May I have your attention: This is not complete. Please read with the knowledge that there may be errors and that there are certainly omissions. If you cannot bear this thought, please read no further. But please, if you can correct or add to this pool of knowledge I have tried to collect, please please contact me: John Yochum, P O Box 27, Sherwood OH 43556, bijou@smta.cc or call (419)899-4227. Thanks. Last update 11/24/96, 12/7/96. This does not include all the Rathbun descendants. For more names, dates, begats, and detail see my page at GenCircles: http://www.gencircles.com/users/yochum Posted 3/25/06 to the net, in hopes of finding out more about my family.

Contents:

13-greats Grandfather William Rathbun

12-greats Grandfather Thomas Rathbun

11-greats Grandfather Thomas Rathbun

10-greats Grandfather John Rathbun

9-greats Grandfather John Rathbun

8-greats Grandfather John Rathbun

7-greats Grandfather Jonathan Rathbun

6-greats Grandfather Jonathan Rathbun

5-greats Grandmother Marvel Rathbun (married Lyman Jones)

Great-great-great-great Grandfather Ransom Bruce Jones

Great-great-great Grandfather Lyman Ransom Jones

Great-great Grandmother Dora Jones (who married Charles Mattson)

Great-Grandmother Edith Mattson (who married David Hinsch)

Grandmother Irene Hinsch (who married William Woodrow Stahl)

Mother Ruth Stahl (who married Frank Yochum)

Me, John Yochum

(Mostly plagiarized from "The Rathbone Family Historian," a family magazine I found in the Cincinnati Public Library first founded in OberlinKS by Franklin Rathbone, especially Volume Two, Number One, January 1982, July 1982. For details of anything here, please consult the voluminous pages of this family magazine, all of which would be foolish and senseless to duplicate here. I only repeat here what is germaine to my own roots.)

Spelling and Origin

Like most surnames, Rathbun has a great variety of spellings: Rathbun, Rathbone, Rathburn, Rawsbone, Rawbone, Rabone, Rabun, Raburn, Rathebon, Raithbone etc. "Rathbun" is most common in the United States, "Rathbone" in Great Britain, and it's usually "Rathborne" in Ireland. The father of the American immigrant signed his name Thomas "Raithbone" in 1654, but his brother William signed his will "Rathbone." Our American immigrant ancestor couldn't sign at all! The birth of his youngest son is "Rabone," but the tombstones of his sons, and the Family Bible, which still survives, record "Rathbun."

After 1776, the wealthy immigrants from England predictably were "Rathbones." Many Rathbuns changed their name to Rathbones, probably for this reason! A professor at the University of Rochester in 1860 told one "Rathbun" it looked more distinguished to be "Rathbone" so he changed it! One husband-and-wife tombstone reads "Amos Rathbun" and "Polly Rathburn!" One Civil War veteran couldn't fight city hall, and to get his pension changed his name to the clerk's spelling. The Meigs County Ohio "Rathburns" were originally Rhode Island "Rathbuns." A World War II Destroyer named for Captain John Peck Rathbun was christened the "Rathburne!"

Its origin has also quite a variety of explanations:

One thought it was originally Redborn, but the early and continued use of Rath- seems to rule this out for most.

Another though it was originally Hebrew Raphen, changed to Rathbun in Holland, and then Rathbone in England. "There is absolutely no documentation for such a theory."

One imaginative writer claimed it came from a cranky early Englishman nicknamed "Old Wrathybones" by his neighbors.

The respected Barsley's Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames theorizes it was derived from the town or Ruabon in northern Wales. A check on Welsh records shows that the name ruabon, with emphasis on the "u" sound, has been unchanged since the middle ages.

Harrison's Surnames of the United Kingdom suggests a derivation from the Welsh "rhath," for "clearing" or "plain," and the Welsh "bon" meaning "stump," hence, "Someone living in a stumpy clearing." Or Irish "rath" (fort or castle) and "bane/boun" (white), "Someone living in or near a white castle."

The official Rathbone family magazine rejects all of these, ever since a study of early Chester, England (near the Wales border) surnames found the earliest mentioned, "Rathebon" in 1287 Latin court records, and then 1318 "deRathebane." (Before the thirteenth century, surnames were not passed on father to son in many cases. Eg John le Taylor's son might be Peter le Stout, whose son might be William le Farmer etc) The "de," the editor felt, definitely pointed to a place name, meaning "from" or "of" someplace. The editor could find no English or Welsh places named Rathbun, but did find "Rathboyne" directly across the Irish Sea from Chester, a "fort" on the Boyne River. A thriving trade route had been carried on since the middle ages across this route, people by the name of Rathborne had been prominent candle-makers in nearby Dublin for generations, deRathbone is explained, and the spelling change is easily explained by the differences in English and Irish pronunciation!

Of course, there is a line of Polish Rathbuns who took the name upon immigration simply because neighbors could neither spell nor pronounce their real family name (They had approached one of their respected neighbors named "Rathbun" and asked permission to take his surname as their own!)!

Cooley

This is a very old, greatly studied line. In fact, The Rathbone Genealogy was published in 1898 by John C Cooley. For many years, historians had accepted his statement that the American Rathbuns and Rathbones wre all descended from Richard Rathbone, born in 1574 in England. Cooley's account begins:

"Richard Rathbone, the first of the name in America of whom we have any record, was born about 1574. He married Marion Whipple, sister of Captain John Whipple, who mentions her in his will, made at Ipswich, Essex Co MA, 12/19/1616, and probated 1/28/1618. They had four children, all sons. So far as we have been able to discover, none of them left issue except John, the youngest. The eldest, Rev. William Rathbone, resided in VT in 1630; he is soken of in a work published in 1637..."

He listed grandson John Jr, son of John, grandson of Richard, as marrying Margaret Dodge, the daughter of Tristram Dodge.

By the 1940's genealogy became more of an exact science, and many professionals questioned Cooley's account, conducting their own studies, discovering that Captain William Whipple's will was probated in Ipswich EN, mentioning Richard Rathbone, a brother-in-law, but there is no indication he ever came to America or had a son named John. Rev William Rathband, a prominent English clergyman, never even visited America, nor was there even a Vermont in 1630.

