Hugh March of Newbury MA and Descendants

 Francis Andrew March and Margaret Mildred Stone Conway 

June 28, 1921 Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, Texas)

Hugh March came on the ship "Confidence"  In 1651 was on a list of freeholders having an interest in all commons belonging to the town of Newbury, having purchased his privileges from George Brown----bought a farm of 150 acres of upland and meadow which had been granted by the town of Newbury to James Brownr in 1645, bounded, in part, by the "birchen meadow." Wifes Judith Trueman, Sarah Healey, and Dorcas Bowan Blackleach.
The March family married into many locals here are some of the vital records of Newbury recorded marriages

See "In Public Houses: Drink & the Revolution of Authority in Colonial Massachusetts" David W. Conroy 

From Swett family Papers  1670 March 12: Stephen Swett sold his house to Hugh Marsh. [Rolfe, papers. 10: copy of the agreement.] "At last, Hugh Marsh consented to leave his farm and commence tavern keeping on a large scale in the year 1670. His stand, which was, for many years, a noted place, was near the head of Marlborough street, on the spot where Messr. John and Stephen Ilsley now reside." [Coffin's "Newbury" (1845), p. 71] "Stephen Swett's ordinary was afterwards known as the Blue Anchor Tavern. This house, built by him, is still standing and occupied, on the west side of High Street, Newburyport, near the head of Marlborough Street. It has recently been purchased by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities." [Stackpole, p. 8., published about 1914; he includes a photograph of the house.]
According to Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs
All of the four sons of Hugh March were officers in the colonial army during the French and Indian wars, one of them, Colonel John March (1658-I725) being especially distinguished as “the foremost military leader in New England up to the time of the Port Royal expedition,” I707, which he commanded, and “the failure of which may fairly be charged in part to the Governor, who sent him out, and to the officers of the ‘Deptford,’ which was the convoy of the expedition.” (Johnson’s Univ. Cyc.) ‘
Captain Hugh March JR Grave (1656-1727) married to Sarah Moody daughter of Caleb Moody and Sarah Pierce. Photo from Find A Grave Cindy - Living To Tell

John March colonial soldier, was born in Newbury, Mass., June 10, 1658 ; son of Hugh and Judith March. He received a good education and in 1688 was a captain under Sir Edmund Andros in the campaign against the French and Indians. He completed and commanded the fort at Pemaquid, Maine, 1692-95; was promoted major, and commanded the troops that defeated the Indians and checked the French army under Count de Frontenac at Damariscotta, Maine, in 1697. He continued a prominent officer in the Colonial army; attained the rank of colonel in the wars of 1703 and 1707, and commanded the expedition sent by Gov. Joseph Dudley against the fort at Port Royal, in twenty-three transports under convoy of the Deptford, an English ship of war. He landed his men and attacked the fort in accordance with the orders of Governor Dudley, but the tardy arrival of the Deptford had enabled the garrison to prepare, and being unsupported by the Deptford the expedition failed. He died in 1725.
Paul Turner of the Salisbury Historical Society in Salisbury, MA notes that Capt. John March was one of the most influential and important men next to Robert Pike in Massachusetts.
From "Ould Newbury" John J Currier
  
Early March Family Graves at the Bridge Street Cemetery in West Newbury Massachusetts taken by photographer Wayne Marshall Chase

Mrs. Robert C. Cheney, of Ring's Island, Salisbury, Mass., a descendant of Judith March, only daughter of Hugh March, Sr., has in her possession a copy of the above petition, evidently in the handwriting of Hugh March, with deeds and other papers relating to the settlement of the estate of Colonel John March.

It is evident from the preceding statement addressed to the court sitting at Ipswich, by Hugh March, that he was anxious to resume his occupation as innkeeper; and it also appears that "the hondred court" was not inclined to grant his request. In this emergency Hugh March applied to the General Court, assembled in Boston, for aid and assistance in procuring the desired license. In the court files at Salem is the following interesting order relating to this subject :— (NOTE Spelling Etc not altered from real doc)

Att A Generall Court at Boston, October, 1682.

