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In a message dated 3/16/02 3:56:33 PM Eastern Standard Time,
mikenaga(a)xtra.co.nz writes:
> Some years ago I came across a record, plus a map showing a forty (40) acre
> parcel of land that Francis owned and sold to a Mr. Babcock.
> The land in question was part of a 286 acre block called "Utter's
> Purchase". which in turn was part of the "Shannock Purchase - 1711"
>
> My reference is; Katherine U. Waterman, in Nicholas Utter of Westerly,
> Rhode Island, 1941. Chapter XXIV; pages 145-149 (map on page 146)
>
Mike --
I have not seen this reference, but Francis was one of a company of a number
of residents "of Kingstowne, Westerle, and Newport" who purchased a large
tract of land that became known as the "Shannuck District", which in turn had
been conquered from the Narragansett Indians during the King Philip's War of
1675-76 -- this land was sold to the company directly from the Colony of RI a
quarter century later.
A Westerly land transaction dated 31 October 1705 describes a lot of 100
acres laid out for Francis on the west side of the Be(a)ver River in the
Shannuck District by "Joseph Daniel, Surveyor of Westerly".
I have confirmed that the immigrant settled on his portion of land in
Shannuck as he refers to the same as his "homestead farm" in one of his later
deeds. This was still part of Westerly at the time, though it became part of
Charlestown, and then Richmond soon after Francis' death. It is just north
of the modern day village of Shannock which is actually in today's town of
Charlestown. The Babcock family you refer to was a big part of the whole
Sabbatarian movement that settled Westerly in the first place.
We know that Francis was a resident of Westerly by 1700 because he became a
Freeman of the town that year. The earliest Westerly record I have found for
him is 1693, when he is witness to a deed -- that does not prove that he had
yet moved to Westerly, however.
The fact that Francis and wife's baptism record is recorded in 1698 by the
Newport Sabbatarian Church does not mean that he lived in Newport, as there
was no Sabbatarian Church in Westerly until 1708, despite the fact that
Sabbatarians had been instrumental in settling Westerly almost a half century
earlier. So Westerly Sabbatarian records would have been recorded in Newport
until 1708.
On the other hand, Francis became a freeman of Westerly just two years after
his 1698 adult baptism in Newport, and Newporters were among the majority of
early Westerly settlers. It thus remains tempting to say that Francis and
wife Anne (Westerly deeds show that to be her name) moved to Westerly from
Newport upon their conversion to the Sabbatarian sect in 1698, being land
owners in the Sabbatarian settlement of Westerly by 1700.
But it is also shown in early deeds that many of the Westerly settlers came
from "Kingstowne" -- which comprised today's North Kingstown, South
Kingstown, and Exeter. Francis & wife could thus have also moved to Westerly
from "Kingstowne", and it was only after moving to Westerly that they adopted
the Sabbatarian followings of the earlier Westerly settlers. This scenario
thus puts Francis and wife in Westerly before their 1698 conversion, perhaps
as early as the 1693 deed I refer to above.
I am yet to find any documentation that puts Francis in Warwick before
Westerly, despite the claim of the 1894 genealogy. His son Stephen did move
to Warwick later, following an easily documented trail from Jamestown to
South Kingstown to Coventry to Warwick to Providence to Cranston and back to
Warwick. The Jamestown connection hints strongly of an earlier Newport
connection for father Francis. I still need to research Jamestown records,
but wonder if Jamestown is not the Newport connection we have been looking
for -- it lying on an island opposite Newport Harbor.
By the way, the area of Francis' farm on what today is known as Beaver Brook
in Richmond is still rural to this date, though two golf courses have
recently gone up nearby. This part of RI is being gobbled up by city folk.
URI is nearby.
JIM GIBBS
In a message dated 3/17/02 10:46:14 AM Eastern Standard Time, GREERMAC
writes:
> You certainly offer a plausible solution for the "missing" generation. If
> Oliver wasn't born until 1730s or later, my Nathan, b. ca. 1780 (age from
> census) and six even younger children could have been his, either if Esther
> Tefft was very young, marriage occurred much later or there was a second,
> younger wife.
I have Esther Tefft's birth date as 6 August 1743, which seems to make sense
if we estimate Oliver Colegrove's birth date as between 1730-1747, based in
turn on my theory that Oliver's father Eli(ezer) was one and the same as the
immigrant Francis' son Eli, whom I now have as living until sometime between
05 December 1753 & 21 October 1759, based on land records. It seems
Eli(ezer) must been born between 1688-1705, which works with all known dates.