Cooley did do valuable service in rounding up family Bibles and other sources, but he did not have access to all the records and indices of today. He was not a trained scholar, and he was too willing to accept information without proof. Some of his facts are wrong, and some of his conclusions erroneous, but his 827-page book is still today rare and valuable.

Famous Rathbuns

The Knights of Pythias, one of the oldest fraternal organizations in the United States, was founded by Justus Henry Rathbone (1839-1889) in 1864.

The Kentucky midwife who brought Abraham Lincoln in the world married a Rathbone, Lincoln's early schoolmates were Rathbones, and his companion the night of his assassination was a Rathbone.

John Paul Jones' first lieutenant was Captain John Peck Rathbun, a real hero of the American Revolutionary Navy.

Henry Riggs Rathbone (1870-1928) and George Rathbone (1803-1870) served in Congress. George was engaged in the first fist fight on the floor of the House of Representatives when a southern Congressman called him a aliar during a slavery debate. Rathbun responded by knocking him to the floor.

The late Basil Rathbone, Shakespearian actor famous for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes, is not directly related to the American Rathbones, but is to the Liverpool Rathbones.

Rathbuns have four towns in the US named for them: Iowa, Pennsylvania, NewYork and Michigan.

One of the organizers of the Republican Party (founded 1856 "under the oaks" in JacksonMI) was Rev Hiram Rathbun of LansingMI.

The late Monroe Jackson Rathbone was Board Chairman and President of Standard Oil of New Jersey, forerunner of today's Exxon Corporation.

There's even a song named for the Rathbuns written 1850 by Ithamar Conkey, common in Methodist, Baptist, Episcopal and Brethren hymnbooks. The story goes that Conkey was depressed one rainy Sunday because only a few members of the choir had braved the storm to attend. He penned the song to honor Mrs Beriah (Martha) Rathbun, a loyal choirmember and excellent singer.

Slaveowners

Slavery in 17th and 18th century America was a fact of life, although we certainly do recognize it otday, in hindsight, as inhuman, degrading and indefensible. At first immigrants tried low-paid servants, but in America any ambitious man could easily own his own land and become self-sufficient. Then they tried buying Indians from their parents, or even capturing and enslaving young Indians. Most simply disappeared into the forest. Then came the turn to blacks as slaves.

Our immigrant ancestor, John and Margaret (Acres) Rathbun, owned one slave at the time of his death. His will called for his "neager man" to be left to his wife for her lifetime, then to his son Thomas for three years, and then to be set free. Margaret lived for at least 14 more years, and Thomas (the wealthiest of John's five sons) owned six slaves at the time of his death in 1733-- a man named Mingo, a boy named Quoming and four unnamed females. Of the other four sons, only William appears on record as a slaveowner. His 1727 will left "Jenny" to his son Ebenezer. William's son Jonathon, in 1773, left "Mingo" to his wife.

John Rathbun Jr, the oldest son of John and Margaret, our direct ancestor, had no black slaves, but did purchase "Betsey" from her parents ("Great James and his wife") in 1698. She was to remain with the Rathbuns for 18 years of regular payments of blankets and rum.

Religious opposition by the Quakers made slaveowning unpopular, especially involving our family in 1765. Joshua (son of Joshua, son of Joshua, son of our John Jr, son of our immigrant ancestor John Sr) ignored the church and bought a young girl. He apologized but pleaded ignorance of church teaching and agreed to free her when she turned of age. Six years later he was in trouble again, though, when he sold her for $50 to his son Joshua Jr, who sold her to a man who carried her out of the country. The angry Quakers denied Joshua Jr church membership and urged Joshua Sr to sue his son for breach of promise (to set her free when she came of age). Although a leading Quaker whose home was the local Quaker meeting place, Joshua Sr refused to take his son to court. For several years the Quakers still met in his home, until 1773 they revoked Joshua Sr's membership. That winter sea Captain Joshua Jr died at sea from yellow fever. Joshua Sr applied for readmission 12/5/1775:

"...it was a great cross to me to be denied by Friends. It was all most too much for me to bear...I should not only have advised my son, but should have constrained him to have done justice to the girl, and I see now I should have taken the advice of Friends in prosecuting my son..." He closed by asking the Quakers to "...take me under their Christian care..."

which they did until his death in 1801.

Jonathan son of direct ancestor JOHN and grandson of our immigrant ancestor JOHN owned several slaves:

"Jane" was freed immediately with the stipulation that she "is not to be controlled but to dwell in my house and take care of my three weak (retarded?) children and to be maintained out of my estate."

"Abraham" was given to his wife Katherine for her lifetime, and then to be freed. She lived another 29 years. He enlisted in the Revolutionary War in 1777 with his brother, served 3 years, moved to NewLondonCT taking the surname Freeman.

"Jacob" was given to his son Joshua to be freed at age 35. He enlisted in the Revolutionary Army in May 1777 adopting the surname Freeman, and moving to NewLondonCT where he was living as late as 1820.

"Peter" also took the name Freeman and remained in the Colchester area, owning land in Salem and marrying there in 1789. He married again in June 1807 Maria, who divorced him in 1821 for infidelity. She died 1844 Norwich CT. He was in Salem as late as 1827.

"Edward," also called Ned, served in the Revolutionary War as Edward Rathbun, but later adopted the Freeman surname. He died in January 1787 naming brothers Peter, Abraham and Jacob, as well as a sister Jennie (also called Jane).

