Joseph Prior

Joseph Prior (son of Thomas Prior and Hannah) was baptized 1 Oct. 1626 at Watford St. Mary, Hertfordshire, England, and died 14 Aug 1692 in Duxbury, MA.

Family

He married Hannah Rogers on 1650 in Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA.

More About Joseph Prior and Hannah Rogers:
Marriage: 1650, Scituate, Plymouth Co., MA.

Children of Joseph Prior and Hannah Rogers are:

1. Mary Prior, b. 1664.
2. Joseph Prior, b. 1666.
3. John Prior, b. 1668.
4. Benjamin Prior, b. 1670, Duxbury, MA, d. 1748, Norwich, New London Co., CT.

Biography

From https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Prior-791

Joseph Prior, son of Thomas, was baptized 1 Oct. 1626 at Watford St. Mary, Hertfordshire, England.[1] Joseph and his siblings were mentioned in the 1639 will of his father Thomas Prior of Scituate.[2]

"In 1644, we find that the younger brother, Joseph, brought suit against Daniel and wife Mary to obtain a legacy due him from his father. John was the administrator of the father's will and if John Pryor was then alive the suit would naturally have been against him."[3]

On 7 Oct. 1651, Nathaniel Bassett and Joseph Prior of Duxburrough were charged with "disturbing the church of Duxburrough on the Lord's Day."[4] Their punishment was decided the following March: They were sentenced to pay a fine of 20 shillings each, "or, the next town meeting or training day, both of them to bee bound unto a post for the space of two hours, in some public place, with a paper on their heads, on which their capital crime shalbe written perspicuously, soe as may be read."[5]

In 1655 Joseph Prior was mentioned as the "man servant" of Rev. Ralph Partridge of Duxbury, who bequeathed to Joseph "my first calf of this year."[6]

On 6 December 1659, Joseph Prior appeared in court, being accused of "alluring a young maide, a kinswoman to Mr. Collyares," and getting her to help him take things from Mr. Collyare's house without the owner's permission.[7] He and the accuser were required to post bond and appear at the next general court on 7 Mar. 1659-60, where Joseph showed "great humiliation" for what he had done, and the case was dropped.[8]

On 7 May 1661 Joseph Prior was found guilty of stealing "a pair of button moulds out of the house of Mr. Thacher, of Waymouth," and was sentenced to "sit in the stocks at the pleasure of the court."[9]

In November 1669 Joseph Prior was a member of a coroner's jury that found that John Paybody died while riding his horse, when his head struck a low-lying tree limb, breaking his skull.[10]

It appears that Joseph Prior died in 1692 in Duxbury.[11] In December 1692 John Pryer of "Duxburouh" released all interest the houses and lands in Duxburough belonging to his deceased father Joseph Pryer, to his brother Benjamin Pryer of Duxborough, "knowing that it was my honored father's mind."[12] In other words, this document served as a substitute for a will. A transcription of the record is on John Pryer's profile.

Citations

• This forum post cites the LDS International Genealogical Index, also giving baptism dates for Joseph's siblings who emigrated to America. Per this forum post, and see Roberta Greenway's My Priors website.
• Roberta Greenway, My Priors website. For the actual record, see Plymouth Colony Records, vol. 2, p. 77, text as follows: On 5 Nov. 1644, "Joseph Pryor, now dwelling with John Rogers, of Duxburrough, not yet fully 21 years of age, chooseth Mr. Tymothy Hatherly to be his guardian until he shall accomplish the age of 21 years; and whereas he had commenced an action against Daniell Pryor and Mary, his wyfe, for a legacy of five pounds, which was bequeathed him by his father, and is now in the hands of the said Daniell Pryor and Mary, his wyfe, whereof the said Joseph hath received twelve shillings, and the other four pounds eight shillings is put into Mr. Hatherly his said guardian's hands, to be paid the said Joseph when he shall accomplish his said age, and the said Daniell Pryor and Mary, his wyfe, are thereof discharged from payment of the said legacy hereafter, this being so ordered by the Court, with consent of all parties."
• Plymouth Colony Records, vol. 2, p. 174.
• Plymouth Colony Records, vol. 3, p. 4.
• John Demos, A Little Commonwealth: Family Life in Plymouth Colony (1999 -- google e-book), p. 117.
• Plymouth Colony Records, vol. 3, p. 177.
• Plymouth Colony Records, vol. 3, p. 180.
• Plymouth Colony Records, vol. 3, p. 213.
• Plymouth Colony Records, vol. 5, p. 29.
• Nahum Mitchell, History of the Early Settlement of Bridgewater, in Plymouth County, Massachusetts (1840), p 280.
• See this land record, from Plymouth County Deeds, Vol. 1, p. 178.

Links

• http://www.dkdonovan.com/getperson.php?personID=I45264&tree=Main
• http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/w/i/l/Terry-A-Wilson-1/W...

Sources 

1. Philip Delano of the "Fortune" 1621 and his Descendants for Four Generations, Muriel Curtis Cushing, (Name: Name: General Society of Mayflower Descendants 2002;;).
2. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. By Clarence Almon Torrey, Elizabeth Petty Bentley. Page 605.