Weymouthis the second oldest town in Massachusetts. It was established in 1622 and incorporated in 1635. The town was a fishing and agricultural community.
Slavery is an immoral system of forced labor where people are treated as property to be bought and sold. It was legal in the American Colonies and the United States until the Civil War.
Samuel Daggett was born in 1652 in Weymouth, Norfolk County, Massachusetts. His parents were Thomas and Elizabeth Daggett.
He moved to Marshfield with his parents when he was quite young. In Marshfield he was and served as townsman, constable, tythingman, grand juryman, and collector of rates.
He married Mary Rogers on January 24, 1682. Mary was born March 10, 1665 and was the daughter of John Rogers.
Samuel and Mary's children included:
Samuel Daggett (1683, died as an infant),
Samuel Daggett (1685, married Bethiah Waterman),
Mary Daggett (1687), and
Sarah Daggett Allen (1689, married John Allen).
On March 20, 1681 he inherited one-half of all his father's lands.
Mary died in April 15, 1690.
His second wife was Bathsheba Holmes. She born in 1670 in Marshfield and was the daughter of Abraham Holmes and Elizabeth Arnold. Samuel and Bathsheba married on January 21, 1691.
Samuel and Bathsheba's children included:
Elizabeth Daggett Hall (1691, married Sylvanus Hall),
Ebenezer Daggett (1693),
Bathsheba Daggett Kent Oxenbridge (1695, married John Kent and Oxenbridge Thatcher),
John Daggett (1697), and
Isaac Daggett (1699),
Lydia Daggett (1703),
Seth Daggett (1705), and
Abigail Daggett (1711/12).
Samuel died in Marshfield on September 15, 1725 and was buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery.
Bathsheba, the mother, died in Marshfield on April 17, 1747.
Samuel's granddaughter, Sarah Kent, married her stepbrother, Oxenbridge Thacher, Jr., in 1741. Sarah died of smallpox in 1764 and Oxenbridge died of the effects of a live virus inoculation against the disease in 1765. In Phillis Wheatley: Biography of a Genius in Bondage, Vincent Carretta says that her earliest poem was about their deaths.
Mr[s] Thacher’s Son is gone
Unto Salvation
Her daughter too, so I conclude
They are both gone to be renewed
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.
Smallpox is caused by of two viruses: Variola major and Variola minor. Symptoms include a rash and blisters. The mortality rate for V. major is 30–35% and for V. minor is about 1%. Long-term complications include scars, blindness, and limb deformities.
A constable was an elected official who was responsible for keeping the peace. His duties were more limited than the sheriff's. He apprehended and punished offenders, helped settle estates, and collected taxes.