An Answer to the petition of Hugh March. The Court being Credibly Informed that the petitioner hath been & is like to be a great Sufferer by being disappointed of keeping a house of publick entertainement, he having been encouraged thereto by the Towne of Newbery & others conseyned. and therefore layd out a Considerable estate to fitt & furnish himself for that Imploy, and doe therefore contend it to the Selectmen of that Towne and the court of that County to consider of his condition and toe seis him therein, and that he may againe be intrusted in his former imploymt in due time. That this is A true copie taken out of the Court Records.

Edw Rawson, Secret.

The court at Salem the 2S: 9: 82 prsing the above order, & alsoe the returne from the Selectmen of newbery, doe not se cause to grant the sd Hugh marches desire in granting him liscence.

At the April term of the court held at Ipswich in 1683 "Hugh March was licensed to keepe a house of publick entertainment in Newbury for a yeare." His wife, Dorcas (Blackleach) March, died Nov. 22, 1683 ; and he was again at liberty to hold property in his own name without fear of molestation. His license as innkeeper was renewed annually during the remainder of his life.

Dec. 5, 1693, he conveyed by deed to his son John March, of Salisbury, "houses, lands, meadows, fencing, goods, chattels, leases, debts, bills, bonds, plate, jewels, and rings; household stuff, apparrell, utensils, brass, pewter, and iron; bedding and all other my substance whatsoever"; the said John March to pay to Sarah March, wife of Hugh March, a certain sum annually, "and allow her the use of my old parlor and the chamber over it within my house in Newbury, and commonly called by that name, and the use of the well for necessary uses during her widowhood, . . . with liberty of making use of the middle room for household occasions." By the terms of this deed John March is also required to pay over to the children and grandchildren of Hugh March certain specified sums of money (Essex Registry of Deeds, book 10, page 52).

Photo from blog Trip 128: Salisbury, Massachusetts In My Footsteps Christopher Setterlund
Captain John March, at the date of the above conveyance, was living in Salisbury, where he owned a large farm. He subsequently purchased several tracts of land in Newbury, and among them a farm of nearly one hundred and fifty acres at Birchen Meadow, so called. The boundaries of his estate in the immediate vicinity of the old tavern are somewhat vague and uncertain. It is probable, however, that the westerly limit extended to, and perhaps included, the high land that is known as March's hill.

Oct. 25, 1687, during the administration of Sir Edmund Andros, Captain John March was granted the right to maintain a ferry over the Merrimack River "from warehouse point, so called, in the town of Newbury, to Ring's Island in the town of Salisbury." For the details of the prolonged controversy to which this grant gave rise the reader is referred to the sketch, on pages 55 to 80, inclusive, entitled "TheFerry at Carr's Island." Some arrangement was evidently made with Captain Edward Sargent, who was a licensed innkeeper, to take charge of the newly established ferry. As agent or lessee, it was under his care and control for many years.

July 15, 1690, John March was appointed captain, and ordered to enlist a company for the Canada expedition. In 1697, with the rank of Major, he had command of the forces engaged in the attack on the Indians at Damaris cove, on the coast of Maine. In 1703, he petitioned the General Court to grant him compensation for losses sustained in the defence of Casco fort; and November 20, of the same year, "the General Court granted to Captain John March fifty pounds in consideration of the brave defence of his majesty's fort at Casco Bay, when lately attacked by the French and Indian enemy, and of the wounds he then received."

A few years previously, April 17, 1700, Captain John March had given a mortgage deed to John Wainwright, of Ipswich, of the following described property, namely, "four acres of land, bounded easterly by the street, northerly by the land of George March, westerly and southerly by land of James Coffin, with house and outhouses conveyed to me by my father, Hugh March, senior, Dec. 5, 1693 " (Essex Deeds, book 14, page 16). This mortgage was discharged May 9, 1704 (book 16, page 16).

