William Locke

Biography

William Locke was born in 1677 and married Hannah Knowles on November 23, 1699. The Hampton and Rye histories identify him as a deacon and place their family in Rye, on the New Hampshire coast. Their children included Jonathan, William, Abigail, Patience, Elijah, Elisha, Jemima, and Hannah, as well as children who died young.

William's title also appears in Rye's tax records, where Deacon William Locke is distinguished from a younger William. His son William worked as a mason.

The family experienced the early deaths of a daughter Hannah and a son Eliphalet. A later daughter, born in 1724, was also named Hannah. William's marriage nevertheless continued for more than sixty-eight years. He died on January 22, 1768, and Hannah survived him until September 1769. Their unusually long lives linked a household formed before 1700 with the Rye community of the late colonial period.