First, the 1811 Gray house was built around the earlier Thomas Holt (3) house built in 1708. Thomas Holt's grandson William Holt (5) sold the house and 29 acres to David Gray in 1795. David had lived in the infamous David Gray house across the road until 1811.
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Nicholas Holt (1) married Widow Hannah Bradstreet Rolf on June 12, 1658 at Ipswich. Nicholas adopted the young children of Hannah Bradstreet Rolf including her daughter Hannah and her brother..
The Hannah, daughter of Nicholas Holt and Elisabeth Short who sailed to Boston with her parents died shortly after they settled in Newbury in 1635 but was not recorded.. Another tell is that Robert Gray (1) and Hannah Holt aka Rolf were married in Salem in 1668 and the first 5 children were born in Salem. The last child born to Robert (1) and Hannah was Aaron Gray, born April 14, 1692 in Andover. Nicholas Holt's daughter Hannah (2) would have been 60 years old at that time and that nativity seems very improbable. Hannah Rolf Holt would have been in her early 40's by then.
The deeds between Robert Gray (1) and Dudley Bradstreet and Henry Holt seem much more plausible with that connection. BTW, my records have Nicholas Holt (1) deeding to Robert Gray (1) mariner, a 10 acre parcel at the south end of my lands. Robert Gray's house site would be where the Caleb Abbot house is marked on the 1830 map. It was just west of the junction of Tucker Road and Gray Road.
I do have a town record saying that the said road (Gray) was alter to run south of the house. Part of Gray Road was the original way to Salem. It ran along the present Gray Road by Holt's Dam and Flume to the present town line and ran southeast across Aslebes Farm until it was altered around the time of the Revolution. Salem Road then ran south at it's present path and after crossing the Sgug River, it turned more southeaster out to the present Jenkins Road and down Jenkins Road and the left below Aslebe's Pond and out to the present Middleton Road by Beery Pond in North Andover.The present Salem Road was built in 1806-7 by the county and formed the present 4 corners.
The old Salem Road is still extant and a lot of it is owned by AVIS...
The practice of adopting stepchildren and said children taking their step father surname was common especially in the 17th century but lessened some as the Puritans became Yankees..
I have many, many, many old deeds of Holt, Gray, Jenkins, Russell, holdings from spending hours at Salem/Essex Probate..
OK, Gray Road was altered in 1769 at Dr. Symonds Baker's request, who had married Lydia Gray (4) in 1766 and took part ownership of the Robert Gray (1), Henry (2,3,4) farm. The last Henry Gray (4) died of smallpox December 1, 1760, age 22 as did several others in the South Parish.. His father Henry (3) had died in 1754, age 47. He had married Alice Peabody in 1736. Widow Alice ruled with an iron hand and controlled the farm with her doctor son-in-law. Alice died November 1797, age 88.
Dr. Symonds Baker died in 1815, age 80 and his widow Lydia died in 1821, age 73. Their daughter, Deborah married Caleb Abbot in 1802. Orlando Abbot was the brother to Caleb and he purchased the Henry Gray/ Simonds Baker Farm. Caleb Abbot lived at the 1739 Nicholas Holt (4) farm at the junction of Prospect Road and Tucker Road..That Nicholas (4) later settled in Blue Hill..
Also on the 1830 map, just to the east of Tucker Road, the house is labeled Widow Cummings. That house and farm was the John Holt (2) grant from Nicholas Holt (1). His son and grandson, Moses (3, 4) then owned it. Another long story for a different venue.
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Symonds Baker kept all the land south of Gray Road and purchased a few west of the present Salem Road adjacent to Wildwood. I have several deeds, including one for the building of a mill on Ladle Brook just above the Wildwood/Salem Street junction. Widow Lydia mortgaged and gave flow rights to Jacob Gray...I believe said Gray later removed to Michigan..
The house labeled J. Gray, south of the school house is Jacob Gray (5) and he is from the Edward (2) Thomas (3,4) line. Edward(2) lived at the east end of Gray Road in the North Parish..
Thomas Gray (4) married Mary Holt (5), daughter of Thomas Holt (4), son of Thomas Holt (3) who built the basis of the later David Gray house. The oldest part of that house was built in 1792 when Thomas Gray married Mary Holt. He had done a land swap with his brother in law Joseph Holt (5) who lived on Holt Road on the late Ensign John Holt Farm. It is now called Reservoir Farm and owned by the Cooks. That house was built in 1731 by John Holt (4) Samuel (3,2) and Nicholas (1). It used to cheek to jowl with brother the 1732 Ebenezer Holt (4) house, both on the little lane, now leading to the school..
