Lt. Daniel Pond (1620s/1630s – 1697/1698) was a prominent early settler of

Dedham, Massachusetts Dedham ( ) is a New England town, town in, and the county seat of, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Located on Boston's southwestern border, the population was 25,364 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. First settled by E ...

Early life

Pond was born in the 1620s or 1630s in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

to Robert and Mary Pond.

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 Wheelock was most likely born in 160 ...

. 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 an artificial waterway in Dedham, and Hyde Park, Massachusetts, and the first man-made canal in the present-day United States. Constructed in 1639 by settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, it diverts water from the Charles R ...

, 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 The First Church and Parish in Dedham is a Unitarian Universalist congregation in Dedham, Massachusetts. It was the 14th church established in Massachusetts. The current minister, Rev. Rali M. Weaver, was called in March 2007, settled in July, and ...

, 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 th ...

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. He also worked as a carpenter.

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. His great-great grandson was

Oliver Ellsworth Oliver Ellsworth (April 29, 1745 – November 26, 1807) was a Founding Father of the United States, Attorney at law, attorney, jurist, politician, and diplomat. Ellsworth was a framer of the United States Constitution, United States senator fr ...

, an American founding father and jurist.

References

Works cited

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pond, Daniel Military personnel from Dedham, Massachusetts Signers of the Dedham Covenant Dedham, Massachusetts selectmen Year of birth missing 1690s deaths