Prentice, Thomas (Capt.), 1620 - 1710

Thomas Prentice was born and married in England.  He and his family immigrated to Cambridge, Massachusetts at least by 1652, when he was made a freeman there.  After removing to Newton, Prentice was appointed lieutenant of the troop of horse, and its captain six years later.  In 1661, he received three hundred acres in the Pequot Country from Thomas Day and subsequently had land at Quinsigamond, Woburn, and Billerica as well.  He served as a representative to the Massachusetts General Court (1672-1674).  During King Philip’s War, Prentice commanded the Middlesex troop of horse, which, according to one commentator, was “a terror to the Indians by [their] sudden attacks and impetuous charges.”  He was promoted to captain of the horse in 1675 and saw service at Swansea, Mendon, Rehoboth, Sudbury, and in the Narragansett Country.  During that time, he participated in removing Natick Indians to Deer Island and oversaw putting captive Indian children into servitude.  In 1691, Prentice replaced Daniel Gookin as the superintendent of Indians in Massachusetts, a position he held for nine years.  C. J. F. Binney, The History and Genealogy of the Prentice, or Prentiss Family, in New England, 2nd ed. (Boston: C. J. F. Binney, 1883), 161-164.  Bodge, Soldiers in King Philip’s War, 79, 82, 84.