Dexter, Mary

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bgproperties="fixed" background="096f2f02egerdp.jpg"> <div> <A HREF="id119.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Families Allied To Daggetts"><U><B>Families Allied to Daggetts</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=370 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="099f0f03.jpg"> <div> <I>Dexter, Mary</I></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="57bc9520.jpg" border=0 width="201" height="338" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">    <I>     </I>                         </div> <div>           <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#660000" FACE="Arial" >            Thomas Dexter and Elizabeth Barsbie</FONT></div> <bR> <div>      Thomas Dexter came to Lynn, MA in 1630. He later removed to Sandwich, MA in 1648. By 1657 he had moved to Barnstable, MA. Thomas later returned to Boston, MA. He was there by 1673, and it was there he died in 1677.</div> <bR> <div>      Thomas Dexter came to New England with Governor Winthrop in 1630.  He is thought to have been born about 1594 in Bristol, England.  Little is known of his early life there.  He married about 1619 and he  brought his wife Elizabeth Barsbie Dexter, his four children, and several servants to the new settlement. It is thought that his wife died a few years after she arrived.</div> <bR> <div>      Thomas had received an excellent education. He wrote in a beautiful court hand; he was a man of great energy of character, public spirited, and ever ready to contribute of his means, and use his influence in promoting any enterprise which he judged to be for the interest of the infant colony. He did his own thinking, and was independent and fearless in the expression of his opinions. Such were the leading traits in the character of Mr. Dexter; but it must be admitted that his energy of character bordered on stubbornness, and his independence of  thought on indiscretion and self will.</div> <bR> <div>      In the year 1630, in the prime of his life. and with ample means, he settled on a farm of eight hundred acres in the town of Lynn.  In the cultivation of his lands he employed many servants, and was called by way of eminence, Farmer Dexter. His house was on the west side of the Saugus River, above where the ironworks were later built. Much of the land where the Saugus Ironworks were built had been Dexter's property.</div> <bR> <div>      In March, 1631, he had a quarrel with Governor Endicott, in which the Salem  Magistrate struck Mr. Dexter, who complained to the Court in Boston.  Mr. Endicott in his defense, says "I hear I am much complained of by Goodman Dexter for striking him; understanding since it is not lawful for a justice of the peace to strike. But if you had seen the manner of his carriage, with such daring of me, with his arms akimbo, it would have provoked a very patient man. He has given out,  if I had a purse he would make me empty of it, and if he cannot have justice here, he will do wonders in England; and if he cannot prevail there, he will try  it out with me here at blows. If it were lawful for me to try it at blows, and he a fit man for me to deal with, you would not hear me complain."</div> <div>  The jury gave the verdict to Mr. Dexter, assessing the damage at £10 sterling [About $44.44]</div> <bR> <div> Thomas Dexter, Sr.  was made a freeman on May 18, 1631.</div> <bR> <div>  In 1633, he built a weir across the Saugus River for the purpose of taking bass and alewives, of which many were dried and smoked for shipment. He also built a mill and bridge across the Saugus River. He was the manager and principal owner in these pursuits. His name appears frequently in the records of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay.</div> <bR> <div> There are many interesting stories </div> <div>  about Mr. Dexter :</div> <bR> <div> On March 4, 1632  he was admonished</div> <div>  by the General Court.</div> <div> "Thomas Dexter shall be set in the bilbowes, </div> <div> disfanchised and fined £40 for speaking </div> <div> reproachful and seditious words</div> <div> against the government here established,</div> <div>  and finding fault </div> <div> to diverse with the acts of the Court,</div> <div> saying this captious </div> <div> government will bring all to naught,</div> <div>  adding that the best </div> <div> of them was but an attorney, etc..". </div> <bR> <div>  [Bilboes were stocks</div> <div>  set up near the meeting house in Lynn, </div> <div> in which the hands </div> <div> and feet of the culprit were confined]</div> <bR> <bR> <div> In general amnesty on September 6, 1638, £30 of this fine was remitted. Thomas Dexter</div> <div> was in court often  because of his sometimes violent temper and lack of constraint.