George Abbot, III (also spelled Abbet in some documents) is one of our illustrious ancestors from the Fred Pemberton Abbott side of the family. He may not have been a real “III”; he seems to have been given that to distinguish him from two other George Abbots in the early Massachusetts Bay colonies. He is our 8th great grandfather by this path:
RWA → Fred Pemberton Abbott → Arthur Merrill Abbott → Justin Edwards Abbott (served in the Civil War) → Benjamin Abbott → Benjamin Abbott → Captain Jonathan Abbott (served in the Revolutionary War) → David Abbott → Benjamin Abbott → George Abbot, III
. . . our 9th great grandfather by this path:
RWA → Fred Pemberton Abbott → Arthur Merrill Abbott → Justin Edwards Abbott → Benjamin Abbott → Rhoda Abbott →Phebe Chandler → John Abbott → John Abbot → John Abbott → George Abbot, III
. . . and our 8th great grandfather by this path:
RWA → Fred Pemberton Abbott → Arthur Merrill Abbott → Justin Edwards Abbott → Rebecca Boynton Abbott → Thomas Boynton → Hannah Ames Boynton → Benjamin Ames → Hannah Stevens Ames → Elizabeth Abbott Stevens → George Abbot, III
George Abbot, III was born in Hertfordshire, England in 1615. Around 1640, he emigrated from Hertfordshire (although some sources say Yorkshire), England. He first settled in Roxbury; the Chandler family (he later married Hannah Chandler) was also in Roxbury. However, in 1643 the families relocated to Andover when a new plantation was planned there. The land for the Andover settlement was purchased from the Sagamore of Massachusetts (an Algonquin language tribe) for “6 pounds and a coat.”
In 1647, George married Hannah Chandler who also emigrated from Hertfordshire. George and Hannah were busy producing 13 children. Their second child, Joseph, died in June, 1650 at about 15 months old and this was the first death on the town record. Another child, whom they also named Joseph (1652-1676), was the first Andover victim of Indian warfare. The eighth child, Benjamin (1661-1703), is our direct ancestor. The oldest son, John (1658-1721), became the first deacon of South Church in 1711 and is a direct ancestor. Elizabeth, the youngest child, is also out ancestor.
George owned and lived on a farm and his house was used as a garrison for the town. He was a deeply religious Puritan. When George died, he left his entire estate to Hannah. In 1690, Hannah married Reverend Francis Dane, the pastor of the church. George is buried in the South Parish Church in Andover.
Sources:
Abbot, Abiel. "History of Andover, From Its Settlement to 1829." Flagg and Gould, 1829. (books.google.com/ebooks?id=acwTAAAAYAAJ) (Available for free reading at Google Books)
Abbot, Abiel and Abbot, Ephraim. “The Genealogical Register of the Descendants of George Abbot,” James Munroe and Company, 1847. (Available online at this link: https://archive.org/details/genealogicalregi00byuabbo)
