Prescott

The Prescotts are on my mother’s side of the family. Her grandmother was Julia Prescott Skillman. Much of the earlier material below was taken from the Prescott Memorial by William Prescott. My family is covered in Part I of the book. (Additional data will be added later as time allows.)

1. James Prescott of Standish, Lancashire, England, “one of the gentlemen of Lancashire who were required by an order of Queen Elizabeth I, dated August, 1564, to keep in readiness horsemen and armor. He married a daughter of Rober Standish, Esq., of Standish, and sister to Ralph Standish, by whom he had the following issue.”
a. James, “married Alice Molineaux. For his bravery and military prowess and achievements he was created lord of the manor of Dryby in Lincolnshire, and had new arms granted to him and was afterward known as Sir James Prescott. He dies March 1, 1583, leaving a son John and a daughter Anne.”
b. Roger (see below)
c. Ralph, “died young.”
d. Robert, “married February 3, 1565, Elizabeth Nightingale. He resided at Standish, where he died in 1576, leaving sons John and Robert, and daughter Elizabeth, who married Alex Standish (?).”
e. William, “He had three wives; by his second wife, Margaret, he had, with other, Alexander Prescott of London, who was the father of sir John Prescott, lord of the manors of Radwington in Essex and Bromley in Kent counties. Sir John died in 1640 leaving two daughters, co-heiresses. William resided at Copley in the parish of Standish, in Lancashire.”
f. John, “married Anne _____; resided at Sutterby in the county of Lincoln; by his wife Anne he had an only daughter, Anne, who married William Boston of Phimbleby, in the county of Lincoln.”

2. Roger, “He resided in Shevington in the parish of Standish. His will was dated September 26, 1594, and he was buried in the church at Standish. He married first Elizabeth ____, in 1563. She dying soon, he married 2nd, Ellen(?) Shaw of Standish, August 20, 1568.”
Issue by first wife:
a. Hellen, “baptized at Standish, March 3, 1564.”
b. Lawrence, “baptized at Standish, September 23, 1566.”
Issue by second wife:
c. Anne, “baptized March 28, 1569; married Alexander Wymarde.”
d. Ralph (see below)

3. Ralph, “baptized 1571-2; married Ellen ____, who was coexecutor to her husband’s will. He resided at Shevington in the parish of Standish, and was co-executor to his father’s will; his own will dated November 7, 1608, and was proved on January 24, 1609.”
a. Hellen, “baptized at Standish, October 1, 1593.”
b. Roger, “baptized at Standish, December 10, 1594.”
c. Alice, “baptized at Standish, October 16, 1602.”
e. John (see below)

4. John, “baptized at Standish, 1604-05. He is named in his father’s will. He married January 21, 1629, Mary Platts, at Wygan in Lancashire. Her family appears to have been subsequently of the parish of Halifax in Yorkshire, some of whom are mentioned in the will of George Fairbanks of Sowerby, dated in 1605. John Prescott sold his lands in Shevington, parish of Standish, in Lancashire, to Richard Prescott of Wigan, and removed into Yorkshire, residing for some time in Sowerby, in the parish of Halifax, where several of his children were born. From conscientious motives, and to avoid persecution, he left his native land, his cherished home in Yorkshire, to seek an asylum in the wilderness of America. He first landed in Barbados in 1638, where he became an owner of lands. In 1640, he came to New England, landed at Boston, and immediately settled in Watertown, where he had large grants of lands allotted him. But in 1643, he associated himself with Thomas King and other, for the purpose of purchasing of Sholan, the Indian Sachem of the Nashaway tribe of Indians, a tract of land for a township, which tract was to be ten miles in length and eight in breadth.”
a. Mary, “baptized at Sowerby in the parish of Halifax in Yorkshire, England, February 24, 1630; married Thomas Sawyer of Lancaster, Mass, 1648; lived at Lancaster.
b. Martha, “baptized at Sowerby, March 11, 1632; married John Rugg, 1655; resided in Lancaster. She died January 24, 1656, and he married for a second wife, Hannah Prescott,” Martha’s sister.

