TOZIER  FAMILY  ANCESTRY

     Richard Tozer (Tozier) the immigrant was born in Devonshire, England.  The year of his birth is not known for certain but believed to be about 1631.  It is not known for certain who his parents are but again it is believed by some his parents were Thomas Tozer and Charity Tabb.  As the family lore suggests, Richard’s brothers William and John Tozer came to the colonies in the early 1600’s and later sent for their brother Richard. 

     They came to Maine where they built Fort Tozer for the British which was located at Kennebunkport, Maine near the mouth of the Kennebunk River.  The Tozer brothers were never paid for building the fort. 

     Richard married Judith Smith on July 3^rd 1656 in Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony by the Deputy Governor of the Colony, Richard Bellingham.  Judith was born about 1636 probably in the Massachusetts Bay Colony to her parents Thomas Smith and Margaret Clark.

     At the time of their marriage Richard had been living in Berwick, Maine near Dover, New Hampshire.  They first lived in Boston where their first child Thomas was born.  By 1658 they moved to just west of Dover, New Hampshire near the Piscataqua River which separates New Hampshire from Maine.  They paid taxes in both Oyster River and Cocheco New Hampshire in 1659, both communities being in the Township of Dover.  

     Many settlers moved north from Massachusetts to try and get out from under the tyrannical control of the Massachusetts Bay Government.  This didn’t work completely as they were required on threat of arrest to sign a loyalty oath to Massachusetts.  New Hampshire didn’t attained statehood until June 21^st 1788 as one of the original thirteen colonies.  Until then it was the Province of New Hampshire which was under the on again and off again control of the Massachusetts Bay Colony Government.  Maine was part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and remained as a Province of Massachusetts until the Missouri Compromise when it attained statehood on March 15th 1820.  Because of the harsh winters and distance from Boston, these areas remained sparsely populated and those that did move there had little protection from the Indians and were truly pioneers of the colonial period.

  By 1660 Richard and Judith moved across the river to the Salmon Falls area near Kittery, Maine.  They obtained a sixty acre land grant from the town of Newichawannock, just above Salmon Falls and next to lot owned by William Pyle.

It was described as follows:

     “A tract of upland contayneing sixty acres & adjoining to William Pyles lott aboue Salmon falls, & it runnes from ye river up into the woods upon a North East & North Lyne, & the head bounds runs upon a North West by West lyne, as may appear by severall marked trees.”

     In 1667 Richard had a boundary dispute with William Piles which was resolved on April 23^rd 1668.  Richard built a garrison house on his land which was attacked in 1675 by Indians led by ‘Andrew’ and ‘Hope-Hood’ during the King Phillip’s War.    Richard was away on a patrol with the militia, in the command of Captain John Wincoll when his home was attacked.  There were fifteen women in the house.  A few weeks after this attack, on October 16^th 1675, Richard Tozer was killed by an Indian raiding party.

The following is quoted from a story of this event: 

     “As the people gathered more and more into the garrisons, the Indians gathered into large bodies, with the evident design to reduce these garrisons one by one, while they warily watched to cut off stragglers who attempted to pass from one to another.  October 7^th was observed as a day of public humiliation, and on that day three men were killed near Newichewannock, and soon after a garrison was assaulted and an old man named Beard was killed just outside his house, and other houses were burnt.  On October 16^th a large body of Indians, said to be a hundred, gathered towards the settlement of Salmon Falls, and surprising Richard Tozer at his house half a mile from the garrison, killed him and captured his son.  Lieut. Roger Plaisted, who was in command at the garrison, hearing guns of this attack, immediately sent seven men to find the cause, when they were ambushed, and two or three were killed, and the other barely escaped back to the garrison.”

     On July 16^th 1676 Judith was appointed admistrix of Richard’s estate.  On March 30^th of 1683 the following inventory valued at 118 £ was made by Capt. John Wincoll and Ninian Agnew.

     “His wearing apparell, his house and 75 acres of land, 20 acres of meadow land, 2 cows and calves, 100 acres of land granted by the town, 2 sheep and 4 swine, 2 pillows rug 8 blankets 2 fether beds, 2 bolsters 1 sheet 1 pair of curtains 2 iron pots, 1 frying pan 2 trammels trays dishes spoons, 1 payle 4 wedges 2 axes 1 adze 3 hoes.”

     Judith made her will on September 7^th of 1664 and died sometime before June 18^th of 1683 when her son Richard (Junior) was appointed to administer her estate. 

