and Mary Averell) was born on 29 Nov 1636 in Charlestown, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA; died on 4 Feb 1708 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Mary Cutler

George married Hannah Smith. Hannah was born in 1639 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA; died on 6 May 1666 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Married: 15 Jun 1665, Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA
• Married: 10 May 1669, Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA

John married Hannah Elizabeth Davis on 10 May 1669 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. Hannah (daughter of Capt George C Davis and Sarah Clark) was born on 31 May 1648 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA; died on 3 Dec 1719 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 13 Aug 1637, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland

Notes:

Thomas BRUCE was born between 1630 and 1640 in Scotland or England. He died probably between 1714 and 1721 in Marlborough, MA, probably. Thomas is the earliest Bruce discovered in Marlborough to date (1676).

Known Events:

1676:
NEHGR 35:218-219: The earliest record of Thomas is when in 1676, Thomas Bruce is among those petitioners sustaining losses in the Sudbury Indian Fight (King Phillip's War) of 1676 He is also among those petitioning the general court as a distressed inhabitant of Sudbury.

1679:
MJR--Middlesex County Deeds, p. 296: The Selectmen of Marlboro agreed with Thomas Bruce that he would build and operate for the town's use a mill to be located near the confluence of Angle Brook and Stoney Brook to be in operation by January 1680. In return, Thomas was granted 40 acres of land and ten acres of meadow. The agreement was sign by Abraham Williams for the town and "Thomas Breuis" for himself. By original agreement the land was to revert to the town if Thomas were to cease operations of the mill. By 1702, however, the mill was at least partially destroyed, and at his request, and it was so voted that the land be granted to him free and clear.

1688:
NEHGR 36:51: In 1688, Thomas Bruse Jr. and John Bruse and Thomas Bruse are among those listed in Marlborough for Taxes under Andros.

1691:
NEHGR: 43:372: Thomas Bruse, Sr. is among those settled at the garrison at Marlborough, Middlesex Co. 1691/2

NEHGR40:400: Thomas Brewes is mentioned several times as those of Sudbury involved in King Phillip's war and having sustained loss.

1699:
MJR--Middlesex County Deeds, p. 296: On January 29, 1699, Thomas and Magdalen, "my wife," disposed of his land and part interest in his saw mill to sons David and Roger.

1702:
MJR--Worcester County Deeds 16:60, 20:584: Samuel Ward of Marlborough exchange land in which Thomas Bruce describes himself as "Thomas Bruce Senr, Miller."

1706:
MJR--Worcester County Deeds, 15:149: On April 13, 1706, Thomas Bruce Senr, in fatherly love, gives Roger halft part of his house lot granted by the town, with all the housing and Corn Mill and half of Sawmills standing thereon, and also, "my whole Estate . . ."

1709-10
MJR--Worcester County Deeds 15:148: Thomas was still alive at this date, for he disposes of land to his grandson, David, including "one half of all my right" in the land which was gven to him for building and maintaining a mill. He mentions with the document that he makes this grant for "Divers good causes and other weighty considerations moving me thereto . . ." It is obvious that Thomas is uncomfortable for some reason with events in his life. Magdalen did not sign this will, and it could be conjectured that as she signed earlier documents, she was by now deceased.

1710-1721:
MJR-Middlesex County Deeds, p. 299: An attorney was hired in 1710 by Samuel Bigelow, guardian and maternal grandfather of Thomas' grandson David, to represent his interest against the town which wished to nullify earlier land agreements with early residents--David, through Thomas, was among those so affected. A settlement was reached and David was granted twenty acres, in exchange for extinguishment of his half of the rights. In October, 1714, Thomas was granted twenty acres in a similar action. Finally in a meeting of May 8, 1721, a committee was appointed to agree on the bound of one acre of the twenty granted to Thomas and to settle with his heirs. Therefore, Thomas died between 1714 and 1721.

NEHGR 63:224: Colonial Records of Marlborough: Referencing the reserved land at Fort Meadow, A "commeetty" is to call John Shearman to show the bounds of an acre of meadow Granted to Thomas Bruce. Thomas Bruce is also those among those shown to have been issued a "primitive" grant.
Children were: John (2) BRUCE, Thomas (2) BRUCE, Roger(1) BRUCE, David BRUCE.

Thomas Bruce was an early resident of Sudbury and Marlborough in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Much of what is known about him comes from land deeds of Middlesex County. He was a farmer and miller and had a wife Magdalen and sons David and Roger and probably Thomas.[5]

The earliest record of him is a list of inhabitants of Sudbury, dated April 21, 1676, who sustained monetary losses during King Phillip's War. Thomas' loss was given as ten pounds.[6]

He was still residing in Sudbury three years later when the Selectmen of Marlboro on June 9, 1679 agreed with Thomas Bruce that he would build and operate for the town's use a mill to be located near the confluence of Angle Brook and Stoney Brook to be in operation by January 1680 "if God permit". In return the town granted Thomas forty acres of land and ten acres of meadow. The agreement was signed by Abraham Williams for the town and "Thomas Breuis" for himself.[1/296]

The house lot of forty acres that Thomas received was described as being on the north side of Stoney Brook and, included within its western part, a portion of Angle Brook. The exact location would be difficult to determine today, since that area was flooded in 1898 under the Sudbury Reservoir.[1/296-7]

