Locke Genealogy

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James Locke, LT

James Locke, LT

Male 1729 - 1808  (78 years)

  • James, b. Nov. (a) 1729 ; m. Hannah Farnsworth, Dec. 17, 1753.Lieut. JAMES LOCKE, Jr., m. HANNAH FARNSWORTH, of Groton, Dec. 17, 1753, who was b. June 22, 1734. He prob. went with his father from Hopkinton to Ashby, (then Townsend,) in 1749. His name appears on a Committee 1753 — and in 1758 he was chosen an " Informer of Deer." In 1767, a portion of Townsend, Fitchburg and Ashburnham, was set off and incorporated by the name of Ashby ; and at the first Town Meeting, Mb. 30, 1767, James Locke, Jr., was chosen Town Clerk and Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, to which offices he was frequently re-elected so long as he remained in town. May 26, 1769, he was chosen an Agent to confer with Agents from other towns, relative to a petition to the Gen. Court for a land tax on non-residents ; and 1768 and '71, he was appointed an Agent to attend the Gen. Court to get a land tax laid on non-residents. In 1769, he was one of a committee to build a meeting-house, and when completed in 1772, he was on a committee to " dignify the pews." His name appears on most of the important committees, and he was one of the leading men in the town until 1773, when he moved to 8 Townsend, and was immediately, according to the custom of the times, " warned out," but at the first town meeting held after his removal, was chosen moderator and added to the Committee of Correspondence, which had been chosen the year previous. At a town meeting, June 19, 1775, " Mr. Locke protested against the proceedings (of the town), the loarrant coming out in the King''s name.''' In 1777, he was appointed "to take acknowledgments and recognisances of debts," a member of the Middlesex Convention at Concord, Aug. 1774, and of another, Oct., 1779, and of the State Convention to form a Consthution the same year; and a Representative in the Legislature in 1783. Aug. 24, 1775, a warrant was issued by the Council to " pay James Locke 6.11.11., for clothing furnished the army." During the time he resided at Ashby, he lived on land which he bought of his father, it being the southerly part of his father's homestead. His house, which has long since been removed, stood in the orchard south of the house that was afterwards built by his brother Jonathan, and which is now standing. His I'esidence at Townsend was about a mile north of the " Harbor." He did not labor on his farm for many years in consequence of an injury to one of his hands, but was a land surveyor for a long time. He moved from Townsend to Sullivan, N. H. about 1784, where he d. Jany. 19, 1808, a. 78. Although deprived of the advantages of an early education, his energy and perseverance enabled him to attain a position that gave him great influence with his townsmen, and he left a character behind him that his descendants would do well to emulate.

 
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