Anyway they traded these parcels that land baron Thomas Holt (4) had acquired but who died intestate in 1776. It is too long and complicated to explain here. There were other parcels in the Fawls Woods all the way down into Middleton..That Jacon Gray house was later owned by the Harnden's..See the 1855 map.
The other house labeled D. Gray on the 1830 map was built in 1760 by James Holt jr.(5)
son of James (4), Timothy (3), James (2), Nicholas (1). This James Holt jr. (5) married Dorothy Lovejoy, adopted daughter of Benjamin Holt (4) and Dorothy Lovejoy. Benjamin lived in the 1711 Braviter Gray house at the south junction of Holt Road and Orchard Street. That house is still standing and is in horrible condition. James Holt Jr's house was sold by his father to Ezra Holt until he removed to Wilton. Gray later acquired it..
Holt's Dam and flume in where the present rodent dam is. You can still see remnants of the old and roadway. It was called Holt's Great Meadow back them as Nicholas received over 90% of it through Proprietors Grants..
I do not think they affected the Gray Farm as such. Salem Road was altered well before David purchased the Thomas Holt (3,4) homestead from William Holt (5) in 1795.
Last, that stone foundation across Salem Street was a steam powered cider mill as I recall and was probably a middle to late 19th century operation...
There have been at least 3 other mills on Ladle Brook and the feeder brook that flowed down from Pine Hole under Vine Street. Nicholas Holt (1) had a "work shop" on the small outflow on the south side if Pine Hole Swamp.
One of the two Holt mills in the south side of town was on Ladle Brook just east of the present Rt 125. It was quite a going concern for 3 generations..
Last, as I understood it, there was a stockade at the site of the Holt School. I guess they didn't rate a garrison.
Remember Robert Gray had 6 sons, Henry (2) got the original homestead, Robert (2) received the land to the west, partly in the Ladle Meadow (part of the Henry Holt parcel), Edward (2) received the eastern part, north of Aslebes Farm, east of the Great Meadow and north to the base of Boston Hill, abutting Frye and Farnum lands. Braviter Gray (2) received the far western parcel of 35 acres abutting Samuel Holt's Stonie Plain lands. His land was butted south by Wildwood, west by Holt Road and north on Vine. and east on Henry (2) and Josiah Holt (3) land Ladle Brook ran through there.. Aaron Gray (2) died in 1711, age 19. Thomas (2) was born in 1681 and dead by 1709.
Lastly as I stated earlier, at least the first 5 children of Robert Gray (1) and Hannah Rolf were born in Salem, not Andover.
Sorry for the ramble but everything and everybody is always connected.. Time for bed..
Thanks for all the information! The 1830 Dorman map didn't make sense to me at first glance. There was no house north of Salem Street in between Gray Road and Vine Street. One house labeled "D. Gray" seemed to be north of Vine Street and another labeled "J. Gray" was south of Gray Road across from the schoolhouse. Is there an explanation for this?
I didn't realize how far away the 1699 Robert Gray house was from the present David Gray house.
You said the first road to Salem went by the Holt Dam. Is this the impoundment of the Skug River at Great Meadow? I can see the second route in the Skug River Reservation pretty clearly on a GIS property map. Do you think these route changes benefited the Gray Farm in any way or were they inconsequential?
Another question: there's a large stone foundation across the street from the present David Gray House. Do you know the history of that building?
Thank you. Sorry it was a little disjunctive. i had just got home from a 10 hour work day..
That said, Hannah (Rolf) Gray, widow of Robert (1) died March 30, 1728.
The present Salem Street was the original way to Osgood's Farm and followed the 1770-1807 Salem Road that is part of the AVIS Scug River Reservation. That Reservation was part of Holt's River Meadow.
Last, the Gibbet Plain was located on the (North) Reading/Andover line adjacent to the present Haverhill Street/Jenkins Road. It was spelled Jebbet Plaine in the Reading records..
Bradstreet might have owned the most land in Andover but I believe that Osgood's Farm was the largest grant of over 600 acres all in one contiguous bloc. That farm bound south by the Reading line, west by the Scug River, north by Aslebes 140 acre grant, with several other smaller grants in the Falls Woods owned by the Holts and Grays.. The northeast bound was the present Middleton Road in N. Andover.
