Quoted directly from Sawyer Families of New England 1636-1900 by Eleanor Grace Sawyer, published by Penobscot Press of Camden, ME 1995:

JAMES OF GLOUCESTER

1. JAMES1 SAWER (later Sawyer) of Gloucester, Massachusetts, is the ancestor of many Sawyers living in northern New England today. There are several theories concerning his lineage, none of them proven. One suggestion is that James1 was one of these three children who are said to have come to the New World with Edward1. It is true that the latter's will, recorded on 31 March 1674, mentions only his sons John and Ezekiel, (Part I) and his "wife," but it was not unusual at that time for a father to give some of his children money or land during his lifetime, and then to limit their inheritance or even omit them from his will altogether on the basis of their having already received their due share of his estate. William1 seems to have done this. Furthermore, although James1 did not name a son Edward, he had a grandson of that name who called one of his own sons Ezekiel [see 16]. It is also true that James's first child, a daughter, was named Mary, as were the wife and daughter of Edward1. Would it not have been natural for James1 to name his first daughter after his own mother and sister? Finally, in 1669, before moving to Gloucester. James1 bought a home in Ipswich, where both Edward1 and Thomas1 lived before they moved to Rowley.

Taking all this into consideration, I feel it possible that Edward1 and James1 may have been father and son, even though there is no provable link between them. What is certain, is that James first married a Martha, of whom little is known except that she and he "acknowledged" a mortgage in April 1670 for the house he bought in Ipswich. There is also record of a life-support agreement with Thomas and Joannah Smith of Ipswich, entered into by James1 though later unfulfilled; since such agreements usually involved family members, it is conceivable that the Smiths were Martha's family.

By the time James1 moved to Gloucester, he was married to Sarah Bray, a daughter of Thomas and Mary (Wilson) Bray of Gloucester, who was born in 1651 and died on 24 April 1727. In 1688 he received a grant of six acres of land on the west side of the Annasquam River and lived there. He was a weaver, a selectman in 1696, and died on 31 May 1703, six days after signing his will. His widow was living with their son, Abraham, in the family home in 1726.

1. JAMES1 SAWER had the following children;

Sources: VR Gloucester MA. C65, W13, Essex deeds, P82b, Essex Co. Qtrly Court rec, E20, C97, Early Settlers of Essex, L30, Bl, B2.

©Copyright Eleanor Grace Sawyer 1995

I obtained my copy of this book from Mrs. Sawyer by writing to her at P.O. Box 440, Strafford, NH 03884. The cost is $45.00 which includes shipping and handling. The book is high quality, hardcover, about two inches thick and solid full of early New England genealogical references. I highly recommend it for those interested in Sawyers.

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