Person:William Dyer (18)

Research Notes

• Parents of Doctor William Dyer are UNKNOWN.
  • THEORY 1: Samuel Dyer and Anne Hutchinson
    • see Argument that Dr. William Dyer was the son of Samuel and Anne (Hutchinson) Dyer.

Summary (author unknown)

[cos1776 note: Author and sources are not provided for the information below. Some of it agrees with Underhill ¹ and some does not.]

William Dyer was born about 1653; the place of his birth is unknown. "The Marriage of William Dier & Mary Taylor December 1686," is recorded with the births of their children, in Barnstable. Mary Taylor was daughter to Henry Taylor, of Barnstable, who married December 19, 1650, Lydia Hatch. Lydia Hatch was sister to Jonathan, and daughter to Thomas and Grace Hatch, of Barnstable, formerly of Scituate. Little is known of Thomas Hatch except that he was one of "the men of Kent," in Scituate, who followed parson Lothrop to Barnstable; in 1648, "the late Thos. Hatch" was mentioned.

There is a tradition in one line of Dr. Dyer's descendants that he was of the family who came to New England from Dorking, a market town of Surrey, England. The Taylor family with whom Doctor Dyer was associated evidently came from the neighboring county of Kent, where the Taylors were numerous.

The Rev. John Lothrop, who died November 8, 1653, in Barnstable, was a man of more than ordinary caliber. He arrived in Boston September 18, 1634, bringing over with him about thirty of his flock from an early pastorate in County Kent, England; these "men of Kent" went with him to Scituate. Deane says that his ministry there "was not procecuted with great success or in much peace." The first place to which removal was contemplated was "Seipican," now Rochester; their final choice was "Mattacheese township," later Barnstable. The records of Scituate show that in the fall and winter of 1639-1640, "more than half the Church removed with their pastor." Among the inhabitants of Barnstable who arrived in October, 1639, with their pastor were Anthony Annable, Samuel Hinckley, and "Mr Lumbard, Sr." In 1640, Thomas Hatch, Thomas Hinckley, afterwards Governor, son to Samuel Hinckley, Thomas Lombard, Bernard Lombard, and others, were mentioned in a list of new settlers. In a list of those "admitted to inhabit," 1662 to 1666, in Barnstable appear others, many of whose descendants were later in Truro and intermarried with the Dyers: "widow Lumbard" and her several sons; Mark Ridley; Samuel Hicks, son to Robert Hicks, of the Fortune, 1621; Henry Taylor, probably son to John Taylor, of Scituate.

Henry Taylor evidently followed his wife's people to Barnstable, "where he resided until her death," the date of which is unknown He appears to have been the same Henry Taylor who was made freeman in Boston, May 3, 1665; that year his wife Mary also was mentioned. On August 6, 1666, "Henery Taylor of Boston . . . Chirurgeon" and Mary his wife, for "a valuable consideration, " sold "Rodger Rose . . . Lighterman . . . a dwelling house & land on which it standeth," in Boston, on the "Streete or way Leading towards the great Dock." ... From the fact that Doctor William Dyer later married his daughter Mary, it is reasonable to suppose that Dyer studied medicine with Doctor Taylor. The latter was a physician of recognized merit, while in Boston. The only way at that time of obtaining a medical education was through apprenticeship to a physician. It is said that not a medical college existed in the Colonies prior to 1765. The profession, at its best, was crude; remedies were few, and bleeding was resorted to for almost every ill. Let us hope that Doctor Dyer was more skillful than a certain physician of his day in New Hampshire, of whom it was said that he "began by doctoring cattle; later, with more or less success, he treated the human kind."

