Person:Martin Underwood (1)

Martin and his family sailed on the Elizabeth: : 1634 on the Elizabeth of Ipswich (on 30 April 1634, “Martin Underwood,” aged 38, and “Martha his wife,” aged 31, were enrolled at Ipswich as passengers for New England on the Elizabeth [Hotten 281]). (Bond inadvertently entered this information under the name “Martin Townsend,” but soon corrected his mistake [Bond 604, 958].)

They settled immediately at Watertown, where he was made a freeman on 3 Sept 1634. He was granted several plots of land 1636-1642 and held eight parcels by teh time of the Watertown Composite Inventory. He received two acre parcels in both the Beaverbrook Plowlands and the Remote Meadows, indicating a household of two persons.

In his will, dated 23 August 1663 and proved 10 December 1672, “Martaine Underwood dwelling in Watertowne” declared that “as for my temporal estate I do bequeath it all unto my dear and beloved wife and do make her sole executor of all my estate whether lands, chattels or moveables and after her death I do give and bequeath my house and homestall and barn with all my lands in Watertowne, and all my rights belonging to me now or may be hereafter unto my kinsman Nathan Fiske”; “in case my cousin Nathan Fiske should die without heirs, executors or assigns then it is my mind and will that my cousin John Fiske his brother shall enjoy all that I have bequeathed unto my cousin Nathan Fiske”; “in case any of my sister’s children should after my decease come over into this country to lay claim to any part of my estate before bequeathed and given, then it is my mind and will that so many of them as shall come over shall have twenty shillings apiece”; “whatever of my estate shall be left undisposed by my wife and not given by her shall all fall into the hands of my cousin Nathan Fiske” [MPR 4:40-41; Rodgers 2:166-67].

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Great Migration Newsletter. (Boston, Massachusetts: Great Migration Study Project)
   [1] (subscription required).

   BIRTH: About 1596 (aged 38 on 30 April 1634 [Hotten 281]).
   DEATH: Watertown 7 November 1672 [WaVR 1:35].
   MARRIAGE: By 1629 Martha Fiske, baptized St. James, South Elmham, Essex, 9 September 1602, daughter of Jeffery Fiske [NEHGR 88:268-70]. She died at Watertown on 6 May 1684 “aged 82, or 83” [WaBOP 54].
   CHILDREN: None recorded.

Founders of Watertown, MA

Located along the Charles River, Watertown was one of the first settlements in Massachusetts Bay Colony. After a brief stay by Roger Clapp and others who then went on to settle Dorchester. In late July 1630, Sir Richard Saltonstall led a group of about 115 households to settle at Watertown, which at the time included parts of present-day Cambridge and much of the surrounding area; the population approached Boston's in the mid 17th century. In 1632 the residents of Watertown protested against being compelled to pay a tax for the erection of a stockade fort at Cambridge; leading to the establishment of representative government in the colony. Full list of original heads of households See also: History of Watertown - Wikipedia entry - Richard Saltonstall on Wikipedia Watertown Founders' Monument Current Location: Middlesex County, Massachusetts   Parent Towns: None   Daughter Towns: Cambridge, Weston, Waltham, Belmont, Lincoln