Damon, John

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptised: 24 Dec 1752, Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA

John married Collier, Elizabeth on 04 Nov 1779 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA. Elizabeth was born about 1756 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA; died on 21 Feb 1849 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Damon, Elizabeth was born on 24 Aug 1780 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA; died on 25 Feb 1819 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA.
2. Damon, Judith was born on 13 Dec 1784 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA; died on 15 Jun 1878 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA.
3. Damon, Sarah/Sally was born on 14 Sep 1789 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA; died on 25 Jan 1876 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA.
4. Damon, Arvilla was born on 24 Mar 1791 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA; died on 17 May 1877 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA.
5. Damon, Lucretia was born on 24 Mar 1791 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA; died on 02 Nov 1871 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA; was buried in Weymouth, Norfolk Co., MA.

Josiah married Briggs, Leah on 23 Feb 1743 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA. Leah was born on 22 Sep 1720 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

A widow Damon died in Scituate, 1792, of small pox, was this the widow Leah ?

Ichabod married Litchfield, Sarah B. on 21 Jun 1708 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA. Sarah was born on 25 Dec 1674 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA; died in 1739 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Arrival: Bef 1633, Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA; On the ship Fortune

Notes:

John Damon with his sister Hannah, came to Scituate before 1633. They were then minors, and under the guardianship of Mr. William Gillson, their uncle. We understand that they were very young at that time from the circumstance, that having been made the heirs of Mr. Gillson, they were not established in their inheritance by the Court until 1649. "John and Hannah Daman were allowed by the Court to be lawful heirs of William Gillson, it being proved by diverse persons that Gillson had often said that he intended to make these (his sister's children) his heirs." (Colony Records 1649)

John Daman succeeded to the residence of his uncle, on Kent street, the second lot from Satuit brook (Edward Foster's being the first).

I have copied an excerpt from a hand-written book by a Mrs. Hatch who recently died. I don't know how accurate old Mrs. Hatch was, but I was impressed with her attention to detail and perseverance when I read the book in a recent visit to Scituate. She writes, in her preamble:

"The earliest mention of the name in English history is that of William Damon, author of a book of music published in 1591, during the reign of Elizabeth I. The Rev. S.C. Damon, author of a memorial published in Honolulu in 1882, states that he also found the name while traveling in France. (He mentions) that visitors to the World Fair in Chicago in 1893 will remember the name "Colin & Damon" prominently displayed on a French exhibit in the Manufacture and Liberal Arts Building. There is little doubt (Mrs. Hatch continues) that the name is of French origin and was probably brought over to England as early as the 14th century.

The parish records of the St. Lawrence Church of Reading, England, record the baptism of John, son of John Damon on 25 June 1620." (Mrs Hatch notes that these are are not Scituate's John Damon.') She continues....
John was prominent in the affairs of town and church. In military affairs he held the position of Seargent in 1666. He was appointed to the Command of the Scituate Militia under Miles Standish and held that position until 1669.
Lived at the 2nd house from Satuit Brook on Kent Street in Scituate.