There is nothing to indicate the time of Doctor Dyer's coming to Barnstable, yet he must have been there several years. Beyond the records of his marriage and the births of his children, which were written after the birth of his last child in April, 1701, there is nothing to show that he ever lived there. The church records do not contain his name nor that of any of his family. The exact date of his removal from Barnstable to Truro also is problematical. On July 16, 1709, Pamet, on Cape Cod, was incorporated as Truro. Among the residents, or voters, at that time, were "Dr. Wm Dyer" and "Jonathan Dyer." The latter could not have been son to the Doctor, as his son Jonathan was but seventeen years old. Later, Doctor Dyer's son Jonathan appeared in the records as "Jonathan Dyer 2d," showing conclusviely that there were two men of the name. The elder was no doubt brother to Doctor William Dyer. At a meeting of the Proprietors, April 26, 1715, land was sold to "William Dyer Jonathan Dyer," and others; a further division to the Proprietors also was ordered. This is the last mention of the elder Jonathan Dyer. ..."

1.   Doctor William Dyer of Truro, in Underhill, Lora Altine Woodbury. Descendants of Edward Small of New England: and the Allied Families with Tracings of English Ancestry. (Riverside Press, 1910).

   Vol 3, p 1249 -
   ... William 2 Dyre, son to William 1 and Mary Dyre, is the one who, it has been claimed erroneously, was the father to Doctor William Dyer, of Truro. ...
   Vol 3, p 1294 -
   THE DYER FAMILY OF TRURO
   I. _____ 1 Dyer. The parentage of Doctor William 2 Dyer, of Barnstable and Truro, is unknown. From the foregoing account of the William Dyre family of Boston, Rhode Island, and New Jersey, it is readily seen that he could not have been identical with either the son or grandson of William 1 and Mary Dyre, of Boston. Nor is he mentioned among the heirs of William Dyer, Esq., of Sheepscot, in the very informative deeds of 1712, thus precluding suggestions of his descent from the Sheepscot family of Dyer.
   
   Vol 3, p 1295 -
   DOCTOR WILLIAM 2 DYER
   2. Doctor William 2 Dyer, of Barnstable, may, possibly, have been himself, the immigrant ancestor and founder of this family of Dyers. He was born about 1653, according to the evidence of his gravestone; the place of his birth is unknown.* [*See page 1300.] "The Marriage of William Dier & Mary Taylor Decemr 1686," is recorded, with the births of their children, in Barnstable.+ [+ The Mayflower Descendant, vol. 4:224-25.] It has been asserted that Mary Taylor was daughter to Henry Taylor. That "Mary Taylor ye daughter of Henry Taylor" existed and was unmarried January 19, 1685-86, is amply attested by the will ++ [++ Probate Records of Barnstable, prior to 1685 (MS. copy at New England Historic Genealogical Society), Book I:260.] of Mary Houghton, widow of James Houghton, dated January 19, 1685-86. She left twenty shillings to "Mary Taylor ye daughter of Henry taylor." A codicil reads: "Oct. 1687 Mary Houghton desired to have the following alteration in her will aforesaid; viz. That ye cow mentioned to Thankful Hinckley she intended it for Abigail Hinckley and her will is that ye Leaguse given to Mary Taylor is revoked and made null."
   
   Considering that the marriage of William Dyer and Mary Taylor occurred in December, 1686, between the date of drawing this will and the addition of the codicil revoking the legacy to Mary Taylor the daughter of Henry Taylor, a strong presumption is created that Mary Taylor, the legatee, and Mary Taylor, wife of William Dyer, were identical, and that the marriage gave cause for Mary Houghton to revoke the legacy. ...
   
   Vol 3., p 1298 -
   ... There is nothing to indicate the time of Doctor Dyer's coming to Barnstable, yet he must have been there several years. Beyond the records of his marriage and the births of his children, which were written after the birth of his last child in April, 1701, there is nothing to show that he ever lived there. The church records do not contain his name nor that of any of his family. The exact date of his removal from Barnstable to Truro also is problematical. On July 16, 1709, Pamet on Cape Cod, was incorporated as Truro. Among the residents, or voters, at that time, were "Dr. Wm Dyer" and "Jonathan Dyer,"* [* History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1890: vol. 2:925.] the latter, son to the Doctor, and but seventeen years old. At a meeting of the Proprietors, April 26, 1715, land was sold to "William Dyer Jonathan Dyer," and others; a further division to the Proprietors also was ordered.+ [+ Truro, Cape Cod, by Shebnah Rich, 1883: 216.] Unfortunately, the deeds of Barnstable County, prior to 1825, were burned; they may have contained further information.
   
