Lydia Messer

Personpeople/lydia-messer-fl1680.md

014.0 KBsize
0263lines
039filed with
041section
Their page in People →

As written

name
Lydia Messer
aka
[Lydia Butler, Lydia Stanwood, Lidea Cuttler]
sex
female
access
public
summary
Probably the daughter of Thomas Messer of Sheepscot, Maine, in whose house on the Sheepscot River she lived until she married, before the Eastern war. Her family very probably fled with the other settlers when the Sheepscot was abandoned in August 1676, in King Philip's War, and were refugees in Boston, where she married John Stanwood of Gloucester in 1680, as Lydia Butler. Probably the mother of James Stanwood.
residences
place
Sheepscot River, Maine
basis
documented
confidence
probable
sources
[book-bolton-1899-stanwood-family]
note
Her 1742 deposition: she "lived at the house of her father Thos Messer on ye West Side of s[ai]d Sheepscut River... till she was seventeen years old and married."
events
what
Fled to Monhegan
date
Aug 1676
place
Monhegan, Maine
sources
[book-hubbard-1677-narrative, book-cushman-1882-ancient-sheepscot]
note
The Sheepscot settlers fled when the Kennebec fell, and sailed from Monhegan to Boston and Salem; the Messers very probably went with them.
what
Refugee in Boston
date
1676
place
Boston, Massachusetts
sources
[book-cushman-1882-ancient-sheepscot, book-bolton-1899-stanwood-family]
note
Thomas Messer was among the Sheepscot refugees planning the resettlement at Boston in 1682; she married there in 1680.
father
name
Thomas Messer of Sheepscot
basis
compiled
confidence
probable
sources
[book-bolton-1899-stanwood-family, book-cushman-1882-ancient-sheepscot]
note
Bolton's inference from her depositions of 1737 and 1742, which name "her father Thos Messer"; Cushman (p. 44) also has "Mrs. Stanwood" as "the daughter of Thomas Messer of Sheepscot, where she was born and brought up."

Lydia was probably a daughter of Thomas Messer of Sheepscot, Maine, the "Thomas Mercer" who took the oath there in 1665 (Cushman, p. 53), and was born between about 1657 and 1663, by the ages she gave in old age. She grew up "at the house of her father Thos Messer on ye West Side of s[ai]d Sheepscut River," but for a year at Damariscotta in the house of John Taylor, and lived there "till she was seventeen years old and married, which time was before the first Indian Wars" (Bolton pp. 32-34). Her first husband was a Butler. The widow of William Wilcott, who claimed land on the Sheepscot that Thomas Mercer had given her husband, "was the daughter of Thomas Mercer" (Cushman p. 97), and so probably Lydia's sister.

King Philip's War. The war came to the Sheepscot in August 1676. After the Kennebec trading house of Richard Hammond was taken on 13 Aug, a girl who escaped "ran across over the Land that Night ten or twelve Miles, to give them Notice that lived at Shipscot River ... Those of Shipscot taking this Warning escaped away as soon as they could, leaving their Cattel and their Dwellings as a Prey to the Indians" (Hubbard, 2:157-158). When Arrowsic fell the next day, the rest of the people of the Kennebec, Sheepscot and Damariscotta fled to the islands, and from Monhegan sailed "some to that town [Boston], others to Salem" (2:164-165; Cushman pp. 60-62). The Messers very probably went with them, and were refugees in Boston from that autumn: "Thomas Messer" was one of the former inhabitants who met "at the house of Mr. Robert Gibbes, at Fort Hill, in Boston" on 30 Aug 1682 to plan the resettlement of New Dartmouth, Sheepscot (Cushman p. 66). In Boston, on 9 Dec 1680, she married John Stanwood of Gloucester, as Lydia Butler, a widow. In old age she remembered the Eastern war as beginning "ye year after King Philip's Indian Wars."

