Lt. Exercise Conant
Exercise Conant was baptized at the First Church of Salem, Massachusetts, on 24 December 1637. He was the youngest child of Roger Conant, the leader of the first settlers at Salem, and his wife Sarah Horton. At seventy-two he swore that he had been born at Salem and had lived "for the greater part of his time" in Beverly, which was then part of Salem.
He grew up on his father's farm on the Bass River side, next to the farm of Henry Herrick. In 1710 he described the line between them: a brook, "Sometime denominated the brook that comes out of the new," with each family working land on either side. He lived there with his father many years.
He was made a freeman of the colony on 27 May 1668. In 1667 he was one of the original members of the church at Beverly. In 1671 he signed his father's petition to change the town's name from Beverly to Budleigh. His father's will of 1678 made him executor and left him 140 acres near Dunstable, ten acres beside his home lot, marsh by the great pond at Wenham, and the gray horse and cattle.
He married a woman named Sarah. Her surname is not given in the Conant genealogy. She may have been Sarah Andrews, and they may have married on 28 April 1663, but neither is proved. Their children were all born at Beverly and baptized at its First Church: Sarah in 1669, Abiah in 1672, Jane in 1675, Josiah, Caleb in 1683, and others.
Exercise and Sarah sold land many times as their children married. In February 1664 they sold John Balch the whole portion "given me in my father's will" on the road from Beverly to Wenham. In 1687 they sold four acres of meadow in Wenham. On 23 May 1695 they sold four acres to "our son-in-law" Joshua Wallis, a shoemaker, for nine pounds ten shillings "and our promise to his wife Abia for a portion." Two days later he sold his dwelling house, orchard, field and barn to his cousin John Conant. In 1699 he sold the Dunstable land to his daughter Sarah's husband, John Moulton of Wenham, for eight pounds. He represented Beverly in the General Court in the 1680s, and in April 1682 the town chose him to go to Ipswich about an address to the King on Mr. Mason's claim.
About 1700 he moved to Boston. On 30 June 1701 the selectmen approved "Exercise Conant his Petition for a License to Sell all Sorts of Strong drinck out of door by Retaile." He joined the town watch in 1702 and rose to run it. In 1706 he was appointed to prosecute anyone who broke the town order regulating burials. In 1709 he and James Thornbery became overseers of the watch at forty-five shillings a month, and in 1711 he was made an inspector of funerals. On 12 January 1707 the Beverly church dismissed Exercise and Sarah to the North Church of Boston.
He went back to Windham, Connecticut, about 1718, and his wife died there on 4 December 1718. He lived afterwards with his son Josiah. He was known as Lieutenant Exercise Conant, though how he got the title is not known. He died at Windham on 28 April 1722, aged eighty-five. His gravestone stands in the part of Windham that is now Mansfield.
Sources
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Cite: Heirology, "Lt. Exercise Conant (1637-1722)", https://heirology.com/ancestors/lt-exercise-conant-1637-1722-608567.