There is one more loose end in the Parr family that needs to be closed.

John Savage of Essex County wrote his will on 18 February 1697; it was proved 11 August 1701:

IN THE NAME OF GOD Amen. I John Savage of the Parish of South Farnham & County of Essex being sick & weake of body but of perfect mind and disposeing memory thanks be to Almighty God & calling to remembrance the uncertaine Estate of this Transitory Life and that all flesh unto Death when it shall please God to call, doe make & declare this my last Will & Testament in manner and forme following, Revokeing and annulling by these pr:sents all & every Will & Wills heretofore by me maids and declared either by word or writeing; And this is to be taken only for my last Will & Testament & none other; And first being penitent for my Sins past from the bottom of my heart most humbley desireing forgiveness for the same I give and comitt my Soul unto Almighty God my Creator & Redeemer in whome and by the merritts of Jesus Christ I trust & believe to be saved and to have full remission and forgiveness of all my sins and that my soul with body on the General! Day of the Resurrection shall rise againe with Joy and through the merrits of Christs death and passion possess and inherits the Kingdome of Heaven prepared for his Elect, & my body to the ground to be buryed in such decent manor as shall seame good & att the discresion of my deare & loveing Wife, And now for the settling of my Temporal Estate that it bath pleased Almighty God farr above my deserts to bestowe upon me I doe order give and dispose of the same in manner and forme following, that is to say

First, I will that all those debts justly oweing in right & conscience to me any manner of person Or persons and funeral charges shall be well & justly entitled & satisfied & paid within convenient time after my decease and likewise I doe institute & make my deare & loveing Wife, Mary Savage, full whole & sole Executrix of this my last Will & Testament and all my lands goods & chattel’s dureing her natural life & after her decease I doe give and dispose of the said lands in manner and forme following, that is to say

I first I give and beque. to Judeth Parr, the Daughter of Phill: Parr and Judeth his Wife, my house & plantation and part of my lands lying & being as followeth; first beginning at a marked white Oak that stands neare to the corner tree of Brookes land next to Brownes Swamp, from thence to strike right across to the head of a branch that runs up just beyond my Spring Branch soe downe the said branch to the maine Swamp of Kilmans Bever Dame soe downe the said draines to the land of Thomas Greene & soe to the line of the said Brookes that devides his land & mine to the place first mentioned

Item I give to Elizabeth Roberts, the Daughter of Edmund Roberts and Constant his Wife, the other part of land lying Lords. Dicke Brridge & Brownes Swamp on the land that was John Websters but in case of her death without issue my will is that Ann Roberts, Daughter of the said Roberts and his Wife, should have itt and enjoy the said Elizabeth Roberts part

Item I give to my God Daughter, Ann Straton, one Cove and Calfe to them and their heires.

This is my last Will & Testament In Witness whereof I have hereunto sett my hand and fixed my seale the eighteene day of Febry: One thousand six hundred Ninety & seaven

John Savage

Sealed and signed in the prsens of us
John Stephens
Constant Roberts
Margeret Raley
Edmund Roberts
Phill: Parr

Proved by the oaths of Edmund Roberts & John Stephens in Essex County Court ye 11th day of August 1701 and truely recorded

The big question here is who is John Savage? He was obviously married, as wife Mary was named executrix, but they had no children of their own in 1697. Were they newlyweds? Or were they an older couple who had no surviving children? John may have been older, as Mary was to inherit everything with no mention of what was to happen to the estate if she married again.

Ann Stratton is the third mentioned legatee and is clearly named as a godchild of John Savage.

There is no stated relationship, though, between Judith Parr or Elizabeth and Ann Roberts and Mr. Savage. They were still legally infants, but became heiresses. Judith was to inherit the entire house and plantation where the Savages lived. There must be some close family connection, but what is it???? Was Mary Savage related to the Parr family? Where does the Roberts family fit in this picture?

John Savage’s will raises many more questions than it answers, but he was clearly part of the extended Perkins FAN club.

There is an interesting THEORY posited by an S.W. Edmondson on the old Genealogy forum. He asks if Phillip Parr of Lancaster County might be the father of Robert Parr and Mary (MNU), who he believes to be the father of “our” Phillip Parr. Further, he wonders if Mary Parr, widow of Robert Parr, later married this John Savage.

Mary would then be the grandmother of Judith Parr, who inherited the plantation when Mary died. He further questions whether Constant, wife of Edmund Roberts, might be the sister of Phillip Parr who married Judith and a half sister to Mary (MNU) Carter, as William Young married a widow Parr.

That would certainly put together a lot of the pieces in this extended family puzzle and addresses the thoughts of researchers who place Mary (MNU) Colclough Carter Smith as a Young by birth.

Given that this is not my husband’s direct line, I will leave the Parr puzzle to others to solve!