John of Bristol RI d. 6 Sept 1748
John Dyer of Bristol RI d. 6 Sept 1748.I am looking for his ancestry which is NOT a descent from Charles Dyer and Mary Lippet, although many researchers have placed him in this family.(He is NOT mentioned in the will of purported father Charles Dyer dated 1709, thus eliminating him from this Newport, RI family.The late Frank Dyer with whom I corresponded also questioned this placement.)
“My” John Dyer was probably b. 1695, give or take 3 years.He m. on 1 Dec 1718 in Bristol, Bristol, RI (then Bristol, MA), Sarah Bowerman daughter of Tristram Bowerman of Bristol.To John and Sarah were born:
Ebenezer - 19 Apr 1720
Mary- 21 May 1722
John -10 Sept 1724
Sarah - 28 Aug 1726
Jonathan - 28 June 1729
Martha - 28 June 1729
Jonathan and Martha were twins.Cause of death of John’s wife Sarah was probably due to complications from childbirth.Sarah Bowerman Dyer d. 13 July 1729.
John then went to Taunton for his second wife, Rebecca Jones, b. circa 1712 in Taunton, MA. Rebecca, d. of Joseph Jones and Lydia Neale, and John Dyer were m. 10 Sept 1730.To John and Rebecca were born:
Rebecca - 31 Oct 1731
Lydia - 16 May 1733
Abigail - 25 Feb 1734/35
Jones - 13 Mar 1736/37
Rebecca Jones Dyer d. 20 Aug 1738 in Bristol, RI.
For his third wife, John traveled to the Abington/Braintree area of MA.He m. in Abington widow Mary WHEELER Reed 17 Apr 1739.Mary WHEELER Reed was the daughter of Grizzel Squire and James Wheeler of Rehoboth, and the widow of John Reed of Abington. She m. 1st, 1 Dec 1715, John Reed at Rehoboth, Bristol, MA, who d. Abington before 16 May 1739 when James Reed was named administrator of his father John’s estate (and before 17 Apr 1739 when Mary and John Dyer married.).John Dyer brought Mary and at least three of her children (Joseph, Mary and Samuel) back to Bristol when they married. Mary Wheeler Reed Dyer outlived her second husband, dying at the age of 83 in December 1777, in Bristol. Together, they had no children.
Although they had no children together, John Dyer and Mary Wheeler Reed are my 5th great-grandparents, their children Mary DYER and Joseph REED marrying in Bristol (intentions) 29 DEC 1744.
I believe that John Dyer was a grandson of CHRISTOPHER DYER, and Christopher’s second wife RUTH (unk), and by extension, the great-grandson of William Dyer of Sheepscot, ME. His father was probably Ebenezer, an undocumented son of Christopher and Ruth and his mother was most probably Martha (unk).
Christopher Dyer m. Ruth (unk) sometime after the birth of Grace, circa 1665, dau of he and his first wife, and their last known child.The marriage took place in Braintree between 1665 and 1675.
At the New England Historic Genealogical Society, I discovered Elsa Malcolm’s limited edition book, Dyer Families from Sheepscot and Weymouth, Copy #6, on the shelves. She enumerates the descendants of Christopher (2) and Ruth Dyer (Page 18). The first child of Christopher and Ruth is listed as Ebenezer, b. circa 1672 who m. a Marthaunk.
I corresponded with Ms. Malcolm. Unfortunately, she responded that very few records from her research were still available and could not help me.
I also found a reference to an EBENEZER DYER as a son of Christopher (2) andRuth Dyer cited from "The Mayflower Planters", Leon Clark Hills and published in 1936.This Ebenezer Dyer was said to have married Martha.
An Ebenezer born circa 1672 would have been of an age to marry and have children born about 1695.I believe that Ebenezer and Martha did have at least two children: Martha, b. circa 1694 and John b. 1692-1698.
For his first wife, John was in Bristol, home of his(possible) sister Martha.For his second wife, he visited Taunton (South Purchase Dighton), home of his late grandmother, Ruth (unk) Dyer Hathaway and of his aunts, Rebecca Paul and Mary Talbot. And for his third wife, he went back to the family area of Abington/Braintree – or possibly he knew Mary before she became Reed as she was from neighboring (to Dighton) Rehoboth.
John Dyer later became a miller in Bristol.His son-in-law and daughter Joseph and Mary Dyer Reed along with his daughter Sarah Reed and her husband Benjamin Boyce later became owners of the mill, Joseph and Mary returning from Abington/Braintree where they had settled after their marriage to run the mill.
The names that John and Sarah (Bowerman) chose for their children are all "Abington/Braintree Dyer names" and not "Newport Dyer names". You will find both an Ebenezer and a Martha.Plus, John's mill was on the Poppasquash part of Bristol - much closer to Warren and Barrington, RI, not Newport.I know that John bought the mill on 10 March, 1735/36 from John2 Gladding - and there is a question about John2 Gladding's son John3’s wife who was named Martha Smith.It is probable that Martha was married before she married John3 Gladding (TAG Vol 64, No. 3, July 1989, p.146).I have proven to my satisfaction that she was not surnamed Smith prior to her marriage as is the prevalent view (and that’s a story for another day and another Board!).And, as a Martha who was born 1694, it is just possible that she was a sister to John Dyer and engineered the sale of the mill...............
Finally, when he d., John was recognized by the honorific “Mr.” before his name in the VRs of Bristol – which meant that he was a person of some standing(and that he was not Capt. John, which identity has also been attributed to him).
Does anyone have any further information to support – or refute - my thesis that my John Dyer was the son of Ebenezer and Martha Dyer, grandson of Christopher and Ruth Dyer and great-grandson of William Dyer of Sheepscot ?