TRASK
We often hear “there were four brothers who came to
America”, one of the popular genealogy myths that is often disproven. The myth is that there were four Trask
brothers: Henry, John, William and Osmond.
All the these Trasks left records and descendants in Salem and Beverly,
Massachusetts, but there is no proof they were all brothers or even kin.
Osmond Trask married Elizabeth
Gully on 22 May 1663 in Beverly, Massachusetts and had six children who all
married and left descendants. John,
Henry and William Trask lived in Salem.
Captain William Trask arrived first on “Zouch Phenix” in 1624, as the military
leader of a Dorchester Company fishing station on Cape Ann. It is very likely he made several trips back
and forth across the Atlantic in the early 1620s. He settled in Salem and had six children. Pope and Savage attributed some of Henry Trask’s
children to William Trask, so be careful when looking up his family
record. There is a Trask Burial Ground
in Peabody, Massachusetts (formerly Salem).
In the records it states that
William Trask operated a windmill for grinding grain. According to the Great
Migration “Ownership of the mill and the surrounding plain was a
subject of great controversy in the August 1686 term of the Essex court [ EQC
46:21].” In the Great Migration Begins, Robert Charles Anderson does not think that
Henry Trask is a relation to William, and I tend to believe his conclusion over
other books. Anderson also states that “The
mill was a lasting bone of contention with some of his neighbors, and at court
30 November 1652 Capt. Traske was presented for having no suitable weights in
his mill [ EQC 1:274]. “ and other matters in court to do with the windmill. This windmill and the land it sat on would be in present day Peabody, Massachusetts.
Will
of William Trask, SR.
The
will of William Trask, sr., of Salem, was proved in the court held at Salem
June 28, 1666. The following copy is transcribed from the original instrument
on file in the office of the clerk of courts at Salem, volume XI, leaf 134.
Theƒe
pƒents
testifie That I william Traske senior of Salem hauiug at this time my sense
& memory Though weake in bodie do make this my last will & Testament
this 15th of may 1666
Imprimis
I giue unto Sarah my wife the north end of my dwelling house during the tearm
of her life I doe allso apoint that shee ƒhall haue some of the fruit of the orchard for her
owne use & a little ƒspot for a garden if ƒshee desires it during the time of her life
Item
I giue unto Sarah my wife ƒsixteene pounds p annum to bee paided unto her yearelie
for her maintenance during the time of her life, & allƒsoe
I giue her a cow, which cow is to bee sommerd & winterd for her, by the
executors during the time of her life
Item
I giue unto my ƒson william all the meadow that lyeth vpon the ƒside
of the riuer betweene the upper & the lower mills & allƒo
the upper mill pond to william
Item
I giue unto my two daughters Sarah & Sussan ƒsixteene pounds a peice
Item
I giue unto my daughter mary twentie ƒix pounds & this to bee paid out of my estate by
my executors in the ƒspace of three yeare after my decease
Item
I giue unto my grandchildren 10s a peice
Item
I doe apoint my two sons william & John to be executors of this my last
will & testament giuing them all the rest of my estate to bee equalli
deuided betweene them
Signum
William
m Traske senior
Item
as concerning my household ƒtuff I apoint that none of it ƒhall
bee made away or disposed of so long as my wife liues but she to haue the free
use of it as formerly & after her decease I giue vnto my daughter mary the
great brasse pan & to my ƒon william my bed & bedding that I now lye upon
& the reƒt to be devided as above ƒsaid
in the presenceSignum
us
William
W Traske senior
Joseph
O Boice
John
Hill
My Trask Lineage:
Generation
1: William Trask, son of Nicholas Trask, born 14 December 1585 in East Coker,
Somersetshire, England, died before 18 May 1666 in Salem, Massachusetts;
married to Sarah Unknown, and she died after 1666. Six Children:
1.
Sarah Trask, born January 1634 m. Elias Parkman
2.
Mary Trask, born January 1637 m. John Loomis
3.
Susanna Trask, born 10 June 1638 m. Samuel Eborne
4.
William Trask (see below)
5.
John Trask, born 18 September 1642, m1 Abigail Parkman, m2 Mary Clarke
6.
Elizabeth Trask, born 21 September 1645
Generation
2: William Trask, born before 19 September 1640 in Salem, died before 26 March
1691 in Salem; married first on 18 January 1666 to Ann Putnam, daughter of
Thomas Putnam and Ann Holyoke, born 25 August 1645 and died 14 September 1676 in Salem; married
second to Anna Unknown (my ancestress).
Five
children with Ann Putnam:
1.
Ann Trask, born 1668 m. Isaac Brooks
2.
Elizabeth Trask, born 16 March 1670 m. Benjamin Hanson
3.
Sarah Trask, born 1672 m. John Williams
4.
William Trask, born 7 September 1674 m. Ann White
5.
Susanna Trask, born 3 November 1676 m. Jonathan Fuller
Four
children with Anna:
1. John Trask, born 1678 m. Hannah Osborn
2.
Mary Trask (see below)
3.
George Trask, born January 1691
4.
Elizabeth Mary Trask
Generation 3: Mary Trask, born March 1683 in Salem,
died before 1767 in Danvers; married on 8 January 1710 in Salem to John
Southwick, son of John Southwick and Hannah Follett, born on 13 December 1688
in Salem, died before 7 October 1771. Seven children.
Generation
4. George Southwick and Sarah Platts
Generation
5. Mary Southwick and Robert Wilson
Generation
6. Mercy F. Wilson and Aaron Wilkinson
Generation
7. Robert Wilson Wilkinson and Phebe Cross Munroe
Generation
8. Albert Munroe Wilkinson and Isabella Lyons Bill
Generation
9. Donald Munroe Wilkinson and Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents)
For
more information:
EQC
(Essex Quarterly Court Records), many
entries
The
Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620 -33,
by Robert Charles Anderson, Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical
Society, 1995, Volume 3, pages 1834-1837.
The Essex Genealogist,
Volume 21, pages 24 -27.
History
of Salem, by Sidney Perley, Volume 1, pages 94
-96 for a sketch of the early generations of the Trask family.
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Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo
