52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2019 WEEK 8: THOMAS HAYWARD OF BRIDGEWATER, MA..

On 14 Aug 1878 some descendants of my 9x great grandfather Thomas Hayward gathered in Easton, Ma. to celebrate the centennial of the construction of a Hayward family mansion. George Washington Hayward gave a commemorative address in which he had this short description of our common ancestor:

Thomas Hayward and his wife Susanna were born in England; were last there at Aylsford in the county of Kent; came over in the ship Hercules of 200 tons, John Weatherby, master, with 5 of their children, in the early part of the summer of 1635. He first settled in Duxbury, and was one of the original proprietors, and one of the earliest and eldest of the settlers of Bridgewater. His will is dated in 1678, and he died in 1681, his wife not living at the date of his will. His children were Thomas, Nathaniel, John, Joseph and Elisha, born in England, and who came over with their father in 1635 ; Mary and Martha, probably born in Duxbury. Mary married Ensign Edward Mitchel; Martha married her cousin John Haward, (Hayward). -p5

Centennial Gathering of the Hayward Family with Address, John S. Sampson,  Printer, 1879, Taunton, Ma

Now Thomas' daughter Martha married my 8x great grandfather John Haward, which family name later became Howard. I don't know for sure if they were cousins.It might simply be another instance of the confusion between the various spellings of the Hayward and Howard family names.

MY PACKARD LINE

Starting next week in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks series I'll be writing about  the family of my 4x great grandmother Cynthia (Packard)Dunham, wife of James Thomas Dunham. Cynthia is one of my ancestors who has relatives from both Plymouth and Essex Counties. On her father Reuben Packard's side she is descended from some of the founders of all three Bridgewater towns:Bridgewater, East Bridgewater, and West Bridgewater. These are towns only about ten miles away from where I live. In fact, I graduated from Bridgewater State College nearly fifty years ago.

On her mother Anne Perkins' side she is descended from prominent citizens of Ipswich, Beverley, and Salem.

Here's Cynthia's Packard line

The associated families are Edson, Fobes, Hayward, Howard,  and Keith who arrived in Massachusetts after the Great Migration so the line isn't as long as some of my other families.















I'll discuss the Perkins line in the next post.