Peter Shumway, II

Biography

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/169799449/peter-shumway

Peter Shumway II, took over the rights of Joshua Chandler Sept 13, 1713. Joshua being one of the 30 families comprising the resettlement of Oxford, est. July 8, 1713. m. Maria (Mary) Smith Feb 11, 1700-1

Children of Peter and Mary:

1. Oliver b May 10, 1701
2. Jeremiah b Mar 21, 1703
3. David b Dec 23, 1705
4. Mary b May 9, 1708 m Caleb Barton Dec 6, 1725
5. Samuel b Apr 22, 1711 Find A Grave Memorial# 133442659 Samuel Shumway
6. John b Aug 10, 1713
7. Jacob b Mar 10, 1717
8. Hepzibah b Apr 6, 1720 m Kosick Walker Nov 12, 1841
9. Amos b Jan 31, 1722

Possibility Peter could be buried in a location other than Old Burial Ground in the Oxford area

He was also one of the first settlers of Oxford. The first vote recorded on the proprietor's books is dated Sept 13,1713, which reads:"Voted, that Peter Shumway shall come as an inhabitant of Oxford upon the right of Joshua Chandler"

Basic information taken from the book "Genealogy of the Shumway Famil y in the United States of America." Compiled by Asahel Adams Shumway. Volum e 1. Reprinted 1972 by Maple Press, George Shumway, Publisher, York, PA. Pa ge

1. 28, Book identification #2.

MARRIAGE: Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT, Film #0761323

From the seven sons of Peter2 have descended all of the Shumways foun d in this country.

Removed from Topsfield, Massachusetts to Oxford, Massachusetts about 1 714.

One of the first "voted in" inhabitants of the town of Oxford, MA. in 1713.

Oxford was a settlement in the heart of the so called "Nipmuck Countr y" which Oliver Wendell Holmes called "the second colony of the Pilgrim F athers" Several books have been written about this area and time.

Will was presented for probate before Judge Joseph Wilder, Worchester , Massachusetts on Sep. 17, 1751.

Even though Peter II, first-born of Peter "the soldier" and Frances Sh umway had three brothers and one sister, he was the only one to pass on the family name. His se ven sons, however, greatly augmented the Shumway genes pool by producing offspring too nu merous for me to count here.

Sometime after the Soldier's death in Boxford, Massachusetts the famil y seems to have split up. The widow Frances with son Samuel must have moved three or four miles to Topsfield for it was here that, in 1714, she made her last will and testament signing it: her Francies X Shumway mark Peter stayed in Boxford, probably on the family farm, with his wife an d children. His brother Joseph moved to Topsfield and apparently never married, for no wife nor child ren were mentioned in his will. Their sister Dorcas married Valentine Butler and later, Henry Whitting ham, and between these two marriages produced three children.

Brother John moved from Boxford to Oxford, an abandoned settlement abo ut 75 miles southwest. Quite a distance in colonial times. He probably joined Peter and famil y who pulled up stakes from Boxford in 1714.

Oxford was originally called "New Oxford" and was to have been coloniz ed in 1686 by thirty French Protestant families who promised to develop the new colony. Well, not all thirty showed up, so the little group had a tough time getting started. Hostile Indians didn't help much, either. When in 1696 after repeated raids through the years, the Indians attacked and killed near ly the whole family of one of the settlers, the rest of them threw in the towel and left for Boston.

So the village stayed empty for sixteen years, when it got resettled b y about thirty new families including Peter and his brood. Oxford (by now the "New" had been dropp ed) apparently prospered as the Shumways stayed on and the family kept growing until goodwife M aria had presented Peter with nine children. Maria was Maria SMITH in Boxford, until her marriage into the Shumway family in about 1700. She died in 1738 in Oxford at age 60.

Peter lasted another thirteen years and apparently remarried, for in h is will drawn in 1741 he not only generously endowed all of his offspring, including ou r ancestor, Jacob, but he left his "beloved wife Mary" among other things, the use of on e room and the cellar in his house for as long as she would need it. Oh, yes, he left her a "milch cow" too.

Much is written about Peter Shumway, son of the man known as Peter th e soldier, in Asahel Adams Shumways' book. Of his siblings Peter is the only one seemingly to have produced children and therefore all Shumways are believed to be d escended from his seven sons. According to Mr. A.A. Shumway, Peter left Topsfield, M A and removed to Oxford about 1714.

