Ancestors

John Masters

John Masters was in Massachusetts Bay by the spring of 1631. On 18 May that year "Mr. John Maisters" was made a freeman of the colony. A freeman had the right to vote in the colony's elections. The "Mr." marked him as a man of some standing.

He lived first at Watertown. There he was overseer of the estate of Sir Richard Saltonstall.

In June 1631 the colony appointed him to cut a canal from Newtowne to the Charles River. Newtowne was the settlement later renamed Cambridge.

On 27 January 1631/2 he went with Governor John Winthrop to explore the Watertown lands. Winthrop named a stream they found "Masters Brook", for Masters as the oldest man in the party.

He represented Watertown in 1632. In 1635 he was licensed to keep an ordinary, a house where travelers and townsmen could buy meals and drink. Later he moved to Cambridge.

He had three daughters. Sarah married Michael Dobinson. Elizabeth married first Edmund Lockwood and then Cary Latham. Lydia married Philip Taber.

He made his will at Cambridge on 19 December 1639 and died two days later, on 21 December. He left his estate to his wife for her life. His homestead went to his daughter "Elizabeth Latham". There were bequests to "Sarath Dobyson", to "Lidya Tabor", to his grandchild John Lockwood, and to Nathaniel and Abraham Masters.

His wife was named Jane. One reading of the Cambridge record has her dying on 10 December 1639, days before the will that provides for a wife. Whether she was the mother of his daughters is not known.

If John Masters is in your family, start your own tree.

Cite: Heirology, "John Masters (d. 1639)", https://heirology.com/ancestors/john-masters-1639-fe53bf.