Mary Horton Tyler 1619–1700

Mary Horton Tyler

1617–1700

Birth 1619 • England

Death 1700 • Andover, Essex, Mass

my 9th great grandmother 

Swasey Family Tree

Mary and her husband Job Tyler, (his life summarized on this blog HERE) lived some of their lives in Andover MA, and some in Mendon MA. 

There's a memorial plaque for Job Tyler in the cemetery that is supposed to have their remains.  But no grave markers exist for either of them.

The resource "North America, Family Histories 1500-2000" mentions one primary source about Mary, but not giving her maiden name.

She was "dismissed to the church in 'Mendon' from the church in Roxbury on the 28th day of the third month (May) 1665."  I believe this means that she transferred her membership from one congregation to another when she moved.  (I'm using my own understanding of how the early churches operated, and may need better information if this is incorrect.)  The distance from Roxbury MA to Mendon is going west around 28 miles.  The distance from Roxbury going north to Andover is also around 28 miles....in a different direction.

Old North Burying Ground, Andover MA

The early settlement at Mendon was first listed in Middlesex County in 1667, then in 1671 in Suffolk County, and in Worcester County from 1731 onward. Mendon was first settled in 1660 and was officially incorporated in 1667. The town was originally 64 square miles (170 km²), including the modern-day towns of Milford, Bellingham, Hopedale, Uxbridge, Upton, Blackstone, Northbridge and Millville. For this reason, the town of Mendon is sometimes referred to as "Mother Mendon". Benjamin Albee (1614–1695) erected a water-powered mill on Mill River in 1664 where it crosses modern-day Hartford Avenue. and was one of the town's important early residents. The mill was the first water-powered grist mill in the region.

On July 14, 1675, early violence in King Philip's War took place in Mendon, with the deaths of multiple residents and the destruction of Albee's mill. These were the first settlers killed in this war in the Colony of Massachusetts. A man named Richard Post, of Post's lane, may have been the first settler killed. The town was largely burnt to the ground later that winter in early 1676. During King Philip's War, many Nipmuc from around Marlboro and Natick were re- located to Deer Island, and many died from the harsh winter in 1675. The town of Mendon was resettled and rebuilt in 1680. (Source: Wikipedia)

They married around 1637-40. (New England Marriages prior to 1700.) It also suggests she was a widow, and has her name as within parentheses as well as with a question mark... "(Horton?)"  So there was a question even in the original record as to her last name, whether it was a married or maiden name at the time of her marriage to Job Tyler

The first permanent settlement in the Andover area was established in 1642 by John Woodbridge and a group of settlers from Newbury and Ipswich. (Wikipedia)

So it's very doubtful that Mary was born in Andover (as some trees suggest) in 1617-19.  I would bet that she had been born in England, as some records indicate.  (I loved reading the handwritten Latin entry for Maria, born in Octorber, daughter of Tomas Horton, and baptism in November, 1617.  Since she married Job Tyler, it's also unlikely that she was born in 1635 rather than 1619 (he was born around 1617.)

Church of England record, Warwickshire

Ancestry shows that Mary Tyler gave birth at least 9 times, with 3 of her children dying very early in childhood.  Three times they named a boy John (or Job) and it wasn't until the third John's birth that he lived to adulthood. 

As I may have mentioned before, their son Hopestill had a daughter Mary who became the wife of John Farnham, and thus there are descendents who married Swaseys, who married Rogers.

If she did die the same year as her husband, 1700, it is possible they were buried in Mendon, rather than Andover, since that is where they were living.
 

Today's Quote:

Ultimately, we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it towards others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will also be in our troubled world.

Etty Hillesum

 

Another Thomas Horton family tree

There appear to be two Thomas Hortons, (at least!)

I think my ancestor is the one born in England who came to America in 1633.

One of them died in 1641 and is buried in Springfield, MA.

One of them married Mary Eddy (perhaps of Windsor, CT, which is pretty close to Springfield MA.)

The other one died in 1687, in Charlestown, MA

And another one settled in Southold, Long Island, NY.

So maybe the whole information about Charlestown MA (yesterday's time line HERE) isn't anything to do with Thomas Horton, as my ancestor, because if he lived in Springfield MA, he was a leader there, and not a citizen of Charlestown.

 Here's a narrative of the Thomas Horton who lived in Springfield.

Born about 1602 in Mowsley, Leicestershire, England, son of Joseph and Mary (Schuyler) Horton, where he married Mary Eddy.

They sailed to America on the ship "Mary and John", along with their firstborn child Mary, born 1629, and Thomas' brother, Jeremiah, about two years his junior. They arrived in Massachusetts early in 1636, preceded by his older brother, Barnabas, about a year earlier, on the ship "Swallow". Thomas and his family left immediately for Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut, where they sojourned for a short time. It was here that their second child, Jeremiah (1636- ) was born.

By 1638, Thomas and his family had moved to what is now Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts, where he was one of the founders of the town, a town officer, and proprietor. His signature is still to be seen in the "Pyncheon Papers", that have to do with the land purchase from the Indians. It was here that their third child, Thomas II (1638-about1714-15), and fourth child John (1640-) were born.

Thomas I died in 1641 at about 39 years of age.

This narrative indicates his wife Mary Eddy had been born in England, rather than Windsor CT. 

Another confusing factor is that Mary Eddy Horton of Springfield married again following the 1641 death of her husband Thomas Horton. 

And did I mention that there are 2 sets of parents for Thomas Horton in England?  There is one that speaks of a mother who wouldn't have been of childbearing age when he was born, thus is pretty unlikely.

So for now, I don't know which Thomas Horton was truly my ancestor.  And I sure don't know where Mary Eddy was born.

But I'm pretty sure their daughter Mary Horton married Job Tyler.  It is more likely that she wasn't living out in Springfield MA, because Job Tyler lived near Andover, Roxbury and Mendon MA. 

It's all pretty confusing.  And so what I write today may all be tossed out tomorrow.

In the meantime, I did find a primary record, and read of the birth of a Mary Horton in England, daughter of Thomas Horton, in 1617, the text clearly legible with Latin descriptions of the dates in England. And it calls Thomas as "rectoris de Trednigton."  Does that mean he was a "ruler" in England?  I need to have a better translation from the Latin here!  The document does give her baptism as Nov. 2, which I am able to translate! (Source: Warwickshire England Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1535-1800.)

Today's quote:

An aware traveler sees each new journey as an opportunity to gain a greater understanding of humanity