Birth: Phineas Pratt was born in England about 1593.
Death: He died in Charlestown on April 19, 1680, and was
buried in the Phipps Street Burying Ground, Charlestown.
Ship: Sparrow, 1622
Life in England: Nothing is known of his life in England.
Life in New England: Phineas Pratt came to New England as
one of Thomas Weston’s men who settled Wessagusset (Weymouth). He fled
to Plymouth after the dissolution of Wessagusset, and years later wrote
of the experience in his Declaration (1662). He was a joiner. He
and his family moved to Charlestown in 1648. He apparently fell on hard
times in the 1660s, and petitioned the General Court for assistance in
1668. The petition was refused, but the Charlestown selectmen granted
him several payments in money and goods between 1668 and 1679. The town
later came to his widow’s assistance. He has often been identified as
the brother of Joshua Pratt, who came to Plymouth in 1623 but such
kinship has not been proven.
Family: Phineas Pratt married Marah Priest by about 1633
and had eight children. She died in 1689 in Charlestown.
Children of Phineas and Marah Priest:
- Mary was born about 1633. She married John Swan on March 1, 1655/6,
in Cambridge and had eight children. She died in Cambridge on February
11, 1702.
- John was born about 1635. He married Ann Barker by 1664 and had
eight children. He died at Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York after March
14, 1697/8.
- Samuel was born about 1637. He married Mary Barker by 1668 and had
two children. He was killed in King Philip’s War near Rehoboth on March
26, 1676. She married (2) Francis Coombs in 1678.
- Daniel was born about 1641. He married Anna _____ by about 1680 and
had one daughter. He died in Providence, Rhode Island between June 23,
1680, and June 2, 1690. She married (2) William Turpin on January 27,
1690/1.
- Peter was born about 1643. He married Elizabeth (Griswold) Rogers on
August 5, 1679, in Lyme, Connecticut and had one son. He died March 24,
1688, in Lyme. She married (2) Matthew Beckwith by 1691.
- Mercy was born about 1645. She married Jeremiah Holman by about 1665
and had five children. She died between December 14, 1691, and March
14, 1694/5.
- Joseph was born about 1647. He married Dorcas Folger on January 12,
1674/5, in Charlestown and had nine children.He died on December 24,
1712, in Charlestown. She died sometime after July 8, 1728.
- Aaron was born about 1654 in Charlestown. He married (1) Sarah Pratt
about 1684 in Woburn and had eleven children. She died in Hingham on
July 22, 1706. He married (2) Sarah (Wright) Cummings on September 4,
1707, and had four children. He died in Hingham on February 23, 1735/6,
and she died on December 13, 1752.