Robert Lord

• General Notes
  • Robert Lord (1603-1683)  Robert Lord was among the earliest settlers of Ipswich. He arrived in late 1634 or early 1635 and took the Freeman's oath in Boston March 3, 1635/6. His name does not appear on any of the passenger lists of the ships of the time, but it is likely he came with others from Sudbury in late 1634. Robert was born in Sudbury, Suffolk, England in 1603. His line has never been verified prior to that time. On November 11, 1630 he married Mary Waite in Finchingfield, Essex, England. They arrived in Ipswich with four children and had five after arrival.  In September 1636, Robert was appointed Town Clerk and Clerk of the Court of Ipswich and continued to hold that position until his death August 21, 1683. His duties included what would now be considered Clerk of Probate and Register of Deeds. He was appointed Deputy to the General Court March 12, 1637/8. In the latter position he served on committees that fixed the boundaries of the towns surrounding Ipswich and private lands in Essex County. He served as Clerk of Courts in old Norfolk County in 1649, and in 1658 as Clerk of the Salem Court. He was also Marshal or Sheriff until succeeded by his son Robert on March 27 1660.
    
    (I) Robert Lord, the immigrant, was born in England in 1603. and appears to have been the son of widow Catherine Lord, who was residing in Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1637, and was a com-
    
    mener in 1641. Robert Lord took the freeman's oath at Boston, March 3, 1636. His house lot on High street was granted to him February 19, 1637. In 1639 he had a houselot on High street, which property yet remains a possession of his descendants. He was one of Denison's subscribers in 1648; had a share in Plum Island, in 1664; and was a voter in town affairs in 1679. He was on a committee with Richard Saltonstall and others, empowered to grant houselots to settlers, in 1645. He was representative in 1638; selectman in 1661 and many years after ; and was appointed "searcher of coin" for the town of Ipswich in 1654. He was long town clerk, and also clerk of the court till his decease. The latter office included the duties now performed by the clerk of probate and register of deeds. He served more than twenty years in the Indian wars and became so inured to camp life and exposure that he could never afterwards sleep upon a feather bed. He is said to have been below the medium stature, but of powerful mould and one of the most athletic, strong, and fearless men in the Colonial service. There is a tradition that the Indians themselves at one time, when confronted by Lord's rangers, proposed to decide the battle that was anticipated by an encounter between the champions of the two parties ; to this the whites agreed, and Robert Lord walked to the front. The Indians selected the most powerful of their tribe, a perfect giant, full seven feet in stature. The two men were to meet at full run and take the "Indian hug" as they closed. The savages anticipated an easy victory. They came together like two infuriated bullocks with a tremendous shock, but in an instant the redskin lay stretched upon the earth, and the shouts of the Colonial scouts rang out in the forest. Not satisfied with a single experiment, they were required to rush and clinch again. In this encounter Lord took the "hip-lock" on his greasy antagonist and threw him with such force that a blood vessc-1 was ruptured in the fall. The Indians took him up and carried him from the arena, fully acknowledging themselves defeated ; they afterward reported that some whiteman's devil invested Lord with supernatural strength. He died August 12, 1683, in the eightieth year of his age. His will, dated June 28, was proved September 25, 1683. He married Mary Waite in 1630. In his will he mentions his wife. Mary, "with whom by God's good providence we have lived comfortably together in a married condition almost fifty-three years." He bequeaths her all his estate during her life. Their children were: Robert, Sarah, Nathaniel, Thomas, Samuel, Susannah, Abigail, Hannah, and one who married a Chendler.