Genealogical notes of Barnstable families - citizen hylbom blog

GENEALOGICAL NOTKS OF BAKNSTABLB FAMILIES. 317
remained there certainly till 1646, when he was indicted by
the Court of Quarter Sessions as a common sleeper at meetings.
It is probable that he left his son Thomas, not then of age, at
Sandwich, to take the care of his property in that town, and that
he returned to Lynn. At Sandwich he had lands assigned to him
in the first division. At the division of the meadows April 16,
1640, he had six acres assigned to him for his mill, and "twentysix
acres if he come here to live." This record is conclusive evidence
that he was not of Sandwich in 1640. Mr. Freeman, in his
annals of that town, is mistaken in his statement that "he was one
of those able to bear arms in Sandwich in 1643." His name is
not on the list ; neither is that of his son Thomas who does not
appear to have been of Sandwich that year. From the year 1640
to March 1646, neither the father or the son are named in the
Colony Records as residents in Sandwich, though the father continued
to own the mill, and was one of the proprietors of the
lands.
March 3, 1645-6, Thomas Dexter, of Sandwich, was presented
by the grand jury, for conveying away a horse that had
been pressed for the country use. Whether this was the father or
son, does not appear, nor is it material, for both were residents in
Sandwich that year. The father did not remain long in Sandwich.
Mr. Freeman saj^s he left in 1648, he was certainly of Barnstable
in 1651, and was an inhabitant of thattown till 1670, probably till
1675.
About the year 1 646 he purchased two farms in Barnstable.
One to which reference has been frequently had in these articles,
situate on the south-east of the Blossom farm, and adjoining to
the mill stream,* and afterwards owned and occupied by William
Dexter, probably his son, and the other on the north-eastern
declivity of Scorton Hill. His dwelling house was situate on the
north side of the old county road, and commanded an extensive
prospect of the country for miles around.
He led a quiet life in Barnstable, his name occasionally
appears as a juryman, and as a surety for the persecuted Quakers,
showing that he did not sympathize with the Barlow party. He
could not, however, entirely refrain from engaging in law suits.
At the March term of the Court in 1648-9, he had eight cases,
principally for the collection of debts, and he recovered in seven.
In 1653, he had a controversy with his neighbors respecting the
* In my investigations, I have been unable to ascertain who built the first mill ou tlie
stream now known as Jones's mill stream at West Barnstable. Mr. Dexter's lands were
partly bounded by that stream, and I should not be surprised if some future investifrator
should ascertain that he built the first mill at West Barnstable, also the Old Stone Fort, to
which frequent reference is made in the Crocker article.
On Wednesday last 1 was at Sandwich, and for the first time examined the records of
that towu for information respecting the Dexter family. I found much that I regret that I
had not known before writing this article. The records, in almost every instance, and I am
not certain but in every instance, refer to the second Thomas Dexter. A deed of his to the
town of Sandwich, is an exceedingly interesting document.