First, the 1811 Gray house was built around the earlier Thomas Holt (3) house built in 1708. Thomas Holt's grandson William Holt (5) sold the house and 29 acres to David Gray in 1795. David had lived in the infamous David Gray house across the road until 1811.
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Nicholas Holt (1) married Widow Hannah Bradstreet Rolf on June 12, 1658 at Ipswich. Nicholas adopted the young children of Hannah Bradstreet Rolf including her daughter Hannah and her brother..
The Hannah, daughter of Nicholas Holt and Elisabeth Short who sailed to Boston with her parents died shortly after they settled in Newbury in 1635 but was not recorded.. Another tell is that Robert Gray (1) and Hannah Holt aka Rolf were married in Salem in 1668 and the first 5 children were born in Salem. The last child born to Robert (1) and Hannah was Aaron Gray, born April 14, 1692 in Andover. Nicholas Holt's daughter Hannah (2) would have been 60 years old at that time and that nativity seems very improbable. Hannah Rolf Holt would have been in her early 40's by then.
The deeds between Robert Gray (1) and Dudley Bradstreet and Henry Holt seem much more plausible with that connection. BTW, my records have Nicholas Holt (1) deeding to Robert Gray (1) mariner, a 10 acre parcel at the south end of my lands. Robert Gray's house site would be where the Caleb Abbot house is marked on the 1830 map. It was just west of the junction of Tucker Road and Gray Road.
I do have a town record saying that the said road (Gray) was alter to run south of the house. Part of Gray Road was the original way to Salem. It ran along the present Gray Road by Holt's Dam and Flume to the present town line and ran southeast across Aslebes Farm until it was altered around the time of the Revolution. Salem Road then ran south at it's present path and after crossing the Sgug River, it turned more southeaster out to the present Jenkins Road and down Jenkins Road and the left below Aslebe's Pond and out to the present Middleton Road by Beery Pond in North Andover.The present Salem Road was built in 1806-7 by the county and formed the present 4 corners.
The old Salem Road is still extant and a lot of it is owned by AVIS...
The practice of adopting stepchildren and said children taking their step father surname was common especially in the 17th century but lessened some as the Puritans became Yankees..
I have many, many, many old deeds of Holt, Gray, Jenkins, Russell, holdings from spending hours at Salem/Essex Probate..
Jud, thanks so much for this!
OK, Gray Road was altered in 1769 at Dr. Symonds Baker's request, who had married Lydia Gray (4) in 1766 and took part ownership of the Robert Gray (1), Henry (2,3,4) farm. The last Henry Gray (4) died of smallpox December 1, 1760, age 22 as did several others in the South Parish.. His father Henry (3) had died in 1754, age 47. He had married Alice Peabody in 1736. Widow Alice ruled with an iron hand and controlled the farm with her doctor son-in-law. Alice died November 1797, age 88.
Dr. Symonds Baker died in 1815, age 80 and his widow Lydia died in 1821, age 73. Their daughter, Deborah married Caleb Abbot in 1802. Orlando Abbot was the brother to Caleb and he purchased the Henry Gray/ Simonds Baker Farm. Caleb Abbot lived at the 1739 Nicholas Holt (4) farm at the junction of Prospect Road and Tucker Road..That Nicholas (4) later settled in Blue Hill..
Also on the 1830 map, just to the east of Tucker Road, the house is labeled Widow Cummings. That house and farm was the John Holt (2) grant from Nicholas Holt (1). His son and grandson, Moses (3, 4) then owned it. Another long story for a different venue.
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Symonds Baker kept all the land south of Gray Road and purchased a few west of the present Salem Road adjacent to Wildwood. I have several deeds, including one for the building of a mill on Ladle Brook just above the Wildwood/Salem Street junction. Widow Lydia mortgaged and gave flow rights to Jacob Gray...I believe said Gray later removed to Michigan..
The house labeled J. Gray, south of the school house is Jacob Gray (5) and he is from the Edward (2) Thomas (3,4) line. Edward(2) lived at the east end of Gray Road in the North Parish..
Thomas Gray (4) married Mary Holt (5), daughter of Thomas Holt (4), son of Thomas Holt (3) who built the basis of the later David Gray house. The oldest part of that house was built in 1792 when Thomas Gray married Mary Holt. He had done a land swap with his brother in law Joseph Holt (5) who lived on Holt Road on the late Ensign John Holt Farm. It is now called Reservoir Farm and owned by the Cooks. That house was built in 1731 by John Holt (4) Samuel (3,2) and Nicholas (1). It used to cheek to jowl with brother the 1732 Ebenezer Holt (4) house, both on the little lane, now leading to the school..
