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John Hathaway
1629-1705
By: Bob Alford 2010
John Hathaway was born in 1629 in England, probably in London.
He was the son of Nicolas Hathaway, a successful brewer who came to
Massachusetts in the late 1630s with his son, and possibly two
other family members. It is uncertain exactly when Nicolas and John
came to the new world. Some genealogies put it as early as 1635,
but the earliest record of them is from February 24, 1639 when
Nicolas was granted 36 acres of land at Monaticott, Mount
Woollystone, which is now part of Braintree. There are also records
indicating that he bought land in the Boston area around the same
time.
In the records 40 there is the following:
“At a meeting February 24, 1639, there was granted to Nicolas
Hathaway of Monaticott, at Mount Woollystone, a lott there for 4
heads, and 20 acres more, there being in all 36 acres, upon the
same covenant of 3 shillings per acre.”
The land grant mentions four people. We not know who the other
two were. There are some claims that they were two other sons,
Jacob and Joseph. There is also a possibility that they were
Nicolas’s wife and his daughter Elizabeth. None of them, including
John (who was a minor) are mentioned in any records from the
period.
Many genealogies confuse our John Hathaway with a John Hathaway
that migrated to America in 1635 at the age of seventeen. They were
not the same person.
Shortly after they came to America the town of Taunton was
founded about 40 miles south of Boston and 25 miles west of
Plymouth. The town was official incorporated in 1639, and Nicholas
Hathaway is on a list of “First Settlers”. His name appears
frequently in the town’s historical records prior to 1643 in
regards to land transactions, indicating he became an extensive
land owner.
Nicolas’s name is not included in the militia list of 1643,
which comprised all able to bear arms between the ages of 16 and
60. This has led some to believe that he died prior to 1643, but
there is no proof of that. From the amount of land he owned he
appears to have been quite wealthy and probably brought that wealth
with him from England. We know that Nicolas was a successful
business man in London as a brewer. We also know that era was a
time of great unrest in England. It is quite possible that Nicolas
came to America with his son to protect his wealth by investing in
land in Massachusetts, which he certainly did.
It is pure speculation, but he may have returned to England
prior to the 1643 Militia List. Regardless of whether Nicolas had
died or returned to London, where was John? We do not know. He was
only 14 in 1643 so his name would not be on the list. He may have
returned to England with his father and returned later or he may
have stayed in Taunton. (See the biography of Nicolas Hathaway for
further details/speculation on what happened after 1643.)
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The story of John Hathaway is very much tied to the story of
Taunton. His father was an original settler, but it was John who
really settled there as a young man and became an important player
in the development of the community.
In 1649 he was in Taunton. We have a record that on 20 October
1649 John Hathaway of Taunton was presented at Plymouth General
Court for lending a gun to an Indian. He was cleared with an
admonition.
That same year twenty year old John married his first wife
Martha in nearby Freetown. It is usually reported that she was the
same age as John, and was the daughter of John Shepard and Frances
Kingston. There is however a question of her ancestry and if her
maiden name was really Shepard.
William Shepard was a fellow resident of Taunton. The March 1664
Plymouth Colony Records Archives Book (page 38) contains an entry
where Will Shepard of Taunton, shoemaker, empowered "my loving
brother John Hathaway of Taunton husbandman to take Care of all
that I, William Shepard, have within Taunton or elsewhere in the
sovereign King Charles Dominions and to dispose anything that I
have for the best advantage of me and my Children." If Shepard
should die then Hathaway was to divide all the property equally
among Shepard's children, except that his eldest son Samuel should
have a double portion of the lands, which was the custom of the
time. The document makes no mention of Shepard's wife; the omission
suggests though it does not prove, that she had already died.
This document, especially the phrase “my loving brother John
Hathaway” is taken by many to indicate that Martha was William
Shepard’s sister and therefore a “Shepard”. This is probably not
true. It is believed that William Shepard was the son of John
Shepard of Towcester England. The will of John Shepard of Towcester
refers to his oldest son William as being “now in New England”. It
goes on to list seven children, but there is no Martha among them.
On April 11, 1936 an article was published in the Boston Transcript
concluding from this Martha was not a Shepard. It proposed instead
that William Shepard was married to a sister of John Hathaway. Some
genealogies have gone so far to list Elizabeth Hathaway as
William’s wife. Elizabeth was in fact John’s sister as evidenced by
documents in England relative to Nicolas Hathaway, John’s father
(see biography of Nicolas Hathaway on our web site.) There is
however, no evidence that this Elizabeth ever traveled to the new
world.
