Our Family History:Information about John Roberts
John Roberts (b. 1629, d. Bet. January 21, 1692/93 - 1695)
Notes for John Roberts:
NOTES: From The Robertses of Northern New England: Sarah had seven children.
John Roberts was one of the first children born in what would become Dover, NH. He died there in 1694/95 of dropsy.
John was a prominent citizen of early Dover, serving as a selectman for six years in the 1660s and 1670s, as the surveyor of highways in 1661 and 1668, and a sergeant (later lieutenant) of the militia. In his role as constable, along with his brother Thomas, he was charged by Massachusetts by authorities with ridding the colony of Quakers. In one well-recorded incident in 1662 the two brothers literally dragged two proselytizing Quaker women through the winter snow and threw them into a canoe.
In 1680 Charles II decided to set off New Hampshire as a seperate royal province. To that end he appointed several local leaders to establish a new government. As one of those leaders, John Roberts was named Marshall of the Province. He resigned his office, however, shortly after the grandson of John Mason appeared on the scene to begin exercising his inherited rights as the landlord of all of New Hampshire. As it turned out, the younger Mason was successfully opposed by the new government at every turn, but it is easy to see why John, a prominent landholder in Dover, would be reluctant to be put in a position of possibly having to enforce Mason's claims.
The glorious revolution of 1689 in England, which resulted in William of Orange succeeding James II as monarch, reverberated throughout New England, and for a time there was no government in the colonies. John Roberts was among six prominent Dover citizens who convened a convention of like-minded citizens of Portsmouth and Exeter. It was the recommendation of this convention that New Hampshire be reunited under the government of Massachusetts.
John made numerous gifts of property to his children and grandchildren, most notably land in what became Kittery, ME (the "fowling marsh") to son John, April 20, 1680 and land on the west side of Great Bay to sons Joseph, Hatevil, & Thomas, on November 29, 1694. He was in all probability a literate man, as his signature on many early documents would attest.
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/9004/Roberts.html
More About John Roberts and Abigail Nutter:
Marriage: 1655, Dover, New Hampshire.
Children of John Roberts and Abigail Nutter are:
- Sarah Roberts, b. 1655, Dover, New Hampshire, d. date unknown.
- +Hatevil Roberts, b. Abt. 1661, Dover, New Hampshire, d. March 03, 1724/25, Dover, New Hampshire.
- Joseph Roberts?, d. date unknown.
- Thomas Roberts?, d. date unknown.