The Mayflower landed at Plymouth in December, 1620; in 1628, the population held at about three hundred surviving Puritans, who were scattered about the colony. It wasn't until the Great Expansion of the 1630s when 20,000 Puritans came over to New England from England that the population exploded. In 1630, John, his sister Hannah, his Uncle William and Aunt Frances settled in Scituate with other "Men of Kent" who laid out the village with "great regularity" for "mutual defense" (4 acres per lot). Old records record Gilson as a "man of education and talents." He was, as an "assistant to the government," a member of the Governor's Council in 1633, 1634, and 1636-1638. With the help of his nephew John, built and erected the first windmill (for grinding corn) in the New World, suggesting that he could have been a miller by trade. According to colony records of 1633, Gilson was a contractor, with others, at a very early date to "improve the navigable passage at Green's Harbor, near Governor Winslow's, in Marshfield (then called Rexham). We can only imagine that John, as a young man, was helping and learning from his uncle as he would have from his father. Gilson and his wife Frances, in addition to taking care of John and Hannah, were also looking after Priscilla Brown, daughter of Peter Brown of Plymouth, who had died and left his widow with a large family of children. By all accounts, they were "devoted to their young kinspeople." After Gilson died, a fairly young man, in 1639, his will provided well for both John and Hannah, and dictated that "his nephew John Damon should receive my lot on the third cliff, after the next crop is taken off." John "succeeded to his uncle's residence, on Kent Street." When Frances died ten years later, in 1649, Hannah and John were made sole heirs. All evidence suggests that, as the Plymouth Colony Records state, "although he had no children of his owne, yet that he had two of his sister's children, which he looked upon as his own." Susan Collamore Damon, Davis' sister, in a journal entry on October 1897, quotes Colony Records of 1649: "John and Hannah Damon are allowed by the Court to be lawful heirs of William Gilson, it being proved by divers (diverse) persons that Mr. Gilson had often said that he intended to make these (his sister's children) his heirs."
On the 16th of June in 1644, at the age of 23, John married Katherine Merritt in Scituate, Plymouth Colony. Katherine was the daughter of Henry Merritt and Deborah Buck, daughter of Lt. Isaac Buck, also from good ol' Kent. They had a child named Deborah in no time, and another one, John, four years later, in 1649. Their third child, Zacharia, or Zachary, as it is sometimes listed, sadly died in infancy. Plymouth Colony Vital Records states that "Zacaryah the son of John Damman born in February 1649 deceased in February 1649." We can only imagine the deep sadness that comes from losing a child of any age; during these early times, families were well versed in losing many children in infancy to a variety of maladies, malnutrition, and other difficulties that came with their often harsh way of life; as well, they lost many to the Indian wars, to accidents, epidemics, and natural causes. Many had large families to ensure that at least some of their children would survive to adulthood. The early Damon families are great examples of this--though it seems that most, as you shall see, survived childhood and went on to populate much of New England.
In 1651, Mary was born, followed by Daniel in 1652. Finally, on February 2nd, 1654, their last child together was born, and they named him, of course, Zacharia. The happiness did not last. At the age of only one and three quarters, Zacharia number two lost his mother. Zacharia, or Zachary, as he is often called, would become a prominent Lt. Col., serving in King Philip's War. He would also, in time, become Davis Damon's great great great grandfather.
After four years of grieving for his dead wife, and plowing the 80 acres on the farm (the second lot from Satuit Brook) his uncle William had bequeathed to him, John decided to get back in to the business, and in no time he got married again. In January of 1659, he married Martha Howland, daughter to Arthur Howland and Margaret Reed from Hen Stanton, Huntingdon, England. Margaret was called "the Widow Reed," but there are no records of who her first husband was or what her maiden name had been. Three years later they had their first child together, a son named Experience, who, like his father John, would end up with a stack of children from two different wives. John and Martha would go on to have an additional five children: Silence, Ebenezer, Ichabod, Margaret, and Hannah. In 1666, John Damon was appointed to command the Scituate Company of "Colonial Soldiery under Captain Miles Standish, commander of all of Plymouth Colony's Militia, and served there until 1669.