     The following is a story written in history about the King Phillip’s War, and in particular, events in Kittery, Maine.  This is copied as written so it has some grammatical errors in it.  Richard Tozer in this story is our generation’s 9^th great grandfather, and in all probability Dianne’s 8^th great grandfather.  Dianne’s brother Dennis is still working on their family tree, but all indications point to their family’s ancestry as being Richard Tozer.

     “The area around Kittery, Maine was a bloody part of the frontier in the fall of 1675.  The house of Richard Tozer, at Salmon Falls, wherein 15 women and children were attacked by two Indians, Andrew and Hope-hood, but were valiantly defended by a young woman who held fast the door till all the others escaped and till it was hewn in pieces by the Indians who then struck her down, leaving her for dead, while they followed the others to the next house which better fortified, the Indians did not attack.  Two children were captured who were of this company, and could not keep up with the others, one of three years was killed, the other seven was carried into captivity, but afterwards returned to them.

     On October 16, 1675 Richard Tozer and his son were at his home when they were surprised by a large Indian raiding party.  Richard was killed and his son captured.  A letter written at the time to Major Waldern (Waldron) describes what happened.”

“Mr. Richard Waldren and Lt. Coffin,

     These are to inform you, that just now the Indians are engaging us with at least 100 men, and have slain four of our men already, Richard Tozer, James Barney, Issac Bottes, and Tozer’s son and burnt Benoni Hodson’s house: Sir, if ever you have any love for us, and the country, now shew yourself with men to help us, or else we are all in great danger to be slain, unless God wonderfully appear for our deliverance, they that cannot fight, let them pray: Nought else, but I rest.

     Yours to serve you,  (signed by) Roger Plaisted and George Broughton”

     “Maj. Walderne was unable to supply any help.  Lt. Plaisted and his men and settlers would have been safe if they remained in their garrisons, but Lt. Plaisted decided to leave the garrison with 20 men to recover the bodies of the slain.  After recovering Richard Tozers body, the detail was itself ambushed.  Lt. Plaisted and one of his sons were among the dead.  Another son of Plaisted was mortaly wounded.  Some of the burial crew did manage to reach the safety of the garrison.  The Indians may have also suffered heavily for the next day Captain Charles Frost came up and buried the dead without incident.”

     I have read elsewhere, that the young girl that held the door in the first attack did recover from her wounds.  I also read that Richard Tozer Jr. and his wife Elizabeth were captured by a second war party to Salmon River (Kittery) on March 18, 1690.  They were supposedly taken to Canada and turned over to the French for bounty.  This was common practice, as the Indians and French were allies in the French and Indian Wars.  Many times the captured Americans were sold into slavery in Canada.  Richard Jr. and Elizabeth were returned, but when I do not know.  Elizabeth’s sister Sarah (Wentworth) Barnard was also a captive in this raid and was believed to be killed.  The following is an excerpt from a story about the second Salmon River raid.  In this raid there were both French and Indians involved.

     “Lying hidden in the forest, the war party waited, they made their onset between the break of day and sunrise, when most were a bed and no watch kept neither in Fort or house.  Houses were burned, inhabitants murdered and fifty four captives were taken, mostly women and children, few of whom we find.”

     Information available states that Richard Tozer Jr. was twice an Indian captive while his wife Elizabeth was three times a captive.

     On the time she was taken captive to Canada in 1690 she was placed in the home of Monsieur Pierre Boucher, Seigneur (Lord) of Boucherville. (Across the Saint Laurence River from Montreal.) Boucher was at one time, Governor of Trois Rivieres and held many high political and military positions in the French Government.  At the time of Elizabeth’s capture Pierre was Lord of the district of Boucherville.  After conversion, Elizabeth’s Godfather was Monsieur Claude de Ramezay, Ecuyer (Squire) Governor of Trois Rivieres and her Godmother was Demoiselle Jeanne Crevier, wife of Pierre Boucher.  Claude eventually became Governor of Montreal and was a leader in the French Colony Forces.  Records show that she was in this captivity for two and one half years.

     Evidently she was soon again a captive.  She was in Canada where records gives us the following information:  On September 8^th 1693 Elizabeth was “souse condition” (Baptized by emersion) in Montreal, New France (Canada).

  In that Richard was captured twice it was probably when a child when his father was killed and when with Elizabeth’s fist captivity that he was in Canada.  During the time in 1693 we may assume it was only Elizabeth that was an Indian captive.  It is not known how long she was held this second time but by 1699 she was with her husband when they conveyed land in York, Maine. 

  This is a story I found that tells of the third abduction.  No date was associated with its printing.

     “It is said that the Indians came while she was boiling soap and she, throwing it upon them, caused their retreat.  Again dressed in man’s clothes with gun in hand she acted as sentry while men worked in the fields.

