The following is offered as a partial antidote to certain lingering
misconceptions and bad habits:
<< Nathaniel, b 12 May 1667 Pawtucket, Providence RI, . . . >>
The Providence Carpenters lived not at Pawtucket (northeast of Providence,
originally part of Rehoboth, Mass.) but Pawtuxet, then the southern section of
Providence and now the eastern part of Cranston. (The northern part of
Warwick was also called Pawtuxet. The two Pawtuxets were on either side of the
Pawtuxet River at its mouth.)
<< His parents: Joseph Arnold Carpenter (1635 to 1683) and Hannah Bennett
Carpenter (3 Apr 1640 to 1670) >>
A few of those who post ancestral data online inappropriately give each of
their subjects a middle name by inserting the maiden name of that person's
mother. Middle names were almost nonexistent in the 17th century, however, and
didn't become popular until the 19th. The Joseph Carpenter mentioned above,
son of William1 and Elizabeth (Arnold) Carpenter of Pawtuxet (Providence),
had no middle name. He was, moreover, born not in 1635 (in England) but about
1638 in Providence, where his parents had almost certainly met and married
(see NEHGR 159[2005]:67-68).
Joseph's first wife, Hannah, had no middle name either. But if she had had
one, and it had been the same as her mother's maiden name, it would have been
Briant: she was the daughter of William1 and Abigail (Briant) Carpenter of
Rehoboth (see TAG 70[1995]:194, 203). (Bennett was the maiden name of
Hannah's brother William's first wife, Priscilla.) Hannah died not necessarily
in
1670 but between 1670 and 1673.
<< Nathaniel, b 12 May 1667 Pawtucket, Providence RI, d 25 Feb 1729/30 North
Castle, Westchester, NY (death date is so specific that there probably was a
will some place) >>
This birth date is suspect. D. H. Carpenter (1901) estimates it as the
summer of 1668. To my knowledge, no birth record has been found for Nathaniel or
any of his siblings.
Specific death dates generally come from vital, church, and/or cemetery
records; less often from death notices, obituaries, and local histories; and only
rarely from probate records. Some early wills, particularly in Rhode
Island, include death dates, but that is not typical of the region. If we are to
believe some of the postings on
Ancestry.com, Nathaniel's death date comes
from the _New York Mercury_, issue of 1 Jan. 1759 [sic], and from North Castle
Friends (Quaker) records.
<< wife: Tamar Wright Coles, b 18 May 1673 Oyster Bay, Queens, NY, d 25 Feb
1730 North Castle (same day?) >>
Same for Tamar Coles: no middle name. While her birth date comes from her
father's journal, I find no reliable source for her death date. (It would be
worthwhile to check the aforementioned Friends records.)And of course its
being the same as that for Nathaniel, while possible, is improbable.
<< Her parents: Robert Coles (1642 to 16 Apr 1715) and Mercy Wright ( 4 June
1651 to 21 Oct 1708) >>
Mercy Wright's birth date comes from Sandwich, Mass., vital records, and
both death dates are from Robert Coles's journal. His birth year, on the other
hand, has been estimated by Robert Charles Anderson as "say" 1644 (_The Great
Migration Begins_, 1:438).
Gene Z.
In a message dated 1/29/2007 12:04:20 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
carpenter-request(a)rootsweb.com writes:
----- Original Message -----
Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2007 15:22:32 -0800
From: Andrews <mailandrews(a)verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [CARPENTER] More NY Carpenters on NEHGS website
To: carpenter(a)rootsweb.com
Message-ID: <4E2F73BD-11AA-43A9-9B26-8799842FA6D5(a)verizon.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed
I looked at
Ancestry.com
There are a number of listings for Nathaniel and family - all listing
Tamar Wright Coles as wife.
Nathaniel, b 12 May 1667 Pawtucket, Providence RI, d 25 Feb 1729/30
North Castle, Westchester, NY (death date is so specific that there
probably was a will some place)
M 5 Nov 1691 Oyster Bay to:
wife: Tamar Wright Coles, b 18 May 1673 Oyster Bay, Queens, NY, d 25
Feb 1730 North Castle (same day?)
His parents: Joseph Arnold Carpenter (1635 to 1683) and Hannah
Bennett Carpenter (3 Apr 1640 to 1670)
Her parents: Robert Coles (1642 to 16 Apr 1715) and Mercy Wright ( 4
June 1651 to 21 Oct 1708)
Some listed Nathaniel as "Capt." (Of course, there are no references
or sources listed for any of the info. Don't know if Tamar Wright
Coles death date is true, or did someone just pick it up from a will
(?))
bandrews