Sniper, I also had family in the area at the time.

In 1623 John Balch came to Massachusetts from Somersetshire England. “He came with a colony in the charge of Captain Robert Gorges who had a grant of a large tract of land which he wished to colonize." They landed at Wessegusset, now known as Weymouth, Massachusetts.

”By May 1631, John Balch and about eighteen others, being members of the church, were made freemen, that is, given the right to vote and hold office." In 1638 he built a two story frame house upon his land in North Beverly, in which he spent the remainder of his life. His home is still standing, the oldest house in New England, and held for preservation by trustees representing the family.

John became known as one of the four “Old Planters,” along with John Woodbury, Roger Conant, and Peter Palfrey. These four were the original founders of Salem. John was not a Puritan. He was a Presbyterian coventer. An interesting quote about them is that “none of them or their descendants are known to have been among the persecutors of the Baptists, the Quakers, or the Witches, but, on the contrary, a descendant of Woodbury kept a horse saddled and a lantern lighted to aid any accused of witchcraft to escape, and a grandson of John Balch dared to sign a remonstrance against their persecution.”