By the original agreement, the land was to revert to the town if Thomas were to cease operation of the mill for any reason except beyond his control. By 1702, however, the mill was at least partially destroyed making difficult his compliance with the agreement, and he requested, and "it was so voated that he be aqitted from any further engagement" and the land was granted to him free and clear.[1/297]

Thomas disposed of his land to sons David and Roger.
"... Thomas Bruce of Marlburough in the County of Middlx in New England husbandman and Magdalen ... my wife ... For the naturall Love good will and affection we bare to our dutyfull Sone David Bruce of the abovesd Town and County husbandman ... Confirm unto our Said son David Bruce ... the one moiety or halfe part of Forty acres of Land ... within the ... abovesd Town ... as it was granted to me the Said Thomas Bruce by the abovesd Town; also the one ... halfe part of Ten acres of medow ... Scittuated in the abovesd Town of ye north side of Stony Brooke ... also the one ... half part of ye saw mill now in my possesion ..." January 29, 1699. Both signed by mark.[2/13:5]

This would seem to have been a wedding gift of the parents to David as he married MARY BIGELOW four days later.[5]

On Feb. 17, 1702 Samuel Ward of Marlborough granted "Thos. Bruce Senr, Miller" a meadow of three acres in Marlborough lying on both sides of Stony Brook.[2/16:601] In exchange for this property Thomas granted Samuel Ward several parcels of land. Thomas also described himself as "Thomas Bruce Senr, Miller" in this deed.[2/20:584] The Stony Brook section of Marlborough was later set off to form the town of Southborough. Thomas' son Roger, who lived in that area, was one of the petitioners for the new town.[5]

The relationship with Roger is born out by a deed dated April 13, 1706. "... I Thomas Bruce Senr ... for and in consideration of a fatherly love and good will which I have and do bear unto my loving son Roger Bruce both of us belonging and situate in the town of Marlborough ... by this Deed of Gift, give and confirm unto my loving son Roger Bruce ... the half part of my house lott which was granted to me by the town of Marlborough lying ... partly along Stony Brooke ... with all the housing and Corn Mill and half the said Sawmills which are standing thereupon ... and also my whole Estate ..." Thomas and Magdalen both signed by mark.[2/15:149]

No will of Thomas Bruce has been found, and he probably never wrote one. It is likely he disposed of his estate in this and other deeds.[5]

His death date is unknown, but he was certainly living January 2, 1709-10 when he gave land to his grandson, as it seems, in anticipation of his death. "... I Thomas Bruce Senr ... Miller for and in consideration of love, good will and affection which I have and do bear toward my loving grandson David Bruce belongning to ye Town of Watertown in ye same county ... for Divers good causes and other weighty considerations moving me thereunto ... grant unto my loving grandson ... one half of all my right ... in the Common Land which was given to me the said Thomas Bruce by the aforesaid Town of Marlborough ... for building and maintaining a mill, according to an agreement with Said Town ...".[2/15:148] Thomas signed by mark. Magdalen did not sign this deed and may have died since 1706 when she signed the previous deed.[5]

The "weighty considerations" may have been health related or may have been based on the fact that the town, growing and wanting to transfer common land to the newcomers, desired to be free of its obligations granted to earlier residents allowing them to take timber from this land.

Samuel Bigelow, guardian and maternal grandfather of Thomas' grandson David, hired attorney John Sherman in 1710 to represent David's case to the town. The town had attempted to nullify Thomas' rights to the common land when he transferred his ownership. Settlement was reached and David Bruce was granted twenty acres in compensation for extinguishment of his half of the rights.

In October 1714 Thomas was granted twenty acres in a similar action. The final action recorded by the town on the settlement of these claims was at a meeting May 8, 1721 when a committee was appointed to meet with John Sherman and agree on bounds of one acre of the twenty granted to Thomas and settle with his heirs.[1/299] Therefore Thomas Bruce died between 1714 and 1721.

The name of Thomas Bruce, Sr. appears on a tax list for the town of Marlborough in the year 1688. His tax was 9 shillings, 6 pence.[4] Thomas Bruce, Senior was one of twelve men assigned to the garrison of the West Regiment of Middlesex County in Marlborough on March 15, 1691-2. Isaac How's name was at the top of the list, so the garrison may have been at his house.[3] The term "Sr." did not have the same strict meaning 300 years ago as it does today. It had a broader meaning which could refer to the elder of two men of the same name whether they were related or not. Thus Thomas Bruce, Sr. did not necessarily have a son Thomas, although it can be assumed for lack of any other information.

Thomas may also have had a son John. He apparently omitted Thomas from a division of his estate and may have treated John in the same way. These children, if they were Thomas' children at all, may also have been provided for in some other manner. At any rate, John Bruce does not seem to have belonged to the Woburn Bruces, and his son John went to Brookfield as did some of the children of Roger, a known child of Thomas Bruce.[5]

It is a mystery where Thomas came from. One possibility is the county of Suffolk in England where the name is popular. Another possibility, and subject of some speculation, is that he was a Scottish prisoner taken by Lord Cromwell in the Battle of Dunbar in 1650 and then sent (or sold into servitude) to this country. Tradition in the family has it that the name (i.e. Bruce) was Scottish and are related to Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland, but this may be due to the fact that someone made the connection with no other evidence.

