Simon Willard

Background

Simon Willard, the son of Richard and Margery Willard, was baptized at Horsmonden, Kent, England, on April 7, 1605ю

Career

Emigrating to Massachusetts in 1634, he settled at Cambridge, where he engaged in the fur trade. In 1635 he joined with Peter Bulkeley and others to establish the town of Concord. From this time until his death he was one of the leading men on the Merrimac frontier. At Concord he served as local magistrate and commanded the militia company. He represented Concord in the General Court from 1636 to 1654, except 1643, 1647, 1648, and in 1654 he was chosen assistant and served until his death. In 1653 he was made sergeant-major of the Middlesex regiment. His activities, both public and private, were closely associated with the Indian trade and the affairs of the frontier settlements. In 1641 he was appointed chief of a committee to carry on and regulate the fur trade, and in 1657 he and three associates farmed the trade of the Merrimac for £25. In 1646 and afterward he assisted John Eliot in his work among the Merrimac tribes. He was extensively employed by the General Court in Indian affairs, in locating and laying out land grants, in settling the bounds and regulating the affairs of the frontier towns. In 1659 he sold a large part of his Concord estate and removed to Lancaster, Massachussets About 1671 he went to live in the southern part of Groton, now Ayer. In 1654 he was appointed to command a punitive expedition against the Niantic sachem, Ninigret. On the approach of the English, Ninigret fled into a swamp, and the expedition ended in a parley. Disappointed at this inconclusive outcome, the commissioners of the United Colonies reproved Willard for failure to carry out their instructions. At the outbreak of King Philip's War, in spite of his advanced age, he took charge of the defense of the Merrimac frontier. His most conspicuous service was the relief of Brookfield on August 4, 1675. Ordered thence to the Connecticut Valley, he soon returned to Groton to defend the frontier towns from Chelmsford to Lancaster against the Indians gathered at Mount Wachusett. His duties included the placing of garrisons, the patrolling of the frontier with a party of dragoons, and the relief of threatened settlements. Called away by his duties as magistrate, he was absent when the Indians destroyed Groton in March 1676, but he arrived with a relieving force in time to assist in removing the inhabitants. His own house was destroyed and his family forced to remove to Charlestown. There, after further service on the frontier, he died, "a pious, orthodox man, " according to John Hull.

Achievements

• Simon Willard is considered a key Massachusetts Historical figure, as well as in the history of Concord, Massachusetts. He was a founder of the town, and served it as clerk from 1635 to 1653. He represented it in the Massachusetts General Court from 1636 to 1654, and was assistant and councillor from 1654 to 1676.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Columbian Union, Containing General and Particular Explanations of Government, and the Columbian Constitution: Being an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; 1815 (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from The Columbian Union, Containing General and ...)

Connections

He was married three times, first in England to Mary Sharpe, second to Elizabeth, the sister of Henry Dunster, and third to Mary Dunster, either his second wife's sister or cousin. He had seventeen children, of whom Samuel, 1639/40-1707, was the most distinguished.

Father:

Richard Willard

Mother:

Margery Willard

Spouse:

Mary Dunster

Spouse:

Elizabeth

Spouse:

Mary Sharpe