Person Page - 510

       Thomas/1 Dakin was born in England in May 1624.² He settled, according to Shattuck, at Concord, MA before 1650.³ There, 2 Jan 1654, living in the North quarter, he was among those allowed to buy another 10 acres of land at 12d/acre, That some particular persons shall have some inlargement, whoe are short in lands…."⁴ He married (1) Sarah (–?–), who died at Concord 18 Oct 1659, 10 days following the birth of a daughter.^3,5 There he married (2), 11 Jun 1660, Susanna (–?–), widow of Richard/2 Stratton.⁶ In 1666, he was taxed £1-12-10 on 4 lots comprising 87 acres in the South Quarter.⁷ His wife Susanna died at Concord 26 Feb 1698.⁸ There he died 21 Oct 1708 at age 84.⁹
     "There were several collateral families, and the name is yet [1832] preserved in the town."³

       Lt. William/1 Buss settled at Concord, MA before 1639.¹ He was admitted a freeman of the Bay Colony 14 Mar 1638/39.² 7 Jan 1654 he was appointed an overseer of Concord's South Quarter, where he lived.³ "The selectmen petitioned to the County Court, in 1660, that sargeant Buss might keep an 'ordinary' or tavern in Concord, they having 'found much difficulty in procuring such an one as we could rest well satisfied in.⁴'"
     William Buss was a member of the committee to divide the South Quarter, 1663.⁵ In that year he was was residing at Elijah Wood's in the South Quarter, and was taxed £5-18-2 on 19 lots in town, comprising 319 acres. Most Concord landowners that year were assessed no tax at all, including large landowners such as Robert Merriam, who had 595 acres. Perhaps these bartered for their taxes while Buss paid cash, or perhaps his land was highly improved or unusually valuable farmland.⁶ The following year he bought the mill on Mill Brook.¹
     His 1st wife died at Concord 3 Aug 1674.⁷ There he married (2), 24 Dec 1674, Dorcas (–?–) of Concord, widow of John/1 Jones.⁸ William Buss died at Concord 31 Jan 1698.⁹ His widow outlived him by 11 years and died at Concord 22 Nov 1709.¹⁰ Shattuck adds that he rose to be lieutenant of the trainband, and that his brother lived in Tunbridge, Kent (Merriam country).¹

       Dea. Luke/1 Potter was baptised 18 Oct 1615 in St. Peter and St. Paul Church at Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, England.² "[O]ne of the first settlers of Concord [MA], and deacon of the church."³ He married (1) Mary (–?–), with whom he had 2 children at Concord, and who died there 8 Feb 1643/4.^4,5 He was admitted a freeman of Concord 13 Mar that same year.⁶ The will of Anne Potter of Newport Pagnell, county of Buckingham, widow, dated 20 Dec 1643, proved 2 May 1648, left son Luke Potter £5, to be paid within three years.¹
     Luke Potter married (2), 19 Oct 1644 at Concord, Mary/2 Edmunds of Concord, daughter of Walter/1 Edmunds and Dorothy (–?–).⁷ Luke Potter of Concord, tailor, took orphan Danyell Gaines, aged about 11, as his apprentice in March, 1649.⁸ His house lot consisted of 6½ acres on both sides of Haywood Street, then known as Potter Lane.⁸ Of Concord's South Quarter, 2 Jan 1654.⁹ Taxed £2-10-0 on 22 lots totalling 249 acres in the South Quarter or district, 1666.¹⁰ One of three men who returned, 16 Jun 1667, the inventory of Capt. Thomas/1a Brooks, whose grandchildren Noah and Grace married Luke's children Dorothy and Judah.^11,12
     Luke Potter made his will 11 Jun 1695, "about 80 years of age being weak of body." He mentioned or bequeathed to beloved wife Mary, beloved and only surviving son Judah Potter (who was made sole executor), daughters Unis Fry, [Mary] Barrett, and Dorothy Brooks, and to the "5" sons (only four are named and known to this writer) of his deceased daughter Elizabeth Jones. A codicil dated 15 Sep 1697 provided that if an 8-acre parcel of land is not sold by his widow for her own maintenance, then it is to go to son Judah, he to pay each of his Jones nephews £3.4s. Witnesses to both documents were Thomas Bateman, Edward Wheeler, and Thomas Browne. The will was proved 1 Nov 1697 at Charlestown.⁸
     Luke Potter died at Concord 13 Oct 1697.¹³ His inventory, by Thomas Bateman, John Jones and Thomas Browne Sen^r, dated 27 Oct 1697, amounted to £184.14.0.⁸ His widow Mary died at Concord 15 Feb 1710/11.¹⁴ They are presumably buried in the Hill Burying Ground, where only a much later rough stone for Luke inscribed (incorrectly) with 1608 as his date of birth survives.¹⁵

       John/1 Heywood, probably born in England, appears in the town records of Concord, MA before 1650.¹ There he married (1), 17 Aug 1656, Rebecca/2 Atkinson of Concord, daughter of Thomas/1? Atkinson and Susan (–?–).² She died at Concord 5 Aug 1665, days after giving birth to their 5th child.³ There he married (2), 30 Nov 1665, Sarah/2 Simonds of Woburn, daughter of William/1 Simonds and Judith Hayward, with whom he had 9 children.⁴ On the Concord tax list of 1666, John Heywood was taxed £1-15-0 on 13 lots, comprising 285 acres, in the South Quarter.⁵ His 2d wife died at Concord 19 Sep 1692.⁶ There he died 17 Jan 1700/1.⁷