2nd marriage to Rachel Ordway
THE BLACKSMITH AT HAVERHILL, MASS.
(Ancestor of Anna Pixley Johnson)
In 1657, the inhabitants of Haverhill, Mass. Suffered considerably from lack of a blacksmith. To ovate this difficulty, twenty citizens of the town signed a contract to pay twenty pounds to a man by the name of Jewett to purchase his house and land. This was given to John Johnson, our ancestor, “provided he live here seven years, following the trade of blacksmith in doing the town’s work, also the said John Johnson doth promise to refuse to work for any that refuse to pay toward this purchase, until they bring under the Selectmen’s hands that they will pay.
This John Johnson was a son of William Johnson, a brick maker of Charlestown, Mass. He came to Haverhill in the fall of 1657 with his wife Elizabeth who was daughter of Elias Maverick and one child, John, born August 3, 1657. He settled on land that later became the main street of the town. As blacksmith shop in those days was one of the most public places in town, it is quite probable that his settlement in that place was a prominent reason for the principal business of the town becoming located in that vicinity.
Besides the house-lot and other town accommodations given him to encourage him to settle in the village, he bought parcels of land at various times until he became quite a large land-holder, but at the time of his death, he had sold and given away to his children, all but about seventy-five or a hundred acres—some of which were situated in the town of Charlestown. He became the founder of one of the largest and most respectable families of Haverhill where many of his descendants still live. He represented the town in the General Court in 1691; was one of the deacons of the church; and an officer in the militia. He was married three times; First to Elizabeth Maverick, Oct. 15, 1658, who died March 22, 1673-74; second, to widow Sarah Gillo of Lynn, March 3, 1674-75, who died July 24, 1678, at the time her twin daughters were born; and third, September 8, 1680, to Katherine, widow of John Maverick, and formerly Katherine Skipper of Boston.
Haverhill suffered another Indian raid in 1708. According to Mirck, early in the year of 1708, a grand council was held at Montreal where an assault against the English colonies was agreed upon. The French were commanded by De Chaillons and Hertel de Rouville, and their Indian allies by La Perriere. Because of desertion, their forces finally dwindled to about two hundred fifty with which number they decided to attack Haverhill, at that time a compact village consisting of about thirty houses. At break of day on August 29, 1708, the attack was made, and Lieutenant John Johnson and his wife were among those killed. He was killed in the doorway of his won house, and buried in the old burying-ground with the other officers in the militia near Mr. Rolfe, their pastor.
John, his son, was also a blacksmith, Indeed Chase in his History of Haverhill published in 1860 records that the trade of blacksmith had been almost or quite constantly carried on in that town by the lineal descendants of this early blacksmith.
(For further information see Chase-History of Haverhill, Mass. Pp 624 ff.)
The graves of Lieutenant Johnson (King Philip’s War) had a common headstone, shaped at the top to represent two, and bearing the following inscriptions:
Lieutenant Catherine
John Johnson wife of Lieutenant
Died Aug John Johnson
Ye 29, 1708 7 in died Aug ye
Ye 76 year of 29, 1708 7 in
His age ye 70 year of
Her age.
John Johnson was married three times. With his oldest son, John, also Lieutenant, he went to Charlestown, and there they were married the same day, the father to his third wife, the son to his first.
The first wife of Thomas n, son of John Johnson Jr., was Ruth Bradley who in her girlhood had been a captive among the savages who, March 15, 1696-7 murdered her father and mother and her two sisters and carried Ruth away at the same time that they had carried Hannah Dustin (this was an ancestor of the Hamblin side of the Johnson family –Sytha’s mother’s side) Ruth was killed in another raid of the Indians upon Haverhill, August 29, 1708 at the same time as was John Johnson and his wife. When slain she held in her arms her only child Lydia, a year and six days old, born in the second year of her marriage. The child strangely enough, escaped the tomahawk, concealed perhaps in the folds of her mothers dress. Ruth’s grave bore a headstone containing this inscription:
Ruth ye wife
Of Thomas Johnson
Died Aug. ye
29 1708 & in ye
21 year of her
age
Once w’t ye Indians
In captivity
After ’twas her lot
In their hands to dy.
After Ruth’s death, Thomas Johnson married Rachel Ordway from whom we are descended. Her child Lydia grew to womanhood, married, and had children.
