Mary Horton Tyler of Andover, Medon and Roxbury MA

Job Tyler had ancestors, but I am unable to pin down which ones were his. Several other trees on Ancestry have completely different parents than the ones I had the last time I looked at his resources. So as of today, I have taken off  the ones I had on my tree, and not added the others yet. I'm waiting to see if there are any additional hints coming along. In the meantime, let's consider his second wife, Mary Horton's family. His first wife was also Mary, but we don't know anything about her, and it's certainly confusing history. Originally my records showed Mary Horton had been born in the same year, and died in the same year as her husband, Job Tyler. But I later figured out that these dates are just assumed probably by some modern genealogists.

I do have a Mary Horton, who was baptized in Tredington, Warwickshire, England, whose father was Thomas Horton. The baptism took place on Nov 2, 1617, and the original writing is legible.

I just removed records from my tree which said she was the Mary Horton, daughter of Thomas, who was baptized on 1635, because she married on March 20, 1637 in Massachusetts, and was probably more than 2 years old. 

Job Tyler and Mary Horton Tyler's first son, Moses Tyler, was born on 16 Feb. 1641 in Andover, MA, and was named Quartermaster as an adult.

Mary Horton was the daughter of Thomas Horton I. (I've added the "I" to his name because there was a son named Thomas Horton also, who I've named "II" 

There are several Thomas Hortons who lived in the early New England colonies. I don't believe my ancestor was the one who died in Springfield MA, nor the one who died in Long Island NY. I may be wrong, as I'm just guessing, based on his daughter who lived in MA, though that doesn't mean her father lived in the same area necessarily.

My records show Thomas Horton I was born in 1596 in Mowsley, Leicestershire, Eng. and died in 19 May 1687 in Cambridge, Suffolk County, MA.

His wife may have been Mary Eddy or Mary Moore. Since some records of the Eddy family exist, I will check through them to either rule out her being his wife, or perhaps substantiate it.

It doesn't look like Mary Eddy Horton was the daughter of a Rev. Eddy...but might have been the daughter of John Eddy (1597-1684) and possibly his first wife, Annie or Amy Horton. Mary Eddy Horton is more likely to have been born about 1600 instead of 1596, since her father had a birth date of 1597. But that means her father was only 3 when she was born. Oops.

So this parentage is questionable. And I'm not going to put John Eddy as her father, nor his brother, Samuel...though they were listed on a ship's manifest in 1630 arriving in Plymouth MA.

I'm going to stop this tree at this point...too many questionable dates for the parents of the Tyler ancestors who came from England. It may always stay that way, or perhaps some more documents will be clarifying.

Thomas and Mary Horton were my 9 times great grandparents, who did come to the early American colonies

Job Tyler, Immigrant to American Colonies

Let's look beyond the recent records which are very sparse, (the Lovett's ancestors back to Shropshire, Eng and Montgomeryshire Wales) to those ancestors who have 17 hints under their names, and I've already got at least that many resources listed...namely Hopestill Tyler Sr, husband of Mary Ann Lovett Tyler, my 8 times great grandparents.

Having opened and considered Hopestill Tyler's 17 hints at Ancestry, I am now looking more seriously at his father, Job Tyler, who immigrated from England and was one of the first settlers of Andover MA in 1638.

As many Tyler descendants have celebrated Job Tyler's life, and there are quite a few publications about him, I'll try to give a brief summary.

Job Tyler was born in Cranbrook, Tumbridge Wells Borough, Kent, England, in 1617 or 1619.  The following is what I published on my blog many years ago.

The Tyler Homestead in West Boxford, Massachusetts, is the earliest home of the Job Tyler family. Job, the first Tyler known in America, came to Boxford in 1640 and was one of the very first settlers in the community of Boxford. The first Tyler home was built on a tract of land at the corner of Ipswich Road and Main Street. The hearth of that very early structure is still in the rear of the large white house, sometimes known as the Boxford House. (Listed as "Witch Hollow House")

He was known in Newport RI arriving on May 20, 1638.  (Source Rhode Island Collections p. 92)

He had various dates of his marriage recorded, and since he lived in different towns, it's possible each record gave the year they were notified of his marriage to Mary Horton. One record indicates she might have been a widow. But others give information of her parents the Hortons.

By 1650 he had moved to Andover, and also spent some time in Roxbury MA, according to several old records.  Earliest settlers to Andover thought he might have been the "solitary man" that was living there when they arrived in 1639-40 (by legend, since no records exist before 1650 in Andover. 

The 1650 date is when he mortgaged his property to John Godfrey of Newbury.  This apparently is considered the "beginning of his troubles." (Source: Boxford History, Andover Rec. Bk iv, p 8) This mortgage is documented several ways, including a description by Job in 1662 of it.

Most of the information I'm relating is from "North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000."  It is cited quite often in Ancestry.

However there are more legal documents about Job's troubles.  In 1658 he and his wife Mary brought a complaint of witchcraft to the same John Godfrey who held his mortgage, a suit which continued until 1665.  He also disputed his son's apprenticeship to another man, to the extent that when he lost the case, he was required to post an apology in public places.  However the apology gives very cryptic denouncements of the person he had slandered. It doesn't seem to deal directly with why he didn't want his son, Hopestill to have fulfilled his apprenticeship.  

He continued to have squabbles with his neighbors with various court documents given in "North America, Family Histories" pp 3-16.  

He also in 1662 began to be situated in Roxbury, having some documentation about that area, such as a Native American saying Job cut and carried off his hay.  He was living in the Mendon area by 1669 where a complaint was issued that he refused to help dig the cellar for the minister. In Mendon he took part in a lottery to double his land size in 1671.  He apparently gave satisfaction to those who accused him of not helping with the cellar digging, because in Dec. of that year he helps in the confirmation of the first minister for that area.

 

Job Tyler family home

He and all the inhabitants of Mendon fled (1675) at the outbreak of King Phillips War when the Native Americans killed several colonists in Mendon and the town was eventually deserted. That's also when a grandchild was born in Roxbury.  He may also have had connections still in Andover, (1681) and yet he pays for minister's fees in Mendon in 1688-91 and 1695.

In 1700 he signed a deed to his son, Moses in Mendon.  There are no further documents with his name, so it is assumed that is the year of his death.

Job Tyler honorary stone marker in Andover saying Job Tyler was the first resident of same.

But the interesting part of the treatise given in "Family Histories" is how it mentioned that there had been about 3000 Tyler descendants in the three centuries since his life.  In 1901 a memorial was erected in Andover, MA in his honor. Prof. Henry Tyler of Smith College (a Tyler descendant) gave the dedicatory address, and his comments are included in the "Family Histories"

 

Cemetery, North Andover, MA

His son, Hopestill had a daughter, Mary, who married Steven Farnham, and eventually their descendants led to my grandmother Ada Swasey Rogers.  So Job Tyler would be my 8th great grandfather.

But tomorrow I'm going back up the Tyler tree and see what information there might be about the English  roots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Job Tyler 1619–1700 Immigrant to Massachusetts

Job Tyler

c. 1619–1700

Birth c. 1619 • Cranbrook, Tunbridge Wells Borough, Kent, England

Death 14 DEC 1700 • Mendon, Worcester, Mass

Before I could share about this ancestor's life, I first had to look at 23 hints about him on his Ancestry site. I already knew his birth, marriage, children, and parents, and his own death dates and places.  But oh my, there were 23 other things about him that I had to check. Some were duplicates, some were the wrong person, some were voluntarily given by members that didn't have any records to go with them.  So off I go, another hour of checking for data!

I list him today because I have no certain date of his birth to celebrate.

The first hint on Acestry I notice is that of him being married to his grandmother.  You wouldn't believe how many times stuff like this happens, which takes sometimes hours to straighten out if you add it to your tree by mistake! That's not one I'll include in my tree.  

The Tyler Homestead in West Boxford, Massachusetts, is the earliest home known of the Job Tyler family. Job, the first Tyler known in America, came to Boxford in 1640 and was one of the very first settlers in the community of Boxford. The first Tyler home was built on a tract of land at the corner of Ipswich Road and Main Street. The hearth of that very early structure is still in the rear of the large white house, sometimes known as the Boxford House. (Listed as "Witch Hollow House")

Next I find a wonderful family history of the Tylers, with Job (or Jobe) as the first immigrant to America.  What luck, pages and pages about him...so unfortunately I can only summarize, because these are included as documents of Ancestry, which don't save in any way except very poor screen shots.

I'll try to keep track of what they say...not the whole 13 pages, but some of the pertinent information that is documented.

He was known in Newport RI arriving on May 20, 1638.  (The dates often are given as the "second month," but I remember that at that time March was the beginning of each year). (Source Rhode Island Collections p. 92)

By 1650 he had moved to Andover, and also spent some time in Roxbury MA, according to several old records.  Earliest settlers to Andover thought he might have been the "solitary man" that was living there when they arrived in 1639-40 (by legend, since no records exist before 1650 in Andover. 

The 1650 date is when he mortgaged his property to John Godfrey of Newbury.  This apparently is considered the "beginning of his troubles." (Source: Boxford History, Andover Rec. Bk iv, p 8) This mortgage is documented several ways, including a description by Job in 1662 of it.

All of the information I'm relating is from "North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000."  It is cited quite often in Ancestry.

However there are more legal documents about Job's troubles.  In 1658 he and his wife Mary brought a complaint of witchcraft to the same John Godfrey who held his mortgage, a suit which continued until 1665.  He also disputed his son's apprenticeship to another man, to the extent that when he lost the case, he was required to post an apology in public places.  However the apology gives very cryptic denouncements of the person he had slandered. It doesn't seem to deal directly with why he didn't want his son, Hopestill to have fulfilled his apprenticeship.  

He continued to have squabbles with his neighbors with various court documents given in "North America, Family Histories" pp 3-16.  

He also in 1662 began to be situated in Roxbury, having some documentation about that area, such as a Native American saying Job cut and carried off his hay.  He was living in the Mendon area by 1669 where a complaint was issued that he refused to help dig the cellar for the minister. In Mendon he took part in a lottery to double his land size in 1671.  He apparently gave satisfaction to those who accused him of not helping with the cellar digging, because in Dec. of that year he helps in the confirmation of the first minister for that area.

Job Tyler family home

He and all the inhabitants of Mendon fled (1676?) at the outbreak of King Phillips War with the Native Americans.  That's also when a grandchild was born in Roxbury.  He may also have had connections still in Andover, (1681) and yet he pays for minister's fees in Mendon in 1688-91 and 1695.  

In 1700 he signed a deed to his son, Moses in Mendon.  There are no further documents with his name.

But the interesting part of the treatise given in "Family Histories" is how it mentioned that there had been about 3000 Tyler descendants in the three centuries since his life.  In 1901 a memorial was erected in Andover, MA in his honor. Prof. Henry Tyler of Smith College (a Tyler descendant) gave the dedicatory address, and his comments are included in the "Family Histories"

Cemetery, North Andover, MA

His son, Hopestill had a daughter, Mary, who married Steven Farnham, and eventually their descendants led to my grandmother Ada Swasey Rogers.  So Job Tyler would be my 9th great grandfather.

Today's quote:

These are times in which a genius would wish to live. It is not in the still calm of life, or the repose of a pacific station, that great characters are formed.

Abigail Adams