     Of her last capture the genealogy says that when Richard saw the Indians coming he told his wife she must do the best she could; he preferred death to another captivity.  If she were taken he would redeem her if he lived.  So covering himself with a feather bed he ran out the back door to the frozen river.  The ice was thin and he broke through.  The Indians seeing the hole and the bed believed him drowned and did not follow.

     They pillaged and burned the house, carrying off Elizabeth and all its inmates.  Meantime, Tozer was watching from the river’s bank.

     After this attack he built a blockhouse which stood until 1885.”

     What transpired from there is not known.  We do know they were together again, as they had more children after this event.  It raises the question; was the inmates their children?  Adult and young children were often taken captive.  The Indians would be able to get a bounty on the adults from the French Government while the children were sold or often were absorbed into the Indian tribes.  They would often kill anyone they felt was a trouble for them or especially if a good scalp presented itself.

     It is certain our Maine ancestors knew one another.  Richard Tozer Jr., James Emery and his son Daniel Emery were witnesses in a will for their neighbor Thomas Muddle.  James was our eighth great grandfather and his son Daniel, the seventh. Throughout reading Maine and family history, ties between the Tozier’s, Emery’s, Lord’s, Chick’s as well as many other colonists can be found.  Martha Tozer, the daughter of Richard Sr. and Judith Tozer married Nathan Lord making them our generation’s eighth great grandparents.

     Nathan Lord’s ancestry can be traced back to Hari and Anne Lord our eleventh great grandparents.  Hari was a resident of Stackpole, Pembroke County, in Wales. The ancestry of the Lords can be found back to the Norman times when their name may have been La Vorde or De La Vorde.  Called the Marcher Barons, they held estates on the Welsh border. 

     Their son John Nathan Lord a shoemaker, was born in 1609 in Wales and as a young man set out with his Irish friend Abraham Conley for London England.  In 1626 he married his wife Ann (last name unknown) in Rye Parish, Sussex, England.  They had five children together including a son Nathan.  Nathan was born in 1633, seven months after John Nathan Lord died.  In less than a year after John’s death, his widow Anne married Abraham Conley, on January 1st 1634 in Wittersham Parish, Kent County, England.  Her daughter Mary from her first marriage died a few days later on January 6^th.  Anne Lord is thought to have died in November of 1636 in Canterbury, Kent, England.

     It is not known for certain when they came to America but it is known Abraham Conley came bringing his step son Nathan Lord (Sr.).  It is not known if any other children made the trip.  All of Nathan’s siblings died in England.  Ann and Abraham did have a child together but it is believed the boy may have not survived very long. 

     After Anne Lord died, Abraham Conley remarried to Elizabeth, (last name unknown) and they had a daughter, named Judith Conley, who became Nathan (Sr.) Lord’s first wife.  Not only was Abraham Conley Nathan’s step father, now Abraham is his father in law too.  After Elizabeth died, sometime after 1664, Abraham married again, this time to Marjery Everett Nash.  Marjery brought with her a daughter from her first marriage named Martha Everett.  Martha became Nathan’s second wife.  (Nothing like keeping it in the family!)

     Nathan Lord Sr. was born September 1^st 1630 in Rye Parish, Sussex County, England and died December 24^th 1690 in South Berwick, York County, Maine.  As stated above he married his step sisters Judith Conley and Martha Everett.  Nathan Sr. and Judith Conley were our ninth great grandparents.  He married Judith April 28^th 1653 in Berwick Maine.  With Judith, Nathan had two children Nathan Jr. and Abraham Lord.  After Judith died in 1658, Nathan Sr. married Martha and in that union there were seven more children.  Nathan’s name first appears in the Maine public records in 1652 when he signed the “Submission to Massachusetts”.  

     December 16^th 1652, Nathan was granted sixty acres of land by the town of Kittery Maine and in 1676 Nathan Sr. and Nathan Jr. bought an estate called Oil Fields near Mount Misery in South Berwick.  In 1690 Nathan Sr. died, leaving a large estate but due to the Indian wars his will was not probated until many years later.

The Will of Nathan Lord, Sr.

   In the Name of God Amen I Nathan Lord Sen^r of Berwick in the County of York in the province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England Yeoman being weak in body but of perfect mind & memory Thanks be unto God Therefore calling unto mind the Mortallity of my body And knowing that it is appointed for all men once to Dye Do make & Ordain this my last Will & Testament (that is to Say) Principally and first of all I Give and recommend my Soul into the hands of God that gave it Trusting in the Merits of Jesus Christ for the pardon of all my Sins and Eternal life And my body I recommend to the Earth to be Decently Interr'd at the Discresion of my Exec^rs hereafter Named Nothing Doubting but at the Gen^ll Resurrection I Shall receive the Same Again by y^e Mighty power of God And as Touching Such Worldly Estate wherewith it hath pleased God to bless me in this life I Give Demise and Dispose of the Same in the Following Manner and Form.

   Imp^rs I Give and Bequeath to my well beloved Wife Martha one halfe of my Real Estate Dureing her Natural life and the one halfe of my personal Estate forever to be Disposed off by her Will or other Instrument in writing as She Sees meet.

   Item I Give & bequeath to my Son Nathan all my land on the South Side of the way that leads to York Called y^e great Field with all Trees Fences and all the Appurtenances thereto belonging to him his Heirs & Assignes forever Excepting one Acree Next to Joseph Hodsdon's Land by the brook which I reserve for a burying place with Liberty of Egress and Regress forever And Excepting also that the Spring in the said Field by the highway Shall be Common to y^e rest of my Children that may have Occation to use it.

   Item I Give and bequeath to my Son William all my Right Title Interest Claim & Demand to and in the Land that was my Brother Abraham Lords formerly of Berwick Deceased and after him was my Cozen William Lords &c^t And on part of which Robert Knight Sen^r who Married my S^d Brothers Widow Now Lives &c^t to him his heirs and Assignes forever Together with five pounds in good province Bills of Credit to be paid within a Twelve month after my Decease by my Exec^rs.

   Item I Give and bequeath to my Son Richard Twenty Acres of land at Piles's brook to him his heirs and assigns forever also Five pounds in Good publick bills of Credit to be paid within a Twelve month after my Decease by my Exec^rs I have done Considerably for him in the Purchases he has made.

   Item I Give and Bequeath to my Son Samuel for whom I have done Considerably already Two Acres and halfe of Marsh at Sturgeon Creek which is now in his Improvement To him his Heirs and Assigns forever And also five pounds in good Publick bills of Credit to be paid him within a Twelve month after my Decease Together with all that Land that lies to the Southward of the brook that Runs Through the Land I bought of the Grants and is a part of that Tract & which he has Improved for Some time to him his Heirs and Assignes forever.

   Item I give and Bequeath to my Son Iohn all that Land now in his Tenure and Occupation where he lives which I formerly bought of Silvanus Nock And Contains Twenty five Acres Be it more or less with all the Appurten nces to him his Heirs and Assignes forever also my Wood lot part of the Land I bought of the Grants & lyes Next Adjoyning to his own Land which he bought of M^r Emery to him his Heires & Assignes Forever Provided he leave away for his Brethren to pass to and from their own Land in Said Tracts & provided he pay Fifteen pounds in good publick bills of Credit to my Execut^rs within a Twelve Month after my Decease. . .

   Item I give my Son Abraham all the Land on the North Side of the Highway where he now lives with all Biuldings Trees Fences and all the Appurtenances to the Same belonging to him his heirs and Assignes forever.

   Item I give to and among my Sons Nathan William Richard Samuel Iohn and Abraham all my Right to and in the Common And undivided Land in Berwick afores^d to them their heirs and Assigns forever.

   Item I Give and bequeath to my Daughters Martha Chick Judith Hambleton Mary Emery Sarah Roberts and Ann Furbuish Twenty pounds Each in good Publick bills of Credit to be paid them Respectively or their Representatives in the Law within a Twelve Month after my Decease by my Execut^rs And I give also to my Said Daughters one halfe of my houshold goods to be Equally Divided amongst them after my Decease.

   Item I give and bequeath to my grand Daughter Eliz^a the Wife of Noah Emery Five pounds in good Publick bills of Credit to be paid by my Executors within a Twelve after my Decease.

   Item I give to the Church in Berwick Twenty pounds in good publick bills of Credit to be Laid out in apeice of Plate for the Communion Table to be paid by my Executors within Twelve Months after my Decease.

   Item I give to my Minister a Gold ring to Rememb^r me by after my Decease.

   Finally I Constitute make and ordain My Sons Nathan And Abraham (To whom I Give and Bequeath the Remainder of my Estate Both Real & personal to them their Heirs and Assignes forever) to be the Executors of this my last Will and Testament hereby Utterly Dissallowing Revokeing and Dissannulling all & Every other Former Testaments Wills Legacies and Bequests & Execut^rs by me in any ways before Named Willed and Bequeathed Ratifying and Confirming this and no other to be my last Will & Testament.

   In Wittness where of I have hereto Set my hand and Seal the Sixth Day of Iuly In the Seventh year of the Reign of our Soveraign Lord George the Second by the grace of God of Great Brittian France & Ireland King Defend^r of the Faith &c^t Annoque Domini 1733.