Ancestors

William Haskell

Born in England in 1617, the middle of three brothers, and in New England by about 1637. Roger, William and Mark Haskell probably crossed together from Bristol and all three settled first in the part of Salem that is now Beverly, then called Cape Ann Side.

He appears at Gloucester in 1643 and had land at Planters Neck by 1645. From 1656 he was settled for good on the westerly side of the Annisquam river, on ten acres with a house and barn bought of Richard Window by Walker's creek. Two of his sons took up land on both sides of that creek, and it was still held by his descendants two and a half centuries later.

He was a mariner in the fishing trade and went by both captain and lieutenant. The offices he held say the rest: selectman for several years, representative to the General Court six times in twenty years, and appointed by the Court lieutenant of the trained band, in 1661 by the Haskell account and in 1681 by Babson's history, and later its captain. He was one of the first two men known to have been deacons of the first church at Gloucester.

In 1681 he was among the petitioners asking the King to step in and stop Robert Mason disturbing the land titles at Gloucester. In 1685 the General Court appointed Grace Dutch administrator of her husband's estate expressly with the advice and assistance of Lieutenant William Haskell.

In 1688 the town of Gloucester refused to assess the taxes that Sir Edmund Andros and his Council had levied on it. Seven of its citizens were fined at the Superior Court at Salem for the town's non-compliance, and his name heads the list. He died on 20 August 1693, leaving an estate of 548 pounds 12s.

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Cite: Heirology, "William Haskell (1617-1693)", https://heirology.com/ancestors/william-haskell-1617-1693-c1e63a.