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Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott
for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/
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Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott
All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded.
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The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record
Vol. XXXIII, 1902
Pub. by the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society
226 West 58th Street, New York

         [Pgs 14 - 15]
         
         JOHN DWIGHT, the American ancestor, was of Dedham, in
       Essex, England, and after coming to this country in 1634-5,
       was of Watertown and Dedham, in Massachusetts, where he
       acquired considerable real estate. In 1635 he and eleven
       others petitioned to the General Court for a tract of
       settlement land, north of the Charles River, which was
       granted, and he was present at the first town meeting
       held that year. In 1636 the original twelve, and seven
       more, petitioned for two additional tracts, one north,
       and one south, of the said river. These grants included
       the present towns of Dedham, Medfield, Wrentham, Needham,
       Billingham, Walpole, Franklin, Dover, Natick, and part
       of Sherburne. From 1639 to 1655 he was one of the select-
       men of Dedham, and in 1644 he was one of the forty-one
       men present at the town meeting, which decided on the 
       first free school, supported by a town tax, in America.
       In 1638 he assisted in the founding of the orthodox
       church. His personality made him one of the most useful
       citizens, and his wealth was second on the list. From
       England he brought his wife HANNAH, a daughter of the
       same name, and two sons, JOHN and (captain) TIMOTHY.
       Two daughters, MARY and SARAH, were born in Dedham,
       the former being the first child born there. His wife
       died in 1656, and later he married ELIZABETH, the widow
       of WILLIAM THAXTER and WILLIAM RIPLEY, and he died in
       1660.
       
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