c. John, Jr., “baptized at Sowerby, April 1, 1635; married Sarah ____ of Lancaster, November 11, 1668. He was an agriculturist and blacksmith, and lived with his father at Lancaster. He deeded his real estate to his son, Ebenezer, on condition that he would maintain him during life.”
d. Sarah, “baptized at Sowerby, 1637; married Richard Wheeler of Lancaster, August 2, 1658. He and Jonas Fairbanks and his son Joshua were killed by the Indians at Wheeler’s garrison in February, 1676. She afterwards married a Mr. Rice.”
e. Hannah, “baptized 1639. It is not positively known whether this daughter was born in Halifax, England, or at Barbados, West Indies, probably the latter place. She married John Rugg, May 4, 1660, as his second wife, who had for his first wife, married her sister Martha.”
f. Lydia, “baptized at Watertown, Mass., August 15, 1641; married Jonas Fairbanks of Lancaster, May 28, 1658. His father was of Sowerby in Halifax, Yorkshire, England. He and his son Joshua were killed by the Indians when Lancaster (Mass.) was destroyed in February, 1676. She married 2nd Elias Barron.”
g. Jonathan (see below)
h. Joseph, “(?) born about 1645 or ‘6 (?).”

5. Jonathan, “It is not know when or where this son was born, as there is no record, that we can learn, either at Halifax, Watertown, Mass., or Lancaster; from the dates of the births of the other children, it is highly probable that he was born at Watertown, and about 1643. He settled in Lancaster, where he married 1st, Dorothy ____, August 3, 1670; she died and he removed to Concord in 1675, where he married for a second wife, Elizabeth, daughter of John Hoar, Esq., a lawyer of Concord, Mass., December 23, 1675. She died September 25, 1687, and for a third wife he married December 18, 1689, Rebecca, the widow of Hon. Peter Bulkley, Jr., and daughter of Lt. Joseph Wheeler. After her death, he married for a fourth wife, August 18, 1718, Ruth Brown, who died February 9, 1740. He was a farmer and was the ancestor of a numerous progeny, many of whom have been distinguished for talents, piety and usefulness. His house was fortified as a garrison house in 1676. He was a man of energy and influence, and highly respected, being much employed in public business. He represented the town of Concord in the General Assembly for nine years (to wit) 1692, ‘3, ‘4, ‘5, ‘7, ‘8, ‘9, and in 1712 and ‘13. He was captain in the militia and always designated as “Captain Prescott.” He died December 1721.”
Issue by first wife;
a. A child, “born May 2, 1671, and died same day.”
b. Jonathan, “born April 10, 1672, died May 4, 1672.”
c. Samuel, “born 1674; married Esther Wheeler, May 5, 1698; he settled in Acton, had a son Amos and six or eight daughter; died July 25, 1758, aged 84.”
Issue by second wife:
d. Doct. Jonathan (see below)
e. Elizabeth, “born September 27, 1678; married John Fowle of Woburn, July 1, 1696.”
f. Dorothy, “born March 31, 1681; married July 14, 1702, Edward, son of Gershom, son of Rev. Peter Bulkeley; lived and died at Weathersfield, Conn., in 1748.”
g. John, “born May 13, 1683. He died January 28, 1706, in his 23rd year.”
h. Mary, “born August 14, 1685; married April 16, 1702, John Miles, son of the first John of Concord, and born May 20, 1680.”
i. Rev. Benjamin, “born September 16, 1687; graduated at Harvard College in 1709, studied and prepared for the ministry, and was ordained over the church at the Second Precinct, in Salem, subsequently Danvers and South Danvers, now (1869) the town of Peabody, September 23, 1713, where he officiated with fidelity and success for 45 years. He married for his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of John Higgison, Esq., of Salem, October 20, 1715. She was born June 28, 1696, and died March 20, 1723. For a second wife he married Mercy, daughter of Rev. Henry Gibbs of Watertown, July 15, 1732. She died on December 18, 1744; when for a third wife, he married Mary, sister of the first William Pepperell, October 6, 1748, as her third husband. She was born September 4, 1686 and died April 18, 1766. The Reverend Benjamin Prescott died May 27, 1777.”