THE BLACKSMITH AT HAVERHILL, MASS.
(Ancestor of Anna Pixley Johnson)
In 1657, the inhabitants of Haverhill, Mass. Suffered considerably from lack of a blacksmith. To ovate this difficulty, twenty citizens of the town signed a contract to pay twenty pounds to a man by the name of Jewett to purchase his house and land. This was given to John Johnson, our ancestor, “provided he live here seven years, following the trade of blacksmith in doing the town’s work, also the said John Johnson doth promise to refuse to work for any that refuse to pay toward this purchase, until they bring under the Selectmen’s hands that they will pay.
This John Johnson was a son of William Johnson, a brick maker of Charlestown, Mass. He came to Haverhill in the fall of 1657 with his wife Elizabeth who was daughter of Elias Maverick and one child, John, born August 3, 1657. He settled on land that later became the main street of the town. As blacksmith shop in those days was one of the most public places in town, it is quite probable that his settlement in that place was a prominent reason for the principal business of the town becoming located in that vicinity.
Besides the house-lot and other town accommodations given him to encourage him to settle in the village, he bought parcels of land at various times until he became quite a large land-holder, but at the time of his death, he had sold and given away to his children, all but about seventy-five or a hundred acres—some of which were situated in the town of Charlestown. He became the founder of one of the largest and most respectable families of Haverhill where many of his descendants still live. He represented the town in the General Court in 1691; was one of the deacons of the church; and an officer in the militia. He was married three times; First to Elizabeth Maverick, Oct. 15, 1658, who died March 22, 1673-74; second, to widow Sarah Gillo of Lynn, March 3, 1674-75, who died July 24, 1678, at the time her twin daughters were born; and third, September 8, 1680, to Katherine, widow of John Maverick, and formerly Katherine Skipper of Boston.
Haverhill suffered another Indian raid in 1708. According to Mirck, early in the year of 1708, a grand council was held at Montreal where an assault against the English colonies was agreed upon. The French were commanded by De Chaillons and Hertel de Rouville, and their Indian allies by La Perriere. Because of desertion, their forces finally dwindled to about two hundred fifty with which number they decided to attack Haverhill, at that time a compact village consisting of about thirty houses. At break of day on August 29, 1708, the attack was made, and Lieutenant John Johnson and his wife were among those killed. He was killed in the doorway of his won house, and buried in the old burying-ground with the other officers in the militia near Mr. Rolfe, their pastor.
John, his son, was also a blacksmith, Indeed Chase in his History of Haverhill published in 1860 records that the trade of blacksmith had been almost or quite constantly carried on in that town by the lineal descendants of this early blacksmith.
(For further information see Chase-History of Haverhill, Mass. Pp 624 ff.)
The graves of Lieutenant Johnson (King Philip’s War) had a common headstone, shaped at the top to represent two, and bearing the following inscriptions:
Lieutenant Catherine
John Johnson wife of Lieutenant
Died Aug John Johnson
Ye 29, 1708 7 in died Aug ye
Ye 76 year of 29, 1708 7 in
His age ye 70 year of
Her age.
John Johnson was married three times. With his oldest son, John, also Lieutenant, he went to Charlestown, and there they were married the same day, the father to his third wife, the son to his first.
The first wife of Thomas n, son of John Johnson Jr., was Ruth Bradley who in her girlhood had been a captive among the savages who, March 15, 1696-7 murdered her father and mother and her two sisters and carried Ruth away at the same time that they had carried Hannah Dustin (this was an ancestor of the Hamblin side of the Johnson family –Sytha’s mother’s side) Ruth was killed in another raid of the Indians upon Haverhill, August 29, 1708 at the same time as was John Johnson and his wife. When slain she held in her arms her only child Lydia, a year and six days old, born in the second year of her marriage. The child strangely enough, escaped the tomahawk, concealed perhaps in the folds of her mothers dress. Ruth’s grave bore a headstone containing this inscription:
Ruth ye wife
Of Thomas Johnson
Died Aug. ye
29 1708 & in ye
21 year of her
age
Once w’t ye Indians
In captivity
After ’twas her lot
In their hands to dy.
After Ruth’s death, Thomas Johnson married Rachel Ordway from whom we are descended. Her child Lydia grew to womanhood, married, and had children.
