Holbrook line: George Hayward, Immigrant died 1671

George Hayward is yet another immigrant with a somewhat mysterious past.  There were dozens of George Haywards born in England in the time frame 1610-1625, which is the approximate range of birth dates I've seen.  Many of these were in Kent, England, but in many different parishes.  Perhaps one of these is our George but at this point I'm not picking a favorite.  Whoever he was and wherever he came from, he must have had some education in a practical trade or trades, because he was the owner of several different businesses in Concord, Massachusetts.

Yes, Concord is his home town once he arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  Unfortunately, many of the earliest records of Concord have been lost. However, he was listed as a freeman in Concord in 1636. We don't know for sure when George arrived in America. Competing sources say he came with his wife and one daughter in 1635, and that he married here prior to 1640.  Of course, it could be that he came to America with his first wife, she passed away, and he married Mary soon after.  Rev. Peter Bulkeley (an Allen ancestor) brought twelve families with him when he came in 1635, and there is mention of a man by the name of Heywood, who seems to be our George Hayward.  .

So, he was one of the founders of Concord and as such received a house lot in the first division of lands that faced on the Commons.  He received additional land later, but I'm not finding specific mention of how much and when.  He built the first saw mill and the first corn mill in Concord, both of which would have been badly needed as Concord was then about 20 miles from Boston.  There is also reference to "his iron works", which is intriguing.  Is there nothing the man could not do?

We find his name in several Essex County court documents, but not as a defendant.  Generally he was testifying to some fact or in one case, on behalf of one of his daughters.  He seems to have stayed out of trouble and was respected enough that at one time he was appointed to a committee to help settle a land dispute.

George and Mary had seven children, John, Joseph, Simeon, George, Elizabeth, Sarah and Hannah.  They were all mentioned in his estate.  There doesn't seem to be a will, because George died in an accident.  While he was returning from taking William Frizzell across the river (presumably the Concord River), his canoe capsized and he was drowned.  (One researcher says he was 67 years old when he died, which would put his birth date earlier than most others are showing.)  He is likely buried in the town's "Old Burying Ground" but there is no stone.  Mary lived for another 22 years, dying in 1693.

George's estate was large for the time, valued at just over 500 pounds.  The inventory is hard to read, but I believe it includes books at a value of over three pounds, which would have been significant.  I'd sure like to know what he read, and whether his children attended any kind of school.  If they did, was it just the boys, or were the girls allowed to learn, also?

Concord is a town with a lot of history.  Just over 100 years after George died, the town participated in the battles of April 19, 1775, when the British were routed at the start of the Revolutionary War.  Later, this is the hometown of Louisa May Alcott (a distant Allen cousin), Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry Thoreau.  There are a lot of good reasons to visit Concord, and walking in the footprints of George Hayward would be one of those reasons

The line of descent is

George Hayward-Mary
Joseph Hayward-Elizabeth Treadway
Lydia Hayward-John Hanchett
Hannah Hanchett-John Stannard
Libbeus Stanard-Eunice Pomeroy
Libbeus Stannard-Luceba Fay
Hiram Stanard-Susan Eddy
Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants