Friday, January 17, 2020

52 Ancestors - Week 313: #524 Samuel Fletcher (1657-1744) of Concord, Massachusetts

Samuel Fletcher (1657-1744) is number 524 on my Ahnentafel List, my 7th great-grandfather, who married #525 Elizabeth Wheeler (1644-1744) in 1682 in Concord, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.

I am descended through:

*  their son, #262 John Fletcher (1692-????), who married #263 Mary Goble (1694-1734) in 1715.
*  their daughter #131 Abigail Fletcher (1720-1783) who married #130 Samuel Whitney (1719-1782), in 1741.
*  their daughter #65 Martha Whitney (1764-1832) who married #64 Benjamin Seaver (1757-1816)  in 1783.
*  their son  #32 Benjamin Seaver (1791-1825) who married #33 Abigail Gates (1797-1867) in 1817.
*  their son #16 Isaac Seaver (1823-1901) who married #17 Lucretia Townsend Smith (1828-1884) in 1851.
*  their son #8 Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922) who married #9 Hattie Louisa Hildreth (1857-1920) in 1874.
*  their son #4 Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942) who married #5 Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962) in 1900.
*  their son #2 Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983) who married #3 Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002)  in 1942.
*  their son #1 Randall Jeffrey Seaver (1943-living)

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1)  PERSON (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
 
*  Name:                        Samuel Fletcher[1–11]    

*  Sex:                           Male    

*  Father:                      Francis Fletcher (1630-1704)    
*  Mother:                    Elizabeth Wheeler (1635-1704)  
2)  INDIVIDUAL EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
*  Birth:                       6 October 1657, Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[1–3]

*  Deed:                      3 May 1694 (age 36), received land in Concord from father Francis Fletcher; Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[5]    

*  Deed:                     11 December 1722 (age 65), sold land in Concord to Nathaniel Billings; Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[6]    

*  Deed:                     13 June 1727 (age 69), sold land in Concord to Joseph Fletcher; Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[7]    

*  Deed:                     23 December 1729 (age 72), gave land in Concord to son Samuel Fletcher; Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[8]    

*  Deed:                    27 February 1733/4 (age 76), deposition concerning Bulkley's farm; Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[9]    

*  Death:                  23 October 1744 (age 87), Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[1–2,10]    
*  Burial:                 after 23 October 1744 (after age 87), Old Hill Burying Ground, Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[11]    

3)  SHARED EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

*  Spouse 1:             Elizabeth Wheeler (1664-1744)    
*  Marriage 1:         15 June 1682 (age 24), Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[1–2,4]    
*  Child 1:                Samuel Fletcher (1683-    )    
*  Child 2:                Joseph Fletcher (1686-1746)    
*  Child 3:                Elizabeth Fletcher (1688-1752)    
*  Child 4:                Sarah Fletcher (1690-1775)    
*  Child 5:                John Fletcher (1692-    )    
*  Child 6:                Hannah Fletcher (1694-1756)    
*  Child 7:                Ruth Fletcher (1696-1700)    
*  Child 8:                Rebecca Fletcher (1699-    )    
*  Child 9:                Samuel Fletcher (1701-1772)    
*  Child 10:              Benjamin Fletcher (1703-1703)    
*  Child 11:              Timothy Fletcher (1704-1779)  


4)  NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):  

There are two major book sources for information about the descendants of Robert Fletcher of Concord and this Samuel Fletcher family.  They are:

*  Winifred Lovering Holman, Robert Fletcher of Concord, Mass. Bay, 1637, typescript (1930, 93 leaves)[1].

*  Edward H. Fletcher, The Descendants of Robert Fletcher of Concord, Mass. (Boston : Rand, Avery & Co., 1881)[2].

Samuel Fletcher was born 6 October 1657, the first child of Francis and Elizabeth (Wheeler) Fletcher of Concord, Massachusetts[1-3].  The birth entry for Samuel Fletcher in the Concord town vital record book says[3]:

"Samiwell Sonne of ffrances ffletcher and Elizabeth his wife borne 6^h october 1657"

Samuel Fletcher married on 15 June 1682 in Concord to Elizabeth Wheeler, daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Merriam) Wheeler of Concord[1-2,4]. The marriage entry in the Concord town vital record book says[4]:

"Sam^l ffletcher & Elizab. Wheeler maryed . . . . .  15 . 4 . 82"

They had 11 children between 1683 and 1704, all recorded in the Concord town vital record book:

*  Samuel Fletcher (1683-????)
*  Joseph Fletcher (1686-1746), married 1711 Hepsibah Chandler (1683-????)
*  Elizabeth Fletcher (1688-1752), married 1713 Stehen Davis (1686-1738).
*  Sarah Fletcher (1690-1775), married 1714 Ebenezer Brooks (1691-1768)
*  John Fletcher (1692-????), married 1715 Mary Goble (1694-1734).
*  Hannah Fletcher (1694-1756), married Daniel Farrar (1696-1755)
*  Ruth Fletcher (1696-1700)
*  Rebecca Fletcher (1699-????)
*  Samuel Fletcher (1701-1772),. married 1728 Rebecca --?-- (1703-1785).
*  Benjamin Fletcher (1703-1703)
*  Timothy Fletcher (1704-1779), married 1726 Elizabeth Chamberlain (1705-????).

Samuel Fletcher was a corporal in the militia[1].

He was a selectman of Concord in 1705, 1707, 1709 and 1713, and served as Concord town clerk from 1705 to 1713[1].

