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Stephen Dodd was born April 28, 1784, at Mendham, New Jersey, to Parmenas and Patience Wright Dodd. He married Phebe Babbitt on November 1, 1809. He moved from the family home area in New Jersey to Knox County, Ohio. A farmer, regional physician and minister, he preached at the Presbyterian Church, road horseback with his medicine, and was Justice of the Peace in 1823. In 1824, when Jesse was born, Stephen and Phebe had eleven children, including five-year-old triplets. In 1836, Sarah, one of the triplets, was the first death in the family. By 1837, there were 14 living children and the 15th was on its way. In this year, Stephen moved his family to Carroll County, Illinois, settling at Milledgeville. Ten years later, in 1847, tragedy truly struck, taking the lives of Phebe (died Oct. 3, 1847 at age 56) and daughter Jemima, then 18. Stephen remarried on Dec. 14, 1847; his second wife was Philenia Munson Noble. Philenia had two sons by her marriage to the deceased Dr. Noble and added two daughters to Stephen’s family. He lived the rest of his life in Milledgeville, Carroll County, Illinois, where he died August 28, 1868, at age 81; he is buried just south of Milledgeville in Bethel cemetery on South Otter Creek Drive (Lot 8) with Phebe, Jemima and other members of his family. One stone marks the resting places of Stephen, Meima, Phebe, and son Stephen. An identical stone nearby marks the graves of daughter Phebe and her husband David Smith and their daughter Angeline Smith.
The sixteen children of Stephen and Phebe were:
Amzi b. June 7, 1810 m. Phebe Dewitt 1834, div. d. Aug. 31, 1887 m. 2nd Rebecca Gilson 1856
Elias c. Sept. 27, 1812 m. Sarah Wines 1843 d. about 1849
Josephus b. Mar. 11, 1815 m. Sarah Rion (or Ryan) 1835 d. Feb. 5, 1885
George b. Jan. 20, 1817 m. Mary Rion (or Ryan) 1836 d. Apr. 9, 1910 (buried at the South Elkhorn Methodist Cemetary in Elkhorn Grove Township in Carroll County are George’s daughter Emma, who died at the age of one year on April 9, 1858, daughter Sarah who died 2/20/1866 at age 18, and son Perry who died at age 10 on Jan. 13, 1864.)
Edward b. Sept. 30, 1818 m. Mary Winters 1850
Angeline b. 1819 m. Edward Langston 1843
Emeline b. 1819 m. John Norris 1844
Sarah b. 1819 d. at age 15, 1836
(Angeline, Emeline and Sarah were triplets)
Stephen b. 1821 m. Cornelia Shear d. June 12,1851
Isanac Newton b. 1822 m. Catherine Winters 1850 d. Dec. 15, 1898
Jesse Roe b. May 28,1824 m. Lucinda Shepard 1849 d. April 26, 1873 m. 2nd Mercy S. Gurney
Phebe b. 1826 m. Daniel Smith 1850 d. 1890
Jemima b. 1829 d. at age 18, 1842
John b. 1834 m. Eliza Wiric (Wyrick) 1854
Julia Anne b. 1836 m. Abner Bull 1854 carpenter and cabinet maker at Milledgeville
The Bull’s are noted in the 1870 Carroll County history, which says regarding Julia, she was the daughter of Dr. Dodd, one of the earliest settlers.
Oliver b. Feb. 8, 838 m. Mary Burnside 1865 d. Dec. 17, 1915
The two children born to Stephen and Philenia were:
Lydia b. 1849 m. Henry Partridge
Mary Anne b. 1853
Philenia Munson was born Dec. 2, 1811, the daughter of Caleb T. Munson. She married first O.B. Noble, a tanner, and had two children: Newton b. 1832 and John b. 1837 at Ithaca, New York. Stephen died before 1875 when Philenia moved to California to live with her son Newton, taking her two daughters with her. After Mary Anne married, Philenia lived with her until 1883 when she died at their home in San Bernardino. Philenia’s granddaughter, Dr. Mary Noble, wrote of her: She was a real gentle woman, she was well educated for her time and wrote beautiful letters, some of which are still in existence today with fine penmanship, beautiful thoughts, well expressed. Her father, Caleb (1771-1849) was the son of John Munson (1740-1829) who was the son of Moses Munson (d. 1750) who was the son of Caleb Munson (1682-1765, weaver) who was the son of Samuel Munson (b. 1643, shoemaker and tanner) who was the son of the immigrant Thomas Munson (1612-1685, carpenter) who came to Hartford, Conn.
Milledgeville. Stephen and Phebe must have been among the earliest residents of this small town, if they ever lived in the town itself. Settlers began arriving in the area in the early 1830s to claim government land grants. An enterprising millwright by the name of Peters saw the possibilities in 1834, but became ill and gave up his claim to Jesse Kester, who built a saw mill by 1839. It was from this mill - and the settlement which grew at the edge of it - that Mill-edge-ville soon derived its name. The first meeting of the Methodist Church was held in James McCreedy’s barn; it wasn’t until 1855 that the first church was built. The post office was established in 1844, and in 1847, the year Phebe died, that the first school was held in a private house and taught by Miss Miriam Whitney. The town was actually platted in 1850 with an addition platted in 1854. Stephen died in 1868. (see history of Milledgeville, Illinois at http://www.milledgeville.com and The History of Carroll County). By 1877, the village had 300 residents and was ready to build a permanent school.
Milledgeville was actually started before Mount Carroll, which just to the west would become the county seat of Carroll County. The county itself was formally created by an Act of Legislature in 1839 and named after Charles Carroll, signer of the Declaration of Independence. The first settlements in the area were still a little further west along the Mississippi River at Savanna. 1836 marks the date of the first land claims at Mount Carroll, where the first log cabin was built in 1841. Mount Carroll, too, grew up around a mill.
