Individual Details

Thomas "alias Morgan" Carrier

(Abt 1626 - 18 May 1735)

There are many colorful stories surrounding Thomas Carrier alias Morgan. Hazen's Notes on Thomas Carrier says he was extremely tall, muscular and strong. The Ancestry of Philip Joseph Currier says he was 7-foot-4. The most intriguing story is from Hazen, that he or his father might have been the executioner of King Charles I (30 Jan 1649). If the report of his age at death are near accurate (108 or 109 according to Colchester town records), he would have been 23.
Thomas Carrier came to America about 1655, first probably to Cambridge then to Billerica, Massachusetts.
There are different theories as to the reason for the alias. The Ancestry of Philip Joseph Currier explains that in Wales "it was customary for sons to carry on the surname of both parents, to wit: Morgan ap Carrier [--] ap being a prefix signifying 'son of.' " Hazen's Notes on Thomas Carrier suggests that a Welshman is popularly called Morgan or that men "coming out of England in those troubled years usually found an assumed name easier to use in arranging leave, and could not get passage in their own names in their politics were wrong."
After the hanging of his wife for witchcraft in 1692, Thomas Carrier made frequent petitions for the reversal of the witchcraft conviction. The judgments were finally reversed and damaged paid in 1711.



Events

BirthAbt 1626Wales
LivingNov 1667Billerica, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States
Oath4 Feb 1667/68of fidelity - Billerica, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States
Marriage7 May 1674Billerica, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States - Martha Allen
Death18 May 1735Colchester, New London, Connecticut, United States

Families

SpouseMartha Allen (1650 - 1692)
ChildRichard Carrier (1674 - 1749)
ChildAndrew Carrier (1677 - 1749)
ChildJane Carrier (1680 - 1680)
ChildThomas Carrier (1682 - 1740)
ChildSarah Carrier (1684 - 1772)
ChildHannah Carrier (1689 - )

Notes

Living

Thomas Carrier and his servant John Levistone were assigned to cut brush in Billerica, Massachusetts.

Endnotes

1. Currier, Philip Joseph, Ancestry of Philip Joseph Currier (Henniker, New Hampshire: by the author, 2000), 160; digital images, Brigham Young University, Family History Archives (http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/FH9&CISOPTR=18032 : accessed 12 May 2010.

2. Celeste Pember Hazen, "Notes on Thomas Carrier, Immigrant," 1; , Connecticut State Library, Hartford, Connecticut.

3. Celeste Pember Hazen, "Notes on Thomas Carrier, Immigrant," 1; , Connecticut State Library, Hartford, Connecticut.

4. Currier, Philip Joseph, Ancestry of Philip Joseph Currier (Henniker, New Hampshire: by the author, 2000), 160; digital images, Brigham Young University, Family History Archives (http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/FH9&CISOPTR=18032 : accessed 12 May 2010.

5. Celeste Pember Hazen, "Notes on Thomas Carrier, Immigrant," 1; , Connecticut State Library, Hartford, Connecticut.

6. Currier, Philip Joseph, Ancestry of Philip Joseph Currier (Henniker, New Hampshire: by the author, 2000), 160; digital images, Brigham Young University, Family History Archives (http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/FH9&CISOPTR=18032 : accessed 12 May 2010.

7. Connecticut, Lucius Barnes Barbour, Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records: 34, Thomas Carrier;Connecticut State Library, Hartford, Connecticut.