Thomas Ayers (abt. 1652 - bef. 1722)

Born about 1652 in Ipswich, Essex Co., Province of Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Husband of Hannah (Harrington) Ayers — married 21 Mar 1678 in Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died before 5 Dec 1722 before about age 70 in Portsmouth, Rockingham, Province of New Hampshire

Problems/Questions Profile manager: David Dexter [send private message]

Biography

Thomas was born sometime between 1652^[1] (The West Broofield Historical Commission gives light to this age by stating that when father John removed to Brookfield in 1667, Thomas was described as being 15 years of age)^[2] and 1655^[3]. He is the son of John Ayers and Susannah Symonds. ^[4]

Thomas moved with his immediate family to Quaboag Plantation (now known as Brookfield) before May 1667 ^[5] There is quite a bit of information, well sourced, on what happened over the next few years, including here at WikiTree. An excellent synopsis of what happened can be found on Thomas' father's WikiTree page at John Ayers. Suffice to say, Thomas' father John Ayers flourished in Brookfield, buying large tracts of land, building a tavern, and increasing the population and prosperity of the the town. But because of growing tensions between the planters and the Native Americans, an uprising occurred and John Ayers and a few others were killed, the town laid sieged upon, and eventually burned/destroyed.

Thomas' mother moved the family back to Ipswich, abandoning their property, never to return. Thomas never returned to Brookfield. Instead, on 21 Mar 1677, in Ipswich, Massachusetts, he married Hannah Errington^[6].

On 28 Mar 1676, administration of the estate of "John Ayres of Qaboag intestate" [sic] was granted to his wife Susana Ayres, the widow.^[7] But by 1682, Susannah (his mother) was dead. In 1695, Thomas was listed for tithing in Newbury Massachusetts Selectmen's Records.^[8]And in 1700, "our sister, wife of Thomas Ayers," was dismissed from the church in Rowley, Massachusetts to Portsmouth, New Hampshire ^[9]"In 1703, Samuel, John Jr., and Thomas were appointed executors of John's estate." ^[10] And according to Middlesex County deeds, grants were made to Thomas, his two sons, William Scales and Joseph Moses in the selling of his deceased father's land in Brookfield, Massachusetts in 1717. By that time, Thomas was of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.^[11]

Thomas Ayers passed before 5 Dec 1722^[12]

Sources

Footnotes:

1. ↑ Ayers, Thomas D., "Ayres genealogy : some of the descendants of Capt. John Ayres of Brookfield, Massachusetts"
2. ↑ https://westbrookfield.org/?page_id=63
3. ↑ "Essex County, Massachusetts Depositions, 1645-1686, courtesy of Ancestry.com which stated In 1678 he declared he was age 23,
4. ↑ Information taken from The Descendants of Captain John Ayres. (See source below)
5. ↑ "West Brookfield Historical Society, "Meet the Planters – Ayres," https://westbrookfield.org/?page_id=63.
6. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FH8W-GQQ : 13 July 2016), Thomas Ayres and Hanah Erington, 21 Mar 1677; citing Marriage, Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts, United States, , town clerk offices, Massachusetts; FHL microfilm 777,636.
7. ↑ Essex County, MA: Early Probate Records, 1635-1681 courtesy of AmericanAncestors.org New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015
8. ↑ Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 courtesy of Ancestry.com
9. ↑ "The Essex Antiquarian: An Illustrated .. Magazine Devoted to the Biography, Genealogy, History and Antiquities of Essex County, Massachusetts," https://books.google.com/books?id=jrsTAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA89#v=onepage&q&f=false, page 91.
10. ↑ John Ayres
11. ↑ Whitmore, William Henry, 1836-1900, A record of the descendants of John Ayers of Brookfield Mass., https://archive.org/details/recordofdescenda00whit_0/page/8/mode/2up.
12. ↑ New Hampshire State Papers, vol 32, page 157, "Administration on the estate of Thomas Ayers of Portsmouth granted to his sons, Abraham Ayers and Thomas Ayers, both of Portsmouth, 5 Dec 1722

For more information:

• Treman, Ebenezer Mack. The History of the Treman, Tremaine, Truman Family in America|The History of the Treman, Tremaine, Truman Family in America' (Press of the Ithaca Democrat, 1901) Person No. 360000; Page 1233.

• Hammatt, Abraham. The Hammatt Papers|The Hammatt Papers' (Ipswich Antiqurian Papers, 1880) No. 1, Page 13

• Roy, Louis E., Quaboag_Plantation_alias_Brookefield|Quaboag Plantation alias Brookefield, Massachusetts Published by L. E. Roy, Hefernan Press, Worcester, MA (1965) 308 pages - A photocopied portion of this book is in the possession of Gloria (ODOM) TROMMLER. It contains an excellent biography of Captain John Ayres in Chapter VII (pages 222-230) and other information; it was transcribed as found.

• Miner Descent - Account of the Seige of Brookfield - Aug 1675 and Bio of John Ayres, owner of Ayres' Tavern Miner Descent - Brookfield

• http://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Essex/Ipswich/aBirthsS.shtml Vital Records of Ipswich, Essex Co., Massachusetts - showing births of children: Edward (1658), Marke (1661), and Nathaniell (1664); and death of Susanna (Symonds) Ayres (1682).

• Hoyt, David W. The Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury Massachusetts|The Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury Massachusetts (Providence, Rhode Island, 1897) - Person No. 90 on Page 41, 42, 155

• WeRelate Profile for http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:John_Ayers_%2827%29 Capt. John Ayres (bef 1624 - 1675) - with unknown parents, but sisters, Sarah (bef 1622 - aft 1681) (m. William Lamson and Thomas Hartshorn) and Mary (bef 1617 - aft 1676) (m. William Fellows)

• WeRelate Profile of Susanna Symonds (m. Captain John Ayers) http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Susanna_Symonds_%285%29 (dau. of Mark Symonds) (b. est. 1617; m. bef 1649; d. 8 Feb 1682)

Acknowledgements:

Many thanks to David Dexter for starting this profile.