Parmenas Dodd, the son of Stephen Dodd and Deborah Brown Dodd, was born in 1748, for he died April 28, 1811, and his tombstone gives his age at that date as 63. His grave is at Mendham, New Jersey, where he was born and probably spent his entire life. His wife was Patience Wright, and together they had seven children, including:
Mary b. about 1771 m. Alexander Wood
Phebe m. Asa Sanders
Daniel W. b. 1776 or 1778 m. Elizabeth Todd Quackenboss
Azubah spinster; lived at Mendham
Stephen b. 1784 m. Phebe Babbitt m. 2nd Philenia Munson Noble
Ziba
Sarah spinster; lived with Azubah at Mendham at the old family home
7. STEPHEN DODD
Stephen was born April 4, 1703, the son of Daniel and Elizabeth Riggs Dodd. He moved to Mendham, New Jersey, in about 1745. He married Deborah Brown, and eleven children were born to them before his death at Mendham around 1760. The children were:
Lebbeus b. 1739 m. Mary Baldwin d. 1816
Thaddeus b. 1740 d. 1793
Daniel b. (1745) d. 1824, age 79
Parmenas b. 1748 m. Patience Wright d. 1811 Mendham
Ucal m. Abigail Homan
Elizabeth m. Ebenezer Cook
Keziah m. Ephraim Sanders
Deborah m. William Brown
Abigail m. Obed Wright
Sarah
Hannah
15. DANIEL DODD
Daniel, the first son of Stephen and Sarah Stevens Dodd of Guilford, Connecticut, was born about 1679, married at about 23, and moved to Newark, New Jersey, when he was about 27, according to one source. It seems more likely, however, that he was married at Newark to Elizabeth Riggs, the daughter of Joseph and the sister of Samuel, who in his will names his brother-in-law Daniel Dodd. It was probably this Daniel Dodd who, in the company of Dr. Jacob Arent, built a sawmill on the Rahway River near Jefferson Village in about 1718 and who was also a land surveyor and a surveyor of highways in 1721.
Daniel and Elizabeth had three sons, including:
Stephen b. April 4, 1703 m. Deborah Browne d. about 1760
John b. May 14, 1711 carpenter d. Aug. 10, 1768
Timothy
Stephen Dodd (1655-1691) settled in Guilford, Connecticut, where his two oldest sisters, Mary Blachley and Anna Fowler lived. He married Sarah Stevens on May 18, 1678. Mary died some time before Stephen, who died October, 1691, at age 37. His land and movable estate were left to his sons except that he gave a cow to his cousin Mary Wheeler who lived with him, and he gave the wedding gown of his late wife to his sister Anna Fowler. Stephen and Mary had just two sons: Daniel and Samuel. In 1707, son Daniel, by then in Newark, New Jersey, signed a document giving all right and title in the lands and tenements left to him in Guilford to his brother Samuel. The original Dodd genealogy gives Stephen’s wife’s name as Mary Stevens, but other records show fairly conclusively that it was Sarah, not Mary Stevens, who was married to Stephen Dodd.
Daniel b. about 1679 m. Elizabeh Riggs
Samuel
Daniel Dodd (spelled Dod in this generation and in one or two successive generations) and his wife Mary appear at Branford, Connecticut, as early as 1646 or 1647. The oldest three of their children, Mary (also called Mercy), Hannah (Anna) and Daniel were baptized as children of the Branford Church at New Haven in June 1651. Four other children were born later. Mary died May 16, 1657. Daniel died between sowing time, 1666, and the harvest of 1666 as the inventory of his estate includes wheat on the ground. Both were buried at Branford. After his death, his sons, being all minors, petitioned the Court to name Richard Lawrence and Lawrence Ward as their guardians and administrators, which was granted. The estate amounted to about $650. The children all would move to Newark, New Jersey, except Anna and Stephen. Accounts of Connecticut and New Jersey history show that the move was possibly prompted by the splits in the Connecticut Puritans over religious differences, drawing some of them to follow their pastors to New Jersey when the Connecticut and New Haven colonies were united into one in 1665. Those who moved were primarily from Branford, Conn., but included others who agreed with the Branford congregation about theological matters. Not everyone, however, was drawn by religious inclination. Some were simply recruited to help build the new community.
Mary b. about 1646 m. Aaron Blachley
Hannah m. ______ Fowler
Daniel b. 1649-50 m. Phoebe Brown fell from load of hay
Ebenezer b. 1651 d. about 1675 Newark
daughter b. 1653 d. unnamed 1653
Stephen b. Feb. 16, 1655 m. Sarah Stevens d. Oct. 1691
Guilford, Conn.
Samuel b. May 9, 1657 m. Martha ________ d. about 1714 Newark
Mary ______ Dodd (64.) , Daniel’s wife, died on May 26, 1657, leaving a young family including a less than one-month-old baby behind. The only conjecture about her background comes in reading the will of Stephen Dodd of Guilford in which he mentions his cousin Mary Wheeler. The sons also requested Richard Lawrence and Lawrence Ward as their guardians; a John Ward signed the inventory of the estate. Some relationships might be hinted at here.
Born December 19, 1794, Phebe (Phoebe alternately) married Stephen Dodd November 1, 1809. She was the mother of 16 children, including triplets. She died in 1847, at about age 53. Phebe’s parents were Stephen and Mary Beach Babbitt.
Stephen Babbitt was born September 14, 1764. A private in the Revolutionary War from Morris County, New Jersey, Stephen was prosperous and thrifty and left a large estate. He died in 1803 after which his widow, Mary Beach Babbitt, settled in Knox County, Ohio. She died February 23, 1842. Their children, whose names follow, also all moved to Ohio except Elias and Moses.
