Bob -
You're entirely welcome. Sharing is key to building a consensus
regarding who are ancestors were, and to understanding something about
their lives and times.
Plymouth Colony was an independent colony until King Philip's War
1675-77, when it had to unite with Massachusetts Bay Colony (one source
says 1691, but that seems late) for mutual protection.
This site has a pretty good early history, but stops after the first 20+
years:
http://www.ushistory.org/us/3a.asp
Several articles are available from this page:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/researchtools/researchstarters/plymouth/
This site is a rich resource of maps of Massachusetts at various points
in history:
http://www.geo.umass.edu/faculty/wilkie/Wilkie/maps.html
This site has some interesting historical and geographic information, if
you are trying to figure out which towns were in which counties, and when:
http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cisctlist/ctlistidx.htm
Bear in mind that William Carpenter and his family didn't land at
Plymouth -- they landed at Weymouth (southern end of Boston Harbor) in
1638, and lived there for five years. The town was not formally
organized at that time, but many of the early Town Meeting minutes and
other correspondence are in what some claim to be William Carpenter's
handwriting. So, he was acting as Town Clerk (maybe one of several?) in
a low-profile way, without the title. Apparently there was dissension
in the community, possibly due to the fact that Weymouth had four
competing Protestant churches. Reverend Samuel Newman and his church
members (including the Carpenter family) felt they could do better
somewhere else, and found an area about 45 miles Southwest. They
purchased an area eight-by-eight miles from Asamacum, chief sachem of
the Pequot Tribe, and in 1643/44, 40 families did a mass exodus from
Weymouth to their new Rehoboth, reducing the population of Weymouth by a
third! Our William was one of the incorporators of Rehoboth, and served
the new town in several capacities there, as others have documented
well. Several of William's descendents remained in or near Rehoboth,
but others moved on to Long Island, Connecticut, or points West in the
colony. And some of those moves aren't well documented, which leads to
research frustration.
The original town site lies in what is now Rumford, Rhode Island.
William and several of his family are buried in the Newman Church
Cemetery in Rumford. But the Rehoboth land extended East to include
what is now the town of Rehoboth, Massachusetts. In the current
Rehoboth, MA there's a Carpenter Street, which suggests that at least
one member of the family had land or built a home in the Eastern part of
the new town.
The county structure in the early colony tended to change, but many of
the town boundaries did not. If you look at a map of the town
boundaries of Eastern Massachusetts, you'll see a straight line that
runs from Scituate southwest to North Attleborough -- that's the line
between Massachusetts Bay Colony and Plymouth Colony. I wouldn't spend
a lot of time figuring out what county a town was in at a particular
time, because county government wasn't a big factor in the early days,
and in modern times in Massachusetts has taken an even lower profile.
There's no area in Massachusetts that isn't within a town (that has been
true since the mid-1800s), so there's no 'unincorporated area' for a
county to serve.
Maybe some of the above info resources will help with your timeline. I
think it's great that you are putting together a timeline and history,
to better understand why your ancestors moved when they did. It's also
a good way to keep the generations straight, and to discover errors in
birth/marriage/death dates.
Every discovery in this project leads to another story and another
insight. It's infinite, and absorbing. Try to get two or three of your
youngest generation involved, because your family story keeps growing
and you'll never be done.
Best,
jec
On 6/2/2013 1:51 PM, Bob Carpenter wrote:
Hello John,
I just recieved your information with appreciation. I am going to delve into
it today.
A couple of things I looked into was Massachusetts was known as the
Massachusetts Colony in 1630 after 2 tries and Bristol County which is my
area was founded 2 June 1685 and Massachusetts became the 6th State in the
Union 6 February 1788.
Now I have to go in and change all locations inclusive of all dates.
With sincere appreciation,
Bob Carpenter
----- Original Message -----
From: "John R. Carpenter" <jrcrin001(a)cox.net>
To: <carpenter(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 02, 2013 1:13 PM
Subject: Re: [CARPENTER] Confusion - clarification
> Bob,
>
> The best information on your Group 3 Rehoboth, MA Carpenter line is the
> Carpenter Sketches by Gene Zubrinsky.
> See:
http://carpentercousins.com/carplink.htm
> See specifically:
http://www.carpentercousins.com/Wm2_Rehoboth.pdf
>
> Another way of looking at the basic summary of William Carpenter b. abt.
> 1605 is at:
>
http://carpentercousins.com/wc-584-desc/aqwg01.htm
>
> Please note that on the later generations some changes are pending ( I am
> working on it as time permits), but most basic information is correct.
> Please compare to Carpenter Sketches. On the early generations efforts
> have
> been made to use the historical names.
>
> Without moving, many places have changed names over time. Town boundaries
> change, counties and states are created and lines adjusted. Please
> remember
> this when looking at the genealogical data. Plymouth Colony was a large
> area that is now covered by different states and communities.
>
> For example the WeRelate page on William Carpenter & Abigail Briant uses
> current locations. See:
>
http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Family:William_Carpenter_and_Abigail_Briant_...
>
> I hope this helps.
>
> John R. Carpenter
> La Mesa, CA
> Carpenter Cousins Y-DNA Project
>
http://carpentercousins.com/carpdna.htm
> See also:
>
http://www.isogg.org/wiki/Carpenter_Cousins_Y-DNA_Project
>
> Carpenter Sketches
>
http://carpentercousins.com/carplink.htm
> See also:
>
http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Source:Zubrinsky%2C_Eugene._Carpenter_Sketches
>
> Carpenters Encyclopedia of Carpenters 2009 data DVD info
>
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/c/a/r/John-R-Carpenter/FILE/00...
> See also:
>
http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Repository:Carpenters%27_Encyclopedia_of_Car...
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bob Carpenter
> Sent: Sunday, June 02, 2013 9:17 AM
> To: carpenter(a)rootsweb.com
> Subject: [CARPENTER] Confusion
>
> Hello
>
> I have a bit of confusion going on and and am seeking possible
> corrections.
> I see a lot of information on the relationship of Abigail Briant and
> Abigail
> Searles being the same and one person. I also notice dates of birth and
> dates of death to be different.
> Does anyone have the correct information?
> William Carpenter according to information I have is my 9th
> great-grandfather. But whom was his wife?
>
> Thanks for any assistance,
>
> Robert Carpenter
> "Carpenter Cousins member #9462)
>
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> quotes in the subject and the body of the message
>
>
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