"Leighton was first a placename given to a hamlet or town in a lea or meadow (or perhaps a place where leeks were grown); several English localities still bear the name. As a surname it was not uncommon, especially in Cheshire, Shropshire and Bedfordshire. Leightons, with many different spellings, appeared in records as early as the twelfth century." 1474
"So far, the ancestry of Thomas Leighton of Dover has not been determined. Genealogists, who abhor such dead ends as nature abhors a vacuum, sometimes yield to temptation and make imaginative linkages to historical personages. In a letter dated 2 Sept. 1899 found among the Cornman Papers, John Scales, the historian of New Hampshire and of Dover, stated:
'Thomas Leighton Sr. was the son of Dr. Alexander Leighton, the distinguished theologian and Professor in the University of Edinborough, Scotland . . .' Searles even described a Leighton coat of arms which had been first granted in 1260:
'There was a family Bible that belonged to Thomas Sr, and passed on to his son Thomas Jr, in whose posession it remained as long as he lived. In this Bible was engraved the Leighton Coat of Arms; the description of this engraving in the old Bible corresponds exactly with that furnished by the Heraldry Office. What became of the Bible I do not know.'
Despite the imporbability of this ancestry many genealogies have confidently shown Thomas of Dover as son of Dr. Alexander Leighton (1568-1649). the Scottish divine and physician had four sons and two daughters but no Thomas among them (Dictionary of National Biogaphy, 11:880-883). we should note, moreover, that Thomas of Dover signed all documents with his mark; it is not likely that Alexander Leighton would have had an illiterate son." 1474
"In his History of New Hampshire [1:33] Stackpole 'safely mentions' Thomas Leighton among passengers on the James. It is very likely but not at all proven that he had been recruited as a planter during Capt. Wiggin's trip to England in 1632 to seek increased financial backing from Shrewsbury merchants." 1474
"Thomas was evidently from the yeoman class of landowners rather than from the gentry. He was a Puritan who displayed no unusual interest in church matters. Nothing is known of his wife Joanna's origin - not even whether the two married in England before the voyage or in Massachusetts or at Dover after his arrival in New England."1474
"Even more persistent than John Scales's Edinburgh legend is that of the 'three brothers' - usually listed as Thomas of dover, William of Kittery and John of Saco. No evidence has been found that any of the early Leighton immigrants were related to one another." 1474
"Thomas (1604-1672) was born in England about 1604 (deposed aged 60 in Dec. 1665), and died at Dover NH 22 Jan 1671-2 (Vital Records of Dover, N.H. [Heritage Books, 1977], reprinted from Collections of the Dover, N.H., Historical Society [Dover, 1894], 117)."1474
"Although no record of his arival exists, Thomas Layton (as the name was spelled in early records) was undoubtedly among the planters of Dover (then called Northam) who settled at Cocheco or Dover Point in 1633 under the leadership of Capt. Thomas Wiggin (see Introduction). His home lot of ten acres was on the present border of Dover and Madbury, later bisected by the Post Road which bridged the Piscataquis river; for generations this area was called 'Leighton's Hill' (Mary P. thompson, Landmarks in Anceint Dover, N.H. [Durham, 1892], 118-1119.) About tow and a half centuries after, in 1885, Mary Ann (Leighton) Rollins had a monument erected 'In Memory of the Leighton Household' in the field on the west side of the Back River Road."1474
"Thomas soon acquired extensive land holdings (John Scales, History of Dover, N.H.: Colonial Era [Mancester, 1923, reprinted in 1977], 202, 235-248); in 1639 he was taxed on property valued at 155 pounds - the highest assessment in the town. In 1640 he was granted ten acres of marshland on Great Bay; in 1642 he received #18 of the 20-acre lots laid out on the west side of the Back River; on 15 Apr. 1646 he was allotted ten acres on Great Bay near Laighton's Cove (on Bloody Point, which later became the town of Newington)." 1474
"On the tax list of 19 10 mo [Dec.] 1646 he had the second-highest assessment (Scales, Dover, 234; for tax lists of 1649 through 1666 see Alonzo Quint, Historical Memoranda concerning persons and places in Old Dover, N.H. [Dover, 1900, reprinted in 1983], 140, 349-364). He, William Pomfret and John Dam were granted mill privileges at Bellamy's Bank in 1649 (Quint, Old Dover, 35); he sold his quarter-share in the sawmill there 8 apr. 1653 (NEHR, 47 [1893]: 469. On 10 Jan. 1655 he was granted 100 acres on the west shore of Great Bay, and in 1656 another 30 acres of upland adjoining Leighton's Cove (Thompson, Landmarks, 118-9) and 100 acres on the south side of Frenchman's Creek. In 1656 he bought 20 more acres adjoining his Back Bay property from Ambrose Gibbons. On 11 Jan. 1658-9 he deeded 20 acres to his apprentice John Wingate (New Hampshire Province Deeds [NHPD], 3:43), and on 16 Feb. 1670 he deeded to Thomas, Jr., the house and 160-acre farm north of royall's Cove which his son was already occupying (NHPD 3:58)."1474