Elias b. 1788
Jemima b. 1789
Phebe b. 1791 m. Stephen Dodd d. 1847 Ohio
Aaron b. 1794
Tryphena b. 1796
Joanna b. 1799
Moses b. 1801 m. Elizabeth Miller d. 1886
Stephen Babbitt’s parents were Seth Babbitt and Jemima Lindsley Babbitt. Seth was born November 16, 1741, at Berkley, Massachusettts. He married Jemima, who was born in 1743, and they moved to New Jersey by 1771 when he bought land there. He purchased more land near Mendham in 1774 and 1787. In 1802, he and Jemima deeded some of their property including their home lot to their son Amzi. Seth died in 1804 and Jemima in 1805. Their children were:
Stephen b. 1764 m. Mary Beach d. 1803
Phoebe b. 1769
Luther b. 1771 m. Sarah, served in 2nd New Jersey Infantry 1794 in Whiskey Rebellion
Darius b. 1773
Amzi b. 1779
Millicent b. 1781
Isaac, Seth’s father, was born August 15, 1717, at Berkley, Massachusetts. He settled at Mendham, New Jersey, in about 1743. While American troops were quartered at Morristown in the Revolution, he and his family sent them daily large supplies of bread baked in their great home oven. Isaac’s wife was Elizabeth Babbitt, b. 1714, a cousin, and the daughter of Seth Babbitt and Sarah Cooper Crossman Babbitt. Isaac and Elizabeth shared lineage back to Edward Babbitt and Sarah Tarne (see later in this genealogy). They were married February, 1738(9) at Berkley.
The children of Isaac and Elizabeth were
Seth b. 1741 m. Jemima Lindsley d. 1804
Isaac b. 1742 served in the Revolution
Daniel b. 1752
Job
Elkanah
Mary
Martha
Sarah
Elkanah Babbitt, Isaac's father, was born April 22, 1690. He resided on a farm near Berkley, Massachussetts. He married first Mary Hathaway (1691-1729), the daughter of Isaac and Mary Pitts Hathaway. Elkanah was for years a leading figure in old Berkley. The first town meeting was at his house. He apparently moved to New Jersey where he also owned land, but returned to Berkley by his death. He married a second time to Mehitable Crane the daughter of Stephen and Mary Crane of Braintree. Of his 16 children, 8 were born to each wife.
The children of Elkanah and Mary Babbitt were:
Mary
Elkanah Jacob
Isaac b. 1717 m. Elizabeth Babbitt d. 1738
Hopestill b. 1720
Phoebe b. 1722 m. Caleb Eddy
Marcy b. 1726 d. young
Deborah b. 1728 m. R. Bostwick
The children of Elkanah and Mehitable Babbitt were:
Marcy b. 1730
Stephen b. 1732
Zephaniah b. 1735
Samuel b. 1737
Amariah b. 1743
Zerah b. 1748
Mehitable
John b. 1750
The cousin of Elkanah Babbitt (47), Seth was the father of Elizabeth
(24), who married Elhanah's son Isaac. Seth was born in 1692 in
Taunton, Massachusetts. He married Sarah Cooper Crossman.
The children of Seth and Sarah Babbitt were:
Elizabeth b. 1714 m. Isaac Babbitt
Elkanah Babbitt, whose son was 47. Elkanah Babbitt, was born December 15, 1665, to Edward and Sarah Tarne Babbitt. Elkanah resided in Berkley, Mass, with lands in Dighton. He married Elizabeth Briggs in June of 1689. Elizabeth, who was born in 1672, was the daughter of Williams Briggs (1644-1680) and Sarah Macomber Briggs. Records show Elkanah's gifts of land in Taunton and Dighton to his sons Elkanah, Josiah and Benjamin. His will is contained in a written family history. He died in 1735.
The children of Elkanah and Elizabeth Babbitt were:
Elkanah b. 1690 m. M. Hathaway
Damaris b. 1691
Dorcus b. 1693 m. E. Harvey
Hopestill b. 1695
Elizabeth b. 1698
Mercy
Josiah
Benjamin
Joseph
Sarah
Seth Babbitt was the son of Edward and Sarah Tarne Babbitt. His wife was Abigail Tisdale Babbitt. Edward was born July 15, 1655, and married
Abigail Feb. 1, 1683. She died by 1698 when he married Elizabeth Thayer, the daughter of Nathaniel and Abigail Harvey Thayer.The four children of Edward and Abigail Babbitt were:
Erasmus b. 1685
Sarah
Seth b. 1692. m. Sarah Cooper Crossman
Nathan b. 1695
and probably Edward b. 1684 d. young.
The children of Edward and Elizabeth Babbitt were:
Abigail b. 1700
Waitstill b. 1701
Ruth b. 1703
Benajah b. 1705
Hannah b. 1707
Edward b. 1709
Nathaniel b. 1712
George b. 1715.
Both Edward and Elkanah Babbitt were the sons of Edward Babbitt (alternately spelled Bobbett, Bobet, Babbit, Babbitt). An immigrant from England, Edward was first recorded at Plymouth in 1643 as able to bear arms. In 1649, he was in Court on a charge of receiving pay for stolen weapons, but was cleared. In 1652, he purchased his first land from Jonas Austin. The deed was signed by Peter Pitts (later related in this genealogy through marriage) and by Governor William Bradford. Edward married Sarah Tarne, the daughter of Miles (Myles) on September 7, 1654. They had nine children.
In June of 1675, the colonists were involved in the Indian conflict called King Philip’s War. On the 25th day of June, Edward and his family had taken refuge in the garrison at Taunton. Family tradition has it that he returned to their home to get supplies. On the way back, he was pursued by Indians and climbed a tree to hide. However, his faithful dog gave him away, and he was killed. A bronze tablet marked his grave from 1911 to a date when the old stone was removed to Historical Hall. He is buried in a private yard near Berkley Bridge where it is believed that he died. The General Court issued a decree regarding the distribution of his estate including several hundred acres. In 1684, at his motherÕs request, Edward Jr. was made guardian of the minor children. The children of Edward and Sarah were:
Edward b. 1655 m. Abigail Tisdale d. 1732
Sarah b. 1658 m. Samuel Pitts
Hannah b. 1660
Damaris b. 1663
Elkanah b. 1665 m. Elizabeth Briggs d. 1735
Dorcus b. 1667 d. 1674
Esther b. 1669
Ruth b. 1671
Deliverance b. 1673
The wife of Parmenas Dodd of Mendham, New Jersey, Patience was probably the daughter of Benjamin Wright (9.) of Burlington, New Jersey, who in turn was the son of Caleb (19.) and Hope (20.) Wright who were in Piscataway, Middlesex, New Jersey, when Benjamin was born. Benjamin’s children included Patience, Penelope, Benjamin and perhaps others. It also seems likely, because of the dates and the name similarity, that this family is related to Benjamin Wright who came to Guilford, Connecticut, by 1645 and was a tanner and miller. He took his family to Killingworth in 1659 where he was one of its first settlers and where he owned Òmuch land.Ó He died March 29, 1677. His children were Jane (m. Joseph Hand), Benjamin, James, Elizabeth, Ann, Jonathan and John.