</div> <bR> <div>      Lands in Sandwich on Cape Cod were granted to Mr. Dexter in 1637. He, along with nine of his neighbors in Lynn went to Sandwich to form a township. The ten were, Edmund Freeman, William Almy, Richard Chadwell, Edward Dillingham, John Carman, Thomas Tupper, Benjamin Nye, Thomas Greenfield and Thomas Landers. He stayed only one year, leaving his son  Thomas in charge of the grist mill he built.</div> <bR> <div>      Dexter was given a land grant of 350 acres in the Lynn land division in 1638.</div> <bR> <div>      October 24, 1638, "Thomas Dexter of Lynne..., yeoman...for my natural love and good affection that I bear unto my son & heir apparent, Thomas Dexter" granted him one mansion house and appurtenances, and one water mill, and six hundred acres of land, meadow and pasture to the said mansion house belonging "lying and being in Sandwich by the Indians heretofore called Shawme" in Plymouth Colony, and if "my said sone....shall not think good to accept of the premises hereby granted, that I will pay him the sum of five hundred pounds upon reasonable demands". On October 30, 1638, the previous deed was amended to include Thomas Dexter's gift of oxen, plough and a horse and to commit to writing the agreement  that young Thomas would "pay or cause to be paid unto Mary Dexter & Frances Dexter the [Thomas the elder's] daughters, for and towards their portions the sum of one hundred pounds" each when the younger Thomas "shall enter into & upon the said lands...after his marriage, or at such time as he or his executors...shall demand & receive the said five hundred pounds, in case the said Thomas Dexter above bounden should marry a wife and die at sea before his return into these parts of New England, or not be well advanced in marriage according to the good liking of the said Thomas Dexter, the father"</div> <bR> <div>      On January 25, 1646/7, Thomas Dexter of Lynn, yeoman, sold to "Richard Ledder" land</div> <div>      "for the use of the ironworks, all that land which by reason of a dam now agreed to be made shall overflow and all sufficient ground for a watercourse from the dam to the works be erected, and also all the land between the ancient watercourse and the next extended flume or watercourse together with five acres and a half of land lying in the cornfield most convenient for the ironworks and also tow convenient cartways that is to say one on each side of the premises as by a deed indented bearing date the twenty-seventh of January, 1645 more at large appeareth."</div> <div> He became a part owner in the forge, and contracted to supply flux rock for the furnace. </div> <bR> <div>      By 1646, he had purchased two farms in Barnstable, adjoining the mill stream. It is thought he may have built the first mill in West Barnstable, and the old stone fort there. He led a quiet life there. His name appears on the list of jurymen in the town, and as a surety for the persecuted Quakers. This shows he did not side with the Barlow group who opposed those of the Quaker faith. He had eight cases before the court of law between 1648 and 1649, mostly for the collection of debts. He recovered in seven of those cases.</div> <bR> <div>      While in Lynn, he manufactured tar from the pine trees in the Nahant lands.</div> <bR> <div>      The Dexter's were  hard masters. Thomas Jenner found it necessary to write from Saco April 6, 1646 to John Winthrop asking Winthrop see to the matter of a child of a Mrs. Allin of Casco whose only son had been placed " by Mr. Tucker and Mr. Cleaves" with one Goodman Dexter of Lyn". "The truth is the boy is used very hardly: I saw the youth at Dexter's own house most miserable in clothing, never did I see any worse in New England.".[WP 5:77]</div> <bR> <div>      </div> <div>      On August 4, 1646, Thomas Dexter, Sr. was admonished for "sleeping in time of service". [Church Records, Lynn, MA]</div> <bR> <div>      Dexter was heard to say over the dying body of young Thomas Fish, crushed in the collapse of a bank at the mill dam, that " It is to late to go to work today."</div> <div> [ PCR 7:43-44]</div> <bR> <div>      Mr. Dexter had been insulted in some fashion by  Samuel Hutchinson. He met him one day on the road ".... and  jumping form his horse, he bestowed about twenty blows on his head and shoulders, to the no small danger and deray of his senses, as well as sensibilities."