"Ezra" was to be freed at age 21 and given 10 pounds. This Ezra enlisted February 1776, aged 19, in the Connecticut Militia under Capt Lev Wells in the Regiment of Col. Samuel Willis serving athe battles of RoxburyMA and FlatBushNY before discharged in January 1777. He reenlisted and served several more years. After the War, he remained in Connecticut, marrying 4/16/1782 Silence Phillips (b.6/19/1764 p.Samuel & Martha(Decker)Phillips m.4/16/1782 WindhamCT), having several children before he divorced her March 17, 1790 on grounds of adultery and desertion. He married again in1791, and she died 3/10/1811 WindhamCT at age 49. He married the third time in 1813 a young woman of 23 (he was 57). Jacob was a hard-working, respected citizen who received a good education in the Rathbun home, was literate and could sign his own name, purchased a home in Windham, paid for by laying stone walls for a neighbor. On 9/16/1818 he applied for a Revolutionary War pension. John R Watrous, former surgeon withthe 3rd CT Regiment testified as to his service and good character. Two years later, Jacob testified that he was 63 with a wife and two small daughters aged four and one, and was a day laborer unable to support his family due to an accident "many years ago" in which he broke on leg, his collarbone and hip. The pension was granted and he moved a short time later to Smithfield, BradfordCoPA, where he died in 1829. An early Bradford County historian says Ezra Rathbun "while a mulatto was a very good man." This raises the possiblity that he had some white blood. We know the name of two of Ezra's sons, but also know he had more:

1.Jonathan Rathbun (b.1800 named for Ezra's old master) a teamster, using horse-drawn wagons to haul the printing press, type and paper used to print Iowa's first newspaper, the State Leader. r.1860 CA He married Elizabaeth in 1848, probably a second marriage, and had several children.

2.Abner Rathbun (b.1785) who became a "forceful" Methodist minister. Both headed west in 1840,ending up in DesMoinesIA by 1845.

a.Ezra Rathbun (b.1809 d.1879) also a Methodist minister, preached the first sermon in DesMoines, then an Army fort, in September 1845 at the settlement's first death, the garrison commander'sinfant daughter. He organized the first DesMoines Sunday School earlier that year. He and his father founded the Fifth Street Methodist Church, the city's first Methodist church. "A Methodist preacher, he traveled on foot over the country, preaching wherever he could get two or three Christian people together. He was a college graduate, an eloquent speaker, very unostentatious, and gained friends wherever he went. The people were poor, and for support he did manual labor as a carpenter on weekdays. On Sundays, he would preach. He was active in civic affairs, became quite porminent and was greatly esteemed as a person of high ideals and excellent character...about the smartest preacher we ever had in the county...he was a gentleman; and not to disparage others of his profession, he was in every way their superior." Iowa was admitted as a state in 1846 and adopted a constitution which forbade Negroes the right to vote. A strong pro-slavery element was determined to enforce the ban. Despite threats and pressure, Ezra went to the polls for the first election and was immediately challenged. Denying he was a Negro, he said he was of mixed French and Portuguese stock and descended from Joshua Rathbun, a full-blooded Portuguese who had come to America on the Mayflower. Tall, slim, with thin lips, swarthy complexion and "hair and eyes distinctly of the Portuguese type" he was able to pull it off, remaining in DesMoines the rest of his life, working as a carpenter, teamster and practicing minister.

The second black man to bear the Rathbun name was Exeter Rathbun (b.1790 ExeterRI) possibly the son or grandson of Joseph, a former slave of Joseph (son of Joseph, son of immigrant ancestor JOHN). "An uncommon shrewd man, rather too unprincipled and unscrupulous." In 1818 he married Question b.1798 and lived for many years in JohnstownRI, returning to Exeter, dying and being buried there leaving several children:

1.Jane A Rathbun (b.8/23/1822 m.6/2/1845 Allen Robinson)

2.Samuel J (b.1826 m.11/20/1867 Mary E Brown, 10/11/1871 Mary F Doyle)

3.Mary Ann (b.1829 m.3/21/1861 John Hamilton Hill)

4.Thomas Andrew (b.2/15/1832 m.Laura Phillips)

Black Roots in Southeastern Connecticut 1650-1900 copyright 1980 Gale Research Company, Detroit mentions "Prime," a slave owned by Job Rathbun (son of Job, son of Joseph, son of immigrant ancestor JOHN), who was to be freed at age 25 "if he behaves himself."

Another "Mingo" (b.1723 d.11/11/1805 aged 82 i.MillingtonChurchyard EastHaddamCT). He was owned by Jonathan Rathbun (1688-1773), left in a will 1773 to Jonathan's wife Sarah (also a Rathbun, daughter of Thomas, son of immigrant ancestor JOHN). She died in1798 at age 100, and left Mingo to her grandson Thomas. He is buried not far from Thomas and Sarah (Williams) Rathbun's grave, a Rathbun slave for most if not all of his 82 years, owned by three generations of Rathbuns:

John & Margaret (Acres) Rathbun John & Margaret

Thomas Rathbun William

Sarah Rathbun (married Jonathan Rathbun) Jonathan (m.Sarah Rathbun)

Thomas Thomas

Thomas Thomas

(SarahWms) (SarahWms)

Some documents of slave-owning Rathbuns remain:

"Know all persons whom it may concern that I Daniel J Fort of the otwn of HalmMoon in the County of Saratoga and State of New York for and in consideration of the sum of $325, lawfull money of the state of New York to me in hand paid by Daniel Rathbun Jun'r. of the town of Milton and county of Saratoga and Sate of New YOrk have granted, bargained, sold and delivered unto the said Daniel Rathbun Jun'r one Negro man about Nineteen years of age, named Frank...[I] will warrant and defaned against all persons whoemsoever claiming or to claim the siad Negro Man. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 25th day of October in the year of our Lord Eighteen Hundred and Four.

This Daniel Rathbun Jr lived 1759-1808.

"State of Louisana, Parish and City of New Orleans. Mis Louise Victoire Claret of this city, does by these presents sell and deliver with all legal warranties, specially with full guarantee agianst the vices and maladies proscribed by law... unto Mr Henry ALanson Rathbone, also of this city, the slave Judith, a creole negro woman aged about 31 years.in consideration of the sum of $750 cash....eighth day of February, 1847...on the second day of November in the year of our Lord 1849... Mistress Caroline C Searle of lawful age, wife of John Breckenridge Grayson of this city, duly authorized by her said husband does by these presents grant, bargain, sell and convey with full warranty unto Henry A Rathobone also of this city a certain Negress slave, for life, named Mary, aged Thirty-four, an excellent cook. The said slave is sold without any warranty whatsoever against the inhibitory vices, maladies, and defects proscribed by law...for and in consideration of the price and sum of $550."

