John Prescott (abt. 1604 - bef. 1681)

Born about 1604 in Yorkshire, England [uncertain]

Husband of Mary (Gawkroger) Prescott — married 11 Apr 1629 in Halifax, Yorkshire, England

Descendants

Died before 20 Dec 1681 before about age 77 in Lancaster, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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John Prescott migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Disputed Ancestry

John Prescott is NOT the son of Ralph Prescott (d. 1608), and a great-grandson of James Prescott by Alice Standish as can frequently be found in print and on the internet.

Please see the free space page John Prescott Ancestry Disproved for a more complete explanation.

Biography

Name and Origins

Name: John Prescott, of Lancaster, Massachusetts.

John Prescott was the immigrant ancestor of this family and is best known as the founder of Lancaster, Massachusetts. Multiple depositions on his age generally agree he was born about 1604. His parents and origins remain unknown.

He was said in the Prescott Memorial to be the son of Ralph Prescott of Shevington, Lancashire, England.^[1] The evidence for this identification was later noted to be insufficient by Donald Lines Jacobus, Mary Holman and John G. Hunt.^[2][3] The noted genealogist Frederick Lewis Weis however championed the theory, though Jacobus continued to denounce the idea. When Weis published the Prescott lines to medieval gentry and royalty in his Ancestral Roots and Magna Carta Sureties book series, the line became widespread in online databases. The idea has more recently been disproved.

Adell T. Prescott led an in-depth search into the English records in Lancashire and Yorkshire which was published in the quarterly newsletter Prescotts Unlimited. The research definitively proved that John Prescott, son of Ralph Prescott of Shevington, could not be the same person as John Prescott of Lancaster, Mass. The key point being, multiple wills, land records, marriage settlements, law suits and parish records leave no doubt that this John Prescott never left his home in Shevingdon, never went to Yorkshire, and could not have gone to New England.

With the history of John Prescott of Longryding in Shevington, son of Ralph, being completely accounted for, the search for the true origins of the immigrant John Prescott must continue elsewhere. The only known English records which pertain to this John Prescott are in Yorkshire (marriage and children's baptisms) making this the most probable place of his birth. The idea that John founded Lancaster, Massachusetts, and therefore came from Lancaster, Lancashire, England, is not credible based on such weak reasoning. John was one of a group of founders and there is no evidence to show who chose or suggested the name of the town.^[3]

Birth

Born: About 1604.

supposedly died "aged about seventy-seven" in 1681.^[4]

Marriage and Children

Married: Mary Gawkroger alias Platts on 11 Apr 1629 in Halifax, Yorkshire, England.^[5]

Children of John Prescott and Mary Gawkroger:

1. Mary Prescott. Baptized 24 February 1630 in Sowerby, Yorkshire, England. Married Thomas Sawyer.
2. Infant Prescott. Buried 7 March 1631 in Sowerby.
3. Martha Prescott. Baptized 11 March 1632 in Sowerby. She married John Rugg.
4. Infant Prescott. Buried 3 January 1634 in Sowerby.
5. John Prescott. Baptized 1 April 1635 in Sowerby. Died young.
6. Sarah Prescott. Born about 1637, probably in Watertown, Massachusetts. She married first Richard Wheeler; married second Joseph Rice.
7. Hannah Prescott. Born about 1639, probably in Watertown. Married John Rugg, widower of her sister Martha.
8. Lydia Prescott. Born 15 August 1641 in Watertown.
9. John Prescott. Born about 1643 (aged 35 in 1678), probably in Watertown.
10. Jonathan Prescott. Born about 1645, probably in Lancaster.
11. Jonas Prescott. Born 1647 in Lancaster.

Death

John Prescott Old Burial Field "John Prescott Decased"

Died: Shortly before 20 December 1681 in Lancaster, Massachusetts.

Burial: Old Burial Field in Lancaster, Massachusetts.^[6]

According to Nourse, a nuncupative will was presented to the courts on this date.^[7] An actual long and detailed will of John Prescott was made on 8 October 1673 and proved on 4 April 1682.^[2][8]

A very rough stone without dates marks his grave in the Old Burial Field in Lancaster, Massachusetts.^[6] A memorial stone erected a long time after John Prescott's death now also marks his grave:

