Sarah Bird

Sarah married Stephen Hawes on 3 Dec 1736 in Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts. Stephen (son of Richard Hawes and Elizabeth Peake) was born on 3 Nov 1707 in Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts; was christened on 9 Nov 1707 in Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts; died on 26 Apr 1774 in Sharon, Norfolk, Massachusetts; was buried on 28 Apr 1774 in Chestnut Tree Cemetery, Sharon, Norfolk, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Benjamin Hawes was born on 5 Dec 1745 in Stoughton, Norfolk, Massachusetts; was christened on 18 Dec 1745 in Stoughton, Norfolk, Massachusetts; died on 7 Aug 1817 in Walpole, Norfolk, Massachusetts; was buried in Old Burial Place, Walpole, Norfolk, Massachusetts.

Notes:

He was for a while a wharfinger (owner or keeper of a wharf) in Boston. In Dorchester he was constable in 1725, and, chosen to the same office in 1727, paid the fine for non-acceptance. Selectman 1728-32. Deputy to the general court, 1729-33 and 1737.

Around 1745 or 1746, he was excommunicated from the church at Dorchester for "intemperate drinking," and felt himself to have been dealt with unjustly. He was subsequently one of the leaders of a rebellion against the local pastor, the Rev. Jonathan Bowman, but the Council of Churches upheld Bowman and instructed Bird and his associates to humble themselves and return to the church. Whether Bird ever did so is unclear. His son Samuel, who had left Harvard under a cloud "in consequence of some rash censures upon several of the Governors of the College, and the venerable clergymen of Cambridge," became a Methodist minister, and for a time preached to his father's group.

Benjamin married Johanna Harris on 30 Jan 1711 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts. Johanna (daughter of John Harris and Mary Sparks) was born on 18 Jan 1692 in Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts; died on 7 May 1768. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Thomas married Thankful Atherton on 2 Feb 1665 in Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts. Thankful (daughter of Maj. Gen. Humphrey Atherton and Mary) was born before 29 Apr 1644; was christened on 29 Apr 1644 in Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts; died on 11 Apr 1719 in Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He was a fisherman. He may have been a son of William Harris of the island of Smuttynose.

John married Mary Sparks after 24 Jun 1687. Mary (daughter of John Sparks) died on 6 May 1730 in Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He was a tanner. He first appears in New England records in 1639, and joined the church at Dorchester by 1642.

Thomas married Ann. Ann died on 21 Aug 1673. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The diary of her pastor, the Rev. Samuel Danforth, contains an entry dated 17 Aug 1673: "Old Goody Bird of Dorchester, falling down a trap door, in her own house, broke her neck. She never spake more, but two days after died.”

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 17 Sep 1661, Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts

Notes:

Possibly a son of Edmund Atherton of Winstanley, Lancashire, who died 10 Apr 1613. Whether or not this is correct, it seems clear from multiple pieces of evidence that he was from Lancashire. Attempts to identify his specific origin have been hampered by the fact that a surprising number of Lancashire individuals named Humphrey Atherton could, chronologically, have been the emigrant.

He is first seen in New England in Dorchester, 1636. He was a soldier and a magistrate. He was killed 17 Sep 1661; it is said that this happened when, on the way back to Dorchester from a review of the troops on Boston Common, he was thrown from his horse when it stumbled over a cow lying in the road. The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1636-1638 (citation details below) notes that no eyewitness account of this exists.

Humphrey married Mary before 28 Sep 1628. Mary died between 21 Feb 1671 and 16 Sep 1672 in Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 1672

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: of Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts