Surname Saturday ~ STAPLES of Weymouth, Massachusetts

STAPLES / STAPLE

Jeffrey Staples, my 10^th great grandfather, was first recorded in Weymouth, Massachusetts when his young daughter, Martha, was buried on 17 February 1639/40.  He didn’t appear again until there was a list of landowners recorded between 1642 and 1644.  An inventory of his estate was taken in March 1647 when he was described as “late deceased”.  

I descend from Jeffrey’s eldest son, John (about 1608 – 1683), my 9^th great grandfather.  He was made a freeman on 10 May 1649.  He owned land in Weymouth and his house was described as “at the foot of King Oak Hill in North Weymouth”.  He had five children and  I descend from his oldest son, John Staples (about 1646 – 1692), my 8^th great grandfather, who had six children. 

Next, I descend from Benjamin Staples (1677 – about 1712), my 7^th great grandfather, who had eight children.   He was a cordwainer (shoemaker) in Braintree, and he kept an account book which is now at the New England Historic Genealogical Society.  This account book was published in 1942 and a digital version of the book is available to view online at this link:   https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE3657476   In the preface of the book it says:  "In the Kingston, Massachusetts records was the found the intention of marriage, 1727, of Benjamin's daughter Silence to John Evason or Everson; also the birth, March 24, 1747 of the latter's daughter Rebecca and her marriage, October 1, 1767, to Nathaniel King, from whom the lines run clear, to the present generation.  The original book measures five and one-half inches in length by four inches in width, is bound in yellowing vellum and has a narrow flap extending over onto the side about an inch where it fastens with a an old brass lock.  There is no ruling upon the pages, of which the first is missing."

I descend from Benjamin’s daughter, described above, Silence Staples (1705 – 1785), my 6^th great grandmother, who married John Everson.  They lived in Kingston, Massachusetts and had eight children. 

For more information on the STAPLES family:

NEHGS Register, Volume 161, pages 95 - 100 "The English Origins of Jeffrey Staple of Weymouth, Massachusetts" by Gail Staples

Descendants of Jeffrey and John Staples of Weymouth, MA circa 1638, by James Courtenay Staples 1978

See also the blog Miner Descent   https://minerdescent.com/2010/06/26/john-staples-sr/    

My STAPLES genealogy:

Generation 1:  Jeffrey Staple, son of Robert Staple, born about 1576 in England, died 1647 in Weymouth, Massachusetts; married Margery Chrismas.  Seven children.

Generation 2:  John Staple, baptized August 1608 at Wendover, Buckinghamshire, England, died 4 July 1683 in Dorchester, Massachusetts; married Rebecca Unknown.  Five children.

Generation 3: John Staples, born about 1646 in Weymouth, died 30 August 1692 in Braintree, Massachusetts; married about 1670 to Sarah Atkins, daughter of Thomas Atkins and Elizabeth Scammon.  She was born about 1650.  Six children.

Generation 4:  Benjamin Staples, born November 1677 in Braintree, died about 1712 in Bridgewater; married on 26 May 1699 in Boston to Mary Cox, daughter of Robert Cox.  She was born in July 1676 in Malden, Massachusetts 1 April 1723 in Abington, Massachusetts.  Eight children.

Generation 5: Silence Staples, born 11 November 1705 in Braintree, died 29 April 1785 in Kingston; marriage intention filed on 14 October 1727 in Kingston to John Everson, son of John Everson and Elizabeth Unknown.  Eight children.

Generation 6: Hannah Everson m. Nathan Weston

Generation 7:  Zadoc Weston m. Mary Clements

Generation 8:  Matilda Weston m. Joseph Edwin Healy

Generation 9:  Mary Etta Healey m. Peter Hoogerzeil

Generation 10:  Florence Etta Hoogerzeil m. Arthur Treadwell Hitchings

Generation 11:  Gertrude Matilda Hitchings m. Stanley Elmer Allen (my grandparents)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ STAPLES of Weymouth, Massachusetts”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 25, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/08/surname-saturday-staples-of-weymouth.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday - Worcester

WORCESTER

William Worcester's signature
in the 1635 Olney Parish Register

The Reverend William Worcester attended St. John’s College at Cambridge University in England in 1620.  He was ordained as a deacon on 21 December 1622 at Peterborough Cathedral, and was vicar of Olney from 1624 to 1636 until he was suspended for refusing to read an edict from the King which allowed sports and games on the Sabbath.  His beliefs had begun to mirror the Puritans.  He came to America after this and was settled as the pastor of the first church gathered at Salisbury, Massachusetts about 1638.

The place in Salisbury's Colonial Burial Ground, believed to be his burial spot, was marked with a bronze tablet which reads “Here lies buried the body of Rev. William Worcester, the first minister of Salisbury, who came from England about 1639 and died 1662. This stone was laid on his grave to prevent disinterment by wolves. This tablet is affixed by his descendants, 1913." 

As I mentioned in my sketch of Reverend Joseph Hull http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/12/surname-saturday-hull.html, it is a blessing to have a minister as an ancestor because they left so many  interesting records.

The Worcester Genealogy:

Generation 1:  William Worcester, probably the son of Joseph Worcester of Rugby, Warwickshire, England, married first Sarah Unknown.  She died in Salisbury, Massachusetts 23 April 1650, married second on 23 July 1650, Rebecca Swaine, who died in Ipswich, Massachusetts on 21 February 1695.  She had been previously married first to Henry Bylie, second to John Hall.  Her fourth husband was Samuel Symonds.  Thirteen children:

1. Mary, buried about 1630 in Olney

2. Patience, buried 19 November 1630

3. Samuel, born in England, died 1681 Lynn, Massachusetts, married Elizabeth Parrott

4. Susannah (see below)

5. John, baptized at Olney on 26 March 1636 and buried at Olney on 26 March 1637

6. William, baptized at Olney 15 January 1638, died at Boston 1683; married Constant Unknown

7. Sarah, died at Salisbury 1 April 1641

8. Sarah, born at Salisbury 4 April 1641

9. Timothy, born at Salisbury, 14 May 1642, died 1672, married Susannah Unknown

10. Moses, born at Salisbury 10 November 1643; married first Elizabeth Stuart, second Sarah Remick Soper

11. Sarah, born at Salisbury 22 April 1646, died 9 January 1649/50

12. Elizabeth, born at Salisbury 9 April 1648, died 1649

13. Elizabeth, born at Salisbury 9 November 1649, died before 1662

Generation 2:   Susannah Worcester, baptized at Olney on 5 May 1634; married on 4 October 1653 to Thomas Stacy.  He was born about 1620 in England and died 23 July 1690 in Ipswich. Five children:

Generation 3:  William Stacy married Mehitable Weymouth

Generation 4: Mary Stacy married John Thompson

Generation 5: Mary Thompson married Richard Nason

Generation 6: Mercy Nason married William Wilkinson

Generation 7: Aaron Wilkinson married Mercy F. Wilson

Generation 8: Robert Wilson Wilkinson married Phebe Cross Munroe

Generation 9: Albert Munroe Wilkinson married Isabella Lyons Bill

Generation 10:  Donald Munroe Wilkinson married Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents)

William Worcester’s will was proved in the Norfolk county court, Massachusetts.  A copy made from the original is on file in the probate office at Salem, and can be read in The Essex Antiquarian, Volume XI, #2, pages 60 -61.  There is a book The Worcester Family in America by John P. Worcester, 2005, available to view online at familysearch.org.  An article in The American Genealogist Volume 71, pages 50- 51 discusses his possible English origins.

There is also a good website http://www.worcesterfamily.com/first.htm

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday - Worcester", Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 7, 2012, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/01/surname-saturday-worcester.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday - Stacy

STACY

There is a record for the marriage of Simon Stacy and Elizabeth Clark  in Chester’s “London Marriages”  that reads: "Simon Stacy of Bocking, Essex County, Clothier, and Elizabeth Clerke of Theydon Garnon, said county, spinster, daughter of Stephen Clerke of same, Yeoman, married at Theydon Mount, Essex County, November 6, 1620."   Simon Stacy arrived in Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1637 with his family.  He left no will, and there is no death record.  His wife left a will in 1669 naming many items for her children, which showed she was living well as a widow, even after her husband’s death.  

  

The Stacy Genealogy:

Generation 1:  Simon Stacy, son of Thomas Stacy, born about 1602, Bocking, Essex, England, and died in Ipswich, Massachusetts; married 6 November 1620 at Theydon Mount, Essex, England to Elizabeth Clark, daughter of Stephen Clark and Elizabeth Reynolds.    Seven children:

1. Susannah, born about 1629, married Joseph French

2. Thomas (see below)

3. Simon, born about 1637, married Sarah Wallis

4. Ann,  born about 1641, married

5. Mary, born about 1645, married Samuel Mears

6. Sarah, married William Buswell

7. Elizabeth, married William Adams

Generation 2: Thomas Stacy, born about 1630 in Bocking, England, and died 23 July 1690 in Salem, Massachusetts; married 4 October 1653 in Salisbury, Massachusetts to Susannah Worcester, daughter of the Reverend William Worcester and Sarah Brown.  She was born about 1630 in England, died in 1688.  He was about 16 years old when he arrived in the New World.  He removed to Salem, where he was a miller. Five children:

1. Thomas, born 6 July 1654, married Hannah Hicks

2. William, (see below)

3. Rebecca, born 7 Dec 1657, married James Burleigh

4. John, born 16 March 1666, married Mary Clarke

5. Susanna, born 16 January 1667, married John Marston

Generation 3:  William Stacy, born 21 April 1656, died 5 March 1706 in Kittery, Maine; married on 25 May 1685 in Kittery to Mehitable Weymouth, daughter of Edward Weymouth and Esther Hodson.  She was born in 1669, and died 13 January 1753 in Berwick, Maine.  William inherited the mill from his father.  He was a witness in the trial of Bridget Bishop for witchcraft in 1692.  Seven children:

1. Mary (see below)

2. Hester, born 22 November 1693, probably died young

3. William, born 12 January 1696

4. Samuel, born 19 April 1698, married Mary Pray

5. Elizabeth, born 10 August 1701, probably died young

6. Benjamin, born 17 November 1704, married Lydia Libby

7. Mehitable, born 4 April 1706, married Joseph Emery

Generation 4:  Mary Stacy, born 6 April 1690 in South Berwick, Maine, and died 12 January 1753; married on 22 June 1709 to John Thompson, son of John Thompson and Sarah Emery.  He was born about 1684 in Kittery, and died in 1753.  Three children

Generation 5. Mary Thompson married Richard Nason

Generation 6. Mercy Nason married William Wilkinson

Generation 7. Aaron Wilkinson married Mercy F. Wilson

Generation 8.  Robert Wilson Wilkinson married Phebe Cross Munroe

Generation 9. Albert Munroe Wilkinson married Isabella Lyons Bill

Generation 10. Donald Munroe Wilkinson married Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents)

There is a sketch of the Stacys in Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire by Charles T. Libby and Walter G. Davis.  There are also sketches of Simon, Thomas and William in the Genealogical Dictionary of New England, Volume IV, pages 159 – 160. The name is spelled STACY, STACIE, STACE, or even STASY in records.   There is a book Simon Stacy and his Descendants by Virginia McCann, Ukiah, California, 1978.  

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Surname Saturday - Hull

HULL

Please see an important update at
 http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/12/surname-saturday-hull-update.html

The Isles of Shoals are
six miles off the coast of New Hampshire

My 9x great grandfather Joseph Hull was a minister.  He left a great paper trail.  Ministers can be dream ancestors for genealogists because of the plethora of records.  He graduated from Oxford on 14 November 1614 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.  He served as curate at Colyton in Devonshire.  Later he was ordained in the Church of England on 14 April 1621 as called to be rector at Northleigh in the Diocese of Exeter.  During this time period he began to believe in “non-conformist” ideas.  There is no record of his marriage, and his wife’s name is known only as "Agnes".   This is odd, considering how much other information is known about Joseph Hull’s life.

Reverend Hull led 106 people from Somersetshire (about 20 families, his wife, 7 children and 3 servants) and arrived in Massachusetts on 7 June 1635.  He was a freeman in Weymouth in September 1635 and preaching in a church as an Episcopalian, but causing dissention.   He moved to Barnstable in 1639 and Yarmouth in 1641 (both towns are on Cape Cod) but was temporarily excommunicated by Governor Winthrop because he left Weymouth without asking permission. 

By 1643 he was the minister in York, Maine.  By 1652 he was back in Launceston, Cornwall leaving all his children but one In Massachusetts.  In 1662 he was “ejected from the rectory of Buryan, Cornwall County, England.”  Again he came to America and this time went to New Hampshire.   He first served as minister at Oyster River (now the city of Durham, New Hampshire) and then settled as minister at the fishing colony on the Isles of Shoals where he remained until his death in 1665.  Although he moved around New England and back and forth across the Atlantic, he left enough of a paper trail along the way for historians to follow his movements as a minister. 

The Hull’s Company ship had a list of passengers compiled by John Porter, deputy clerk to Edward Thoroughgood on 20 March 1635.  They left from Weymouth, England and named their settlement in Massachusetts after this port. 

The Hull Genealogy:

Generation 1:  The Reverend Joseph Hull was born about 1595 in Crewkerne, Somersetshire, England, and died 18 November 1665 on the Isles of Shoals off the coast of New Hampshire.   The name of his wife is known only as Agnes.  Seven children all born in England:

1. Joanna, born about 1620, married first to John Bursley, second to Dolor Davis who is my 10x great grandfather with his first wife, Margery Willard.

2. Joseph, born about 1622

3. Tristram, born about 1623, married Blanche Unknown (see Bill West's post at this link: http://westinnewengland.blogspot.com/2011/12/bad-blanche-hull.html )

4. Temperance, born about 1626, married John Bickford

4. Elizabeth, born abut 1628 (see below) my 8x great grandmother

5. Griselda, born about 1629, married James Warren

6. Dorothy, born about 1631, married Oliver Kent

Generation 2: Elizabeth Hull, born about 1628 in Northleigh, Devonshire, England, and died 30 November 1706 in Dover, New Hampshire; married about 1643 in Northleigh to John Heard, who died 17 January 1689 in Dover.  Fifteen children.

Generation 3.  Mary Heard, born 26 January 1650 m. John Ham

Generation 4.  Mercy Ham m. Richard Nason

Generation 5. Richard Nason m. Mary Thompson

Generation 6. Mercy Nason m. William Wilkinson

Generation 7. Aaron Wilkinson m. Mercy F. Wilson

Generation 8. Robert Wilson Wilkinson m. Phebe Cross Munroe

Generation 9. Albert Munroe Wilkinson m. Isabella Lyons Bill

Generation 10. Donald Munroe Wilkinson m. Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents)

Accounts of the Reverend Hull’s life can be found in the History of the Township of Durham, New Hampshire by Everett S. Stackpole, Lucien Thompson and Winthrop S. Meserve, 1913, in the book The Isles of Shoals in Lore and Legend, by Lyman V. Rutledge, 1965, and in The Isles of Shoals: An Historic Sketch by John Scribner Jenness, 1975.   A good account of his early years in Massachusetts can be found in Volume 1 of The History of Weymouth, Massachusetts, 1923, and page 73 lists the passengers in the Hull Company ship.

There are sketches of Rev. Hull’s life also in The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, by Robert Charles Anderson, George F. Sanborn and Melinde Lutz Sanborn, 1999, Volume III, pages 452 – 460 and also in Ancestral Lines by Carl Boyer, 1998, pages 318 -324.

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Surname Saturday - Hodson

Hodson

Nicholas Hodson AKA Hodsdon first appears in the records of Hingham, Massachusetts when he was granted a house lot in 1636.   About 1639 he married Esther Wines, who was a cousin of a Charlestown, Massachusetts resident with the fantastic Puritan name of “Faintnot Wines” (don’t you love it!).    Faintnot Wines left legacies to Esther’s five living children in his will in 1664.  Esther is possibly a daughter of Thomas Wincoll and Ann Fleming?

