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Monday, March 30, 2015

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2015 WEEK 13: WILLIAM FROST

When I first started out researching my family tree, I was excited to find that some of
my ancestors had been killed in the New England colonial Indian wars. (They, on the
other hand, probably would have rather skipped the whole experience.) But after awhile,
as I discovered more such deaths, I was struck how some of my ancestral families had
worse luck than others. Such is the case with my Frost ancestors, and in particular my
8x great grandfather William Frost.  Here's what Everett Schermerhorn Stackpole  has
to say about William in Old Kittery and Her Families

William Frost witnessed a deed at Winter Harbor in 1667 and bought land in Saco of William Phillips in 1673. It may have been he who had a grant of land on Crooked Lane, in Kittery, in 1658. The Indian War drove him to Salem, Mass., where he was living, 1675-9. William Frost, cordwainer, of Salem, bought land in Wells, Me., in 1679, and had various grants and mill privileges in Wells till 1690. His estate was administered in 1690 by Israel Harden, and William Frost, Jr., was bondsman. Roger Hill wrote to his wife, 7 May 1690, "The Indians have killed Goodman Frost and James Littlefield and carried away Nathaniel Frost and burnt several houses here in Wells" William Frost married Mary, dau. of John and Elizabeth (Littlefield) Wakefield, granddaugher of Edmund and Annis Littlefield. Children were:

William m. (1) Rachel and had a daughter born in Wells 30  Sept. 1695. (2) 5 April 1706, Elizabeth Searle in Salem, Mass.; d. in Salem 23 Sept. 1721. Ch. recorded in Salem: Benjamin b. 24 June 1707; Elizabeth b. 22 Aug. 1708, m. John Brown; Benjamin b. 24 Sept. 1710; Hannah b. 4 July 1712, m. John Prince; Mary b. 2 Dec. 1714; William b. 4 Oct. 1715; Lydia b. 22 May 1717, m. William Cook.
 

Nathaniel, captured by Indians in 1690.
 

Elizabeth? m. in York, 8 Nov. 1608 Daniel Dill.
 

Mary b. at Salem 31-5-1677.
 

Abigail? m. in Salem, 14 Jan. 1702-3, Samuel Upton.
- pp426-427

Old Kittery and Her Families (Google eBook) Everett Schermerhorn Stackpole
Press of Lewiston journal Company, 1903 - Kittery (Me.)

So William and his brother in law James Wakefield were killed, and William's
son Nathaniel was carried off by the Indians, all in 1690. This was years after the end
of the King Philip's War, during which the Frost family had retreated to Salem, Ma, The
rest of the family seems to have returned again to Salem after William's death, where his daughter
Abigail Frost married my 7x great grandfather Amos Upton.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

King Phillip's war had ended, however, King William's war had just begun. The currant William and Mary Quarterly has an article about the Wabanaki raids in Maine.

Bill West said...

I'll have to look that up, Michael. Most people don't realize how many small wars took place in New England in the first 150 years of its history.

Thanks for the comment!

AJSwtlk said...

Elizabeth Bush Searle Frost is #27 on this ahnentafel for Benjamin Brown Gardner, the grandfather of Dr. Frank A. Gardner (author of the Gardner books and editor of The Massachusetts Magazine).

http://thomasgardnersociety.org/html/Research/Ahnentafel%20BBG.pdf

After William was killed, the family moved to Salem, MA.