• General Notes

  [3104.ftw]
  
  [Brøderbund WFT Vol. 22, Ed. 1, Tree #3104, Date of Import: Dec 9, 1998]
  
  !John Warner, son of William, was born about 1616 in Boxstead, co.Essex
  Eng.  The year is definitely established in Essex,MA Bay Colony Court Files 50,
  where it is recorded that John Warner, Esq. was aged 45 in the year 1661 He
  came to America in 1637 with his father, his brother Daniel, and his sister
  Abigail, and settled in Ipswich,MA. He bought 2 parcels of planting ground from
  Isaac Perkins, the sale being recorded on 15 Jun 1638, and he bought 3
  acres from John North, the latter sale being entered 13 Dec 1638.  In 1648
  he sold a house lot to Harris. In early records he is sometimes referred to as
  "Squire".  John Warner married, about 1639, Priscilla Symonds, b.Eng.ab.1620,
  dau. of Mark & Joanna Symonds. Some writers give 10 Mar 1655 as the date of his
  marriage, but that is disproved by the fact that a deed made by John Warner to
  John Woodam on that date was signed by Priscilla as his wife.  In 1659 or 1660,
  he joined with others of Ipswich in petitioning the General Court of Mass.
  for a grant of land at Quabaug, now Brooksfield, MA. In May 1660, the
  General Court granted the petitiones a plantation 6 miles square near
  Quabaug Ponds, provided that there be 20 families and an approved minister
  there in 3 years.  In the summer of that year, John Warner and 2 or 3
  others went to Quabaug to select the place for the new settlement, but it
  was not until 1665 that settlement was established, when a few families
  moved there.  John's family was one of these.  On 6 Aug 1665, he had sold
  to John Woodam his property in Ipswich, consisting of his dwelling house,
  barn, orchard, and 7 acres of upland "which formerly was part of father
  Warner's meadow."  John Warner is credited with being "the father of
  Brookfield" and is said to have built the first house there.  He had a
  grant of 300 acres of choice land in Brookfield.!will dated 17 May 1692.
    (It is erroneously reported by earlier writers that he came over on the ship
  INCREASE in 1635.  The John Warner of the INCREASE was another John Warner who
  was granted land in Watertown, MA., in Feb 1636, moved to Hartford, CT., in
  1637, and to Farmington CT in 1648.) ref.Hist.of Hadley,MA by Judd. John founder
     In 1667, 7 years after the original grant, there were only 6 or 7 families
  in Quabaug, so the Court revoked the former grant and made a new one extending
  for one year the time for the inhabitants to fulfill the provisions of the
  grant.  On 10 Oct 1673, the inhabitants of Quabaug petitioned the General Court
  to be granted the "Priviledge and liberties of a Township whereby  we may be
  the better inabled to carry on our owne matters without too much distraction."
  This petition was granted 22 Oct 1673.  Two months later, LT Thomas Cooper, who
  was named grantee in the Indian deed of 1665, assigned the deed to John
  Warner, Richard Coy, and William Pritchard, trustees of the Town.of Brookfield
    In the main, the Indians inhabiting the lands adjacent to the new settlements
  had been, or pretended to e, on friendly terms with the settlers.  In 1674,
  however, there were signs that the Indians were getting uneasy.  Philip, the
  son and successor of Massasoit, had begun to incite the tribes to revenge
  against the settlers for their encroachments on the lands of the Indians.  On
  24 Jun 1675, the first blow of King Philip's War was struck at Swansea in
  Plymouth Colony, and 8 or 9 colonists were slain.  It was then feared that
  there would be a general uprising, which was made certain on Aug 2 by the
  attack on Brookfield, which was an isolated settlement between the towns along
  the coast and those in the Conn.Valley.  On that date a few soldiers and 3 men
  of Brookfield went unarmed, owing to the hitherto peaceful attitude of the
  Quabaugs, to have a parley with the indians concerning certain grievances.
  They were ambushed, and 8 of them including the 3 Brookfield men were killed.
  The rest succeeded in returning to Brookfield by a roundabout way, and there
  they fortified themselves in the tavern of Sergeant Ayres.  Here in four rooms,
  with scanty food, with water which should quench their thirst being used to
  put out fires, with no medical aid or sanitary conveniences, 84 men, women,
  and children withstood for 3 days, the siege of several hundred Indians,
  protected only by the wooden walls, feather beds, and a few logs.  They were
  finally relieved by a detachment from Boston.  After the survivors left the
  town, the Indians burned the tavern, which ws the only remaining building. MA
    The town was deserted.  Many of the survivors returned to the towns from
  which they originally came; some cast their lot with the inhabitants of other
  pioneer settlements.  John Warner moved to Hadley where his sons Mark and John
  had previously settled.  In 1680 he rec. a grant there of 20 acres of land in
  Partrigg's Swamp, and at the same time his son Mark rec. 12 acres.  On 11 Nov
  1691, he sold his home lot in Brookfield.  His will was dated 17 May 1692, and
  he probably died shortly thereafter.  He gave his real and personal property to
  his sons Mark, Nathaniel, and Eleazer, who were living in Hadley.  The date of
  his wife's death has not been found.  1665. Brookfield destroyed by Indians
  1675; rem. to Hadley,MA before 1678

Details of John's family with Priscilla Symonds