John Prescott, founder of Lancaster, MA.
John Prescott, Sr. was born about 1605 in England and died in Lancaster, MA in 1683. He married Mary Gawkroger (alias Platt) (1607-1718) on April 11, 1629 in Sowerby, Yorkshire, England. The first 5 of their children were born in England except for the fifth child Hannah who was probably born in Barbados, West Indies in 1639. Their children included: Mary (Thomas Sawyer), Martha (John Rugg), John, Jr. (Sarah), Sarah (1 Richard Wheeler, 2 Joseph Rice), Hannah (John Rugg widower of Martha), Lydia (1 Jonas Fairbanks, 2 Elias Barron, Jr.), Capt. Jonathan (1 Dorothy Heald, 2 Elizabeth Hoar, 3 Rebecca Wheeler, 4 Ruth Brown), Joseph (probable that there was no son Joseph and that his existence at all is due to a clerks error in an early history of Concord, MA), Capt. Jonas, Sr. (Mary Loker).
John and Mary were in Watertown, MA in 1640 and moved from there to the Nashaway Plantation in 1643 which was later to become Lancaster. Jonas was born here before Lancaster was incorporated so his birth was registered in Groton. There may have been two other children who died in infancy in England. Mary's alias "Platts" appears to come from English lands by that name that passed down through the Gawkroger family.
The main source of this information is William Prescott's 1870 "Prescott Memorial."
Bio Submitted by:
Bob Speckman
Salem, OR
August 2008
∼
Famous Descendants are President George HW Bush, President George W Bush, Senator Prescott Bush, Governor Jeb Bush, Poet Robert Frost, Katherine Hepburn, and Samuel Prescott (Completed Paul Revere's Midnight Ride).
His descendants are eligible to join the following lineage societies:
The Order Americans of Armorial Ancestry
The Order of the Founders and Patriots of America
Presidential Families of America
John Prescott, Sr. was born about 1605 in England and died in Lancaster, MA in 1683. He married Mary Gawkroger (alias Platt) (1607-1718) on April 11, 1629 in Sowerby, Yorkshire, England. The first 5 of their children were born in England except for the fifth child Hannah who was probably born in Barbados, West Indies in 1639. Their children included: Mary (Thomas Sawyer), Martha (John Rugg), John, Jr. (Sarah), Sarah (1 Richard Wheeler, 2 Joseph Rice), Hannah (John Rugg widower of Martha), Lydia (1 Jonas Fairbanks, 2 Elias Barron, Jr.), Capt. Jonathan (1 Dorothy Heald, 2 Elizabeth Hoar, 3 Rebecca Wheeler, 4 Ruth Brown), Joseph (probable that there was no son Joseph and that his existence at all is due to a clerks error in an early history of Concord, MA), Capt. Jonas, Sr. (Mary Loker).
John and Mary were in Watertown, MA in 1640 and moved from there to the Nashaway Plantation in 1643 which was later to become Lancaster. Jonas was born here before Lancaster was incorporated so his birth was registered in Groton. There may have been two other children who died in infancy in England. Mary's alias "Platts" appears to come from English lands by that name that passed down through the Gawkroger family.
The main source of this information is William Prescott's 1870 "Prescott Memorial."
Bio Submitted by:
Bob Speckman
Salem, OR
August 2008
∼
Famous Descendants are President George HW Bush, President George W Bush, Senator Prescott Bush, Governor Jeb Bush, Poet Robert Frost, Katherine Hepburn, and Samuel Prescott (Completed Paul Revere's Midnight Ride).
His descendants are eligible to join the following lineage societies:
The Order Americans of Armorial Ancestry
The Order of the Founders and Patriots of America
Presidential Families of America
John Prescott, founder of Lancaster, MA.
John Prescott, Sr. was born about 1605 in England and died in Lancaster, MA in 1683. He married Mary Gawkroger (alias Platt) (1607-1718) on April 11, 1629 in Sowerby, Yorkshire, England. The first 5 of their children were born in England except for the fifth child Hannah who was probably born in Barbados, West Indies in 1639. Their children included: Mary (Thomas Sawyer), Martha (John Rugg), John, Jr. (Sarah), Sarah (1 Richard Wheeler, 2 Joseph Rice), Hannah (John Rugg widower of Martha), Lydia (1 Jonas Fairbanks, 2 Elias Barron, Jr.), Capt. Jonathan (1 Dorothy Heald, 2 Elizabeth Hoar, 3 Rebecca Wheeler, 4 Ruth Brown), Joseph (probable that there was no son Joseph and that his existence at all is due to a clerks error in an early history of Concord, MA), Capt. Jonas, Sr. (Mary Loker).
