Mary was the daughter of George and Elizabeth (Hazard) Lawton. She was born about 1644 in Portsmouth, Newport, Rhode Island. Tradition and family records say that John Babcock, after failing to get her father's consent to marriage, eloped with Mary in 1658. The couple went into the wilderness, one night by boat from Newport, and coasting along the shore, landed on the present site of the town of Westerly. Thye were welcomed by friendly Indians, and he was the first white man who settled in Westerly. Unfortunately, history doesn't seem to support this romantic tale. John actually was a member of the Misquamicut Company and went to the site of Westerly with the first permanent settlers in about 1660. At that time John was about eighteen years of age. He received an apportionment of land and the same as other settlers. He settled on the banks of the Pawcatuck River, near what is now Avondale, Rhode Island.
In 1671, when King Philip's War broke out, most of the settlers in Westerly fled to Rhode Island for safety. The Babcock family stayed. Her husband joined the Stonington, Connecticut militia. Tradition says he fought in the Great Swamp Fight on December 19, 1675 and that his son Elihu was born that day. John died in late 1684. Mary still had several young children when he died, and she married Erasmus Babitt. Mary died on Nov. 8, 1711 in Westerly, Kings Co., Rhode Island, and is buried in the James Babcock Ground in Westerly.
Information for this biography from the Slade-Babcock Genealogy by Carl Boyer; the Babcock Genealogy, by Stephen Babcock; Ethan & Caroline Rowley Babcock, Compiled by Mark W. Adair, Jr.,B. Adair, & Harry N. Craner, Jr.
In 1671, when King Philip's War broke out, most of the settlers in Westerly fled to Rhode Island for safety. The Babcock family stayed. Her husband joined the Stonington, Connecticut militia. Tradition says he fought in the Great Swamp Fight on December 19, 1675 and that his son Elihu was born that day. John died in late 1684. Mary still had several young children when he died, and she married Erasmus Babitt. Mary died on Nov. 8, 1711 in Westerly, Kings Co., Rhode Island, and is buried in the James Babcock Ground in Westerly.
Information for this biography from the Slade-Babcock Genealogy by Carl Boyer; the Babcock Genealogy, by Stephen Babcock; Ethan & Caroline Rowley Babcock, Compiled by Mark W. Adair, Jr.,B. Adair, & Harry N. Craner, Jr.
Mary was the daughter of George and Elizabeth (Hazard) Lawton. She was born about 1644 in Portsmouth, Newport, Rhode Island. Tradition and family records say that John Babcock, after failing to get her father's consent to marriage, eloped with Mary in 1658. The couple went into the wilderness, one night by boat from Newport, and coasting along the shore, landed on the present site of the town of Westerly. Thye were welcomed by friendly Indians, and he was the first white man who settled in Westerly. Unfortunately, history doesn't seem to support this romantic tale. John actually was a member of the Misquamicut Company and went to the site of Westerly with the first permanent settlers in about 1660. At that time John was about eighteen years of age. He received an apportionment of land and the same as other settlers. He settled on the banks of the Pawcatuck River, near what is now Avondale, Rhode Island.
In 1671, when King Philip's War broke out, most of the settlers in Westerly fled to Rhode Island for safety. The Babcock family stayed. Her husband joined the Stonington, Connecticut militia. Tradition says he fought in the Great Swamp Fight on December 19, 1675 and that his son Elihu was born that day. John died in late 1684. Mary still had several young children when he died, and she married Erasmus Babitt. Mary died on Nov. 8, 1711 in Westerly, Kings Co., Rhode Island, and is buried in the James Babcock Ground in Westerly.
Information for this biography from the Slade-Babcock Genealogy by Carl Boyer; the Babcock Genealogy, by Stephen Babcock; Ethan & Caroline Rowley Babcock, Compiled by Mark W. Adair, Jr.,B. Adair, & Harry N. Craner, Jr.
In 1671, when King Philip's War broke out, most of the settlers in Westerly fled to Rhode Island for safety. The Babcock family stayed. Her husband joined the Stonington, Connecticut militia. Tradition says he fought in the Great Swamp Fight on December 19, 1675 and that his son Elihu was born that day. John died in late 1684. Mary still had several young children when he died, and she married Erasmus Babitt. Mary died on Nov. 8, 1711 in Westerly, Kings Co., Rhode Island, and is buried in the James Babcock Ground in Westerly.
Information for this biography from the Slade-Babcock Genealogy by Carl Boyer; the Babcock Genealogy, by Stephen Babcock; Ethan & Caroline Rowley Babcock, Compiled by Mark W. Adair, Jr.,B. Adair, & Harry N. Craner, Jr.
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