This Henry A Rathbun lived 1803-1867.

13 greats-grandfather William Rathbun1538-1587

William was born probably prior to 1538 since his baptism is not recorded, and Farnworth Chapel records only go back that far. He married Ellen about 1560, although once again the marriage does not appear in the records. He died in June 1587 and was buried June 8 as William Rathbone of Ditton." Ellen was buried November 30 of that same year. Their children were:

1. William, baptized 10/1/1562. Died young

2. Thomas baptized 12/28/1566 (this is our ancestor)

3. Ellen, baptized 1/15/1569 married 11/27/1591 John Smith

4. Richard, baptized 11/2/1570

5. John baptized 11/4/1571

6. Hugh baptized 8/20/1573

7. William II, baptized 2/1/1577 m.8/27/1605 Isabella Bucks

12 greats-grandfather Thomas Rathbun 1566-1623

Thomas was baptized 12/28/1566 and married October 13, 1588 Grace Coppowe, who had been baptized 4/4/1570, the daughter of John Coppowe. Thomas died 11/7/1623 at Ditton. Their children:

1. Margaret, baptized 3/3/1589, died in infancy

2. William batpized 8/14/1591 married Margaret Johnson

3. Margaret, baptized 3/8/1594 married Thomas Rose 11/26/1612

4. Thomas, baptized 1/9/1596 (this is our ancestor)

5. Ellen, baptized 11/14/1600, possibly the spinster of Sutton, who died 8/11/1652

11 greats-grandfather Thomas Rathbun 1596-1654

Thomas, son of Thomas, was baptized 1/9/1596, marrying 4/13/1616 Alice Childwell, a widow. He died 2/7/1654 at Ditton, and is described in his will as "Shoemaker, of the Hough Green Ditton." This town of Ditton is 11 miles east of Liverpool on the Mersey River.

His will: "In the Name of God amen, This Seventh day of Febr' 1654, I Thomas Rathbone of the Hough Green within Ditton in the County of Lankaster shoomaker being sicke in bodie yett in good & p'fect memorie blessed be God doe institute, ordaine, make, nominate & appoint this my last will & testamt in maner & form following. First & principally I give and bequeath my soule in to the hands of Almighty God hopinge to be saved by the Joious merrits & mediation of Christ Jesus my most glorious Savior and my bodie to Christian burial in the chapell yard at Farneworth, and for such wordly goods as it hath pleased God to endowe me with all my will and minde is, viz. I give to Tho: Rathbone my eldest sonne, the usme of fortie shillings to be raised out of my goods. I give more unto him the dishbord and Cupboard & frame bords standinge in the house and the standing beddstead in the Chamber. Item: I give to my daughter, Grace, one cowe & a black fairke. Item: my will and minde is that after the funeral expenses be taken out of the renartion or remainder of my goods, that the remainder thereof be equally divided amongst all my children, viz: Thomas Rathbone, John Rathbone, Grace Rathbone, Mary Rathbone, and Ailes (Alice) Rathbone. It is my will and minde further that my said three daughters shall in habitt and possesse & enjoy the newe house, the garden and stocke yarde until they or any of them shall happen to marry and after the marriage of any of them my will is that those soe married shall forthwith a voyd from thence and those others unmarried to enjoy the same until they shall happen to marrie. Lastly I institute, ordaine, make nominate & appoint my Brother William Rathbone executor & Grace Rathbone executrix joyntly of this my last will and testamt hoping they will P'form the trust imposed in them."

His children:

1.Thomas, baptized 1/10/1622. Alive in 1654, no further record

2.Grace, baptized 2/18/1626. Possibly the Grace who m.11/27/1673 in Ditton John Heward.

3.John, baptized 3/8/1629. (this is our ancestor)

4.William, baptized 11/18/1632. Died 2/1633

5.Mary, baptized 6/4/1634. Alive in 1654, no further record

6. Alice, b.1636

10 greats-grandfather John Rathbun1629-1702

He was baptized March 28, 1629 at Farnworth Chapel, Parish of Prescott, County of Lancashire, England (Farnworth Chapel, where our ancestors were in the late middle ages, remains virtually unchanged today, still in use). The family was poor, and young John was probably put to work as a small boy either in his father's shoeshop or as an apprentice to a neighboring tradesman. He received little if any schooling, and remained illiterate until his death.

In the early 1650's he married Margaret Acres, the daughter of Thomas Acres, a neighbor in Ditton. This was a period of great unrest in England, a civil war ending in 1653 with the beheading of Charles II and the installation of Cromwell as Lord Protector.

In 1654, his father Thomas died and left a small sum of money to John, which he used to take his bride to America, which was already developing a reputation as a land of opportunity. They first settled in Dorchester MA where a number of Lancashire immigrants were already living. The early records of Dorchester were destroyed by fire, so unfortunately are were no records of his early days there.

Rhode Island

His name first appears on American records 8/17/1660, listed with 12 Massachusetts men who met at the Roxbury home of Dr John Alcock to consider the purchase of BlockIsland, 12 miles off the coast of what is now Rhode Island. Alcock proposed that 16 families could share in the purchase and establish a plantation on the island. The group did expand to 16 and made plans to divide the 6720-acre island. Drawings were held to assign each a "great lot" in both the northern and southern sections of the island. Most agreed to purchase a full one-sixteenth share, two took double shares, and several, less affluetn, pooled their funds and bought half-shares. Among the latter were John Rathbone and Edward Vose (Vose never settled on the island, but sold his share to John's brother-in-law, John Acres). Their land in the southern section lay along the southeastern coast, encompassing what is now known as Mohican Bluff. That, with their northern lot, should have given them 420 acres. Within a few years, though, Rathbone realized that the original survey had been inaccurate. A second survey showed he and Vose had been shorted by 130 acres in their southern lot. An appeal to the Alcock estate (John Alcock having died) resulted in 1671 60 acres near the center of the island being given to Rathbone.

That surveying error proved to be a bonanza, for the correction gave him a strategically located piece of land in what became the most valuable part of the island-- stretching from near what is now the town center to the ocean on the east side. .

