IRONS / INES / IANS / IYANS / JYANS / IANSE
Matthew Irons’ origins are unknown. It is difficult to trace him in the records
because of the many inventive spellings of his surname. However, when I pronounce IRONS with my
Yankee New England accent, it becomes easy to figure out why his name was
spelled so many ways. Just drop the “R”.
Matthew arrived as a servant to William Colbron, and was made a freeman in Boston in 1636 as “IVES”. He was
an innkeeper in Boston, and granted eight acres at Muddy River (what is now the Fenway and Brookline). He left a will on 30 January
1661/2 that named some of his children, and an inventory was taken on 16 April
1661. He had eleven children in the
Boston vital records and church records (baptisms) with his wife, Anne, who was
probably the sister to Watertown settlers Edmund and Abraham Browne. [Great Migration Begins, volume II, page 1059].
I descend from the eldest daughter, Elizabeth who married
Richard Randall. They settled on Cape Porpoise
in what is now Saco, Maine. One of her daughters,
Sarah also married a Saco settler, Joseph Cole. Sarah Cole and her three
daughters were captured by Indians on 20 August 1703 and taken to
Montreal. The children remained in
Canada and were baptized by the Catholic Church. Sarah returned to Beverly,
Massachusetts with her sister, Priscilla and they lived together as widows.
I descend from Priscilla Randall, sister to the captive
Sarah Randall Cole, who married William Preston. They had nine children, and I
descend from two sons, Nehemiah and Randall Preston. Both lived in Beverly, Massachusetts, the
town where I was born on this date (Yes, today is my birthday!)
For more information:
Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to the New World 1620 - 1633,
by Robert Charles Anderson, Volume II, pages 1057 - 1059.
My Surname Saturday blog post on RANDALL http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/03/surname-saturday-randall-of-saco-maine.html
My Surname Saturday blog post on PRESTON
My Surname Saturday blog post on ALLEN
My Irons genealogy:
Generation 1: Matthew Irons, born about 1613 probably in
England, died before 16 April 1661 (the date of the inventory of his estate);
married by about 1638 to Anne (probably Anne Browne, sister to Edmund and
Abraham Browne, brothers who settled in Watertown, Massachusetts). Eleven children.
Generation 2: Elizabeth Irons, born 15 April 1641 in Boston,
baptized 18 April 1641 in Boston, died 1701 in Saco, Maine; married to Richard Randall. He was born about 1633 in England and died
after 1713 in Saco. Three children.
Generation 3: Priscilla Randall m. William Preston
Lineage A:
Generation 4: Nehemiah Preston m. Abigail Allen
Generation 5: Hannah Preston m. Robert Woodbury
Generation 6: Molly Woodbury m. Westley Burnham
Generation 7: Henry Burnham m. Sally Poland
Generation 8: Sarah
Ann Burnham m. Samuel Mears
Generation 9: Sarah Burnham Mears m. Joseph Gilman Allen
Generation 10: Joseph Elmer Allen m. Carrie Maude Batchelder
Generation 11: Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda
Hitchings (my grandparents)
Lineage B:
Generation 4: Randall Preston m. Susanna Stone
Generation 5: William Preston m. Abigail Sargent
Generation 6: Lucy Presson m. James Andrews
Generation 7: Orpha Andrews m. Joseph Allen
Generation 8: Joseph Gilman Allen m. Sarah Burnham Mears
(see above)
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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ IRONS of Boston, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted October 24, 2015 ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/10/surname-saturday-irons-of-boston.html : accessed [access date]).
Very interesting. Happy Birthday!
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