During this year or the year following he removed to Falmouth, now Portland, Me. He was evidently engaged in military service, and was promoted to the rank of lieutenantcolonel. July 23, 1705, he sold to the town of Newbury the ferry over the Merrimack River, granted to him during the administration of Sir Edmund Andros, described as follows (Essex Deeds, book 19, page 48): —

Lt. Col. John March of Newbury, now resident in Falmouth, York County. gentc" for .£240. conveys to Lt.-Col" Thomas Noyes, Esq., Majr Dan" Davison, Lt. Joseph Little, Mr William Titcomb, all of Newbury, a committee for the town of Newbury, all the interest and right, &c., which I now have or may have "in or to the ferry comonly calledMarches ferry, over Merrimack River, near the place where Capt Edward Serjeant now Dwells in Newbury afores'1, which ferry was first granted by Sir Edmond Andross & Councill unto y Said March at a councill held at y* Councill Chamber in Boston on Tuesday y* Twenty fifth day of octob1 1687, as by said act of Councill may appear. & confirmed & setled vpon Said March by y* Justices of y * County of Essex afores'1 y* 14"' of Novembr, 1687, & again Confirmed unto him at a Generall Sessions of y * Peace holden at Ipswich for the County of Essex, march 28"' 1 704, & was Late in y* Tenure & occupation of Cap' Edwd Serjeant afores'1," except the gratuitous right of ferriage of the grantor and his perticular family & Horses & Cattle over s'1 ferry for 22 years.

After his return to Newbury Colonel March was busy and active in public affairs. His will, dated April 18, 1707, and proved Aug. 25, 1712, gives to his eldest son, John, two and one-half shares, to son Hugh one and three-quarters shares, daughter Abigail one share, and daughter Elizabeth one share of all his real and personal estate. In the inventory of his estate, "his Great Dwelling House, orchard, outhousing, with abt 3f acres adjacent the homestead," are valued at ^350; and "the dwelling house y' Capt. Henry Lyon lives in, outhousing, with abt 3 acres adjacent of yc homestead," are valued at ^200.

Captain Henry Lyon was licensed as an innholder for the years 1712 and 1713, and evidently had charge of the old tavern when the will of Colonel John March was proved. From the records of the Court of General Sessions, held at Salem March 16, 1713-4, it appears that,

Capt. Henry Lyon having left Newbury *S: y house being y Anchor Tavern, which he had a lycense for, & y justices & selectmen of Newbury setting forth to this court that it is needfull that another person be permitted to keep yc s'1 house as an innholder, & having given their approbation that Mr John Clarke might be Lycensed to keep y s1' house. This Court doe Lycense y* s'1 John Clarke to be an Inn holder in said house till June Court next, he making good s'1 Capt. Lyons excise to y province.

John Clarke probably continued to serve as innholder until 171 5. Some time during that year the property passed into the hands of John Wainwright, but the deed transferring the title does not appear to have been recorded.

 At all events, John Wainwright, late of Ipswich, now of Boston, merchant, sold to Samuel Sawyer, of Newbury, innholder, Dec. 21, 171 5, for ^160,

Two and three quarter acres of land, commonly known as the Blue Anchor Tavern, with the Mansion house, barn and stables, bounded south easterly partly by land now belonging to John Woodbridge and John March and partly by land belonging to James Coffin, and westerly and northwesterly by y' land of y" heirs of Insigne Henry Lunt. late of Newbury, deceased, northerly by y" land of Benjamin Morse, tercius. and north easterly by y* street or country road (book 2S. page 78).

Samuel Sawyer was a licensed innholder from 1693 to 1716, and very likely rented and occupied the " Blue Anchor Tavern " while Colonel John March was actively engaged in the service of the colony on the eastern frontier.'

 March 3, 171 5-6, Samuel Sawyer sold to his son Benjamin "one mansion or dwelling house with 2 J acres of land in Newbury, known by the name of The Blew Anchor Tavern," bounded and described substantially as in the deed above quoted (book 28, page 164).

Oct. 2, 1718, Benjamin Sawyer, of Newbury, weaver, for ^155, conveyed to John March, of Salisbury, "house and 2$ acres of land in Newbury aforesd, comonly known by y* name of y* Blew Anchor Tavern, together with all y* houses, outhouses, Barns, Buildings, stables, orchards, Gardens, &c.," bounded and described substantially as in the deed from John Wainwright to Samuel Sawyer (book 36, page 71).

Obit for Rev John C March September 29, 1846 Newburyport Herald

  

Francis Henry March (October 25, 1825 – September 9, 1911) was born in Millbury, Massachusetts. Son of Andrew March and Nancy (Parker) March; grandson of Tappan March and Hannah (Patch) March, and of Arron and Sophia Parker, and a descendant of Hugh and Judith March of Newbury. 

Worcester County's Son Prof Francis a March Philosopher and Writer a Brief Sketch of His Early Days Monday, April 20, 1896  Worcester Daily Spy (Worcester, Massachusetts)

The line of descent from Hugh March and Judith, his wife, to Francis Andrew March, is as follows: 2. Hugh, b. Newbury, Mass., Nov. 3, I656; captain in French and Indian war; m. I683, Mrs. Sarah Moody. 3. Samuel, b. Newbury, Mass., March 2, 1689; m. Ann Tappan (1686-1724), daughter of Jacob and Hannah Sewall Tappan. 4. Daniel, b. Newbury, Dec. 26, 1717, moved to Sutton in 1753, and bought a tract of land three miles long, beside the Blackstone river, in center of what is now Millbury. 5. Tappan, b. in Sutton (Millbury), 1749, died Oct. 2, I809; m. Hannah, daughter of Nathan Patch
6. Andrew, b. in Sutton (Millbury), Oct. I3, 1798, died at Albion, Pa., Feb. 20, 1874; m. Nancy Parker, of Charlton, Mass., who died Feb. 20, 1830, aged 25.
7. Francis Andrew March.
He graduated from Amherst College in 1845, and received a M.A. degree from Amherst in 1848. After studying law and teaching for three years, he became instructor at Lafayette College. March occupied the chair of English language and comparative philology at Lafayette College, in Easton, Pennsylvania, from 1857 to 1907. It was the first post of its kind. March was one of the first professors to advocate and teach English in colleges and universities. March applied the methods of studying the Latin and Greek classics towards the study of English literature, and led the way for the first scientific study of the English language.
In addition to English, March also taught French, German, Greek, Latin, botany, "mental philosophy", political economy, the Constitution, and law.
He also served as president of the American Philological Association (1873–1874; 1895–1896), the Spelling Reform Association (after 1876), and the Modern Language Association (1891–1893).
March was the first American superintendent over the volunteer reading program of the Oxford English Dictionary, thus providing valuable support to James Murray in the compilation of this monumental work.  March married Margaret Mildred Stone Conway March (1837 - 1911) daughter of Walker Peyton Conway (1805 - 1884) and Margaret Eleanor Daniel Conway (1807 - 1891)
He was the father of historian Francis Andrew March and General Peyton C. March who was chief of staff of the United States Army during the First World War.
Other Children  Thomas Stone March (1868 - 1939) Alden March (1869 - 1942) Moncure C. March (1872 - 1945) John Lewis March (1873 - 1952) Mildred March (1875 - 1959) Margaret Daniel March (1877 - 1923)

 From "Daughters of the American Revolution Lineage Book" Volume 10 Descendant of Hon. Thomas Stone, of Maryland; Capt. Valentine Peyton, of Virginia.

Daughter of Walker Peyton Conway and Margaret Eleanor Daniel, his wife.

See " Virginia Soldiers in the Revolution: Summary of Statements Made by Soldiers Who Served in the Revolutionary War from Verginia' Either in the Continental Line or the Virginaa State Line The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography Vol. 22, No. 2 (Apr., 1914), pp. 177-186

Granddaughter of John Moncure Daniel, M. D., U. S. A., and Margaret Eleanor Stone, his wife; John Moncure Conway and Katherine Storke Peyton, his wife.

Gr.-granddaughter of Thomas Stone and Margaret Brown, his wife; Dr. Valentine Peyton and Mary Butler Washington, his wife.

Thomas Stone, the signer of the Declaration of Independence, died at the age of forty-four and is buried at Havre de Venture. His epitaph reads, "He was an able and faithful lawyer, a wise and virtuous patriot, an honest and good man."

Valentine Peyton served as surgeon in the Continental Line and as captain of the Third Virginia Regiment. see Peyton Society of Virginia

Moncure Daniel Conway (1832 - 1907) brother to Margaret Conway March  m. Ellen Davis Dana Conway (1833 - 1897) Couples picture below from SheWalksTheseHills Find a Grave

Margaret Truman Daniel, only child of President Truman, dies at 83

Rev. Edmund March, Newbury, MA - 1791

Naughty & Notable Citizens of the Puritan Republic

And Be Sure to Join New Group on Face Book: Scandalous Ancestors

     

When our Puritan ancestors set up shop in New England, the business at hand was keeping the flock pious, proper, and productive. Public humiliation was one popular form of keeping order, as well denting the purse -- essentially, the vices and folly of the citizens financed and sponsored the pretentious, dogmatic ideals of a handful of tyrants. The courts had carte blanche to dole out punishments and benefited immensely from any “wanton” deviant behavior. 

            As the colonies grew, so did the records of naughtiness. Punishment came in many forms, and all respectable settlements had the latest mutilation machines and contraptions on hand. For instance, laws required each town to acquire a set of stocks. Both Concord and Newbury were fined 5 pounds (March 1638) for non-compliance and soon got up to code. There were also many other forms of executing justice -- badges, brandings, and bridles, to name a few. So sit back and enjoy these ancestral tales of crime and punishment, and be grateful you live in present-day Massachusetts rather than the "ice age -- sterile, forbidding, unproductive, its history dotted only with boulders and stunted growth" (Howe, The Puritan Republic).

 Some “good” wives of Mass Bay were more like mischievous mice than obedient crones -- some sought to play while their cat fellows were away. A case from 1672-1673, Sarah Roe of Ipswich was forced to wear a sign on Sabbath day: “For My Baudish Carriage.” Roe had an affair with Joseph Leigh while her husband was away at sea, and both were charged with “unlawful familiarity.” Leigh suffered a day of severe lashing, plus a 5-pound fine. Roe, in addition to her debasing debut at the meeting house, spent a month behind bars. George Palmer, after committing folly with Margary Ruggs “through her allurement,” confessed voluntarily, so he only endured a few hours in the stocks; however, the sultry temptress Ruggs was severely whipped in public for “enticing and alluring.”

            Another interesting case of fleshy intrigue in Newbury (1633) really made windows steam and had every Chatty Cathy buzzing. The incident occurred between a traveling doctor named Henry Greenland and Mary Rolfe, wife of John Rolfe, a shipwright. While Rolfe was away on a voyage, Greenland lodged at a tavern owned by John Emery (Mary's stepfather), conveniently located next door to the lonely lass. Apparently, Greenland was quite a looker, and after just one night of window tapping, he made his way into her hot bed. Her companion, Betty, hired by Mary’s husband during his absence, claims Mary fainted when Greenland attempted his advances. When the news hit the townie grandes dames, Greenland had nowhere to hide and was hauled into court, convicted, and fined 30 pounds for “attempting adultery.” Although the outcome left Mary's reputation unscathed, she no doubt had some fetching memories of the event. 

