Middlesex County, Massachusetts was created on May 10, 1643. The county originally included Charlestown, Cambridge, Watertown, Sudbury, Concord, Woburn, Medford, Wayland, and Reading.
Phineas Powers was born on May 8, 1705 in Littleton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. He was the son of Thomas Powers and Mary Harwood.
His wife was named Martha.
Their children included:
Martha Powers Safford (1731, married Joseph Safford),
Phineas Powers, Jr. (1732),
William Powers (1734),
Dr. Stephen Powers (1736, married Lydia Drew),
Abraham Powers (1738, married Rachel Carpenter),
Isaac Powers (1742),
Sarah Powers Whitcomb (1744, married Moses Whitcomb), and
Marcy (Mary) Powers Fullham (1749, married William Fullham).
He lived in Hardwick until he was quite old and then moved to Champlain, Clinton County, New York where he died. He made his will in Hardwick in 1775.
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.
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
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.
Lush forests in Colonial America allowed settlers to build wooden homes.
from Genealogy of Richard Currier of Salisbury and Amesbury, Massachusetts by Harvey Lear Currier, John McNab Currier, Orleans County Historical Society
Phineas Powers (Thomas, Walter), of Hardwick, Mass.; was born in 1704; married Martha; and had the following children:
Phineas;
William, born in 1734;
Stephen, born in 1736;
Abraham, born 1738;
Mary, born in 1740;
Isaac, born in 1740;
Sarah, born in 1744;
and Martha.
Dr. Stephen Powers, (Phineas8, Thomas8, Walter1,) of Woodstock, Vt., was born in Hardwick, Mass., in 1736; died in Woodstock, Vt., Nov. 27, 1809; married Lydia Drew, born in Halifax, Mass., in 1735, died in Woodstock, Vt., August 29, 1823.
They had the following children born in Woodstock::
Stephen;
Dr. John Drew;
Lydia, married Robert Paddock;
Mary, married Jason Richardson, in 1784; and
Susanna, born 1760, died Dec. 2, 1777
Early European settlers in the American colonies were mostly farmers and craftsmen. They had to work hard to provide daily neccesities for themselves.
The town common (commons) was a small, open field at the center of the town which was jointly owned. It was used as a marketplace, a place for the militia to drill, or for grazing livestock.
from History of Woodstock, Vermont
By Henry Swan Dana
On the 14th of June, 1776,Joseph Safford, of Hardwick, Mass., bought of Jonathan Grout three hundred acres of land, described as situated near the centre of the township of Woodstock. This tract of land rested on the west bank of Quechee River, and spread out in a northerly direction from the course of the river, with surface beautifully varied by level and hillside. On the plain, removed back from the river some little distance, Mr. Safford built a house which he occupied, and this was the first settlement on the "flats," so called, now West Woodstock. Three years after his purchase he deeded eighty acres of it to his son Jesse, which took in the land now occupied by the mills and a good part of the village which has grown up there.
Captain, afterwards Colonel, Joseph Safford, was a man much esteemed among the early settlers, and was elected a member of the convention which met at Windsor to frame the constitution of the State. He was afterward sent to the General Assembly several years, and was recognized everywhere as a man of upright character and of sound religious principles. His children were Jesse Safford, Joseph Safford, Jr., and Challis Safford, and two daughters, Martha, married to Jonas Matthews, and Mrs. Eddy. Jesse Safford, to begin with, occupied a one-story house, which stood on the left hand side of the road, and was the first house on the flats going down the highway. That house in due time was removed to the other side of the road, to serve as the kitchen and back part of a new two-story house erected by Jesse Safford. This house is still standing, and was occupied several years by Aunt Prudy Thomas, the widow of Andrew Thomas, Jr. It descended to her from her father, Ebenezer Cox, who succeeded Jesse Safford in the ownership of the farm. Colonel Joseph Safford died January 19, 1798, at the age of seventy-eight years. Many good words were spoken in his behalf, on the occasion of his decease, and his headstone was inscribed with the familiar couplet,
Fresh remembrance of the just,
Shall flourish while he sleeps in dust.
His widow, Martha Safford, survived him a few years and died March 31, 1804, in the seventy-third year of her age. His son, Colonel Jesse Safford, was a man of excellent character and a very influential citizen, so long as he resided in the town. He served as justice of the peace for a considerable period, and was several times elected to the General Assembly, and took an active part in military affairs. In 1811 he removed to Paulet, in Rutland County, and some time after to Pembroke, N. Y.
It was common for bequests to include wearing apparel.
