Anthony Emery

Notes

He was probably in Ipswich, Massachusetts, in the following August, and soon after settled in Newbury, Massachusetts where he lived until about 1640.

A court record of 22 December 1637 shows that he was a brother of John, and a similar record of 10 June 1638 that he was then residing in Newbury, Massachusetts.

He removed to Dover, New Hampshire, about 1640 and 22 October of that year signed the 'Dover Combination.' From that time until 1649, when he removed to Kittery, Maine, he was identified with the interests of that town. His house was at Dover Neck, about a mile from the present railroad station at Dover Point, and three or four miles from Major Richard Waldron's settlement on the Cocheco river. There he kept an ordinary, which was destroyed by fire, as appears from the following petition:

'Right worp com of the Massachusetts The humble peticon of Anthony Emry of Dover Humbly showeth Unto your good worp that your poore peticonr was licenced b the towne aboused to keept an ordinary wh shd give Dyet & to sell beere & wine as was accustomed & sithence there was an order that non but one should sell wine upon which there hath been complaint made to your worp as Mr. Smyths saith & hee hath in a manner discharged your petr wch wilbe to your petr great damage haueing a wife & 3 children to maintain & not a house fitted for present to liue in hancing had his house & goods lately burnt downe to the ground 'Humbly beseeching yor worp to bee pleased to grant to your petr that he may sell wine & that Mr Smyth may be certified thereof hee keeping good order in his house & he shall as hee is in Duty bound pray for your worps health & happyness.'

This petition does not bear date, but it is known from other papers that Anthony Emery petitioned in 1643, for permission to keep an ordinary, and that 7 March 1643-4 he was 'allowed whereby to draw out his wine.' In that year and in 1648 also, he was one of the townsmen (selectmen) for the 'Prudentiall affaires' of Dover.

On 15 November 1648 he bought of John White, a house, field, and great barren marsh on Sturgeon Creek in Pischataqua, afterward Kittering, now Eliot, and two other marshes. He seems not to have taken possession, however, until the next year, for he served as grand juror in Dover, in 1649.

During his eleven years' (1649-1660) residence in Kittery, he was juryman several times, selectman in 1652 and 1659, and constable. He was one of the forty-one inhabitants of Kittery, who acknowledged themselves subject to the government of Massachusetts Bay, 16 November 1652. At four different times he received grants of land from the town. He also bought of Joseph Austin of Pischataqua, 15 July 1650, 'a little Marsh soe Commanly called aboue Sturgeon Crieke, with a little house & vpland yrunto belonging, as also one thousand five hundred foote of boards, for & in Consideration of Two stears Called by ye name of draggon and Benbow, with a weeks worke of him selfe & other two oxen whc is to be done at Cutcheeha.'

In 1656, hew was fined 5 pounds for mutinous courage in questioning the authority of the court at Kittery, and in 1660, again fined, for entertaining Quakers, and disfranchised.

On 12 May 1660 he and Frances his wife, sold hous and land at Cold Harbor to son James for 150 pounds together with all other lands in Kittery, 'with all & singular the houseing, barne Garden oarchards Commans profetts priviledges fences wood Tymber appurtenances & Haerantaments belonging, or in any way apprtayning thereunto.'

Deprived of the rights and privileges of a freeman in Kittery, he turned his footsteps toward a colony in which greater liberty was allowed, and was received as a free inhabitant of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, 29 September 1660.

It has been conjectured that he, prior to settling in Newbury, or removing to Dover, bought land in Portsmouth, and dwelt there awhile. This conjecture has its origin in the fact, that one 'Good-man Emeres' owned land in Portsmouth in 1643, as is known from the records of a general town meeting held in Portsmouth, 1 March 1643.

Who 'Goodman Emeres' was, or whence came the Little Compton, Rhode Island, family of Emerys, has been mere conjecture. We have been unable thus far to trace their genealoby, or to connect them with our ancestor, except in name and locality. We accept the Portsmouth records as evidence of Anthony Emery's first legal residence there until 1680, though he is designated 'of Kittery,' in a deed to his son James, 1 October 1663.

He served as juryman from Portsmouth on several occasions, was chosen constable, 4 June 1666, and deputy to the General Court, 25 April 1672. The last record that we find of him living is that of a deed of land in Portsmouth to Rebecca Sadler, his daughter, dated 9 March 1680.

It is barely possible that he returned to Kittery, and that Anthony Emery who was representative from Kittery at York, 30 March 1680, was our ancestor, but it does not seem probable that he, and old man, disfranchised, would after twenty years absence, be chosen to legislate for the 'province of Mayne.'

From the petition quoted, we know that he had three children, and from another paper, that James was his surviving son.

It is difficult to estimate the character of Anthony Emery. From what little we know of him, however, we infer that he was a capable business man, energetic, independent, resolute in purpose, bold in action, severe in speech, jealous of his own rights, and willing to suffer for conscience' sake. He did not hesitate to express his opinions, though on one occasion it may have savored of 'mutinous courage.' He recognized a higher law than a statute-law, and with the courage of his convictions, preferred to suffer the penalty of the latter rather than disobey the former and violate his conscience. In entertaining Quakers he obeyed the divine commandment: 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.'

Source: 'Genealogical Guide to the Early Settlers of America', 1967, p 178. 'Genealogical Records of Descendants of John and Anthony Emery of Newbury, Mass.', Rev. Rufus Emery, 1891, p 309-311. 'Old Kittering and Her Families,' Everett S. Stackpole, 1903, p 365.