Abigail Fay

Abigail married Thomas Convers on 03 Nov 1737. Thomas (son of Samuel Convers and Dorcas) was born on 28 Oct 1699 in Wobrun, Middlesex, Massachusetts; died about 1760 in Thompson, Windham, Connecticutt. [Group Sheet]

1. Thomas Convers was born on 05 Nov 1738 in Killingly, Windham, Connecticut; died in 1800 in Rutland, Jeffereson, New York U.S.A..
2. Samuel Convers was born on 07 Aug 1740.
3. Abigail Convers was born on 18 Nov 1744.
4. David Convers was born on 02 Jul 1746; died in in Bridgewater, New York U.S.A..
5. Tabitha Convers was born on 05 Mar 1748/49.
6. Joel Convers was born on 02 Sep 1750; died on 29 Jun 1822 in Lyme, New Hampshire U.S.A..

Notes:

From "Some Ancestors and Descendants of Samuel Converse, Jr." page 36: "Abigail Fay was the daughter of Samuel and Tabitha (Ward) Fay and granddaughter of John Fay."

From "Some Ancestors and Descendants of Samuel Converse, Jr." page 37: "John Fay married, first, Mary, daughter of Thomas Brigham of Cambridge, by whom he had four children, including Samuel. ... Samuel Fay, born 11 October 1673; died previous to 1749; married, 16 May 1699, Tabitha Ward."

Samuel married Tabitha Ward on 16 May 1699. Tabitha (daughter of Increase Ward and Record) was born on 16 May 1675. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

From "Some Ancestors and Descendants of Samuel Converse, Jr." page 37: "Samuel Fay, born 11 October 1673; died previous to 1749; married, 16 May 1699, Tabitha Ward.
Tabitha Ward was born 16 May 1675, and was daughter of Increase and Record Ward, and granddaughter of William Ward."

Notes:

From "Some Ancestors and Descendants of Samuel Converse, Jr." page 36: "Abigail Fay was the daughter of Samuel and Tabitha (Ward) Fay and granddaughter of John Fay.
John Fay born in England about 1648; embarked at Gravesend, 30 May 1656, in Ship "Speedwell" of London, Robert Locke, master, and arrived in Boston June 27. As he was then but eight years old, he must have had parents or relatives in this country. He located first in Sudbury; was in Marlboro, Mass., 1669, where the births of his children are recorded; removed to Watertown, and returned to Marlboro, where he died 5 December 1690. On the breaking out of King Philip's War in 1675, he was in Marlboro and was designated amoog other to defend the garrison house of William Kerley in case of attack.

From "Some Ancestors and Descendants of Samuel Converse, Jr." page 37: "John Fay married, first, Mary, daughter of Thomas Brigham of Cambridge, by whom he had four children, including Samuel. John Fay married, second, 5 July 1678, Mrs. Susanna (Shattuck) Morse, widow of Joseph Morse, and eldest daughter of William Shattuck. By her he had four children. His grandson, Capt. Stephen Fay of Vermont (son of John, Jr.), was Captain of Militia and landlord of the historical Catamount Tavern at Bennington, Vt., and active in the Revolutionary War, rendering efficient service in a civil capacity. it is said that five of Capt. Stephen's sons were engaged in the Battle of Benningtion. The Fays were of French origin. During the persecution of the Huguenots, they fled to Wales, and from Wales the ancestor of the American family came to the colonies."

Mass. Archives Vol. 67: 277 -- John Fay is mentioned at a town meeting concerning the defense of Marlborough on 01.October.1675.

John married Mary Brigham. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

From "Some Ancestors and Descendants of Samuel Converse, Jr." page 37: "John Fay married, first, Mary, daughter of Thomas Brigham of Cambridge, by whom he had four children, including Samuel.

Notes:

From "Some Ancestors and Descendants of Samuel Converse, Jr." page 38: "Increase Ward of Marlboro. His farm was on the river, and he had a saw mill. He died 4 August 1690 aged 46. His wife died 26 July 1726. The Ward Genealogy above mentioned says that he was born 22 February 1644, and resided in that part of Marlborough which is now Northboro."

Increase married Record. Record died on 26 Jul 1726. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

From "Some Ancestors and Descendants of Samuel Converse, Jr." page 38-39: "Thomas Brigham came to New England n the "Susan & Ellen" in 1635, then aged 32. He was first in Watertown, Mass. In Cambridge, about 1638, he resided at the Easterly corner of Brattle and Ash Streets. he was Constable in 1630 and 1642, Selectman 1640-1647, and died 8 December 1653. He was proprietor of several hundred acres of land, a mill, cattle and many swine.
In his later years he seems not to have increased n wealth, but the reverse. The reason for this are unknown, unless it was the erection of a grist mill on the Charles River ruined his wind mill. Nevertheless, he left a handsome estate, including a house spacious for that period, and articles that were a luxury in that time, such as silver spooons and other utensils of silver, join chairs, join stools, cushions, damask cloth, livery table, feather beds, and the wardrobe of a New England gentleman. The inventory of his estate was L449-9-4, a handsom estate for his time. Governor Danforth was overseer and trustee under his will, and the distinguished Wm. Brattle of Boston assisted his executrix. Thomas Brigham married, about 1637, Mercy Hurd."