HERE WITH HIS CHILDREN ABOUT HIM LIES JOHN PRESCOTT FOUNDER OF LANCASTER AND FIRST SETTLER OF WORCESTER COUNTY BORN AT STANDISH, LANCASHIRE, ENGLAND DIED AT LANCASTER, MASSACHUSETTS, DEC. 1681. INSPIRED BY THE LOVE OF LIBERTY AND THE FEAR OF GOD, THIS STOUT-HEARTED PIONEER FORSAKING THE PLEASANT VALES OF ENGLAND TOOK UP HIS ABODE IN THE UNBROKEN FOREST AND ENCOUNTERED WILD BEAST AND SAVAGE TO SECURE FREEDOM FOR HIMSELF AND HIS POSTERITY HIS FAITH AND VIRTUES HAVE BEEN INHERITED BY MANY DESCENDANTS WHO IN EVERY GENERATION HAVE WELL SERVED THE STATE IN WAR, IN LITERATURE, AT THE BAR, IN THE PULPIT, IN PUBLIC LIFE AND IN CHRISTIAN HOMES

Emigration

1638 ENGLAND to BARBADOES (sic)

1640 New England (settled in Watertown)^[9] (sic)

Event

Freeman's Oath: 1659 Lancaster, Worcester, MA

Research Notes

John Prescott Notes (extractions)

Watertown: John Prescott probably arrived in New England in late 1636 or early 1637. Sources which say he was in Barbados prior to his immigration are incorrect as it is impossible to reconcile the overlapping records of the two men. The earliest record of John Prescott is when occurs in the distribution of land in Watertown on 26 June 1637 (he does not occur in the initial division of land on 25 July 1636).^[10] He was granted an additional 90 acres in the land division of 10 May 1642.^[11] His generous land holdings are detailed in the land inventories taken in 1639 and 1646.^[12] (note: These inventories are undated. Robert Charles Anderson posits that they were taken simultaneously early in 1644 based on known circumstances of people included in it.)^[13]

Common Errors to Avoid

Origins: He was not from Standish Parish in Shevington, Lancaster, England. This is an old theory which has been disproved.

Parents: He was not the son of Ralph Prescott (d. 1608), and a great-grandson of James Prescott by Alice Standish was first published by William Prescott in his Prescott Memorial in 1870.^[1] This is an old theory which has been disproved.

Birth place: He is often said to have been born at Standish Parish, Shevington, Lancaster, England. This is incorrect. This is part of the error which makes him a son of Ralph Prescott of Shevington.

Immigration: He is sometimes said to have lived in Barbados prior to his arrival in Watertown. This is incorrect. The records overlap in such a way that it is impossible for the John Prescott to be the same man as John Prescott found in Watertown. It is also an extremely unlikely immigration pattern for this very early colonial period.

Sources

Footnotes and citations:

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Prescott, William. The Prescott Memorial (1870): pages 32-34.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Holman. Stevens-Miller Ancestry, vol. 1. (1948): 54-60.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} NEHGR, vol. 133 (1959): pages 70-71. Parentage of John Prescott, by John G. Hunt.
4. ↑ Nourse. Lancaster Records. (1890): page 20. The published vital records were annotated by Nourse, who compiled them. He adds the reference to John's non-cupative will and that he died when he was about 77. There is no town record of John's death and no corroborating source known for Nourse's claim about this will or his age.
5. ↑ The family name was Gawkroger. However, for generations they owned land known as the Platts and therefore can frequently be found in the records interchangeably as Gawkroger, Platts, Gawkroger alias Platts, or Platts alias Gawkroger.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Find A Grave Memorial #6238510, John Prescott.
7. ↑ Nourse. Lancaster Records. (1890): page 20.
8. ↑ Middlesex probate #18076.
9. ↑ Bond, Genealogies of the Families of Watertown, p 47.
10. ↑ Watertown Records: Grants and Possessions Book (1894): page 9.
11. ↑ Watertown Records: Grants and Possessions Book (1894): page 13.
12. ↑ Watertown Records: Grants and Possessions Book (1894): page 53 and page 137.
13. ↑ “The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III,” Online database at AmericanAncestors.org (New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010) [Originally Published as: Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vols. (New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 2023.

Source list:

• The American Genealogist vol. 34 (1958): pages 180-181. Recent Books: Eight lines of Descent of John Prescott… by Donald Lines Jacobus. AmericanAncestors.org Link

• The American Genealogist vol. 37 (1961): pages 117-119. Book Reviews: Forty sound reasons why John Prescott …, by Donald Lines Jacobus.

• Holman, Mary Lovering. Ancestry of Colonel John Harrington Stevens and his Wife Frances Helen Miller, vol. 1 (New Hampshire, 1948): pages 54-60.

• Jacobus, Donald Lines. An American Family: Botsford-Marble Ancestral Lines (1933): page 187. Available on ancestry.com; also on Archive.org (free link).

• New England Historical and Genealogical Register vol. 133 no. 1 (January 1959): pages 70-71. Parentage of John Prescott, by John G. Hunt.

• English Origins of New England Families, Second Series Vol. II (Baltimore, 1985): pages 937-938, Parentage of John Prescott, by John G. Hunt. Ancestry.com Link (Note: reprint of NEHGR vol. 133:70-71).