This is one of the many mysteries from colonial times that will
probably never be completely resolved. It is of passing interest,
but of little consequence. For our purposes we will refer to her as
Martha Hathaway since we know for a fact that she was John
Hathaway’s first wife.
John and Martha had seven children:
1. John Jr. was born August 16, 1650 in Freetown. He married
Hanna Burt. They had ten children. John Jr. is our ancestor. His
biography is available from our web site.
2. Abraham was born September 11, 1652 in Taunton. He died
August 23, 1725. He married Rebecca Wilbore August 28, 1684. They
had nine children.
3. Isaac was born in 1655 in Taunton. He died December 17, 1722
in Berkley, MA. He married Mary Pitts March 17, 1686 in Taunton.
They had three children.
4. Ephraim was born December 8, 1661 in Taunton. He died
December 20, 1716. He married Elizabeth Talbot. They had eleven
children.
5. Elizabeth wax born about 1662 in Taunton. 6. Rebecca was born
about 1665 in Taunton. She died
December 31, 1742. She married Jared Talbot. 7. Abigail born
about 1667 in Taunton. She married James Phillips.
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As can be seen from this summary, by the third generation this
family had already grown quite large. Today, most Hathaways in
America, and those that have Hathaway ancestors, are descended from
this family.
Inheriting the land belonging to his father, and adding to his
holdings through purchases and at least one grant, John became a
prosperous land holder and a prominent citizen of Taunton, MA. He
lived in what was called “The Farms”, which is now part of Berkley,
MA.
In 1657, at the age of 28, he officially took the oath of
fidelity in Taunton. This was an important step in colonial times
where a young man swore his allegiance to the colony and became a
full-fledged member of the community with all of the appropriate
rights and privileges.
In 1658 he purchased, with 2 associates (Edward Bobet and
Timothy Holloway), for the sum of 152 pounds, 400 acres of 'meadow
and upland' in Taunton which afterwards became incorporated as the
town of Berkley. A transcription of the deed is available from our
web site. It demonstrates that lawyers could produce very complex
documents for very simple transactions, even in 1658!
When a town was settled it obtained its charter from Plymouth
Colony. After the initial settlement of Taunton was built, the
inhabitants insisted they needed more land and appealed to the
court for “the meadow lands.” Some of these lands were granted and
became part of the town, but that was not enough. On June 2, 1646
the town was granted the right to purchase more land. Most of the
land was then purchased from the owners, which was often the
Indians. This pattern continued with the town acquiring additional
blocks of land through the late 1600s.
When blocks were purchased the townspeople had to determine how
the land would be divided. The town would appoint a committee to do
this work. John often served on these committees.
In 1659 Taunton produced a “Rates List” dividing a block of
land. In this case each person was granted two acres per head (the
size of the household including children), two acres for the lot
(free) and 2 acres per shilling paid to the town. All of the lots
were large by today’s standards as these were farmers who had to
make their living from the land. On the 1659 list the smallest lot
is 9 acres and the largest is 96 acres. The average size is around
30 acres. John Hathaway was granted 37 acres in this division.
There is something very curious about this particular document
in regards to John Hathaway. It lists his family as having seven
heads, yet in 1659 only three of his children had been born. This
seems to indicate that there were two additional people in his
household, or there is an error in the dating somewhere. Is it
possible that these other two “heads” were Nicolas and his wife
returned from England to live out their lives with their son? Does
this seem too farfetched? Maybe, but it is possible. This is
another little mystery to which we will probably never know the
answer.
The division of the lands and the granting of rights were not
without controversy. Complaints about the grants resulted in a
committee of ten being appointed to resolve the issues and clarify
the rights. The decisions of the committee had to be voted on by
the townspeople. Sometimes the decision on a particular lot was to
change or modify the grant, and sometimes it was to reaffirm the
original owner’s rights. In one such document, approved by the
townspeople in 1680, John Hathaway is reaffirmed as the rightful
owner of all the land originally owned by his father, Nicolas.