Thomas married Mercy Hurd about 1637. Mercy was born between 1622 and 1627 in England; died on 22 Dec 1693 in Marlborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

From "Some Ancestors and Descendants of Samuel Converse, Jr." page 38: Mary Brigham, who married John Fay, was the daughter of Thomas and Mercy (Hurd) Brigham of Cambridge, Mass. Thomas Brigham married, about 1637, Mercy Hurd, a lady ten or fifteen years his junior ...

From "Some Ancestors and Descendants of Samuel Converse, Jr." page 39: "Thomas Brigham married, about 1637, Mercy Hurd. She married, second, Edmund Rice, Senior, of Sudbury, march 1655/56, who removed to Marlboro; and, in May 1663, she married, third, Wm. Hunt of Concord, whom she survived, and died in Marlboro 22 or 28 December 1693. "on her second marriage she took with her to Sudbury and to Marlborough all her children, from whom descended a numerous posterity residing in and near Marlborough, some of who attained high distinction." The above is from Paige's History of Cambridge, Mass., Savage's Genealogical Dictionary, Hudson's Marlborro, Bond's Watertown, and Rev. Abner Morse's " Genealogical Register of Several Ancient Puritan Families." In the latter book will be found a fuller account of Thomas Brigham, including a more extended description of his possessions.
Of Mrs. Mercy (Hurd) Brigham, Rev. Aabner Morse says: "Thomas Brigham married about 1637, Mercy Hurd, a lady ten or fifteen years his junior, for whom tradition has brought down a high character, alleging that she and her sister, who married Wm. (?) Cutler, were so tantalized in England for non-comfomity that they resolved to seek their liberty and fortunes in New England, and arrived unattended by husbands or lovers." Mr. Morse says teh tradition is direct and probably reliable. "Success rewarded the enterprise. They were in as quick demand as unmarried teachers at the West, and if the number of worthy husbands whom a lady marries is the measure of her worth, then madam Brigham was a most worthy and attractive worman, for she married no less than three . . . During her third widowhood she saw two bloody Indian wars. During the first Marlborough was burnt, and she with one of her sons is believed to have retreated to their former home on the rocks in Cambridge, while her two sons went in pursuit of the enemy."

Notes:

From "Some Ancestors and Descendants of Samuel Converse, Jr." page 37: Tabitha Ward was born 16 May 1675, and was daughter of Increase and Record Ward, and Granddaughter of William Ward.
William Ward was in Sudbury as early as 1639, and was proprietor of lands there. He was living at that time with his second wife, who was named Elizabeth. He represented Sudbury in 1644 in teh General court. he was for several years Chairman of Selectmen there. he moved to Marlboro in 1660, and ied there, 10 August 1687. He was one of the founders of the town of Marlborough, Deacon in the Church first organized there, Deputy to the General Court from Marlboro in 1666, and in the garrison at Sudbury in King Philip's War. A book of genealogy entitled "The Ward Family and Descendants of William Ward who settled in Sudbury, Mass., in 1639" by Andrew Henshaw Ward, A.M., says "that his house and fifty acre house lot were situated on the South side of the road in Marlborough and nearly opposite the site of the first meeting house, which was not far from where the Gates Academy now (1851) stands;" that "his lands by subsequent acquisitions extended Westward to what in some of his conveyances he called Belcher's Pond, near which was erected the public house, long known as the Williams Tavern, and kept by Abraham Williams, who married his eldest daughter;" that "he endured great hardships and sustained great losses by Indian hostilities, more especially in the time of King Philip's War, when his buildings were fired, his cattle destroyed, and one of his sons slain by the enemy;" and "that his second wife, when past her 74th year, made several journeys to Boston, as appears by the records there before she affected a settlement of his estate with the exorbitant and tyrannical Andros, Governor, Judge of Probate, etc. Considering the distance she resided from Boston, exceeding thirty miles, much of the way a wilderness frequented by lurking savages, a bridle way her road and on which one of her sons had been a few years before shot down by the enemy at noonday, she must have been a person of fortitude and possessed of physical poweres to and unlimited degree."

Records of the Mass. Bay Colony. Vol. 2, 66:" The 29th of the 3th Mo, a 1644. At a Gerrall Cort of Election at Boston. Psent, The Govrnor, Deputies Psent. ... Willi: Ward."

Records of the Mass. Bay Colony. Vol. 3, 1: "Att a Generall Courte of Elections held att Boston the 4th and 5th Monnths, 1644. The Acts & Determinatons of the House of Deputyes. The sevall names of those townes, wth theire Beputies yt were return'd with ye warrants to serfve att this Courte, vizt: Sudbury ... William Ward."

William married Elizabeth. Elizabeth was born about 1613; died on 09 Dec 1700. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

From "Some Ancestors and Descendants of Samuel Converse, Jr." page 38: "that his [William Ward] second wife, when past her 74th year, made several journeys to Boston, as appears by the records there before she affected a settlement of his estate with the exorbitant and tyrannical Andros, Governor, Judge of Probate, etc. Considering the distance she resided from Boston, exceeding thirty miles, much of the way a wilderness frequented by lurking savages, a bridle way her road and on which one of her sons had been a few years before shot down by the enemy at noonday, she must have been a person of fortitude and possessed of physical poweres to and unlimited degree." She died in Marlborough, and the inscription on her gravestone was as follows: "Here lyes the body of Elizabeth Ward, the servant of the Lord, deceased in 87 year of her age Dec. ye 9, in the year of our Lord 1700.""