EXCERPT FROM PLYMOUTH COLONY RECORDS VOL 2 P.143

John Damon,the forefather of all the Damon's hereabouts, came to Plymouth with his sister Hannah in the company and under the care of their mother's brother William Gilson, before 1633. Their uncle was a man fairly well to do for the times, a good churchman and of very excellent abilities. Not long after Gilson's arrival he was made an assistant to the colonial court---counsellors they were called in those days---and in 1634 he is found at Scituate a member of Mr. Lothrop's congregation. His house was next to Edward Foster's just south of Satuit Brook. He had land on the north of second cliff and in 1637 erected the first windmill in the colonies; on the third cliff. Beside the nephews and nieces Gilson and Good wife Francis had for a time an inmate of their household Pricilla, the daughter of Peter Brown of Plymouth, who had left his widow with a large family of children. Both Gilson and his wife was devoted to their young kins people. That he might " leave them something after his days were ended " the former applied for and received from the court an allotment of more land than he personally could personally or conveniently cultivate, because " although he had no children of his own, yet that he had two of his sister's children, which he looked upon as his own. " When he died in 1649 John and Hannah was awarded all of his possessions, saved one small legacy to another nephew and another of 5 pounds " to my pastor Mr. John Lothrop."
Young Damon lived in the house on Kent street which his Uncle had left him and tilled the 80 acres which had been awarded to Gilson on his own {Damon's} and his sisters account.
He was warmhearted, generous and ever ready to be such measures of assistance that he was able, to a friend or a neighbor who stood in need. This characteristic brought him collaterally into a pretty romance in which Govenor Prence, his daughter Elizabeth and John Damon's friend Aurthur Howland, Jr., of Duxbury were involved. This was in 1666. At this time the provision concerning courtship was the law of the colonies:----
" Whereas divers persons unfit for marriage both in regard to their young years and also in regard of their weake estate, some practising the enveigleing of men's daughter's and maids under guardians { contrary to the parents and guardians liking " , and of maybe servants without leave and liking of their masters. It is therefore enacted by the court if any shall make any motion of marriage to any man's daughter or servant not having first obtained leave and consent of the parents or masters so to doe, Shall be punished by either fine or corporal punishment or both of the discretion of the bench and according to the natures of the offence."
Young Howland and Mistress Prence were enamored of each other. They were not " unfit for marriage" within the meaning of their status, both being of age and the formal possession of 50 acres of land in Duxbury which had been granted to him by the Colony Court. Their was one grave and insuperable objection. Howland was a Quaker. His father, at first was a sympathizer, and then frequently prosecuted before Prence, who was then Governor, for the entertainment of Quakers and assisting and the promulgation of their faith, and finally embraced it. The Governor was rabid in his opposition to the sect and the marriage of his daughter to one of them was intolerable. The young woman was the third child of his second marriage. Her mother was a sister of William Collier, as prominent and persistent in his persecution of the Quakers as was the Govenor himself. Both parents forbade the courtship despite of their joint effort continued. No other means availing, recourse was finally had to a criminal prosecution against Howland under the law which has above quoted. On march 5, 1666-7 Howland was brought before the bench on which his accuser sat as the presiding Magistrate and charged with :--
" Inveigling mistress Elizabeth Prence and making motion of marriage to her , and prosecuting the same contrary to her parents liking, and without their consent, and directly contrary to Their mind and will."
He was sentenced to pay a fine of 5 pounds to find sureties for his good behavior:--
" And in the special that he desist from the use of any names to obtain or retain her affections as aforesaid."
Here John Damon came to the assistance of his friend. He became surety for that good behavior which the Court required. He also apparently counselled the action which was taken 4 months later with Howland " Did solemnly and seriously engage before this court, { Governor Pence still presiding} that he will wholly desist and never apply himself for the future, as formally he hath done, to mistress Elizabeth Pence, in reference onto marriage." However solemn this agreement may have been, it was not serious in the part of young Howland: Nor did mistress Prence agree that this action either of the court or her lover was final. The courtship continued and was consummated and a marriage later. The daughter was never forgiven. The bitterness which Pence showed towards general Cudworth for the latter's leniency the Quakers was greatly increased in the case of his daughter because of her successful rebellion to his stubborn will.
Although he disinherited, he live to see her surrounded by a contented brood in the Scituate Planter who had become surety, for the good behavior of the parent the godfather of his children.
John Damon's unselfishness and genuine interest in the welfare of others is also shown in his advocacy of the cause of Elder William Hatch who claimed a share in the town"s common land. It has been told elsewhere in these pages that the Colony Court had permitted the freemen of Scituate to make division of these lands among the freeholders. In doing this there had been trouble. Two factions had sprung up, and the town had delegated the privileges to the committee. While the magistrate did not approve of this, they sanctioned it for a time and then reestablished the bench in the performance of the duty by appointing a committee of its own choice of the townsmen, made up however of the leaders of each fraction. These men were Captain James Cudworth, Cornet Stetson, Isaac Chittenden, and Lt. Buck, on one side and John Damon, John Turner{ Senior}, John Turner,Jr., and John Bryant,{senior}, on the other side. It is readily seen that they easily deadlocked. This was true upon the application of Elder Hatch for his allotment. In the argument which insured Damon, being deserted by John Bryant, won over Buck, and Chittenden from the opposition and reported a layout for Hatch to the Court. It was not the fault of this majority of the committee that the Magistrates acted unfavorably upon this report. It served Elder Hatch to no purpose but to make Damon himself the target for retribution at the hands of his opponents on the committee. When his turn came for a layout of 50 nacres a majority of his fellows refused his request weakly alleging " that he had land on that account before." He appealed to the court which returned this advise:--" Therefore we request and think he ought to be considered, and desire you so do." He was thereupon " Accommodated".
He was a deputy to the Colony Court, one of the council of war, a Selectman
and performed his full part in those other public services to which he was from time to time assigned.
He was twice married, his second wife being Martha Howland, a relative of his friend Authur. He was the father of twelve children evenly divided as to the sexes. Of those which survived adolescence, John and Zachery each did exemplary services in the King Phillips War. Another son Experience was the pioneer at Pincin Hill and the daughters Silence, Martha, Hannah, and Margaret thru marriages with Scituate neighbors has established the Damon strain in the families of Chittenden, Merrit, Stetson, Eells, Woodworth, and others.

John married Howland, Martha on 15 Jan 1659 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA. Martha (daughter of Howland, Arthur and Walker, Margaret) was born on 19 Dec 1632 in Marshfield, Plymouth Co., MA; died on 19 Dec 1732 in Hingham, Plymouth Co., MA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]