James Frizzell

According to family tradition, the two oldest sons of Andrew 2nd Lord Fraser, William (Master of Fraser) and James Fraser escaped to France after the defeat at the Battle of Dunbar by Cromwell's forces. Not knowing their fate, on 5 June 1651 their father settled his estates upon his next son, Andrew. Knowing that they were wanted men, the two men sailed to America changing their names to "Frissell" in order to protect their identities with James settling in Roxbury. Gary Fraser

[While true they did sail to America, it was not voluntarily as James was apprentlly POW was #30 on the Dunbar Prisoners list and was under a 5 to 7 year indenture]

http://scottishprisonersofwar.com/39-james-fresell30-on-the-dunbar-...

From ANNALS OF THE FRAZIER FAMILY - PREFATORY

As I have stated, James Frissell, our ancestor, made settlement in Massachusetts in about 1652, and in Roxbury, at what is now called Jamaica Plain, which is within the present corporate limits of Boston, and between three and four miles from the business center of the city. There is no record of the purchase or acquisition of his land. He is mentioned in the records of the to Roxbury free school as one of the signers of a covenant ·with a teacher, December 25, 1668. The following is the oldest receipt on file among the papers of this school ( 1674-5): , "This writing witnesseth, That I, Thomas Weld, Jr., have received of James Frizzell, Sr., the full and just sum of ten shillings in current money of New England for the marsh given by Samuel Finch to the school the 6th day of this instant, month as … witness my hand. Thomas Weld, Jr. Dated 6, 1, 1674-5."

He married Sarah Busketh, who died February 1, 1712. They had five sons whose names were: James, born in 1658; Samuel, 1663; Benjamin, 1667; Joseph, Ebenezer, 1670; and three daughters-Mary, 1656; Sarah, 1665; and Hannah, born in 1669. The first record of him relates to the birth of his daughter, Mary, May 16, 1656. The will of Elizabeth Heath, widow, dated January 1st, 1664, gave 20 shillings to "Goodman Frysell," that married "Goodman Busketh's" daughter. The following abstract is taken from the registry of deeds, Suffolk Co., Mass., book 31, page 14:

"James Frissell, of Roxbury, being old and infirm, in consideration of the good care his son, James, has taken of him for some time past, and because he will continue so to do, deeds certain lands to said son, and mentions his daughter-in-law, Mary, wife of James, his son, Samuel, who was to be paid 35 pounds, his daughter, Mary Allen, and the children of his son, Joseph, now dead. Dated July 4th, 1712."

James Frissell died February 6th, 1716, aged 90 years. James, the son, deeded the lands mentioned to his son, John, in 1740, and they passed out of the latter's possession in 1752, having been in the family nearly 100 years.

Annals of the Frazier Family

There is on file among the probate records of Middlesex County, Mass., an" inventory of William Frizel, Scotsman, who died on the twenty-fifth day of January, 1684." It is conjectured by some that he was one of the prisoners captured by Cromwell at the battle of Worcester in September, 1651, and sent to the colonies for sale. That he was a brother of James, of Roxbury, has color from the following: His son, William, removed to Ipswich, Mass., where he died in January, 1735· He had six sons, viz: William, George, John, James, Joseph and Samuel. The coincidence of the last four names with those common among the descendants of Jam es it is thought could hardly be accidental.

