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James,
Thanks for sharing the results of your "digs" in RI records. I'd found the
baptism of Francis "and wife," but wouldn't know her name without your input.
I've dug up more on the Eli>Oliver>Nathan>Mary Ann m. James Flynn line, even
have Mary Ann's death certificate. Unfortunately, Cook Co., IL, didn't
include parents' names in 1900, so there's not enough of a paper trail to satisfy
the Mayflower Society (Oliver's wife, Esther Tefft, was a descendant of the
Cookes and Richard Warren).
Chris in Colorado
Mike,
Good to hear from you again, and yes, I have resolved the wife of Francis
the immigrant issue. The answers came in researching the land records of a
dozen towns in southwestern RI and southeastern CT. The immigrant Francis most
likely never lived in Newport, which is why you could not find him there.
The baptism reported there in 1698 was indeed his (and not his son's) but
probably happened in Westerly, which was where the Second Sabbatarian Church of
Newport was founded a few years later in 1708. His adult baptism with his wife
was indeed recorded back in Newport, but he and his wife were almost
definitely living in Westerly by 1698, and it would have been common to record a
baptism at the mother church in Newport. (The Sabbatarians did not and do not
practice infant baptism, despite the persistent online claims that this
baptism was that of his son Francis -- moreover, the Sabbatarian records show the
baptism of Francis and his "wife".)
I have found Francis' name as witness to a Westerly land transaction dated
1693, and in 1700 he was made a Freeman of Westerly. Later, Francis, Jr.,
also becomes a Freeman of Westerly and at one point a list of Freemen is posted
in the Westerly records showing both Sr. and Jr. as Freemen of Westerly. I
have found pages of original land records that show that the immigrant Francis'
first wife was named Ann -- she was not Hannah. Hannah Bailey/Baille (both
spellings are found in the town records) was, according to numerous similar
records, the wife of Francis, Jr.
Ann seems to have died in 1718 in Westerly, or at least in that portion of
what was still Westerly that later became the village of Ashaway in what is
now the town of Hopkinton -- Ashaway became the focus of the Sabbatarian
movement in the U.S. until after the Revolution, the first Sabbatarian church of
America having been founded in Newport (the "Second Sabbatarian Church of
Newport" was actually in Westerly, founded in 1708).
Francis remarried sometime after 1718 to a woman named Elizabeth, according
to land records. After Francis, Sr., died in either 1726 or 1727, there
appears to have been a struggle between the widow Elizabeth and Francis' sons
over Francis' considerable real estate holdings. By this time, Francis had
relocated several times into the interior areas of what was originally part of
Westerly, first to Shannock in what is now Richmond and secondly to Exeter, just
across the border from Richmond. Land records for all four of his sons
(including the supposedly dead Eli-ezer) accompany this migration. His sons
eventually are found in Hopkinton, West Greenwich, Charlestown, Coventry,
Foster, Jamestown, Stonington, & Voluntown -- the latter two across the border in
Connecticut. Francis. Jr., died in that part of Stonington that is now North
Stonington. On the other hand, those early descendants that were buried in
Oneco (Town of Stirling), Connecticut, actually lived a mile east in Coventry,
RI.
As noted above, and as we had expected, I have been able to pretty much
prove that the immigrant Francis' son Eli did not die in Nova Scotia -- if
Francis had a son who did so, it was an as yet another unknown son. Eli is found
frequently under the name Eliezer and variants of the same. When Francis,
Sr., deeds land to his sons, he includes Eliezer. The only way that this
Eliezer could not be his son is if Eliezer were his grandson, but the numerous land
transactions make no hint of that and the dates support Eliezer as another
prodigious son of Francis, who left his own intact line of descent.
I have much more, and will get back.
JIM GIBBS
In a message dated 10/25/2004 4:49:58 AM Eastern Standard Time,
xtr206608(a)xtra.co.nz writes:
..I did try to contact you some months ago to see if you had finally decided
on the Francis-Hanna Bailey issue, through actual data or to your
satisfaction - given the discrepancies in lining up birthdates, etc...
Regards,
Mike Colegrove
The immigrant Francis "Colgrove" could not write. He and his wife signed
their many Town of Westerly land transactions with an X -- the earliest that I
have found being as a witness to a deed in 1693. The recording clerk always
wrote "Mark of Francis Colgrove" along side his mark, spelling the name
without the 'e'. But since Francis could not write, that was a phonetic spelling.
Francis' son Francis, Jr., however, could write and he always signed his
Westerly land transactions with the 'e' as "Colegrove", and adding "Jun'r"
until his immigrant father died in 1726 or 1727. Junior's brothers also seemed
to prefer the extra-e spelling.
But since our immigrant ancestor could not write, I would suggest there can
be no correct spelling for his descendants, unless we could find a literate
ancestor back in England.
During the first half of the 1800s, my Joseph is found in records with both
spellings, even from census to census. It is clear from this and other of my
ancestral surnames that the census takers were writing names phonetically as
told to them. I have seen misspelled census surnames as late as 1920, when my
g-grandfather Hemenway was spelled as Hemingway. My own father Julian was
even lister as a daughter at age 6 in the 1930 census -- the census taker
clearly had not heard the name Julian before.
JIM
In a message dated 10/21/2004 12:22:39 AM Eastern Standard Time,
tcolegrove1(a)msn.com writes:
I found William Colegrove (author of the Colegrove book) listed in the 1860
census as "Colgrove" William was a fanatic about the spelling of Colegrove
and wanted all the have the "E" in the middle for all Colegroves, and here
they have him without in the census...
Evening all,
I've updated the web page again....
http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=tcolegrove1
I've gone over the 1850 and 1860 census reports, with a spattering of 1870.
What fun when putting the reports into the file, there's "Colegrove,
Colgrove and Coalgrove"
I found William Colegrove (author of the Colegrove book) listed in the 1860
census as "Colgrove" William was a fanatic about the spelling of Colegrove
and wanted all the have the "E" in the middle for all Colegroves, and here
they have him without in the census... Slightly irinic.
I'm working on the 1870 now, After that I'll move to the 1900. Would be
nice if the 1890 would have survived the fire..
Thanks,
Terry Colegrove