Noting some unrest among the Nipmuck Indians that resided near Quaboag (Brookfield), the Council commissioned Capt. During the summer of 1675, the Native Americans attacked at Middleborough and Dartmouth (July 8), and Mendon (July 14). The war quickly spread, and soon involved the Podunk tribe. Officials from the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies responded by destroying the Wampanoag town at Mount Hope (modern Bristol, Rhode Island) on June 28, kicking off what became known as King Philip's War. Laying siege to the town, they destroyed it five days later and killed several people. On Ja band of Pokanoket attacked several isolated homesteads in the small Plymouth colony settlement of Swansea. There had been ongoing widespread conlfict with the native American population as the colonists increasingly encroached on their lands. John was a successful farmer, miller, and tavern owner. The tavern was also fortified to serve as a defensible stronghold for the community in the event of an attack.

John and Susannah soon began offering food and shelter to others and in the fall of 1671 John was granted a license to operate a tavern, including the sale of wine, etc. Over the next few years John bought and leased a substantial amount of property in the new settlement (accumulating as much as 2,000 acres). John helped build the mill and eventually ran it for some time for John Pynchon. The Ayres then moved with their eight children (ranging in age from 3 to 18) to the new settlement. In 1667, John was named one of a prudential committee for the new Quaboag Plantation in the Regrant of 1667. Ayres Tavern, Brookfield Mass.In 1660 a land grant was obtained for an area six miles square that would later become Quaboag Plantation and, eventually, Brookfield, Massachusetts.

Family Tree by Katherine Ayres