The surname of Follett is a rare name found in Devonshire, England. Our immigrant ancestor was probably one John Follett who was born ca 1598/99 in perhaps Colyton, Devonshire as noted in the Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire by Noyes, Libby, and Davis-1988:236- 237. They note that this John Follett was perhaps the father of our Nicholas Follett to follow. However, the Genealogical Dictionary of the 1st New England Settlers by James Savage 1965:V2:178 states that Nicholas was the son of WiIliam Follett. And in the NEHGR:V33:95 we find in the Notes on the Dover Combination that “William had at least one son, :Nicholas, mariner etc.” But in evaluating the chronology, the logic as to who the father of our Nicholas was would indicate the John Follett noted above; William Follett died in 1690 which means he would have been approaching 100 years of age. John Follett married prior to 1617. The name of his wife is unknown. He immigrated to New England prior to 1640 and settled in the Dover, NH area. In 1640, he was a signer of the “Dover Combination” dated 22 October 1640, a proposal for the incorporation of the Dover area as a separate entity to be a part of Massachusetts. He was also a signer of the Northam Petition, dtd 04 June 1640, which predated the Dover Combination document which in effect requested that the patentees of Dover be given time for discussion with the Massachusetts authorities re the details of the “Combination” document. Nothing further is known of John Follett and as such he died sometime after 1640.
References:PH7:273; PH13:236-237; PH17:V2:178; PH86:70; PH96:409; FH129:15; NEHGR: V33:95.

Our next generation of the Follett lineage is Nicholas(1) Follett who could be the Nicholas Follett who was baptized in 1617 in Colyton, Devonshire; the chronology fits though specific documents are not known or available. Nicholas (1) married, ca 1649 in Dover NH, Abigail (–) who was born 1626, maybe in Colyton, Devons; her surname and ancestry is unknown. Nicholas (1) died in Dover ca 1663 and Abigail (–) married, as her second husband, Richard Nason of York, Me. and Dover, NH. Richard Nason’s will was dtd 14 July 1694 wherein Richard gave to Abigail (–) all of the of her first husband’s property, i.e., Nicholas(1) plus there were bequests to her Follett children. Abigail (–) Follett Nason was living in 1706.

Nicholas Follett (1) was a cooper and a mariner. He bought the house and land of Thomas Johnson on 06 September 1652. He was spoken of “as the nephew of William Follett” noted above. This statement in effect somewhat confirms that John Follett was the father of Nicholas(1) Follett and that John Follett and William Follett were brothers.

Nicholas (1) and Abigail (--) Follett had three known children, i.e., Nicholas(2) to follow; Philip who was born ca 165x, witnessed a deed of the fore mentioned William Follett in 1670, was taxed in 1671, and was an assignee of a John Cutts in 1672; and Sarah Follett who was born in Dover in 1654 and married John Meader prior to 1681.
References:PH7:273; PH13:112,207,236-237,473-474,505; PH86:70; PH96:409; NEHGR:V9: 366, V33:95.

Nicholas (2) Follett, the son of Nicholas (1) and Abigail (–) Follett, was born ca 1652/53, probably in Dover, NH. He died in the Gulf of Compeche between 24 April 1700, the date of his will, and 19 August 1700, the date his will was proved. The names of the wives of Nicholas Follett (2) are somewhat of an engima. The above noted Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshirew, pg 237 notes that there were maybe three wives all named Hannah. We know that Nicholas (2) married Hannah Drew Brookings subsequent to 10 December 1681, the date of Godfrey Brooking’s death. We do not know the date of this marriage; it could have been three months or maybe three years. Hannah Drew was the daughter of William and Elizabeth Matthew Drew who married, following the death of Nicholas (2) Follett, as her third husband in 1705, Abraham Hazelton.

This same above reference states that a Hannah Meader, daughter of John and Abigail Tuttle Meader, was definitely a wife of Nicholas(2) and that she was the mother of the daughters Sarah and Elizabeth Follett. We know that daughter Abigail Follett, the first child and daughter of Nicholas (2), married Andrew Wiggin on 02 September 1696. On the assumption that daughter “Abigail” Follett was named for the mother of Hannah Meader, i.e., Abigail Tuttle Meader, we can say that Nicholas(2) Follett married Hannah Meader who was born ca1655 with their marriage being ca 1675. Other evidence points to the fact that the Meador and Follett families had a close relationship.

Nicholas (2) Follett, a distinguished mariner, was a very prominent inhabitant of Portsmouth, NH which is located less than 10 miles southeast of Dover, NH. One gets the impression that the Follett homestead was in Dover, NH but the center of Nicholas’s activity was Portsmouth,NH. He was on the Dover Tax List of 23 July 1677; was in possession of Matthew Giles’s field in 1678; was on the provincial Voting list of 16 February of 1680; was on the Oyster River tax list of 1684. He was a representative to the New Hampshire Constitutional Convention at Portsmouth on 24 January 1690. He was a signer and a strong advocate of the “Address of the New Hampshire inhabitants asking for Equal Privileges with Massachusetts” 10 August 1692. We see, in the entries of incoming vessels at Portsmouth, NH on 17 September 1692, “Nicholas Follett, Commander of the Brigantine “Friends of the Endeavor”, 25 tons from Barbados”. He was on the seating list of the Portsmouth Meeting House on 13 March 1694 and on the Portsmouth 1698 Town Rate List. He is noted in the “Journal of Rev.. John Pike-1678-1709". Our Nicholas (2) Follett was a man very much involved in his community, the economic activity, and very active in the political structure.

Nicholas(2) and Hannah Meader Follett had a number of children. There, unfortunately, is not available a tidy reliable record of “who and when baptized” of these children. In the mentioned reference, “The Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire” pg237 we find reference to a 1756 disposition of Mary Bunker Denbow where she lists the children of Nicholas(2) as being Abigail, Nicholas, Benjamin, Sarah, Elizabeth, Caleb and Philip. While Nicholas (2) married Hannah Drew Brookings after 10 December 1681, we have no idea as to how many months or years “after”. In that Sarah and Elizabeth born ??, bp 21 July 1695 are noted as being daughters of Hannah Meader Follett, all of the children except Benjamin born in 1697 are being attributed to her with the caveat that it is believed that there were no children born prior to Abigail Follett and that it is possible that some of the later children could be by Hannah Drew Brookings.
References:PH7:273; PH13:112, 207,236-237,474; PH17:V2:178; PH86:70; PH96:409; NEHGR:V9:366; V33:95.

Abigail Follett, the first child and daughter of Nicholas (2) and Hannah Meader Follett, was born ca 1675/1676 in Dover, NH and died on 30 November 1749 at Stratham, NH. She married, on 02 September 1697 at Dover, NH, Andrew Wiggin who was born 16 January 1672 and died 24 January 1756 both at Stratham, NH. He was the son of Andrew and Hannah Bradstreet Wiggin of Stratham, NH.
References: PH7:813; PH13:267, 751; PH154:2742; FH283:2,4-5.