American History of the Family

James Frissel, our ancestor, a young man of twenty-six or twenty-eight years, settled in Massachusetts at about the time of the arrival of the political prisoners mentioned. That, with Charles and the clan, he had been engaged in the disastrous battles against Cromwell's forces, is doubtless true, and it is possible that he was one of the prisoners, although the traditions of the family are, that he, together with a brother, fled to this country because of having been engaged on the losing side of a conflict, changing their name in passage from Fraser to what was then its less known equivalent, Frisel. It is highly probable that he was one of those, who, like King Charles, escaped from the field of battle, and being in a hostile country, secreted himself for a time, found opportunity for escape, perhaps to France, as did Charles, for there is some evidence that he took passage from that country to this. Emigrating to Massachusetts, then a colony of England, against which country he had been in arms, fearing pursuit, and having a keen apprehension of the possible embarrassments of recognition and capture, it was but prudential to drop the brilliant name of his clan, which had attained increased prominence on the fields of Dun bar and Worcester, and take that of Frisel, to which his clansmen had given recognition and honor before. One of our family makes the statement that four years ago there was a book in a school district library in Jefferson County, N.Y., a biography of persons who took an active part in the wars between Scotland and England, in which it was stated, by a marginal note, that a family of the name Frazier came to America, and were afterwards known by the name of Frizell. What importance shall be attached to the belief of so many of the family that they are of recent French descent? I find this belief in a Frizelle living in Independence, Iowa, a descendant of the Woodstock, Ct., family, and of that branch that went to South Brimfield, Mass., also with Michael Frizzell, of Arlington, Ill., who sprang from the Leyden family. The latter wrote me in 1879 as follows: "I was told by a man by the name of Parmeter, some fifty years ago, that his great-grandfather said that two brothers by the name of Frizzell came from France in the same vessel with him, and landed in Boston, and that they went out west into the country." An old family tradition, before referred to, says that two brothers came together. Were not these brothers James, of Roxbury, the first record of whom is in 1656, and William, of Braintree, who died in 1663, and is it not probable, although Scotchmen, that they took passage from France, which, if a fact, would give color for the belief in French nationality referred to? I am inclined to this view, and to regard others of the name who appear later, as relatives who came afterward, and yet, 14,000 "killed or taken prisoners at Worcester, 800 were Frasers, and it would seem that of the "four or five hundred" prisoners sent to Boston there should have been Frasers among them. But, if our ancestor, James, of Roxbury, came as a prisoner of war, I can see no embarrassment to him in retaining the use of the name Fraser, and why should he have taken that of Frisel, which I am inclined to think was then but little used by the clan? If, on the other hand, he came as a fugitive from the battle field of Worcester, the reason for the change can be appreciated and understood. As I have stated, James Frissell, our ancestor, made settlement in Massachusetts in about 1652, and in Roxbury, at what is now called Jamaica Plain, which is within the present corporate limits of Boston, and between three and four miles from the business center of the city. There is no record of the purchase or acquisition of his land. He is mentioned in the records of the Roxbury free school as one of the signers of a covenant ·with a teacher, December 25, 1668. The following is the oldes receipt on file among the papers of this school ( 1674-5): "This writing witnesseth, That I, Thomas Weld, Jr., have received of James Frizzell, Sr., the full and just sum of ten shillings in current money of New England for the marsh given by Samuel Finch to the school the 6th day of this instant, month as … witness my hand. Thomas Weld, Jr. Dated 6, 1, 1674-5." He married Sarah Busketh, who died February 1, 1712. They had five sons whose names were: James, born in 1658; Samuel, 1663; Benjamin, 1667; Joseph, Ebenezer, 1670; and three daughters-Mary, 1656; Sarah, 1665; and Hannah, born in 1669. The first record of him relates to the birth of his daughter, Mary, May 16, 1656. The will of Elizabeth Heath, widow, dated January 1st, 1664, gave 20 shillings to "Goodman Frysell," that married "Goodman Busketh's" daughter. The following abstract is taken from the registry of deeds, Suffolk Co., Mass., book 31, page 14:

"James Frissell, of Roxbury, being old and infirm, in consideration of the good care his son, James, has taken of him for some time past, and because he will continue so to do, deeds certain lands to said son, and mentions his daughter-in-law, Mary, wife of James, his son, Samuel, who was to be paid 35 pounds, his daughter, Mary Allen, and the children of his son, Joseph, now dead. Dated July 4th, 1712."

James Frissell died February 6th, 1716, aged 90 years. James, the son, deeded the lands mentioned to his son, John, in 1740, and they passed out of the latter's possession in 1752, having been in the family nearly 100 years.