Daniel Bacon (abt. 1615 - 1691)

Born about 1615 in Suffolk, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Reed) Bacon — married 1639 in Colchester, Essex, England

Descendants

Died 7 Sep 1691 at about age 76 in Newton, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Biography

Daniel Bacon, son of Michael Bacon and Alice (---) Bacon, was born about 1615, possibly in Winston, Suffolk, England.^[1] The first known record of him is when he signed a compact on 18 December 1640 when the town of Woburn, Massachusetts Bay Colony, was organized. He would have been at least 21. His older brother, Michael, also signed.

Daniel married Mary Reed about 1640. Their son Daniel's estimated age based on court records is 1641, possibly 1640.^[2] Where they married isn't obvious since there isn't any evidence of where either of them were about 1640 other than Daniel being in Charlestown, Massachusetts Bay Colony, when the Woburn document was signed very late in that year. When they came to New England is also unknown. Michael, Jr., and Daniel likely came together about 1640, given their joint signatures. This was also the first record of Michael, Jr., in New England.

Daniel took the Masachusetts Bay Colony freeman's oath on 26 May 1647.^[3] No town of residence is given. He is on a 1655 tax list in Woburn.^[4] The births of his children Thomas, John and Isaac are recorded there.^[5]

Daniel, Mary and probably all of their children except Daniel, Jr., moved to Bridgewater, Plymouth Colony, by 1665, when Daniel, Sr., bought and was granted land there.^[6] The claim that he was a surveyor of highways there in 1664 has no evidence to support it. It probably originated in an 1840 history of the town^[7] and was often repeated since. This is the only reference to surveying highways in Bridgewater in 1664 in manuscript and published sources, suggesting it was a mistake. He was a constable there in 1666.^[8]

The family moved to the Cambridge Village area of Cambridge, Massachusetts Bay Colony, (now Newton), probably in 1668, when Daniel bought several pieces of land there. ^[9] These included a homestead with a house bought from Gregory Cook on 15 June 1688. He was elected a surveyor of highways for Cambridge in 1669.^[10] In 1672 he served as a constable there.^[11]

In 1678 Daniel exchanged real property with his nephew Michael Bacon, Jr. For his Bridgwater land, Daniel was given property in Woburn.^[12] This nephew found himself in court several times.

2 Sep 1671 To Constables of Cambridge or Watertown. Order to arrest Michael Bacon who broke prison last night and probably will pass this night over ye Bridge at Watertown to his Uncle Daniel Bacons.^[13]

Daniel and Mary's children Rachel, Jacob and Lydia's births were recorded in Cambridge. This came about when the town clerk accounted for records for the family in 1674.^[14] Thomas and John's births were already recorded in Woburn. Isaac is recorded in both towns, his father perhaps forgetting he was in the Woburn account. There is no evidence the family was in Cambridge between 1650-1645, and the 1655 rate list for Woburn mentions his taxable "person & estate."

Daniel died on 7 September 1691 in Cambridge Village, shortly before it was incorporated as "Newtown," and later Newton.^[15] An inventory of his estate was taken on 29 September 1691, which was valued at 143 lbs., 17 shillings and 6 pence.^[16] Daniel, Jr., and Michael Bacon bonded themselves as administrators on 23 November 1691.

As discussed above, all the children were evidently born in Woburn except maybe Daniel:^[17]

1. Daniel Bacon b. abt. 1641
2. Thomas b. 13 April 1645 ("13th 2nd mo 1645")
3. John Bacon b. 8 September 1647 ("8th of 7th mo 1647")
4. Hannah Bacon is erroneously given in a Newton vital records transcript (with no birthdate) as one of their children (see below)
5. Isaac Bacon b. 4 or 14 April 1650 ("4th of 2nd mo 1650," Middlesex court record of Woburn return; "April 14, 1650," Cambridge town record as published)
6. Rachel (Bacon) Pierce b. 8 June 1652
7. Jacob Bacon b. 2 June 1654
8. Lydia (Bacon) Pierce b. 6 March 1655/56

The transcribed and annotated Newton vital records, ^[18] which were used for the published version, ^[19] attempt to include records from before the town was created. The beginning of the volume says they were taken from the parent town, Cambridge, and annual Middlesex and Suffolk County returns of vital records, but it's left to the researcher to figure out the origin for any particular record before 1678. The Bacon children were included apparently because Daniel and Mary lived there later in life, but the records are mishandled.

