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Ancestors of Mary Phyllis St. Clair


      388. John Meader II, born 1625 in Fordington, Dorset, England; died 1715 in Oyster River, Durham, Strafford, NH. He was the son of 776. John Meader I. He married 389. Abigail Tuttle 1653.

      389. Abigail Tuttle, born 11-04-1628 in St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England. She was the daughter of 778. John Tuttle and 779. Joan Antrobus.

Notes for John Meader II:
      From "John Meader of Piscataqua": John "apparently came to New England about 1647, just before the execution of King Charles I and the Interregnum in England. Two principal groups had formed there during the power struggle of the 1640s: the royalists, loyal to the king, and Cavaliers, or Roundheads, who opposed him. When Charles I fell, and was beheaded in 1649, many common citizens who had signed the Proclamaion Returns of 1641/2 or otherwise professed their loyalty to the King fled to America. John Meader must at that time have been about 22 years of age. He was certainly a Protestant, since he had signed the Proclamation Return that contained these words: I do, in the presence of Almighty God, promise, vow and protest to maintain and defend, so far as lawfully I may, with my life, power, andestate, the true Reformed Protestant Religion expressed in the Doctrine of the Church of England,m against all Popery and Popish Innovations within this Realm contrary to the same Doctrine and according to the duty of my Allegiance to His Majesty's Royal Person, honor and estate...
      "He would have come into his inheritance of five shillings from his grandfather Thomas when he reached 21, perhaps in 1646, and he might have had additional funds from his father. Raised as a farmer, his father cut off without the proverbial shilling from Thomas Meader, and perhaps in difficulties with the authorities for a minor (mis-pasturing a heifer) or major (loyalty to the king) reason, it is possible he took ship for the New World. The voyage would have cost upwards of five pounds...and he might have had to borrow part of the sum and repay it with services in New England...
      "It is quite possible that John Meader received "hired wages" for at least part of the period from 1647 to 1653, when he was married, or 1656, when he received a grant of land. According to one source, he 'knew' Robert Huckins' land in 1647 or 1648. The verb 'to know' can mean 'to care for, look after'...thus indicating that he was taking care of Robert Huckins' land. The same source mentions that by about 1650 John Meader 'lived with' Mr. Valentine Hill, perhaps also maintaining his farm.
      "In 1656 John Meader had a 100-acre grant of land with William Sheffield, and in 1660 he bought more land from Valentine Hill, near the mouth of the Oyster River where he lived...He served on a jury in 1659-1660 and on grand juries in 1661-1662, 1665, 1670, 1678 and 1693...
      "He with others petitioned the General Court of Massachusetts in 1669 to make Oyster River a seperate township...New Hamshire had begun as the personal estate of Captain Richard Mason, and it consisted on(sic) a few hundred people in Portsmouth, Exeter and other settlements on tidewater. In 1684 John Meader with others was dispossessed of his land by suits at law which had been brought by Robert T. Mason, who was the grandson of Captain John Mason, on he ground of Captain Mason's grant. Executions were levied, but officers could neither retain possession nor find purchasers. The property soon returned to the actual settlers...
      "John Meader's grant of land was on a beautiful peninsula between the Piscataqua and Oyster Rivers above Portsmouth, N.H. There a settlement, called 'Oyster River,' was established with at least fifteen garrison houses grouped in the area before 1694...Ten of the garrison houses formed a line of defense on each side of the river itself below the falls in the present village of Durham The Meader garrison house was at the mouth of the Oyster River, overlooking the Piscataqua. John Meader was taxed there as early as 1656, and his house was built before September 20, 1660" Some reports say that the Meader garrison was destroyed in the Oyster River Massacre in 1694, but others say it was not. "If the Meader garrison was destroyed in 1694 it must have been immediately rebuilt, for one soldier was quartered there from July 18, 1694 until November 24..."
      The information about the children also supplied by the Meader publication. No sources were cited.
     
Children of John Meader and Abigail Tuttle are:
  194 i.   John Meader III, born 1660 in Oyster River, Durham, Strafford, NH; died Bef. 11-02-1736 in Oyster River, Durham, Strafford, NH; married (1) Elizabeth (Meader); married (2) Sarah Follett Abt. 1680; married (3) Widow Agnes Clark 04-05-1735.
  ii.   Joseph Meader, born 1664; died Abt. 1739; married Elizabeth (Meader) 02-20-1689/90.
  iii.   Sarah Meader, born 01-11-1668/69; died in 1719.
  iv.   Nathaniel Meader, born 06-14-1671; died 04-25-1704 in Oyster River, Durham, Strafford, NH.
  Notes for Nathaniel Meader:
Nathaniel was killed by Indians.

  v.   Nicholas Meader.
  Notes for Nicholas Meader:
Believed killed in Indian massacres in 1694 or 1704 because his name is not in any records.


      390. Capt. Nicholas Follett, born Bef. 1634; died Abt. 1663. He married 391. Abigail (Follett).

      391. Abigail (Follett).
     
Child of Capt. Follett and Abigail (Follett) is:
  195 i.   Sarah Follett, born Bef. 1654; died Bef. 1725 in Oyster River, Durham, Strafford, NH; married John Meader III Abt. 1680.


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