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Jones Dyer (1736 - 1826)

Jones Dyer
Born in Bristol, Rhode Islandmap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married 27 Sep 1761 in Smithfield, Providence, Rimap
Descendants descendants
Died at age 90 in Calais, Washington, Maine, United Statesmap
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Profile last modified | Created 11 Sep 2010
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Biography

Jones Dyer, "a man of energy and decided ability" [Knowlton's "Calais," p. 21], was in Machias by 1769, as his name is among those who petitioned for the establishment of Machias as a town [Drisko's "Machias," p. 20]. During the Rev War, he was a soldier for the American cause [Knowlton, loc. cit.]. In 1784 or the year before, he removed from Machias to Calais [Knowlton, loc. cit.]. "He was a prominent member of society, and was frequently elected to office in town affairs" [Knowlton, loc. cit. ]. In 1790, he was enumerated in Plantation 5 East of Machias, his household then consisting of 3-2-3-0-0 [USC]. On 31 Jul 1809, Jones was elected highway surveyor at the first town meeting following the incorporation of Calais on 15 Jun 1809 [Knowlton's "Calais," p. 44]. He went quickly to work, as on 14 Sep 1809, the town "voted to accept the road just laid out from Stillwater (Milltown) to Ferry Point, and from thence down river to the Ledge." This was the first road in Calais [ibid., p. 44]. On 2 Apr 1810, he was elected to the school committee [ibid., p. 47]. At the annual town meeting held 6 Apr 1812, Jones was elected treasurer and selectman [ibid., p. 52] and was reelected to these positions at the next town meeting 5 Apr 1813 [ibid., p. 53],

Jones DYER was, apparently, raised in either Providence or Bristol, Rhode Island. Kate WIGGIN, however, says (Garden, p. xviii) that he was "of gallant little Wales" implying that he was a Welshman by actual birth. He settled, at least temporarily, in Scarborough, MA (now in ME), sometime in the early 1760s. [Between about 1763 and 1765, Jones DYER went to Machias, ME, in a vessel and, having survived a shipwreck along the way, reached shore in a canoe. He became one of the original grantees of Machias, of whom there were fifteen or sixteen.]

Kirk McColl, Minister. McColl Methodist Church, St. Stephen,NB - Baptism Records 1794-1848. PANB Microfilm. F28. Provincial Archives - New Brunswick, Fredericton, York, NB, Date of entry: 9 Aug 1999. Mar 12 1816 Jonas (Jones ?) Dyer an adult Calais. Probably Jones, Sr., because his wife was baptised in 1814 in same church.

1769 - Jones Dyer signs petition to General Court of Massachusetts to form Machias township. End of year 1769. [Drisko, George W., "Narrative of the town of Machias", Press of the Republican, Machias,ME 1904; Maine State Lib 974.1 tM14d 1979; pp19-20] also included as signers were Abial Sprague, Abial Sprague Jr., John Bohannon, Obadiah Hill, Daniel Hill, Samuel Hill, and Japhet Hill. ["Memorial of the Centennial Anniversary of the Settlement of Machias", Machias, 1863, Printed by C.O. Furbush; Dyer Library, Saco, ME; Call 974.1 M149m Me. Coll., p28-29]

1774 - Jones Dyer of Machias sold land to William Chaloner, Physician of Machias, 7 acres lot 18 in Machias, April 1774. [Abstracts of deeds from Lincoln Co. records at Wiscasset, 1771-1778] [Message from Aurie W. Morrison to JWP 13 Nov 1996;]

During the American Revolution, Jones is variously reported to have served as a sergeant and as a corporal. He served as a corporal in Capt. Reuben DYER's company between his enlistment on 29 JUL 1777 and his discharge on 06 DEC 1777, a period of four months seven days, travel included. This enlistment was for an expedition against St. John's, Nova Scotia, and it continued in service at and in defense of Machias. A certificate, dated 12 DEC 1777 at Machias and signed by Capt. Reuben DYER**, states that Capt. Stephen SMITH, muster master for Lincoln County, paid Jones DYER the bounty allowed him for engaging to serve on the expedition against St. Johns.

