Shadrach Thayer (bef. 1629 - 1678)

Born before 9 May 1629 in Thornbury, Gloucestershire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Barret) Thayer — married 1 Jan 1655 in Braintree, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Husband of Deliverance (Priest) Thayer — married 12 Jul 1661 in Weymouth, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died 19 Oct 1678 after age 49 in Braintree, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Shadrach Thayer migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Parentage; Date and Place of Birth; Name

Shadrach Thayer, son of Thomas Thayer and Margery (Wheeler) Thayer, was baptized on May 9, 1629 in Thornbury, Gloucestershire, England.^[1][2][3][4] It is thus likely that Shadrach was born there sometime in early 1629.^[3] His parentage is established by, among other things, one of the records of his death that identifies him as son of "Old Thomas Thayer"^[5] and by a bequest to "my sonne Shadrach Thayer" in Thomas Thayer's will.^[6]

Shadrach's name is spelled variously in the records as Shadrach, Shadrack, Sedrack, Sidrick, Sidrack, Sydrach and Sydrack. Shadrach's baptismal record, and most of the records for his father and other family members in England, spell his last name as "Tayer"; however, records for Shadrach in New England generally spell his last name as "Thayer" and, sometimes, "Thare."

Emigration to New England

Shadrach probably emigrated from England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony sometime before 1640, when he was a boy or 11 or less, as there is a February 1639/40 record of a grant of 40 acres to "Thomas Tayer, of [Monaticott at Mount Woollystone], for 9 heads,"^[7] which shows that his father and his family were already living at Mount Wollaston (which later became Braintree)^[8] in February 1639/40. Shadrach was presumably one of the "9 heads."

No source has been found that suggests which ship he and his family may have arrived on.

First Marriage and Children

Shadrach married, first, Mary Barrett in Braintree on January 1, 1654/5 in Braintree.^[9][3][10]

Shadrach and Mary had the following children, all born in Braintree:

1. Rachel, b. October 9, 1655, d. Nov. 23, 1656 in Braintree
2. Tryall, b. February 7, 1657/8, m. September 19, 1677 John Burge in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, d. January 1, 1737 in Chelmsford

Shadrach's first wife, Mary, died in Braintree on April 2, 1658.^[11][10]

Second Marriage and Children

Shadrach married, second, Deliverance Priest. There is no record of their marriage in Bate's compilation of Braintree records.^[12] However, the Weymouth, Massachusetts Vital Records include a record of the marriage of Deliverance Priest and Shidrac Gore on July 12, 1661,^[13] which almost certainly is a record of their marriage, with "Gore" being a mistranscription of what was probably "Tare" in the original. In support, Torrey's shows Deliverance and Shadrach being married in Weymouth on that date.^[14]

Shadrach and Deliverance had the following children, all born in Braintree:

1. Freelove, b. June 30, 1662, d. August 5, 1662 in Braintree
2. Mary, b. December 4, 1663, m. May 17, 1686 Samuel Bagley in Taunton, Massachusetts, d. December 29, 1713 in Braintree
3. Timothy, b. May 1666, probably died young
4. Samuel, b. September 7, 1667, m. January 18, 1693/4 Susanna Scant in Braintree, d. April 2, 1706 in Braintree
5. Ephraim, b. January 17, 1669/70, m. Sarah Bass, January 7, 1691/2 in Braintree, d. June 15, 1757 in Braintree
6. Hannah, b. October 2, 1672, d. February 5, 1677/8 in Braintree
7. William, b. August 1, 1675, m. September 22, 1699 Hannah (Newcomb) Hayward in Braintree, d. May 5, 1727 in Easton, Massachusetts

Shadrach's second wife, Deliverance, survived him and died in Braintree on January 17, 1723, age 78.^[15]

Miscellaneous Life Facts

According to Sprague, Shadrach is not in the list of freemen of the Plymouth Colony, which Sprague suggests was probably due to his not being a member of the church. He wife, Deliverance was admitted to full communion after his death.^[3]

In his 1664 will, Shadrach's father bequeathed "unto my sonne, Shadrach Thayer, his heirs and assigns, next and immediately after the disease of my said wife, Margery, a parcel of land in Braintree, aforesaid, which shall begin in the corner of the barn next his dwelling house, and shall run in a straight line to the upper end of the lot."^[6]

Shadrach lived on his father's homestead on the westerly part.^[3]

In September 1664, James Priest appointed his son-in-law "Shadrach Tore of Brauntry" to be in lawful attorney in connection with settling the estate of his son, James Priest, Jr., who had "unnaturally made away himselfe" (committed suicide).^[16]

Shadrach brought the following claim at the General Court at Plymouth in October 1665: "Sidrack Thayer, of Brantrey, complained against John Briggs, of Taunton, in an action of the case, to the damage of thirty pounds, for the non payment of eighteen pounds, which hee refuseth to satisfy. This was taken up by agreement of both parties before jury verdict came in."^[17]

In his March 1675/6 will, Shadrach's father-in-law, James Priest, bequeathed to "my son Sedrack Thare" "my lott of twenty seaven acres lying in Waymouth woods butting upon Laingham line,"^[18] while in her May 1676 will, Shadrach's mother-in-law, Elizabeth Priest, appointed "my son Sydrack Thare" as her executor.^[19]