Stephen Babbitt, born 1764, was a soldier in the Revolution. His wife Mary Beach Babbitt moved to Knox County, Ohio, with or to join several of her children after his death. Stephen, with his family, moved to Mendham, New Jersey, by 1771 when he was seven years old, so they would have married there. THE HISTORY OF STRATFORD (Connecticut) names a number of men named Beach on its list of Revolutionary soldiers, including Abel Beach, Lieutenant Elijah Beach, and Sergeant Reuben Beach. An ancestral file in Salt Lake identifies Mary’s parents as Elijah and Sarah.
Elijah Beach was born in 1733 and died February 2, 1815, making him 43 at the time of the American Revolution, so he might have been the Lt. Elijah Beach identified above. His wife, Sarah Medless Beach (14.), was born in 1735. The children of Elijah and Sarah Beach were:
Sarah b. 1757
Mary b. 1764 m. Stephen Babbitt
Elisha b. Sept. 5, 1769
While I have not found earlier links in the Beach family, worth further research would be the family of the Richard Beach who was in the New Haven Colony by the first land division there. A member of Rev. John Davenport’s congregation and small single land owner, he consented to the covenant there but not as an original planter. He married the widow of Andrew Hull and ultimately moved on to New London.
Deborah was the wife of Stephen Dodd of Mendham, New Jersey.
Jemima was born in 1743 and died in 1805; her husband Seth Babbitt was born in 1741 in Berkley, Massachusetts, and died in Mendham, New Jersey, in 1804. When they moved to New Jersey, he was 30 years old and already married. Savage reports a John Lindsley (or Linsley) was in Guilford, Connecticut, in 1650 and in Branford in 1667. The location of this family would strongly suggest a relationship. Atwater identified a John and a Francis Lindsley who came to Banford, Connecticut, from London, Francis later moving with his wife and three daughters to Newark in 1666. A John Lindsley died in 1698; it seems likely this is the John identified by Savage and Atwater, and the most viable lead. Another John Lindsley was born in 1703 in this line, a possibility as Jemima’s father or grandfather.
The 1863 Dodd Genealogy identified the father of Elizabeth, the wife of Daniel Dodd of Guilford, as Joseph. Joseph was a popular Riggs family name. A Joseph Riggs was born in 1740, the son of David and Elizabeth Cox Riggs. Another Joseph, born about 1675 left a large family, and yet another Joseph was born in 1686.
The Joseph Riggs which I have tentatively identified as Elizabeth’s father was born at Milford, Connecticut, in 1642 and had a daughter named Elizabeth born in about 1681 about whom nothing is known. The places, names and dates combine to determine my choice, but it is not confirmed.
This Joseph moved to Newark, New Jersey, another matching factor, and married Hannah Browne (34.), the daughter of John Browne who was at Derby and Newark with the Riggs family. Joseph was commander of the militia there and put the floor in the meeting house. His will was dated 1689. After his death, his wife Hannah married Aaron Thompson. The four Riggs children were:
John b. about 1674
Samuel b. about 1676
Zaphar b. about 1678
Elizabeth b. about 1681 m. Daniel Dodd
Joseph’s parents were Edward Riggs (1614-1668) and Elizabeth Roosa (103.) Riggs. Edward, born in England, came to this country in the early summer of 1633 with his family. He settled first in Boston where he assisted his father in caring for the sick. In 1635, he married Elizabeth Roosa. In 1637, he was a sergeant in the Pequot War, rescuing a group from an Indian ambush. Because of this, he was always considered a hero and called Sergeant Riggs. In 1640, he was a settler at Milford, Connecticut, coming from Boston where he had located earlier. He and some others purchased Indian land and started Derby, Connecticut, where the site of his home is still called Riggs Hill. He built his home and a stockade there. In 1661, he housed in secret and protected Whaley and Goff, two of the English Parliament that condemned and ordered the execution of Charles I prior to Cromwell’s Puritan reign and who were sought by agents of Charles II after the Restoration. Edward was not a member of the church, but apparently considered himself a Puritan.
In 1665, Edward visited New Jersey, then spent a year preparing for the proposed colony there, his wife with him as the first white woman to spend a summer in Newark. He and his sons Edward and Joseph were original proprietors there. Agents had recruited new settlers for Newark from Milford, Guilford and other communities. Edward oversaw the building of the Common Pound, was viewer of fences, had charge of draining swamps, surveyed lots, laid out roads and owned a wolf pit in the new colony. In 1668, a year after the colony was organized, he died there. Elizabeth remarried to Caleb Carwithie.
The children of Edward and Elizabeth were:
Edward b. about 1636 m. Mary ______
Samuel b. about 1640 m. Sarah Baldwin
m. 2nd Sarah ___ Washburn d. 1738
Joseph b. about 1642 m. Hannah Browne d. about 1689
Mary b. about 1644 m. George Day
Edward Sr. was the first generation immigrant of the Riggs family. He was born in about 1590 in England, perhaps in Lincolnshire or Yorkshire. He landed in Boston in 1633 with his wife Elizabeth Rooke Riggs (105), two sons and four daughters. They were among the early settlers in Roxbury, Massachusetts, where the first death of record was his daughter Lydia in August 1633. He became a freeman (church member, thus qualified under theological law to vote) in 1634 and his daughter Elizabeth and son John died in 1634 and his wife in 1635. In 1649, he owned 40 acres at Roxbury. His second wife, Elizabeth Rooke Riggs ( b. Feb. 4, 1638), died in 1669. Edward died in 1672. His children included:
Edward b. 1614 m. Elizabeth Roosa d. 1668 New Jersey
Lydia b. 1616 d. 1633
John b. 1618 d. 1634
Elizabeth b. 1620 d. 1634
_____(Dau) b. 1622 m. ______ Allen
Mary b. 1625 m.Benjamin Twitchell
Thomas b. 1631 m. Mary Millet
m. 2nd Elizabeth Frese
Edward’s father was EDWARD RIGGS(108); his grandfather THOMAS RIGGS (116.) who died before 1551 at Southampton, England.
