“Captain John Ayres was of Ipswich, Mass., in 1648. I know nothing of his parentage. He married
Susannah Symonds of Ipswich... who died Feb. 8, 1682-3. John Ayres moved to Brookfield, Mass.
He was killed by Indians at Brookfield, August, 1675. His widow presented an inventory of his estate,
now recorded at Salem, on which she wrote: “I have seven sons and one daughter.” Although the
births of these children have not all been recorded, I have been able to recover all their names, and, I
think, to arrange them chronologically. They were: John (2) Ayres, wife Mary, had children: John,
Abigail and Ruth. Samuel (2) Ayres of Newbury and Rowley, married at Ipswich, April 16, 1677, Abigail
Fellows (Williams), and had: Mary, John, William, Ephraim, Stephen, Jabez, Samuel, Joseph, Ebenezer
and Edward. Samuel (2) died prior to October, 1717, and his widow lived to 1722, exact dates not
known. In 1704-5 Samuel Ayres, Jr., and John Ayres bought land on which to support their parents
Samuel and Abigail Ayres. Thomas (2) Ayres of Newbury and Ipswich married Hannah Errington (not
Elizabeth Hutchins) March 21, 1677-8, and had: Thomas, Hannah, Rebecca, Susannah, Abraham,
Sarah and Mehitable. Thomas (2) was of Portsmouth in 1717 (see Middlesex Deeds, vol. xx., page
549). Besides his two sons grants were made at Brookfield, 1717, to two sons-in-law, William Scales
and Joseph Moses. In 1729 (Worcester Records, vol cxi., page 277) Cornelius Soules of North
Yarmouth and wife, Susanna, widow of William Scales, sell land at Brookfield.
“Joseph (2) Ayres of Ipswich, married June 9, 1684, Sarah Caldwell, and had: Sarah, Elizabeth, John,
Benjamin, William. He married, as second wife, Hannah Dutch, published April 21, 1710. He removed
to Brookfield and purchased the claims of his brothers. He died Nov. 3, 1740. His wife died July
1740. Edward (2) Ayres of Kittery, Me., had: John, Elizabeth, and a daughter. Mark (2) Ayres (who is
the Mark of E. V. W.’s query), of Kittery, Me., had, as appears by Brookfield grants, 1717, three sons:
Mark, George, and Thomas.” A footnote says, “As to the Kittery branch, Nathaniel and Mark were of
New Hampshire in 1690. Nathaniel (2) Ayres of Boston, married Amy ___ and had: Nathaniel, Edward,
and a daughter.” Nothing more is given of Mark (2), Mark (3), George (3) and Thomas (3). So much
for the John (1) Ayres of Brookfield to the third generation.
John (1) Ayers of Haverhill, born in Nottingham, Eng., about 1600, came to Haverhill, Mass., 1647, died
there March 30, 1657. His wife Hannah died Oct. 8, 1688. Their children were: John, Rebecca,
Robert, Thomas, Peter, Mary, Nathaniel, and Hannah. It was this Thomas (2) Ayers, the fourth child
of John (1) Ayers of Haverhill, who married Elizabeth Hutchins and had the children named by J. N. S.
N. As this Thomas and Elizabeth (Hutchins) Ayers are my own line I am interested.
Captain John (1) of Brookfield had no son Peter. The Peter named as having married Hannah Allen
was a son of John (1) of Haverhill, known as “Cornet Peter.” Also the eldest son John (2), who
married Sarah Williams, was John (2), son of John (1) of Haverhill. The correspondent has confused
him, this John (2), son of John (1) Ayers of Haverhill, with John (1) Ayres of Brookfield, who, as
above, married Susanna Symonds (Mark), was killed by the Indians, etc. After having named the
children of Thomas (2) Ayers and Elizabeth Hutchins as John, Elizabeth, Mary, Love, Thomas and
Samuel, he later speaks of Abraham and Thomas who were the sons of Thomas (2) (John 1 of
Brookfield), and Hannah Errington.
*6030. 3. Ayres. J. N. S. N., Dec. 27, 1916. Have you not in your answer to the query of E. V. W.
confused the families of John (1) Ayres of Brookfield and John (1) Ayres of Haverhill? “A Record of
the Descendants of Captain John Ayres of Brookfield, Mass., “ prepared by William Henry Whitmore
and published in 1870, from which I quote, says: