David Oliver - Grace Parker Family Group

What We Know About This Family

Noteworthy

An Overview of Their Lives

David was a fisherman and went to Georgetown in what is now the state of Maine to fish at Pemaquid. In approximately, 1670, he married Grace Parker, the daughter of Thomas Parker, who had bought the island from an Indian called Robinhood. David and Grace settled on Stage Island. Indians raided the island between the years 1677 and 1679, and their home along with 60 others was destroyed. They left the island and petitioned Sir Edmund Andros for land in the southern part of Arrowsic. David and the other settlers were granted land in Newtowne, where they lived for ten years or perhaps less. During this time, the Indians also burned Newtowne. By 1680, King William's War was well under way becoming in 1703 Queen Anne's War and lasting through 1713. David and Grace Oliver took refuge in Marblehead, Massachusetts.

David Oliver, Sr. joined Captain Rowden's Company of the Massachusetts Militia for service in the Indian Wars. He took the oath of fidelity in Massachusetts on 23 Jul 1674. In 1676, there is a record for him having administered the estate of Thomas Bowles, and he and sold part of his land to Henry Coombs in 1676. In this record, he acknowledged being "late of Kennebec".

David and Grace had two sons, Thomas and David, Jr. Thomas apparently settled in Boston, where his occupation was a shipwright. He was a signer on behalf of himself and his brother on the deed dividing his grandfather Parker's land in 1732.

From the Georgetown Historical Society, we find information about the Olivers in Maine:

What had begun as a fishing community in the 1600's was expanding into mills, which produced shingles, lumber and flour. There were carding mills to prepare wool for spinning because sheep raising was a big industry on the island.  In the 1700's, tidewater mills could be found wherever there was power to activate them. The eastern and western mill ponds (branches) at the southern end of Robinhood Cove were ideal. The lumber mill on the western branch, which was built by David Oliver and Thomas Trafton, continued to be operated into the first decade of the 20th century, and the mill dam can still be seen. 

David and Grace Oliver returned to Maine before their deaths; Their son, David, Jr. settled in Marblehead. He married Sarah Pedrick Brentnall, the widow of Henry Brentnall and the daughter of parents who were both immigrants to Marblehead. Together they had seven children, all born in Marblehead. David's two sons, Thomas and David Jr., both received land opposite Long Island in the Kennebec: Lot #4 in the division of the estate of their grandfather Thomas Parker, on land which is now Bay Point. The deed mentions them by name and their relationship to their mother, Grace, and her father.

Proof of Relationship

The marriage record, the genealogical records, and the deed are our best proof of relationship for our direct ancestors in this family.

What Else We Need to Learn

The goal of this project is to trace every line of ancestry to the arrival of its first immigrant to America. The basic information of each couple is considered complete when we know the dates of birth, marriage, and death for both spouses. their parents' names (or whether they were the immigrant), and the child or children in our ancestry line.

The research on this family is NOT complete. Still in question is the date and manner of Mary Leman's death plus proof of the relationship of David as the son of Thomas and Mary Leman Oliver. Grace's mother's surname is also unknown, but that may be lost in history.