The wife of Stephen Dodd, son of the first Daniel, was, according to the 1863 Dodd genealogy, Mary, but both Savage and Roberts (CONNECTICUT GENEALOGIES) contradict this, clearly identifying his wife as Sarah Stevens, the daughter of Thomas and Mary Fletcher Stevens. Born at Guilford in 1656/7 on January 25, she married Stephen on May 18, 1678
.
Mary’s father Thomas Stevens was born about 1628, probably in England. In 1650, he married Mary Fletcher, the daughter of John Fletcher of Milford, Connecticut. In 1654, Thomas, a miller, was convicted of selling flax with defective weights, through carelessness in not having them inspected. That same year, he was chosen corporal for a proposed expedition against the Dutch, but with a limiting notation that he not serve above that office since he was not a freeman.
With his father John and brother in October 1662, Thomas joined others from Guilford, followers of Dr. Rossiter, in seceding from the New Haven Colony and tendering themselves and their estates to the Colony of Connecticut, which accepted them, creating bitter controversy. As a result, Thomas and his brother left Guilford. Thomas and his family were in Killingworth by 1670 when he became a freeman there. On March 11 of that year, he sold much of his land in East Guilford to his brother William. In 1675, his wife Mary became a member of the church at Killingworth. Thomas sold to his son-in-law Stephen Dodd his East Creek land in 1679 and more in 1683 as well as the old homelot at Guilford. From Killingworth, Thomas twice served in the General Assembly. He died on November 10, 1685.
Thomas and Mary had 13 children, including:
James b. 1650
Mary b. 1653
Rebecca b. 1655 m. Edward Rutty d. 1737
Sarah b. 1656/7 m. Stephen Dodd
John b. 1660 m. Mary Cole d. 1722
Thomas b. 1664 d. 1711
Joseph b. 1666 d. young
Abigail b. 1666 twin to Joseph m. E. Lee d. 1727
Elizabeth b. 1668 m. N. Chittenden d. 1738
Ebenezer b. 1669 m. Jean Redfield d. 1738
Phebe b. 1673 d. 1685
Jonathan b. 1674 d. 1746
Thomas’s father John and mother Mary Stevens were among the first settlers at Guilford, Connecticut, but not original founders. John shared in the first division of homelots and lands. He had a 14-acre homelot and a 36+ acre parcel of land outside town. Other recorded evidence of John in Guilford includes:
October 9, 1645 - fined for neglect of fencing
1650 - planter
1652 - planter
1656 - on freeman’s list
1670 - in March, deeded 36+ acres and division rights to son Thomas
September 1670 - died; will dated August 1670
Two ships had arrived in New Haven in July of 1639, the passengers of which largely settled at Guilford. John was a passenger on one of these ships as were John Stone, perhaps a cousin (see Thomas Stephens) and others named Stone. Also on these ships were Thomas Norton and John Shether (Sheather), names which also appear in this genealogy.
At his death, his estate showed 32 pounds 15 shillings worth of property at Killingworth and 93.05.01 at Guilford. His will made the following provisions:
son Thomas - a mare, brass kettle, best sute, cloak, bed, sheets and other bedding
son William - house, homelot, meadow, providing he pay to
son John - in old England 20.10, and to
dau Mary - the amount of 10 pounds
To each of four grandsons, he left four pounds each, and to his two granddaughters, a pair of sheets each. His children were:
Thomas b. 1628 England m. Mary Fletcher d. November 1685 William b. 1630 d. 1702
John b. 1632
Mary b. 1623 m. Henry Kingsnorth
m. 2nd John Collins
John’s parents were Edward Stephens and Anne Crewe Stephens(72.) (b. about 1583, Stone, Northampton, England, the daughter of Thomas Crewe (82.), born in about 1559). Edward was born in 1584 in Sodbury, Glouc., England.
The name was sometimes spelled Stephens in these early generations, but apparently it is the same family. Thomas Stephens, father of the preceeding Edward, was born in 1558 at Eastington, G., England, where he married in about 1609 to Elizabeth Stone(81.), the daughter of John Stone (98.) who was born about 1536. Elizabeth was born in about 1562 in London. Thomas died April 23, 1613, and is buried at Stroud Church, G. , England.
The IGI identifies Thomas as the son of Edward Stephens, b. 1523, and Joan Fowler (97.) b. 1529.
Mary Hathaway Babbitt, the wife of Elkanah Babbitt, died August 15, 1729, at age 38. She was one of three children born to Isaac and Mary Pitts Hathaway.
Born about 1655, Isaac Hathaway married Mary Pitts on March 17, 1686/7 at Taunton, Massachusetts. Isaac, who served in King Philip’s War, died December 17, 1722, at age 67. He was buried at the Fox Cemetery. In February of 1722, their three children signed to take care of their mother. The three were:
Isaac b. 1688
Mary m. Elkanah Babbitt d. 1729
Hopestill m. Richard Woods
John and Martha Hathaway were Isaac’s parents. John was born in 1629, probably in England. He and Martha married in about 1649, and they had at least six and possibly more children. Martha died between 1683 and 1692 when in December at the First Church in Braintree, Massachussetts, he married Ruth Dyer, the widow of Christopher. John died in about 1705, as did Ruth. She, too, is buried at the Fox Cemetery; her stone notes her age as 62 at death. John and Martha’s children were:
John b. 1650
Abraham b. 1652
Isaac b. 1655 m. Mary Pitts d. 1722
Ephraim b. 1661
Abigail b. 1667 m. James Phillips
Rebecca b. 1669 m. Jared Talbot
(The Hathaway family history notes that John is frequently mentioned in HISTORY OF NEW PLYMOUTH by Boylies. Many of these records are of land transactions.)
