Middlesex County, Massachusetts was created on May 10, 1643. The county originally included Charlestown, Cambridge, Watertown, Sudbury, Concord, Woburn, Medford, Wayland, and Reading.
Elizabeth Fiske Ball was born on January 19, 1667/1668 in Watertown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of Lieutenant Nathan Fiske and Elizabeth Fry.
She married a weaver and husbandman, James Ball, on January 16, 1693/94. James was born on March 7, 1669/70. His parents were John Ball and Sarah Bullard.
James and Elizabeth's children included:
James Ball (February 2, 1693/94),
Nathan Ball (February 28, 1694/95, married Mary Williams),
John Ball (July 22, 1697, married Lydia Perry),
Elizabeth Ball (April 8, 1699, died young),
Sarah Ball Hastings (September 1, 1700, married Daniel Hastings),
Abigail Ball Livermore (June 5, 1702, married Jonathan Livermore),
Elizabeth Ball Fuller (April 9, 1705, married Thomas Fuller), and
Susannah Ball Stearns (March 16, 1706/07, married Josiah Stearns).
James died February 22, 1729 and Elizabeth died in 1740 in Watertown.
Watertown was settled in 1630 by English Puritans in Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
Coverlets (Coverlid) are woven bedcovers, used as the topmost covering on a bed.
It was common for bequests to include wearing apparel.
Bond's genealogy of Watertown is available on Kindle.
The New England Meetinghouse was the only municipal building in a town. Both worship and civil meetings were held there. It was customary for men and women to sit separately and the town chose a committee once a year to assign seats according to what was paid, age, and dignity.
Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of the State of Massachusetts edited by William Richard Cutter, William Frederick Adams, Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1910
(III) John [Ball] (3), son of John (2) Ball, was born about 1644. He married, October 17, 1665, Sarah Bullard, daughter of George and Beatrice Bullard, of Watertown. He lived most of the time at Watertown, but presumably had interests in Lancaster and vicinity, whither several of his children went.
Children: 1. Sarah, born July 11, 1666, married, March 13. 1684-85, Allen Flagg, of Watertown.
2. John, June 29, 1668, died at Waltham, October 24, 1752.
3. James, March 7, 1670. mentioned below.
4. Joseph, May 4, 1674, will proved April 8, 1730.
5. Jonathan, March 29. 1680, died about 1727.
6. Daniel, August 2, 1683, died March 9, 1717-18; married, October 10, 1708, Mary Earle.
7. Abigail, October 5, 1686.
(IV) James [Ball], son of John (3) Ball, was born March 7, 1670, died February 22, 1729/30. His will was made the day before he died. He was a weaver by trade. He married, January 16, 1693-94, Elizabeth Fiske, born January 19, 1667-68.
Children:
1. James, born February 2, 1694, at Watertown, settled in 1720 with brother Nathan in Northborough on what has since been called Ball Hill; his son was the famous Dr. Stephen Ball, of Northborough.
2. Nathan, February 28, 1695-96, died 1768.
3. John, July 22, 1697
4. Elizabeth, April 2, 1699, died 1703.
5. Sarah, September 1, 1700, married, August 5, 1726, Daniel Hastings.
6. Abigail, June 5, 1702, married, June 23, 1723, Deacon Jonathan Livermore.
7. Elizabeth, April 9, 1705, married, April 9, 1728, Thomas Fuller, of Newton.
8. Susannah, March 1, 1707-08, married, December 3, 1729, Josiah Stearns.
Deacons played a respected and important role in early New England churches. They sat in a raised pew near the pulpit and had special duties during communion.
American colonists continued to use British monetary units, namely the pound, shilling and pence for which £1 (orli) equalled 20s and 1s equalled 12d. In 1792 the dollar was established as the basic unit of currency.
Old Style Calendar
Before 1752 the year began on Lady Day, March 25th,. Dates between January 1st and March 24th were at the end of the year. Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) are used to indicate whether the year has been adjusted. Often both dates are used.
Elizabeth Fones (1610) was a Puritan woman in New England. She married her cousin, Henry Winthrop, son of John Winthrop. After he died, she married Robert Feake and lived in Watertown and Greenwich, Massachusetts. Robert apparently suffered from mental illness and abandoned his family. She then lived with William Hallett in Long Island.
1756
from Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown by Henry Bond, Horatio Gates Jones
Josiah Sterns, a farmer and blacksmith, of Watertown, settled on his father's homestead (66, III.)
He m. (1st), Dec. 31, 1729, Susanna Ball, b. Mar. 16, 1708, dr. of James and Elizabeth (Fiske) Ball. [Ball, 22.]
He m. (2d), Dorothy Prentice, about 1740 or '41, (?) dr. of Rev. John and Mary (Gardner) Prentice, of Lancaster, and he m. (3d), Ap. 23, 1752, Mary Bowman, of Cambridge. He d. Ap. II, 1756. Inventory of his estate. Real, £3610. O. T.; Personal, £1150. 19.—£4760. 19