Death, Burial, Estate

Shadrach died in Braintree on October 19, 1678.^[5][3] According to his Find-A-Grave page, he was buried at Hancock Cemetery, Quincy.^[20]

Shadrach died intestate. His inventory included a dwelling house, outhouse, orchards and 12 acres of land.^[3]

Research Notes

Marriage record Marriage record for Mary Barrett and Shadrach Thayer: Braintree records say 11 mo 1. From other Braintree marriage records it is clear that the month is given first, followed by the day. In this case, the marriage occurred on the first day of the 11th month, which is 1 of January in the Julian (old calendar).^[9]

^{[14] [18] [19] [16] [8] [7] [17] [1] [2] [6] [13] [3] [10] [12] [11] [5] [9] [15] [20]}

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Clifford L. Scott, "The Gloucestershire T(hayer) Ancestry," The American Genealogist, Volume 73, No. 2 (April 1998), p 86
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} "Tayer (Thayer) Family Entried in the Parish Register of Thornbury, Gloucestershire, England," The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 60 (1906), Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, p 285
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7} Shadrach Thayer rootsweb page based on Waldo Chamberlain Sprague, "Genealogies of the Families of Braintree, Norfolk, Mass., 1640-1850," pp 330, 4872, 4878
4. ↑ Shadrach Tayer "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NG4S-RZZ : 11 February 2018, Shadrach Tayer, 09 May 1629); citing , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 427,790. Note: no parent is listed.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} "Records of the Town of Braintree 1640-1793," Samuel A. Bates, ed., 1886, p. 656: "Old Thomas Thayer Died 4 of 2d month 1665. His son Shadrack died 19 Oct 1678."
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} Thayer, Bezaleel. "Memorial of the Thayer Name," (R.J. Oliphant, Oswego, 1874), p 184
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} "Second Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston: Boston Records 1634-1660 and the Book of Possession," 2d edition, 1881, p 50
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} "Historic Information," Town of Braintree, Massachusetts
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2} "Records of the Town of Braintree 1640-1793," Samuel A. Bates, ed., 1886, p 716: "Sidrick Thayer, and Mary Barrett were married the 11th mo. 1, 1654, by Capt. Tory of Waymoth."
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2} Nora E. Snow, The Snow-Estes Ancestry, Format: 2 vols.; Hillburn, NY:the author (1939), p 219
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} "Records of the Town of Braintree 1640-1793," Samuel A. Bates, ed., 1886, p 637: "Mary the wife of Sidrick Thayer dyed the 2, mo. 2, 1657 [2 Apr 1658]"
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1} "Records of the Town of Braintree 1640-1793," Samuel A. Bates, ed., 1886
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1} "Vital Records of Weymouth, Massachusetts to the Year 1850, Volume II - Marriages and Deaths," New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1910, p 156
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1} Torrey, Clarence A. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004, p 734
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1} "Records of the Town of Braintree 1640-1793," Samuel A. Bates, ed., 1886, p 726: "Deliverance Thayer, the widow of Shadrack Thayer Died ye 17th Day of January 1723, in ye 79th year of her age."
16. ↑ ^{16.0 16.1} "The Probate Records of Essex County, Massachusetts, Volume I 1635-1664," The Essex Institute, 1916, pp 452-3
17. ↑ ^{17.0 17.1} "Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England, Miscellaneous Records 1633-1689," Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, ed., 1857, p 126
18. ↑ ^{18.0 18.1} Suffolk County (Massachusetts) Probate Records, Vol 5-7, 1666-1674, James Preist
19. ↑ ^{19.0 19.1} Suffolk County (Massachusetts) Probate Records, Vol 5-7, 1666-1674, Elizabeth Preist
20. ↑ ^{20.0 20.1} Shadrach Thayer on Find A Grave: Memorial #36226274 Retrieved 17 January, 2018. created by Diana L. Brace]

See also:

• John Adams Vinton, The Vinton Memorial: Comprising a Genealogy of the Descendants of John Thayer of Lynn, 1648: Also, Genealogical Sketches of Several Allied Families, Boston: S. K. Whipple and Company (1858), pp 361-2
• Thayer, Bezaleel. Memorial of the Thayer Name (R.J. Oliphant, Oswego, 1874); page 185, page 587
• J. Gardner Bartlett (ed.), John Hill of Dorcester, Mass., 1633, and five generations of his descendants also ancestral lines of some families intermarried with his descendants and Colonial and Revolutionary Records pertaining to them. Also an account of the Hill family of Poundsford, Somersetshire, England, Boston: Printed for private circulation by Lew C. Hill. (1904), p. 34.
• Barrett, William. Genealogy of Some of The Descendants of Thomas Barrett, Sen., of Braintree, Mass., 1635 (D. Ramaley & Son, Saint Paul, Minn., 1888); p. 10
• Madalene R. Barnett, The Descendants of Moses and Mary (Dow) Barrett, Waco, TX: Author (1982), pp i-vii, "Introduction"