Simon Willard was born at Horsmonden, County Kent, England, in 1605; he was baptized in this same town on April 7, 1605. He died at an age of 71 years on April 24, 1676, in Charlestown, Massachusetts

Charlestown, Massachusetts

Charlestown is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and is located on a peninsula north of downtown Boston. Charlestown was originally a separate town and the first capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; it became a city in 1847 and was annexed by Boston on January 5, 1874...

. He moved from England to Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...

 in 1634. At the time he was a Major in the British Army. Simon Willard is considered a key historical figure in the history of Concord, Massachusetts

Concord, Massachusetts

Concord is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 17,668. Although a small town, Concord is noted for its leading roles in American history and literature.-History:...

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He was one of the thirteen heads of families of Concord, MA that signed a petition drafted by Reverend Peter Bulkeley and sent to Governor John Endecott

John Endecott

John Endecott was an English colonial magistrate, soldier and the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. During all of his years in the colony but one, he held some form of civil, judicial, or military high office...

 in 1643 in support of Ambrose Martin

Ambrose Martin

Ambrose Martin was one of the first settlers of the early colonial town of Concord, Massachusetts. While living there, he was fined 10 pounds, a large sum for the time, for speaking out against the Puritan church covenant, stating that it was "a stinking carrion and a human invention," thus being...

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One of his seventeen children was the Puritan

Puritan

The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...

 divine, Reverend Samuel Willard

Samuel Willard

Reverend Samuel Willard was a Colonial clergyman. He was born in Concord, Massachusetts; graduated at Harvard in 1659; and was minister at Groton from 1663 to 1676, whence he was driven by the Indians during King Philip's War. The Reverend Willard was pastor of the Third Church, Boston, from...

 (1640-1707), a Colonial

Colonialism

Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...

 clergyman

Clergy

Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....

 who was the minister at Boston's Third Church and acting president of Harvard College

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

One of Simon Willard's descendants was the celebrated U.S. clockmaker Simon Willard

Simon Willard

Simon Willard were produced in Massachusetts in the Grafton and Roxbury workshops of Simon Willard , a celebrated U.S. clockmaker...

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