John Ayer - Immigrant (9th great grandfather)

This is a copy of the entry for John Ayer which was posted on the Find A Grave Website.  It was written by Melinda Wilson using information from rootsweb.
(https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=53294269&ref=acom)


Birth: September 2, 1582
         Salisbury Wiltshire, England


Death: March 31, 1657
           Haverhill. Massachusetts

The Story of John Ayer of Haverhill, Massachusetts
The James

The immigrant John Ayer was said to have come from England, arriving on the 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 regges..."

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 Massachusetts 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 the 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, Massachusetts in 1647, there John and Hannah had 5 more children -Mary, John Jr. Nathaniel, Hannah and Obadiah.

According the 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 benefits.  The Church had to vote on who became a freeman and the process and questions were excruciating.

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.
John passed away in Haverhill in 1657.  His will was dated March 12, 1656, proved Hampton Court 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.
The publication "The Pioneer Families of Northwestern New Jersey" wrote about John's grandson (John, son of Obadiah Ayer).  The publication also touch on John the immigrant and stated his inventory after his death (see below).  Please keep in mind that the items and values are transcribed from the actual document, so there are some spelling and grammar errors.

John Ayer's Inventory at the Time of his Death
Item/Value

fower cows, two steers, and a calf/20.00.00
twenty swine and fower pigs/18.00.00
fower oxen/25.00.00
one plough, two pair plough irons, one harrow, one yolke and chayne, and a rope cart/4.00.00
two howes, two axes, two shovels, one spade, two wedges, two betell rings, two sickels and a reap hook hangers in the chimneys, tongs and pot hooks/13.00.00
two pots, three kettles, one skillet, and one frying pan/3.03.00
in pewter/1.00.00
three flocks, beds and bed clothes/18.00.00
12 yards of cotton cloth and cotton wool and hemp and flax/4.00.00
two wheels, three chests, and a cupboard/1.03.00
wooden stuff belonging to the house/1.16.00
two muskets and all that belong to y/2.10.00
in books/0.15.00
in flesh meat/0.15.00
about forie bushells of corne/7.00.00
his waring apparill/8.00.00
about six or seven acres of graine in and uppon the ground/9.00.00
the dwelling house and barne and land broken and unbroken witha all appurtaneences/120.00.00
forks, rakes, and other small implements about the house and barne/1.00.00
in debt owing to him/1.00.00
between two and three bushels of sale and so mayle/0.10.00
Total 248.05.00 pounds

So that total was 248 pounds, which was very good in those days, and he did not owe anyone anything.  Also, if you add up the values you get quite a bit more than 248 pounds - but like I said I transcribed this all from the original source.

John Ayer was buried at Abbott Street Burial Ground, Beverly, Essex County, Massachusetts


photo by John Glassford

Here is the family tree branch to John.  Me (daughter of ) Lucy Ayer (daughter of) Fred Ayer (son of ) Dana  Ayer (son of) William Ayer (son of) Sewell F. Ayer (Son of) Thomas Ayer V. (son of) Thomas Ayer IV (son of) Thomas Ayer III (son of) Thomas Ayer Jr. (Son of ) Thomas Ayer (son of) John Ayer.