Ensign John HATHAWAY

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Son of Nicholas Hathaway

Notes:

Name:
In 1658 he together with Edward Bobet and Timothy Holloway purchased of Rev. Nicholas Street 400 acres 'of meadow and upland', in that part of Taunton which later became the town of Berkley. A part of this tract was later known as 'The Farms', and a portion is still in possession of his descendants.

The people of Taunton wishing to acquire more lands entered into negotiations with the Indians for the tracts knowns as North and South Purchases. He was a member of the association which conducted the negotiations and served with a committee in surveying and dividing these purchases. In 1671 he purchased of Nathaniel Morton the 18th lot of the Freetown lands and installed thereon his eldest son John Hathaway Jr. In 1676 and again in 1690 he was elected constable, at that time a position of great responsibility and power; was several times elected a deputy to the Plymouth General Court, served four years as selectman and served in King William's War.

He associated with a company which in 1695 set up a 'Bloomery' or forge on Stony Brook, which was called the 'Chartley Iron Works', afterwards known as the Leonard Iron Works" of Norton. He gave lands for a portion of what is now Fox cemetery.

John married Martha SHEPARD in 1649. Martha died about 1684 in Berkley, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. John HATHAWAY was born in 1650; died in 1730.
2. Deacon Abraham HATHAWAY was born on 11 Sep 1652 in Taunton, Bristol Co., Massachusetts; died on 23 Aug 1725.
3. Ephraim HATHAWAY was born about 1661 in Berkley, Massachusetts; died on 29 Dec 1717 in Dighton, Bristol County, Massachusetts.

John married Ruth ? on 25 Oct 1692 in Braintree, Massachusetts. Ruth was born about 1643; died on 10/11 Sep 1705 in Taunton, Bristol Co., Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]