Josiah Sawyer (1709 - 1792)

Born 12 Apr 1709 in Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Ordway) Sawyer — married 25 Dec 1735 in Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts Bay

Descendants

Died 10 Jun 1792 at age 83 in South Hampton, Rockingham, New Hampshire, USA

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Biography

Josiah Sawyer was born in 1709 in the section of Newbury to later become known as the West Parish. He was the son of Josiah Sawyer and Tirza Bartlett.^[1]

He married his second cousin Mary Ordway in Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts on Dec. 25, 1735.^[2] Josiah and Mary shared Bartlett Great-grandparents.

Josiah and Mary settled in Amesbury, directly across the river from their childhood homes in the western section of Newbury. And in 1741 when the border was established with New Hampshire, they found themselves living in South Hampton, New Hampshire, which was carved from parts of Amesbury and nearby towns. The baptisms of their children, however, continued to be recorded in their home church of Newbury, in some cases specifically identified as "Josiah and Mary from Southampton". Their families had been instrumental in establishing (in Newbury in 1712) only the second Episcopal church in all of New England, and there was yet no equivalent in Amesbury/ South Hampton. The following nine baptisms are recorded in the vital records of Newbury, the seven oldest per Church Records of Queen Anne's Episcopal Chapel in Newbury and the youngest two in the newer (Newbury) St. Paul's Episcopal Church, built 1740^[3][4]:

1. Josiah, b. 28 Jan. 1736/37 (Amesbury); bpt. 10 Apr. 1737
2. Israel, b. 19 Sep. 1739 (Amesbury); bpt. 18 Nov. 1739
3. Mathias, b. 25 Aug. 1741 (Amesbury); bpt. 6 Sep. 1741
4. John, b. 7 Apr. 1744 (Amesbury); bpt. 3 May 1744
5. Hannah, b. 25 Apr. 1746; bpt. 1 June 1746
6. Richard, b. 20 May 1748; bpt. 4 June 1748
7. Moses, b. 21 Aug. 1750; bpt. 4 Sep. 1750
8. Molly, b. 12 Jan. 1754; bpt. 14 Apr. 1754, and
9. Tirzah, b. 15 July 1758; bpt. 27 Aug. 1758.

Josiah was one of South Hampton's signers of the "Association Test" in 1776.^[5]

Josiah passed away in South Hampton, New Hampshire on June 10, 1792, at the age of 83.^[6] His wife survived him by just less than four years. The couple were buried side by side in Old South Hampton Cemetery.^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ Vital Records of Newbury, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849 (Essex Institute, Salem, Mass., 1911)| Volume 1, Page 465
2. ↑ Vital Records of Newbury, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849 (Essex Institute, Salem, Mass., 1911)| Volume 2, Part 2, Page 441
3. ↑ Vital Records of Newbury, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849 (Essex Institute, Salem, Mass., 1911)| Volume 1, Pages 464-468
4. ↑ Ould Newbury, Historical and Biographical Sketches (Damrell and Upham, Boston, 1896)| Page 385
5. ↑ Jewell, Benjamin. Religious History of South Hampton, N. H. (The News-letter Steam Job Print., Exeter, N.H., 1881) Page 84: Josiah Sawyer signed the "Association Test", along with his sons Israel and Richard.
6. ↑ A Genealogy of Some of the Descendants of William Sawyer, of Newbury, Mass. (W.E. Moore, Manchester, N.H., 1889) Page 7
7. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #46493279 for Josiah Sawyer

See Also:

• Family Search | Josiah Sawyer
• Family of William Sawyer of Newbury- William Appleton, NEHGR- Vol. 28, pp. 196 (Apr. 1874)| NEHGR 28: page 196
• Sawyier, Nathaniel. A Genealogy of Some of the Descendants of William Sawyer, of Newbury, Mass. (W.E. Moore, Manchester, N.H., 1889) Page 7
• Appleton, William. Some Descendants of William Sawyer, of Newbury, Mass. (D. Clapp & Son, Boston, 1891) Page 4