In 1674 Rathbun purchased 42 acres, and in 1680 he bought 12 1/2 adjoining acres. On 10/10/1680 he made the final payment for his share of the original purchase, as shown in this early land record:

"I, John Williams...executor of the estate of John Alcock...doe acquit John Rathbon from the payment of 30 pounds which hath been received....11 pounds five shillings by said Alcock...and the rest by Thomas Terry and myself...in full payment of a two and thirtieth part of Block Island...which said Rathbon bought of Mr Alcock as by an account upon the Block Island Book of Accounts..."

A down-payment of about 50%, and the balance paid in a system similar to today's 20-year mortgage plans.

Rathbone's home was in the central part of the island, which very early emerged as the town center. He also kept his south tract, where in April 1680 the town officers gave him permission to erect a fence

"across ye highway in ye south end of ye island and to hang and maintain a gate for ye liberty of ye inhabitants to pass to the sea when they see occasion."

For this privilege, Rathbone gave the town an acre of land.

Settler's Rock on the NE coast of Block Island marks the landing place of the first settlers in 1661. The site is known as Cow Cove because one of the settler's cows was the first to reach shore. There is a tradition that the cow belong to our John Rathbone. Settler's Rock Memorial is one of two memorials associated with John Rathbone:

"Settlers' Rock, re-dedicated for the tercentennial June 17th AD 1961.

"1661-1911 This stone was placed here September2d AD 1911 by the citizens of New Shoreham to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the purchase and settlement of Block Island, by the following named persons, who landed at this point:

"Original Settlers. Original Purchasers. Thomas Terry, John Clarke, William Jud, Samuel Dearing, Simon Ray, William Tosh, Tormut Rose, Wm Barker, Daniel Cumball, Wm Cohoone, Duncan Mack Williamson, John Rathbun, Edward Vorce, Jun, Trustrum Dodge, Sen, Nicholas White, Wm Billings, John Ackurs, Richd Billingum, Samuel Dearing.

The other memorial:

"RATHBUN near this spot lie the bodies of John Rathbun 1629-1702 and his wife Margaret Acres 1633--after 1716 Natives of Lancashire County, England emigrated to America about 1654 among teh first settlers of Block Island 1661 He was a member of the Rhode Island General Assembly 1681-1684.

On the opposite side of this stone:

"John and Margaret (Acres) Rathbun, their children 1.John 2.Thomas 3.Sarah 4William 5Margaret 6Joseph 7 Elizabeth 8Samuel

Their descendants spell the name Rathbun, Rathbone & Rathburn erected 1983 by the Rathbun Family Association."

Seven miles long, and three miles wide, Block Island was known for centuries by the Manissean Indians who lived there "Manisses" or "Isle of the Little God." Verazana first recorded sighting it in 1524, calling it Claudia in 1524. A Dutch fur trader, Adriaen Block, landed there in 1614 and gave the island its present name. Captain John Oldham, a Boston trader, was killed by the Indians in 1636, and Massachusetts Colonel (later Governor) John Endicot came to the island with 100 soldiers to punish them. They killed 14 braves and wasted the wigwams and cornfields. A year later, the island was declared part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Nothing was done until 1658 when the colony transferred title to Endicott, Richard Bellingham (another former governor), General Daniel Dennison and Wm Hawthorne (ancestor of famed author Nathaniel Hawthorne). They immediately offered the island for sale, and the Alcock story above is history. It was covered with oak, cedar and hickory forests, except for the open areas in the north, where the Indians grew corn, and scattered clearings in the south. Boulders and rocks, dating to the glacial ages, were collected and used to build 300 miles of stone fences. By 1720 most of the trees were gone. The islanders turned to peat for fuel and passed laws in a futile attempt to protect the few remaining trees. Food was no problem with cod, lobster, tuna and swordfish, oyster, clams and scallops, wild game and fowl.

And, of course, they brought their own animals and planted potatoes, carrots, corn, barley and beans. James Sands, a carpenter, built theisland's only stone house. He also erected a water-operated grist mill, where flour and meal was made. Sands' wife was the doctor and midwife. Peter George was "oatmeal-maker." Tristram Dodge (our direct ancestor also, a Newfoundland fisherman) was given three acres free as an inducement to settle on the island. William Harris, a blacksmith, was given four acres for the same reason. Thomas Terry was the military leader of the island. Simon Ray was lay preacher and chief magistrate. Our John Rathbun was farmer and shoemaker.

The relationship with the Indians was chaotic. Thomas Terry made a deal with the Indian chiefs purchasing all rights to the island, AND taking several Indians as slaves. There were 400 Indians on the island when these 30 settlers moved on. The Indians of course resented the clearing of the land, killing of the game and enslavement, coming to a head in the 1660's when the women and children were put in Sand's stone house for safety and 16 men and a boy, beating a drum loudly, challenged the Indians (who outnumbered them 10 to 1) to a fight. The Indians declined and the problems ended. John Rathbun Sr was certainly one of the men, and John Jr, then in his middle or late teens, was quite possibly the boy. Indians were forbidden to keep guns overnight, ordered to take them by dusk "to his master's house on whose ground he lives." Sale of rum to Indians was outlawed, and every male over 16 was required to "provide himself with a sufficient fire-lock gun and 2 pounds of powder and 4 pounds of shot and lead." Each man took a turn standing guard at night, excused only when "an easterly wind blows strongly, accompanied by rain or snow."

The French were more of a bother. French troops invaded several times. In 1711 a quota of 12 soldiers was assigned to the island by the Rhode Island (although originally a Massachusetts jurisdiction, they voted in 1664 to join Rhode Island, and in 1672 to name Block Island New Shoreham, its legal name today).

The original 60 acres given Rathbun in 1671 are near what is now Dodge Street, near the Old Harbor, not far from James Sands' home and gristmill. His Mohegan Bluffs was given to his son Thomas, whose sons later owned it. John Rathbun's third home was near the present island airport on the west side of Center Road.

