An American Family History

John Davis was born on March 10, 1663/64 in Groton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. He was the oldest son of Samuel Davis, Sr. and Mary Waters.

He married Mehitabel Shedd. Mehitable was born in 1668 in Groton. Her parents were Daniel Shedd, Jr. and Ruth Moore.

Their "house stood a short distance below the Groton School where Walter Dickson lived when the Map in Mr. Butler’s History was made."

Their children included:
Mehitable Davis (1693)
Sarah Davis (1694),
John Davis (1698, married Rebecca Burt),
Abigail Davis Nutting (1669, married Ebenezer Nutting), and
Lydia Davis (1704). 

In 1691 John Davis was assigned to Preacott's garrison in Groton.

He died on October 25, 1704. He was shot in the early part of the evening by Abenaki warriors while standing in his open door. He was taking in some clothes which had been washed and hung out to dry.

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.

Queen Ann’s War was between 1702 and 1713. It was part of the War of Spanish Succession. England, Austria, the Netherlands, and Portugal joined forces to prevent France from becoming too powerful. The war waged on the New England frontier was called Queen Ann’s War.

History of the Town of Harvard, Massachusetts: 1732-1893 by Henry Stedman Nourse

The French and Indians under Chevalier Beaucour, in their determined but unsuccessful assault upon Lancaster, on Monday, July 31, 1704, did not cross the Nashua, and no share of the heavy losses of that anxious day fell upon the inmates of the eastern garrisons. In fact it is doubtful if, after the universal devastation of 1676, any considerable body of hostiles ever entered the territory of either Bolton or Harvard. There may have been one exception. On Wednesday, October 25, 1704, John Davis of Groton was killed by a party of Indians, supposed to be nearly thirty in number, and the murderers were seen near Still River and pursued by the Lancaster and Groton men, but escaped.

No inmate of the eastern garrisons was slain, wounded or captured during the war; but the yeomanry who defended them were not exempt from days of dread and nights sleepless with care; from unremunerative toil and soul-killing anxiety. Their chosen spokesman, Thomas Wilder, in a petition dated November 15, 1704, says of them:

most of y^e Inhabitants on y^e side have had but little or no help or protection in their Garrisons, but have been necessitated to watch and ward a third part of their time at least, besides Rangeing the woods often when Rumours and Allarms have hapened, so that near halfe our time is spent in actuall service and when we are about our own worke we cannot Keep to it but lose a great part of what we Labour for, being forced to get our bread with y^e peril of our Lives which hang in Doubt continually & but little peace day or night.

New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial by William Richard Cutter

Daniel Shedd or Shed, the immigrant ancestor, was born in England, and settled in Braintree, Massachusetts, about 1640. About 1658 he bought of George Willice the lands of the original grant of Joseph Parker in Billerica, on the Concord river. He removed to Billerica, where his wife Mary died. He married (second) Elizabeth , who died January 17, 1700. He died at Billerica, July 27, 1708.

Children by first wife:
Mary, born March 8, 1648, married John Rogers, who was killed by the Indians:
Daniel [Shedd, Jr.], August 30, 1649, died December 24, 1690;
Hannah, September 7, 1651;
Ensign John, born April 1, 1654;
Elizabeth, June 17, 1656, married Samuel Farley, the first white child born in Billerica;
Zechariah, twin of Elizabeth, married three times, his first wife and two children being killed by the Indians, had seventeen children;
Sarah, born October 30, 1658, married John Dutton, in 1681.

Children by second wife, born in Billerica:
Samuel, August 13, 1660, lived in Chelmsford and Groton;
Susan, December 28, 1662, died young;
Eunice, March 19, 1664, married John Leviston (see Leviston I); Nathan, February 5, 1668.