A yeoman was a man who owned and cultivated a small farm. He belonged to the class below the gentry or land owners. A husbandman was a free tenant farmer. The social status of a husbandman was below that of a yeoman.
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).
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 threatened 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.
