GENERATION 11

GENERATION 10

Biography

JOSEPH BELCHER lived in Milton, Norfolk, MA, just a few miles west of his birthplace of Braintree, Norfolk, MA, on land that his father had given to him as a wedding gift.

REBECCA GILL was the sole heiress to large tracts of land in Dorchester and Milton, from the estate of her father, but evidentally incompatability made their domestic life unhappy, causing a temporary separation and a summons before the general court. By the efforts of friends, however, a reconciliation was effected (Dedham Historical Register, vol. 12, p. 41).

On the breaking out of King Philip's War, Joseph Belcher served as quartermaster in the Calvary troop of Capt. Thomas Prentice in the first expedition against King Philip at Mt. Hope (now Bristol, RI), and in a skirmish with the Indians at Swansea, on Jun. 28, 1675, he distinguished himself by great bravery, being badly wounded in the knee, and having his horse shot from under him.

He died Jan. 29, 1678/79. The inventory of his estate amounted to £472-4-9, being presented on Feb. 7, 1678/79 (Suffolk County Probate, vol. 12, p. 318).