Wenham, Essex County, Massachusetts was settled in 1636. The first settlers called it Enon or Salem Village. It was officially set off from the Town of Salem on May 10, 1643.
Wenham was first settled by English Puritans. The church was formed in 1644 with John Fiske as pastor.
In 1688, during the Glorious Revolution, the Protestant king and queen,William and Mary, took the English throne from Catholic King James II. The bloodless revolution profoundly impacted the American colonies.
Joseph married Elizabeth Bartram Hammond on May 22, 1677. Elizabeth was born about 1654 in Salem. Her parents were William Bartram and Sarah Johnson.
Elizabeth had been married before, she married William Hammond (1624-1675) of Rehoboth and Swansea on July 9, 1672 in Swansea, Bristol County, Massachusetts.
Elizabeth's children with William included:
Elizabeth Hammond Chaffer (1673, married John Chaffer) and,
William Hammond (1675).
William was killed during King Philip's War.
Capt. Prentice was appointed captain of the special Troop, June 24, 1675, and sent out with Capt. Henchman, as has been related. On arriving at Swansey, at Miles's garrison, the Indians began firing from the bushes across the river at our guards, and twelve of the troopers volunteered to go over the bridge and drive them off. These were commanded by Quartermaster Joseph Belcher (hitherto supposed to have been Andrew, but the Journal settles the point) and Corporal John Gill. Mr. Church went along with them and also a stranger, and William Hammond acted as pilot.
As they advanced across the bridge the Indians fired upon them and wounded Mr. Belcher in the knee, killed his horse, and shot Gill in the breast, but his buff coat and several thicknesses of paper saved him from injury. They killed the pilot outright, and the troopers were forced to retreat, bringing off Hammond and his horse. from The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 37
Joseph and Elizabeth's children included:
Joseph Fiske (1678),
Benjamin Fiske (about 1679),
Samuel Fiske (1680),
Mary Fiske (1684),
Joseph Daniel Fiske (about 1686), and
John Fiske(1690).
Joseph died on March 24, 1688/89 in Swansea, Bristol County, Massachusetts.
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.
Mary White Rowlandson,Talcot
was captured by Native Americans
during King Philip's War
(1675-1676).
Essex County, Massachusetts was created on May 10, 1643 by the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, when it ordered "that the whole plantation within this jurisdiction be divided into four sheires."
The New England Meetinghouse was the only municipal building in a town. Both worship and civil meetings were held there. It was customary for men and women to sit separately and the town chose a committee once a year to assign seats according to what was paid, age, and dignity.
Joseph Fiske, third son of William, the Emigrant, settled in Lynn, Mass., where he married Elizabeth Hamar, in 1677, and had by her a son named Joseph, born in 1678. He removed to Ipswich, and died there, but in what year is not known. His son Joseph also deceased there, May 24, 1731. Whether there were other children, or any descendants in the third generation, does not appear by any record within reach.
In Savage's Genealogical Dictionary he is said to have had a second wife, Susan, and a daughter of the same came, but in this case the author evidently confounds Joseph Fiske, Sen., with his nephew Joseph, a son of Dea. William, of Wenham, who removed to Ipswich about 1700, and there had a family, by wife Susan Warner.(from The Fiske Family by Albert Augustus Fiske)