2nd marriage to Rachel Ordway
THE BLACKSMITH AT HAVERHILL, MASS.
(Ancestor of Anna Pixley Johnson)
In 1657, the inhabitants of Haverhill, Mass. Suffered considerably from lack of a blacksmith. To ovate this difficulty, twenty citizens of the town signed a contract to pay twenty pounds to a man by the name of Jewett to purchase his house and land. This was given to John Johnson, our ancestor, “provided he live here seven years, following the trade of blacksmith in doing the town’s work, also the said John Johnson doth promise to refuse to work for any that refuse to pay toward this purchase, until they bring under the Selectmen’s hands that they will pay.
This John Johnson was a son of William Johnson, a brick maker of Charlestown, Mass. He came to Haverhill in the fall of 1657 with his wife Elizabeth who was daughter of Elias Maverick and one child, John, born August 3, 1657. He settled on land that later became the main street of the town. As blacksmith shop in those days was one of the most public places in town, it is quite probable that his settlement in that place was a prominent reason for the principal business of the town becoming located in that vicinity.
Besides the house-lot and other town accommodations given him to encourage him to settle in the village, he bought parcels of land at various times until he became quite a large land-holder, but at the time of his death, he had sold and given away to his children, all but about seventy-five or a hundred acres—some of which were situated in the town of Charlestown. He became the founder of one of the largest and most respectable families of Haverhill where many of his descendants still live. He represented the town in the General Court in 1691; was one of the deacons of the church; and an officer in the militia. He was married three times; First to Elizabeth Maverick, Oct. 15, 1658, who died March 22, 1673-74; second, to widow Sarah Gillo of Lynn, March 3, 1674-75, who died July 24, 1678, at the time her twin daughters were born; and third, September 8, 1680, to Katherine, widow of John Maverick, and formerly Katherine Skipper of Boston.
Haverhill suffered another Indian raid in 1708. According to Mirck, early in the year of 1708, a grand council was held at Montreal where an assault against the English colonies was agreed upon. The French were commanded by De Chaillons and Hertel de Rouville, and their Indian allies by La Perriere. Because of desertion, their forces finally dwindled to about two hundred fifty with which number they decided to attack Haverhill, at that time a compact village consisting of about thirty houses. At break of day on August 29, 1708, the attack was made, and Lieutenant John Johnson and his wife were among those killed. He was killed in the doorway of his won house, and buried in the old burying-ground with the other officers in the militia near Mr. Rolfe, their pastor.
John, his son, was also a blacksmith, Indeed Chase in his History of Haverhill published in 1860 records that the trade of blacksmith had been almost or quite constantly carried on in that town by the lineal descendants of this early blacksmith.
(For further information see Chase-History of Haverhill, Mass. Pp 624 ff.)
The graves of Lieutenant Johnson (King Philip’s War) had a common headstone, shaped at the top to represent two, and bearing the following inscriptions:
Lieutenant Catherine
John Johnson wife of Lieutenant
Died Aug John Johnson
Ye 29, 1708 7 in died Aug ye
Ye 76 year of 29, 1708 7 in
His age ye 70 year of
Her age.
John Johnson was married three times. With his oldest son, John, also Lieutenant, he went to Charlestown, and there they were married the same day, the father to his third wife, the son to his first.
The first wife of Thomas n, son of John Johnson Jr., was Ruth Bradley who in her girlhood had been a captive among the savages who, March 15, 1696-7 murdered her father and mother and her two sisters and carried Ruth away at the same time that they had carried Hannah Dustin (this was an ancestor of the Hamblin side of the Johnson family –Sytha’s mother’s side) Ruth was killed in another raid of the Indians upon Haverhill, August 29, 1708 at the same time as was John Johnson and his wife. When slain she held in her arms her only child Lydia, a year and six days old, born in the second year of her marriage. The child strangely enough, escaped the tomahawk, concealed perhaps in the folds of her mothers dress. Ruth’s grave bore a headstone containing this inscription:
Ruth ye wife
Of Thomas Johnson
Died Aug. ye
29 1708 & in ye
21 year of her
age
Once w’t ye Indians
In captivity
After ’twas her lot
In their hands to dy.
After Ruth’s death, Thomas Johnson married Rachel Ordway from whom we are descended. Her child Lydia grew to womanhood, married, and had children.