John and Mary were in Watertown, MA in 1640 and moved from there to the Nashaway Plantation in 1643 which was later to become Lancaster. Jonas was born here before Lancaster was incorporated so his birth was registered in Groton. There may have been two other children who died in infancy in England. Mary's alias "Platts" appears to come from English lands by that name that passed down through the Gawkroger family.
The main source of this information is William Prescott's 1870 "Prescott Memorial."
Bio Submitted by:
Bob Speckman
Salem, OR
August 2008
∼
Famous Descendants are President George HW Bush, President George W Bush, Senator Prescott Bush, Governor Jeb Bush, Poet Robert Frost, Katherine Hepburn, and Samuel Prescott (Completed Paul Revere's Midnight Ride).
His descendants are eligible to join the following lineage societies:
The Order Americans of Armorial Ancestry
The Order of the Founders and Patriots of America
Presidential Families of America
John Prescott, Sr. was born about 1605 in England and died in Lancaster, MA in 1683. He married Mary Gawkroger (alias Platt) (1607-1718) on April 11, 1629 in Sowerby, Yorkshire, England. The first 5 of their children were born in England except for the fifth child Hannah who was probably born in Barbados, West Indies in 1639. Their children included: Mary (Thomas Sawyer), Martha (John Rugg), John, Jr. (Sarah), Sarah (1 Richard Wheeler, 2 Joseph Rice), Hannah (John Rugg widower of Martha), Lydia (1 Jonas Fairbanks, 2 Elias Barron, Jr.), Capt. Jonathan (1 Dorothy Heald, 2 Elizabeth Hoar, 3 Rebecca Wheeler, 4 Ruth Brown), Joseph (probable that there was no son Joseph and that his existence at all is due to a clerks error in an early history of Concord, MA), Capt. Jonas, Sr. (Mary Loker).
John and Mary were in Watertown, MA in 1640 and moved from there to the Nashaway Plantation in 1643 which was later to become Lancaster. Jonas was born here before Lancaster was incorporated so his birth was registered in Groton. There may have been two other children who died in infancy in England. Mary's alias "Platts" appears to come from English lands by that name that passed down through the Gawkroger family.
The main source of this information is William Prescott's 1870 "Prescott Memorial."
Bio Submitted by:
Bob Speckman
Salem, OR
August 2008
∼
Famous Descendants are President George HW Bush, President George W Bush, Senator Prescott Bush, Governor Jeb Bush, Poet Robert Frost, Katherine Hepburn, and Samuel Prescott (Completed Paul Revere's Midnight Ride).
His descendants are eligible to join the following lineage societies:
The Order Americans of Armorial Ancestry
The Order of the Founders and Patriots of America
Presidential Families of America
Inscription
Original grave marker:
JOHN
PRESCOTT
DECASED
A memorial stone erected a long time after John Prescott's death: HERE WITH HIS CHILDREN ABOUT HIM LIES JOHN PRESCOTT FOUNDER OF LANCASTER AND FIRST SETTLER OF WORCESTER COUNTY BORN AT STANDISH, LANCASHIRE, ENGLAND DIED AT LANCASTER, MASSACHUSETTS, DEC. 1681. INSPIRED BY THE LOVE OF LIBERTY AND THE FEAR OF GOD, THIS STOUT-HEARTED PIONEER FORSAKING THE PLEASANT VALES OF ENGLAND TOOK UP HIS ABODE IN THE UNBROKEN FOREST AND ENCOUNTERED WILD BEAST AND SAVAGE TO SECURE FREEDOM FOR HIMSELF AND HIS POSTERITY HIS FAITH AND VIRTUES HAVE BEEN INHERITED BY MANY DESCENDANTS WHO IN EVERY GENERATION HAVE WELL SERVED THE STATE IN WAR, IN LITERATURE, AT THE BAR, IN THE PULPIT, IN PUBLIC LIFE AND IN CHRISTIAN HOMES
Gravesite Details
Age: Approx 76. Founder of Lancaster. (footstone broken)