Another intriguing possibility is the marriage found in the International Genealogy Index (IGI) between Thomas Bruce and Magdalen Evans 12 December 1652 in the Saint Martin-in-the-Fields Church in Westminster, London, England.[8] It seems, based on the marriage dates of their children, that Thomas and Magdalen would have been too young to have married in 1652, but the timing is not out of the question. And it's possible that they emigrated in the early 1670's with their youngest children.

Another family tradition passed down is that we descend from an Indian princess. The story goes that an early Bruce had some big dogs that prevented Indians from crossing the Bruce land. This early Bruce came out and called off the dogs, allowing the Indians to pass. He befriended the Indians and ended up marrying the chief's daughter. No evidence has been found to support this story.



REF: [1] New England Historic Genealogical Register, 1982 (pgs.294-301)
[2] Middlesex County Deeds
[3] New England Historic Genealogical Register, 1889 (pg.372)
[4] New England Historic Genealogical Register, 1882 (pg.192)
[5] The Bruce Family (Manuscript at NEHGS) - Winifred Lovering Holman
[6] New England Historic Genealogical Register, 1881 (pg.219)
[7] The History of Marlborough - Charles Hudson, 1862
[8] IGI batch no. M001451, sheet no. 00 extracted from LDS
microfilm number 0560369 (parish records 1550-1653)

Children:

1. Thomas, b. prob. abt. 1665, no mention of him found as he probably died young and unmarried

2. John, b. abt. 1667, m. abt. 1694 Elizabeth ____, d. prob. 1739

3. Roger, b. prob. abt. 1670, d. 16 Dec 1733, Southborough, MA m. Elizabeth Forbush, b. Cambridge, MA 16 Mar 1669,
d. Southborough, MA in Apr 1746

4. David, b. prob. abt. 1675, d. Marlborough 22 Jul 1701, m.
Watertown 2 Feb 1699 Mary Bigelow, b. 12 Sep 1677, d. Sudbury, MA 21 Feb 1707-8 (Mary later married Thomas Read IV on 03 Dec 1701 in Sudbury or Wayland, Middlesex, MA

Chil.: 1) David Bruce, b. 20 Dec 1700, m. 20 Feb 1727 Mary Brigham, b. 1701 (David was the son or David Bruce and Mary Bigelow)

Thomas married Magdalen Evans on 12 Dec 1652 in Saint Martin In The Fields, Westminster, London, England. Magdalen was born in 1640 in London, London, England; died in 1709 in Marlborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Daniel Farrabas
• Name: Daniel Farrabas
• Name: Daniel Forbush

Daniel married Rebecca Perriman on 27 Mar 1660 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. Rebecca (daughter of John Perriman and Mary Snelling) was born on 26 Mar 1639 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA; died on 3 May 1677 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: 1675, Marlborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA

John married Mary Parmenter on 10 Oct 1633 in Saint Peters, Sudbury, England. Mary (daughter of Deacon John Parmenter and Bridget Daveye) was born on 17 Aug 1610 in Little Yeldham, Essex, England; died on 17 Aug 1690 in Marlborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: 1649, , , Massachusetts, USA

Notes:

John Maynard was a Freeman in 1644. It is supposed he was married when he came to this country, and that he brought with him his son John, who was then about eight years old. Perhaps there were other children. He married for his second wife Mary Axdell, in 1646. He had by this marriage Zachery (born June 7, 1647), Elizabeth, Lydia, Hannah, and Mary, who married Daniel Hudson. Mr. Maynard was one of the petitioners for Marlboro, and died at Sudbury, Dec. 10, 1672. The Maynard family has been prominent in the town, and honorably connected with its annals. Nathaniel Maynard was captain of a company in the Revolutionary War.

The annals of Sudbury, Wayland, and Maynard, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. By Alfred Sereno Hudson. Publication date 1891. Pages 202, 203

John married Mary Hill Gates on 5 Apr 1658 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. Mary was born on 15 Oct 1636 in Hingham, Norfolk, England; died in 1678 in Marlborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA; was buried in Marlborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Edward married Hannah. Hannah was born in 1620 in , , , England; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Joan. Joan died on 20 Jan 1646 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Mary Hewett. Mary was born in 1600 in Sprowston, Broadland District, Norfolk, England; died on 12 Dec 1681 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Mary Averell in 1635 in Charlestown, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA. Mary (daughter of Elijah Averell and Mary Gouls) was born in 1614 in , Hertfordshire, England; died on 28 Sep 1642 in Charlestown, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Arrival: 1638, Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, USA
• Residence: 14 Mar 1639, , , Massachusetts, USA

James married Alice Ling on 26 Jan 1631 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, USA. Alice (daughter of John Lyng and Anna Whiskin) was born on 19 Nov 1607 in , , Cambridgeshire, England; died in Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

