vitals sources


     The Mormon International Genealogical Index has a John Masters marrying Jane Cox, 4 December 1597, Sts. Peter & Paul Abbey, Bath, Eng. Some have assumed that this is the New England couple, but there is no reason to think so as yet other than the overlap of names. John and his family are supposed to have come to New England in the Winthrop Fleet in 1630, and are also said to have come from Suffolk, England, although no evidence of that has been found. That he came with Winthrop is probably assumed given that he first appears in Massachusetts records in 1631. He took the freeman’s oath on 18 July 1631 (New Style),(1) although no indication has been found that he lived in Watertown, MA, at the time as some have said. He was very likely living in Newtown, later named Cambridge, MA. A record in Massachusetts Colonial Records says that in 1631 John was hired to construct (surely to oversee) a canal from the Charles River in Newtown through the marsh to the upland near the foot of Dunster St.(2) "12 foot broad and 7 foot deep, for which the Court promiseth him satisfaction, according as the charges thereof shall amount unto." The charges came to 30 lbs. On 7 March 1632 (NS) he was given 4 rod share of the common "pale" in Newtown.(3) On 5 October 1633 (NS) he was granted a half-acre of "cowyard."(4) Other land grants in there included more for cattle use and 1 ½ acres of meadow.(5) An early account of houses owned in Newtown includes John with two.(6) A history of Cambridge says that one of his houses, presumably his homestead, was on the west side of what is now Ash St. near Brattle St.(7) John supposedly kept a tavern, appearing on a license list dated September 1635. This record has not been found.
     Proprietors records of Cambridge give the following account of land given to or bought by John after 1635. These presumably are not the dates of grant or purchase but the date of the account: 10 December 1635 (NS), "in west end one house with other out houses backside and planting ground about seven acres…" (boundary description follows), "by the Pine Swamp about two acres…," "the Great Marsh about six acres…;"(8) 21 November 1639 (NS), "bought from Thomas Winckall one house and garden with eight acres of planting ground in the west end near windmill head…," a town grant of "seven acres and one half of marsh at the fresh pond undivided…," bought from Robert Lockwood "five acres of marsh at the Oyster Bank next the river…"(9) "Mr. Maisters" was granted a 6 acre lot by the town on the south side of the Charles River.(10)

John wrote his will on 19 December 1639 (NS):

This is the minde & will of me John Masters.

Item - I give to my wife all my estate for the terme of her life & after
hir decease I will & bequethe unto my Daughter Sarah Dobyson ten pownds.
Item - to my daughter Lidya Tabor ten pownds,
Item - to my Grand child John Lockwood ten pownds,
It - to Nathaniell Masters ten pownds to Abraham Masters ten shillings,
Also my minde & will is that the ten pownds I give to John Lockwood, & the ten pownds I give to Nathaniell Masters shal be layde out upon somethinge that may turne to the encrease of theire portions ffurthermore my will is that these leagacyes shal be well & truly discharged wthin six monthes after my wives decease, these & all other my debt beinge discharged I give all the remainder of my estate unto my daughter Elizabeth Latham.(11)

     John doesn't call Nathaniel and Abraham "son" or "grandson" immediately after specifying his daughters and grandchild. Although this may have been due to them having the last name Masters whereas the others did not, it was still the norm to specify sons, daughters and grandchildren in wills. There is no reason to think they weren't relatives, but based on this document and a lack of others, they shouldn't be assumed to be his sons. Perhaps they were orphaned nephews, giving cause to include them in his will. Abraham may have been an adult. Nathaniel and John Lockwood apparently were minors, which may have led to John’s request that the money be invested for them. Nathaniel of Wells, Maine, and Manchester, Massachusetts, was about nine at the time. This would also place him in John's granchild generation unless he married Jane late in life and she was of childbearing age.

children of John and Jane? Masters (Jane was very likely his wife when he died, but there is no record of her being the mother of his children):

Elizabeth, m. 1. Edmund Lockwood, 2. Carey Latham
Sarah, m. Mr. Dobyson
Lydia, m. Philip Tabor, 1639(12)

presumed relatives of John Masters, perhaps great nephews:

Abraham, no further record
Nathaniel, b. abt 1629-30




John is said to have been born about 1585 (and Jane about 1580). No evidence of this has been found. His death is recorded in Vital Records of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849 (Boston:1915), p. 654. Jane's name and death date is found in her death record in the same source, making it very likely she was his wife.

1. Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, Volume 1, 1628-1641, pg. 366. Due to the change of calenders in the mid 1700s, dates previous to that are two months earlier than today’s. They are referred to as Old Style and New Style dates.
2. Licius R. Paige, History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1630-1877 (Boston:1877), pg. 609.
3. presumably an enclosure. The Records of the Town of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1630-1703 (Cambridge:1901), pg. 5.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid, pp. 9, 13.
6. Ibid, p. 18.
7. The Register Book of the Lands and Houses in the "New Towne" and the Town of Cambridge… (Cambridge:1896), pg. 29.
8. Ibid, pg. 53.
9. Ibid, pg. 331.
10. Suffolk Co. Deeds
11. Early Wills of Suffolk Co.
12. supposedly recorded in Watertown, MA.

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