136. Dea. Francis(1) Parrat was a freeman, 13 May, 1640; town clerk, 1641; one of the committee to register house lots, 1643, he having two of two acres each. He was a man of ability and influence, and his penmanship shown on Rowley records attests his skill. He married Elizabeth -----. Rev. Ezekiel Rogers mentions her in his will, 1660, as "my sometime servant." He was Deacon of Rowley Church, though his name has never appeared on the printed lists. In a paper on file in Essex Probate, being the return of the division of the estate of Mrs. Ann Hobson, dated 3 Dec., 1694, a parcel of land is described as bounded "by ye land yt was Dea. Parrats"; the division was made by Ezekiel Northend, Jr., Nehemiah Jewett and Capt. Joseph Jewett, men who would have known who had been deacons of their church. … He went to England on business and died there, 1656. His will, dated 18 Nov., 1655, proved 30 Sept., 1656, mentions himself as "intending to take a journey to England"; Elizabeth, and six daughters (unnamed) (Essex Probate). He brought with him his two sisters, Ann, who married Dea. Thomas Mighill (127) and Faith, who married John Smith (182). His widow, Elizabeth, married (2) Thomas Tenney (195).
