The Sterling genealogy

William Sterling
of flatadnli, JHass,,
antr of Jljnne, Conn.,
anti J)i£ SDe£cent>aut£
ILLIAM STERLING was born, presumably not
far from London, England, in 1637. From the in-
scription on his tombstone in Sterling City, Lyme,
Conn., it would appear that he was born in 1632, as it states that
he died in 1719, " in the 87th year of his age." However, as Wil-
liam gave his age as thirty in 1667 and again as thirty-five in
1672 (New Eng. Hist. Gene. Register, Vol. VIII, p. 53) we
may safely assume that the gravestone inscription is in error.
The first mention that has been found of William in New
England is in the Essex County Records at Salem, Mass., where
the names of five children are given as born at " Rowley Village
at Mirimack." The village referred to was what is now Bradford,
on the opposite side of the Merrimac river from Haverhill, where
William lived many years. Bradford was settled in 16^9; the
name was soon changed to Merrimack and in Jan., 1672, to Brad-
ford. (Memorial Hist, of Bradford, J. D. Kingsbury, '83.)
Another Rowley Village on the Merrimac was what is now called
Boxford, which was settled in 1645. Its name was changed in
1686. (Hist, of Boxford, Sidney Perley, '80.)
" Good : Starling " was taxed three shillings and ten pence,
in Rowley, between the years 1660 and 166-i. (N. E. Hist. Gene.