CUMMINGS, Priscilla

Priscilla — LUND, Jonathan Jr. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Ephraim settled on land in the south easterly part of what is now Hudson (Nottingham West), on land that had been laid out to his father and grandfather as part of their share of the proprietary lands of the town of Dunstable more than 40 years earlier.

Ephraim's home was located on the south side of Bush Hill at the bottom of a long descent on the south side of the present highway. It seems likely that Ephraim settled there about the time of his marriage in 1732.

The incorporation of the town of Nottingham took place in 1770. He was one of the prominent early citizens of the town.

He was moderator of annual town meetings in 1762 and 1763, and was a member of the board of selectmen in 1756, 57, 62, 63 and 1766, he was a delegate to the General Court of New Hampshire, in 1760.

We find no record of the death of Ephraim or of that of his wife Elizabeth. He died about March 9, 1771, according to the diary of Nathaniel Merrill, who made Ephraim's coffin, and he gave the date of Ephraim's funeral as March 11, 1771.
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Recorded information regarding Ephraim:
1. His name appears on the tax list of Nottingham West,1733. ( History of Hudson, N.H., p. 95 )

2. In 1737 he received 2 pounds for providing breakfast at the ordination of Rev. Nathaniel Merrill.

3. He and Elizabeth sold land in1740.

4. Oct. 29, 1746 Warrant issued for Ephriam Cummings and Robert Evans to appraise the estate of Phineas Spaulding. He signed the inventory on Nov. 7, 1746. (Probate Records Of The Province Of new Hampshire Volume 3 1741-1749 • New Hampshire Wills • 1746 ).

Ephraim married BUTLER, Elizabeth 1732, Nottingham West, New Hampshire. Elizabeth (daughter of BUTLER, John Deacon and WILSON, Elizabeth) was born 4 Sep 1704, Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts; died Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Thomas was one of the proprietors of the town of Dunstable, New Hampshire, and had a tract of land measuring 1-1/2 miles by 40 rods, east of Hills Meadow (now in Hudson, New Hampshire). Deacon Thomas Cummings was an early settler of Dunstable. Jan. 3, 1712. He was among several persons to whom William Brattle deeded some 2000 acres. In 1718. He owned 125 acres of the Brattle Farm in that town. He was a carpenter by trade. He was elected deacon of the church. He lived perhaps in the southern part of the old town of Dunstable, as his son joined in 1733 in a remonstrance against the location of the meeting house in the northern part of the town, near the old site. He was buried at the cemetery near what is now called Little's station, which is north of the Massachusetts state line. The inscription reads: "Here lyes the body of Deacon Thomas Cummings, aged 64 y. 17 d. Deceased Jan 20, 1722-3."
Thomas was in Boston for several years, for whom William Mumford, stone-cutter, became surety, July 19, 1694. Two children's births are on record there to Thomas and Priscilla. During the Indian disturbances, many of the inhabitants of Dunstable were obliged to find refuge elsewhere. In 1696, two-thirds of the settlers had fled, and in 1699 only 20 heads of families remained.

Thomas married WARNER, Pricilla 19 Dec 1688. Pricilla (daughter of WARNER, John and SYMONDS, Pricilla) was born 25 Sep 1666, Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts; died Aft 1725. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Deacon John Butler was the first settler in the part of Nottingham now a westerly part of Pelham, New Hampshire. John Butler bought land from Jonathan Tyngin in 1722. The two parcels purchased contained 600 acres and bounded by what was the Dracut boundary, before the establishment of the province of New Hampshire in 1741. John setteled there in 1722 and built a log house in the form of a garrison. It is believed the house stood near Mammoth road east of Gumpas Pond. John was one of the most prominent and useful men in Nottingham (now Pelham). Dedication of a monument to Deacon John Butler, first settler of Pelham, at Pelham, N.H., (dedicated June 9, 1886).

John — WILSON, Elizabeth. Elizabeth (daughter of WILSON, Samuel Sgt. and PIERCE, Elizabeth) was born 28/28 Jan 1682/1683, Woburn, Middlesex, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

John received by his father's will the homestead consisting of 40 acres with houses, barns, orchards and fences in Rowley Village (Boxford) which he sold in 1680 to Edward Nealand. This farm was bounded by land of Edward Nealand (Kneeland) and by Tobijah Perkins and the Ipswich common land. He had moved to Boxwood about 1658, made a freeman in 1673. Both he and his wife were members of the church of Topsfield on December 6/7, 1685 when the church voted to let them go to the church in Dunstable, "he without commendation, his wife with commendation". By December 16, 1685 he was one of seven males mentioned as having entered into covenant to form the church in Dunstable. He had moved to Dunstable in 1680 where he was one of the first settlers. He was a selectman in 1682, and a member of the church in 1684. Dunstable is located in what is now Nashua, New Hampshire. It received its name from Dunstable, England. John was the Town Clerk for several years. Two of John's children, Issac and his twin brother Ebenezer were both killed by Indians in November 22, 1688. Their bodies were not recovered for 26 days. John's grandson, Lt. Ebenezer Cummings, was also killed by Indians. John Cummings, (listed among the commoners, 1672. In 1673, he testified in court to being 40 years old; in 1678, 43(47?); in 1679, 50. Four hundred acres were laid off there to him and Thomas Dorman and Robert Stiles. This was bordered on the west by the Andover line. In 1678/9, he is spoken of as "a gatherer" in Boxford of a rate "to procure powder and bullets." He had become a proprietor, on of the first fourteen proprietors, of that new town, some three years before, Nov. 30, 1682. Jonathan Tyng deeded lands to him and to Isaac, John Jr.,and Thomas Cummings at the same time, Jan. 29, 1683. He was selectman in 1682, and for several years town clerk. He died Dec. 1, 1700, and his wife Dec. 7, following.

John married HOWLETT, Sarah 1 Dec 1655, Boxford, Essex County, Massachusetts. Sarah (daughter of HOWLETT, Thomas and FRENCH, Alice) was born 3/03 Mar 1633/1634, Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts; died 7 Dec 1700, Dunstable, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet]

John married SYMONDS, Pricilla Abt 1650, Essex, Ipswich, England. Pricilla (daughter of SYMONDS, Mark and JOANNA) was born 1625, Essex, Ipswich, England; died Bef 17 May 1692, Probably Hadley, Hampshire, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

As early as 1653, John Butler, a native of Waterford, and a descendant of the Butlers of Kilkenny, one of the most eminent of the Anglo-Norman families of Ireland, was in business as a merchant both at Saybrook and at New London, Conn. In Saybrook town records he is described as a n Irish gentleman. He was the founder of the settlements known as Butlertown and Waterford, a few miles west of New London. Members of the family are mentioned in New London records of the year 1680, and Thomas Butler is said to have been one of the leading men of the town in the early part of the eighteenth century. James Butler, a near relative of John, also came to Connecticut in the year 1653, but removed to Lancaster, Mass., where he received a grant of a "halfe home lott" in 1663, and his name appears in the tax lists of that town and also of Woburn and Billerica down to 1681. Although Billerica vital records contain an entry under date of March 20,1681, of the death of James Butler, Sr., Irishman, the local historian quotes from the town records: James Butler, Sen., Irishman, dyed 20, 01, 81. James is said to have been the largest landowner in what is now Worcester County. In a letter dated April 21, 1897, from one of his descendants, Henry A. May, in Journal of the American Irish Historical Society, Vol. 2, p. 19.7 His son, James, succeeded to this property and was mentioned in Lancastertown records in 1728.
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A long account of the Butler familys concludes thus: The Emerald Isle was undoubtedly the country from which their ancestors emigrated and Ireland is the nation with whom they enjoy nationality. We are told that James Butler came to the Colony when only four years old and knew nothing of his history, except that he came from a noble family in Ireland. He had a habit of enquiring of every emigrant from Ireland who came to the vicinity if they knew anything about the Butlers, and the frequency of his enquiries became a matter of much comment among the townspeople. Even on the day of his death (1681), hearing that an Irishman had just arrived in town, it is said he had the man summoned to his bedside and questioned him as to whether the Butlers were not one of the noble families of Ireland, and when the newcomer informed him that he knew the Butlers of Kilkenny and that they were of the Ormond family, James Butler "the planter" died in peace. His son, John, born July 22, 1677, was the father of ten children, all born at Woburn. In 1721, he removed to what is now Pelham, New Hampshire, where a monument was erected to his memory, and on the occasion of its dedication, in June, 1886, it is said that 1200 of his descendants were present. John, son of John Butler, was a Captain in the Indian War in1745, and David, son of John Butler Jr., was an officer in the Revolutionary army.

James — MARY. was born Abt 1654, Of Massachusetts; died Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet]

Samuel married PIERCE, Elizabeth 24/24 Feb 1681/1682. Elizabeth (daughter of PIERCE, Robert and KNIGHT, Mary) was born 6/06 Mar 1658/1659. [Group Sheet]