History of Swansea, Massachusetts, 1667-1917; - citizen hylbom blog

146 History of Swansea
several of whose members chose the commercial world for their sphere, and
through which, during the phenomenal growth of Fall River's industrial
life, the name of Brayton became prominent and influential. In 1714,
Preserved Brayton, grandson of Francis, purchased 138 acres of land from
WiUiam Little, whose father was one of the proprietors of the Shawomet
Purchase in Swanzey, Massachusetts. This farm, since known as the
Brayton Homestead, borders on the west bank of the Taunton river and
is located in the present town of Somerset, which, in 1790, was set off from
Swanzey (now spelled Swansea).
Preserved had already married Content Coggeshall, the granddaughter
of John Coggeshall, whose name is handed down in history as that of a man
foremost in the annals of Rhode Island. To this new home he brought
his wife and older children, and here was the birthplace of their younger
children and many of their descendants. At the time of his death, he left
this farm to his youngest son Israel, while to his other children he left land
in different localities.
Israel had a large family, and his children unite the name of Brayton
with those of Read, Bowers, Winslow, and Slade, all closely identified with
the growth of Swansea and Somerset. From John, son of Israel, the
homestead came into possession of his son Israel, whose sons crossed the
Taunton river and made their abode in the growing town of Fall River.
The genealogy of this branch of the Brayton family, from its advent
into this country, is chronologically arranged as follows:
(I) Francis Brayton, the progenitor of the family in this country,
was born in 1611, and died in 1692. He and his wife Mary had six children:
Francis, Stephen, Martha, Elizabeth, Sarah, and Mary. The first three
generations of the descendants of Francis are given by Austin in his
Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island, and the records below briefly
trace the hne of his son Stephen.
(II) Stephen Brayton, son of Francis, married in 1678-9 Ann
TaUman, daughter of Peter and Ann Tallman. Their children were Mary,
EUzabeth, Aim, Preserved, Stephen, and Israel.
(Ill) Preserved Brayton, son of Stephen, was born in Portsmouth,
Rhode Island, March 21, 1684-5, and died in Swansea, Massachusetts,
May 21, 1761. He married Content Coggeshall, daughter of John and
Ehzabeth (Timberiake) Coggeshall. Their children were John, Stephen,
David, Baulstone, Ann, Content, and Israel.
(IV) Israel Brayton, son of Preserved, was born in Swansea, Mass.,
Oct. 13, 1727, and married April 19, 1752, Mary Perry. Their children
were: Israel, born 1754; Preserved, born 1756; Content, born 1758,
(married Capt. Nathan Read), David, born 1760, (died 1776), John, born
1762, Mary, bom 1764, (married Phihp Bowers), Bethany, born 1766,
(married Dr. John Winslow), Perry, bom 1768, and Baulston born 1769,
(married Mercy Slade).
(V) John Brayton, son of Israel, was born in Swansea, April 12,
1762, and died in Somerset, March 12, 1829. He married, Nov. 21, 1782,
Sarah Bowers, who was born July 13, 1763, and died Aug. 17, 1843. She
was the daughter of Philip and Mary Bowers, and sister of Philip Bowers
who married Mary Brayton, sister of John. The children of John and Sarah
(Bowers) Brayton, were Mary, bom Aug. 16, 1783, who became the second
wife of Dr. John Winslow; Sarah, bom Dec. 29, 1785, married Benjamin
Clark Cornell; WiUiam Bowers, bora Feb. 2, 1788, drowned at sea; Nancy
Jarrett Bowers, born July 18, 1790, who became the second wife of David
Anthony; Israel, born July 29, 1792; Betsey W., died young; Content,
died in 1872, unmarried; Stephen, who married, first, Mary H. Gray, and
second, Abby Gray; Almira, married Captain Jesse Chace; Carohne and
John, who died young.