Anyway they traded these parcels that land baron Thomas Holt (4) had acquired but who died intestate in 1776. It is too long and complicated to explain here. There were other parcels in the Fawls Woods all the way down into Middleton..That Jacon Gray house was later owned by the Harnden's..See the 1855 map.
The other house labeled D. Gray on the 1830 map was built in 1760 by James Holt jr.(5)
son of James (4), Timothy (3), James (2), Nicholas (1). This James Holt jr. (5) married Dorothy Lovejoy, adopted daughter of Benjamin Holt (4) and Dorothy Lovejoy. Benjamin lived in the 1711 Braviter Gray house at the south junction of Holt Road and Orchard Street. That house is still standing and is in horrible condition. James Holt Jr's house was sold by his father to Ezra Holt until he removed to Wilton. Gray later acquired it..
Holt's Dam and flume in where the present rodent dam is. You can still see remnants of the old and roadway. It was called Holt's Great Meadow back them as Nicholas received over 90% of it through Proprietors Grants..
I do not think they affected the Gray Farm as such. Salem Road was altered well before David purchased the Thomas Holt (3,4) homestead from William Holt (5) in 1795.
Last, that stone foundation across Salem Street was a steam powered cider mill as I recall and was probably a middle to late 19th century operation...
There have been at least 3 other mills on Ladle Brook and the feeder brook that flowed down from Pine Hole under Vine Street. Nicholas Holt (1) had a "work shop" on the small outflow on the south side if Pine Hole Swamp.
One of the two Holt mills in the south side of town was on Ladle Brook just east of the present Rt 125. It was quite a going concern for 3 generations..
Last, as I understood it, there was a stockade at the site of the Holt School. I guess they didn't rate a garrison.
Remember Robert Gray had 6 sons, Henry (2) got the original homestead, Robert (2) received the land to the west, partly in the Ladle Meadow (part of the Henry Holt parcel), Edward (2) received the eastern part, north of Aslebes Farm, east of the Great Meadow and north to the base of Boston Hill, abutting Frye and Farnum lands. Braviter Gray (2) received the far western parcel of 35 acres abutting Samuel Holt's Stonie Plain lands. His land was butted south by Wildwood, west by Holt Road and north on Vine. and east on Henry (2) and Josiah Holt (3) land Ladle Brook ran through there.. Aaron Gray (2) died in 1711, age 19. Thomas (2) was born in 1681 and dead by 1709.
Lastly as I stated earlier, at least the first 5 children of Robert Gray (1) and Hannah Rolf were born in Salem, not Andover.
Sorry for the ramble but everything and everybody is always connected.. Time for bed..
Thanks for all the information! The 1830 Dorman map didn't make sense to me at first glance. There was no house north of Salem Street in between Gray Road and Vine Street. One house labeled "D. Gray" seemed to be north of Vine Street and another labeled "J. Gray" was south of Gray Road across from the schoolhouse. Is there an explanation for this?
I didn't realize how far away the 1699 Robert Gray house was from the present David Gray house.
You said the first road to Salem went by the Holt Dam. Is this the impoundment of the Skug River at Great Meadow? I can see the second route in the Skug River Reservation pretty clearly on a GIS property map. Do you think these route changes benefited the Gray Farm in any way or were they inconsequential?
Another question: there's a large stone foundation across the street from the present David Gray House. Do you know the history of that building?
Floyd, See below..Sorry.
The AVIS property is the Scug River Reservation that contains part of the 1770-1807 Salem Road...
Thank you. Sorry it was a little disjunctive. i had just got home from a 10 hour work day..
That said, Hannah (Rolf) Gray, widow of Robert (1) died March 30, 1728.
The present Salem Street was the original way to Osgood's Farm and followed the 1770-1807 Salem Road that is part of the AVIS Scug River Reservation. That Reservation was part of Holt's River Meadow.
Last, the Gibbet Plain was located on the (North) Reading/Andover line adjacent to the present Haverhill Street/Jenkins Road. It was spelled Jebbet Plaine in the Reading records..
Thanks again..
Bradstreet might have owned the most land in Andover but I believe that Osgood's Farm was the largest grant of over 600 acres all in one contiguous bloc. That farm bound south by the Reading line, west by the Scug River, north by Aslebes 140 acre grant, with several other smaller grants in the Falls Woods owned by the Holts and Grays.. The northeast bound was the present Middleton Road in N. Andover.