Capt. John Granger

This week I'm focusing on information about my paternal grandmother's family tree, the Ada Swasey Rogers Tree

An edited repost from 2018 

Capt. John Granger (Grainger)

1654–1723

Birth 15 JAN 1654 • Newbury, Massachusetts Death 05 APR 1723 OR 1725 • Andover, Essex, Mass

My 7th great grandfather.

He was the oldest son of Lancelot (Launcelot) and Joanna Adams Grainger, of their 12 children. Three siblings didn't live beyond their first year however. And they each were memorialized by having a younger child named after them. It's pretty confusing in the family trees, to see 3 same names with different birthdays and death dates...but families used to do that. When a young child died, they would name another one born after them.


So Robert Granger was born in 1657 and died in 1658, but after the birth of George in 1658. It wasn't until the birth in 1660 that another Robert was born who lived to 1709. When Rebecca died within her first year, there were 3 more daughters born before they renamed one Rebecca (1666-1693). And by then Hannah had died in her first year, so another Hannah was born who lived (1666-1729.) Did you notice these last girls were twins?

OK, back to Captain John. He probaby captained a ship for some part of his life, perhaps fishing. Newbury MA, where he was born, is a coastal town, so it's probable that he sailed. Andover is close to waters going to the Atlantic, but he may have settled into farming there.

Both his parents were born in England, came to America as children and married in Essex County, MA. (Joanna Adams and Lancelot Granger.)

After he married Martha Poor Granger when he was 25, he moved to Andover, MA, where he had a farm across from that of the Poor family. He died in Andover in 1723 or 1725 at age 69 or 71.

North Andover Burying Ground - I don't have records that the Grangers were buried there until their grandson Jacob was in 1795

Martha Poor Granger's parents were Daniel Poor and Mary Farnum Poor.

The John and Martha Granger family consisted of 8 children, most of whom lived to adulthood. Just their first child, Mary, died before her 3rd birthday.

My ancestor was their youngest son, Samuel, born 1701, died 1739. He married Martha Marston, and they had 6 children, including another Captian John Granger of Andover, MA (1734-1783) but my ancestor was Samuel and Martha's son, Jacob Granger (1735-1795).

This post is part of my father's mother,  Ada Swasey Rogers Family Tree.  The photo shows her mother, my great grandmother, Zulieka Granger Swasey as a young woman.