Jacob Lyon

• BIRTH 1 Jun 1696 Roxbury, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA
• DEATH 19 Apr 1771 (aged 74) Woodstock, Windham County, Connecticut, USA
• BURIAL Woodstock Hill Cemetery, Woodstock, Windham County, Connecticut, USA
• MEMORIAL ID 8811824 Photos by Sarah Beane & Eric McGuire

In 1736 he signed a petition for preaching in West Woodstock. In 1749 he took the freeman's oath.

THE FREEMAN'S OATH
"In the early days of New England a 'freeman' was a man who held the right of franchise. (In 1776 only one-sixth of the population of Boston were voters; therefore, five-sixths of the people had no participation in local government.) Admittance as an inhabitant in the early century was a privilege not lightly acquired, only those being admitted who could contribute something of value to the community. To become a 'Freeman' a man had to be not only a proprietor but must also be a member of the church in good stand." [2]

Inasmuch as the subject of this Freeman's Oath is referred to throughout the early history of all our male ancestors, it is being set forth below for the benefit of their descendants; contrary to what some readers may have previously thought, becoming a freeman had nothing to do with "being freed from serving as an indentured servant." [3]

Inscription
Age 73 Years

Parents
William Lyon 1652–1714

Spouse
Mehetabel Bugbee Lyon 1706–1790

Siblings
Samuel Lyon 1679–1756

Children
Elizabeth Lyon Skinner 1731 – unknown
Grace Lyon Fox 1733–1791
William Lyon 1744–1811
Nathaniel Lyon 1747–1771
Zebulon Lyon 1750–1822

References

[1] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8811824/jacob-lyon

[2[ Genealogies of Charlestown, Mass" by WYMAN (supra)

[3] BRIDGE GENEALOGY (supra), pp.xvi and xvii. by Palmer