Walter (Power) Powers (1639 - 1708)

Born 28 Jun 1639 in of, Essex, England

Ancestors

Husband of Tryall (Shepard) Powers — married 11 Jan 1660 in Malden, Middlesex, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 22 Feb 1708 at age 68 in Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay

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Biography

2 Apr 1661 ~ Court Record for Walter and Tryall Powers

Walter confessed miscarriage with Tryal, daughter of Deacon Shepherd, "my now wife"; and Tryall, wife of Walter Power, petitioned in favor of her husband" in duress." It appears that Walter and his wife were "convicted of fornication by them committed together before marriage." They were sentenced to be flogged. Deacon Ralph Shepard bought her (Tryal) out of the flogging by paying a fine. Walter was sentenced "to be openly "whipt" with 15 stripes by the constable of Cambridge"

The following text is taken from the Powers History website(bad link) This is an online book about the Powers^[1]

Walter Powers is a key figure in the North American branch of the Powers clan, as many can trace their lineage back to him. He was 14 when he left the Old World in 1654, and settled on land in Concord Village, now within the town of Littleton, Mass., adjoining the Indian plantation of Nashoba. He is listed in the Middlesex County, Mass., records in 1654 as a boy of 14 years of age. Although I have not been able to locate a birth certificate to unquestionably place his birth in Waterford, Ireland, it appears more than likely that Walter was an indentured servant who escaped famine in Ireland to settle in the New World. The reason this is fairly certain is because "Powers" is very much an Irish name (please see the Powers History page), and the ship Goodfellow sailed from Waterford in 1654 (the same year Walter landed in the New World), along with many other Irish refugees. Unfortunately, a roster listing those who sailed the Goodfellow that year also has not been located.

After settling in Concord Village (now Littleton, Mass.), Walter worked for Ralph Shepard, a Puritan minister who escaped religious persecution in England. After six years (about the time it took to work off the cost of forced transportation from Ireland), Walter married his master's daughter, Trial Shepard. County records list the date on "ye eleventh day of ye first month, 1660, to Trial, daughter of Deacon Ralph and Thankes."

Because the Town of Littleton, and the Shepard family, have very strong ties to Essex, England, and because of the documented Powers that begin to appear in English records around the time of the Norman invasion in 1066, there is some speculation that Walter was born in Bedford, England, and not Ireland. A very interesting account of early colonial life that addresses this issue can be found in Thomas Kree's historical account of the origin of Powers and Kree families (many thanks to Lorrie Scott for making this work available).

At any rate, we do know that Walter and his new bride, Trial, established a large family of seven sons and two daughters, many of whom lived in and around the Littleton, Mass., area for nearly five generations, with very active involvement in the civic and economic activities of their communities. Walter established a family household and sawmill on a tract of land that consisted of one fourth of the Indian village of Nashoba. Walter obtained this land from his former master and now father-in-law, Deacon Ralph Shepard, who purchased the whole village of Nashoba from Thomas Waban and other Indians.

The land and timber served as an economic opportunity for Walter, an uneducated Irish immigrant. He and his sons built the Powers homestead with hard work, clearing the land, farming and establishing a sawmill to help build houses and other structures for their fast-growing colonial town. The house was built on the north side of Quagony Hill, which was near Magog Pond, an ideal location for a sawmill. Trial, his wife, appears to be a woman with some education, and from the positions their sons took in the developing township, we can presume they were fairly well educated for their times. Their son, Isaac, served as the moderator of the very first town meeting of Littleton.

The old Powers homestead is no longer standing, and the old Power burying ground has been robbed and converted into a field, with the old stone markers removed and used in a stone fence. However, many of the tombstones, including Walter's, have been relocated to a nearby cemetery. He died at home on the family homestead on 22 Feb 1709. Walter's will is recorded in the book of the Register of Deeds, Middlesex County, Mass. Nmemoe originally shared this to "From Whence We Came."

Burial: Power Burying Ground Littleton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts Concord Village (Littleton after 1715), Middlesex County, Massachusetts Note: where in May 1853, the gravestones [Walter Power and Trial SheppardPower] were found by Amos H. Powers and Herman Powers in a stone fence. ^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ https://www.seekingmyroots.com/members/files/G005127.pdf
2. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106620760/walter-powers

• Court Record for Walter and Tryall Powers

• A Genealogical Record of the Power(s) Families, Author: Powers, Franklin E. Publication: the author, Aurora, Colo., 1974 Repository: #R2 Call Number: 929.273 P872pf

• Powers Fam. Author: Crutchett, Ralph H.; Crutchett, Isabel Publication: 1965 Repository: #R2 Call Number: 929.273 A1 no.759

• Dr. Gilman Frost's Genealogical Records of Hanover, New Hampshire,Format: 15 microfilm reels Abbreviation: Dr. Frost's Gen. Recs. of Hanover Author: Frost, Gilman DuBois Publication: Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1972