Eliezer Fisher (1663-1733)
Eliezer Fisher was born on 08 Jul 1663 in Dedham, Massachusetts, as the sixth child of Cornelius Fisher and Leah Heaton. He had five siblings, namely: Elizabeth, Leah, Experience, Cornelius, and Ann.
Eliezer Fisher was baptized on 19 Jul 1663 in Dedham, Massachusetts. His name has been spelled in records a variety of ways including Eliezer and Eleazer.
His mother died on 12 Jan 1664, when he was only about seven-months old. His father remarried to Sarah Everett. They had three children who were half-siblings to Eliezer, namely: Dorothy, Sarah, and Jonathan. Half-sister Sarah is another ancestor of Floyd Boyce Phillips.
In his youth, Eliezer lived in Wrentham rather than Dedham. He didn’t move from Dedham to Wrentham but rather boundaries were adjusted and the part of Dedham that the Fisher family lived in became Wrentham. The town was originally called Wollomonopoag, but colonists made it part of Dedham in 1636. In 1662, the 36-square miles of land, that made up the Dedham area was purchased from Philip Sachem (King Philip) of the Wampanoag tribe. The land was eventually divided up into many towns. The town of Wrentham was officially incorporated in 1673. The town is currently in the county of Norfolk, but when Eliezer lived there that county did not yet exist, instead it was still a part of Suffolk county.
“March ye 30, 1676, ye Inhabitants ware drawn of by rason of ye Endian worrre.” After they were gone the savages came into the town and burned all the deserted dwellings but two, which, according to tradition, they spared because they believed them to be infected with smallpox.
–History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, p. 305.
Eliezer’s teen years may have been scary. During King Philip’s War, the town of Wrentham was abandoned on 30 Mar 1676 and was subsequently burned down. The Fishers, like most of the families, returned about four years later and rebuilt. Eliezer’s dad, Cornelius Fisher, was one of the men who signed a request to rebuild Wrentham.
“We whose names are hereunto subscribed haveing formerly had our residence in Wrentham but by those sad and sollame dispensations of Gods Providence were removed yet desire a worke for the honour of God & the good and Comfort of our selves & ours might be again ingaged in and promotted att that Place. Therefore our purpose is to returne thither God willing But knowing our owne inability for so Great & Waytie a worke both in respectt of our insufficiency for the carrying on of new Plantation worke & the dainger that may yet be renewed upon us by ye heathins breaking out on us we thinke it not saffe for us to returne alone except other of ye proprietors joyne to go up along with us or sende Inhabitants to ingage in that worke with us. Subscribed by Elizear Metcalf Saml Fisher Daniell Haws William Macknah Daniel Wright Elizear Gay Samuell Man Cornelius Fisher Joseph Kingsbury Robert Ware John Aldis John Payne Benjn Rocket Nath Ware John Ware Michell Wilson Samuel Sheeres.”
– History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, p. 306.
[mappress mapid="141"]When he was 24, Eliezer Fisher married Hannah Leonard on 21 Mar 1688 in Wrentham, Massachusetts.
Eliezer Fisher and Hannah Leonard had the following children:
- Eliezer Fisher was born on 19 Dec 1688 in Wrentham, Massachusetts. He married Rachel. He died in Wrentham on 24 Mar 1769.
- Hezekiah Fisher was born on 29 Sep 1691 in Wrentham, Massachusetts. He died in 1724.
- Hannah Fisher was born on 15 Oct 1695 in Wrentham, Massachusetts. She married Edward Hall on 07 Feb 1721/22 in Wrentham, Massachusetts. She died in Uxbridge, Worcester, Massachusetts.
- Sarah Fisher was born on 10 Sep 1697 in Wrentham, Massachusetts. She married Samuel Lathbridge.
- John Fisher was born on 20 May 1700 in Wrentham, Massachusetts. He died about 1702 in Wrentham, Massachusetts.
