Individual Details
Richard Prouty
(3 Sep 1652 - 1 Sep 1708)
The permanent settlement of Massachusetts with Europeans that began in 1620 at Cape Code with the Plymouth Colony began to expand during the 1630's. The first mention of "ward of Scituate" in their records was in 1633/4 and in 1636 Scituate was organized as a town. The name is derived from "satuit," the Wampanoag term for cold brook. It refers to a brook that runs to the inner harbor of Scituate.
Richard Prouty, the progenitor of the Prouty family in America, is thought to have come to Scituate about 1666/7 as a boy of fourteen (Pope 12). His name is not mentioned in town records until the Indian conflict of 1675-6 and is missing from a 1672 list of inhabitants. Reasons given for his coming as a boy are that he would be able to bear arms at 16, but not old enough to vote or be made a "townsman" in 1672, thus his absence from the list.
In 1675-76 when the Indian conflict known as King Philip's War was raging, Richard Prouty did "a brave defender's part in repelling the cruel foe" (Pope 10). The Wampanoag chief Metacomet, called "King Philip" by the English, ended the peace his father had with the colonists for forty years since signing a treaty in 1621 with the original Pilgrims. It was a brutal conflict, 600 colonists lost their lives, 3,000 Indians theirs. 50 to 90 English villages were attacked, many burned to the ground. Scituate suffered terribly from swift attacks which burned thirteen homes and killed several residents.
The details of Richard Prouty's service in the conflict were not recorded; but the Colony of Plymouth in a session of its General Court, July 21, 1676, placed a list of men on its records with a note of what was owing to them. "The names of such souldiers of Scittuat whoe desired to be satisfyed in lands for such service as they pformed for the country, with the sumes due to them on that accompt, is as followeth: -" Fourth in the list is "Richard Prowtey.......06:12:03" (six pounds, twelve shillings and three pence) (Shurtleff 206). The town voted to instruct its representatives to ask the General Court for its proper share of any lands or profit obtained during the Indian wars (Pope 10-11). Those of Scituate made their application, among them "Richard Prowtey, Corp." (Bodge 602). A tract of land valued at 800 lbs. was set aside and on Nov 12 1677 the men where allowed to purchase deeds of shares. Of the thirty shares available Richard Prouty had one-quarter of a share. This he sold in 1693 to Edward Gray for 14 lbs, his wife Damaris signing with him in release of her dower in the land (Pope 11).
Colonial life was dependent wholly on one's own exertions for a living. It was slow work acquiring lands and buildings. In 1676, with the war over, married Damaris Torrey, the daughter of one of the leading men of the township, a magistrate and representative to the Plymouth General Court. This marriage doubtless helped to give him standing. Records show that Richard was industrious cultivating land; on December 27, 1683 , the town granted to Peter Woodelike "four or five acres of upland at the north side of the Common field that Jacob Bumpas and Richard Proutie hath broken up" (Pope 13). In 1692 and 1694 twenty and fifteen acres of land respectively was granted to him on Hoop-pole Hill, one of the pleasantest sites in Scituate, where he established a homestead. His farm was on the northeast part of Hooppole Hill, and his house was near the causeway over the swamp, known since 1680 as Prouty's Dam. In 1698 he added five acres of upland and one of swamp to his farm.
Richard's name is found among Scituate records several more times. He was among the men chosen by the town on September 1, 1702 to serve on the jury trials at the next inferior Court of Common Pleas held at Plymouth. He was one of four chosen for duty as a "Tithing man" who kept order in church in 1704/5. He was one of those who drew ten acre lots in 1706/7 and he was on the grand jury February 18, 1707/8. Richard died September 1, 1708, leaving his lands to his eldest living son Edward Prouty (Pope 16).
See "The English Ancestry of Richard Prouty of Scituate, Plymouth Colony; being a letter to Lewis Isaac Prouty", by Frederick Elon Thomas Prouty, May 31, 1948, n.p. 1948 17 p.
Richard Prouty, the progenitor of the Prouty family in America, is thought to have come to Scituate about 1666/7 as a boy of fourteen (Pope 12). His name is not mentioned in town records until the Indian conflict of 1675-6 and is missing from a 1672 list of inhabitants. Reasons given for his coming as a boy are that he would be able to bear arms at 16, but not old enough to vote or be made a "townsman" in 1672, thus his absence from the list.
In 1675-76 when the Indian conflict known as King Philip's War was raging, Richard Prouty did "a brave defender's part in repelling the cruel foe" (Pope 10). The Wampanoag chief Metacomet, called "King Philip" by the English, ended the peace his father had with the colonists for forty years since signing a treaty in 1621 with the original Pilgrims. It was a brutal conflict, 600 colonists lost their lives, 3,000 Indians theirs. 50 to 90 English villages were attacked, many burned to the ground. Scituate suffered terribly from swift attacks which burned thirteen homes and killed several residents.
The details of Richard Prouty's service in the conflict were not recorded; but the Colony of Plymouth in a session of its General Court, July 21, 1676, placed a list of men on its records with a note of what was owing to them. "The names of such souldiers of Scittuat whoe desired to be satisfyed in lands for such service as they pformed for the country, with the sumes due to them on that accompt, is as followeth: -" Fourth in the list is "Richard Prowtey.......06:12:03" (six pounds, twelve shillings and three pence) (Shurtleff 206). The town voted to instruct its representatives to ask the General Court for its proper share of any lands or profit obtained during the Indian wars (Pope 10-11). Those of Scituate made their application, among them "Richard Prowtey, Corp." (Bodge 602). A tract of land valued at 800 lbs. was set aside and on Nov 12 1677 the men where allowed to purchase deeds of shares. Of the thirty shares available Richard Prouty had one-quarter of a share. This he sold in 1693 to Edward Gray for 14 lbs, his wife Damaris signing with him in release of her dower in the land (Pope 11).
Colonial life was dependent wholly on one's own exertions for a living. It was slow work acquiring lands and buildings. In 1676, with the war over, married Damaris Torrey, the daughter of one of the leading men of the township, a magistrate and representative to the Plymouth General Court. This marriage doubtless helped to give him standing. Records show that Richard was industrious cultivating land; on December 27, 1683 , the town granted to Peter Woodelike "four or five acres of upland at the north side of the Common field that Jacob Bumpas and Richard Proutie hath broken up" (Pope 13). In 1692 and 1694 twenty and fifteen acres of land respectively was granted to him on Hoop-pole Hill, one of the pleasantest sites in Scituate, where he established a homestead. His farm was on the northeast part of Hooppole Hill, and his house was near the causeway over the swamp, known since 1680 as Prouty's Dam. In 1698 he added five acres of upland and one of swamp to his farm.
Richard's name is found among Scituate records several more times. He was among the men chosen by the town on September 1, 1702 to serve on the jury trials at the next inferior Court of Common Pleas held at Plymouth. He was one of four chosen for duty as a "Tithing man" who kept order in church in 1704/5. He was one of those who drew ten acre lots in 1706/7 and he was on the grand jury February 18, 1707/8. Richard died September 1, 1708, leaving his lands to his eldest living son Edward Prouty (Pope 16).
See "The English Ancestry of Richard Prouty of Scituate, Plymouth Colony; being a letter to Lewis Isaac Prouty", by Frederick Elon Thomas Prouty, May 31, 1948, n.p. 1948 17 p.
Events
| Birth | 3 Sep 1652 | Rodmarton, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom |  |  | |
| Baptism | 30 Sep 1652 | Rodmarton, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom | | ||
| Marriage | Dec 1676 | Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts, British America - Damaris Torrey | | | |
| Death | 1 Sep 1708 | Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts, British America | |
Families
| Spouse | Damaris Torrey (1651 - 1717) |
| Child | James Prouty (1677 - ) |
| Child | Edward Prouty (1679 - 1726) |
| Child | Jonathan Prouty (1681 - 1733) |
| Child | Isaac Prouty (1689 - 1754) |
| Child | Margaret Prouty (1691 - 1768) |
| Child | William Prouty (1694 - 1761) |
| Father | Richarde Proute (1621 - 1703) |
| Mother | Elizabeth Guest ( - ) |
Notes
Birth
The Scituate Genealogy Webpage had his birth ca 1646.Marriage
MARR:New England Marriages Prior to 1700, C.A.Torrey,1985, Balt.Md., p 606Endnotes
1. Pane-Joyce, David., Scituate Genealogy Webpage. (
2. Hillhouse, Margaret P., Historical and genealogical collections relating to the descendants of Rev. James Hillhouse (New York: T.A. Wright, printer and publisher, 1924, 706 pgs.), p 294.
3. Pope, Charles Henry, 1841-1918., Prouty (Proute) genealogy. (Boston, Mass.; C.H. Pope, 1910.), p 8.
4. Pane-Joyce, David., Scituate Genealogy Webpage. (
5. Torrey, Frederic Crosby., The Torrey families in America. (Lakehurst, N.J.: unknown, 1924-1929, 914 pgs.), p. 40.
6. Torrey, Frederic Crosby., The Torrey families in America. (Lakehurst, N.J.: unknown, 1924-1929, 914 pgs.), p. 40.