Daniel and Mary's children's records in the Newton transcription volume titled "Births, marriages, deaths 1626-1852:"^[20]

Bacon

Isaac s. of Daniel & Mary 2 month 14.1650 [taken from the Cambridge record, not the Woburn return in the county records]

Rachel 4 [month] 8.1652

Jacob 4 [month] 2.1654

Lydia 1 [month] 6.1656

Hannah, Daniel 2.13.1645 [birth date for Thomas] John 6 [month] 7.1647 [incorrect]

The published Newton vital records used this information with the annotation "town copy with additions" and transferred the errors for Daniel and John, includes Hannah with no birth date and leaves out Thomas. Hannah has been given the arbitrary birth year of 1649 on the internet. There is no other evidence to support her existence, including the vital records that were sent by the town to the county clerk annually - which is the only credible source for the children born before 1650. The Cambridge town records^[21] include Isaac, Rachel, Jacob and Lydia and they agree with the county court record with the exception of either missing or adding a 1 to Isaac's birth day, so with all these sources to go by, it's baffling that whoever compiled the Newton records, regardless of the mistake of including the Bacon children in the first place, managed so many errors.

Research Notes

Unsourced birth date: This profile previously stated that Daniel was born before 18 December 1619, but without source.

Sources

1. ↑ Baldwin, Thomas Williams, "Bacon Genealogy: Michael Bacon of Dedham, 1640 and his Descendants" (Cambridge, MA: 1915), 111-114.
2. ↑ citation review at Doug Sinclair's Archives (http://dougsinclairsarchives.com/bacon/danielbacon2.htm): "Three of the court records say "about," so it isn't obvious who gave his age. The other age is specificly given. If any of them are to be believed, only the latter puts his birth possibly well into 1642 (Oct 1641-Oct 1642). The other three combined encompass a date span between Feb 1640 and Jan 1642, so 1641 is the most plausible circa date. Sources: 4 Feb 1678/79, about 38, Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts [hereafter ECQC], vol. 7 (Salem, MA: Essex Institute, 1919), 246; 30 Jan 1671/72, about 30, "Colonial [Middlesex] county court papers, 1648-1798," familysearch.org database online (Salt Lake City, UT: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1974), Court papers - Folios 27-60 1647-1672, folio 59, group 1, image 1237 of film 7902664; 7 June 1681, about 40 and wife about 36, ECQC, vol 8 (1921), 109; 29 Oct 1716, age 75 (see note 4)."
3. ↑ Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, vol. 1 (Boston:1853), 294.
4. ↑ "Colonial [Middlesex] county court papers, 1648-1798," "Court papers - Folios 27-60 1647-1672," folio 59, group 1, image 1255 of film 7902664.
5. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," familysearch.org database online (Provo, UT: 2020), Middlesex, Woburn, Births, marriages, deaths 1641-1843, images 9 & 10 of film 007011120.
6. ↑ Middlesex Co., MA, deed records, 4:180; Records of John Carey, etc. (Brockton, MA: 1889), 8.
7. ↑ Mitchell, Nahum, History of Bridgewater, Massachusetts (Boston, MA: 1840, reprinted Bridgewater, MA: 1897), 106.
8. ↑ Records of the Colony of New Plymouth, etc. (also known as Plymouth Court Records), ed. Nathaniel Shurtleff, vol. 4 (Boston, MA: 1855), 123.
9. ↑ Middlesex Co., MA, deed records, 3:375, 4:95.
10. ↑ The records of the Town of Cambridge (formerly Newtowne), Massachusetts, 1630-1703 (Cambridge, MA:1901), 181.
11. ↑ Ibid, 205.
12. ↑ Middlesex Co., MA, deed records, 9:467.
13. ↑ Middlesex Co., MA, court record abstract: Abstracts of Court Files on AmericanAncestors$, 1649–1675. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2003), (Unpublished abstracts by Thomas Bellows Wyman, "Abstract of Middlesex court files from 1649," n.d.)
14. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," familysearch.org database online (Provo, UT: 2020), Middlesex, image 143.
15. ↑ Vital Records of Newton, Massachusetts: To the Year 1850 (Boston: 1905), 421.
16. ↑ Middlesex Co., MA, probate records, 7:346, transcription of the original. The transcription, while not verbatim, is accurate (see Middlesex Co., MA, probate case file 632).
17. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," familysearch.org database online (Provo, UT: 2020), Middlesex, Woburn, Births, marriages, deaths 1641-1843, images 9 & 10 of film 007011120; Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," familysearch.org database online (Provo, UT: 2020), Middlesex, image 143.
18. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," familysearch.org database online (Provo, UT: 2020), Middlesex, Births, marriages, deaths 1626-1852, image 16 of film 007009513.
19. ↑ Vital Records of Newton, Massachusetts: To the Year 1850 (Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1905), 14-15.
20. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," familysearch.org database online (Provo, UT: 2020), Middlesex, Newton, Births, marriages, deaths 1626-1852, image 12.
21. ↑ Vital Records of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 vol. 1 (Boston, MA: 1914), 31-32.