Thomas PURCHASE

Abt 1577 - 1677  (100 years)

• Name	Thomas PURCHASE  [1]
  Birth	Abt 1577	Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA   [1]
  Gender	Male
  _UID	CE26019081604FCE8A91195E2D3D68FAE1E0
  History	Brunswick was first settled by Thomas Purchas some time previous to 1628. His later dwelling appears to have been on Stevens's or New Meadow River, near the head of sloop navigation. He engaged extensively in the salmon and sturgeon fishing on the Androscoggin River, having a fish-house between the falls and "The Landing" at Brunswick village, and another at Lisbon Falls. The one in Brunswick was of stone. In this business he was associated with a London house. He also engaged in trade with the Indians. Before the breaking out of the first Indian war, in 1675, he had become a large producer of corn; and, after the flight of his family, the crews of a sloop and a boat, which had come to his store-house on the shore of New Meadows River to carry away the corn, were attacked by the Indians while loading. In 1631 he married Mary Gove, said to he the cousin of Sir Christopher Gardner, who was for some years in Massachusetts and Maine as the agent of Gorges. Gardner was sent back to England by the Massachusetts authorities in 1631 on charges which were not sustained. Within two years he was again in New England, spending a part of the time with Purchas, at Pejepscot. it appears that the patent of land on the Androscoggin to Thomas Purchas and George Way was issued during Gardner's presence in England. This tract was four miles square on the river Pejepscot toward the sea. In 1636-8 Purchas was one of the councillors in Gorges' government of Maine. In 1639, fearing the Indians, he placed himself under the protection of the Massachusetts Bay government. In 1654 he submitted to the New Plymouth government on the Kennebec, and was one of the two assistant councillors and justices under that government in that part of Maine. In 1663-4 he was one of Archdale's justices under the King's commissioners. At the date of his first marriage he was about fifty years of age. His second wife was Elizabeth Williams of Essex County, Massachusetts. He died in Salem in 1676, aged 101 years, leaving four children. His heirs sold his share in the patent (except a certain reserve near the present village of Brunswick) to Richard Wharton, a merchant of Boston. Wharton also purchased Mericoneag Peninsula (Harpswell) of the Indians. He soon after purchased of Warumbee and other Androscoggin chieftains a quit claim of the territory four miles on each side of the river to the Twenty-Mile Falls, now Lewiston Falls. From Wharton, the patent and the purchase from the Indians passed into the hands of a number of gentlemen (mostly residing in Boston) who associated themselves under the name of the Pejepscot Proprietors; and from these and General Waldo, who had purchased the reserve of the Purchas heirs, the present titles are derived.
  Death	11 May 1677	Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA   [1]
  Person ID	I5599	MOTYER Family Genealogy - NitroWings Test
  Last Modified	28 Jul 2013

  
  

  Father	Oliver PURCHASE, Jr.,   b. Abt 1552, Dorchester, Dorsetshire County (now Dorset County), England d. Abt 1633, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Dorchester, Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA (Age 81 years)
  Mother	Thomazine HARRIS,   b. 1556, Dorchester, Dorsetshire County (now Dorset County), England d. 1663, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Dorchester, Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA (Age 107 years)
  Family ID	F916	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Mary GROVE,   b. 1583, Dorchester, Dorsetshire County (now Dorset County), England d. 7 Jan 1656, Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA (Age 73 years)
  Children	1. Elizabeth PURCHASE,   b. Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA d. Yes, date unknown  [Father: biological]  [Mother: biological]
  Family ID	F1837	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	28 Jul 2013

  
  

  Family 2	Elizabeth ANDREWS   d. Yes, date unknown
  Children	1. Elizabeth PURCHASE,   b. Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA d. Yes, date unknown  [Father: biological]  [Mother: Stepchild]
  Family ID	F1679	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	28 Jul 2013

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - Abt 1577 - Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA Death - 11 May 1677 - Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Sources

  [S111] Internet: Website: Geni, 3 Jul 2007, accessed 28 Jul 2013), Thomas Purchase; Managed by: Craig Wolfe. (Reliability: 3).