   In 1710, "William Dyer, Sr.," was one of the twenty owners of cattle in the town. These cattle were of a large, Danish breed, "yellow" in color, that appear to have been brought there by Francis Small from Kittery. As usual in the early settlements, the cattle caused great trouble by straying upon the meadows and the beaches adjoining; year after year, committees were chosen by the Proprietors to preserve the grass. On November 19, 1733, the impounding of Doctor Dyer's horse occasioned much trouble.
   
   Rich says that the old Doctor William "had a knack of keeping in hot water with his neighbors, and like Tristram Shandy's father, had a spice in his temper known by the name of perseverance in a good cause, and obstinacy in a bad one. His family, all married and settled around him, soon became among the largest and most influential in town; a position maintained to this day." ++ [++ Truro, Cape Cod, by Shebnah Rich, 1883: 526.] Rich also comments upon the intermarriages among the Dyers; they married first cousins, second cousins, and into collateral lines, until nearly every family in Truro had a strain of Dyer blood. Some have migrated, yet "at a late visit to the Congregational Sunday-school," about 1880, Rich says: "I noticed all the officers, many of the teachers, the organist, ex-superintendent, and pastor's wife, were of that name." He also cites the case of a lady living at Truro, an only child, who "unites herself four quarters of Dyer, without a twist - her father and mother and both grandmothers born Dyer." This is equally true at Cape Elizabeth, Maine. The Dyers there unite in themselves several lines of the name, which until recently were thought by many to be of distinct origin; but they all appear to be descendants of Doctor William Dyer, of Truro.
   
   Doctor William Dyer lived a long and useful life; he lived to see the fourth William, his great-grandson, baptized July 17, 1737, in the church at Truro. The next year, Doctor Dyer died in July, and his widow, Mary, in October following. Their gravestones, still in good condition, may be seen in the Old North Cemetery at Truro; they read as follows: HERE LIES BURIED. THE BODY OF. DR. WM. DYER. AGED ABOUT 85 YEARS. DIED JULY YE 27TH. 1738. [and] HERE LIES BURIED. THE BODY OF. MRS MARY DYER. WIFE TO. DR. WM. DYER. DIED OCT. YE 8TH 1738. AGED ABOUT 80 YEARS.
   
   The house built by Doctor Dyer, in Truro, was occupied after his death by his son Ebenezer, who by will dated June 2, 1773, gave to his son, Fulk Dyer, "my Dwelling house wherein I now live and and the lands adjoining thereto formerly Called Doct. Dyers homestead." * [* Vide Ebenezer 3 Dyer, page 1348.] Fulk Dyer lived there until his death, in 1814, in his eighty-second year. The inventory of his estate includes the "land called the homestead whereon the House and other Buildings standeth ... $150.00, One Dwelling House ... $250.00" + [+ Barnstable County Probate, Book 38: 157.] The old house, last occupied by Captain Ebenezer Atkins, was taken down since 1865. ...
   
   ISSUE* [* The Mayflower Descendant, vol. 4:224, 225.]
   I. Lydia 3, b. March 30, 1688, in Barnstable, Massachusetts. There is no record of her marriage in Truro.
   II. William 3 Dyer, b. Oct. 30, 1690, in Barnstable. He was eleven or twelve years old when his father moved to Truro. ...

2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Dr William Dyer, in Find A Grave.

   [Includes photo (taken 18 Aug 2010) of a replacement headstone (date of replacement unknown). Inscription: HERE LYES BURIED. THE BODY OF DOC. WILLIAM DYER. AGED. ABOUT 85 YEARS. DIED JULY 27TH. 1738.]