"Land was usually laid out to settlers according to their ability to develop it. thomas Layton's land acquisitions suggest that he immigrated bringing the money and tools he would need to establish himself in the new world. . . He was influential in shping the pioneer community. His name and mark ('T') are on all the early political documents: the petition against control by Massachusetts Bay 4 Mar. 1640 (N.H. Provincial and State Paters [NHSP], 1:128); the Dover Combination of 22 Oct. 1640 (10:701); the petition on 9 Oct. 1641 for union with the Bay Colony; a petition against the Parentees in 1654 (1:212); and on 10 oct. 1665 a declaraion of continued allegiance to Massachusetts (1:284-5). He was repeatedly chosen as selectman, grand juror and constable ('Extracts from Dover town Records,' Hew Hampshire Genealogical Record [NHGR], 4 [1907]: 247; Quint, Old Dover, 1-10). He was made a freeman (having full voting rights) in 1653 and was released from the obligation for military training 26 June 1661 (NHSP, 40:157)."1474
"Thomas Layton's will, made 21 Sept. 1671, was admitted ot probate 25 June 1672 (NHSP, 31:126-7, 212). It was unusual in that his widow was left with a life interest in the whole estate rather than the usual one-third dower right, and that his children were not to receive their shares until her re-marriage of death. An inventory of his esate was made 15 Feb. 1671-2 (New Hampshire Province Probate Records [NHPP], 1:145-6; 2:186)." 1474
"Leighton. (Variously spelled Layton; Laton.) Thomas was born in 1604; came to America about 1633. That years he took a lot of Capt. Wiggans, which is thus described in 1647: - 'butting on the Back River west, and on John Dam's Lott on the North, and on the Lane to ye back Coue on the South.' - He had various grants of land which it would puzzle an Indian to locate now, one of which was, in 1656, 100 acres joining to the 20 acres he bought of Mr. Gibbons, formerly belonging to Mr. Rogers. - He lived on Dover Neck; died 22 Jan'y 1672. His will was dated 21 Sept'r 1671; proved 25 June, 1672. He gave property, therein, to his 'only son and heir' Thomas, and to his daughters Mary (wife of Thomas Roberds, Jr., ) - Elizabeth (wife of Philip Cromwell,) and Sarah."1480
"The Earliest Tax Lists [Dover, NH].
In 1648, in town meeting - 'A town rate of 4d on a pound was made 19th, 10 mo, on the following persons: -
Thos. Layton 156 £ 10s. 0d. Rate 2 12 0"1001
"The tax list of 1650, for the public charges of the town [Dover, NH], is as follows:
Thomas Layton 2£ 12s. 5d. "1001
" ' Rate maed the 12, 8th, (16) 58 for Mr Reyner his preuetione.'
Tho. Layton 2£ 12s. 6d." 1001
"'A Rate maed ye 19th of 9 Month 1662 for Mr. Rayners Prouition.'
Tho Layton 1£ 4s. 6d. " 1001
" ' A Prouition Rate made ye 7th, 10th month 1663 Apon all ye Inhabitants of this township of Dover at a penny apon the pound.'
Thomas layton 1£ 6s. 7d. " 1001
" ' A Prouetion Rate maed the 2d loth mo. 1666 for Mr Rayner at a penny in the pound throwe the hole towneshep.'
Dover Neck
Thomas Layton 1£ 7s. 4 1/2 d." 1001
"Atkinson's Hill. This hill is in the sourth-western part of the Back River district, not far from the old Pascataqua bridge. It is partly in Dover and partly in Madbury, and is so named from the Hon. w.m King Atkinson, who acquired landhere at the close of the last century. It is often mentioned in the Madbury records as 'Laighton's Hill,' a name derived from the Leighton family that owned land in this vicinity for nearly 200 years, descendants of Thomas Layton of the Dover Combination of 1640. (see Royall's Cove.) The Atkinson house, now owned by Mrs. Simpson, is in Madbury. The Laighton house, owned by Mr. prescott, is in Dover. The road from Dover to the old Pascataqua bridge crosses Atkinson hill between these two houses. This height affords an admirable view of the neighboring waters extending from the mouth of Oyster river and the opening into Little bay, to a great distance down th Pascataqua. The river directly in front is nearly a mile in width, and dotted by islands, two of which once formed links in the Pascataqua bridge; and beyond the borad expanse are the beautifully varied shores of Newington. Daniel, Webster, who often crossed Atkinson hill on his way to and from Portsmouth when is was court time at Dover, declared this view unsurpassed by any other in New England. (see Laighton's Hill). "1002
"the earliest saw-mill on the Bellamy is supposed to have stood at the head of tide water. The falls here were granted to John Dam, Thomas Layton, and Wm. Pomfrett the 23d, 9 mo., 1649, but were afterwards acquired by Thomas Beard, Wm. Follet, Thomas Layton, and Philip Lewis. Thomas Layton conveyed his quarter part of the saw-mill here to Richard Waldron, Ap. 8, 1653. " 1002
"Clement's Point. Whitehouse's map of Dover in 1834 gives this name to the point at the mouth of Back river, on the west side. It is also so called in Sanford & Evert's Atlas of Strafford Co. The Clement land in the lower part of the Back River district, adjoining the lands of Samuel Emerson and Thomas Layton, is repeatedly mentioned in the early records." 1002
"Royall's Cove, oterwise Ryall's. . . Thomas Layton, the 6th, 10 mo., 1656, had a grant of 100 acres on the west side of Back river, adjoining a twenty acre lot he bought of Ambrose Gibbons, previously Mr. Rogers' lot; - which hundred acres were 'laid out at the head of this twenty acre lot, 16 poles by the northernmost branch of Riall's cove, and so up the freshett 16 and 13 pole, the creek being on the south side.' (See Franchman's Creek.) thomas layton, Sr., Feb. 13, 1670, 'out of love and affection to his natural son, Thomas Layton, Jr.,' conveyed to him the dwelling house then in his possession, together with eight score acres of land, whereof 20 were granted Henry Tibbets, 20 to Mr. rogers, and the rest to himself, all adjoining;" 1002 |