Our ancestors often referred to the burden of the human flesh as “that pang of pleasure.” Like the mice wives, hitched men folk (and some single studs, too) also liked to sport around town on occasion. John Davies of Ipswich was whipped for “gross offenses and attempting lewdness with diverse women” and forced to wear a “U” for "Unclean" upon his chest for six months. Suffolk County records report a sentence requiring Thomas Jay “to stand upon a block or stool in the Boston marketplace with a paper upon his breast written in large characters: For Lascivious Carriages towards Young Women” (1675). Likewise, John Stanwood was sentenced to prison for committing fornication with Christian Marshman, who was with child by him. He tried to deny it, but there was too much evidence stacked up against him, and his lusty love bite cost him 50 pounds in damages. For her part in the scandal, Marshman received a severe public lashing. 

Drunkenness was next on the list of naughty rituals. Called “habitual tipplers,” these folks were like gangsters put in the proverbial “black book.” In 1639, the General Court passed a law that made excessive drinking a penal offense. Many entries in the record books read like this: "James Brown is censured for drunkeness to bee set two hours in the bilboes upon market day at Boston publiquely." The magistrates ordered all ordinaries and public places that served strong waters to make note of frequent tipplers, and serving them meant incurring a fine. Additionally, officials placed strict surveillance upon innkeepers and tavern owners and required them to procure licenses.

Laws required every innkeeper to be "always provided of strong, wholesome Beer, of four bushels of Mault (at the least) to a hogshead, which he shall not sell at above twopence the Ale quart." Innkeepers were also expressly forbidden to sell sack or strong water, to allow any drunken person on their premises, or to suffer any person "to drink excessively, viz., above halfe a pint of wine for one person, at a time, or to continue Tipling above the space of halfe an hour, or at unseasonable times, or after nine of the Clock at night" (Mass. Records Vol. 10).

Among the abundant court records involving drunkenness, here are a few regarding tanked-up naughties: John Shotswell was fined eleven shillings in September of 1633 "for distemping himself with drink at Agawam." Similarly, Robert Coles was fined for his excesses and "enjoined to stand with a white sheet of paper on his back wherein A Drunkard shall be written in great letters, as long as the Court thinks meet.'' John Lee was sentenced to be whipped and fined for calling Mr. Ludlowe "a false-hearted knave and hard-hearted knave, heavy friend etc" while on one of his benders. Daniell Ela, presented in Salisbury Court in 1672 for being drunk in Newbury at Robert Holmes' house, as well as for cursing and swearing, was convicted and fined. He was then ordered to remain in prison until the judgment was satisfied.

The 1652 court records list this judgment against Dr. William Snelling: “presentment for cursing is fined ten shillings and the fees of court.” It seems the good doc was not one to wait for the 5 o’clock happy hour, and instead he happily sipped his way through all his appointments. He reportedly recited this fun foot therapy after chasing a few beers - a stunt which landed him in front of the magistrates:

                                                "I'll pledge my friends,
                                                And for my foes,
                                                A plague for their heels,
                                                And a poxe for their toes."

In his History of Newbury, Currier notes Snelling was “denouncing his enemies within temperate zeal." His friends William Thomas and Thomas Milward signed and filed the following statement with the clerk of the court: "This is to certify whom it may concern that we, the subscribers, being called upon to testify against Mr. William Snelling for words by him uttered, affirm that being in way of merry discourse, a health being drunk to all friends.” He answered with the above lines, but later defended himself by asserting he meant it only for the West County folk. Affixed to this statement was the following acknowledgment: 

March 12, 1651-2, all which I acknowledge and I am sorry I did not express my intent, or that I was so weak as to use so foolish a proverb.

Guilielmvs Snelling. 

Notwithstanding this humble apology, it appears from the court records that on the thirtieth day of March 1652 "Mr. William Snelling upon his presentment for cursing is fined 10 pounds and fees of court."

            Along with sins of the flesh, drunkenness, and cursing, the Sabbath day became another hot topic for Puritan punishment. There are numerous court documents from brawling to “sundry abuses and misdemeanors, committed by sundry persons… to drink, sport and otherwise to misspend that precious time, which things tend much to the dishonor of God.” Thomas Bragg and Edward Cogswell had a heated quarrel "on the Lord's day in time of exercise" and both were fined 10 pounds. Humphrey Griffin was fined 10 pounds for unloading barley on the Sabbath before sunset, as well as for picking peas. Edmond Bridges was fined five shillings for writing a note to John Todd in Rowley meeting house during lecture time.

            The years 1674 - 1676 proved to be busy years for church disorderliness. The General Court took the matter in hand and transferred powers to both the officers of the congregation and the Selectmen of Towns to appoint a patrolman "to reform all such disordered persons, in the congregations or elsewhere about the meeting houses." These reforms certainly did not stop Stephen Cross, who “struck out at worshipper” and was fined. Elizabeth Hunt and Abigail Burnam disrupted public service and were arraigned before the Court, and their fathers admonished. Sam Hunt Jr. was admonished and fined for “his light behaviour.” John Averill was hauled into Court for striking Thomas Twigs in the meeting house "in the time of public ordinances on the Sabbath."

            Family feuds were yet another naughty transgression that would certainly have earned colonists a spot on Jerry Springer. John Tilliston/Tilston? of Newbury tied his wife to the bedpost with a plow chain to keep her at home. He was fined and put on notice to “keep good behavior and live with wife and provide for as husband ought to do.” This was not Tilliston's first offence; he had a rap sheet as long as my arm -- A Sketch of Newbury lists the following:

John Tillotson was presented for scandalous and reproachful speeches cast on the elders and others in a publick church meeting on a Lord's day.

John Tillotson on his many offences is fined twenty pounds, bound to his good behaviour, and fined twenty-seven pounds for killing a mare belonging to Mr. James Noyes.

In an old manuscript formerly owned by the Reverend James Noyes and now held by one of his descendants, Mr. Silas Noyes, there is an account of the testimony taken in the case of John Tillotson and a record of some of "his many offences" that induced the court to lay so heavy a fine on him. The evidence concludes:

At last he killed our elder's mare, great with foal, and a special good beast she was, provoked with her at ye instant, he killed her with a long pike, thrust through both her sides ... the morning after this transaction he made a deed to convay all his estate away from himselfe offering it to goodman (name illegible) whereby our elder would have been wholly defrauded of his mare. 

According to existing documentation, Tillotson was a definite bad boy, perhaps suffering from some fatal attraction mixed with a boiling temper.

            Hannah Gray, who was quite the home wrecker and hell raiser, is another prime example of Puritan deviance. She appears in the court records for her rampant lascivious behavior. She was described as “a lying girl, and several times in the night when deponent waked, she missed her and heard her laughing and giggling at the boys' bed which was in the same room.” She was also seen carrying on with Andrew Davis, as testified by Mary Sollas, as well as others. According to Sollas, her brother Robert mentioned, “Hana would entice the 'scoller boys,' and that she was guilty of baudy language and acts among the boys and girls.” Likewise, John Batcheler deposed that when Hannah Gray lived with his family, she was a lying little devil and his wife Elizabeth could say the same. Hannah “for great offences, was ordered to stand at the meeting house at Salem upon a lecture day, with a paper on her head on which was written in capital letters, I STAND HEERE FOR MY LACIVIOUS & WANTON CARIAGES. In addition, she would repeat in like manner, in Beverly or else be whipped.”

            The servants made it into the court records as well: for example, Benjamin Rolfe's maid in Newbury, for having a child out of wedlock. In 1671, Hugh March's maid, Elizabeth Iago of Newbury, for wishing that the devil had Mary Ladd and all the company, in which company was her master, John Attcason/Atkinson and Daniell Ely. Edward Stone, complained of for running away fourteen or fifteen times from his master, Nathaniell Tredwell, was ordered to serve his said master one year past the term of his indenture.

So there you have it! And there's lots more to come, so stay tuned!