George Davis 1616-1667
George Davis was born in Kent England came to New England as a young man. His name first appears in Salem, Mass reports in 1641 but he probably had been living there for several years before that. He married Sarah Clarke 1642 and their first 2 children were born in Salem. By 1664 he was living in Reading where he was a proprietor and was admitted a freeman 26 May 1647. He was a selectman for Reading and was a man of property and influence. George was a weaver by trade and later in addition became a ship owner. In 1652 the town of Reading ordered lots to be laid out and George drew 11 lots; also drew additional lots in the "Division of the Great Swamp." Son Benjamin was chosen Clerk of the Market. Reading Vital Records show the birth of his 3rd daughter Sarah and 5 more siblings. George died at Cape Fear 14 July 1667 while on a voyage. He had written his will 7 Dec 1664 and it was proved 30 Sept 1667. In this will he named wife and son Benjamin as executors; bequeathed his looms and the contents of his ship to son Joseph; and mentions 5 daughters under age. George and Sarah Clarke Davis had 8 children - 7 are listed here: Benjamin - resided in Lynn Joseph - 1643-1676 Hannah - b.3 May 1648 Married 1669 John Boutwell Sarah - b.1 Oct 1651 Elizabeth - b.16 Jan 1654 Married 1678 Timothy Wiley Mary - b.16 Jan 1657-8 John - b.20 July 1660 d. 4 Nov 1660 Susanna b.11 May 1662 (Interesting side note that is not sourced: After death of George, Sarah Clarke Davis married Nicholes Rist who bailed her out by petition after she was arrested for witchcraft.) This is a summary of info located in the following sources: Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical...Worcester Co Mass Vol2 by Ellery Bickwell Crane, Published 1907 Lewis Publishing Co pg 387. Genealogy History of the town of Reading Mass by Lillery Eaton, published 1874 A.Mudge & Sons

Died:
Died at sea on voyage to Cape Fear.

Capt married Sarah Clark on 27 Oct 1642 in Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts, USA. Sarah (daughter of William Edward Clarke and Katherine Beville) was born in 1620 in Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts, USA; died on 3 May 1698 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Sarah Clark was born in 1620 in England. Her father emigrated to “Virginia” in 1624 and I presume Sarah came along with him. She seems to have led a normal life until at 72 years of age we find her up to her neck in the Salem Witchcraft trials.

Sarah married George Davis when she was 22 and had 10 children with him, one of whom was named Joseph. George died in 1667 when Sarah was 57 years old. 4 or 5 years later she married Nicholas Rist. They appear to have had one son, also named Joseph, born in 1680, when she would have been 60 years old. . . Having a child at 60 years old also named Joseph all seems a bit unlikely . . . So while it’s not completely clear, she seems to have had at least 10 children and two marriages.

And then, if 10 children wasn’t enough, in 1692, at the age of 72, she got into real trouble. She was charged with witchcraft and arrested on May 26 and spent 5 months in jail waiting for trial.

The Salem witchcraft trials concluded with the final hanging of accused witches on September 22, 1692. She was, thankfully, not either tried or hanged and her husband Nicholas bailed her out of jail in late October. She died about 5 years later and left a will. We have some small details of that will.

The story about Sarah’s involvement in the Salem witchcraft trials, taken from original documents, follows:

Sarah (nee Clark) Rist Accused of Witchcraft
Sarah married Nicholas Rist after the death of her husband, George Davis. On May 26, 1692, Sarah was accused of witchcraft by Mary Marshall, Mary Wolcott, and Ann Putnam. Mary Marshall was her step-niece. On May 28th, an arrest warrant was issued for Sarah, and she was arrested on May 31, 1692.

On October 19, 1692 her then husband, Nicholas Rist made a petition to the court for her release. In the petition, he indicates that she has been held at Boston “goal” since her arrest for witchcraft and that in all that time, nothing has appeared for which she deserved imprisonment or death, and that he has never had reason to accuse of her of any impiety or witchcraft, but to the contrary she lived with him as a good faithful dutiful wife and always had respect for the ordinances of God while her strength remained, and he is concerned for her health stating that “it is deplorable that in old age the poor decrepit woman should lie under confinement for so long in a “stinching goal” when her circumstances require that a nurse attend her.” She died not long after her release.

From the notes of Donald Erlenkotter:
“Sarah (Clark) Davis Rist (or Rice), was accused, arrested, and imprisoned in the famous Salem witchcraft delusion of 1692 [Eat]. The following warrant for her arrest was issued on 28 May 1692 [Witch]:

Warrant v. Sarah Rice.
To the Constables in Reding.
You are in theire Majesties names hereby required to apprehend and bring before us, Sarah Rist the wife of Nicholas Rist of Reding on Tuesday next being the 31st day of this Instant moneth at the house of Lt. Nathan’l Ingersalls at Salem Village aboute ten of the Clock in the forenoon, who stand charged with having Committed sundry acts of witchcraft on ye Bodys of Mary Walcott and Abigail Williams & others to theire great hurte &c, in order to her Examination Relateing to ye premises abovesaid faile not. Dated Salem May 28th 1692.

P vs. J. Hathorne } Assists.

Jonathan Corwin}

In obediance to this warant I have brought the Body of Sarah Rist the wife of Nicholas Rist of Redding to the house of Leut. Nathanial Ingersons in Salem Viledg the 31 of this instant: May 1692:

Attest John Parker Constable fo Redding.

Abigail Williams, age 11, along with the slave Tituba, lived at Salem Village (now Danvers) in the household of her uncle, Rev. Samuel Parris. The accuser, Mary Walcott, was 16 years old. Lt. Nathaniel Ingersoll was a deacon in the church at Salem Village and keeper of the town’s ordinary. John Hathorne, ancestor of Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Jonathan Corwin were members of the General Court and magistrates at Salem Town who conducted hearings in the witchcraft cases [Devil].

Sarah was immediately dispatched from Salem to prison in Boston, according to the following order [Witch]:

To Mr. John Arnold, Keeper of the Prison in Boston, in the County of Suffolk.

