Littleton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts was first settled in 1686 by English settlers and was the the location of the Native American village called Nashoba Plantation
Childbirth was was perilous. Around 1.5 percent of births ended in the mother's death. Since women gave birth to many children, chances of dying in childbirth were quite high.
Daniel Powers was born on May 10, 1669 in Littleton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. His parents were Walter Powers and Trial Shepard.
He married his first wife, Elizabeth Whitcomb, on April 8, 1702. Elizabeth was the daughter of Jonathan and Hannah Whitcomb. She was born in 1676 in Littleton. Her mother was killed by indigenous warriors in 1692.
Daniel and Elizabeth's children were all born in Nashobe (Littleton), although some of them are recorded in Groton. Their children included:
Daniel Powers (1703, married Mary Wilder),
Jonathan Powers (1704, married Hannah Moore),
Oliver Powers (1705), Captain Peter Powers (1707, married Anna Keyes) and
Hannah Powers (1709, Hannah may have married Barnabas Davis).
They owned a large piece of land on the west edge of Littleton. The land was about one mile in width and extended along the entire west edge of town.
Elizabeth died February 22, 1709 probably as a complication of childbirth.
He married Martha Bates in 1711.
Martha and Daniel's children included:
William Powers (1712, married Margaret Reese),
Sapheron Powers (1714),
Timothy Powers (1716), and Jerahmeel Powers (February 18, 1718, married Eunice Bennet).
Their son, Oliver, died in Cuba while fighting with England against Spain probably during the Seven Years War also known as the French and Indian War in America.
Groton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts was settled and incorporated in 1655. During King Philip's War, indigenous warriors burned all but four of Groton's garrisons. Survivors fled, but returned two years later to rebuild the town. Groton was again threated during Queen Anne's War.
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.
Early European settlers in the American colonies were mostly farmers and craftsmen. They had to work hard to provide daily neccesities for themselves.
European and indiginous American fought fierce battles as the Europeans expanded their territory.
Groton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts was settled and incorporated in 1655
Connecticut's first European settlers were Dutch.
Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine by George Thomas Little, Henry Sweetser Burrage, Albert Roscoe Stubbs, published by Lewis Historical Pub. Co., 1909
Daniel [Powers], fourth son and fifth child of Walter and Trial (Sheppard) Power, and who adopted the spelling of the surname Powers, was born in Littleton, Massachusetts, May 10, 1669.
He married, April 8, 1702, Elizabeth [Whitcomb], daughter of Jonathan Whitcomb, by whom he had five children. He became owner of a piece of land on the westerly border of the town of Littleton about one mile in width and extending the whole length of the westerly line of the town. His children were probably all born in Nashobe or Littleton, although some of them are found recorded in Groton, the adjoining town.
The children of Daniel and Elizabeth (Whitcomb) Powers were:
1. Daniel, born April 21, 1703, married
Mary, and died in 1789.
2. Jonathan,
born 1704, married Hannah Sawyer.
3. Oliver, born 1705, died in the Cuban war.
4. Peter (q. v.), born 1707.
5. Hannah, born February 22, 1709, married Barnabas Davis.
His wife Elizabeth died after February 22, 1709, and he married as his second wife, in 1711, Martha Bates. Their children:
6. William, born April 12, 1712, lived in Woodstock, Connecticut.
7. Sepheron, born 1714.
8. Timothy, born 1716, died in the Cuban war.
9. Jerahmeel [Powers], born February 18, 1718, married Eunice Bennett. He was a business man of prominence in Shirley, was commissioned by Governor Wentworth lieutenant and served in the French and Indian war, and later in life removed to. Leicester, Vermont, where he lived for many years, but died at the home of the daughter in Seneca, New York, after he had passed the eighty-sixth year of his age.
The French and Indian War lasted from 1754 to 1763 and was the North American phase of the Seven Years' War.
The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America and was ratified in 1789.
New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial, Volume 3
edited by William Richard Cutter
Daniel Powers, son of Walter Powers (q. v.), was born May 10, 1669. He married (first) Elizabeth Whitcomb, of Littleton, Massachusetts, April 8, 1702, (second) Martha Bates. He settled in Littleton, and his children were all born in Nashobe (Littleton), although some of them are recorded in Groton.
Children:
Daniel, born April 21, 1703, died 1789;
Jonathan, 1704, married Hannah Swayer;
Oliver, 1705, died in the Spanish war in Cuba;
Peter, mentioned below.
Captain Peter Powers, son of Daniel Powers, was born in Littleton, Massachusetts, 1707, died August 27, 1757. His early youth was spent on the farm of his father.
After he married he removed to that part of Dunstable, now the city of Nashua, New Hampshire. During the summer and fall of 1730 he built the first house in what is now Hollis, New Hampshire, and in January following removed with wife and two children through the primeval forests to his new home. They were the first settlers in Hollis and their first daughter was the first white child born in that town.
In 1738 there were forty families there, when he and others petitioned for a town charter. He was active in town and church affairs. He was captain of militia and was sent by the government at the head of an exploring party through the Connecticut River Valley in 1754, but the renewal of war between the French and English produced so much disturbance that his report was never published. It is now deposited with the Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, Connecticut.
Captain Powers raised a company of men, mostly from Hollis, in 1755, to march under Colonel Joseph Blanchard against the French forces at Crown Point, Lake Champlain. In this company were Jonathan, Levi, Stephen and Whitcomb Powers, the last three being sons of Captain Peter Powers.
He married, in 1728, Anna Keyes.
Fort Crown Point was constructed by the French in the 1730s at the south end of Lake Champlain to protect the southern part of New France from British colonial expansion. By the mid-1740s it was an imposing stone fortress. During the French and Indian War, Crown Point was the target of five efforts by the British to wrest control of Lake Champlain from the French.
A militia is a military unit composed of citizens who are called up in time of need.