</div> <bR> <div>      On March 31, 1646 Samuel Hutchinson sued Thomas Dexter of Lynn for assault and battery and won a 40 shilling judgment against him. The depositions of several neighbors who were going to work and passed " Goodman Dexter's " said that Dexter struck Hutchinson " with the great end of his stick about twenty blows, that the man was a quiet man and the Goodman Dexter had no cause to complain."</div> <bR> <div>      In 1656 while a resident of Barnstable, there arose a dispute concerning a bridge and causeway built by Mr. Dexter across his own meadow. The bridge spanned Scorton Creek. He made these improvements to his property in 1652. It was a better bridge and a more convenient one than the older bridge built by Barnstable men some years before. By 1656 the county road passed by this property. The town wanted to use Mr. Dexter's bridge, and since it was his and he maintained it, he asked for a toll from people who used it. The town disputed his position  on the matter, and a lengthy court battle commenced. It took five years to settle, and in the end  he prevailed, although the fight was costly in his loss of friendships  as well as monetarily.</div> <bR> <div>      On June 30, 1657 Thomas Dexter sued the town of Lynn for trespass, claiming heat he owned Nahant. Among the many depositions brought in regard to this case, "Christopher Linse" succinctly stated "Thomas Dexter bought Nahant of Black Will or Duke William [Indian Sachem Poquanum] , and employed him [Linse] to fence part of it when he lived with Thomas Dexter." William Winter, age seventy three years or thereabouts, remembered that "Black Will or Duke William....came to my house [which was two or three miles from Nahant] when Thomas Dexter had bought Nahant from him for a suit of clothes" and asked him what he would give for the land Winter's house stood on. </div> <div> [EQC 2:43].</div> <div>      </div> <div> The court found for the defendants. Thomas Dexter and his son-in-law Richard Wooddy appealed.</div> <bR> <div> [This land was purchased  by Mr. Dexter  in 1637, before the law was passed concerning private purchase of land from the Indians. By 1657, Mr. Dexter was not a resident of the town, and the town decided to divide up the land among the residents, based on the premise that the sale  Mr. Dexter made had  been illegal.]</div> <bR> <div>      There were several boundary disputes in Sandwich, Barnstable and Lynn.</div> <div> It is evident that Farmer Dexter did not mince words  nor did he shy away from confrontation when he thought he had been wronged. He was not a meek individual.</div> <bR> <div>      During his life he built a fisheries weir, a grist mill,  a bridge across the Saugus River and he was foremost in establishing the Saugus Iron Works in Lynn. He built a grist mill in Sandwich and a causeway and grist mill in Barnstable.</div> <bR> <div>      He was a member of the Puritan Church, yet liberal in his views. No immorality was ever laid to his charge.</div> <bR> <div>      In 1657 he took the oath of fidelity and was admitted a freeman of the Plymouth Colony on June 1, 1658. </div> <bR> <div>       He spent his last eighteen years quietly in retirement on his farm  at Scorton Hill in Barnstable. He was on the Barnstable list of freemen on March 29, 1670. In 1675  he went to Boston to the home of his married daughter Mary, wife of Captain James Oliver. Captain Oliver was a well to do merchant in Boston.</div> <bR> <div>      On October 26, 1676 Samuel Sewall wrote in his diary "..had a very good supper at Mr. Dexter's"[ Sewall 27]</div> <bR> <div>       He lived in Boston with Mary's family until he died at an advanced age sometime before February 9, 1677. He is buried in the Oliver family tomb which is located in the King's Chapel Burying Ground in the city of Boston.</div> <bR> <div>       Administration was taken on the estate of "Thomas Dexter Senior" on February 9, 1677 by his son-in-law, Captain Oliver and his grandson and namesake, Thomas Dexter, Jr. The grandson soon died, and in court in November 1679, "Ensign Ri[chard] Woodde", son-in-law of Thomas Sr. and husband of his daughter Frances was named in his place.</div> <bR> <div>      The family continued to pursue their claim to the Nahant lands. The court battles lasted for thirty eight years. They did not win their case.</div> <bR> <div>      Thomas Dexter retained the lands given to him by his father  in Sandwich, and  his brother, William retained the Scornton Farm in West Barnstable, as well as his personal estate for his own use.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Ensign Thomas Dexter, Jr. and Mary Elizabeth Vincent</div> <bR> <div>      Thomas, Jr. was born in England about 1620, before his family emigrated to New England in 1630. By 1637, the family was in Sandwich, MA. His father resided in Sandwich for only one year. While there he built a grist mill. The father signed over the deed to all his property in the area to his son Thomas, who was still unmarried. It seems that young Tom may have been a mariner, or he may have returned to England for a short time before his marriage. One of the conditions of the deed to the Sandwich lands states that "in case the said Thomas Dexter [ Jr. ], above bounden should marry a wife and die at sea before his return into these parts of New England...."</div> <bR> <div>      By March of 1645, he was named as an inhabitant of Sandwich. His father  had returned to Lynn. In 1647 he was keeper of the mill built in 1640.</div> <bR> <div>      Tom operated the town grist mill for many years and was a large land owner and farmer. In June of 1647 he was chosen constable.</div> <bR> <div>      On November 8, 1648, Tom married Mary Elizabeth Vincent, daughter of John Vincent, also of Sandwich.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div>      They had six children:</div> <div> Mary born August 11, 1649</div> <div> Elizabeth born September 21, 1651 Died young</div> <div> Thomas born about 1653</div> <div> John  born about 1656</div> <div> Elizabeth April 7, 1660</div> <div> Abigail June 12, 1663</div> <bR> <div>      In 1655 Tom was commissioned at the request of the inhabitants of Sandwich as Ensign of the company of milita. He served on petty and grand juries, was a surveyor of highways and also held several other municipal offices.  Thomas earned the respected title of "Mister" and later, being a large land owner, he was called "Gentleman".  He appears to have been a worthy man, enterprising and useful, a good citizen and neighbor.</div> <bR> <div>      In 1680 he held a license to keep an ordinary or public house for the entertainment of strangers. He did not inherit his father's litigious spirit, although he did inherit some boundary disputes which were settled amicably.</div> <bR> <bR> <div>      Thomas died in Sandwich on December 30, 1686. He was about sixty six years of age. He died intestate. His appraisers left an interesting account of his wealth.</div> <bR> <div>  His estate was valued at £491.5 shilling which was very large for those times. He owned two hundred and forty acres of land on the plains valued at £12, or one shilling per acre. He owned four valuable tracts of meadow, one on the north of the town neck valued at £30, one at the islands near the land of James Allen, £90, one below John Chipman's new house, £4 and one at Pine Island at £40. He also had two dwelling houses, one was his residence, about a ½ mile south of the glass factory village. It had two stories and was appraised at £40. His barn, cornhouse £10, home lot of ten acres £30 and the twenty acres adjoining lots valued at £20. His other dwelling was occupied by his son John and he ran the farm on which it was situated, with twenty eight acres of "meane land", two parcels of meadow that  "belongs to the seate" and eight acres at £80. The mill, now known as the town mill and "all her appurtenances", £50.</div> <div> He also had a pair of oxen, £5, a Negro slave, £20, seven cows, one steer £12, twenty eight sheep, £5, one mare, £2, one colt, ten shillings, silverware, £5.5 shillings, household furniture, clothing, tools, etc. £25.10 shillings.</div> <bR> <div>      His heirs signed their agreement to settle the estate on February 16, 1686/87. His widow, Elizabeth signed along with their son John. John also signed for his deceased brother, Thomas. Elizabeth Dexter signed in her own right. Daniel Allen of Swansea signed in the right of Mary Dexter Allen, his wife, and Jonathan Hallett in the right of his wife, Abigail Dexter Hallett. This will also provides proof of the early death of Thomas, son of Thomas and Mary.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Mary Dexter </div> <bR> <div>      Mary was born in Sandwich, MA on August 11, 1649. She was the daughter of Ensign Thomas and Mary Elizabeth [Vincent] Dexter. </div> <bR> <div>      She spent her early years in the Cape Cod town as the daughter of the town miller.</div> <bR> <div>      Mary married Daniel Allen of Sandwich on December 17, 1671. She was twenty two. She and Daniel removed to Swansea. A daughter Elizabeth was born to them there on September 28, 1673, and on January 26, 1674/75 their daughter Christian joined the family It is from Christian that we are descended.</div> <bR> <div>      Life in Swansea became very dangerous, as tensions mounted between the Indians and settlers. To protect his family, Daniel moved them back to Sandwich while the war with King Phillip escalated. The family returned to Swansea after the war.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>