John PRESCOTT

1604 - 1681  (77 years)

• Name	John PRESCOTT  [1, 2]
  	His baptism is not found on the records, there being a break in them from 1602-1610, but we find his name in the will of his father, Ralph Prescott, in 1808. John Prescott lived in Sowerby, where five of his children were born, three of whom he brought to New England, while two were buried in Sowerby. In 1638 he was living in the Island of Barbadoes, owning more than ten acres of land on the island, as proved by an old record recently found there. In 1640, they came to New England, and settled for a time in Watertown, where he had large grants of land allotted to him. In 1643, he associated himself with Thomas King and others, for the purpose of purchasing from Sholam, the Indian Sachem of the Nashaway tribe of Indians, a tract of land for a township, which was to be ten miles long and eight miles in breadth, known as "Nashaway Plantation," afterwards Lancaster, Mass., of which he was one of the original settlers and is considered the founder. The town received its name 18th May, 1653; and the name, it is said, was given in honor of Mr. Prescott, it being the name of his native county in England. After the completion of his corn-mill, in 1654, he took up his residence near it, and the site of the garrison house has been noted as near the southeast corner of High and Water Streets, Clinton, Mass. At the time of his death, he was possessed of about seven hundred acres of land, and had given lands and a mill at Nonaicoiacus (now Ayer) to his son Jonas. three hundred acres of this estate lay about the Washacum Ponds, including the Sterling camp-grounds. He owned nearly all the land upon which the manufactories and most densely peopled streets of Clinton are located, and one hundred acres in South Lancaster, stretching from the summit of George Hill to the meeting of the river. M. 11 Apr. 1629, in Halifax Parish, Yorkshire, England, 'Mary Gawkroger' or Platts, d. 1674. We find that "Gawkroger" meant "left-handed" or left-handed Roger." There ws probably a Roger Platts, who was left-handed or "gawky." We do not wonder that Mary and other members of the family when they came to New England, left the name of Gawky or left-handed Roger behind. [1]
  Birth	abt. 1604	Standish Parish, Lancashire, England   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Death	20 Dec 1681	Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts   [1]
  Person ID	I45433	Main Tree
  Last Modified	19 Mar 2013

  
  

  Father	Ralph PRESCOTT,   b. 15 Jun 1569, Shevington, England d. 24 Jan 1609, Shevington, Twp, Standish Parish, Lancashire, England (Age 39 years)
  Mother	ELLEN,   b. 1570, Shevington, England d. 18 Nov 1643, Shevington, Twp, Standish Parish, Lancashire, England (Age 73 years)
  Marriage	1582	Prob., Shevington, Lancashire, England
  Family ID	F01921	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Mary Gawkroger PLATTS,   b. Wygan, Lancashire d. 1674
  Marriage	24 Jan 1629	Halifax Parish, Yorkshire, England   [1, 2]
  Children	1. Mary PRESCOTT,   b. 24 Feb 1630/1, Sowerby-Bridge, Halifax, Horkshire, England d. 12 Sep 1706, Lancaster, Worcester Co., Massachuetts (Age 75 years)  [Birth]   2. Lydia PRESCOTT,   b. 15 Aug 1641, Watertown, Massachusetts
  Family ID	F01917	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	11 Dec 2020

  
  

• Event Map

  Death - 20 Dec 1681 - Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Sources

  [S5384] George Norbury MacKenzie, LL.B., "Colonial Families of the United States of America, Vol III" in which is given the History, genealogy and armorial bearings of Colonial Families who settled in the American Colonies from the time of the settlement of Jamestown, 13 May 1607 to the battle of Lexington, 19 April 1775 , (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.). [S12076] Charles S. Hall, HALL Ancestry A Series of Sketches of the Lineal Ancestors of the children of Samuel Holden Parsons Hall and his wife Emeline Bulkeley.