Daniel Pond
English settler (1620s/30s–1697/98)
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Lt. Daniel Pond (1620s/1630s – 1697/1698) was a prominent early settler of Dedham, Massachusetts.
Early life
Life in Dedham
Pond arrived in Dedham around 1652 and purchased land from Nathaniel Fisher and Ralph Wheelock.[3] Pond served as a selectman in Dedham for 14 terms, beginning in 1661.[4][3] As a selectmen, he was one of ten men, or roughly 5% of the adult male population, who filled 60% of the seats on the board.[5]
Pond and Ezra Morse were given permission by the Town to erect a new corn mill on Mother Brook, so long as it was completed by June 24, 1665.[6][7][8][9][10] He performed several carpentry jobs on the meetinghouse of the First Church and Parish in Dedham, including hanging the first bell.[11]
When the town of Wrentham, Massachusetts split off from Dedham, he became an owner of real estate there as well.[3] He was awarded several lots there, but probably never lived in Wrentham.[3]
He was a lieutenant in the militia and took the freeman's oath in 1690.[12] He was a husbandman.[13] He also worked as a carpenter.[1]
Family
He married Abigail Shepard around 1652, a member of the church in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[3] They had a daughter, also named Abigail, who was born in Dedham but not baptized there.[3] A son was baptized, however, on August 22, 1653, less than two weeks after he joined the church on the 11th.[3] They had seven children, including John, Ephraim, Robert, and Jabez.[3][13]
After his wife died on July 5, 1661, he married Ann Edwards two months later.[12] He died on February 4, 1697-8 and Ann outlived him.[12]
His great-great grandson was Oliver Ellsworth, an American founding father and jurist.[2]