- Nathaniel Fisher was born on 20 May 1700 in Wrentham, Massachusetts. He married Hannah Ellis on 26 Mar 1728 in Boston, Middlesex, Massachusett. He married Lydia Darling on 10 Mar 1766 in Wrentham, Massachusetts.
- Leonard Fisher was born on 08 Jun 1704 in Wrentham, Massachusetts. He married Hepzibah Ware on 29 Dec 1730 in Wrentham, Massachusetts.
- John Fisher was born on 01 Apr 1706 in Wrentham, Massachusetts. He married Phebe Gay on 25 Mar 1729 in Boston, Middlesex, Massachusetts. He married Jemima Partridge on 09 Oct 1755 in Wrentham, Massachusetts. He died on 15 Sep 1791 in Wrentham, Massachusetts.
When Eliezer’s father, Cornelius Fisher, died in 1699, Eliezer and his older brother, Cornelius, served as executors. Eliezer received gifts of money, one half of the meadow at “pine plaine,” and a share of the remainder of the estate.
Wrentham was a growing town as Hannah and Eliezer raised their family there. The first meeting house went up about the time they married. In 1701, the first school was held to “teach children & youth to read English & wright & cypher gratis…” The Fishers and their neighbors were mainly farmers. A few people were involved in operating saw and grist mills to meet the needs of the community, but the main way of making a living was through agriculture.
Along with growth came taxes. There were taxes for roads and schools, and of course, in the times before separation of church and state, there were taxes for the minister’s salary. Eliezer is found in the tax lists through the years.
Hannah Leonard Fisher died sometime between the birth of John Fisher in 1706 and 02 Jun 1718 when a 54-year old Eliezer married Mary Maccany, daughter of William Maccany and Ruth, at Wrentham, Massachusetts.
Eliezer Fisher died between 26 Dec 1732 and 12 Jun 1733, in Wrentham, Massachusetts. He wrote his will on 26 Dec 1732 and it was proven in court on 12 Jun 1733, so we know he died somewhere between those dates. He was 69-years old at the time of his death.
Where is he in the tree?
Selected sources:
“A Brief History of Wrentham,” Wrentham Massachusetts ( http://wrentham.ma.us/boards-committees/historical-commission/brief-history : accessed 30 Jun 2019).
Ancestry.com, Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011), ancestry.com.
Ancestry.com, Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015), Ancestry.com, Suffolk County (Massachusetts) Probate Records, 1636-1899; Author: Massachusetts. Probate Court (Suffolk County); Probate Place: Suffolk, Massachusetts.
Ancestry.com, U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700 (Online publication – Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2012.Original data – Torry, Clarence A. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004.Original data: Torry, Clarence A. New England Marriages Pri), Ancestry.com, Genealogical Publishing Co.; Baltimore, MD, USA; Volume Title: Third Supplement to Torrey’s New England Marriages Prior to 1700.
Baldwin, Thomas Williams, Vital Records of Wrentham Massachusetts to the year 1850 [google books] (Mass.: Town, Stanhope press, F.H. Gilson Company, 1910), https://books.google.com/books?id=vPZsou6NflwC .
Fisher, Philip A., The Fisher Genealogy [database on-line] (Everett, Mass.: Massachusetts Pub. Co., 1898), ancestry.com, p. 36.
Ancestry.com. The Fisher genealogy : record of the descendants of Joshua, Anthony, and Cornelius Fisher, of Dedham, Mass., 1630-1640 [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.
Louis Atwood Cook, History of Norfolk, County, Massachusetts, 1622-1918, Volume 1 (Norfolk County, MA : S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1918, GoogleBooks ( https://books.google.com/books?id=B8UTAAAAYAAJ : accessed 30 Jun 2019).
“Wrentham History Timeline,” Wrentam Massachusetts ( http://wrentham.ma.us/boards-committees/historical-commission/history-timeline : accessed 30 Jun 2019).
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