On 3 May 1694, Francis Fletcher gave several parcels of land and meadow in Concord to his eldest son Samuel Fletcher to show his tender love and fatherly care[5].

On 11 December 1722, Samuel Fletcher, housewright of Concord, sold "a certain dwelling house in which I now dwell in the east part of Concord" for 70 pounds to Nathaniel Billings, yeoman of Concord[6].  The land was bounded on the south by the country road, east and north by land of Nathaniel Ball, and west by William Clark.  

On 13 June 1727, Samuel Fletcher, yeoman of Concord, sold his right to a 1/84 share of property in Concord village or new grants lying in the north of Concord to Joseph Fletcher Jr. of Concord for 16 pounds in good and passable money[7].  

On 23 December 1729, Samuel Fletcher, yeoman of Concord, gave many parcels of land to his son Samuel Fletcher, husbandman of Concord, in consideration of his love and good will[8].  The parcels in the easterly part of Concord included 6 acres of woodland, 8 acres of woodland in Chestnut Fields, 3 acres of meadow in Brook meadow, 4 acres of plowland, 4 acres of meadow, 2 and a half acres of meadow and upland, 5 acres in River meadow, and one half of one and a half acres of orchard below the highway.  Elizabeth Fletcher gave her dower release. 

On 27 February 1733/4, Samuel Fletcher and Joseph Fletcher, both of Concord and more than 70 years of age, deposed concerning Bulkley's farm afterward called Stout's farm in the southern part of Concord[9]. They testified that the persons who lived on the farm were Thomas Skinner, Thomas Pratt and Ephraim Rogers in 1683 or 1684, and that Joseph Deane had a dwelling house near the farm.  In a separate deposition, they testified that there were three families that had improved the land on the old Iron works land in Concord in 1684, that John How deceased had never had a dwelling house there, but Joseph and Simeon Hayward lived nearby.  

Samuel Fletcher died on 23 October 1744 in Concord[10].  The entry in the Concord Town Vital Records book says:

"Cornett Samuel Fletcher Husband to Elisabeth his Wife Died october 23: 1744"

Samuel and Elizabeth (Wheeler) Fletcher are buried in the Old Hill Burying Ground in Concord, Massachusetts[11].  No grave markers are available.

Neither Samuel nor Elizabeth Fletcher have a probate record in the Middlesex County Probate records.

5.  SOURCES

1. Winifred Lovering Holman, Robert Fletcher of Concord, Mass. Bay, 1637: a study of his life and family from the New England records, typescript (1930, 93 leaves); accessed on FHL Microfilm 0015506 Item 11; citing typescript at the New Hampshire Historical Society,  Concord, New Hampshire., Samuel Fletcher (1657-1744) sketch.

2. Edward H. Fletcher, The Descendants of Robert Fletcher of Concord Mass. (Boston, Mass. :  Rand, Avery & Co.,  1881), Samuel Fletcher (1657-1744) sketch.

3. George Tolman (compiler), Concord, Massachusetts Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1635-1850 (Concord, Mass. : Committee on Printing, 1894), page 7, Samuel Fletcher birth entry.

4. George Tolman (compiler), Concord, Massachusetts Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1635-1850, page 25, Samuel Fletcher and Elizabeth Wheeler marriage entry, 1682.

5. Record books of the registry of deeds, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, 1649-1900; indexes: grantee (1639-1905) and grantor (1639-1950); 1780 rolls of microfilm, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, Middlesex County Deeds, Volume 24, page 541, Francis Fletcher to Samuel Fletcher, executed 3 May 1694, recorded 7 January 1725; accessed on FHL Microfilm 0,554,013.

6. Record books of the registry of deeds, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, 1649-1900; indexes: grantee (1639-1905) and grantor (1639-1950), Middlesex County Deeds, Volume 22, pge 154, Samuel fletcher to Nathaniel Billings, executed 11 December 1722, recorded 8 January 1723, accessed on FHL Microfilm 0,554,011.

7. Record books of the registry of deeds, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, 1649-1900; indexes: grantee (1639-1905) and grantor (1639-1950), Middlesex County Deeds, Volume 34, page 283, Samuel Fletcher to Joseph Fletcher, executed 13 June 1727, recorded 10 April 1733, accessed on FHL Microfilm 0,554,019.

8. Record books of the registry of deeds, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, 1649-1900; indexes: grantee (1639-1905) and grantor (1639-1950), Middlesex County Deeds, Volume  35, page 619, Samuel Fletcher to Samuel Fletcher Jr., executed 23 December 1729, recorded 30 April 1734, accessed on FHL Microfilm 0,554,019.

9. Record books of the registry of deeds, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, 1649-1900; indexes: grantee (1639-1905) and grantor (1639-1950), Middlesex County Deeds , Volume 34, pages 494-5, Samuel Fletcher and Joseph Fletcher deposition, taken 27 February 1733/4, recorded 20 March 1733/4, accessed on FHL Microfilm 0,554,019.

10. George Tolman (compiler), Concord, Massachusetts Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1635-1850, page 159, Samuel Fletcher death entry, 1744.

11. Find A Grave, indexed database and digital image,  (http://www.findagrave.com), Old Hill Burying Ground, Concord, Mass., Samuel Fletcher memorial # 33241957.

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NOTE:  In 2014, Amy Johnson Crow suggested a weekly blog theme of "52 Ancestors" in her blog post  52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks on the No Story Too Small blog.  I have extended this theme in 2020 to 364 Ancestors in 364 Weeks.


Copyright (c) 2020, Randall J. Seaver

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