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.
Early European settlers in the American colonies were mostly farmers and craftsmen. They had to work hard to provide daily neccesities for themselves.
She married Eleazer Foster on December 6, 1703 in Ipswich. Eleazer was born April 6, 1684 in Ipswich. His parents were Isaac Foster and Martha Hale. Eleazer was a weaver.
Elizabeth and Eleazer's children included:
Elizabeth Foster (1705), Abijah Foster (1707), and John Foster (1714).
Elizabeth died on February 19, 1758.
In 1758 their son, Abijah, and his son Ebenezer both died of smallpox at Crown Point.
Eleazer died on November 15, 1771.
Shays's Rebellion was an armed uprising in Massachusetts in 1786 and 1787. Daniel Shays led four thousand rebels (Shaysites) in rising up against perceived economic injustices.
Daniel Shays and Job Shattuck
from Bickerstaff's Boston Almanack
Coverlets (Coverlid) are woven bedcovers, used as the topmost covering on a bed.
The town of Ipswich was established on August 5, 1634, from common land called Agawam. On October 18, 1648, that portion called the "Village" at the New Meadows was set off as Topsfield. The boundary line between Ipswich and Topsfield was established, February 28, 1694.
from Foster Genealogy, Part 1 by Frederick Clifton Pierce
Eleazer Foster (Isaac, Reginald), b. Ipswich, Mass., Apr., 1684; m. Dec. 6, 1703, Elizabeth Fiske; b. Oct. 9, 1679; d. Feb. 19, 1758. He was a weaver. He d. Nov. 15, 1771. Res., Ipswich. Mass.
i. Elizabeth [Foster], b. Feb. 17, 1705.
ii. Habijah [Foster], bapt. Jan., 1707; m. Mary Knowlton.
iii. John [Foster], b. May 20, 1714; m. .
Europeans who made the voyage to America faced a difficult journey of several months.
The French and Indian War lasted from 1754 to 1763 and was the North American phase of the Seven Years' War.
from History New Ipswich
Abijah Foster (Eleazer, Isaac. Reginald), bapt. Ipswich, Mass., Jan., 1707; m. Dec. 13, 1733, Mary Knowlton of Ipswich, dau. of Robert [Knowlton]. He was baptized in Ipswich. Removed to New Ipswich, N. H., probably being sent there by the grantees about 1734. He was the first that went and he soon returned, for his son Ebenezer, was the first child born in New Ipswich.
In 1758 or 9 with his son Ebenezer, enlisted in the army against the French and Indians. While encamped near Crown Point both father and son died of the smallpox. He married Mary Knowlton of Ipswich. During the revival of 1786 she joined the Rev. Mr. Farrar's church.
This is what the history of New Ipswich says: Abijah Foster was from Ipswich; he was great grandson of Reginald Foster, who came to New England in 1638, and with his five sons settled in Ipswich. He was of a very respectable family of Exeter in England, and d. at Ipswich in extreme old age.
Abijah Foster was born in 1707. and no doubt was sent here in the employ of the Ipswich grantees. His was the first family which came here, and he must be regarded as the first settler in town, but it is not so easy to fix the time of his advent. After a very thorough examination of the records of Ipswich, and almost everything that could throw any light on the subject, it would seem that his location here was in the spring of 1738. It is certain he was there in the fall of 1736 and was not there in the fall of 1738. He was accompanied by his wife and daughter. He undoubtedly had his choice of a lot for a farm, and fixed on what was known for a long time as the Hill's Farm, a considerable part of which is now occupied by Joseph Barrett, Esq. His house, which was built of logs, stood near the present Bank building; the old cellar hole was visible within a few years.
Mr. Foster was a man of an unsettled disposition; he disposed of his farm in 1750 to Joseph Bates and removed to what was formerly known as the Fletcher Farm, now owned by Mr. Joseph Davis; some vestiges of his cellar still remain. This farm he disposed of in 1755, to Capt. Thomas Fletcher, and removed his family to the land now owned by Caleb Campbell. His house there stood a few rods east of Mr. Campbell's barn; the side of it can still be traced.
Mr. Foster was in town in June 1758, but either in that or the succeeding year he enlisted in the army then employed in a campaign against the French and Indians; he was accompanied by his eldest son Ebenezer, the first child born in town, who was then about 19 years old. While the army was encamped near Crown Point, they both took the smallpox and died. His widow continued to reside 1n the house he last erected for many years. She joined the Rev. Mr. Farrar's church in the great revival in 1786 and was baptized by immersion at her request. It is supposed she removed from town with her son Danie.
The name of the first permanent resident, with his family, has been determined, so as to leave no question on that point; but the precise date of his advent is less positively settled. From extensive researches into the history of his f amily, and from other collateral circumstances we have been able to arrive at a conclusion which admits of but very little controversy. Abijah Foster with his wife and daughter Mary, then one year old, came from old Ipswich some time during the summer of 1738 and became the pioneer settler in this place. His wife was the first woman in town, and his son Ebenezer was the first malechild born in town. He first located himself on the lot in the center village.
Historically an esquire (Esq. or Esqr.) was the title of a man who ranked below a knight in the English gentry. Later it designated a commoner with the status of gentleman and was used by attorneys.
The rod or perch or pole is a surveyor's tool equal to 5 1⁄2 yards.
Fort Crown Point was constructed by the French in the 1730s at the south end of Lake Champlain to protect the southern part of New France from British colonial expansion. By the mid-1740s it was an imposing stone fortress. During the French and Indian War, Crown Point was the target of five efforts by the British to wrest control of Lake Champlain from the French.
Mister ( Mr.) was derived from master and Mrs. and Miss were derived from mistress. They indicated people of superior social status in colonial America.
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."
John Foster (Eleazer, Isaac, Reginald), b. Ipswich, Mass., May 20, 1714.;
He was probably a weaver for that was his father's occupation and Essex Deeds 83, 105, Dec. 1, 1741, Eleazer Foster, Ipswich, weaver, sells to John Foster, weaver, one-quarter acre land bounding on that of John Manning. Res. Ipswich, Mass.