I had seen some Sabbatarians among the NY Colegroves (I have Ilou Sanford's >
> books on SDB in central and western NY in effort to trace members of my
> husband's family) but I had not considered it for RI group.
The importance of the Sabbatarians was unknown to me until I started doing
all this primary research. Westerly was founded by Newport Sabbatarians and
Francis and wife were, it turns out, part of this larger movement. This may
also explain why more records have not been found for Francis in Newport.
The Sabbatarian records for the Westerly church would have been kept in
Newport until 1708, even though Sabbatarians were settled in Westerly as
early as the 1670s. So even though Francis and wife's baptisms were recorded
in Newport in 1698, that does not mean they lived there at that time (though
it does not mean they did not). The first Sabbatarian Church of AMERICA was
founded in Newport, and the second Sabbatarian Church of AMERICA was founded
in Westerly as a branch of the Newport society. The Westerly church was
actually located in that part of Westerly that later became the Town of
Hopkinton. More specifically, it was and is in the village of Ashaway, which
is in today's town of Hopkinton. Remember that in New England towns are like
counties elsewhere in the US. So one finds different references to Westerly,
Ashaway, and Hopkinton for these Sabbatarians, but all these references are
actually to the same place. By 1800, the "Hopkinton Seventh Day Baptist
Church" was the largest in the US, but soon after most of the congregation
moved en masse to upstate NY. So that is why you find the group in NY. I
remain curious as to what has become generally of the Sabbatarians in America
today, given their quite exceptional early beliefs. I note also that early
Westerly records refer to the Sabbatarians as the "Seventh Day Sabbath
Church". They have also been called "Seventh Day Baptists". The first
Baptist Church of AMERICA was and is in Providence, RI, and remains
philosophically distinct from the Southern Baptists that split over the issue
of slavery in the mid-1800s. The Sabbatarians were originally affiliated
with the Providence and Newport Baptist churches. The big question remains
whether the immigrant Francis and wife Anne converted to the Sabbatarian sect
before or after moving to Westerly. The Sabbatarians were considered
particularly radical in their time for following the Jewish teachings of the
Old Testament. One of these teachings of course was that the Sabbath was on
the seventh day -- Saturday.
While Nathan's daughter, Mary Ann, b. Jun 1814, d. after 1900, was my last >
> Colgrove by name, enough had been made of the "Colegroves of Rhode Island"
> that my grandmother's delayed birth certificate says her mother was born in
> RI -- actually great-grandma was b. Jackson Co., MI, Mary Ann in NY, and
> Grandma's great-grandfather, Nathan, was last connection born in RI.
The way I figure it, your Mary Ann's mother Polly Davis would have been born
before 1787, which in turn means that she would almost certainly have been
born back in RI, before the post-Revolution move to upstate NY. Polly's
husband, Nathan Colgrove, was born 12 January 1780 in Richmond, RI, according
to records I found in the Town of Richmond, RI (Vol. 1, p. 165). Richmond as
I have noted was originally part of Westerly, and was the site of the
immigrant's "homestead farm" (his words), which was located on the Be(a)ver
River in the what was then called the "Shannuck" district, just north of
today's village of Shannock.
> I also think it is entirely possible that Francis Sr. owned land in places
> where he never lived. I've found this among other New England families
> where an inheritance may have been far from where the father ever lived.
Almost all the land records I have found, and there are dozens for the first
couple generations, cite the town of residence of the seller and buyer. I
have tracked all these residence citations and they all add up -- I have seen
no conflict with any known data. As I noted above, the immigrant even refers
in one of his land transactions to his land on the Beaver River as his
"homestead farm". The key here is that in early colonial RI & CT, far better
records were kept for land transactions than for births, deaths, and
marriages. Moreover, Barbour's and Arnold's well known indices for vital
records in CT & RI do NOT include any of these land records. While I have
found no error in Barbour's and Arnold's indices, they record only vital
records, which were never very complete. So I am entirely confident in the
migration patterns I have found that put the immigrant Francis and wife Anne
in that part of Westerly that is now Richmond until she died, then put the
immigrant with his second wife Elizabeth in that part of nearby North
Kingstown that became Exeter while his son Francis Jr. remained in Westerly,
then put all his sons except Stephen on land spun off from father Francis'
estate in Exeter (Stephen was given a portion but stayed in South Kingstown),
and finally put son Stephen in that part of Warwick that became Coventry &
son Francis in that part of Stonington that became North Stonington, leaving
the Exeter homestead to sons John and Eli(ezer) for the rest of their lives.
