John Ayer (1582–1657) was one of the original European settlers to Massachusetts, settling in Ipswich, Haverhill, and Salisbury. Early years John was born on September 2, 1582 to father Thomas Eyre (Ayer) and Elizabeth Rogers, in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. He married once prior to 1619, but it is unclear what happened to Rogers. Ayer married Hannah (maiden name unknown). On June 3, 1635, John Ayer set sail for the New World with his family, including his two brothers-in-law, John and Stephen, aboard the ship James. As they approached New England, a hurricane struck, and they were forced to ride it out just off the coast of modern-day Hampton, New Hampshire. According to the ship's log and the journal of Increase Mather, whose father Richard Mather and family were passengers, the following was recorded; "At this moment,... their lives were given up for lost; but then, in an instant of time, God turned the wind about, which carried them from the rocks of death before their eyes. ...her sails rent in sunder, and split in pieces, as if they had been rotten ragges..." They tried to stand down during the storm just outside the Isles of Shoals, but lost all three anchors, as no canvas or rope would hold, but on Aug 13, 1635, torn to pieces, and not one death, all one hundred plus passengers of the James managed to make it to Boston Harbor. New World settlements It is reported that John and Hannah first moved to Ipswich before being part of the new settlement of the "plantation at Merrimack" on September 6, 1638. A year later the plantation was named "Colchester", then finally Salisbury in 1640. The idea was to establish a plantation-style settlement with the following criteria, as reported to the General Court in March 1638: "At a meeting at merrimack of Mr Simone Bradstreet, Mr Samuell Dudly, Mr Danniell Dennisonn, Christopher Batt, Samuell Winsley, John Sanders: "It was ordered that there shall be 2 divisions of Meadow, the one nerrer, the other farther, the nerrest shall haue fower Acres to Each 100h(£), the other left to farther Consideration. "It was further ordered that vpland for planting lotts shall be divided so as he that hath vnder 50h shall haue 4 Acres, and he that hath aboue 50h to 150h shall haue 6 Acres, and all aboue shall haue 4 Acres to Euerie 100h. "Allso, it was