The Prescott family belongs to the original Puritan stock and blood of New England. John, the first emigrant, came from Lancashire, England, and settled in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, about the year 1640, twenty years only after the first settlement of Plymouth, and ten years after that of Boston. The death of this John, who was a blacksmith, is placed in 1683. He had by his wife Mary (Platt) Prescott, four daughters and three sons, the youngest of whom was Jonas, born June -, 1648, married, by one account, to Thankful Wheeler, October 5, 16 G 9; and by another, to Mary, daughter of John Looker, December 14, 1670.Jonas lived in Groton; and by the roadside near Lawrence Academy may be seen the annexed inscription on a large stone, in the wall enclosing the farm of the late Lion. Stuart J.Park. The initials of "I.P." are those of Jonas Prescott who lived upon this farm, and "O. P." are those of his grandson Doctor Oliver Prescott, who subsequently occupied it (N.E. Hist. Genealogical Register, January, 1861, p.91). Jonas Prescott had eight daughters and four sons, and died December 13, 1723.