> I'll list the Colegrove book's sources as best I can. Unfortunately, they
> are not tied to data within the book itself.
>
> 1. Conversation with a great-granddaughter of the Patriarch and other aged
> family members (you can get mix-ups from confused memories right there).
> The elderly great-granddaughter is supposed to have seen some if not all of
> the Patriarch's children and passed her whole long life "within forty miles
> of his original residence at Warwick, RI." She was sister of author's
> (William Colegrove, DD, LLD) grandfather.The interviews with her were 50
> years before he actually went to work on the book.
It seems to me that the "original residence in Warwick" must refer to the
land transactions I found in Warwick that actually occurred in that part of
Warwick that became Coventry. This land was in the so-called "Sevens Men
Land", and was the residence of the immigrant's son Stephen Colgrove. This
homestead bounded on the Connecticut border, just a half mile from the
Colgrove burial plot in the Riverside Cemetery in today's village of Oneco in
today's town of Sterling, CT. The homestead and cemetery both bounded on the
Moosup River. Later land records show Stephen moving into what we think of
as Warwick today, and even to Cranston and Providence. I will also add that
all of RI and eastern CT is within 40 miles of Warwick so the quote in the
book is pretty much meaningless. There are simply no earlier records that I
can find that put any Colgroves in Warwick before they were in Westerly.
> Perhaps somewhere there is a casualty list for the 1710 battle at Port
> Royal, Nova Scotia, that will shed some light on real name of the KIA
> eldest son.
>
I have even wondered if the immigrant Francis did not commit a sort of
"insurance fraud" in this regard. Francis seems to have been very much alive
and well in 1710, and is buying and selling real estate in Westerly
(Richmond) and North Kingstown (Exeter) for another 17 or 18 years. Yet his
supposed claim to the colony pleads his dependence on his eldest son. I have
not seen a live copy of this reparation action from RI, so withhold judgment.
JIM GIBBS
Hi Terry,
I also couldn't get into the information.
Sue Wyatt
tasteach(a)netspace.net.au
Great chat room for genealogy only www.justgen.com
Please feel free to come and join us.
-----Original Message-----
From: Sydney Cardner [mailto:bcardner@tampabay.rr.com]
Sent: Monday, 25 March 2002 6:31 PM
To: COLEGROVE-L(a)rootsweb.com
Subject: Re: [COLEGROVE-L] Colegrove web page.
Terry,
Could you give the URL again? Might be just me, but the page is not
available that way.
Sydney
----- Original Message -----
From: "Terry Colegrove" <tcolegrove1(a)msn.com>
To: <COLEGROVE-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Monday, March 25, 2002 12:18 PM
Subject: Re: [COLEGROVE-L] Colegrove web page.
web site is:
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=tcolegrove1\
Terry
>From: GREERMAC(a)aol.com
>To: tcolegrove1(a)msn.com
>Subject: Re: [COLEGROVE-L] Colegrove web page.
>Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2002 10:03:45 EST
>
>In a message dated 3/25/2002 5:34:39 AM Mountain Standard Time,
>tcolegrove1(a)msn.com writes:
>
> > I've updated the Colegrove web page again, with almost 200 new enteries.
> > I had a lady send me a book her grandmother wrote in 1979, titled "An
>Arm
> > to Lean On" This entire line conssists of "Colegrove" without the "e".
>Terry,
>Could you post URL for the website to the list again, please. I may not be
>the only person who has lost bookmarks.
>Thanks!
>Chris in Colorado
>(my family in 1850-1860 census as Colgrove)
_________________________________________________________________
Join the world's largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail.
http://www.hotmail.com
All,
I don't know why you couldn't access the web page, either the net had
problems or rootsweb server was unavailable for some reason. I was able to
get to the web page this morning with no problems.
Give it another shot.
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=tcolegrove1
Terry Colegrove
_________________________________________________________________
Join the worlds largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail.
http://www.hotmail.com
Terry,
This is the message i receive when I try to access the Colegrove site:
Database tcolegrove1/ doesn't exist or has not been configured
/u1/igm/databases/t/c/o/tcolegrove1//tcolegrove1/.ini
Casandra
web site is:
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=tcolegrove1\
Terry
>From: GREERMAC(a)aol.com
>To: tcolegrove1(a)msn.com
>Subject: Re: [COLEGROVE-L] Colegrove web page.
>Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2002 10:03:45 EST
>
>In a message dated 3/25/2002 5:34:39 AM Mountain Standard Time,
>tcolegrove1(a)msn.com writes:
>
> > I've updated the Colegrove web page again, with almost 200 new enteries.
> > I had a lady send me a book her grandmother wrote in 1979, titled "An
>Arm
> > to Lean On" This entire line conssists of "Colegrove" without the "e".
>Terry,
>Could you post URL for the website to the list again, please. I may not be
>the only person who has lost bookmarks.
>Thanks!
>Chris in Colorado
>(my family in 1850-1860 census as Colgrove)
_________________________________________________________________
Join the worlds largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail.
http://www.hotmail.com
All,
I've updated the Colegrove web page again, with almost 200 new enteries.
I had a lady send me a book her grandmother wrote in 1979, titled "An Arm
to Lean On" This entire line conssists of "Colegrove" without the "e".
Terry
_________________________________________________________________
Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com
In a message dated 3/16/02 8:55:04 PM Eastern Standard Time, Caboose101
writes:
> Mine line goes:
> 1. Francis
> 2. Stephen I
> 3. Stephen II
> 4. Mager
> 5. Asa
> 6. Charles Henry I
> 7. Charles Henry II
> 8. Charles Henry III
> 9. Henry Eugene
> 10. Robert Henry (me)
> 11. Mark Robert, Anne Marie, Thomas Andrew
>
> If you can achieve your goal of getting us from RI to NY sometime, it would
> sure help us fill in a lot of the missing pieces.
>
Robert --
Some references I have found for your line:
The will of your Stephen Colegrove (II) dated 30 July 1811 is found in Foster
Wills Vol. 2, p. 5 & his probate is found in Foster Wills Vol. 2, pp.
419-420, 446, 494, 498, 559, 561, & 563. Stephen's will & probate reference
daughters Anna West, Mary Spinks (or Sparks or similar spelling), Rachel
Adams, Elizabeth Cole, Welthian Fenner, & sons Caleb (who is executor), Major
(note spelling) & Reuben.
Caleb Colegrove is executor of the will of Isaac Fuller on 25 May 1820
(Foster Wills Vol. 3, p. 589).
Caleb Colegrove's will of 29 December 1822 is found in Foster Wills Vol. 7,
p. 91, and cites sister Mary Spinks, with her married name again difficult to
rear -- it could be "Sparks" or something similar. It also references
sisters Welthian Fenner and Elizabeth Cole and brothers Stephen, Major &
Reuben.
Stephen's wife's (i.e., Major's mother's) name is spelled "Judea" in the
above probate of Stephen. Her own estate inventory dated 25 April 1812
(Foster Vol. 2, p. 516 -- she apparently had no will) spells her name
"Judah". So "Judith/Judea/Judah" died between her husband's will of 30 July
1811 and her estate inventory of 25 April 1812. The executor for her will
was her son Caleb. I have seen it claimed that Judah's last name was
Aylesworth though I cannot confirm that -- Aylesworth, however, was a common
early name in these parts of rural RI.
Foster Marriage Record (Vol. 1, p. 5) has "Thomas West son of John West"
marrying "Amie (or "Anne" -- difficult to read) Daughter of Stephen
Colegrove" on 3 June 1785. Stephen's will refers to daughter "Anna West" &
Anna West is again cited in the will of her brother Caleb (Vol. 7, p. 91)
Foster Marriage Record (Vol. 1, p. 5) has "Edward Fenner Esq. son of Edward
Fenner Deceased" marrying "Welthian Colegrove Daughter of Stephen Colegrove"
on 30 March 1786.
Also, land records prove that it was Stephen son of Stephen son of Francis
the immigrant who settled in Foster. Stephen's father Stephen (i.e., the son
of Francis the immigrant) did not move to Foster. Several online sources
confuse father and son in this respect, having both in Foster.
Note that Foster was originally part of Scituate and that I have not yet
researched Scituate records.