At the same time, Jones served as a sergeant in Capt. Stephen SMITH's company (Col. Benjamin FOSTER's Lincoln County regiment) for an 18-day period while British ships lay in the harbor at Machias, and he was discharged on 10 OCT 1777 when the danger had passed. That Sgt. Jones DYER and Corporal Jones DYER are the same person seems obvious from the duplication of commanding officers and geographical locations, not to mention th at the name Jones DYER is quite uncommon (only one being known). This latter was the same episode which led to Asa DYER (main P396; 1739-1831) spending 25 days with Capt. Daniel SULLIVAN's company (Col. Benjamin FOSTER's regiment -- the same regiment that Jones DYER was serving in) which was called out three times for service in the defense of Machias. Asa was discharged from this service on 07 OCT 1777.

The next revolutionary episode in Jones DYER's life was probably the most momentous one for him. During the summer of 1778, Jones was operating under John ALLAN (1746-1805), a Scotsman and rebel sympathizer from Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, and had been made a captain. Allan, who had been appointed Continental Agent and "Commander in Chief of Indians, Eastern Department" in 1777 by the colonial forces, was high on the British priority list for capture, and the British had placed a 100-pound reward on his head. ALLAN was on an expedition to Passamaquoddy Bay (at the headwaters of the Schoodic or St. Croix River -- both names applied to the same river) to keep the trade between the Indians and the British suppressed, and the British decided to lay a trap for ALLAN and thus end his successful efforts to stop the Indians from allying themselves with the redcoats. A British sloop from Halifax, Nova Scotia, the Howe (with a compliment of seventy men), posing as a trading vessel from Bermuda looking for a cargo of lumber, attempted to lure ALLAN aboard. Too wary to go himself, Allan sent Capt. Jones DYER and five others in his stead and they were promptly, but temporarily, captured. How long Jones DYER remained in British custody is not known, but it was probably not for long. This, then, was Jones DYERs first experience with the Passamaquoddy region, an area of much significance later in his life.

Jones served two more periods with the colonial forces. One was for a three-day service between 04 DEC 1778 and 04 JAN 1779 [?] again with Capt. Stephen SMITHs company of Col. Benjamin FOSTERs Lincoln County regiment at Machias. Asa Dyer was also serving during this period in the defense of Machias, and his tour was some 5 months 16 days as 1st Lt. in Capt. Thomas ROBBINSs company from 17 JUN 1778 to 01 DEC 1778. Asa DYER immediately reenlisted on 01 DEC 1778 and is listed on a payroll (dated 01 JUN 1779) made up for service of persons engaged for the defense of Machias, and others employed in the Indian business under Col. John ALLAN for ten days service. Jones DYER's last noted efforts on behalf of the American cause was his participation in a detachment of the 6th Lincoln County Regiment under Lt. John SCOTT, which spent ten days at Machias, serving from 31 AUG 1779 to 20 NOV 1779 [?].

With the successful end of the American Revolution, Jones settled down at Machias, but it was not long before he was once again infected with "pioneer fever". Maybe Machias had become too civilized for him, and he remembered the Passamaquoddy area that he had visited so eventfully in 1778. Possibly accompanied by his brother, James (P10; b. pre-1769), Jones set out in an Indian canoe along the coastline and arrived at the mouth of the Scoodic River, where he pitched his tent a few days later. According to his grandson, Abner HILL (son of Thomas HILL, who lived to the age of 98), "when he came here ... not a tree had been cut in the broken forest of green wood which stood on every hand".

Jones soon returned to Machias and brought his family (composed of his wife, Hannah HARRINGTON, whom he had married about 1770, and at least sons Stephen [P9; b. 1770/75] and Jones, Jr. [P7; b. 1774/5]) to the new homestead. This made Jones DYER and his brother James the first permanent residents at Calais -- Daniel HILL was the first settler at Calais, having arrived (as was established by the courts later) on 01 JAN 1784, but he did not stay. The DYER family apparently came by water, rather than overland, and landed at a point on the Robbinston Road, two miles below the later site of the village, where a small stream flows into the main river. At this spot, Jones DYER built the first frame house in Calais in 1785, with lumber obtained from Jeremiah FROSTs mill across and up the river at St. Stephen, Nova Scotia (now New Brunswick) -- this being the only mill on the river at that time. This land, some two miles below what is now Calais, was still in the hands of a descendant of Jones DYER at least as late as 1866, though the old house had apparently been replaced by one built in 1829 (Pikes Diary, p. 49). The 1790 census of Passamaquoddy Township No. 5 (Calais) showed the family to include two males under the age of sixteen (James and Nathan), three males sixteen and older (Jones Sr., Stephen and Jones Jr.), and three females (his wife and two daughters).