On June 20th, 1675 war broke out between the colonists and the
settlers when the Indians attacked the settlement at Swansea (then
often spelled Swansey), which is less than 20 miles south of
Taunton. It did not take the Indians long to move north and to
attack the outlying farms around Taunton. This was the beginning of
King Philip’s War, so called because the Indian leader who led the
attempt to drive the settlers out was referred to by the colonists
as King Philip. Ultimately the war spread throughout New England
and Boston itself was threatened at one point in the conflict. The
cost to both sides was very heavy. The colonists lost 800 of the
52,000 inhabitants at the time. The Indians lost 3,000 of their
20,000 population. More than half the towns in New England were
attacked by the Indians. There are many sides to why this happened,
but that does not really matter. The destruction and loss of life
was extensive and it would take decades for the colonies to
recover. The Indians never really did. The town of Taunton and all
its residents, including John Hathaway and his family, were right
on the front line.
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We do not know for certain that the Hathaways moved into town to
take refuge, but it is highly likely that they did. John’s business
partner and friend Edward Bobet did. This is from the Babbitt
(modern spelling) Family History compiled almost a century ago:
“Finally their position became too dangerous to admit of further
delay and being warned of the commencement of hostilities, on June
25, 1675, they took refuge in the garrison at Taunton, leaving
behind the home which had been the fruit of so much labor in the
wilderness. We must depend upon tradition for the account of Edward
Bobet's last hours. This tradition has been so faithfully handed
down from generation to generation and seems so fully confirmed by
his place of burial that there is no reason to disbelieve it.
According to this tradition Bobet returned to his house to secure
some necessary article—perhaps the cheese hoop, as the story says:
he was accompanied by his dog in the thought that perhaps warning
of prowling savages would be given by it. He secured the needed
article and was on his way back to the fort when he became aware of
his pursuit by Indians; he climbed a tree and was effectually
hidden, but his faithful dog disclosed his presence and his life
was the forfeit of his hazardous adventure. His grave is in a
private yard, near Berkley Bridge, and is thought to be the spot
where he was killed. The spot was marked by a bronze Memorial
Tablet in 1911—its cost being defrayed by small contributions from
his descendants, from all over the United States and Canada. “When
he failed to return to the fort the searching party probably buried
his mutilated body where it was found and later the old headstone
was placed there, which is now in Historical Hall, it having been
taken away from the grave in after years and placed on a stone wall
nearby.”
In colonial times all able bodied men between the ages of 16 and
65 who were capable of carrying a weapon were considered to be
available for the militia and all were trained in the use of
firearms. The town had to defend itself until help arrived. The
colony did not hesitate to act. A letter was sent from Swansey to
the Massachusetts Colony for aid. It was responded to the same day
with assurance of immediate assistance.
From the Connecticut Archives, War Documents Vol. I. Doc. 5:
Boston July 5"" 1675 Honorable Genf By our former dat. the 3rd of
this instant wee gave you a brief account of the late outbreaking
of the Indians in the Plimouth Colony at Swanzie and since wee
received the enclosed declaring the deplorable condition of those
at Taunton in the same Colony wee have at their request accomodated
them with ammunition and men, ie. ab' SO troopers furnished with
carbines & small musketts ab' 100 dragoones & ab' 100 foote
soldjers so that with tlieir attendance for waggons whole may be
neere 400 men also two vessells well fitted with men provisions
& ammunition we have sent ab"- the Cape to accomodate all their
necessityes so far as wee could judge necessary,
The remainder of the letter discusses the affairs of the United
Colonies relating to the arming and management of the Indians not
yet engaged with Philip, and is signed by Edward Rawson, Sec'y, on
behalf of the Court. Plymouth, Massachusetts and Connecticut
colonies all supplied troops for the early part of the war. Swansay
and Taunton were not required to supply troops (other than
volunteers) because they were on the front line and billeted troops
for the battles. The men were needed to protect their homes and
their families and to provide a defense in case of attack. Some
family genealogies claim that John fought as part of the militia in
King Philips war and was in fact an Ensign. There is a very clear
record of his son Abraham serving in the military under Captain
Daniel Henchman, but I cannot find any war records for John or any
of his other sons. I suspect they fought in defense of Taunton and
were part of the Taunton militia, but were not part of the formal
military forces. The first record of Abraham’s service is in a
ledger dated August 20, 1675. This makes sense. John Hathaway
senior was a leader of the town with a sizable family. John Junior
was married and living with his wife in Freetown. Abraham was 23,
single, and ideally suited for military service. The war spread and
the Indians won many victories and caused a lot of damage. This
from Wikipedia:
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“Throughout the winter of 1675–1676 more frontier settlements,
as well as the Bull Garrison House, were destroyed by the Native
Americans. Attacks came at Andover, Bridgewater, Chelmsford,
Groton, Lancaster, Marlborough, Medfield, Millis, Medford,
Portland, Providence, Rehoboth, Scituate, Seekonk, Simsbury,
Sudbury, Suffield, Warwick, Weymouth, and Wrentham. The famous
captive story of Mary Rowlandson, captured in Lancaster,
Massachusetts, gives a Colonial captive's perspective on the
war.