Whereas Captain John Aldin (Alden) of Boston, Marriner, and Sarah Rice, Wife of Nicholas Rist of Reding, Husbandman, have been this day brought before us, Joh Hathorn and Jonathan Curwin, Esquires; being accused and suspected of perpetrating divers acts of Witchcraft, contrary to the form of the Statute, in that Case made and provided: These are therefore in Their Majesties, King William and Quen Marys Names, to Will and require you, to take into your Custody, the bodies of the said John Alden, and Sarah Rist, and them safely keep, until they shall thence be delivered by due course of Law; Given under our hands at Salem Village, the 31st of May, in the Fourth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord and Lady, William and Mary, now King and Quen over England, etc., Anno Dom. 1692.

John Hathorn, } Assistants.

Jonathan Curwin, }

Captain John Alden, Jr., was the son of John Alden of the Mayflower. He escaped after having been imprisoned for fifteen weeks, and then was returned and cleared by proclamation in the Superior Court of Boston on the last Tuesday in April 1693.

The final hanging of accused witches took place on 22 Sep 1692. After accusation against his wife, Gov. Phips forbade further commitments on the grounds of witchcraft. By 12 Oct 1692 petitions were being received for the release of those who had been accused but not tried [Devil]. Sarah’s husband, Nicholas Rist (or Rice), submitted the following petition to the General Court for her release [Eat]:

The humble petition of of Nicholas Rist of Reading she weth, that whereas Sarah Rist, wife of the petitioner, was taken into custody, the first day of June last, and hath since lain in Boston Jail for witchcraft, though in all that time nothing has been made to appear, for which she deserved imprisonment or death. The petitioner has been a husband to the said woman above twenty years, in all which time, he had never reason to accuse her of any impietie or witchcraft; but the contrary, she lived with him as a good, faithful, dutiful wife, and always had respect to the ordinances of God, while her strength remained; and the petitioner on that consideration, is obliged in conscience and justice to use all lawful means for the support and preservation of her life; and it is deplorable, that in old age, the poor decrepid woman should lye under confinement in a stinking jail, when her circumstances rather require a Nurse to attend her. May it therefore please your Honors to take this matter into your present consideration, and direct some speedy method, whereby this ancient and decrepid person may not forever lye in such misery, wherein her life is made more afflictive to her than death. And the petitioner shall, as in duty bound, ever pray.

Nicholas Rice
Reading, Oct. 19, 1692

Soon after, Sarah was discharged from prison. Probably she was charged for the costs of her imprisonment, since this was the practice at the time even for those found to be innocent or or pardoned. She died at Reading on 3 May 1698. In her will, dated 20 Sep 1697 and proved in the court at Charlestown on 16 May 1698, Sarah Rist of Reading mentioned husband Nicholas Rist and referred to bequests given to her by former husband George Davis and son Benjamin Davis. She left five shillings to daughter Hannah Boutell [Clark; Middlesex County Probate Vol. 9, pp 398-399].”

Famous Trials By Professor Douglas O. Linder
The Witchcraft Trials in Salem: An Account

O Christian Martyr Who for Truth could die

When all about thee Owned the hideous lie!
The world, redeemed from superstition's sway,
Is breathing freer for thy sake today.

--Words written by John Greenleaf Whittier and inscribed on a monument marking the grave of Rebecca Nurse, one of the condemned "witches" of Salem.

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. Why did this travesty of justice occur? Why did it occur in Salem? Nothing about this tragedy was inevitable. Only an unfortunate combination of an ongoing frontier war, economic conditions, congregational strife, teenage boredom, and personal jealousies can account for the spiraling accusations, trials, and executions that occurred in the spring and summer of 1692.

Rev. Samuel Parris
In 1688, John Putnam, one of the most influential elders of Salem Village, invited Samuel Parris, formerly a marginally successful planter and merchant in Barbados, to preach in the Village church. A year later, after negotiations over salary, inflation adjustments, and free firewood, Parris accepted the job as Village minister. He moved to Salem Village with his wife Elizabeth, his six-year-old daughter Betty, niece Abigail Williams, and his Indian slave Tituba, acquired by Parris in Barbados.

The Salem that became the new home of Parris was in the midst of change: a mercantile elite was beginning to develop, prominent people were becoming less willing to assume positions as town leaders, two clans (the Putnams and the Porters) were competing for control of the village and its pulpit, and a debate was raging over how independent Salem Village, tied more to the interior agricultural regions, should be from Salem, a center of sea trade.

Sometime during February of the exceptionally cold winter of 1692, young Betty Parris became strangely ill. She dashed about, dove under furniture, contorted in pain, and complained of fever. The cause of her symptoms may have been some combination of stress, asthma, guilt, boredom, child abuse, epilepsy, and delusional psychosis. The symptoms also could have been caused, as Linda Caporael argued in a 1976 article in Science magazine, by a disease called "convulsive ergotism" brought on by ingesting rye--eaten as a cereal and as a common ingredient of bread--infected with ergot. (Ergot is caused by a fungus which invades developing kernels of rye grain, especially under warm and damp conditions such as existed at the time of the previous rye harvest in Salem. Convulsive ergotism causes violent fits, a crawling sensation on the skin, vomiting, choking, and--most interestingly--hallucinations. The hallucinogenic drug LSD is a derivative of ergot.) Many of the symptoms or convulsive ergotism seem to match those attributed to Betty Parris, but there is no way of knowing with any certainty if she in fact suffered from the disease--and the theory would not explain the afflictions suffered by others in Salem later in the year.

