Short Biography of William Locke

William Locke is said to have come to America from England in 1634, at the age of 6 years, with his Uncle, Nicholas DAVIS, presumably as an orphan. They came in the ship "Planter", which sailed from London on 22 Mar 1634/5. He was a Deacon in the Congregational Church in Woburn, 1700. He was a large land owner.

His first purchase was about 1650. In 1664 he had granted to him land in "Great Meadow" and Pond Meadow. In 1673-77-80 he received other grants, and at other dates he purchased numerous other parcels of land. He took some part in the management of town affairs, and was frequently on important committees, in relation to town lands, roads, etc. In 1671 he was on a committee to settle the bounds and also to lay out lands. In 1675-76-78 he was a surveyor of fences, and in 1677 was chosen constable. He was again constable in 1701 and selectman in 1686-96, and grand juror to the supreme court in 1695. He was a member of the church of Woburn, and for many years a deacon and one of its chief pillars. His home was eventually sold by his grandson, Samuel in 1741, who may have used it as an inn for a time.

His will was made in 1703, and in it he appointed his son Ebenezer his executor and gave him all his property except half of his personal estate which he left to his wife. He required him, however, to pay to the other children certain sums, and to provide for his mother as directed in the will. Family legend (according to Grace L. (Reily) Raynor) calls him a liberal and independent thinker. It is told that when the

Town Fathers of Woburn passed a law prohibiting the chopping or cutting of wood on the Sabbath Day, Deacon William opposed it on the grounds that the law caused a hardship to the poor man who worked for his living six days a week and had no other day but Sunday to cut his wood. Therefore, the Deacon chopped wood in his front yard on Sunday in view of all the church-goers; he was arrested each Sunday until the law was repealed.

Samuel Sewall's History of Woburn, pp. 177-8, confirms much of the above, indicating Nicholas Davis was William's uncle. William had 9 children, the 1st whom died in infancy. He lived near to Kendall's Mill in Woburn, "on the spot where the late Captain William Fox had his dwelling. He was on the Board of Selectmen, 1687, 1696.

James Savage's book also confirms immigration & children.

Is said to be "the ancestor of all the Lockes who can trace their origin to Massachusetts."

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Source: The Book of Lockes

I. Deacon WILLIAM LOCKE was b. at Stepney Parish, London, England, Dec. 13, 1628, m. MARY CLARKE in Woburn, Dec. 27, 1655, the dau. of William and Margery Clarke of Woburn. She was b. at Watertown, 10, 10, 1640, (Dec. 20, 1640) and d. at Woburn, July 18, 1715, a.

74 yrs. 7 mos.; Dea. Locke d. at Woburn, June 16, 1720, a. 91 yrs. 6 mos.

Source: "Our Family History" ⁵⁹⁸⁴