John Rathbun also maintained a second home in Newport for a number of years, where his youngest son was born. Although he was elected to represent Block Island as deputy to the Rhode Island General Assembly for five years, although he apparently remained in Newport during this time, and his name appears on the Freemen's List there in 1683. He apparently considered Newport his primary home in his will, and refers to a "shop" there. 1702 record lists him as one of the proprietors of the Newport Town Wharf. Also, the contents of the Newport home included beds, clothing, a bible, pewter, and a gun, while the Block Island inventory consisted entirely of livestock-- 11 cattle and 70 sheep. His wife, Margaret, is listed as an owner of a lot in Newport, presumably the property left her in John's will. In March 1716 she made a deposition on Block Island regarding property she and her husband deeded to Joh Rathbun Jr. (No one is sure when Margaret died but this deposition shows she lived at least 14 years after John).

Politics

In 1685, John Rathbone was a member of the Crown Party, which supported King James' order vacating the Rhode Island colonial charter, and uniting the bay with MassachusettsBay, New Plymouth, New Hampshire, and Maine. A majority of the General Assembly voted to defy the King and continue operations under the old charter. Rathbone and 12 other delegates sent a petition to King James pledging their allegiance to the crown..

"With all dutiful respect and submission as becometh loyal subjects, and in obedience thereto, we...doe hereby present our full and free submission and entire resgination

given us in said charter, unto your Majestie's pleasure, humbly desiring...that your Majestie will take such notice of us in the succeeding government as may best consist with

your Majesties's honour and our good..."

Grandfather John was the only one of the 13 who signed with "his mark"--carefully printing "JR" for his signature. This and his will show he was illiterate, not uncommon in that day. Sir Edmond Andros, appointed by King James as Royal Governor for the United COlonies, did take notice of the signers and rewarded their oyalty by appointments. John was named Grand Juryman on the General Quarter Sessions Court (which replaced the General Assembly as the governing body of the colony) in1688.

That same year saw the overthrow of King James in the Glorious Revolution, the Crown Party out of favor, and Rathbone returning to Block Island, his political career cut short. Less than a century later, his descendants would be fighting in the American Revolution.

Pirates

In July 1689 Block Island was invaded by a French privateer, looking for plunder. The invaders asked some of the islanders who was most likely to have money, and were directed to... John Rathbone! They seized John Rathbone Jr instead of John Rathbone Sr by accident. John Jr, about 35 years old, was tied, stripped to the waist, and whipped by the French in an effort to make him confess where he had hidden the money. Posing as his father, he enabled his parents to escape capture and possible harm.

Of course, we don't know if he really was one of the richest men, or if his neighbors resented his past association with the Crown Party. He had accumulated a considerable amount of property on the island--between 1679 and 1693, he gave 255 acres of land to his children. Family tradition states that he did this in hope that his descendants would remain on the island forever. In 1684 210 acres were sold for as much as the entire island had cost only 23 years earlier.

Three of his five sons lived and died on the island, the other two moving to the mainland. During the early 1700's Rathbun was one of the island's most common names. In 1708 58 of 208 residents were Rathbuns. Of the 38 freemen, seven were Rathbuns. There were only four Rathbun families on the island in 1744. There are no Rathbuns living on the island today, but many trace their ancestry to John and Margaret Rathbone.

His will

Dated 2/12/1702 at Block Island, John described himself as "yeoman, being sick in body but of perfect memory," not too sick to attend the April 8 town meeting with all five of his sons. He did die early that fall, evidently, for the will was formally proved before the town clerk October 6.

"In the name of God, Amen. I, John Rathbone, Senior, of Block Island, also New Shoram, in the colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantation in New England, yeoman, being sick in body but of perfect memory, thanks be to Almighty God, and calling to remembrance the uncertain estate of this transitory life and that all flesh must yeield unto death when it shall please God to call, do make, constitue, ordain, and eclare this my last will and testmanet in manner and form following, revoking and annulling by these presents all and every testament and testaments, will or wills heretofore by me made and declared, either by word or by writing, and this is to be taken only, for my last will and testametn and none other...First I give and bequeath to my son, Samuel Rathbone, the table and cubbard which stand now in his house as for are lomes [heirlooms?] to the house, and I leave my wife, Margaret Rathbone, my executrix of all my moveable and household goods, houses and chattles, cattle, sheep and horsekind, and i leave the income of my house at Newport for her lifetime, and at her decease the westward of my house at Newport, and the leanto of that end so far as the post that the door hangs on, and the shop to be left to my son John Rathbone's son John and his heirs forever; and the eastward end of said house and the rest of the leanto to be left for my son William Rathbone's son John adn his heirs forever, and the yard to be equally for their use.

"And I leave to my wife for her lifetime the twenty acres of land which I bought of Henry Hall, and the running of two cows and ahorse, and the end of the house which I now live in.

"And I leave that my four sons shall pay to my wife during her lifetime, forty shillings a year, that is to say, John Rathbone, WIlliam Rathbone, and Joseph Rathbone adn Samuel Rathbone.

"And I leave to my wife during her lifetime, my neager man, and at here disposing and at her decease to my son Thomas Rathbone for three years, and at the end of the three years to give him as good clothes as his mistress leaves him and then to set him free.

"And at my wife's decease, what household goods are left are to be equally divided among my three daughters, Sarah and Margaret and Elizabeth, and what cattle and sheep and horsekind are left are to be equally divided between my five sons.

"And I leave that my wife shall take up all bonds and debts due to me.

"And I leave that my executrix shall see this my will performed.

"In witness whereof I have hereinto set my hand and affixed my seal in Block Island aforesaid, the twelfth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and two."

His Mark.

Children

1.JOHN Rathbone (b.1655 DorchesterMA d.1723 BlockIsRI) constable of BI 1686&1693

(?) m.1/16/1679 BlockIsRI Our direct ancestor, see below.

(Ann Dodge) m.11/11/1686 widow of Thomas Dodge son of Tristram Dodge.

