I mentioned in my previous post about John Prescott that
there is a romantic (and probably romanticized) story about
his son Jonas Prescott's courtship of Mary Loker. I've found it
recounted in several different books on Google Books, and
while I'm not entirely sure it's true, it does make for another
interesting family tale.
The story is that Jonas and Mary fell in love but her parents
John Loker and Mary Draper had other plans for their
daughter. They wanted her to marry a lawyer, a man of
prospects, not the son of a blacksmith who was following his
father in the family trade and they forbade Mary from any
more contact with Jonas. One version told by Caleb Butler in
"The History of the Town of Groton" says the Lokers even
went so far as to install gratings on the windows of her room
and would lock her inside if Jonas was nearby. But even this
drastic measure didn't stand in the way of love:
"He (Jonas) took opportunities when the cold wind blew
and the pelting storm raged when no listener could overhear
the soft whispering of true lovers to place himself beneath
her grated window and there enjoy sweet communion
with his dearly beloved ."
But eventually Mary's parents found out about this trickery.
Perhaps Jonas' idea of a whisper in a storm was a bit too loud?
At any rate, Mary's parents next decided to send her away to
a secluded village so Jonas could not find her while they looked
for a more suitable prospect for Mary's hand in marriage.
They sent her off to the small frontier town of Chockset which
is now Sterling, Massachusetts.
Jonas searched for Mary until one day while traveling near
Chockset he met some men of his own age and asked if they
knew of any pretty girls in the area. They told him there was
a quilting and a dance that night in Chockset and invited him
to come along.
You can see where this is going, I bet!
Jonas found Mary Loker and they continued to meet in secret
for some time until her parents once more found them out.
Mary's stubborn insistence that she would never marry any
man but Jonas Prescott at last forced her parents to give in,
although they did so with the angry condition that they would
provide no dowry for the bride. Legend says that the young
couple set up their household with so few essentials that
Mary used a large hollowed out pumpkin shell!
I'm a bit skeptical about that pumpkin part but I think the
opposition of the Lokers to Jonas Prescott pressing his suit for
their daughter might have some truth to it. After all, although
Jonas' father John was well off, he was not exactly in the good
graces of the Puritan government, and the Lokers might have
had their hearts set on young Mary marrying someone who
could eventually rise to a position of power. Ironically, the
Prescotts eventually became one of Massachusetts' most
distinguished families.
I am descended from Elizabeth Prescott b 23Jan 1676,
d. 18Mar 1644.
She married Eleazer Green about 1694 or 1695. Their daughter
Elizabeth married John Ames(Eames), and their descendant
Arvilla Ames married my ancestor John Cutter West
7 comments:
This is a great family tale. As for the hollowed out pumpkin, it wouldn't have lasted very long but they are used today by decorators to hold things so she certainly might have used one!
Interesting story, but Mary's father, John Loker, died before she was born. If there is truth to the story, it must be a step father than was keeping her under lock and key.
Hi thg,
As I said, I wasn't sure this story
was true even though I found it
recounted by several different
authors, including their descendant
William Prescott, the historian.
But every record I could find online or at the NEGHS says that Mary Draper, John Locker/Looker's widow, never remarried.
It makes for a good family legend though, doesn't it?
Whether true or not, it is a much better story than the usual "conveyed to his son seventy acres more or less, lying on both sides of the mill highway."
Sorry, that last comment was from me, not my son...
After doing some research, both parents were deceased before she was married. Her father died the year she was born. She may have lived with a grandparent or uncle/aunt. But this story seems unlikely. Jones's father owned most of the land in the area. I think it's one of those stories that was passed down, with alterations added with each generation. We really have no way of knowing what the true story is. Jonas and Mary are my 8th great grandparents through their daughter Martha.
Correction just her father was deceased.
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