Around the same time, in 1666, he displayed the great character he was so well known for. The Damon Memorial, or, Notices of Three Damon Families who came from Old England to New England in the 17th Century, by Samuel Chenery Damon, recounts a wonderful story about how John Damon was able to help his friend (and brother-in-law) Arthur Howland, a Quaker, in his efforts to marry the love of his life, Elizabeth Prence, daughter of then Governor Prence.
"He was warm-hearted, generous and ever ready to be of such measure of assistance as he was able, to a friend or neighbor who stood in need. This characteristic brought him collaterally into a pretty romance in which Governor Prence, his daughter Elizabeth and Damon's friend Arthur Howland, Jr., of Duxbury were involved. This was in 1666. At that time this provision concerning courtship was the law of the colony: "Whereas divers persons unfitt for marriage both in regard to their yeoung years as also in regard of their weake estate, some practiseing the enveigleing of men's daughters and maids under guardians (contrary to their parents and guardians liking), and of mayde servants without leave and liking of their masters. It is therefore enacted by the Court that if any shall make any motion of marriage to any man's daughter or maydbe servant not having first obtained leave and consent of the parents or master so to doe, shalbe punished either by fine or corporall punishment or both, at the discretion of the bench and according to the nature of the offense." Young Howland and Mistress Prence were enamored of each other. They were not "unfitt for marriage" within the meaning of this statute, both being of age and the former possessed of fifty acres of land in Duxbury which had been granted him by the colony court.
"There was however one grave and insuperable objection. Howland was a Quaker. His father, at first a sympathizer, had been frequently prosecuted before Prence, who was then Governor, for the entertainment of Quakers and assisting in the promulgation of their faith, and had finally embraced it. The Governor was rabid in his opposition to the sect and the marriage of his daughter to one of them was intolerable. The young woman was the third child of his second marriage. Her mother was a sister of William Collier, as prominent and persistent in his persecution of the Quakers as was the Governor himself. Both parents forbade the courtship which in spite of their joint efforts continued. No other means availing, recourse was finally had to a criminal prosecution against Howland under the law which has been above quoted. On March 5, 1666-7 Howland was brought before the Bench on which his accuser sat as the presiding magistrate and charged with: "inveigling Mistris Elizabeth Prence and makeing motion of marriage to her, and prosecuting the same contrary to her parents liking, and without theire consent, and directly contrary to their mind and will." He was sentenced to pay a fine of five pounds, to find sureties for his good behavior: "and in special that he desist from the use of any meanes to obtaine or retaine her affections as aforesaid." (Plymouth Colony Records Vol. III Page 140, 141).
"Here John Damon came to the assistance of his friend. He became surety for that good behavior which the Court required. He also apparently counseled the action which was taken four months later when Howland "did solemnly and seriously engage before this Court, (Governor Prence still presiding) that hee will wholly desist and never apply himself for the future, as formerly hee hath done, to Mistris Elizabeth Prence, in reference unto marriage." However solemn this agreement may have been, it was not serious on the part of young Howland; nor did Mistress Prence agree that the action either of the Court or her lover was final. The courtship continued and was consummated in a marriage later. The daughter was never forgiven. The bitterness which Prence showed toward General Cudworth for the latter's leniency toward the Quakers was greatly increased in the case of his daughter because of her successful rebellion to his stubborn will. Although he disinherited her, he lived to see her surrounded by a contented brood and the Scituate planter who had become the surety for the good behavior of the parent the Godfather of his children."