Cotton Mather
At the time, however, there was another theory to explain the girls' symptoms. Cotton Mather had recently published a popular book, "Memorable Providences," describing the suspected witchcraft of an Irish washerwoman in Boston, and Betty's behavior in some ways mirrored that of the afflicted person described in Mather's widely read and discussed book. It was easy to believe in 1692 in Salem, with an Indian war raging less than seventy miles away (and many refugees from the war in the area) that the devil was close at hand. Sudden and violent death occupied minds.

Talk of witchcraft increased when other playmates of Betty, including eleven-year-old Ann Putnam, seventeen-year-old Mercy Lewis, and Mary Walcott, began to exhibit similar unusual behavior. When his own nostrums failed to effect a cure, William Griggs, a doctor called to examine the girls, suggested that the girls' problems might have a supernatural origin. The widespread belief that witches targeted children made the doctor's diagnosis seem increasingly likely.

A neighbor, Mary Sibley, proposed a form of counter magic. She told Tituba to bake a rye cake with the urine of the afflicted victim and feed the cake to a dog. (Dogs were believed to be used by witches as agents to carry out their devilish commands.) By this time, suspicion had already begun to focus on Tituba, who had been known to tell the girls tales of omens, voodoo, and witchcraft from her native folklore. Her participation in the urine cake episode made her an even more obvious scapegoat for the inexplicable.

Meanwhile, the number of girls afflicted continued to grow, rising to seven with the addition of Ann Putnam, Elizabeth Hubbard, Susannah Sheldon, and Mary Warren. According to historian Peter Hoffer, the girls "turned themselves from a circle of friends into a gang of juvenile delinquents." (Many people of the period complained that young people lacked the piety and sense of purpose of the founders' generation.) The girls contorted into grotesque poses, fell down into frozen postures, and complained of biting and pinching sensations. In a village where everyone believed that the devil was real, close at hand, and acted in the real world, the suspected affliction of the girls became an obsession.

Sometime after February 25, when Tituba baked the witch cake, and February 29, when arrest warrants were issued against Tituba and two other women, Betty Parris and Abigail Williams named their afflictors and the witch hunt began. The consistency of the two girls' accusations suggests strongly that the girls worked out their stories together. Soon Ann Putnam and Mercy Lewis were also reporting seeing "witches flying through the winter mist." The prominent Putnam family supported the girls' accusations, putting considerable impetus behind the prosecutions.

The first three to be accused of witchcraft were Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborn. Tituba was an obvious choice. Good was a beggar and social misfit who lived wherever someone would house her, and Osborn was old, quarrelsome, and had not attended church for over a year. The Putnams brought their complaint against the three women to county magistrates Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne, who scheduled examinations for the suspected witches for March 1, 1692 in Ingersoll's tavern. When hundreds showed up, the examinations were moved to the meeting house. At the examinations, the girls described attacks by the specters of the three women, and fell into their, by then, perfected pattern of contortions when in the presence of one of the suspects. Other villagers came forward to offer stories of cheese and butter mysteriously gone bad or animals born with deformities after visits by one of the suspects.The magistrates, in the common practice of the time, asked the same questions of each suspect over and over: Were they witches? Had they seen Satan? How, if they are were not witches, did they explain the contortions seemingly caused by their presence? The style and form of the questions indicates that the magistrates thought the women guilty.

"Examination of a Witch"
The matter might have ended with admonishments were it not for Tituba. After first adamantly denying any guilt, afraid perhaps of being made a scapegoat, Tituba claimed that she was approached by a tall man from Boston--obviously Satan--who sometimes appeared as a dog or a hog and who asked her to sign in his book and to do his work. Yes, Tituba declared, she was a witch, and moreover she and four other witches, including Good and Osborn, had flown through the air on their poles. She had tried to run to Reverend Parris for counsel, she said, but the devil had blocked her path. Tituba's confession succeeded in transforming her from a possible scapegoat to a central figure in the expanding prosecutions. Her confession also served to silence most skeptics, and Parris and other local ministers began witch hunting with zeal.

Soon, according to their own reports, the spectral forms of other women began attacking the afflicted girls. Martha Corey, Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Cloyce, and Mary Easty were accused of witchcraft. During a March 20 church service, Ann Putnam suddenly shouted, "Look where Goodwife Cloyce sits on the beam suckling her yellow bird between her fingers!" Soon Ann's mother, Ann Putnam, Sr., would join the accusers. Dorcas Good, four-year-old daughter of Sarah Good, became the first child to be accused of witchcraft when three of the girls complained that they were bitten by the specter of Dorcas. (The four-year-old was arrested, kept in jail for eight months, watched her mother get carried off to the gallows, and would "cry her heart out, and go insane.") The girls' accusations and their ever more polished performances, including the new act of being struck dumb, played to large and believing audiences.

Arrest warrant for suspected witchcraft
Stuck in jail with the damning testimony of the afflicted girls widely accepted, suspects began to see confession as a way to avoid the gallows. Deliverance Hobbs became the second witch to confess, admitting to pinching three of the girls at the Devil's command and flying on a pole to attend a witches' Sabbath in an open field. Jails approached capacity and the colony "teetered on the brink of chaos" when Governor Phips returned from England. Fast action, he decided, was required.