• Nourse, Henry S. The Birth, Marriage, and Death Register, Church Records and Epitaphs of Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1643-1850. (Lancaster, 1890). Archive.org Link

• Prescotts Unlimited vol. XIII no. 2 (June 1992): 17-21 "English Research Continued: The Ancient Prescotts of Shevington", by Adell T. Prescott

• Prescotts Unlimited Quarterly Newsletter, vol. XIII no. 2 (June 1992): 17-21 "English Research Continued: The Ancient Prescotts of Shevington", by Adell T. Prescott. See also March 1992.

• Prescott, William. The Prescott Memorial: or, a Genealogical Memoir of the Prescott Families in ... (Boston, 1870): pages 32-34. Caution: Original source of error regarding John Prescott's origins.

• Historical Society of Watertown. Watertown Records: Comprising the First and Second Books of Town Proceedings with the Lands Grants and Possessions, also the Proprietors' Book and the First Book and Supplement of Births and Deaths and Marriages. (Watertown, 1894): Possessions Book page 53. Google Books Copy
  Lands Grants and Possessions, First Book and Supplement of Births and Deaths and Marriages (Archive.org link),

• Weis, Frederick Lewis. Eight Lines of Descent of John Prescott, founder of Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1645, from Alfred the Great, King of England, 871-901. (Dublin, N.H.: privately published, 1957). Available at hathitrust.org Caution: Source in error regarding John Prescott's origins.

• Weis, Frederick Lewis. Forty sound reasons why John Prescott (born at Shevington, Lancashire, 1604); John Prescott (of Sowerby, Halifax Parish, co. York, who married Mary Gawkroger there in 1629); and John Prescott (who died at Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1681, aged 77 years) are one and the same person. (Dublin, N.H.: privately published, 1959). Caution: Source in error regarding John Prescott's origins.

• Weis, Frederick Lewis. John Prescott of Lancaster, Massachusetts 1643-1681. (Peterborough, N.H., 1961). Available at hathitrust.org. Caution: Source in error regarding John Prescott's origins.

• Weis, Frederick Lewis. Ancestral roots of sixty colonists who came to New England 2nd edition. (Lancaster, 1951): pages 51-52, 136-137, Lines 34 and 170. Note this line was noted as unproven beginning with the 1992 7th edition. HathiTrust.org Link Caution: Source in error regarding John Prescott's origins.

• Weis, Frederick Lewis. Magna Carta Sureties, 1215, 4th edition. (Baltimore, 1991): pages 129-130, Line 116. Note that the first three editions published by Weis show the line as proven. Beginning with the 4th edition, the line is marked unproven. Caution: Source in error regarding John Prescott's origins.

• Bent, Gilbert O. Who Begot Thee? Some Genealogical and Historical Notes Made in an effort to trace the American progenitors of one individual living in America in 1903 (1903)
• May, Virginia A. A Plantation Called Petapawag, Some Notes on the History of Groton, Massachusetts (Groton Historical Society, 1976)
• White, Almira Larkin. Genealogy of the descendants of John White of Wenham and Lancaster, Massachusetts (Chase Brothers, printers, 1909) Vol. 4, Page 167

"Mary Gawkroger, bapt. Mar. 15, 1607; m. Apr. 11, 1629, John Prescott, founder of Lancaster, Mass. They lived for a time in Sowerby, where five of their children were born, three of whom were brought to New England, two buried in Sowerby. In 1638, they were living in the Island of Barbadoes, owning more than ten acres of land. In 1640, in Watertown, where he had large grants of land. In 1634 he associated himself with Thomas King and others, for the purpose of purchasing of Sholan the Indian Sachem of the Nashaway tribe of Indians, a tract of land for a township, which was to be ten miltes long and eight in breadth, known as the 'Nashaway Plantation', afterwards, Lancaster, Mass."

• Bond, Henry. Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts (Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1855), page 407 (Prescott)
• Ancestry of John Prescott, condensed, from the Boston Evening Transcript, August 14, 1905
• The Longley Family Genealogy compiled by Louise Baneck Longley and Janneyne Longley Gnacinski, 1967, FHL Film # 928132 Item 6, page 3, 6.
• New England Marriages prior to 1700; page 602

• Marriage in Halifax, Yorkshire

Marriage: "West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1512-1812"

West Yorkshire Archive Service; Wakefield, Yorkshire, England; Yorkshire Parish Records; New Reference Number: WDP53/1/1/5

Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 2256 #8951535 (accessed 6 December 2022)

John Prescott marriage to Mary Gawkroger on 11 Apr 1629 in Halifax, St John the Baptist, Yorkshire, England.