About 1650 Nicholas Hodson and other families left Hingham for Cambridge Hill, which is now the city of Newton, Massachusetts.  By 1656 he was living in Kittery, Maine.    The first record where he appeared in Maine was in 1655 when he was absent from a meeting.  In 1659 he and several others were ordered to Boston for entertaining Quakers.  It is interesting that my other ancestors Anthony Emery and Richard Nason were also among those ordered to Boston .

There is a deed for his homestead, which was passed on to his son Benoni, and then to grandson Timothy, dated 17 May 1828 which notes “Reserving and excepting from this conveyance one eighth of an acre on the homestead first above mentioned, which has been heretofore used as a place of burial by our ancestors.”  This may be where Nicholas Hodson and his wife Elizabeth are buried. There was a man named Nicholas Hodson killed by Indians in 1704, but I don’t know if he is the same man, or a relative.

The Hodson Genealogy:

Generation 1:  Nicholas Hodson, born in England, died in Wells, Maine; married first about 1639 to Esther Wines,  who died on 29 November 1647 in Hingham, Massachusetts; married second to Elizabeth Wincoll, daughter of John Wincoll and Elizabeth Unknown, also widow of John Needham.   Six children by first wife, and six more by second wife.

1.  Esther Hodson, born 20 September 1640 (see below)

2. Mehitable Hodson, born November 1641, married Peter Welcome

3. Jeremiah Hodson, born 6 September 1643, married Anne Thwaits

4. Israel Hodson, born before 19 July 1646; married Ann Thompson

5. Elizabeth Hodson, born before 19 July 1646, probably died young

6.  Benoni Hodson, born before 29 November 1647; married Abigail Curtis

7.  Sarah Hodson, married John Morrell

8. Timothy Hodson, married Hannah Unknown, who married second Joseph Smith

9. John Hodson, married Rebecca Unknown

10. Joseph Hodson, married Tabitha Raynes

11. Lucy Hodson, married George Vickers

12. Hannah Hodson, married Nicholas Smith

Generation 2:  Esther Hodson, born 20 September 1640 in Hingham, Massachusetts, died 11 March 1723 in Kittery, Maine; married on 25 December 1663 in Dover, New Hampshire to Edward Weymouth.  Six children.

Generation 3. Mehitable Weymouth m. William Stacy

Generation 4. Mary Stacy m. John Thompson

Generation 5. Mary Thompson m. Richard Nason

Generation 6. Mercy Nason m. William Wilkinson

Generation 7. Aaron Wilkinson m. Mercy F. Wilson

Generation 9. Robert Wilson Wilkinson m. Phebe Cross Munroe

Generation 10. Albert Munroe Wilkinson m. Isabella Lyons Bill     

Generation 11. Donald Munroe Wilkinson m. Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents)

It is difficult to follow the Hodson descendants, since the name changed spelling so many times.  The most usual spellings are HODSON, HODSDON, HODSDEN, HOGDSON,  or even HODGDON  but other variations can be found in the Maine and New Hampshire vital records and probate.   Town histories have been very helpful in helping me trace this line, such as Old Eliot by Willis, page 146 – 147, and Old Kittery and Her Families by Everett Stackpole, page 123 and also pages 529-530 (available to read online at Google Books).

There is a book from 1904 named Genealogy of the Descendants of Nicholas Hodsdon-Hodgdon of Hingham, Mass and Kittery, Maine 1635 – 1904 by Andrew Jackson Hodgdon, available to read online at www.archive.org  (Library of Congress) and at www.openlibrary.org

There is a short sketch of Nicholas Hodson in the book A Tenth Generation Yankee from Maine by Nettie Gove Nicholson.   There is also a sketch in The Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England by Savage, Volume II, page 440.   See also The Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, by Davis, Libbey and Noyes, on page 343.

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Surname Saturday - Weymouth

Weymouth

There were several New England immigrants named Edward Weymouth in the early 1600s. One lived in Boston by 1633, A father, son and grandson all named Edward Weymouth lived in the Plymouth County, Massachusetts.  Another Edward Weymouth lived in Kittery and also in what is now the town of Eliot, Maine, near the New Hampshire border river, the Piscataqua.  This last Edward Weymouth is my ancestor.