6. Doctor Jonathan Prescott, “born April 5, 1677; married July 9, 1701, Rebecca, only daughter of the Hon. Peter Bulkeley, Esq. He settled in Concord, Mass., as a physician, where he pursued his professional duties with success. We transcribe the following extract from an inscription on his monument at Concord: ‘He was a gentleman of virtue and merit; an accomplished and successful physician; excelling in surgery; possessing much sagacity and penetration of mind. His life was highly valued and death greatly lamented. He died October, 28, 1729, age 52.’”
a. Jonathan, “born June 3, 1702; married Mary ____; settled in Littleton. He had a son Jonathan, who became a physician and settled in Nova Scotia.”
b. Rebecca, “born August 14, 1704.”
c. (Dr.)John, “born May 8, 1707; graduated Harvard College in 1727; married Ann, daughter of Nathaniel and Susanna (Willoughby) Lynde. He settled in Concord as a physician with his father. He enlisted one hundred men, which he commanded in the unfortunate expedition to Cuba in 1740. Upon its failure, in 1743 he returned to this country and soon afterward was sent by the government to England. He was seized with the smallpox and died of that disease in London, December 30, 1743.”
d. Peter, “born April 17, 1709; graduated from Harvard College, 1730; studied law and resided at Concord and Boston. He dealt extensively in wild lands, and Peterborough, NH, derived its name from him. He served in the French war and commanded a company at Crown Point in 1758. He removed to Annapolis, Nova Scotia, previous to the Revolution where he died in 1784.”
e. (Col.)Charles, “born August 15 1711; married about 1736, Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph and Rebecca (Minot) Barrett, born January 9, 1717. Resided in Concord where he was a selectman and a representative to the General Court. He was also colonel of militia. He served three years in the war of the Revolution. He died February 2, 1779; she died April 23, 1799.”
f. Elizabeth, “born December 2, 1713; married June 24, 1731, Rev David Hall, son of Joseph, son of John Jr., son of John Hall who came to Charlestown, Mass., in 1630. David graduated from Harvard College in 1724; ordained at Sutton, October 15, 1729; received the degree of D.D. from Dartmouth College in 1777; died May 8, 1789.”
g. Dorothy, “born May 13, 1716; died July 5, 1784.”
h. (Dr.) Abel (see below)
i. Mary, “born July 3, 1720.”
j. Lucia, “born August 25, 1723; died April 20, 1725.”
k. Benjamin, “born about 1724-5, killed by French and Indians in May, 1745, in the expedition that captured Louisburg under Sir. William Pepperdell. He had previously entered college but left to enter the army.”

7. Dr Abel Prescott, “born April 7, 1718; married first Abigail Brigham; she died and he married second, June 12, 1775, Mrs. Mary, widow of John Beaton. He enjoyed a very extensive professional patronage in Concord and lived in the house more recently owned by Captain Moore, a little below the village. He died from mortification of the foot, October 26, 1805. Issue of Dr. Abel Prescott and Abigail Brigham:
a. John, “born April 23, 1743; married January 22, 1765, Grace Potter, born 1747. He was a farmer in Concord where he died from paralysis, March 12, 1821. She died March 10, 1827.
b. Dr. Benjamin (see below)
c. Abigail, “born April 12, 1747; married September 1764, Ephraim Minor; three children. She died from lung fever, February 27, 1825.”
d. Abel, “born April 12, 1749. On the 19th of April, 1775, he was fired on by British soldiers as he was returning from the neighboring town, whither he had been to apprise the people of the approach of the “regulars” (so called) and slightly wounded in the side, but succeeded in making his escape by secreting himself in the house of a Mrs. Heywood. He died of dysentery on the third of the following September, 1775.”
e. (Dr.) Samuel, “born August 19, 1751. On his return from Lexington, in the night previous to the 19th of April, 1775, where he spent the evening in paying his addresses to the daughter of Mr. Mulliken, he soon overtook Paul Revere and William Dawes on their way to Concord to alarm the people and apprise them of the intended expedition of the British soldiers upon Concord. When the three had arrived near Hartwell’s Tavern in the lower bounds of Lincoln, they were attacked by four British officers of a scouting party sent out the preceding evening. Revere and Dawes were taken prisoners, Prescott was also attached and had the reins of his horse’s bridle cut, but he succeeded in making his escape by jumping his horse over the wall; and, taking a circuitous route through Lincoln, he pushed on with the utmost speed to Concord and gave the alarm of the approach of the British. He was subsequently taken prisoner on board of a privateer, and carried into Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he died in prison.” (So, the famous poem by Longfellow is wrong; Paul Revere did not complete his ride to warn “the British are coming.” Samuel Prescott was the one who actually completed the ride and warned the town.)
f. Dorothy, “born July 27, 1753; died unmarried.”
g. Jonathan, “born June 11, 1755; died unmarried, August 22, 1810.
h. Lucy, “born April 24, 1757; married December 6, 1776, Jonathan Fay, Esq.; settled in Concord where he became quite distinguished in the profession of the law. He was a student in Harvard College at the time it was removed to Concord to avoid the dangers incident to the war. He was the son of Capt. Jonathan Fay of Westbrook Mass., and born January 21, 1752; practiced law in Concord.” (The Presidents Bushes are descended from Lucy Prescott and Jonathan Fay.)

8. Dr. Benjamin Prescott, “born April 4, 1745; married November, 1768, Dorothy, daughter of Jonas and Persis Wheeler, born March 16, 1748. In June, 1778, he was surgeon to a squadron of men sent to reinforce General Sullivan in R.I.; twenty-six of the men were from Concord. He settled in Concord as a physician. He died of paralysis, August 23, 1830. She died of paralysis, November 1, 1820.”
a. Benjamin (see below)
b. William, “born June 30, 1775. Studied for the medical profession and commenced the practice in Carlisle but relinquished it from ill health and died of necrosis (called fever sores) May 1, 1803.

9. Benjamin Prescott, “born August 19, 1769; married April 19, 1791, Amy Wood of Concord, born May 7, 1769.”
a. Martha, “born July 11, 1791; married first, Oliver Merriam of Concord, June 10, 1817, born March 11, 1787 and died about 1823. She married second, Daniel Dickinson of Richmond, Ohio, born November 16, 1769, and died February 5, 1839; resided at Chelmsford, Mass.”
b. Luther, “born August 26, 1793; married Ann Read of Lexington, January 3, 1819. She died September 4, 1827.”
c. Phebe, “born July 22, 1796; married Thaddeus Read, December 8, 1819.”
d. Amos, “born December 16, 1798; married Catharine Marcellan, June 4, 1828.”
e. Almira, “born February 7, 1801; died May 23, 1805.”
f. William (see below)
g. Franklin, “born August 28, 1805; died July 23, 1838.”
h. An infant son, “born November 11, 1807; died in one and a half hours.”
i. Eliza Ann, “born March 31, 1809; married Joseph W. Clark of Buffalo.”

10. William Prescott, “born April 29, 1803; married Acenith Knight of Hancock, NH, October, 1825; lived in Buffalo.” (The Prescotts below have no death dates, etc., because most of this material was taken from “The Prescott Memorial” by William Prescott and published around 1870.)
a. William Corydon (see below)
b. Infant daughter, “born April 2, 1829; died same day.”
c. Abigail Lorane, “born November 21, 1831; died February 23, 1833.”
d. Mary Eliza, “born December 17, 1833; died December 2, 1835.”
e. An infant, “born January 25, 1837; died same day.”
f. A son, “born March 22, 1838; died March 26, 1838.”
g. An infant, “born July 25, 1839; died same day.”
h. Charles Levant, “born January 4, 1841.”
i. Albert Darwin, “born January 14, 1843.”
j. Mary Elvira, “born April 22, 1846.”

11. William Corydon Prescott, born 12/26/1827 in Kingston, NH, in 1850 lived in NY and was an ink manufacturer, acquired 160 acres in MN in 1870 through the Homestead Act, married #1 Juliette E. Barnum, born 1828; married #2 Lucina Jane Corbin, born 2/7/1832 (?34, two censuses differ) in Forestville, NY, died 10/9/1915, daughter of Preserved J. Corbin, born 1806, died 8/9/1848, and Annis Corbin, born 1809, died 4/27/1845; died as an infant, Ezra, died 8/17/1836; a possible third child was a son Edwin who was listed in the 1860 census (20 years old) living with his sister Lucina Jane and her husband, W.C. Prescott
Issue of wife #1:
a. Mary, born 1846
b. Silas W., born 1849
c. Elias N., born 1850 in NY
(Because I do not have a date for Juliette’s death, there is one other child that could possibly be hers of Lucina Jane’s: d. William (Frank), born 1856 in NY; the 1850 census lists Juliette as W.C.’s wife and the 1860 census lists Lucina Jane as his wife.)
Issue of wife #2:
e. Julia (see below)
f. Edwin H., born 1868 in MN

12. Julia Prescott, born 8/24/1860(61) in NY

13. Silas Leroy Skillman (He married Fannie Ruth Dedrick – see Skillman and Dedrick genealogies on this website.)

14. Elizabeth Skillman Hall

15. Barry Lee Hall

16. Robert Tyler Hall and Kathryn Suzanne Hall

Tyler has a son, Robert Aaron Hall, b. 12/31/2013.

Kathryn has a son, Avery Haynes Buszka, b. 10/12/2014.