Stephen's father Stephen lived in Jamestown as a young adult, during at least
1724-1725, which I believe is new information. I have not researched
Jamestown yet, but wonder if Stephen, Jr., was not born there. The senior
Stephen settled after Jamestown in South Kingstown between at least
1725-1729, based on his deeds recorded in that town. In 1730, a Warwick deed
has Stephen as a resident of Killingly, CT, which is across the border from
Coventry & Foster, RI -- I have not researched Killingly yet. The next
Warwick deed for Stephen is later the same year and has him residing in
Warwick, so we can presume he moved to Warwick upon the first of these 1730
deeds -- he had actually purchased land in that part of Warwick that would
later become Coventry, on the CT colony line near Killingly. In 1737, a
Warwick deed has Stephen living in Providence, and a 1738 deed has him
purchasing property in what we think of as Warwick today (as opposed to
Coventry). After 1748, Stephen is back on the CT border in what by then was
the town of Coventry. In 1759, Stephen apparently moved to Exeter. Stephen
returned to Coventry sometime before 1783, I am speculating to live as an old
man with his son, where he is presumed to have died in 1787 -- he is buried
across the state line in the Riverside Cemetery in the village of Oneco, CT,
which at that time was still in the Town of Voluntown and is now in the Town
of Stirling. This cemetery is just a half mile from the Colegrove homestead
in Coventry, RI. The homestead bounded on the Moosup River, as does the
Riverside Cemetery down stream.
North Kingstown land records show that Stephen Sr. was already married to
Welthian in 1725. Coventry land records show that he was married to Phebe by
1758. Stephen's son Benjamin's marriage record of 21 Oct 1759 in Exeter,
refers to Benjamin's parents as Stephen and Sarah, so we have a third and I
believe previously unknown wife for Stephen Sr. Since Benjamin was born
about 1729, Stephen must have been married to Sarah by about 1729, which
means that several of Stephen's children generally assigned to Welthian would
be in error, properly belonging to Sarah instead.
Stephen's tombstone in the Riverside Cemetery gives us the only reasonably
precise birth date for any of the immigrant Francis' children -- born between
15 June 1694 - 14 June 1695, based on his dying at age 92 on 14 June 1787.
He is buried alongside his third wife Phebe, who had been buried there eleven
years previously upon her death on 29 December 1776. His sons John &
Jonathan are also buried here.
JIM GIBBS
In a message dated 3/16/02 10:04:39 AM Eastern Standard Time,
cborlan1(a)twcny.rr.com writes:
> Thank you for the update. Have you seen reference anywhere for the
> Colegrove's in Ohio? I have a Frederick A Colegrove born in Ohio abt
> 1888...
My research has been in early RI & CT records that are located near my
residence here in southeast CT. However, I have come across a few references
to Ohio dated in 1847 & 1848.
Specifically, these records refer to the disposition of the estate of the
Benjamin Colegrove (1729-1820) who married his cousin Sarah Colegrove (born
1738) - Benjamin being the son of Stephen son of Francis the immigrant, &
Sarah being the daughter of Eli(ezer) son of Francis the immigrant (note that
based on my research I have merged Francis' son Eli with Eli's supposed son
Eleazer into a single generation named Eliezer).
Benjamin's estate was back in Voluntown, CT, but the land transactions make
reference to Benjamin's sons and several grandchildren who had settled in
upstate NY, PA, & OH during the first half of the nineteenth century.
Benjamin had died in 1820, a widower, and left his homestead farm for the
"use during their natural lives" to his daughter Thankful Colgrove and her
husband Elisha Brown, at which point the homestead was to revert to
Benjamin's four sons, Christopher, Benjamin, Stephen, and Eli/Eliezer (this
person was known by both names, as I have speculated above that his uncle had
been).
Elisha & Thankful (nee Colegrove) Brown were both deceased by 1847, at which
time Benjamin's homestead farm in Voluntown was distributed, according to the
provisions of Benjamin's will dated 28 April 1819, among Benjamin's one son
who was still living in 1847 (Stephen) & and among the grandchildren of
Benjamin's three sons (Eli/Eleazer, Benjamin & Christopher) that were
deceased by 1847. There are several pages of consecutive land documents
recording this disposition, whereby the heirs, who had removed to NY, PA, &
OH, sold their shares to a grandson of Benjamin who had stayed back in CT --
Christopher (nephew of the above Christopher & son of Stephen son of the
Benjamin who died in 1820) Colgrove of Lisbon, CT (Lisbon borders on
Voluntown). What is interesting in these deeds is that the residences of all
the heirs who had moved west are noted as of the 1847 transactions.