There are many stories illustrating John Damon's unselfishness and genuine interest in the welfare of others. As well, his service to the settlement, as demonstrated by his selection as Deputy to the Colony Court, Council of War, and Selectman, further showed his devotion, integrity, and willingness to take risks in order to ensure fairness and stand up for things he believed in. Another story as recorded by Early Planters of Scituate by Harvey Hunter Pratt, brings together many of our emigrant ancestors: John Damon, John Bryant, John Turner, and Lt. Isaac Buck. Suffice it to say that there was a disagreement about whether Elder William Hatch could claim a share in the town's common land. "It has been told elsewhere in these pages that the Colony Court had permitted the freemen of Scituate to make division of these lands among the freeholders. In doing this, there had been trouble. Two factions had sprung up, and the town had delegated the privilege to a committee. While the magistrates did not approve of this, they sanctioned it for a time, and then re-established the bench in the performance of the duty by appointing a committee of its own choice from the townsmen made up however of the leaders of each faction." You see the trouble a-brewing, when the committee assigned the task of resolving the issue is made up the very men on opposite sides of the issue. One one side of the issue--Capt. James Cudworth, Cornet Stetson, Isaac Chittenden, and Lt. Buck--who did not want Elder Hatch to be able to receive a plot of land. Lt. Buck was John Damon's first wife's grandfather. On the other side, advocating for Hatch, were John Damon, John Turner, Sr., John Turner, Jr., and John Bryant, Sr. We are descended from ALL of these men--John Damon, John Turner, and John Bryant. How funny they were on the same side. Except for Buck, who, incidentally, Damon was able to sway over to his side, thereby securing the majority (although he lost Bryant, he gained Chittenden and Buck) for Hatch to receive his "layout," and swapping out one of our ancestors (Bryant) for another (Buck).
In an inventory taken on October 23, 1676, John Damon had few debts, many animals, and much prized food. The big value items included 7 oxen, 10 cattle, 6 score and 12 bushels of Indian corn, and 25 sheep tied with 20 loads of hay. The Scituate Historical Society lists John Damon's death soon after the inventory was taken, in January of 1677. His widow, Martha, was executrix of his will, and later married Peter Bacon on February 19th of 1679.
John's son Experience, from his second marriage with Martha Howland, first married Patience Rawlins in about 1686 and had 7 children. Ichabod came first, then Experience, Patience, John, Ebenezer, Hannah, and finally, Silence. Patience ran out of patience, it seems, and died sometime between 1702-1711, but we don't know the exact date. Experience then married Ruth Low, and had 7 more children: Ruth, Mary, Martha, David, Rachel, Joanna, and Jonathan. Ruth died in 1743. Experience wins the Most Kids Award with a total of 14 children. That guy definitely needed a hobby! Amazingly, Experience still found time to be a blacksmith and a cooper, living near Pincin Hill in Scituate. He died at age 70.
David Damon, eldest son of Experience and Ruth, and born April, 1717, did not marry until he was 31. Ruth Young, at age 18, was his first wife, whom he married in 1748, in Scituate. She died in April of 1754 , and soon after, David married Mary Bryant, the widow Clap. Mary was a descendant of the same John Bryant who spawned Davis Damon (through a first wife, Mary Lewis). So, Lucy and Davis, in addition to both being descended from John Damon, were also both descended from John Bryant, and were fourth cousins once removed through him, who, incidentally, had nineteen children with three different wives! David and Mary would have two daughters, Molly and Ruth, and a son, Luther Damon, born in 1755, who was Lucy Damon's father. Luther married Alice (Ellis/Ellice) Nash in 1796 in Scituate. Alice died of cancer in 1848, in her 70's. Plymouth County records of the 1840 Census of Pensioners show that at the age of 84, in June of 1840, he was receiving a pension for military services. Luther died at the age of 87 in January of 1842.
So we now know about Lucy's part of the story, but what about Davis, Lucy's husband? Do you remember Zacharia number two, the one who fought in King Phillips War? Well, he and Experience were half brothers. Zacharia's wife was Martha Woodworth (aka Woodward), daughter of Walter Woodworth and quite possibly Elizabeth Rogers, reputed daughter of Thomas "The Pilgrim" Rogers, who came over on the Mayflower with his son Joseph after leaving his wife and two daughters and a son back in Leiden. While no documents remain that would evidence this connection, there is record of his wife and children that were left behind in Leiden in the 1622 poll tax of Leiden. His daughters Elizabeth and Margaret apparently came to New England later, and in 1650, Governor William Bradford wrote that "Thomas Rogers, and Joseph, his sone (came). His other children came afterwards… Thomas Rogers dyed in the first sickness, but his sone Joseph is still living, and is married, and hath 6 children. The rest of Thomas Rogers (children) came over, and are maried, and have many children.”
