Below is a scanned copy of a map obtained from the Rowley, MA Historical Society during the 1960's showing the location of the house lots of the early settlers of Rowley, Massachusetts (1639 - 1650). John Spofford's lot is found at the corner of High Way and Bradford Street (See Arrow on Map). According to Jeremiah Spofford (See Reference Page), "The name of John Spofford appears on the record of the first division of lands into homestead lots, in 1643. He had a house lot of one and a half acres on Bradford Street, so called, near the centre of the present town of Rowley. Lots were also assigned him in the 'fresh meadows, the salt meadows, the village lands, the Merrimack lands, and shares in the ox pasture, the cow pasture and the calf pasture.'" In his will, dated 7 October 1678, probably less than a month prior to his death, "I give to my son Thomas, my vilage lands, and...." It is not known if the village lands referred to included the original lot at the corner of High Way and Bradford Street, nor whether or not that lot was still owned by John Spofford at the time of his death.
John Spofford, and his wife, Elizabeth, left this location in the original settlement of Rowley in 1669 and moved about 15 miles to the almost unbroken wilderness in the western part of the town known as the Old Farm.
The location of the lot belonging to the Rev. Ezekiel Rogers can be found near the church at the eastern end of Wethersfield Street. It is understood that about twenty families came to America in 1638, with the Rev. Rogers, who had been, for l7 years, at Rowley Parish, Fast Riding, Yorkshire, near Hull. Early in 1639 the most of these families settled in the town of Rowley, Essex County, Mass. This Rowley was incorporated the 4th of September, l639. No record of the names of those families comprising the group leaving Yorkshire has ever been located, due most likely to the burning of the Reverend's house at some point in time. However, it is not unreasonable to assume that many of the families shown on this map were members of that original Yorkshire group.
A list of names appearing on the map follows the map image.
LIST OF NAMES APPEARING ON THE “EARLY SETTLERS OF ROWLEY, MASSACHUSETTS” MAP:
Abbott, George
Acy, William
Bailey, James
Barker, James
Barker, Thomas
Bellingham, William
Boyes, Matthew
Boynton, John
Boynton, William
Bridges, Edmund
Brigham, Sebastian
Brocklebank, Jane
Burbank, John
Carleton, Edward
Chaplin, Hugh
Cooper, Peter
Crosby, Constance
Dickinson, Thomas
Dresser, John
Elithorp, Thomas
Grant, Jane
Harris, John
Harris, Thomas
Harris, William
Haseltine, John
Haseltine, Robert
Holmes, Richard
Hopkinson, Michael
Hunter, Robert
Jackson, Nicolas
Jackson, William
Jarratt, John
Jewett, Joseph
Jewett, Maximilian
Kilborn, George
Lambert, Francis
Leaver, Thomas
Leighton, Richard
Lilforth, Thomas
Mighill, Thomas
Miller. John
Miller, Thomas
Nelson, Thomas
Newmarch, John
Palmer, Thomas
Parrat, Francis
Pearson, John
Prime, Mark
Remington, John
Reyner, Humphrey
Rogers, Rev. Ezekiel
Sandys, Henry
Sawyer, Edward
Sawyer, Thomas
Seales, William
Shove, Margery
Smith, John
Smith, Hugh
Spofford, John
Stanton, Margret
Stickney, William
Sumner, Thomas
Swan, Richard
Tenney, Thomas
Tenney, William
Thorley, Richard
Trumble, John
Wicom, Richard
Wild, William