The FARRAR Family of Lancaster and Woburn in Massachusetts

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First Generation

UNKNOWN FARRAR

The Farrar brothers [John and Jacob] were from Lancashire. [Ref]

Children of Unknown Farrar:

1. John Farrar died on 3 Nov 1669 in Lancaster. [Ref] He left a widow who was appointed administratrix of his estate on 7 Nov 1670. [Ref] He was an original proprietor of Lancaster when it was incorporated on 18 May 1653. [Ref] He was one of the original inhabitants who signed a covenant on 24 Sep 1653. [Ref][Ref] After the original division of land in Lancaster, further divisions were contingent on estate size. In 1654 estates were valued and John's - at about £107 - was in the middle of the 30 eligible inhabitants. [Ref] At a town meeting on 1 (9) 1654 it was agreed to limit the town to 35 families and 25 men were listed as townsman, one of whom was John. [Ref] He received the 7th lot in the second division of meadow on 5 Feb 1659. [Ref] After a brief stay in Lancaster John went to Woburn, were he was admitted as an inhabitant in 1656. [Ref] He died, "very old", in 1690 in Woburn. [Ref]
2. Jacob Farrar died on 14 Aug 1677 in Woburn. He married Ann Unknown.

Second Generation

JACOB FARRAR (d. 1677) of Lancaster and Woburn

Parents: Unknown Farrar

Jacob was an original proprietor of Lancaster when it was incorporated on 18 May 1653. [Ref] He was one of the original inhabitants who signed a covenant on 24 Sep 1653. [Ref][Ref, pp. 30-31] He was one of the 13 inhabitants of Lancaster who signed an agreement with John Prescott for the building of the first corn mill in Lancaster. [Ref, p. 32] After the original division of land in Lancaster, further divisions were contingent on estate size. In 1654 estates were valued and Jacob's - at about £107 - was in the middle of those of the 30 eligible inhabitants. [Ref] He was given about six acres of meadow in 1654. [Ref] At a town meeting on 1 (9) 1654 it was agreed to limit the town to 35 families and 25 men were listed as townsman, one of whom was Jacob. [Ref]

Jacob came to New England before his family and sent for them in 1658. [Ref] When they arrived, his estate was assessed at £168.70. [Ref][Ref]

Jacob was appointed to assist in marking the bounds of the town of Lancaster in 1659. [Ref] He received the 20th lot in the second division of meadow on 5 Feb 1659. [Ref]

Two of his sons were killed in King Philip's War in 1675. [Ref] After the Indian attack on Lancaster on 10 Feb 1675/6, Jacob, Ann, his remaining son Joseph, his daughter Mary and her husband John Houghton went to Woburn. [Ref] On Mar 1675/6, Jacob was one of the inhabitants of Lancaster who petitioned the government for assistance. [Ref][Ref]

Ann Farrar and John Houghton were appointed Administrators on Jacob's estate, which was divided between his widow and "two children now surviving", which were presumably Mary and Joseph. [Ref]

Children of Jacob Farrar and Ann Unknown:

[Two children are recorded in Lancaster as children of Jacob and Ann: Joseph (b. 6 (16) 1660), b. George 16 (6) 1670). [Ref, p. 13]

1. Jacob Farrar was probably born in 1642 - 1643 in England. [Ref] He was killed in the Indian attack on Lancaster in King Philip's war on 22 Aug 1675. [Ref, p. 16, Jacob, Jr.][Ref] He married Hannah Hayward on 11 Nov 1668 in Lancaster. [Ref][Ref, p. 13] She married second Adam Holaway of Marlborough. [Ref] She married third Jonathan Furbush on 2 Jan 1705/6. [Ref] His son Ens. John Farrar was killed by Indians in the fight on 17 Aug 1707. [Ref, p. 17]
   some descendants of Jacob Farrar
   
2. John Farrar was born in 1640 - 1650 in England. [Ref] He died on 3 Nov 1669 in Lancaster. [Ref][Ref, p. 13] He married Mary Unknown on 30 Jun 1667 in Lancaster. [Ref][Ref][Ref, p. 13]
   some descendants of John Farrar
3. Henry Farrar was born in 1640 - 1650 in England. [Ref] He was killed in the Indian attack on Lancaster in King Philip's war on 10 Feb 1675/6. [Ref][Ref][Ref, p. 16]
4. Mary Farrar was born about 1648 in England. She married John Houghton on 22 Feb 1671/2.

Third Generation

MARY FARRAR (d. 1724)

Parents: Jacob Farrar and Ann Unknown [Ref]

Mary Farrar was born about 1648 in England [Ref]. She died on 7 Apr 1724, [Ref] age 76, and is buried in the Old Common Graveyard in Lancaster. [Ref, p. 412] She married John Houghton on 22 Feb 1671/2. [Ref 22 (11) 1671][Ref][Ref, p. 14, does not give her first name]

References

A Member of the NEHGS, "Memoir of the Farrar Family," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 6, 1852, 313-.

No Author, The Birth, Marriage, and Death Register, Church Records and Epitaphs of Lancaster, Massachusetts : 1643-1850, Lancaster, Mass.: unknown, 1890. Online: Ancestry.com.

Nourse, Henry S., Early Records of Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1643-1725, Clinton, W. J. Coulter, 1884. Online: Worcester County Archives, http://www.rootsweb.com/~maworces/wo-gen.htm.

Ward, Andrew, "Lancaster Records," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 16, 1862, 352-359; 17, 1863, 70-.

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