Nicholas Hathaway, John’s father, was probably the son of Thomas and Margaret Hathaway of Kingscote, Glouchester, England. He was born around 1595. Nicholas arrived in New England before February of 1638/9 and was in Braintree in 1642. ItÕs possible he had two others sons named Jacob and Joseph.
Maps included in the Hathaway family history of Freetown, Massachusetts, show sites such as the Hathaway Library, a house built by Dr. Nicholas Hathaway in 1806, Silas Hathaway’s Creek, Hathaway Wharf, the home of the Hon. Elnathan Hathaway, and the marker at the first John Hathaway house. It notes John Jr. had the first licensed tavern and owned a share in the iron factory there as well as perhaps a shipyard. The history recommends as sources THE HISTORY OF BRAINTREE, THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST: Vol 23 and Vol 34; HISTORY OF DIGHTON and TAUNTON DEEDS.
Files in Salt Lake agree Nicholas was the son of Thomas and Margaret and add that his grandfather was also Thomas Hathaway (172).
According to the IGI, Thomas Hathaway was born in 1560 in London and died in 1610 while his wife Margaret(167.) was born in about 1573 and died in 1630 in Glouster.
Sarah, the wife of Seth Babbitt, is sometimes listed as Sarah Cooper, sometimes as Sarah Cooper Crossman and sometimes as Sarah Crossman Cooper. No further information is available about her at this time.
The mother of Sarah Stevens Dodd, Mary Fletcher married John Stevens. Her parents were John and Mary Ward Fletcher
Born in 1606 of Stretton, Ruthland, England, John Fletcher first came to Wethersfield then was in Milford, Connecticut, by 1639 and was on the freeman’s list there in 1641. He and Mary Ward (Mary Ward was the daughter of the widow Joyce Ward whose will was dated 1640 and probated March 1641.) were married prior to that time, considerably, because before the move two daughters and five sons were born. Five more children were born at Milford. By decree in 1646, the passage over Little Dreadful Swamp in John Fletcher’s lot, shall be by a long log hewed on the upper side. John Fletcher, called Deacon John, died April 18, 1662, and his widow Mary remarried to John Clark of Milford. The children included:
Mary b. about 1629 m. John Stevens
Rebecca b. 1636 m. Andrew Warner Jr.
2nd Jeremy Adams
Edward
Anthony
William (these five sons remained in or returned to England)
Robert
John (born at Milford)
Sarah b. 1641 m. John Stanley
Hannah b. 1643 m. John Chittendon
Elizabeth b. 1645 m. Elnathan Botsford
Samuel b. 1649 d. young
Abigail b. 1652 m. Roger Newton
(The FLETCHER FAMILY HISTORY, published in 1881, on p. 563, reports only one son, Samuel, who died young, and five married and one unmarried daughter in 1679 when Mary made her will. The other five are not mentioned).
Mary was born between 1615 and 1622 at Braffield, Lancastershire, England, and died Jan. 22, 1679, at Milford, Connecticut.
Richard Ward, Mary’s father, was born in 1585 in Stretton, Ruthland, England, and died there October 2, 1635. Her mother, who came to America, was (78.)Joyce Stafford Ward, born 1586, Stretton, and died in 1640 at Wethersfield, Conn. Their children were:
Thomas b. about 1608 m. Faith ______
Edward b. 1610 m. Isabel Hakes
Anthony b. 1613
Mary b. 1615/1622 m. John Fletcher
2nd John Clark
William b. 1616 m. Sarah ______ lived at Newark
2nd Phoebe
Robert b. 1618-1620 m. Sarah ______
John b. 1622 m. Sarah ______
Sarah was the wife of Edward Babbitt and a great grandmother twice in this line. (see Edward Babbitt) Her parents were Miles Tarne and his wife Sarah. This line had seemed definite until I encountered MEET THE TISDALES, which reports that Edward Babbitt married Sarah Kingsbury, not Tarne. Perhaps both are right and she was a widow.
Miles Tarne, also spelled Myles and Tarny or Terney, resided in Boston in 1638. He was a leather dresser who had, with his wife Sarah and three children, come to this country from England. Miles died July 27, 1676. Their children were:
Hannah b. 1638
Deliverance b. 1641
Sarah m. Edward Babbitt on September 7, 1654
Elizabeth, the wife of Elkanah Babbitt, was the daughter of William and Sarah Macomber Briggs.
William Briggs, born April 2, 1646, at Hingham, Mass., and later of Taunton was earlier (1643) of Duxbury. He married Sarah Macomber, the daughter of William of Marshfield, on November 6, 1666. William was the son of (128.) John Briggs, who was born in about 1620 and (129.) Hannah Fisher Briggs, born about 1624. William died January 3, 1728, at Taunton, Massachusetts. The children of William Briggs and Sarah Macomber Briggs were:
William chr. 1668
Thomas chr. 1669
Sarah chr. 1669
Elizabeth chr. 1672 m. Elkanah Babbitt
Mary chr. 1674
Matthew chr. 1677
John chr. 1680
Sarah married William Briggs in 1666. Her family follows.
William Macomber, a cooper, was at Dorchester, Plymouth Colony, in 1638, Duxbury in 1643, and later at Marshfield. He was born in 1610 at Dorchester, Devon., England, where he married (131.) Priscilla Ursula Thomas (b. about 1618 and died after 1675). Their children were:
Sarah b. 1645 m. William Briggs 1666 d. Mar. 20, 1680 Marshfield, Mass. Taunton, Mass.
Priscilla
Thomas m. Sarah Crooker 1677
Matthew
John
William.
Sarah’s grandfather, John Macomber was born in 1585, Bridport, Devon., England, and married there June 8, 1607, (141.) Edith Lock (b. 1587, Bridport, the daughter of (146.) William Locke (b. 1559) and (147.) Elizabeth _________ Locke (b. 1563). John died July 6, 1650 and Edith on May 10, 1636.
Mary was the wife of Isaac Hathaway and the daughter of Peter Pitts. She died November 14, 1727, at age 59, so she must have been born in about 1668.
Peter Pitts was born in England in about 1626/7. He married in about 1655 after he had arrived in the Plymouth Colony to Mary Andrews Hodges, the daughter of Henry and Mary Andrews of Taunton and the widow of William Hodges who died April 2, 1654.
In 1643, Peter was able to bear arms for Taunton and was a grand jury member there in 1655, the same year he signed an agreement with Mary binding him to maintain (her) two children until they come to the age of fifteen or sixteen years.Ó He was a shareholder in the Taunton Iron Works. On June 3, 1656, Timothy Halway of Taunton was presented to the Court and admonished for threatening to strike Peter Pitts with a pitchfork, saying that he did not care if he were hanged for it. On June 3, 1668, an Indian named Powas complained that Peter Pitts took away his gun in a dispute about Powas digging some ground for Pitts. The Court ordered Powas to dig up about 20 rods of ground following which Peter must return the gun. Peter died in 1692, his inventory including Òhousehold goods, wearing cloths, flax comb and wheel, farm tools, sheep, oxen, steer, swine, leather, hemp, wool, and a cowbell as well as his real estate.
Apparently Alice Paine of Rehoboth, wife of Stephen, was a relative, for her will of 1672 mentions Peter Pitts, Jr., of Taunton as her cousin and includes his children. Also in the Plymouth Colony records is mention of Edith Pitts who was in 1636/7 a servant to Samuel Jackson of Scituate and was to appear in court as a witness against John Emerson who had been accused of abusing her. The Pitts name is sometimes misrecorded as Pitt in the records of the colonies. A recommended source I could not obtain was SOME DESCENDANTS OF PETER PITTS OF TAUNTON, MASS.
The children of Peter and Mary Pitts were:
Samuel m. Sarah Babbitt
Mary m. Isaac Hathaway
Sarah
Peter m. Bethiah Robinson
Alice m. John Wilbore
Ebenezer m. Elizabeth Hoskins
Mary, the daughter of Henry and Mary Andrews of Taunton and the widow of William Hodges was left with two children in 1654 when he died. In 1655, she married Peter Pitts . I do not have verification of her mother, but a Henry Andrews married Mary Wadsworth (165.) in Plymouth Colony at the right time. They had children born from 1629 to 1631. A son William married Mary Williams.
Henry Andrews of Taunton, Massachusetts, was an original purchaser there, a representative in 1639 and four more years after that and died in 1652, leaving his estate to his wife Mary and to his daughters Mary (wife of WIlliam Hodges), Sarah and Abigail and to his grandson John Hodges. His wife Mary was 43 years old in 1654 when she made her will. Their son Henry was killed by Indians in King Philip’s War. Henry Sr. built the first Taunton meeting house and his son Henry was given permission to build a saw mill in 1659.
The book MEET THE TISDALES includes a record of the names of heads of families at Taunton in 1675: Henry Andrews, Edward Bobet (Babbitt), John Hathaway, John Macomber, Jr. and Sr., Peter Pitts, John Tisdale Jr. and Sr. and James Walker, Jr. and Sr. All of these are families in this record. Also in 1650, Henry Andrews was foreman of a jury trying Thomas Cook and also included on that jury were James Bobbitt (Babbitt) and John Tisdale.
The first records of Abigail Tisdale Babbitt (wife of Edward Babbitt) come from Savage, who recorded John Tisdale Sr. of Duxbury who was there by 1637 and was killed by Indians in 1775. He was married to Sarah, who died December 1676. They had sons John and James. Further details were added by the Tisdale genealogies. Abigail was a minor at the time of her mother’s death. On June 4, 1677, James Browne of Swansey was appointed her guardian. James was her cousin, the son of John Browne, her mother’s uncle.
John Tisdale was born in Yorkshire, England, to Thomas(186.) and Ruth (187.) Tisdale. Thomas was the son of John Tisdale (194).) John was baptized November 7, 1614, at Ripon. He came to Plymouth Plantation about 1634, bringing with him the Tisdale coat of arms and a great table carved of English oak. Early on in Plymouth, he sued Stephen Hopkins, an original Mayflower passenger, for assault. The court fined Stephen and ordered him to pay John 40 shillings. John was called yeoman or farmer. By 1636, John was in Massachusetts Bay Colony on a ten-acre grant at Green Harbor. In about 1644, he married Sarah Walker, daughter of the widow Walker. They lived first at Marshfield, then at Duxbury and then at Taunton. Sarah died in December of 1676. Numerous records exist of John, including: March 1642, freeman; March 1643, admitted to Church; June 1645, appointed constable of Duxbury; 1650, moved to Taunton, selectman in this year and also in 1658, 1672 and 1675; also in 1650 on a jury to inquire into the death of Thomas Cook; 1653, fined 20 shillings in a dispute over a cow, having appeared before Governor Bradford, Miles Standish, John Alden and Captain Willett; 1655 and 1658, constable at Taunton; 1657, sold Duxbury land; 1659, one of original purchasers from the Indians of ÒYee FreemanÕs PurchaseÓ (Freetown) which was paid for in coats, rugs, pots, kettles, shoes, hatchets, cloth, etc.; 1671, soldiers assembled at his home to prepare for war against hostile Indians in King Philip’s War; and in 1674, he was a representative to the General Court at Plymouth.
King Philip’s War continued for some time. Shadrach Wilbore, town clerk, reported to
the Plymouth Court that John was killed by Indians on June 27, 1675. However, a letter by John Freeman, an officer in the war, places John’s death as April 4, 1675. He reported that three men were slain: John Tisdale Sr., John Knowles and Samuel Atkins. He also reported that John Tisdale’s house was burned as was the house of his brother-in-law James Walker. John’s gun was carried off by the Indians, later was recovered, and finally was used as evidence in Court.
John’s estate was settled March 6, 1677. On that same date, three Indians named Timothy Jacked, Nassamaquat and Pompaconshe were indicted for the murder of John and his two friends on the evidence of having John’s gun. Charges against one were dropped for lack of evidence; the other two seemed probably guilty. All three were sold into slavery to speedily remove them from the country.
Both John and his wife Sarah are buried in the Tisdale burying ground along the Taunton River near Assonet, Massachusetts. Their children were:
John Jr. b. 1641 m. Hannah Rogers d. 1677
James b. 1644 m. Mary Avery d. 1715
Joshua b. 1646 m. Abigail Andrews d. 1718
Sarah b. 1650 m. James Dean
Joseph b. 1656 m. Sarah Leonard d. 1721
Elizabeth b. 1657 m. John Smith
Mary b. 1658 m. Nathaniel French d. 1731
Abigail b. 1659 m. Edward Babbitt
(While not mentioned in the histories and genealogies, a second wife, Hannah Rogers, is referenced in the IGI.)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Atwater, Edward E. HISTORY OF THE COLONY OF NEW HAVEN, V 1 and 2 (Meridian, Conn.:
Journal Pub. Co, 1902), facs reprint 1989 by Heritage Books, Inc., Maryland.
Banks, Charles E. PLANTERS OF THE COMMONWEALTH, 1620-1640.
Browne, William Bradford. THE BABBITT FAMILY HISTORY 1643-1900. Taunton, Mass:
Old Colony Historical Society of Taunton, Mass., 1912.
Coldham, Peter Wilson. THE COMPLETE BOOK OF EMIGRANTS, V. 1 1607-1660, V. 2 1661-1697. Baltimore: Gen. Pub., 1990.
Dodd, Bethuel L. and Burnet, John R. GENALOGIES OF THE MALE DESCENDANTS OF DANIEL DOD OF BRANFORD, CONN. Newark, New Jersey: printed at the DAILY ADVERTISER Office, 1864.
Farmer, John. GENEALOGICAL REGISTER OF THE FIRST SETTLERS OF NEW ENGLAND. reprinted in Baltimore, Genealogical Pub., 1989.
GENEALOGY OF THE RIGGS FAMILY
HATHAWAYS IN AMERICA, THE. 1970 ed. Sponsored by the Hathaway Family Association and compiled and edited by Elizabeth Starr Versailles. Northampton, Mass Gazette Printing Company, 1970.
INTERNATIONAL GENEALOGICAL INDEX, 1988 Edition. Salt Lake City, Utah: Corporation of the
President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
MUNSON FAMILY HISTORY
Nash. FIFTY PURITAN ANCESTORS
Orcutt. HISTORY OF DERBY
Pope, Charles Henry. PIONEERS OF MASSACHUSETTS. Baltimore: Gen. Pub., 1969.
REVOLUTIONARY RECORDS OF NEW JERSEY
Riggs, Henry. PIONEER ANCESTORS
Roberts, Henry Byrd. GENEALOGIES OF CONNECTICUT FAMILIES V. 1-3 . Baltimore: Gen. Pub., 1983.
Rounds, H.L. Peter. BRISTOL COUNTY MASSACHUSETTS PROBATE RECORDS 1687-1745.
Baltimore: Gen. Pub., 1987.
Savage. GENEALOGICAL DICTIONARY OF THE FIRST SETTLERS OF NEW ENGLAND.
Vols 1-4. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1977.
Stratton, Eugene Aubrey. PLYMOUTH COLONY: ITS HISTORY AND PEOPLE 1620-1691
Salt Lake City, Utah: Ancestry Publishing.
Tisdale, Robert L. THE DESCENDANTS OF JOHN TISDALE (1614-1675) COLONIAL MASSACHUSETTS.
Tisdale, Rosa D. MEET THE TISDALES. Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1981.
Threlfall, John Brook. FIFTY GREAT MIGRATION COLONISTS TO NEW ENGLAND AND THEIR ORIGINS, 1990.
Torrey, Clarence A. NEW ENGLAND MARRIAGES PRIOR TO 1700. Baltimore: Gen. Pub. 1985.
Trumbull, Benjamin D.D. A COMPLETE HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT: CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL.
Vol. 1. New London: H.D. Utley, 1898.
Walker. THE WALKERS OF OLD PLYMOUTH COLONY
Wallace, John H. GENEALOGY OF THE RIGGS FAMILY, V. 1. (New York: by the author, 1901) reprinted by the Photoduplication program of the New England Historic
Genalogical Society, Boston.
Wilcoxson, Wm. Howard. HISTORY OF STRATFORD, CONNECTICUT 1639-1939. Stratford:
Stratford Tercenenary Commission, 1939.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
It is apparent, if the genealogical information is carefully read, that many of these families were friends and neighbors and became interrelated in a number of ways. These tie-ins offer a mini version of the growth of Colonial America, beginning in Plymouth Colony and moving to Connecticut and then to New Jersey and finally beginning the move West away from New England. The first link came at Taunton, Massachusetts, about twenty five miles west and slightly south of Plymouth and founded in 1639. Eight of the families were among its residents.
AT TAUNTON, MASSACHUSETTS:
ANDREWS, Henry
MACOMBER, Henry William - 1652(3)
WALKER, Sarah 1618-1676
TISDALE, John 1614-1675
BABBITT, Edward -1675
HATHAWAY, John 1629-1705
PITTS, Peter 1626-1692
ANDREWS, Mary - 1652(3)
BRIGGS, William 1644-1680
MACOMBER, Sarah
TISDALE, Abigail 1660-1697
BABBITT, 1655-1732
BABBITT. Edward 1665-1735
HATHAWAY, Elkanah 1655-1722
PITTS, Isaac
BRIGGS, Mary Elizabeth 1672-
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