Open questions

  • Her Butler husband, and when she married him.
  • Her depositions (Suffolk court files, 1737 and 1742; the Wiscasset town hall, 1742) and the Maine land claims of the 1730s for Messer (Mercer) and Wilcott, to read at first hand.
  1. ---
  2. name: Lydia Messer
  3. aka: [Lydia Butler, Lydia Stanwood, Lidea Cuttler]
  4. sex: female
  5. access: public
  6. summary: >-
  7. Probably the daughter of Thomas Messer of Sheepscot, Maine, in whose house on the Sheepscot River
  8. she lived until she married, before the Eastern war. Her family very probably fled with the other
  9. settlers when the Sheepscot was abandoned in August 1676, in King Philip's War, and were refugees in
  10. Boston, where she married John Stanwood of Gloucester in 1680, as Lydia Butler. Probably the mother
  11. of James Stanwood.
  12. residences:
  13. - place: Sheepscot River, Maine
  14. basis: documented
  15. confidence: probable
  16. sources: [book-bolton-1899-stanwood-family]
  17. note: "Her 1742 deposition: she \"lived at the house of her father Thos Messer on ye West Side of s[ai]d Sheepscut River... till she was seventeen years old and married.\""
  18. events:
  19. - what: Fled to Monhegan
  20. date: "Aug 1676"
  21. place: Monhegan, Maine
  22. sources: [book-hubbard-1677-narrative, book-cushman-1882-ancient-sheepscot]
  23. note: "The Sheepscot settlers fled when the Kennebec fell, and sailed from Monhegan to Boston and Salem; the Messers very probably went with them."
  24. - what: Refugee in Boston
  25. date: "1676"
  26. place: Boston, Massachusetts
  27. sources: [book-cushman-1882-ancient-sheepscot, book-bolton-1899-stanwood-family]
  28. note: "Thomas Messer was among the Sheepscot refugees planning the resettlement at Boston in 1682; she married there in 1680."
  29. father:
  30. name: Thomas Messer of Sheepscot
  31. basis: compiled
  32. confidence: probable
  33. sources: [book-bolton-1899-stanwood-family, book-cushman-1882-ancient-sheepscot]
  34. note: 'Bolton''s inference from her depositions of 1737 and 1742, which name "her father Thos Messer"; Cushman (p. 44) also has "Mrs. Stanwood" as "the daughter of Thomas Messer of Sheepscot, where she was born and brought up."'
  35. ---
  37. Lydia was probably a daughter of Thomas Messer of Sheepscot, Maine, the "Thomas Mercer" who took the
  38. oath there in 1665 ([Cushman](/files/sources/book-cushman-1882-ancient-sheepscot/), p. 53), and was born
  39. between about 1657 and 1663, by the ages she gave in old age. She grew up "at the house of her
  40. father Thos Messer on ye West Side of s[ai]d Sheepscut River," but for a year at Damariscotta in the
  41. house of John Taylor, and lived there "till she was seventeen years old and married, which time was
  42. before the first Indian Wars" (Bolton pp. 32-34). Her first husband was a Butler. The widow of
  43. William Wilcott, who claimed land on the Sheepscot that Thomas Mercer had given her husband, "was
  44. the daughter of Thomas Mercer" (Cushman p. 97), and so probably Lydia's sister.
  46. **King Philip's War.** The war came to the Sheepscot in August 1676. After the Kennebec trading
  47. house of Richard Hammond was taken on 13 Aug, a girl who escaped "ran across over the Land that
  48. Night ten or twelve Miles, to give them Notice that lived at Shipscot River ... Those of Shipscot
  49. taking this Warning escaped away as soon as they could, leaving their Cattel and their Dwellings as
  50. a Prey to the Indians" ([Hubbard](/files/sources/book-hubbard-1677-narrative/), 2:157-158). When Arrowsic
  51. fell the next day, the rest of the people of the Kennebec, Sheepscot and Damariscotta fled to the
  52. islands, and from Monhegan sailed "some to that town [Boston], others to Salem" (2:164-165; Cushman
  53. pp. 60-62). The Messers very probably went with them, and were refugees in Boston from that autumn:
  54. "Thomas Messer" was one of the former inhabitants who met "at the house of Mr. Robert Gibbes, at
  55. Fort Hill, in Boston" on 30 Aug 1682 to plan the resettlement of New Dartmouth, Sheepscot (Cushman
  56. p. 66). In Boston, on 9 Dec 1680, she married John Stanwood of Gloucester, as Lydia Butler, a widow.
  57. In old age she remembered the Eastern war as beginning "ye year after King Philip's Indian Wars."
  59. ## Open questions
  61. - Her Butler husband, and when she married him.
  62. - Her depositions (Suffolk court files, 1737 and 1742; the Wiscasset town hall, 1742) and the Maine
  63. land claims of the 1730s for Messer (Mercer) and Wilcott, to read at first hand.
BeginEnd