Martha Woodworth was born in 1679 in Scituate, Plymouth Colony. Starting in 1682, with a daughter named Martha and Zacharia (aka Zechary) had eight children, all born in Scituate: Martha (1682), John (1684), Zachariah (1686), Daniel (1688), Mary (1690), Abigail (1692), Hannah (1694), and Mehitable (1696). They seemed to have found their rhythm. After Martha died, Zacharia, or Zechary, would marry Martha Howland, widow of John Howland. They would have no children together. Zacharia, if you remember, served as a Lieutenant in King Philip's War in 1676, and as was the custom at the time, received land for his services. His brother, John Damon Jr., also served as a soldier in the same war, and also received a grant of land for his "brave and fierce service." Scituate Historical Society records, however, indicate that he died in 1675, during the first year of the war. There are no additional family records of him.
One of Zacharia's son was Daniel Damon Sr., who was born in 1688 and married Bathsheba Sylvester, on January 3, 1711 Bathsheba was the daughter of Israel and Martha Sylvester (also spelled Silvester). Both Daniel and his brother, Zachary Jr., built upon the land granted to their father, Lt. Zachary Damon. The Damon family homestead remained in the family for a long while.
Daniel and Bathsheba would have four children together: Hannah, born in 1713, Daniel Jr., born in 1716, Isaac, born 1718, and finally, Joseph, born 1720. Joseph would go on to take as his second wife his half-first cousin once removed Joanna Damon, daughter of Experience and Ruth Damon. Experience was Joseph's (and Daniel Jr.'s) half-great uncle. Whew! And we thought today's modern extended step-and half-families were complicated! Together, they would have thirteen children.
Joseph's brother, Daniel Damon Jr., married Judith Litchfield in 1741 in Scituate. Her father was Samuel Litchfield, her mother, Abigail Buck, both from longtime Scituate families. Daniel Jr., served as Sexton of the Second Church of Scituate in 1780. Their children were Daniel III, born first in 1742 in Scituate, John (1744), Bathsheba (1748), Samuel (1749), Simeon (1751), Joshua (1757), and Abigail (birth unknown). Bathsheba and Abigail would remain unmarried the whole of their lives. Their brothers, however, would all, except for Joshua, go on to marry women from the Bowker family. Samuel would go on to settle in Springfield, Vermont, while the rest stayed in Scituate. Our Simeon, Davis' grandfather, married Lucy Bowker, daughter of John Bowker and Anna Wright, in June of 1780 in Scituate. Together, they would have nine children: Simeon (born 1781, settled in Springfield, Vt with his Uncle Samuel), our Elijah (born 1783), Delight Bowker (b. 1786, also settled in Springfield, Vt), Daniel (b. 1788), Ruth (b. 1790), Judith Litchfield (b. 1792), Samuel Litchfield (b. 1794), and finally, Anna (b. 1796).
Elijah, Davis Damon's father, married Sally Sears of Scituate in November of 1811. Her parents were Peter Sears and Susanna Collamore. Elijah and Sally's first child was Davis, born July 5, 1812 in Scituate. Sarah came next, in 1814, then Lucy in 1817, Hosea in 1819, and then Davis' youngest sister, Susannah Collamore Damon, born in 1824, making her twelve years younger than Davis. Susan, as she was known, would become a devoted Unitarian missionary, remain unmarried, and serve her family and community in ways that merited much admiration and celebration of her life. She and Davis would grow up in Scituate on the north side of Grove Street in a Cape Cod house that perhaps still stands. "Every Sunday they drove in a chaise to the First Church, in South Scituate Village. Elijah wore his beaver hat from Paris and Sally wore a poke bonnet. The beaver hat was carefully put away in a cardboard box. Sally also wore a black veil. The children sat on a cricket. The family pew was near the front on the broad isle. The children stayed there at noon while the parents went to Mr. Sparrell's for Sunday dinner. The hat and the veil are now the property of the Norwell (once South Scituate) Historical Society. There is a granite monument to Elijah and Sally in the First Parish Cemetery."
This newspaper clipping to the right (from old family archives) shows the Church in Hingham, Massachusetts, where the Damons were members for more than two hundred years. The Church, built in 1681 when Cohasset and Hingham were one community, is the oldest meeting house and the oldest wooden church in the US. It is known as the Old Ship's Church. Written on the clipping is this amazing story: "The Church where Elijah Damon took Abe Lincoln in 1851, then drove him home to Sunday dinner at South Scituate. Abe was just an unknown lawyer. He always remembered S. J. May, and used him during the War as a Chaplain in the Senate." Pretty cool.