It is through Benjamin's son Christopher's children that we find the Ohio
references in these 1847 documents:
1 Christopher Colegrove b: 1760 in Voluntown, New London Co., CT
d: Bef. 20 March 1848 in Petersburgh, Rensselaer Co., NY
+Ellen/Eleanor Lewis b: Aft. 1766 in (possibly) Hopkinton, RI
d: Aft. 1803 in (probably) Pownel, Bennington Co., VT Father: Randall Lewis
Mother: Elizabeth Rathbone
2 [1] Asa Colegrove b: Bet. 1778 - 1800 in (possibly) Lisbon, New
London Co., CT d: Aft. 31 January 1848 in (of) Wayne, Knox Co., OH
+Eliza Mann b: Aft. 1755 d: Bef. 31 January 1848 in (of) OH
*2nd Wife of [1] Asa Colegrove:
+Louisa ???
2 Betsey Colegrove b: Bet. 1778 - 1800 in Lisbon, New London Co.,
CT?
2 Eleanor Colegrove b: Bet. 1778 - 1800 in Lisbon, New London Co.,
CT? d: Aft. 07 January 1848 in (of) West Salem, Mercer Co., PA
+Silas Brown b: Aft. 1750 d: Aft. 07 January 1848 in (of)
West Salem, Mercer Co., PA
2 Rhoda Colegrove b: Bet. 1778 - 1800 in Lisbon, New London Co., CT?
d: Aft. 07 January 1848 in (of) Kingsville, Ashtabula Co., OH
+Thomas Main b: Aft. 1755 d: Aft. 07 January 1848 in (of)
Kingsville, Ashtabula Co., OH
2 [2] Sarah Lewis Colegrove b: 04 March 1780 in Lisbon, New London
Co., CT? d: 03 December 1861 in Fredricktown, Knox Co., OH
+Peter Peck b: 16 October 1784 in (of) Voluntown, New London Co.,
CT d: 08 April 1826 in Monroe, OH Father: Jedediah Peck Mother: Tabitha
Ely
*2nd Husband of [2] Sarah Lewis Colegrove:
+Jedediah Peck b: 19 May 1788 d: 08 March 1844 in Fredricktown,
OH Father: Jedediah Peck Mother: Tabitha Ely
2 Alanson Colegrove b: 1796 in Lisbon, New London Co., CT? d: Aft.
07 January 1848 in (of) Kingsville, Ashtabula Co., OH
+Mary/Polly ??? b: Bet. 1791 - 1811 d: Aft. 07 January 1848 in
(of) Kingsville, Ashtabula Co., OH
2 Eunice Colegrove b: 13 February 1803 in Lisbon, New London Co.,
CT? d: Aft. 31 January 1848 in (of) Thorneville, OH
+Abram Lewis b: 09 August 1801 in RI or CT d: 24 August 1883
in (of) Thorneville, OH Father: Augustus Lewis Mother: Esther ???
As an aside to this, Benjamin & Sarah had settled in Voluntown, CT, which
borders on what was originally the northwestern portion of Westerly, RI
(which portion is now Hopkinton, RI) -- Westerly being the home of the first
generation Col(e)groves. A homestead farm in Voluntown would not have been
far from the original 1708 Westerly Sabbatarian Church, that church being
located in what is now the village of Ashaway in what became the Town of
Hopkinton (i.e., separated from Westerly) -- the immigrant Francis and wife
Anna were "original" members of this church, and later Francis, Jr., & Hannah
Bailey were married here.
JIM GIBBS
Thank you, Jim Gibbs, for sharing your research. Perhaps you will be the one
to find the "missing generation" in the line of Oliver, son of Eli(ezer). I
still find it beyond belief that Oliver supposedly fathered more than half
his children after he was 70 years old. Range of ages in the 1770s RI census
indicates an extended, multi-generational household. I posted everything I
found on Colegroves in that census to the list several years ago.
Chris in Colorado
I have been chipping away at researching the original town hall records for
Colgrove/Colegrove in RI & eastern CT for a while now. I am by no means
done, but I have researched the following towns : Warwick, Westerly, North
Kingstown, South Kingstown, Hopkinton, Charlestown, Richmond, Exeter, West
Greenwich, Coventry, Foster, all in RI; & Stonington & Voluntown, both in CT.
Based on the primary references I have uncovered so far, I still need to do
research in RI in: Jamestown, Newport, Providence, & Scitutate; and in CT in:
North Stonington, Lisbon, Stirling, Plainfield, Killingly, Windsor, East
Windsor, & Bristol.
Most of my original findings to date have been found in the land records,
where places of residence were typically cited. Also, these land records
frequently reference wives and children. I have also been researching wills &
probate records, and early town meeting minutes. The vital records I have
researched have mostly, but not entirley, verified those transcribed in the
well known indeces by Arnold for RI & Barbour for CT, which in turn are
pretty well documented online.
However, the land records turn almost every published date and location
upside down for the first couple generations of Col(e)groves. Most of the
first and second generation vital records posted online, including those at
LDS, are just simply wrong, when they do not repeat the Arnold & Barbour
indeces. The 1894 book also is just plain wrong most of the time during the
first two generations, which is where most of the erroneous online
information comes from I think.
For starters, the immigrant Francis and family were instrumental in the
settling of Westerly, but not Warwick or Newport as is often claimed. A few
descendants did end up in Warwick, but I have seen no evidence that they were
from there originally. If it is true that there is an early tax record for
Francis the immigrant in Warwick, that is a trivial fact preceding the
raising of his family in Westerly. When Francis's descendants did move in to
Warwick, it was to the western part, bordering on CT, that is now part of
Coventry, and this was well into the second generation. It was from this
rural part of Warwick that only one of the immigrant's sons moved into the
town "center" of Warwick. The other sons settled in Exeter & South Kingstown,
before spreading across the border into what today is North Stonington &
Voluntown CT.
The original family was in Westerly at least by 1700, when Francis is made
Freeman, and perhaps as early as 1693 when he is witness to a Westerly deed.
The Colgrove family was centered (from 1705) on the Beaver River in that part
of Westerly that became Richmond, just north of the modern day village of
Shannock. During the 1720s, the immigrant and grown children removed nearby
to that part of North Kingstown that became Exeter, settling literllay on the
north-south border between modern day Exeter & Richmond, just across the
border from the immigrant Francis' homestead on the Beaver River in Richmond.
It was from here that two of the four sons moved a bit north into that part
of Warwick that became Coventry -- in the so-called "Seven Mens Land",
bordering on the CT border and the Moosup River.
Another finding was that Francis the immigrant did indeed marry a second
woman, after 1718, but she was NOT Hannah Bailey -- instead he married
someone named Elizabeth, which I believe to be entirely new information.
Hannah Bailey is proven by both land and marriage records to be the wife of
Francis, Jr.
Yet another finding is that the 1698 baptism usually cited as the birthdate
for Francis, Jr., in Newport is wrong. For one, the Sabbatarian church did
and does not do infant baptisms. Two, the baptism record clearly refers to
Francis and "wife of Francis". Moreover, the fact that this baptism was
recorded in Newport does not mean that Francis and wife Anne lived in
Newport; instead they were probably just one of the majority of Westerly
settlers who were members of that church but who resided in Westerly until
1708 without a church building of their own.
Among my other interesting findings:
1. Francis the immigrnat's son Stephen lived in Jamestown during the early
1720s, before settling on family land in Exter given him by his father
Francis, the immigrant. Stephen moved a lot during his life and is
progenitor of the Coventry clan.
2. Francis the immigrant;s son Eli was actually named Eleazer and he could
not be the "eldest" son who died in 1710 in war in Nova Scotia. "Eliezer" is
alive and well with his family for some time in Exeter.
3. Francis the immigrant's son Francis, Jr., lived on in Westerly, perhaps
on his father's Beaver River homestead following father's removal to nearby
Exeter. Francis, Jr. moved around western CT, before finally settling in
what is now North Stonington, CT.
Moe to folloe...
JIM GIBBS
I recently discovered that the name of Jeremiah Colegrove's wife Olive, was
Stephens not Stevenson, as I previously thought. Olive Stephens was born
Nov.10,1790 in
Canisteo, Steuben Co., New York. She is the daughter of Jedediah Stephens and
Abigal Corey. According to the Stephens/Stevens Genealogy by Plowden Stevens,
a book I don't own but a Stephens researcher looked up for me. Olive Stephens
married Jeremiah Colgrove and moved to Greenup County Kentucky. This makes
sense to me since Jeremiah and Olive had a son named Jedediah,(my
ggg-grandfather). Just thought I would pass this information along.
Denise