THE BLACKSMITH AT HAVERHILL, MASS.
(Ancestor of Anna Pixley Johnson)
In 1657, the inhabitants of Haverhill, Mass. Suffered considerably from lack of a blacksmith. To ovate this difficulty, twenty citizens of the town signed a contract to pay twenty pounds to a man by the name of Jewett to purchase his house and land. This was given to John Johnson, our ancestor, “provided he live here seven years, following the trade of blacksmith in doing the town’s work, also the said John Johnson doth promise to refuse to work for any that refuse to pay toward this purchase, until they bring under the Selectmen’s hands that they will pay.
This John Johnson was a son of William Johnson, a brick maker of Charlestown, Mass. He came to Haverhill in the fall of 1657 with his wife Elizabeth who was daughter of Elias Maverick and one child, John, born August 3, 1657. He settled on land that later became the main street of the town. As blacksmith shop in those days was one of the most public places in town, it is quite probable that his settlement in that place was a prominent reason for the principal business of the town becoming located in that vicinity.
Besides the house-lot and other town accommodations given him to encourage him to settle in the village, he bought parcels of land at various times until he became quite a large land-holder, but at the time of his death, he had sold and given away to his children, all but about seventy-five or a hundred acres—some of which were situated in the town of Charlestown. He became the founder of one of the largest and most respectable families of Haverhill where many of his descendants still live. He represented the town in the General Court in 1691; was one of the deacons of the church; and an officer in the militia. He was married three times; First to Elizabeth Maverick, Oct. 15, 1658, who died March 22, 1673-74; second, to widow Sarah Gillo of Lynn, March 3, 1674-75, who died July 24, 1678, at the time her twin daughters were born; and third, September 8, 1680, to Katherine, widow of John Maverick, and formerly Katherine Skipper of Boston.
Haverhill suffered another Indian raid in 1708. According to Mirck, early in the year of 1708, a grand council was held at Montreal where an assault against the English colonies was agreed upon. The French were commanded by De Chaillons and Hertel de Rouville, and their Indian allies by La Perriere. Because of desertion, their forces finally dwindled to about two hundred fifty with which number they decided to attack Haverhill, at that time a compact village consisting of about thirty houses. At break of day on August 29, 1708, the attack was made, and Lieutenant John Johnson and his wife were among those killed. He was killed in the doorway of his won house, and buried in the old burying-ground with the other officers in the militia near Mr. Rolfe, their pastor.
John, his son, was also a blacksmith, Indeed Chase in his History of Haverhill published in 1860 records that the trade of blacksmith had been almost or quite constantly carried on in that town by the lineal descendants of this early blacksmith.
(For further information see Chase-History of Haverhill, Mass. Pp 624 ff.)
The graves of Lieutenant Johnson (King Philip’s War) had a common headstone, shaped at the top to represent two, and bearing the following inscriptions:
Lieutenant Catherine
John Johnson wife of Lieutenant
Died Aug John Johnson
Ye 29, 1708 7 in died Aug ye
Ye 76 year of 29, 1708 7 in
His age ye 70 year of
Her age.
John Johnson was married three times. With his oldest son, John, also Lieutenant, he went to Charlestown, and there they were married the same day, the father to his third wife, the son to his first.
The first wife of Thomas n, son of John Johnson Jr., was Ruth Bradley who in her girlhood had been a captive among the savages who, March 15, 1696-7 murdered her father and mother and her two sisters and carried Ruth away at the same time that they had carried Hannah Dustin (this was an ancestor of the Hamblin side of the Johnson family –Sytha’s mother’s side) Ruth was killed in another raid of the Indians upon Haverhill, August 29, 1708 at the same time as was John Johnson and his wife. When slain she held in her arms her only child Lydia, a year and six days old, born in the second year of her marriage. The child strangely enough, escaped the tomahawk, concealed perhaps in the folds of her mothers dress. Ruth’s grave bore a headstone containing this inscription:
Ruth ye wife
Of Thomas Johnson
Died Aug. ye
29 1708 & in ye
21 year of her
age
Once w’t ye Indians
In captivity
After ’twas her lot
In their hands to dy.
After Ruth’s death, Thomas Johnson married Rachel Ordway from whom we are descended. Her child Lydia grew to womanhood, married, and had children.
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