LAKIN FAMILY. 
Hon. Samuel A. Green, M.D., of Boston, Mass. 
Among the first settlers of Groton were the brothers Lieutenant 
William and Ensign John Lakin, who each owned a twenty-acre 
right as original proprietors of the town. They had both previously 
lived at Leading, where they had been married.- During the earliest 
history of Groton their names appear frequently in the affairs of the 
town, and they seem both to have taken a prominent part in civil 
and ecclesiastical matters. William’s house-lot lay on both sides 
of the road leading to Hawtree Meadow, which is now known as 
Chicopee Row; and John’s was at Nod, a district lying northerly 
of the soapstone quarry. From these two militia officers are de- 
scended the numerous family of Lakins in Groton and wide neigh- 
borhood. For facts concerning John Lakin, see an article in the 
Register (xlv., pp. 81, 82) for January, 1891. 
The following copies of old papers, now in my possession, help 
to clear up some of the obscurities existing in the genealogical his- 
tory of the family. William Martin, whose name appears in the 
first receipt, was the step-father of William Lakin, and he, too, had 
previously lived at Reading. The brothers William and John were 
sons of William Lakin, of England, who came to this country, per- 
haps as early as the year 1645, with their mother and step-father, 
accompanied also by their grandfather William Lakin, senior. 
Receaved the 10th of June 1646: by me Will Laken of Red- 
ing, of my ffather in Law William Martine of Redinge the su of 
Twentie povnds and is in ffull payment and satisfaction of a lega- 
sie giuen to me by my ovvue ffather Willm Laken of Reding tn 
in England: I say Receavd by me 
William Lakin 
20H-0-0 
Signd and delivrd 
in the presnts of vs 
Nicholas Brown 
Richard Sadler: 2 
The next two receipts relate to bequests made by William Martin, 
who, according to the County records, died at Groton on March 
26, 1672[3?], aged about 76 years. They are in the handwriting 
of the Reverend Samuel Willard, who, like other country ministers 
of that period, in addition to their pastoral duties acted the part of 
scribes for the benefit of their neighbors. The following are copies 
of the papers : — 
Groton: August. 5. 1673. 
Received by my Bro Jno Lakin of Groton, ten pounds in the pay of 
Ralph Dix of Reading, upon the account of a legacy of the said sume be- 
queathed to me, by my Father William Martin in his last Will & Testa- 
ment: as also two ox chains, & foure wedges, & a beetle ring: bequeathed 
to me in the said will: I say 
Received by me. 
William Lakin 
Witnesse: 
Samuel Willard 
Elezebeth Sherman 
Groton. August: 5. 1673. 
Received by John Lakin of Groton the full sume of fourty shillings upon 
the account of a legacye of the said sume, bequeathed to mee by the last 
Will & Testament of my Loving friend Wra Martin, deceased. 
I say Received 
by me 
Sam11 Willard. 
Witnesse 
William Lakin 
Elezebeth Sherman 
The first of these receipts was lately given to me by Mr. Charles 
Butler Brooks, of Boston, who found it among the papers of his 
grandfather Caleb Butler, Esq., the historian of Groton; and the 
other two were given to me more than forty years ago by the late 
Hon. John Boynton, of Groton. It is somewhat singular that these 
old manuscripts, relating to similar transactions in the same family, 
should now come together after the vicissitudes of nearly two cen- 
turies and a half. Elizabeth Sherman, one of the witnesses, was a 
younger sister of Mr. Willard’s wife. 
William Lakin, senior, was the oldest person among the original 
settlers of Groton, and he died on December 10, 1672, aged about 
91 years. 3 
William Martin’s house-lot at Groton lay on the borders of a 
large sheet of water which in his lifetime was known as Martin’s 
Pond, and still keeps the same name. In the record of James 
Parker’s land, on July 6, 1666, "the pond called Goodman Mar- 
tin’s Pond ” is mentioned. There is also a Martin’s Pond within 
the original limits of the town of Reading,—but now lying in the 
northwest corner of North Reading,—which may have been named 
after him, as he lived there before coming to Groton. Perhaps 
some local antiquary of that neighborhood can give the origin of 
the name. 
[Reprinted from the Ncw-England Historical and Genealogical Register for Oct., 1894.]