Chief Judge William Stoughton
Phips created a new court, the "court of oyer and terminer," to hear the witchcraft cases. Five judges, including three close friends of Cotton Mather, were appointed to the court. Chief Justice, and most influential member of the court, was a gung-ho witch hunter named William Stoughton. Mather urged Stoughton and the other judges to credit confessions and admit "spectral evidence" (testimony by afflicted persons that they had been visited by a suspect's specter). Ministers were looked to for guidance by the judges, who were generally without legal training, on matters pertaining to witchcraft. Mather's advice was heeded. the judges also decided to allow the so-called "touching test" (defendants were asked to touch afflicted persons to see if their touch, as was generally assumed of the touch of witches, would stop their contortions) and examination of the bodies of accused for evidence of "witches' marks" (moles or the like upon which a witch's familiar might suck). Evidence that would be excluded from modern courtrooms-- hearsay, gossip, stories, unsupported assertions, surmises-- was also generally admitted. Many protections that modern defendants take for granted were lacking in Salem: accused witches had no legal counsel, could not have witnesses testify under oath on their behalf, and had no formal avenues of appeal. Defendants could, however, speak for themselves, produce evidence, and cross-examine their accusers. The degree to which defendants in Salem were able to take advantage of their modest protections varied considerably, depending on their own acuteness and their influence in the community.

The first accused witch to be brought to trial was Bridget Bishop. Almost sixty years old, owner of a tavern where patrons could drink cider ale and play shuffleboard (even on the Sabbath), critical of her neighbors, and reluctant to pay her bills, Bishop was a likely candidate for an accusation of witchcraft. The fact that Thomas Newton, special prosecutor, selected Bishop for his first prosecution suggests that he believed the stronger case could be made against her than any of the other suspect witches. At Bishop's trial on June 2, 1692, a field hand testified that he saw Bishop's image stealing eggs and then saw her transform herself into a cat. Deliverance Hobbs, by then probably insane, and Mary Warren, both confessed witches, testified that Bishop was one of them. A villager named Samuel Grey told the court that Bishop visited his bed at night and tormented him. A jury of matrons assigned to examine Bishop's body reported that they found an "excrescence of flesh." Several of the afflicted girls testified that Bishop's specter afflicted them. Numerous other villagers described why they thought Bishop was responsible for various bits of bad luck that had befallen them. There was even testimony that while being transported under guard past the Salem meeting house, she looked at the building and caused a part of it to fall to the ground. Bishop's jury returned a verdict of guilty. One of the judges, Nathaniel Saltonstall, aghast at the conduct of the trial, resigned from the court. Chief Justice Stoughton signed Bishop's death warrant, and on June 10, 1692, Bishop was carted to Gallows Hill and hanged.

The hanging of Bridget Bishop
As the summer of 1692 warmed, the pace of trials picked up. Not all defendants were as disreputable as Bridget Bishop. Rebecca Nurse was a pious, respected woman whose specter, according to Ann Putnam, Jr. and Abigail Williams, attacked them in mid March of 1692. Ann Putnam, Sr. added her complaint that Nurse demanded that she sign the Devil's book, then pinched her. Nurse was one of three Towne sisters, all identified as witches, who were members of a Topsfield family that had a long-standing quarrel with the Putnam family. Apart from the evidence of Putnam family members, the major piece of evidence against Nurse appeared to be testimony indicating that soon after Nurse lectured Benjamin Houlton for allowing his pig to root in her garden, Houlton died. The Nurse jury returned a verdict of not guilty, much to the displeasure of Chief Justice Stoughton, who told the jury to go back and consider again a statement of Nurse's that might be considered an admission of guilt (but more likely an indication of confusion about the question, as Nurse was old and nearly deaf). The jury reconvened, this time coming back with a verdict of guilty (LINK TO NURSE TRIAL). On July 19, 1692, Nurse rode with four other convicted witches to Gallows Hill.

The trial of Rebecca Nurse
Persons who scoffed at accusations of witchcraft risked becoming targets of accusations themselves. One man who was openly critical of the trials paid for his skepticism with his life. John Proctor, a central figure in Arthur Miller's fictionalized account of the Salem witch hunt, The Crucible, was an opinionated tavern owner who openly denounced the witch hunt. Testifying against Proctor were Ann Putnam, Abigail Williams, Indian John (a slave of Samuel Parris who worked in a competing tavern), and eighteen-year-old Elizabeth Booth, who testified that ghosts had come to her and accused Proctor of serial murder. Proctor fought back, accusing confessed witches of lying, complaining of torture, and demanding that his trial be moved to Boston. The efforts proved futile. Proctor was hanged. His wife Elizabeth, who was also convicted of witchcraft, was spared execution because of her pregnancy (reprieved "for the belly").

No execution caused more unease in Salem than that of the village's ex-minister, George Burroughs. Burroughs, who was living in Maine in 1692, was identified by several of his accusers as the ringleader of the witches. Ann Putnam claimed that Burroughs bewitched soldiers during a failed military campaign against Wabanakis in 1688-89, the first of a string of military disasters that could be blamed on an Indian-Devil alliance. In her interesting book, In the Devil's Snare, historian Mary Beth Norton argues that the large number of accusations against Burroughs, and his linkage to the frontier war, is the key to understanding the Salem trials. Norton contends that the enthusiasm of the Salem court in prosecuting the witchcraft cases owed in no small measure to the judges' desire to shift the "blame for their own inadequate defense of the frontier." Many of the judges, Norton points out, played lead roles in a war effort that had been markedly unsuccessful.