Peter was one of the founders of Oxford, Massachusetts. He was one of thirty heads of family who settled Oxford in 1714.

WILL OF PETER SHUMWAY 2D.

"In the Name of God Amen--This Twelfth day of May in the year of our L ord One Thousand seven hundred and forty one I Peter Shumway of Oxford in the County o f Worcester in the province of ye Massachusetts Bay in New England Husbandman being advan ced in years and in a weak and Low Condition do make this my Last will and Testamen t as follows vizt. First and principally I Comitt my soul into the hands of almighty God my Creator hoping in his mercy thro' the merrits Death and passion and prevailing Intercess ion of Jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour and my Body I desire may be Decently Interred at y e Discretion of my Executors hereafter named in faith of ye Resurrection of it at the Las t Day and as Touching such Temporal Estate as God hath betrusted me with after my Just Debt s and funeral Charges are paid I will and bequeath the same as follows. That is to say--

Imp. I give and bequeath unto my beloved wife Mary Shumway the use an d Improvement of one room and Cellar in my present Dwelling house During her Natural l Life if she Continues my Widow Rent free if she shall Incline so long to Live therein. But n ot otherwise. I likewise give and bequeath unto my said Wife one good milch Cow for which my Ex ecutor hereafter named shall find and procure at his proper Cost and Charge hay in the winter and pasture in the Summer and if by any Casualtys the said Cow should Dye or be re ndered unprofitable I hereby order my Executor to find my said wife the milk of a Cow wit h Sufficient keeping as afore said. Moreover I hereby order and appoint my Executor to procur e and provide for my said wife yearly Dureing her natural Life Seven bushels of Indian Mea l three bushels of Rye meal Eighty pound of Pork forty pound of Beef fine wood and Water Ten pounds of Sheeps Wool fifteen pounds of well Dressed Flax. I also give and bequeath unt o my said wife all the Household Goods which she brought with her at our marriage an d finally I order my Executor to be at the Charge of Giving my said Wife at her Decease a C hristian Decent Burial f she dyes my Widow.

Item-I give and bequeath unto my Eldest Son Oliver Shumway Ten shillin gs in the present Currancy of new-England he having already Rec'd his full part and Portion of al l my Estate by Deed of Gift.

Item--I give and bequeath unto my son David Shumway Ten pounds in the present Currancy of the Bills of the old Tenor of the said Province he having already R ec'd the Greater part in Cash of his part and Portion of all my Estate.

Item--I give and bequeath unto my Son Samuel Shumway Twenty pounds in the present Currancy of the Bills of the old Tenor of said Province he having already Rec' d in Cash and Cattle the Greater part of his Portion of all my Estate.

Item--I give and bequeath unto my Son John Shumway five shillings in t he present Currancy of the Bills of y' old Tenor of the said province he having already Rec'd by Deed of Gift his full part and Portion of all my Estate.

Item--I give and bequeath unto my Son Jacob Shumway five shillings in the present Currancy of the Bills of ye Old Tenor of y' said Province he having already Rec'd in Cash his full part and Portion of all my Estate.

Item--I give and bequeath unto my Son Amos Shumway one hundred Pounds in the present Currancy of the Bills of the old Tenor of y' said Province to be paid unto the said Amos Shumway when he arrives at the full age of one and Twenty years.

Item--I give and bequeath unto my Daughter Mary Barton Twenty Pounds i n the present Currancy of the Bills of ye old Tenor of ye said Province to be paid t o her or her heirs at the Expiration of one year after my Decease She having already had some Considerable part and portion of all my Estate .

Item-I give and bequeath unto my Daughter Hepsibah Shumway Twenty Poun ds in the present Currancy of the Bills of ye old Tenor of y' said pro vince to be paid to her at the Expiration of one year after my Deceas e or whensoever she is marryed she having already Received some Consid erable part of her part and portion of all my Estate.

Item--I give and bequeath unto my Son Jeremiah Shumway all and Singula r my lands Tenements Hereditaments, Buildings Movables and Utensills W hatsoever as well within doors as Without not Disposed of already in t his my Last will and Testament To be to him the said Jeremiah Shumway his heirs and assigns as his and their proper Estate and Inheritance w ithout any Reservation or Condition.

Item--I do hereby nominate Desire and Appoint my said Son Jeremiah Shu mway Sole Executor of this my Last will and Testament.

In testimony whereof I the said Peter Shumway Have hereunto set my han d and seal The Day and year first herein before written PETER SHUMWAY L. S. Signed Sealed & Delivered In presence of us by the said Peter Shumway and by him declared to be his Last Will and Testament

Jonathan Town Samel Town Abiel Lamb Jr. (Presented for probate before Judge Joseph Wilder, Worcester, Massachu setts, on Sep. 17, 1751

[It would appear by this will that he had a second wife "Mary" but no entry of such marriage appears in either town or church records. A. A. S.]

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Peter II and Maria (his wife) and their family migrated to Oxford, Mas sachusetts, after the parents died in 1714. It is assumed the only ones left was Dorcus and her fami ly in the Boxford area. There is no further record of her and family. The brothers, Samuel an d Joseph were buried there.

Oxford was in the heart of the Nipmuck Country, named after the Nipmuc k Indians. In 1646, John Elliot started his missionary efforts as an "Apostle to the India ns." These Indians were not as hostile as those along the coast. In 1683 a grant of sixty-fiv e square miles was given three men to establish a French Protestant Colony. It does not say Hug uenots, but most of the French Protestants at that time were Huguenots. The pioneers had a rough time getting started and the quarrelsome Indians came in making things even more difficult . The Indians finally massacared the Johnson family and those that were still there left. The massacre took place August 25, 1696.

In 1713 a movement was started to re-settle Oxford again by the Englis h. A grant was made to let thirty families settle the area. Sept. 13, 1713 the thrity families vo ted to let Peter Shumway come as an inhabitant of Oxford upon the right of Joshua Chandler, one of t he thirty.

Peter II's Will is of record. The Will was probated Sept. 17, 1751 at Worchester, Massachusetts It appears by the Will he had a second wife, Mary.

DOC: Daniels, George F. History of the town of Oxford, Massachusetts, Oxford,1892. Peter of Topsfield was progenitor of all of the name in the country, s o far as known. It is well known that in several other instances in Oxford names, the French terminatio n OIS has been changed to WAY. A letter of William H. Shumway, Esq., lawyer at Syracuse, N. Y., May, 1871, says: "I understand from an attache' of Joseph Bonaparte that our name Shumway is a corruption of 'Chamois,' a person bearing it was Compte De Chamois, a member of the court of Louis XIV.

In 1713 they moved to Oxford where they were living in 1726, when the y deeded their share of Robert Smith's estate her brothers Jacob and Ephriam;

He was 17 when his father died. His mother died when he was 36. In 171 3 he moved his family to Oxford, Massachusetts Oxford had been orginally settled in 1686 by a group of Huguenots. The y were pushed back to Boston by Indians. Peters family was one of thirty that were selected to resettle the Oxford are a.

The home lot of Joshua Chandler, who 10/12/1721, conveyed to Peter Shu mway, who came in on Chandler's rights; 5/12/1741, Peter Shumway to Jeremiah , his son, 1/2; 7/12/1755, Jeremiah Shumway to Isaac Larned, in exchang e for another property; 4/8/1756, Isaac Larned to Capt. James Griffin, who d there; 1/12/1771, executor of will of Griffin to Josiah Wolcott; 1/18/1771, Josiah Wolco tt to William Watson; 1772, William Watson sold this with the tannery to Jonathan Go uld of Woodstock; it later went with another lot to Hardy, Duncan, Jones, Goulding and F orbes; 1794, Forbes to William Phips, Esq., 1 a. The next owner was probably Thomas Russel l; title not found. He d there and his son Josiah succeeded and occupied and d there 1867 ; 9/28/1867, heirs of Josiah Russell to Elijah Pratt, who d there 1881; 4/8/1882, H annah J., widow of Elijah Pratt to Ithiel T. Johnson. (History of Oxford page 345)

http://www.petershumway.org/oxford.htm - 1714 Map of Oxford, Worcester , Massachusetts

Förnamn Peter Efternamn Shumway Födelseort Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts Topsfield MA Dödsdatum 17 maj 1741 1751 Dödsort Oxford, Worcester County, Massachusetts Oxford MA