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Archiver > ESSEX-ROOTS > 1998-03 > 0888975317


From: John & Debbie <>
Subject: Re: Salisbury 1639 Settlement Lots
Date: Tue, 03 Mar 1998 17:35:17 -0800


Greeley, Will (WM) wrote:
>
> In Hoyt's First Families of Salisbury book he shows a map of the town in
> 1639 with each family's "plot." If I'm doing my math right (converting
> rods to acres) these lots are a bit less than one acre each. If this is
> true, where did they farm? Were there "communal farming and grazing
> >areas?" One acre seems small for farming abd grazing...

Will,
Part of the answer is that everyone was required to live within a
certain distance of the meeting-house. If their farm was outside the
prescribed distance, they had to maintain a separate residence within
the limit.
From History of Ipswich, Essex and Hamilton:
"1629, May 21st. The Assistants of the Company, who
settled Massachusetts, meet in London and order that
two hundred acres be allowed to each adventurer for
£50 in the common stock, and so after this rate. They
agree that such adventurers shall have fifty acres for
each person whom they send over. They appoint that
every man, who has no share in the general stock, and
who transports himself and family at his own expense,
shall have at least fifty acres. These were the rules,
observed by all the ancient towns, in dividing their
territory among their population. No individual was
permitted for many years, to have any concern in
assigning lots, unless he was a freeman. When business
of this kind was to be transacted, the meeting for it
was headed, Grants made 'by the company of freemen.'
Owners of farms had house-lots in the town. This
accorded with the following regulation.
1635, May. 'No dwelling-house shall be tuilt above a
half-mile from the meeting-house in any new planta-
tion, without leave from the Court, exept mills and
farm-houses of such as have thier dwellings in town.'"
As an example of how seriously our ancestors considered making
meetings, I cite the following:
"1661. As an inhabitant of Ipswich, living at a distance,
absented himself with his wife from public worship, the
General Court empower the Seven men to sell his farm so
that they may live nearer the sanctuary and be able more
conveniently to attend on its religious services."
The author took the first two items from Colony Records. There is no
specific source cited for the 1661 abstract. It could have been in the
Quarterly Court Records or the Town of Ipswich Records. These are a
couple of the sources that the author used in writing the book.

--
John Slaughter/Spokane, WA
Q: Why do genealogists die with a smile on their faces?
A: They know they're about to get one more date on their pedigree
charts.

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