Davis would be married in this church to his first wife, Lucy Damon! On November 18, 1838, the Rev. Samuel J. May married Lucy and Davis, third cousins twice removed. May presented them with a book upon the occasion, entitled "The Christian Minister's Affectionate Advice to a New Married Couple."
The 1840 Census of Scituate, Massachusetts shows Davis Damon as the head of a household that includes his wife Lucy, and his first son, Albert Davis Damon, who was born in 1840. Although absent from the Census reports, in January of 1842, Lucy and Davis would have a second son, but the baby would die two days later. On July 22, 1845, a daughter, Lucy Alice, was born. She died at the age of fourteen months, on September 20, 1846. In 1850, the Census lists Davis as "David," and living in East Boston. At age 38, he is a "carpenter." Lucy, at age 34, is mother to Albert and Alonzo Willard Damon, who was born in 1847. Albert, at ten, is "at school." Also included in the household is Bridget Bailey, who, at age 17, from Ireland, and unable to read or write, provided the family with domestic help. A third child would die young, a daughter, Emma Jane, born October 15, 1853 only to live a few years, until August 5, 1856. By 1860, Davis, age 48 and listed as a "ship carpenter," and Lucy, 44, have added three more children to the mix: George Franklin Damon, born in 1851, Susan Amelia Damon, born in 1856, and our Herbert, born in 1857. Alonzo, George and Susan are all "at school." Albert is a ship carpenter like his father. Interestingly, a Ruth Damon, age 62, is listed as living with the family. Ruth was Lucy's older sister. Davis was working with Donald McKay of East Boston, famous clipper-ship builder.
Lucy died on August 19, 1864. Davis' sister, Susan Collamore Damon, recorded the event in her diary: "My brother's wife passed on. The motherless family came the night before Thanksgiving. Change after change is all around me."
In 1870, Davis, a "house carpenter," is heading up a large household in East Boston, Massachusetts. His first wife's oldest sister, Ruth, is listed as his wife. We have not been able to find any marriage records to confirm this union, but it would make sense, since they had been living together. Perhaps they were not married, and it was simply a matter of convenience for both that they remained under the same roof. At age 72 to Davis' 58 years, Ruth is "keeping house,' which includes Lucy and Davis' children, George (18), a "clerk in a store," Herbert (12), "attending school," Susan (14), also "attending school," and Davis' youngest sister, Susan Collamore Damon, age 46, who was serving as a "missionary." A Mary Cooney, age 19, is listed as well, probably a servant. Albert and Alonzo Willard are missing from this Census.
Sometime before 1880, Ruth died, and Davis has married another of Lucy's sisters, Nancy Damon Schofield, a widow of 62 years. Nancy married her first husband, George Schofield, in Hingham in 1835. Marriage records show that Davis and Nancy were married January 1, 1873 in Lowell, Massachusetts. The 1880 Census records Davis (67) and Nancy (70) living together with two of Davis' youngest sons (and Nancy's nephews/step-sons), George, age 27, working as a house carpenter, and Herbert, age 22, "bookkeeper." Susan C. Damon is still living with them as a "boarder." Charles Jackson, age 30, house carpenter, is also listed as a boarder, as is Henrietta H. Day, a woman of 68 years. Julia A. Worth, age 19, a "servant" from Canada, rounds out the household. Davis would die eight years later, on May 11, 1888, in South Boston. His widow, Nancy, would marry for a third time, to someone named "Jackson." Could it be that those Damon sisters continued their cougar ways and Nancy married Charles Jackson, 40 years younger?
A newspaper clipping of an obituary of Lucy and Davis' youngest son, Herbert, who would be the only Damon child to go on to have children and grandchildren and great grandchildren (and great, great, and great great great grandchildren--like me) of his own, states that "Mr. Damon was born in East Boston on December 20, 1857. His father was Davis Damon and his mother was Lucy, daughter of Luther and Alice Damon. Tho of the same name, they were no relatives." We now know this was not the case. Like many of the Damon and Reed ancestors, Lucy and Davis were as intertwined as they come.
--Dominick Poulsen (with help from Liz)