“Spring of 1676 marked the high point for the combined tribes
when, on March 12, they attacked Plymouth Plantation itself. Though
the town withstood the assault, the natives had demonstrated their
ability to penetrate deep into colonial territory. Three more
settlements – Longmeadow (near Springfield), Marlborough, and
Simsbury – were attacked two weeks later, as Captain Pierce] and a
company of Massachusetts soldiers were wiped out between Pawtucket
and the Blackstone's settlement and several were allegedly tortured
and buried at Nine Men's Misery in Cumberland. The abandoned
capital of Rhode Island (Providence) was burned to the ground on
March 29. At the same time, a small band of Native Americans
infiltrated and burned part of Springfield, Massachusetts, while
the militia was away.
The war ended for most purposes on August 12, 1676, Philip was
shot and killed by an Indian named John Alderman, who fought on the
side of the colonies. His body was beheaded and drawn and
quartered, which was the tradition at the time. His head was put on
display in Plymouth. There were a few subsequent attacks, but with
Philip gone the war was largely over and the rebuilding begun.
With the war ended the Hathaway’s could return to their
homestead in the farms section of Taunton. The picture of John
Hathaway’s home on the right was taken in the late 1800’s
In the 1889 the historical society of Taunton put up the iron
marker in the picture on the right marking the Hathaway Homestead.
At the end of the war Abraham returned to Taunton and his parent’s
home. He married Rebecca Wilbore on August 28, 1684 in Taunton. He
served for 35 years as the Town Clerk of Taunton and has been
recognized as “One of the finest penmen of Colonial New England.”
In 1672, prior to the start of King Phillip’s War, two sections of
land, sometimes referred to as the “South Purchase of old Taunton”,
were purchased from the Indians for 43 pounds and 147 pounds. After
the war ended it came under the control of a committee. On December
30, 1684, the committee chose John Richmond and John Hathaway “to
see this writing signed, sealed and delivered before a magistrate.”
Soon after, a settlement began to form with the settlers coming
primarily from Taunton. One of the earliest settlers was Jared
Talbot who married Rebecca Hathaway, John’s sixth child. Also among
the first settlers were Abraham Hathaway, John’s second child, and
Ephraim Hathaway, John’s fourth child.
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On October 11, 1706 a group of residents of the South Precinct
of Old Taunton signed a petition to separate from Taunton to form a
new town. Jared Talbot (Rebecca’s husband), Abraham Hathaway, Isaac
Hathaway, and Ephraim were all signers of this document. This was
quite controversial, and caused considerable debate. In 1712 the
petitioners prevailed and the area was incorporated as Dighton,
Massachusetts. John played a prominent role in Taunton in the
1680’s as evidence by the town records. Town boundaries and land
holdings were in dispute, especially with neighboring towns, and
the townspeople wanted written confirmation from Governor Bradford
as to the validity of their claims. The following are from the
Taunton town records:
“This 8th of January, 1883. The town hath by vote chosen John
Hathaway, senior and John Richmond to go abroad to procure evidence
for strengthening and further confirmation of our township.”
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“This 6th day of July, 1685 The Town hath voted and agreed to
choose two men to send to the Court at Plymouth to do their best
endeavor to procure the confirmation of our township as it is
already drawn up by selectman and by some others. The men chosen
is(sic) John Hathaway, senior and Thomas Leonard.”
There are many other entries in the town records that mention
John Hathaway. Suffice it to say that he remained one of the town
fathers and a prominent figure in Taunton all of his life. At
various times he served as the town constable, a position of great
importance and power in colonial times, and as Taunton’s
representative to the General Court in Plymouth.
Sometime between 1683 and 1692 (some reports say 1685 but that
is unsubstantiated), John’s wife Martha Hathaway died. On December
25, 1692, John married Ruth Dyer, widow of Christopher Dyer, at the
First Church of Braintree in Braintree, MA. They lived in Taunton,
and there are several deeds signed by John and Ruth between 1694
and 1704. Ruth died September 10, 1705 at the age of 62. John died
that same year at age 76. They are both buried at Fox Cemetery in
Berkeley, MA, which was part of old Taunton.
http://image1.findagrave.com/photos/2010/106/51256877_127154712701.jpg
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The Legend of the Iron Men
There is a story that is repeated over and over in various
genealogies, both on the Internet and in books, that the early
Hathaways of Taunton, including John and his sons, were Iron Men.
The way the story is usually told; in 1695 John built and operated
an Iron Works called the Chantley Iron Works. He passed this on to
his son John who in turn passed it to his sons. This is embellished
to various degrees in different tellings. The problem is that it is
not true. [Note: This story is NOT in Hathaways of America, which
is generally considered the best and most accurate Hathaway
Genealogy.]
There are a few things about this legend that do not pass the
smell test. First, in 1695 John was 66 years old. He was a wealthy
land owner, a leader of the community, and heavily involved in
Plymouth Colony as well as Taunton Town politics. Why would such a
man suddenly become an Iron Works operator?
A little research into the Chantley Iron Works reveals that it
did exist and was built in 1695, but by Thomas and James Leonard,
who were long time Iron Men and who owned the Taunton Iron Works.
So where did John come in? He was one of many who deeded land to
Thomas and James Leonard for the project.
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From the New England Historical and Genealogical Registry Volume
38:
To add fuel to the legend, John Hathaway, Jr., also a very
wealthy land owner, invested in another Iron Works in Freetown
in
1704. This was an investment. It is widely reported that he gave
the Chartley Iron Works to two of his sons in his will. It is
most
likely this investment that he willed to his heirs, not the
Chantley Iron Works, since he did not own that. He did not own
and
operate any Iron Works, and contrary to some reports the
Hathaways were not “Iron Men”.
“June 14, 1704, articles of agreement were signed by James
Tisdale Sr., John Paul, Edward Bobbet, Abraham
Hathaway, Edward Paul, Malachi Holloway, James Tinsdale Jr.,
John Spur, John Burt, Joseph Dean, Nathaniel
Holloway, Timothy Holloway, Albert Burt, John Wilbur, and
William Phillips of Taunton, and by Josiah
Winslow, Benjamin Chase, and John Hathaway of Freetown to build
some iron works on the land of Nathanial
Winslow of Freetown. The iron was to be obtained upon land in
Taunton called the “Red Weed Land” which
was owned by Able Burt. The company was to pay Burt but two
shillings a ton for the iron as it lay on the
ground, until they paid eighteen pounds; then Burt was to
receive three shillings per ton, even if others who
owned iron mines engaged to sell their iron at a lower
price.”
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John Hathaway – A confused genealogy record
Genealogy is an imperfect record of our ancestors. It is made
far worse by incorrect information that creeps into the writings of
genealogies and gets copied from one to another. The Internet, and
the widespread activity by many people interested in their own
genealogy and reporting it via the web, has greatly amplified the
problem, but it did not start with them. Many older publications
contain errors, and if these errors result in interesting, but
false stories based on misinterpretations or educated guesses
reported as facts, they tend to be picked up and reprinted over and
over, sometimes being falsely embellished along the way.
Information obtained from old books, or other peoples web sites,
is useful, but must be validated, or at least considered to
determine if the claim is even plausible. Modern Internet databases
like Ancestory.com and the LDS database are notoriously bad. They
are open for people to add their own information, which is good,
but a lot of the information added is simply not true. The LDS
database for example contains many bad entries made by well meaning
contributors. I have found entries where generations are confused
such that a couple is credited with having children long after they
are dead, the children of course really belonging to a descendent
or a different couple with similar names.
Gross errors in dates are easy to detect, but more subtle errors
that grew out of false assumptions or embellishments of facts to
the point of fiction, are more difficult. I have seen such errors
in all of my ancestral lines and have done my best to filter them
out by checking back to official records or at least sources that
actually quote official records, but I am sure that I too have been
guilty of passing on information that someday will prove to be
false.
In no other ancestor have I found as many confused reports and
bad data as in the history of John Hathaway. It may be because so
many people are descended from him that there is a high level of
interest, that so many people copy bad information. For
example:
1. Many genealogies report that he came to America in 1635 and
that he was 17 years old at the time. They are confusing him with
another John Hathaway, whose line has died out. This problem goes
back to books written in the late 1800’s but it has found itself
onto many web sites.
2. There is a widely quoted claim that in 1690 John and his sons
fought in King Phillips war and that he was an ensign. The problem
with this report is that King Philip’s War took place in 1675. I do
not know the origin of this particular claim, but it precedes the
Internet by many years. It has been copied over and over without
any of the people reporting it even checking to see when King
Philip’s war took place.
3. There is the famous debate of the maiden name of Martha
Hathaway. Many years ago an assumption was made that she was a
Shepard. This had been discredited by the 1930’s, yet many web
sites make this claim today.
4. Finally there is the Legend of the Iron Men described in the
previous section.
These are but a few examples. John Hathaway was a pioneer who
came to America as a young boy and left a huge footprint on his new
homeland. He was a wealthy land owner and a prominent citizen of
Taunton. He was active in local and colony politics and was very
influential in his community. His story is interesting and one
could spend far more time researching him and telling about it than
I have done here. Unfortunately most descendents seem satisfied
just reporting the dates he was born, married and died (sometimes
incorrectly) and copying a few unverified claims that others have
made. I hope someday someone will really research the life of John
Hathaway and his children and produce a definitive work on this
prominent colonial family. I am sure the truth will be very
interesting.
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The Times of the Life of John Hathaway
He was born in England in an age of Kings where King Charles I
had disbanded Parliament and was ruling England with an iron
fist. With Civil war on the horizon has father immigrated with
his ten year old son, and probably two other family members, to
the new world. By 1642 he was in Taunton where his father became
a first settler of the town and a wealthy land owner.
This was still early colonial times and Taunton, where he lived
his life, was part of Plymouth Colony. During his lifetime the
colonies grew from a few small settlements to a population of
over 250,000. This growth was not without pain and conflict,
between the settlers and the native Indians, between various
groups of settlers over territorial claims, and between the
colonists
and various factions in Europe.
In 1675 war came to John’s home town when the Indians attacked
first Swansea and then Taunton in what was to become King
Philip’s War, and Indian uprising that killed thousands. War
came again in 1690 when King William’s, a war between England
and Spain over new world territory and resources was fought
primarily in the colonies.
In Europe this was an era of war and strife, which drove the
mass migration to the new world. This was also the time of
Galileo,
and later Sir Isaac Newton, who, along with their fellow
scientists of the age, advanced our understanding of the world in
which
we live far more that at any previous time in history.
Unlike the common perception of the typical colonist being a
very poor, struggling settler in a foreign land, John Hathaway
was
quite wealthy and became even wealthier through his investments.
He was a very well respected and powerful individual, who
was very influential in local as well as Plymouth Colony
politics. He left a very large footprint in his time, and he raised
a large
family who in turn had great influence and wealth of their
own.
This is not to imply they lived in the lap of luxury. There was
little luxury in colonial days. It is hard for us to imagine a life
in
Massachusetts at that time with few roads and no modern
conveniences where everything had to be grown and constructed
locally; where there was a constant threat of attack from the
native tribes; and where the decisions made by a King in a far
away
land could have far reaching impact on our lives with us having
no say in the matter and no recourse. Yet he and his family not
only survived, they thrived and established the Hathaway family
in America.
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“So How am I Related to John Hathaway?”
If you can trace your ancestry to Frank Randel Hathaway and his
wife Beulah Messer
Hathaway, who were my grandparents, you are a descendent of John
Hathaway. John
was the great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather of
Frank Randel Hathaway.
Simply determine how many generations you are descended for him
and add that number
of “Greats”.
If you are not sure who Frank Randel Hathaway was, see his
biography which will tell you
who some of his descendents were, and perhaps you can establish
a relationship.
If you are a more distant cousin who is descended from one of
the early generations you
can do your own generation counting. In this case please contact
us and let us know who
you are.
I hope you have enjoyed meeting John and thinking about what his
life was like. Had he
not lived, migrated to America, married and had his family, none
of us would exist today.
All the information in this biography is historically accurate
to the best of my knowledge.
With genealogy, new information often comes to light that
contradicts the old. If you are
aware of any errors I have made or corrections or additions to
this that should be added,
please let me know.