Which one of his daughters (whose names are not yet known) was born after this census is also not known. The 1790 Calais census also shows his brother James Dyer as a head of household.

The 1800 census of Calais shows that both Jones and his wife were born before 1755. His children were aged as follows: two boys and one girl were born between 1790 and 1800, one girl was born between 1774-84, and two girls were born between 1755-74. Since Stephen Dyer had already married by 1800, that leaves Jones DYER Jr. (b. 1774/75) and Nathan (b. ca. 1790) unaccounted for, and an extra male born 1790-1800 on hand (a worker?). The girls are difficult to explain, except to point out that Jones wife, Hannah, seems to have been born about 1755. The same census shows Jones Jr. (b. 1774-84) counted separately from his family, which indicates that by the age of 24 he had a place of his own.


From -- Steve Robbins 915 Green Valley Drive Toccoa, Georgia 30577

  1. The following items are from the papers of Col. John Black, agent for Bingham-Baring Proprietors. The original documents are at Black Mansion in Ellsworth, Maine. There exists a microfilm copy, as well as hand-written extracts made about 1983 by Maine State Archives staff; the microfilm and extracts are at Maine State Archives in Augusta, Maine:

1a) Northfield No. 24 East. From Theodore Lincoln's return of settlers, June 3, 1807 [complete list]: Name When settled When deserted Jones Dyer 1773 1782 Daniel Hill 1773 1782 James Dyer 1773 1782 Saml Libby 1773 1782 Jacob Libby 1773 1782 Benj. Getchell 1773 1782 Joseph Hill 1773 1782 Samuel Milbery 1773 1782

[My uncle, L. Austin Gray of Wesley, Maine, owns land in Northfield and is familiar with that area. He believes that this settlement was on the East Machias River at "Smith Landing," also locally called "The Mattimo Place" (after a Mattimo who lived there in the 1880s). Mr. Gray says that some of their garden furrows can still be seen in the woods.]

Sources

1b) Deblois No. 17 Middle, June 1, 1823 to June 1, 1830 Andrew Dyer [I copied only the Dyers from this list]

1c) Baring Plantation No. 6 E.D. Settlers since Feb. 25, 1816, from the November 1823 Return by James Dinsmore and George Ulmer: Stephen Dyer, Jr. 1823 [I copied only the Dyers from this list]

  1. Source: "William Clark & Associates" in a book at New Brunswick Provincial Archives listing Loyalist grants. This list is dated "1784, Charlotte [County]." In Saint David: No. 70, Grantee: John Dyer, Lot no. 4 in Block Letter O in Fanning's Division. This lot appears to have later been re-granted to Tristam Moore.
  1. Source: Holmes, Theodore C. Loyalists to Canada : the 1783 Settlement of Quakers and Others at Passamaquoddy. (Camden, Maine : Picton Press, c1992), p. 179: "The Digedeguash Grantees. This March 29, 1784 grant of 15,250 acres of land was located on the Digedeguash River in St. Patrick's Parish, Charlotte County, New Brunswick. The principal grantee was John Curry, who reserved 500 acres on the tract for a sawmill. Curry convinced other grantees to acquire 100 acres for him in their names. Later he tried to get the entire tract in his own name." Among the 41 grantees are the names of James Dyer and Jones Dyer.
  1. Source: Wood, Richard G. A History of Lumbering in Maine, 1820-1861. (Orono, Penobscot, ME. : University of Maine Press, c1971), map reprinted at back of the book: Coffin, G. W. "A plan of the public lands in the State of Maine ... a part of which have been set off in severalty to each state. Viz., those to Mass[achuset]ts are designated by the letter C for Common; Those to Maine by the Letter M. Those that have been sold by Mass[achuset]ts and are not conveyed have a Star upon them, thus * Those conveyed have the names of the Grantee placed thereon." (Boston, 1835). According to this map, Jones Dyer, Jr. purchased two entire townships: From Massachusetts ["C"] he purchased what is now designated as "10R3 NBPP Forest [Township]" (25,324 acres, according to: Attwood, Stanley Bearce. The Length and Breadth of Maine. Orono, Penobscot, ME. : University of Maine, 1973 ). From Maine ["M"] he purchased what is now designated as "1R1 TS Dyer [Township]" (22,899 acres, according to Attwood.).
  1. "Plan of Plantation Number 5, on a Scale of 240 Rods to an Inch, Maine, April 27th, 1807." This is a map of Calais, the original being at Calais Free Library. I have a photocopy. It clearly shows the lots owned by Jones Dyer Jun., Jones Dyer Sen., and James Dyer heirs.


