Thomas Willard

Thomas Willard, Sr. b. April 1, 1713 in Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts, d. 1799 in Chesterfield, Cheshire, New Hampshire, United States. Baptized May 3, 1713 in Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts

Parents: Hezekiah Willard b. 1683 in Lancaster, Massachusetts and Anna Wilder b. 1689 or 1696 in Lancaster, Massachusetts, daughter of Thomas Wilder and Mary Houghton

Wives:

1. Sarah Willard (Gibson) b. October 27, 1710 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts d. May 22, 1779 in Harvard, Worcester, Massachusetts. Daughter of Deacon Timothy Gibson (c.1679-July 14, 1757) b. in Cambridge, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, d. in Stow, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts and Rebecca Gates (July 23, 1682-January 21, 1754) b. in Marlborough, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, d. in Stow, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Married June 29, 1732.
2. Sarah Willard (Brewer) m. February 25, 1785 in Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts

Children with Sarah Gibson:

1. Timothy Willard (December 9, 1733-September 23, 1746)
2. Jeremiah Willard (January 1735-September 19, 1746) b. in Harvard, Worcester Co., Massachusetts
3. Rebecca Willard (February 24, 1737-) born in Harvard, Worcester Co., Massachusetts m. Phineas Willard (cousin) (b. October 1, 1736) b. in Lancaster, Worcester Co., Massachusetts, son of Phineas Willard and Mary Sawyer
4. Stephen Willard (January 3, 1738-July 26, 1742) b. in Harvard, Worcester Co., Massachusetts
5. Solomon Willard (August 29, 1740-September 16, 1757) b. in Harvard, Worcester Co., Massachusetts
6. Samuel Willard (July 5, 1742-September 10, 1746) b. in Harvard, Worcester Co., Massachusetts
7. Sarah Willard (September 10, 1743-September 12, 1746) b. in Harvard, Worcester Co., Massachusetts
8. Jonathan Willard (August 6, 1744-August 29, 1832) b. in Harvard, Worcester Co., Massachusetts
9. Gibson Willard (c.1745-September 11, 1746) b. in Harvard, Worcester Co., Massachusetts
10. Thomas Willard, Jr. (April 13, 1749-) b. in Harvard, Worcester Co., Massachusetts d. in Chesterfield, Massachusetts, m. Sarah Farwell (July 9, 1750) b. in Harvard, Worcester Co., Massachusetts, daughter of John Farwell and Sarah Sawtell
11. Gibson Willard (October 13, 1750-) b. in Harvard, Worcester Co., Massachusetts, m. Mary Hall (d. 1824) d. in United States
12. Reuben Willard (November 14, 1755-July 12, 1823)b. in Worcester Co., Massachusetts, m. Catherine Parkhurst (December 15, 1752-August 17, 1838) b. in United States, d. in Channahon, Will, Illinois, United States

Note: He sold for 100 lbs. to Gibson Willard of Harvard, April 1 4, 1777, land in Fitchburg on the westerly side of Pearl Hill

"Thomas Willard, eldest child of Captain Hezekiah, born amid scenes of vernal beauty, and accustomed through youth to an expansive outlook, was a gentleman of fine physical proportions and attrative personality; broad-shouldered, erect and tall, tipping the scales at two-hundred and forty. Clad in the picturesque costume then prevailing, his was a noticeable figure. Affable, benevolent, and courteous, he was a well-known and highly respected resident of Harvard, Mass., for more than the allotted period of life.

He had joined the church early, and at nineteen married a widow with two children. They were reared tenderly, and settled in life no less comfortably than his own; receiving unimpaired the patrimony left by their father.

Of his twelve children, but five attained maturity. They married and deserted the home; and after seven years of loneliness he married as second wife, a widow, whose departed husband left her in straitened circumstances with six young children. With her and this third brood, in 1786, he too left the place of his birth, settling at Chesterfield, N.H., where two of his sons had settled. There he dwelt until his death in 1799."

Sources:

* Title: WILLARD GENEALOGY, SEQUEL TO WILLARD MEMOIR

Author: Materials gathered by Joseph Willard and Charles Wilkes Walker, Edited and completed by Charles Henry Pope Publication: Printed for the Willard Family Assn., Boston, MA, 1915, Murray and Emery, Kendall Sq., Cambridge, MA, Digital Edition 2001 by Richard Bingham, Oceanport, NJ

Media: Electronic 

* Book "Heroic Willards of '76":