Person Page - 122

     Sarah Davis was born on 2 December 1685 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ She married an unknown person on 13 January 1702/3 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ She married an unknown person on 13 January 1704/5 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ She died on 25 March 1725 at Gloucester, Essex, MA, at age 39.¹

     Jacob Davis was born on 20 January 1639/40 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ He married Elizabeth Bennett on 20 January 1660/61 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ Jacob Davis died on 2 September 1685 at Gloucester, Essex, MA, at age 45.¹

     Mark Haskell was born on 10 August 1695 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ He married an unknown person on 3 December 1720 at Ipswich, Essex, MA.¹ He died circa 1775 at Attleboro, Bristol, MA.¹
     He From the 'Chronology of Haskell Family'

Mark the second son of Ensign William Haskell spent most of his life inGloucester, where his last ten children were born. The first child,Francis, was born in Ipswich, the home of his wife, Jemima Tilton.

Mark was a sea captain and in 1723 he commanded the sloop 'Dolphin' whichwas captured bt the pirate, John Phillips, who claimed to be looking fora man named Tilton. Incidentally, he took prisoner, John Fillmore, thegreat grandfather of the President.

Sometime after their last child was born, Mark and Jemima were dismissedfrom the Second Church in Gloucester to the Attleboro Church but how longthey stayed there is doubtful, for they returned to Rockport whence theywent to Deer Isle in 1768. He took some of his family with him. Hisland was at Northwest Harbor between his son Francis and Levi Carmen andwas known as the 'Rye Field'. Doubtless he was satisfied that it offeredopportunities, for two years later his eldest sons came with theirfamilies. Mark can be called the patriarch of the Deer Isle clan, but donot mix his line with Daniel's grandson Caleb and Nathan.¹

     William Haskell was born on 6 November 1670 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ He married Abigail Davis, daughter of James Davis and Elizabeth Batchelder, on 8 September 1692 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ William Haskell was buried after 17 January 1731 at Ancient Cemetery (Second Parish Burying Ground), West Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ He died on 17 January 1730/31 at Gloucester, Essex, MA, at age 60.¹

     Abigail Davis was born on 13 April 1672 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ She married William Haskell, son of William Haskell and Mary Brown, on 8 September 1692 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ Abigail Davis died on 30 December 1730 at Gloucester, Essex, MA, at age 58.¹ She was buried at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹

     William Haskell was born on 26 August 1644 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ He married Mary Brown on 3 July 1667 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ William Haskell died on 5 June 1708 at Rockport, Essex, MA, at age 63.¹

     Elizabeth Davis was born on 11 September 1669 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ She married an unknown person on 5 November 1720 at Ipswich, Essex, MA.¹ She died on 25 October 1733 at Gloucester, Essex, MA, at age 64.¹

     Elizabeth Batchelder was born circa 1640 at Salem, Essex, MA.¹ She married James Davis on 6 December 1666 at Wenham, Essex, MA.¹ Elizabeth Batchelder died on 1 January 1698/99 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹

     William Haskell was born circa 1693 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ He married an unknown person on 1 November 1718 at Ipswich, Essex, MA.¹ He married an unknown person on 12 May 1739 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ He died before 29 June 1752 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹

     Jedediah Haskell was born on 31 July 1708 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ He died on 17 August 1708 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹

     James Haskell was born on 4 January 1702/3 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ He died on 1 August 1703 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹

     Keziah Haskell was born on 28 February 1709/10 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ She married an unknown person on 3 January 1730/31 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ She died on 13 May 1732 at Gloucester, Essex, MA, at age 22.¹

     Abigail Haskell was born on 16 August 1699 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ She married an unknown person on 22 February 1721/22 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ She died before 1735.¹

     James Haskell was born on 24 September 1712 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ He married an unknown person on 1 October 1739 at Ipswich, Essex, MA.¹ He died before 13 May 1798 at Littleton, Middlesex, MA.¹

     Jeminah Haskell was born on 1 December 1704 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ She married an unknown person on 21 September 1732 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹

     Isabell Parsons was born on 20 August 1761.¹

     Josiah Parsons was born on 23 August 1697 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ He married an unknown person on 24 December 1719 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ He died after 1719 at Newmarket, Rockingham, NH.¹
     He Babson writes that Josiah moved to New Hamshire later in his life. after 1719.¹

     Sarah Haskell was born on 11 September 1692 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ She married an unknown person on 31 December 1716 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ She died on 10 July 1773 at Gloucester, Essex, MA, at age 80.¹

     Mary Brown was born on 28 July 1649 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ She married William Haskell on 3 July 1667 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ Mary Brown died on 12 November 1715 at Rockport, Essex, MA, at age 66.¹

     Jacob Haskell was born before 1703 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ He died before 1731.¹

     Sarah Vinson was born circa 1637 at Salem, Essex, MA.¹ She married Jeffrey Parsons on 11 November 1657 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ Sarah Vinson died on 12 January 1707/8 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹

     Henry Haskell was born on 2 April 1678 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ He married an unknown person on 13 January 1703/4 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ He died on 17 April 1739 at Harvard, Worcester, MA, at age 61.¹

     Andrew Haskell was born on 27 July 1680 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ He died on 14 August 1680 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹

     Lydia Haskell was born on 4 September 1681 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ She married Ebenezer Parsons, son of Jeffrey Parsons and Sarah Vinson, on 3 February 1703/4 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ Lydia Haskell died on 2 October 1734 at Gloucester, Essex, MA, at age 53.¹

     Ebenezer Parsons was born on 28 December 1681 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ He married Lydia Haskell, daughter of William Haskell and Mary Brown, on 3 February 1703/4 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ Ebenezer Parsons married an unknown person on 11 April 1741 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ He married an unknown person on 21 December 1742 at Rowley, Essex, MA.¹ He married an unknown person on 31 October 1754 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ He died on 19 December 1763 at Gloucester, Essex, MA, at age 81.¹

     Jeffrey Parsons was born before 1 August 1630 at Loddiswell, Devonshire, England.¹ He married Sarah Vinson on 11 November 1657 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ Jeffrey Parsons died on 16 August 1689 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹
     He Jeffrey is supposed to be the son of James Parsons and Alice Crossing,based on research done by Willis S. Parsons.