  • All "person numbers" (P10, etc.) in this appendix relate to individuals in the family tree file MAINE.TRE, not to the "person numbers" in the main DYER family tree (DYER.TRE).
    • The Captain Reuben DYER mentioned above is a member of the DYER family of Cape Elizabeth, ME, and is not known to be part of either this DYER family or of the main DYER family being traced.

Sources


Annals of Calais (1875), passim. Austin, Ancestry of 33 Rhode Islanders. Calais Census of 1790, 1800, 1810 and 1820. Coll. Maine Hist. Soc. III (1853), p. 180 Compendium I, 915. Eastport and Passamaquoddy (1888) passim. An International Community of the St. Crois (1604-1930) (1950). Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the American Revolution, p. 125. The Notes of James Shepherd Pike (1811-1882) housed at the Calais Free Library, Calais, ME. Reed Genealogy #398.

Who's Who (Philip Sidney DYER) Wilson, Ten Generations of Dyers.


Father: John Dyer , Capt. b: ABT. 1688 Mother: Rebecca L. Jones b: ABT. 1712 in Taunton, Bristol, Ma

Marriage 1 Hannah Harrington b: 15 MAY 1741 in Smithfield, Providence, RI Married: 27 SEP 1761 in Smithfield, Providence, Ri 5 6 Children Martha (Patty) Dyer b: AFT. 1761 James Dyer , Sr. b: 24 JUL 1762 Mary Jones Dyer b: ABT. 1766 in Calais, Maine or New Brunswick? John Dyer b: ABT. 1770 Stephen Dyer b: BET. 1770 - 1775 in Calais, Washington, Me Jones Dyer , Jr., Esq. b: 1776 in Machias, Washington, Me Abigail Dyer b: ABT. 1779 Nancy Dyer b: ABT. 1783 Nathan Dyer b: ABT. 1790 in Calais, Washington, Me

Title: Soldiers & Sailors in the War of Revolution, Volume 5 Author: Secretary of Commonwealth, Massachusetts Repository: Note: San Diego Public Library, San Diego, Cal. Call Number: Media: Book Page: 125

Title: Loyalists to Canada Author: Holmes, Theodore C Publication: Picton Press, Camden, Maine Repository: Call Number: Media: Book Page: 185

Title: Baptism Records 1794-1848, McColl Methodist Church, St Stephen, NB Author: Kirk McColl, Minister Publication: PANB Microfilm F28 Provincial Archives, New Brunswick Repository: Call Number: Media: Book

Title: Vital Records of Rhode Island 1636-1850, Births, Marriages & Deaths Vol.5, Washington & Bristol County Author: James N. Arnold Publication: Narragansett Hist. Pub. Co., Providence, RI. 1894 Repository: Note: South Kingstown Library, Wakefield, (Peace Dale), Rhode Island Call Number: RI 929.3 A Media: Book Page: 74

Title: Rhode Island Marriages From 1744 to 1850 Note: Marriage index for 3,068 Rhode Island marriages from 1744 to 1850. Repository: Note: http://www.genealogylibrary.com Call Number: Media: Book

Title: Vital Records of Rhode Island 1636-1850, Births, Marriages & Deaths, Vol.2, Providence County Author: James Newell Arnold Publication: Narragansett Hist. Pub. Co., Providence, RI. 1892 Repository: Note: South Kingstown Library, Wakefield, (Peace Dale), Rhode Island Call Number: Media: Book Page: 31





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