Among the thirty accusers of Burroughs was nineteen-year-old Mercy Lewis, a refugee of the frontier wars. Lewis, the most imaginative and forceful of the young accusers, offered unusually vivid testimony against Burroughs. Lewis told the court that Burroughs flew her to the top of a mountain and, pointing toward the surrounding land, promised her all the kingdoms if only she would sign in his book (a story very similar to that found in Matthew 4:8). Lewis said, "I would not writ if he had throwed me down on one hundred pitchforks." At an execution, a defendant in the Puritan colonies was expected to confess, and thus to save his soul. When Burroughs on Gallows Hill continued to insist on his innocence and then recited the Lord's Prayer perfectly (something witches were thought incapable of doing), the crowd reportedly was "greatly moved." The agitation of the crowd caused Cotton Mather to intervene and remind the crowd that Burroughs had had his day in court and lost.

The hanging of George Burroughs
One victim of the Salem witch hunt was not hanged, but rather pressed under heavy stones until his death. Such was the fate of octogenarian Giles Corey who, after spending five months in chains in a Salem jail with his also accused wife, had nothing but contempt for the proceedings. Seeing the futility of a trial and hoping that by avoiding a conviction his farm, that would otherwise go the state, might go to his two sons-in-law, Corey refused to stand for trial. The penalty for such a refusal was peine et fort, or pressing. Three days after Corey's death, on September 22, 1692, eight more convicted witches, including Giles' wife Martha, were hanged. They were the last victims of the witch hunt.

By early autumn of 1692, Salem's lust for blood was ebbing. Doubts were developing as to how so many respectable people could be guilty. Reverend John Hale said, " It cannot be imagined that in a place of so much knowledge, so many in so small compass of land should abominably leap into the Devil's lap at once." The educated elite of the colony began efforts to end the witch-hunting hysteria that had enveloped Salem. Increase Mather, the father of Cotton, published what has been called "America's first tract on evidence," a work entitled Cases of Conscience, which argued that it "were better that ten suspected witches should escape than one innocent person should be condemned." Increase Mather urged the court to exclude spectral evidence. Samuel Willard, a highly regarded Boston minister, circulated Some Miscellany Observations, which suggested that the Devil might create the specter of an innocent person. Mather's and Willard's works were given to Governor Phips. The writings most likely influenced the decision of Phips to order the court to exclude spectral evidence and touching tests and to require proof of guilt by clear and convincing evidence. With spectral evidence not admitted, twenty-eight of the last thirty-three witchcraft trials ended in acquittals. The three convicted witches were later pardoned. In May of 1693, Phips released from prison all remaining accused or convicted witches.

Governor William Phips
By the time the witch hunt ended, nineteen convicted witches were executed, at least four accused witches had died in prison, and one man, Giles Corey, had been pressed to death. About one to two hundred other persons were arrested and imprisoned on witchcraft charges. Two dogs were executed as suspected accomplices of witches.

Scholars have noted potentially telling differences between the accused and the accusers in Salem. Most of the accused lived to the south of, and were generally better off financially, than most of the accusers. In a number of cases, accusing families stood to gain property from the convictions of accused witches. Also, the accused and the accusers generally took opposite sides in a congregational schism that had split the Salem community before the outbreak of hysteria. While many of the accused witches supported former minister George Burroughs, the families that included the accusers had--for the most part--played leading roles in forcing Burroughs to leave Salem. The conclusion that many scholars draw from these patterns is that property disputes and congregational feuds played a major role in determining who lived, and who died, in 1692.

The repentence of Samuel Sewall
A period of atonement began in the colony following the release of the surviving accused witches. Samuel Sewall, one of the judges, issued a public confession of guilt and an apology. Several jurors came forward to say that they were "sadly deluded and mistaken" in their judgments. Reverend Samuel Parris conceded errors of judgment, but mostly shifted blame to others. Parris was replaced as minister of Salem village by Thomas Green, who devoted his career to putting his torn congregation back together. Governor Phips blamed the entire affair on William Stoughton. Stoughton, clearly more to blame than anyone for the tragic episode, refused to apologize or explain himself. He criticized Phips for interfering just when he was about to "clear the land" of witches. Stoughton became the next governor of Massachusetts.

The witches disappeared, but witch hunting in America did not. Each generation must learn the lessons of history or risk repeating its mistakes. Salem should warn us to think hard about how to best safeguard and improve our system of justice.

Other Resources
The Witchcraft Trials in Salem: An Account
Chronology of Events Relating To The Salem Witchcraft Trials
Warrant For The Arrest Of Elizabeth Proctor And Sarah Cloyce
Biographies of Key Figures in the Salem Witchcraft Trials
Images Of The Salem Witchcraft Trials
Map of Salem Village in 1692 ( W. P. Upham)
Petitions of Two Convicted Witches Awaiting Execution
Examinations of Some of The Accused Witches In Salem,1692
The Dead
Two Letters of Gov. William Phips (1692-1693)
Petitions For Compensation And Decision Concerning Compensation
The Man Of Iron: Giles Corey
Procedure Used In The Salem Witchcraft Trials
The Crucible (1952)
You're Accused!
The Salem Witchcraft Trials: Bibliography & Links
Deodat Lawson's Report on Witchcraft in Salem
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