Lt. Daniel Pond was a prominent early settler of

Dedham, Massachusetts Dedham ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,364 at the 2020 census. It is located on Boston's southwest border. On the northwest it is bordered by Needham, on the southwest b ...

Life in Dedham

Pond arrived in Dedham around 1652 and purchased land from Nathaniel Fisher and

Ralph Wheelock Ralph Wheelock (1600–1683) was an English Puritan minister, American colonial public official, and educator. He is known for having been the first public school teacher in America. Early life and education Ralph Wheelock was most likely born ...

. Pond served as a selectman in Dedham for 14 terms, beginning in 1661. As a selectmen, he was one of ten men, or roughly 5% of the adult male population, who filled 60% of the seats on the board. Pond and Ezra Morse were given permission by the Town to erect a new corn mill on

Mother Brook Mother Brook is a stream that flows from the Charles River in Dedham, Massachusetts, to the Neponset River in the Hyde Park section of Boston, Massachusetts. Mother Brook was also known variously as East Brook and Mill Creek in earlier times. ...

, so long as it was completed by June 24, 1665. He performed several carpentry jobs on the meetinghouse of the

First Church and Parish in Dedham First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

, including hanging the first bell. When the town of

Wrentham, Massachusetts Wrentham ( ) is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 12,178 at the 2020 census. History In 1660, five men from Dedham were sent to explore the lakes near George Indian's wigwam and to report back to the ...

split off from Dedham, he became an owner of real estate there as well. He was awarded several lots there, but probably never lived in Wrentham. He was a lieutenant in the militia and took the freeman's oath in 1690. He was a husbandman.

Family

He married Abigail Shepard around 1652, a member of the church in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They had a daughter, also named Abigail, who was born in Dedham but not baptized there. A son was baptized, however, on August 22, 1653, less than two weeks after he joined the church on the 11th. They had seven children, including John, Ephraim, Robert, and Jabez. After his wife died on July 5, 1661, he married Ann Edwards two months later. He died on February 4, 1697-8 and Ann outlived him.

References

Works cited

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pond, Daniel Military personnel from Dedham, Massachusetts Signers of the Dedham Covenant Dedham, Massachusetts selectmen