Captain John Thomas Ayers/Eyre Sr. 1592- 1657

Captain John Thomas Ayers/Eyre Sr

1582–1657

BIRTH 2 SEP 1592 • Corsham, Salisbury, Wiltshire Co, England

DEATH 31 MAR 1657 • Haverhill, Essex, Mass.

Below- an old book illustration of his birthplace in England, and his birth date varies from 1582-96.  I'm going with the1592 for my ancestry tree at this time.

Wiltshire Architecture of the Sixteenth Century  "The hamlet of Hawkstreet, Brougham parish, where this farm manor house stands, the likely birthplace, in 1596, of John Ayer of Haverhill, Massachusetts.  Larger than his own two-story home would have been, the building shows clearly in this review the lofts and local style of architecture familiar to him."

Haverhill MA 1850 illustration

He lived most of his life in Haverhill MA

Located on the Merrimack River, it began as a farming community of Puritans, largely from Newbury Plantation. The land was officially purchased from the Pentuckets on November 15, 1642 (a year after incorporation) for three pounds, ten shillings.^[3] [4]Pentucket was renamed Haverhill (after the Ward family's hometown in England) and would evolve into an important industrial center, beginning with sawmills and gristmills run by water power. In the 18th and 19th century, Haverhill developed woolen mills, tanneries, shipping and shipbuilding. The town was for many decades home to a significant shoe-making industry. By the end of 1913, one tenth of the shoes produced in the United States were made in Haverhill, and because of this the town was known for a time as the "Queen Slipper City". The city was also known for the manufacture of hats. Wikipedia HERE.


-------------------------------- Quoted below to next --------- mark

The immigrant John Ayer was said to have come from England, arriving on The James in 1635 with his wife Hannah and their first 4 children - Thomas, Rebecca, Robert, and Peter. There is no documentation found for his journey, but in John's case he came with money, and perhaps was one of the people who were not allowed to leave without surrendering money and property to the Crown. Per Willis Brown's research, we place him on the James because of his later close association with other listed passengers on that ship, such as the Pike family, and his kinsman, John Evered alias Webb.

The James itself is a part of history, surviving the Great Hurricane of 1635. The James, out of Bristol, met the hurricane off the Isles of Shoals, there losing three anchors and being forced to put to sea, for no canvas or rope would hold. The storm winds drove her to within feet of the Pascataquack rocks. "At this moment," wrote Increase Mather (his father, mother, and four brothers being among the one hundred passengers), "their lives were given up for lost; but then, in an instant of time, God turned the wind about, which carried them from the rocks of death before their eyes." On Aug 13, 1635, The James manages to make it to Boston Harbor proper with "...her sails rent in sunder, and split in pieces, as if they had been rotten ragges..."

So were the parents of' a great American family delivered from death at the hands of the tempest. Of the one hundred plus aboard the James, none were lost. 

John and his family resided in Salisbury, MA from 1640 - 1646. Some people report that he lived in Ispwich for a time. We know this not to be true, as he was recorded as such in many family histories because he was made a Freeman in the Ipswich court. However, the court at that time traveled, and it was just a stroke of fate that it was in Ipswich when the issue of Freeman status for John and his son John was taken up by the court. The will of John also comes into the same category. He never lived in Hampton, but that is where the court was at the session that considered his estate.

John and family moved to Haverhill, MA in 1647, there John and Hannah had 5 more children - Mary, John Jr., Nathanial, Hannah, and Obadiah.
According to the New England Heritage John was made a freeman, and was a well respected member of Haverhill. A freeman in those days was not the opposite of a slave. A freeman was more of a citizen with benifits. The Church had to vote on who became a freeman, and the process and questions were excrutiating.

To the best of our knowledge, our John was married once, to Hannah, whose maiden name is lost to history. She survived her husband, and was the mother of all of his children, easily proven by the land deeds of MA. Below is a quote from Willis Brown in regards to Hannah and her maiden name:

"First and possibly foremost, John Ayer was not married to Hannah Evered. He was married to Hannah, who was not an Evered. A very early researcher, perhaps as early as 1860, identified her as Hannah Green(?) with the question mark next to it. He left us no notes, or lists of reference. I have found nothing that would indicate where he developed that theory. The earliest identification that I have found of the wife of John Ayer as Hannah Evered was a newspaper genealogy column known as "The Boston Transcript." According to that source Hannah was listed in the will of John Evered alias Webb, therefore she must be his sister. She was not listed in that will. In fact, Hannah was still alive when the will was offered for probate, she was not mentioned and did not inherit. John Evered alias Webb did mention his cousins as the children of John Ayer: and not as the children of his sister Hannah. I think John Evered alias Webb knew what he was doing and I do not try to second guess him. In some so-called family trees, Hannah has been added as a sibling of John Evered alias Webb, but that is not supported by English records." John passed away in Haverhill in 1657. his will was dated March 12, 1656, proved Hampton Ct. Jun 8 1657. His wife, Hannah, survived him, and died Oct. 8, 1688, having remained his widow. John Ayer devised his homestead to his son John Jr.

"This is the story, to the best of my knowledge, of John Ayer and his time in Haverhill MA. I want to thank people like Willis Brown, Robert Ayers, and Warren Ayer for sharing so much of their research and knowledge. Clearly their input has helped my research significantly and made this website possible."
The above information comes from Melinda Wilson, from Rootsweb, also quoted a Find A Grave site

-------------------------------------end quote------

I am also using 1598 as the date of his wife, Hannah's birth (one of several given).  When she lived to 1688, it would have been very difficult to have been born in 1582 as some records state, not to mention having her last few of the 10 children so late in her life.  They were my 9th great grandparents on Ada Swasey Rogers family tree.

Our ancestor was their daughter Rebecca Ayer Aslett 1623-1671 who married John Aslett.

And we also have Captain John and Hannah Ayers/Eyre as our 9th great grandparents through their son Captain John Ayers (1623-1675) descendants as well...through his son Nathaniel Ayers (blacksmith) 1664-1731, also on the Ada Swasey Rogers tree.