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Sawyer Family Papers, 1736-1847

 Collection
Identifier: MSS 221

Scope and Content Note

The Sawyer Family papers contain accounts for three generations of a Northern Essex County and South Hampton, New Hampshire, family. Represented in the collection are Josiah Sawyer (1709-1792), his sons Israel (1739-1821) and John (born 1744), his grandson Israel (1779-1848) and the husbands of his sister Tirzah (1758-1832), David Ring and Reuben French.

The Sawyer daybooks and ledgers primarily contain farming, produce sales, and livestock rental transactions. Additional entries include coopering (B1 F2, 3), shoemaking (B1 F2, B2 F1), glazing (B2 F1), weaving, and blacksmithing (B1 F1). The accounts of David Ring, 1734-1748, which include sawmill, shipbuilding, and ironwork entries, are interfiled with the 1753-1782 drygood transactions of Reuben French. Of special note in the collection are vital records for the Sawyer family and their relatives (B1 F2).

Dates

  • Creation: 1736-1847

Creator

Restrictions on Access

This collection is open for research use.

Biographical Sketches

Josiah Sawyer was born on April 12, 1709 in Newbury, Massachusetts. He married Mary Ordway in 1735. They had 11 children. He died on June 10, 1792 in South Hampton, New Hampshire.

Israel Sawyer was born on September 19, 1739 in Amesbury, Massachusetts, to Josiah Saywer (1709-1792) and Mary Ordway. He married Jemima Eastman in 1763 in Kensington, New Hampshire. She died in 1771. He then married Miriam Clough (1751-1825) in 1774 and they had seven children. He died July 19, 1821 in Hampton, New Hampshire.

Extent

0.75 linear feet (2 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

The Sawyer Family papers contain accounts for three generations of a Northern Essex County and South Hampton, New Hampshire, family.

Physical Location

Phillips Library Stacks

Provenance

This material is an integration and reorganization of five account books. The Israel Sawyer (1739-1782) Account Book, 1774-1819, was removed from the Essex County Collection (Salisbury #14). The remainder of the collection is from an unknown source.

Bibliography and Related Collections

Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

Hoyt, David W. The Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury, Massachusetts, with Some Related Families of Adjoining Towns and of York County, Maine. Vol. III. Providence: Snow & Farnham, 1916. 1006.

Processing Information

Collection processed by Prudence K. Backman, March 1987. Updated by Tamara Gaydos, September 2015.

Title
SAWYER FAMILY PAPERS, 1736-1847
Author
Processed by: Prudence K. Backman; Updated by: Tamara Gaydos; machine-readable finding aid created by: Rajkumar Natarajan.
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Sponsor
Processing and rehousing of this collection were funded by a grant from A. Berube & Sons, an Essex Institute corporate member.

Repository Details

Part of the Phillips Library Repository

Contact:
Peabody Essex Museum
306 Newburyport Turnpike
Rowley MA 01969 USA