2.Thomas Rathbun (b.1657 DorchesterMA d.12/26/1733 BI,RI ) second townsman 1692, townsman 1700-1702, deputy to the General Assembly 1700,1703,1705,1711,1730,1731. 27 cattle, 210 sheep, 7 swine, 2 horses, 6 Negroes in his will, only about 20 Negroes on the Island at this time, an 838 pound value to his estate. Also owned land in PoughkeepsieNY

(Mary Dickens)p.Nathaniel&JoanDickens m.8/21/1685 BI,RI

a.Thomas (b.1/29/1695 BI,RI) BI freeman 5/1720, given 93 acres & a home on the Island for "parental love

and affection," but moved to mainland by 1744 when he and Lydia "of Exeter" sold 122 acres on the

Island. By 1756 he had returned to the Island, for that November he petitioned the town council as

"Thomas Rathbun, late of Exeter" for "liberty to sell strong liquor by retail for three months"

(Lydia Mott)p.Nathaniel&Sarah(Tosh)M b.3/18/1697 m.10/7/1715 BI,RI

i.Nathaniel (b.8/22/1719 BI,RI) freeman at BlockIs 1741, moved few yrs later to Exeter where he

signed a tax-protest petition 1/22/1744. Ensign in Exeter militia from 1743to1745, and was a

captain at the time of his death in June or July 1750.

(Ann Peck)p.John&Marg't(Maynard)P b.5/1723 BostonMA m.9/10/1741 BI,RI

A.John Peck Rathbun (b.3/23/1746 Exeter m.5/4/1775 BostonMA

d.6/20/1782MillPrison England. Had a distinguished Naval career.

(Mary "Polly" Leigh)p.Ben&Maersje(Bant)L b.1758 d.4/18/1782 SKingstonRI

during the birth of their only child, who also died at his birth

ii.Thomas

A.Gamaliel (b.1757 Exeter m.1780) given 30 acres by his parents in Exeter 1776,

hired neighbor John Bates to serve as a sub for him during the Rev War

(Experience Rathbun)

JOHN RATHBUN

Thomas

John

John

Experience m.Gamaliel

Thomas

Thomas

Gamaliel m.Experience

B.Walter Clark Rathbun (b.1770 Exeter moved to HancockMA then

BroadalbinNY then Laurens OtsegoCoNY where he attended the first town

meeting in 1811. By 1820 in Marcellus OnondagoCONY and by 1830 Pike,

AlleghenyCoNY. In 1839 he testified that he had been a witness at the1784

wedding of Lydia Rathbun to Benjamin Bentley at HancockMA

(Anna)b.1774 m.1792

b.Samuel (b.7/1/1702 BI,RI) moved to NKingstonRI, freeman there May 1730, and town clerk in 1744.

Severe damage to public records there by fire, so little can be known

(Abigail Eldred)p.John m.4/13/1725NKingstonRI

i.Thomas (b.1734 NKingston m.1758 NKingstonRI d.7/31/1762 RI) a mariner

c.Mary (b.1759)

(second wife, Mary Waldrum)m.12/31/1760NYC)

ii.John (b.1737 NKingstonRI d.6/1/1819) ensign in NK militia in 1765, he and Hannah baptized as

adults 7/23/1796 in First Baptist Ch of NKingston. Both i.RathbunCem on HatcheryRd in NK

(Hannah Eldredge)p.Robt&HannahE b.7/1734 m.NKingston d.6/10/1821

c.may have both been married before, for John's will mentions "my wife's granddau

Hannah Dawley...my grandau Deborah Congdon...my grandsons Geo W and Thomas

Congdon..."

A.Thomas (b.1763 NK,RI m.1787 d.6/19/1835) moved after 1800 to Norway

HerkimerCONY among the early settlers. sold the 176 acre farm 1830 to move to

BullHill

(Eliza Ann Cooper) p.Gilbert&Elizabeth(Davis)C b.2/14/1767 d.10/23/1835

B.Robert (b.1777 NK,RI m.1797 d.7/171830) moved to DelawareCONY and built log

house on s side of Susquehannah River, both i.farm cem between Otego and Wells

Bridge

(Freelove Northrup)p.Samuel&WaityN b.1773 d.12/9/1811 probably in childbirth

C.Sarah (d.6/1810 NK m.Geo Congdon)

c.Martha Congdon (1805-1880 m.Rodman Hazard, Nathan D Rathbun)

JOHN

Thomas

Samuel

John

Sarah

Martha Congdon (m.Nathan Rathbun)

John

Nathan Rathbun (m.Martha Congdon)

D.John

c.Nathan (m.Martha Congdon--see above)

iii.Roger (b.1742 NKingston) in NK militia in 1768 member of the Six Principles Baptist Ch in1771,

served in Revolutionary War under Col Jeremiah Olney, Capt Humphrey's Co. Discharged

12/19/1782 Saratoga. His name appears on a list of American soldiers who were captured by the

British & imprisoned on the famous Jersey prison ship in New York harbor. Applied for war

pension in 1820, described as a "laborer but now so old he can do but little work...his wife is old

and infirm." He died sometime after 1834, in his 90's.

(Mary Eldred)p.Seth&Mary E b.1744 m.1763 NK,RI d.11/2/1805 NK,RI

A.John (b.1/4/1783NK,RI)moved to Berlin RenssalaerCoNY where he m.2/24/1804

(Elizabeth Babcock) b.5/24/1784 p.John&SophronaB. He served in War of 1812

B.Benedict Eldred Rathbun (b.1785) r.BristolRI moved 1816 to Belpre WA CoOH

where he d.10/5/1822, the first victim of an epidemic there leaving a sizeable estate

but no children. His will contained the strange stipulation that his wife's share of

the estate should revert to Job Lawton Briggs if she remarried.

(Frances)

(Isaac Barstow)d.1827 m.9/30/1824

(Jesse Howard)m.9/26/1834

(Margaret Card) m.10/23/1806

iv.Anthony (b.1744 NK,RI) ensign in NK militia in 1769

(Eliza Brown) p.Charles&Mercy(Sweet)Brown b.1751 m.11/7/1771 NK d.1783

(Penelope Brown)p.Charles&Mercy(Sweet)Brown b.1756 m.2/18/1787 NK d.11/30/1837NK

A.Charles Brown Rathbun (b.10/2/1776 NK,RI m.2/4/1797NK) moved to WA CoNY

and built a homestead on 1000 acres a few mi s of Whitehall Village where he died

2/3/1847 and Sarah sometime after 1855

(Sarah Carr) p.Samuel&FrancesC b.2/11/780

B.Anthony (b.1795nk,ri m.1820)

(Waity S Eldred)p.Thomas&Sarah(Spink)E b.1791 d.6/1/1839 i.RiversideCem

ProvidenceRI

c.John (b.5/29/1705 BI,RI d.1781 Exeter) BI freeman 4/1734, signing petitions for protection in 1737 and

1740. Sold 2/1749 130 acres on the Island for 4060 pounds, and apparently then moved to Exeter. He is

sometimes called John Rathbun Jr, to distinguish him from his cousin John, son of John, son of Immigrant

John.