There has been much confusion and controversy among genealogistsconcerning the lineage of Jeffrey Parsons, first of the name to settle inGloucester. Babson writes that Jeffrey was born in England in 1631, andwent with an uncle to Barbados before coming to New England, leaving abrother in England who died in 1708. Walter Goodwin Davis, in his'Ancestry of Nicholas Davis 1753-1832 of Limington Maine' asserts thatJeffrey was the son of Bridget Varney, by her first husband, and pointsto a reference to Jeffrey in the will of Bridget Varney, wherein shecalls him her son.

Willis Parsons, in his 'Jeffrey Parsons of Loddiswell, Devonshire andGloucester Massachusetts' offers a plausible account of Jeffrey's familybased on readings of surviving Parish records of Devonshire, and of amanucript file on deposit at the New England Historical and GenealogicalSociety 'A Genealogical Account of the Family of the Parsons ofGloucester in New England: Derived from Jeffrey Parsons' stated by Rev.Moses Parsons in 1743 and continued by his brother Isaac. Parsonssuggests that Jeffrey is the son of James Parsons, born 1599 inLoddiswell, Devonshire, England, and Alice Crossing, of unknown origins.Parsons explains the reference to Jeffrey in the will of Bridget Varneyby pointing out that, because Bridget's daughter Rachel married as hishis second wife and her third husband, Jeffrey's wife's father, WilliamVinson. This made Jeffrey a step grand son-in-law, but in the interest ofsimplicity, it would have been easier for Bridget to refer to him simplyas her 'son'.

The Argument for Jeffrey being the son of Bridget Varney is also strong.When Bridget's husband William died intestate in 1654, the Court recordnotes there were three sons and one daughter. Bridget's will, proved 27November 1672 mentions sons Humphrey and Thomas, daughter Rachel, and sonJeffrey Parsons. She instructs her son Jeffrey to pay out to son Humphreythe sum of 20 pounds over four years, a task not usually entrusted to adistant relative. Moreover, she refers to her daughter Rachel's husbandWilliam Vinson as her 'son-in-law' which suggests that Jeffrey would alsohave been so referenced if he were not her real son.

John J Babson and Willis Parsons make reference to a collection of paperscurrently housed at the New England Historic and Genealogical SocietyManuscript Collection in Boston. Contained within the papers is a letterwritten on 14 May 1714 by Elizabeth (Parsons) Morgan of Ashsperington,Devonshire, England to a cousin James Parsons in New England. In it,Elizabeth details the family of her uncle, Jeffrey Parsons of New England.

That the Parsons family possessed this letter is in itself compellingevidence that Jeffrey of Gloucester was indeed related to the family atAshsperington, Devonshire in the manner outlined in Elizabeth's letter.Wallis Parsons, investigating Parish Registers of Devonshire, identifieda Parsons Family in Loddiswell whose baptisms and marriages fit thesefacts. Even though, as he points out, the Loddiswell Parish Registerswere one of the very few Devonshire Church records to survive thebombings of World War 2, the records do reinforce a circumstantial casefor Jeffrey Parsons of Gloucester being one of the Parsons of Loddiswell.

Could Jeffrey Parsons have been both of Loddiswell and the son of BridgetVarney? Aince Jeffrey's father James Parsons of Loddiswell, died there in1670 it is unlikely that he could have been a husband of Bridget, as shewas at this time already a widow of William Varney, who died in 1654. Infact, a case can be made that the Jeffrey Parsons mentioned in Bridget'swill is not the Jeffrey Parsons that began the Parsons dynasty in CapeAnn at all.

It is possible that Jeffrey Parsons of Gloucester, husband of SarahVinson, was amember of another Devonshire Parsons family, one whoserecord we will probably never find.


Centennial History of Norway, Oxford County, Maine 1786-1886 - Parsons
The Parsons family were of Gloucester, Massachusetts, and came here fromNew Gloucester, Maine. Jaffrey Parsons, born in Ashprington, England, in1631, came to America by way of Barbadoes, about te year 1655. Hemarried Sarah Vinson, whom he first saw while stopping to quench histhirst on a sultry day, at a spring near her father's, called Vinson'sSpring. They have a numerous posperity, among whom is Chief JusticeParsons, of Massachusetts. His third son, John, born in 1666, marriedIsabella Haynes in 1693, and next Sarah Norton in 1701; he died December1, 1714 leaving nine children. His oldest son John married ElizabethHaskell in 1716 and had twelve children. Among his sons was William, whomarried Sarah Rust, sister of the proprietor of Rustfield. William andSarah (Rust) Parson were the parents of the Parsons brothers who settledearly in this town, and of Jacob, who came later.¹

     Sarah Haskell was born on 26 February 1683/84 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ She died on 20 February 1690/91 at Gloucester, Essex, MA, at age 6.¹

     Elizabeth Haskell was born on 5 April 1686 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ She married an unknown person on 27 September 1710 at Gloucester, Essex, MA.¹ She married an unknown person circa 4 June 1745.¹ She died before 1785.¹