Oliver FARWELL

Oliver married Abigail HUBBARD on 25 Dec 1738. Abigail (daughter of Jonathan HUBBARD and Rebecca BROWN) was born on 25 Jun 1721 in Groton, New London County, Connecticut; died on 18 Aug 1789. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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On the 5th Sept. 1724, Lieut. French with ten men under his command, started for the rescue of two of their friends and townsmen, Thomas Blanchard and nathan Cross, who had been "carried off by the Indians the evening previous. Oliver Farwell was one of this company. On arriving at the place where the two men had been laboring, they found evidence that the men had been carried off alive, and concluding the captors and their prisoners could not be far distant, decided on instant pursuit. They therefore bent their way up the Merrimac till they reached what is now Thorntons Ferry. There they were waylaid, fired upon by Indians, and all killed except Josiah Farwell, nephew of Oliver, who was vigorously chased by them for some time without either gaining much advantage, till he darted into a thicket, where they lost sight of him, and fearing he might have reloaded, abandoned the pursuit. thus he alone escaped--to fall by the hand of the me savage enemy the next year. Fox says in Hist. of Dunstable, the captors were a company of French Mohawks, about seventy in number. A company immediately mustered and proceeded to the place to secure the bodies of their friends and townsmen. Eight were found, placed in coffins and buried in one caacious grave in the ancient Cemetery of Old Dunstable, now in the south part of the City of Nashua. Of the slain was Oliver Farwell, and on a small stone about two feet high is the following inscription:

OLIVER FARWELL WHO DIED SEPT. 5, 1724, IN THE 33D YEAR OF HIS AGE.

By reference to the will of his father Joseph, it will be seen that Oliver was chosen to take care of him and his wife during their natural lives; and if "he doth take the whose care of us both and to provide all things comfortable and necessary for us both in sickness and in health, and to bestow upon us, or either of us a decent burial, " he was to receive all his "housings and lands which I have in possession." The father died nearly two years before the untimely death of his son Oliver. Whether the mother was living to mourn the loss of him on whom she had leaned for support and solace in the dec line of life, we are not informed.

Mary Cummings, wife of Oliver Farwell, b. 25 Apr. 1692, was daughter of Thomas and Priscilla (Warner) Cummings of Dunstable, and grand daughter of John, Sen., and Sarah (Howlet) Cummings of Rowley, Mass. John, Sen. was freeman 1673, rem. to Dunstable 1684; 1685, was one of the founders of the Dunstable Church; selectman and town clerk. The parents of Sarah Howlet were Thomas and Alice (French) Howlet of Boston. Said Thomas Howlet is said by Savage to have come in the fleet with Winthrop 1630. He went with John Winthrop, son of Gov. W., early in 1633 to pant Ipswich, was freeman 3 Mar. 1634, and Rep. 1635.

Oliver married Mary CUMMINGS. Mary was born on 25 Apr 1692. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Daughter of Thomas Cummings and Priscilla Warner

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His gravestone in the old Dunstable burying-ground bears this inscription: "Ensign Joseph Farwell died Dec. 31, 1722, in the 82d year of his age." 'The NEW ENGLAND HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL REGISTER gives a Joseph Farwell, s. of Henry, b. in Concorc, 26 Dec. 1640. We know not how to reconcile this date with the inscription above. The date is precisely that of his sister Mary's birth. we can see but two possible solutions of the difficulty, one, an inaccurate statement in the inscription, and the other, the possibility that Joseph b. 26 Dec. 1640, was twin of Mary and died in infancy; and the net child born, our Ensign Joseph, was named after the deceased brother. According to Mr. J-B. Hill, he accompanied his parents on their removal from Concord to Chelmsford about 1654 at the incorporation of that town. He inherited by will of his father "The land that he hath in present possession wt 20 acres of upland lying at little tadmuck, 6 acres of upland lying in the new field," and "The remainder of my accommodations at Chelmsford after my wife's decease" only two small parcels of meadow, namely, one acre lying in the river meadow joining the meadow of Wm. Fletcher, "I give and bequeath to Mary Bates my dauter and one acre and half of meadow lying at little tadmuck joining to the meadow of James Hildrike, to Olife Spaulding my daughter.

He seems to have remained with his mother in Chelmsford till her death in 1691, when according to that will he would come into full possession of his father's bequest. We have no positive information concerning his disposal of the Chelmsford estate; he does not mention it in his will, but it will be observed that he states before signing that instrument; "it is to be understood that all my other children, both sons and daughters, have received their full portions of me already." Possibly his son Joseph whose first two children were born, or recorded, in Chelmsford, may have received his portion in Chelmsford property, as might also his two daughters, Elizabeth and Sarah who married gentlemen of Chelmsford, However, that may be, about 1699 he removed from Chelmsford and became an inhabitant of Dunstable, where he was a large land holder and prominent in town affairs. He as selectman 1701, '2, '5, '7, '10; was Surveyor of Highways 1706, and served on important committees during the years 1712, '14, '15, '17.......

Joseph married Hannah LEARNED on 25 Dec 1666 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. Hannah was born on 24 Aug 1649 in Woburn, Massachussetts; died on 2 Apr 1677. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Daughter of Isaac Learned and Mary Stearns