KIttery, Maine in 1872

There are scarce records of Edward Weymouth in Maine, except for two records where he was acting in very anti-social matters.  The first was in found in Sewel’s History of the Quaker’s, Volume 1, page 566. "then one Edward Weymouth took Mary [Tomkins] by her arm and dragged her on her back over the stumps of trees down a very steep hill, by which she was much bruised and often died away."  In the second incident in 1669 he was in court "for cursing and swearing and wicked wishes to his wife."

Edward Weymouth was a tailor, taxed in Dover in 1662, granted land in Kittery, Maine in 1671.  His house was burned by the Indians in 1677. 

I have lineages from two daughters of Edward Weymouth…

The Weymouth Genealogy:

Generation 1:  Edward Weymouth, born about 1637 In England, died 1719 near Eliot, Maine; married on 25 December 1663 in Dover, New Hampshire to Esther Hodson, daughter of Nicholas Hodson and Esther Wines.  She was born 20 September 1640 in Hingham, Massachusetts, and died 11 March 1723 in Kittery, Maine.  Six children.

1. Mehitable Weymouth,  born 1669 in Kittery, (see below)

2. Timothy Weymouth, born 1675 in Kittery, married Patience Stone abut 1702

3. Ichabod

4. Benjamin

5. Nicholas

6. Bridget, (see below)

Generation 2: Mehitable Weymouth, born about 1669 in Kittery, died 13 January 1753 in Berwick, Maine; married on 25 May 1685 in Kittery to William Stacy, son of Thomas Stacy and Susannah Worcester.  He was born 21 April 1656 in Ipswich, Massachusetts, and died 5 March 1706 in Kittery.  Seven Children.

Generation 3. Mary Stacy m. John Thompson

Generation 4: Mary Thompson m. Richard Nason

Generation 5: Mercy Nason m. William Wilkinson

Generation 6: Aaron Wilkinson m. Mercy F. Wilson

Generation 7: Robert Wilson Wilkinson m. Phebe Cross Munroe

Generation 8: Albert Munroe Wilkinson m. Isabella Lyons Bill

Generation 9: Donald Munroe Wilkinson m. Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents)

Lineage 2

Generation 2:  Bridget Weymouth married 7 October 1697 in Kittery to John Nason, son of Richard Nason and Sarah Baker.  He was born about 1640 in Berwick, and died 1719 in Dover, New Hampshire.  Three Children.  He was first married to Hannah Heard, daughter of John Heard and Elizabeth Hull, who are my 8x great grandparents in another lineage, and parents of Mercy Ham (below).

Generation 3: Richard Nason m. Mercy Ham

Generation 4: Richard Nason m. Mary Thompson (follow lineage above)

Edward Weymouth and his descendants are mentioned in several books:  The History of Wells and Kennebunk by Edward Bourne, page 159,  The Genealogical Dictionary of New England by Savage, Volume 7, page 129, The Dictionary of Old Kittery and her Families by Stackpole,  and in an article in the New England Historic Genealogical Society Register, Volume 9, page 57.

A good online resource is Don Weymouth’s website “Research of D. G. Weymouth” at http://www.weymouthtech.com/genealogy/   He is very willing to answer email and to share information if you have a Weymouth ancestor descended of Edward of Eliot, Maine.  Don's email is don@weymouthtech.com or his mailing address is 119 Winthrop Lane, Holden, Mass. 01520 

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Surname Saturday - Nason

NASON

My Nason lineage lived along the river
in Berwick, Maine, near Salmon Falls

Our immigrant ancestor Richard Nason first appears in the records when he received 200 acres in Kittery, Maine at Stove Pipe Landing.  His origins in England are unknown.  According to Stackpole's History of South Berwick:
"Richard Nason is mentioned in 1645 in the court records of New Hampshire. He had a grant of 200 acres next south of Thomas Spencer. He is not named among the men of Piscataqua in 1640. The fact that he had so large a grant, equal to that of Thomas Spencer, and his election to the office of selectman in 1654, favor the supposition that he was a man of importance. Perhaps he had been one of Thomas Wiggin's company. He reared a large family, and his surname has spread widely. From the year 1638 to the year 1651 the only persons that appear on records as living at what is now called Great Works were the families of Humphrey Chadbourne, Thomas Spencer and Richard Nason and the two who kept bachelors' hall together, viz., Basil Parker and Peter Weare. There were four houses and decaying mills..." 

Richard Nason appears many times in the early records, usually for minor offenses.  Some are listed below: 

In 1645 he and his wife had a dispute with her father, Richard Baker, who was tried in New Hampshire and fined 5 shillings "for beating Richard Nason that he was black and blue and for throwing a fire shovel at his wife." 
In 1649 Nason served as a juryman. 
In 1653 he was an Ensign, later Selectman, and held other town offices in Kittery. Maine 
In 1655 he was charged at York, Maine with not attending church meetings.
In 1659 was fined £5 and disenfranchised for entertaining Quakers. 
In 1665 he was accused of blasphemy. Philip Chesley of Oyster River was witness against him. The General Court did "not judge him so guilty of that fact as that by our lawe he ought to die," but he had to post a £40 bond for good behavior. 

Richard Nason's will was dated 14 July 1694 and it names his children, wife Abigail, Abigail's children by her first marriage, Nicholas Follett and Sarah Meader, and Abigail's granddaughter by her previous marriage, Sarah, daughter of Mary Witham. 

The Nason Genealogy:

Generation 1:  Richard Nason, died sometime between 15 March 1696 when his will was written and 22 December 1696 when his will was proved; married about 1637 to Sarah Baker, daughter of John Baker and Sarah Wall, born about 1614 and died about 1663 in Kittery, Maine. Nine children.  At about 1664 he married second to Abigail Brewer, widow of Nicholas Follett. 

1. Charles Nason, born about 1639, married Abigail Willoughby

2. John Nason (see below)

3. Baker Nason, born about 1642, married Elizabeth Hatch

4. Jonathan Nason, born about 1645, married Sarah Jenkins

5. Sarah Nason, born aobut 1653, married Henry Child

6. Joseph Nason, born about 1655, married Mary Swain

7. Mary Nason, born about 1655, married Ephraim Trickey

8. Richard Nason, born about 1657, married Shuah Colcord

9. Benjamin Nason, born about 1662, married Martha Canney

Generation 2: John Nason, born about 1640, died 1719 in Dover, New Hampshire; married on 7 October 1697 in Kittery to Bridget Weymouth, daughter of Edward Weymouth and Esther Hodson. Three children.

1. Richard Nason (see below)

2. Hannah Nason, married Nicholas Jellison

3. Joanna Nason

Generation 3: Richard Nason, born about 1704 in South Berwick, Maine; married Mercy Ham, daughter of John Ham and Mary Heard, born 19 July 1708 in Dover, New Hampshire.  Five children:

1. Richard Nason (see below)

2. Nathaniel Nason, married Meribah Tuttle

3. Sarah Nason, 

4. Bridget Nason

5. Moses Nason, married Olive Davis

Generation 4: Richard Nason, born 31 May 1730 in South Berwick, Maine, died 25 May 1790 in South Berwick; married Mary Thompson, daughter of John Thompson and Mary Stacy. Ten children:

1. Bridget Nason, born before 12 September 1756

2. Mercy Nason, (see below) 

3. Amos Nason, born before 3 May 1764, married Hannah Nason, daughter of Moses Nason and Olive Davis- his first cousin

4. Sarah Nason

5. Nabby Nason

6. Betty Nason

7. Sarah Nason

8. Mary Nason, married Richard Shackley

9. Amos Nason, 

10. Moses Nason, married Lucy Tebbitts

Generation 5: Mercy Nason, born about 1764; married on 7 February 1788 in South Berwick to William Wilkinson, son of James Wilkinson and Hannah Mead. Three children:

Generation 6: Aaron Wilkinson m. Mercy F. Wilson

Generation 7: Robert Wilson Wilkinson m. Phebe Cross Munroe

Generation 8: Albert Munroe Wilkinson m. Isabella Lyons Bill

Generation 9: Donald Munroe Wilkinson m. Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents)

There is an article about Richard Nason in The American Genealogist, Volume 68, pages 106 - 112.  Most of the vital records for the Nasons are available in early Maine records for York County.  There is also an outline on the Nasons in the Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire by Davis, Libbey and Noyes. 

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo