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Gregory Belcher
of
Braintree, Massachusetts


First Generation

1. GREGORY(1) BELCHER, b. c.30 Mar 1606, Aston, co. Warwick, England, d. 25 Nov 1674 @ age 68;
 m. 11 Dec 1627, Mancetter, Warwick, CATHERINE ALCOCK, b. c.1610, England, d. 20 Jul 1680, Braintree
 @ age abt. 70.[9] He was in New England as early as 1637; and on 30 Dec 1639, was granted a lot of 52
 acres at Mount Wollaston (Braintree), for 13 heads, paying 3 shillings per acre for the same (Boston Town Records).
 Here he settled, was admitted a freeman on 13 May 1640; and was made a Selectman in 1646.
 He deposed in Jun 1665 aged about 60 years (Essex Co. Records). By occupation he was a farmer. On 14 Jul 1664,
 he purchased of John Smith, 9 acres of land in Milton, which he gave to his son, Joseph Belcher, for a marriage
 portion. On 6 Jan 1657/58 he obtained a lease of the Salter farm in Braintree, from the estate of William Tyng of
 Boston; and on 15 Jan 1666/67, Gregory Belcher and others bought the Salter farm for L900; Belcher's interest
 being one eigth.[10] On 26 Mar 1670, Gregory Belcher and his son-in-law, Alexander Marsh,
 purchased the Iron Works, with 200 acres of land in Braintree; and on 18 May 1671, the same parties bought
40 acres in Braintree Plain of Henry Crane,[11]

He died 25 Nov 1674 @ age 68. The inventory of his estate, showing a total of 629 pounds 5 shillings,
was represented by his widow, 29 Jan 1674/75, proved 20 Jul 1680; gives to son, Josiah,  a cow ' if he molest not
my son Moses in his present dwelling and posessions"; to son, John, a cow and a horse; to daughters, Elizabeth
 Gilbert & Mary Marsh, and granddaughter, Mary Marsh, some household effects; "to son Moses (who hath all
 his life carried himself so dutifully to myself and gis father) the great Bible and the whole house and land he now
possesses which I declare his father gave him." Sons, Moses Belcher & Alexander Marsh, executors.
On 9 Jul 1680, Josiah Belcher, of Boston entered a caveat against the probate of any Will said to be made by
his late mother, Catherine Belcher, of Braintree, wid. deceased, until he be present. (Suffolk Co. Probate)[12]
                                   Children: ( Born, Braintree, Norfolk Co.[13] )
                                   i     Elizabeth(2) Belcher; m. Braintree, Thomas Gilbert, who was in Braintree in 1646.[14]
                            2.    ii    Josiah(2) Belcher, b. c.1631.
                            3.    iii   John(2) Belcher, b. c.1633.
                            4.    iv   Moses(2) Belcher, b. c.1635.
                            5.    v    SAMUEL(2) BELCHER, b. 24 Aug 1637.
                                   vi    Mary(2) Belcher, b. 8 Jul 1639; m. 19 Dec 1655, Alexander Marsh, of Braintree.
                            6.    vi   Joseph(2) Belcher, b. 25 Dec 1641.


Second Generation

2. Josiah(2) Belcher ( 1.Gregory(1) ) b. 1631; was a Wheelwright; settled in Boston where he acquired an estate on
 the southeasterly corner of what is now (1906) Essex Street & Harrison Ave., measuring 126 feet on Essex Street
 and running back 285 feet to the water. He d. 3 Apr 1683, Boston @ age 52; bur. in the Granary Burying Ground
 where his gravestone still remains (1906). He m. 3 Mar 1654/55, Ranis, dau. of Edward & Elizabeth Rainsford.
 After the death of his widow, a partition was made of his estate among his surviving children on 20 Sep 1693.[16]
 Further deeds in relation to this property show that all his sons, except John & Benjamin, died without issue
and apparently unmarried and that the daughter, Dorothy, died without issue soon after her marriage.[17]
                                             Children: ( Born, Boston, Suffolk Co.[19] )
                                     i     Josiah(3) Belcher, b. 23 Dec 1655; served in Capt. James Oliver's Company in the
                                           Narraganset Campaign in the King Philip's War, took part in the Great Swamp Fight,
                                          19 Dec 1675. He d. unm.; and  was evidently the Josiah Belcher who drowned at
                                           Weymouth in the fall of 1682.[20]
                                            ii    John(3) Belcher, b. 9 Oct 1657, d. in infancy.
                               7.  iii   John(3) Belcher, b. 23 Dec 1659.
                                     iv   Jonathan(3) Belcher, b. 1 Sep 1661; was a Goldsmith in Boston; sold his interest in the
                                          paternal estate to his brother, Edward on 22 Nov 1693.[21]
                                        v  Elizabeth(3) Belcher, b. 10 Jul 1663; m. John Paine of Swansea.[22]
                                     vi   Joseph(3) Belcher, b. 4 Oct 1665; was a Spiwright, d. unm. btw. 1700 & 1708.[23]
                                             vii  Rebecca(3) Belcher, b. 31 Dec 1667; m. 30 Nov 1687, Lynn,  Joseph Fuller, Shipwright,
                                           who settled in Boston.[24]
                                           viii Edward(3) Belcher, b. 19 Jan 1669/70, d. unm. bef. 14 May 1700.[25]
                                     ix  Anna(3) Belcher, b. 13 Feb 1671/72; m. (int.) 26 Jan 1696/97, Joseph Johnson,
                                          Cooper, of Boston.
                                      x  Dorothy(3) Belcher, b. 28 Oct 1673; m. 19 Feb 1693/94, Edmund Gross of Boston.
                                          She d. soon after  marriage without issue.
                                     xi  Abigail(3) Belcher, b. 10 Mar 1674/75; living, unm. in Boston, 8 Jun 1717.
                                    xii Ruth(3) Belcher, b. 21 Dec 1678; m. 28 Dec 1703, Benjamin Tolman.
                              8.   xiii Benjamin(3) Belcher, b. 20 Mar 1680/81.

3. John(2) Belcher ( 1.Gregory(1) ) b. c.1633, d. 1693, intestate @ age abt. 60; m. c.1655, Sarah (--?--)
 who survived him. He was a Husbandman; resided in Braintree. During King Philip's War he performed several
month's service in the spring & summer of 1676 in the garrison at Northampton, Milton & Medfield. On his death
he left a very small estate, his son Josiah(3) Belcher being appointed administrator, 16 Nov 1693. The inventory
of his estate was valued at only 27 pounds & seven shillings and mentions "a poore house and ten acres of land,
 a piece of salt marsh, a little poorehousehold goods, and an old spitt."[26]
                                     Children: ( Born, Braintree, Norfolk Co.[27] )
                                      i      Sarah(3) Belcher, b. 27 Jun 1656; m. 13 Nov 1677, Samuel Irons.
                                      ii     John(3) Belcher, b. 1 Jan, d. 9 Feb 1658/59 @ age 1 mo+.
                                      iii    Joseph(3) Belcher, b. 23 Feb 1660/61.
                                      iv    John(3) Belcher, b. 10 Mar, d. 11 Mar 1662 @ age 1 day.
                                      v     Hanna(3) Belcher, b. 6 Apr 1664.
                                      vi    Mary(3) Belcher, b. 26 Dec 1666.
                              10.  vii    Josiah(3) Belcher, b. 26 Jun 1669.
                                      viii   Ruth(3) Belcher, b. c.1672, d. 23 Jun 1675 @ age abt. 3.

[9]   Internet: Ancestry.com
[10] VR: Suffolk Co. (Deeds) Vol. V, Page 229.
[11] Ibid: Vol. VII, Page 172.
[12] NEHGR: (Apr 1906) Vol. LX, Pages 128, 129.
[13] Ibid: Page 125.
[14] VR: Massachusetts Colonial Records, Vol. III, Page 527.
[15] VR: Suffolk Co. (Deeds) Vol. V, Page 527.
[16] Ibid: Vol. XIX, Page 158.
[17] Ibid: Vol. XL, Page 225; Vol. XLI, Page 210; Vol. XLVI, Page 90.
[18] Ibid: (Probate)
[19] NEGHR: (Apr 1906) Vol. LX, Page 129.
[20] Judge Sewell's Diary, Vol. I, Page 19.
[21] VR: Suffolk Co. (Deeds) Vol. XVI, Page 220 & Vol. XL, Page 225.
[22] Ibid: Vol. XXXV, Page 248.
[23] Ibid: Vol. XL, Page 225 & Vol. XLI, Page 210.
[24] Ibid: Vol. XL, Page 225.
[25] Ibid:
[26] Ibid: (Probate)
[27] NEGHR: (Apr 1906) Vol. XL, Page 130.

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