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Cornet Peter Ayer (c. 1633–1699), son of John Ayer and Hannah Unknown
Hannah Allen (1642–1729), daughter of William Allen and Ann Goodale
Cornet Peter Ayer was born about 1633. [1] He died on 2 January 1698/9 in Boston. [2] He is buried in the Granary Burying Ground in Boston. [3]
The Hannah Allen who married Peter Ayer was the daughter of William Allen and Ann Goodale. [4] She was born on 17 June 1742. [5] Hannah, the wife of Peter, died on 22 December 1729, age 87, in Haverhill. [2] She is buried in the Pentucket Cemetery in Haverhill. [3]
Peter's father left him "that young sow whose ear hangs down and all my flaggy meadow " in his will of 12 March 1656/7. [6, 3: 201]
Peter, along with [his brothers] Thomas and Robert, is on a 23 May 1666 list of freemen in Haverhill. [7]
Peter acted as his father-in-law's lawyer when Moses Bradstreet and Nathaniel Elithorpe sued William for trespass—marking several trees on their land in Haverhill and claiming they were his. The April 1668 court found for William, but this was overturned on appeal in October 1668. [6, 4: 22, 63]
Peter was on the grand jury at the quarterly courts in Salisbury in April 1668 and April 1673 and in Hampton in October 1673. [6, 4:20; 5: 147, 234] He was on the trial jury in April 1670 at the Hampton court and April 1679 at at the Salisbury court. [6, 4: 235, 7: 190]
Prior to King Philip's War, on 19 February 1675, at a town meeting in Haverhill, Daniel Ladd, Peter Ayer, and Thomas Whittier were chosen to designate which houses should be garrisoned. [8, 124]
On 27 October 1683 Corporal Thomas Ayer was on a committee to attempt to find a minister for Haverhill. [8, 139]
Mr. Peter Ayer was a representative to the general court in January 1680/1, May 1683, and May 1686. [9]
On 10 May 1689—after William of Orange had become king and Governor Andros had been seized—a Committee of Safety was formed and towns were asked to send delegates to a convention. Cornet Peter was chosen to represent Haverhill. [8, 150–1] A cornet is the equivalent of a modern-day second lieutenant.
On 7 April 1690 [?] a petition was drawn up asking for help as Haverhill was a frontier town exposed to great danger. Cornet Peter was chosen to deliver and present the petition. [8, 157]
Peter was a selectman in 1692 and chosen an assessor on 30 July 1694. On 5 July 1697 he was chosen to be on a committee to choose the location of a new meeting house. [8, 164, 169, 173]
Cornet Peter Ayer was referred to as deceased at the annual town meeting in 1699. [8, 204]
Children of Peter Ayer and Hannah Allen: Recorded in Haverhill as the children of Peter and Hannah (Allen) Ayer [2]
i. Ruth Ayer was born on 30 October 1660. She died on 2 February 1694/5 in Ipswich. She married John Denison.
ii. Hannah Ayer was born on 21 August 1662. She died in 1735. [10] She married Lieutenant John Osgood of Andover on 17 October 1681. [1] John was born on 3 September 1654. [10] He died between 2 February 1724/5, when he wrote his will, and 11 May 1725, when it was proved. [10] John and Hannah are buried in the Old North Parish Burying Ground in Andover. [3]
John was the son of John and Mary (Clements) Osgood and the grandson of John and Sarah Osgood and Reverend Robert Clements. [10] Mary Clements was indicted for witchcraft after she confessed in 1692. She later recanted. [10]
iii. Abigail Ayer was born on 4 July 1664. Abigail, the widow of Deacon Robert Lord, was buried on 29 July 1742 in Ipswich. [11] She married Robert Lord of Ipswich on 7 June 1683. [1] Robert, the son of Robert, Jr., was born on 26 December 1657 in Ipswich. [11] Deacon Robert Lord died on 11 June 1735, age 79, in Ipswich. [11]
Abigail and Robert were great-great-grandparents of Nicholas Gilman, Jr., signer of the Constitution. Their daughter Mary Lord married Daniel Gilman. They were the parents of Nicholas Gilman, who was the father of Nicholas Gilman, Jr. [4]
iv. Mary Ayer was born on 6 August 1666. She died on 27 June 1743. [3] She married Joseph Calef of Ipswich. [1] Joseph, the son of Robert and Mary Calef [12], was born about 1672 in England. He died on 28 December 1707, age 35, in Ipswich. [11] Joseph is buried in the Old Burial Ground in Ipswich. [3] Mary married second as his second wife Captain Thomas Choate. [3] Thomas, the son of John and Anne (Carramas) Choate, died on 31 March 1745. He married first Mary Varney. [3] She died on 19 November 1733. [3] He married third Hannah (Cogswell) Burnham. [3] She died on 2 October 1782. [3]
Thomas and his wives are buried in the Old Graveyard in Essex, Essex county. [3]
Joseph's father wrote the book More Wonders of the Invisible World, denouncing the witchcraft delusion. [12]
v. Martha Ayer was born on 1 or 6 March 1667/8. She died on 20 September 1762. [10] She married Captain Peter Osgood of Salem on 19 May 1690. [1] Peter was the brother of Martha's sister Hannah's husband. [10] He was born on 30 August 1663 and died on 24 September 1753. [10] Peter and Martha are buried in the Burying Point Cemetery in Salem. [3]
Peter was a tanner. [1] He was deacon of the first church in Salem on 15 December 1718. [10] He was seven times a representative from Salem to the general court. [10]
vi. Samuel Ayer was born on 28 September 1669. He died on 2 January 1743/4. [1] He married Elizabeth Tuttle of Ipswich on 21 November 1693. [1] She died on 29 November 1752. [1]
Samuel's uncle Richard Allen left him a bequest shortly before his death in June 1678. [6, 7: 104]
vii. William Ayer was born on 23 September 1673. He died on 20 November 1675 in Haverhill. [2]
viii. Rachel Ayer was born on 18 October 1675. She died of smallpox on 21 May 1678 in Haverhill. [2]
ix. Ebenezer Ayer was born on 22 May 1678. He died on 10 October 1695, age 17 years, four months, and 19 days in Haverhill. [2] He was buried in the Pentucket Cemetery in Haverhill. [3]
References:
1. "Ayer Genealogy," Essex Antiquarian 4 (1900): 145–150.
2.Vital Records of Haverhill, Massachusetts: To the End of the Year 1849, 2 vols. (Topsfield: Topsfield Historical Society, 1910, 1911), vol. 1: 15–22 (Ayer, births); vol. 2, 15–22 (Ayer, marriages), 347–52 (Ayer, deaths).
3. Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 19 March 2023), memorial pages for
4. Gary Boyd Roberts, "New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Constitution Signers," NEHGS NEXUS 3 (1986): 293.Peter Ayres (1633–2 Jan 1699), Memorial ID 10547540, citing Granary Burying Ground, Boston; Maintained by Debbie Cromwell (contributor 13744498).
Hannah Allen Ayers (17 Jun 1642–22 Dec 1729), Memorial ID 18802037, citing Pentucket Cemetery, Haverhill; Maintained by Ann in NH (contributor 46841782).
Lieut John Osgood (14 Sep 1654–22 Apr 1725), Memorial ID 62919516, citing Old North Parish Burying Ground, North Andover; Maintained by Susan Isaac (contributor 47151718).
Hannah Ayres Osgood (21 Aug 1662–6 Sep 1735), Memorial ID 69350334, citing Old North Parish Burying Ground; Maintained by Donna Z (contributor 47425098).
Joseph Calef (1671–28 Dec 1707), Memorial ID 29590030, citing Old Burying Ground, Ipswich; Maintained by Kathleen Giusti (contributor 46789519).
Mary Ayer Choate (6 Aug 1666–27 Jun 1743), Memorial ID 64287720, citing Old Graveyard, Essex, Essex County; Maintained by Nancy (Noël) Borman (contributor 49035662)
Capt Thomas Choate (1671–31 Mar 1745), Memorial ID 64288063 and Mary Varney Choate (1669–19 Nov 1733), Memorial ID 68185522, citing Old Graveyard, Essex, Essex County; Maintained by Remembering Them (contributor 47869121).
Hannah Cogswell Burnham Choate (27 Mar 1693–2 Oct 1782), Memorial ID 201580657, citing Old Graveyard, Essex, Essex County; Maintained by Shaun Creighton (contributor 49577013).
Deacon Peter Osgood (30 Aug 1663–24 Sep 1753), Memorial ID 12685212 and Martha Ayers Osgood (1 Mar 1668–10 Sep 1760), Memorial ID 12685215, citing Burying Point Cemetery, Salem; Maintained by Dan Silva (contributor 46781334).
Ebenezer Ayer (22 May 1678–10 Oct 1695), Memorial ID 51711821, citing Pentucket Cemetery; Maintained by V. Nareen Lake (contributor 46613568).
5. Asa W. Brown, "Early Settlers of Salisbury, Mass., Arranged into Families," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 7 (1853): 311–4.
6. George Francis Dow, ed., and Harriet S. Tapley, trans., Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, 9 vols., digitized books, Salem Witch Trials: Documentary Archive and Transcription Project (http://salem.lib.virginia.edu).
7. Lucius R. Paige, "List of Freemen," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 3 (1849): 239.
8. George Wingate Chase, The History of Haverhill, Massachusetts (Haverhill: the author, 1861).
9. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay, vol. 1, 1628–1641, vol. 2, 1642–1649, vol. 3, 1644–1657, vol. 4 , 1650–1660, vol. 5, 1661–1674, vol. 6, 1674–1686 (Boston: William White, 1853, 1854), 6: 302, 408, 514.
10. C.M. Endicott, "The Osgood Family in New England," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 13 (1859): 117–21.
11. Vital Records of Ipswich, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849, 2 vols. (Salem: Essex Institute, 1910),, vol. 1: 1: 248; vol. 2: 517, 616, 620.
12. "New Englanders in Nova Scotia," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org, from a manuscript in the R. Stanton Avery Special Collection, image 522.
Map, Essex County Towns in 1643, Historic Ipswich (https://historicipswich.org/maps-of-historic-ipswich : accessed 19 March 2023).
19-Sep-2023