John Frost (1754-1822)

John Frost was born on 03 Jan 1754 in Sherborn, Middlesex, Massachusetts, as the only child of Joseph Frost and Deborah Esterbrook. John’s father was killed on 17 May 1755 after falling from the tongue of an ox cart. His mother died 15 May 1756. So, as a two-year old, John was an orphan. We don’t know who raised John.

When he was 22, he married Mary Bacon, daughter of John Bacon and Abigail Sawin, on 14 Nov 1776 in Natick, Middlesex, Massachusetts.

Though he was a young man during the American Revolution, there is no record of John serving in the war. It no doubt affected the young couple as they started their family. But, perhaps since Mary’s father was killed on the opening day of the war, John was needed at home.

John Frost and Mary Bacon had the following children:

1. Mary Frost was born on 21 Oct 1777 in Ashburnham, Worcester, Massachusetts. She was called Polley. She married Martin Haynes on 12 Dec 1799 in Natick, Middlesex, Massachusetts.
2. John Frost was born on 12 Oct 1780 in Ashburnham, Worcester, Massachusetts.
3. Joseph Frost was born on 04 Jul 1783 in Ashburnham, Worcester, Massachusetts. He married Caroline Mumford on 16 Sep 1810 in Natick, Middlesex, Massachusetts. He died on 25 Nov 1857 in Dorchester, Massachusetts.
4. Hannah Frost was born on 12 May 1785 in Ashburnham, Worcester, Massachusetts. She married Arthur Jennison on 11 Jun 1815 in Natick, Middlesex, Massachusetts. She died 23 Jul 1849 at Natick, Middlesex, Massachusetts.
5. Moses Frost was born on 04 Jan 1787 in Natick, Middlesex, Massachusetts. He died on 22 Jun 1791 in Natick, Middlesex, Massachusetts.
6. David Frost was born on 22 Feb 1791 in Natick, Middlesex, Massachusetts. He married Sophia Jones on 30 Nov 1815.  He died on 22 Dec 1877 in Framingham, Middlesex, Massachusetts.
7. Mehitable Frost was born on 10 Sep 1794 in Natick, Middlesex, Massachusetts. She was called Mitta. She married Jedidiah Washburn on 25 May 1814 in Sherborn, Middlesex, Massachusetts. Mitta died 20 Mar 1872 at Natick, Middlesex, Massachusetts.
8. Rebecca Frost was born on 10 Mar 1796 in Needham, Norfolk, Massachusetts. She married Orin Coolidge in 1822. Rebecca died 18 Sep 1875 at Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts.
9. Lowell Frost was born on 06 Jan 1798 in Sherborn, Middlesex, Massachusetts. He married Harriet Bowker. They lived at Hopkinton, Middlesex, Massachusetts. He probably died between 1870 and 1880.
10. Moses Frost was born on 10 Jan 1800 in Sherborn, Middlesex, Massachusetts. He married Lucinda Washburn on 15 Apr 1824. She died 28 Dec 1828. He then married Abigail Prescott. She died. He married for a third time to Jane Chambers on 26 Apr 1873. She died of consumption on 11 May 1877. He died 11 Jan 1886 at Natick, Middlesex, Massachusetts.

Ashburnham, Natick, Needham and Sherborn

The family lived from at least 1778 to 1787 at Ashburnham, Massachusetts.  John then moved his family to Natick, but did not stay there long as he and his family were warned out of town under a statute whereby persons entering a new town were obliged to obtain the consent of the townsmen or selectmen before they could reside in the town.  If they remained longer than fourteen days, they were warned to “depart and tarry no longer there.”  This law was in full force from 1725 to 1793.  During that period, three hundred families were warned from Needham and Natick regardless of wealth of social standing.  Later, the Frost family lived at Sherborn, Massachusetts.

John Frost died on 04 Mar 1822 in Sherborn, Middlesex, Massachusetts. He was 68-years old at the time of his death.

Where is he in the tree?

Sources:

Frost, Norman Seaver, Frost Genealogy in Five Families (West Newton, Massachusetts: Frost Family Association of America, 1926).

New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Sherborn Massachusetts [on-line]

Stearns, Ezra S. . History of Ashburnham Massachusetts From the Grant of Dorchester Canada to the Present Time, 1734-1886 with a Genealogical Register of Ashburnham Families., Ashburnham, Massachusetts History [database on-line] (Ashburnham, MA, USA: Published by the town, 1887), ancestry.com.