A Puritan was a member of the religious group in the 16th and 17th centuries that advocated "purity" of worship and doctrine who believed in personal and group piety. Puritans were persecuted in England and came to America so they would be free to practice their religion.
Thanks Shepard Dill was born on February 10, 1650 in Concord, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of Ralph and Thankful Shepard.
She married Peter Dell (Dill, Dille) on October 13, 1669.
Their children included:
Peter Dill (1670),
Thomas Dill (1673, married Mary Pierce),
Anna Dill (1673),
Thanks Dill (1675/76, married Philip Read),
Mary Dill (1681/82 married Robert Robbins, Jr. and Josiah Barrett), and
David Dill.
Peter died August 13, 1692. On May 3, 1693 Walter Powers of Nashoba, and Thomas Shepard of Charlestown give bonds for the administration on the estate. Thanks and her son Peter were the executors of the estate.
Some Puritans gave their children hortatory names (from the Latin for “encourage”) like Thankful, hoping that the children would live up to them. The names were used for several generations.
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.
Concord, Middlesex County, Massachusetts was settled early by the English as a frontier outpost of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
from The Shepard Families of New England: Ralph Shepard of Dedham
by Gerald Faulkner Shepard
Administration on the estate of Peter Dill was granted, 3 May 1693, to Thanks Dill, the relect, and Peter Dill, eldest son.
The bond of Thanks Dill, widow of Peter Dill of Nashoba, his eldest son Peter Dill, and Walter Power of Nashoba, and Thomas Shepard Sen'r of Charlestown was dated Charlestown 3 May 1693;
Ralph Shepard, Puritan by Ralph Hamilton Shepard
Thanks Shepard, b. at Malden, 10 Feb., 1651, md. Peter Dill of Nashoba and had:
Peter Dill:
Thanks Dill, md. Philip Read:
Mary Dill, md. Josiah Barrett of Littleton: and
David Dill of Vollentown, Ct.
Middx- Probate Becords, 30, 347, also 4302, where Walter Powers of Nashoba, and Thomas Shepard of Charlestown give bonds for the administration on the estate of Peter Dill at Charlestown 3 May, 1693.