1.Simeon ( b.6/27 d.1762 Fr/IndianWar given 30 Exeter acres for "love & affection" in 1755)

2.John (b.8/71730BI,RI d.1816 OtsegoNY) moved to Exeter as young man. given 35

NGreenwich acres in 1763 "for & in consideration of love, good will and affection...and his

better support and livelihood," which he sold a few weeks later and moved in the early 1780s

to Hancock,BerkshireCoMA, and by 1801 to Stephentown,RensselaerCoNY. By 1810 in

Otego, OtsegoCoNY. ensign of Exeter militia in 1754/5, a freeman there in 5/1759. 1763

described as "labourer"

(Anna (Hopkins) Albro)p.Wm&Mary(Tibbets)H b.7/16/1732 m.1754 Exeter widow of PeterA.

i.Tibbets (b.1755 ExeterRI)RevWar vet 1790 moved to HancockMA, ordered to

leave in 1792 "never having obtained permission to join the community," so he

moved to Broadalbin MontgomeryCoNY and then to OtsegoCoNY. In 1815, left

wife and moved to Hoosick RenssalaerCoNY purportedly to seek a pension for his

war service

(RebeccaStraight)p.John&MaryS b.1756 m.9/1775 Exeter

ii.Thomas (b.1763 Exeter)RevWar vet m.1790 unknown girl in StephentownNY1796

moved to OtsegoCoNY where in 1810 he was executor of his father's will. By

1817 at Laurens OtsegoCoNY where he sold land, and there is no further record of

them.

(Sarah Babcock)m.12/3/1797PlainfieldCT

(ExperienceMott)p.Nathaniel&Sarah(Tosh)M b.10/27/1705 m.1/1/1726BI,RI d.1751)

(Mary Ross) second marriage, after the children

c.Lydia (m.Benjamin Bentley at HancockMA)

(Mary Nixon) m.10/30/1717 BostonMA d.1744

a. Mercy Nixon (Thomas gave her an acre in1730 "whom I brought up from her childhood")

3.Sarah (b.6/10/1659 D,MA d.1718 NewportRI)

(Samuel George) p.Peter&Mary George m.12/20/1678 BI,RI

(John Mitchell). Colonial Dames "Our Ancestor's Famlies Ohio Society CDXVIIC c.1987 lists as "John Ball"

4.William (b.1661 D,MA d.1727 WesterlyRI) Surveyor of Fences 1686 constable 1688 juryman 1692. Received 60 acres from parents, and bought 165 acres in LymeCT 7/31/1710 which he gave to sons Wm & Jonathan 2 yrs later. Sold Block Island land in 1716, 1718 and finally 1725 to Caleb Littlefield, moving to WesterlyRI. Estate included negro woman, Jenny, left to his son Ebenezer.

(Sarah) m.12/18/1680

(Rachel)

a.William (b.11/12/1681 BI,RI d.1757 LymeCT) BI freeman 5/1709. given LymeCT land in 1712 by his father

on the condition "in case myself and his mother Sarah Rathbun my wife should come to want, then he shall

be at equal charge with his brother Jonathan toward the maintaining of us in our old age...and to pay his

sister Mercy 10 pounds at the age of 22." Wm moved to Lyme bought more land there in 1713 and lived his

life there.

(Sarah Mott)p.Nathaniel&Sarah(Tosh)M m.1/30/1705 BI,RI

1.Ann (m.Griswold c.Jared, who inherited Wm's gun,sword & Bible at age 21)

2.Daniel

A.William b.1/1/1742 LymeCT m.1764, private and sgt during Fr/Indian War

b.Jonathan (b.11/25/1688 BI,RI d.1773 LymeCT) 1712 received tract of LymeCT land "...inc case myself

and his mother Sarah should come to want, then he shall be an equal charge with his brother Wm toward the

maintaining of us in our old age...and to pay to his sister Eleanor 10 pounds at the age of 22." His 1760 will,

proved 6/8/1773, left his Negro slave Mingo to his wife Sarah.

(Sarah Rathbun)b.4/1/1698 d.5/21/1798 KillingworthCT his cousin dau. of Thomas, son of Immigrant John

Immigrant John

William Thomas

Jonathan m.Sarah Sarah m.Jonathan

i.Thomas (b.1730 LymeCT d.1769)

(Mary Wait)p.Thomas&Elizabeth(Lewis)W b.8/20/1740 m.5/5/1763 LymeCT

(Abraham Emerson) m.8/9/1773 LymeCT In 1775 Thomas Rathbun's mother, brother Samuel and

sister Sybil complained that Emerson was permitting a "great waste of wood and lumber" on his

wife's property and asked for an appointment of a guardian "to take care of the poor ophans'

estate"

A.Ebenezer (b3/2/1766 LymeCT m.1790 there to unknown girl. moved 1793 to Lima (then

Charlestown) in LivingstonCoNY where he was one of the first purchasers of land in the

Phelps/Gorham purchase. He died at Lima)

ii.Samuel

A.Benjamin (b.3/1766 CanterburyCT RevWar Vet)

c.John (b.7/9/1684 BI d.1759 Exeter RI) BI freeman 1708 as John Rathbun Jr to distinguish him from his

Uncle John. By 1727 he was living in Exeter, according to his father's will of that year. His 3472 pound

estate included a "Negro man Newport" valued at 1000 pounds, who was left to his wife until her death or

remarriage, when the slave was to be sold and the money divided among his children.

(Margaret Rathbun) b.1/17/1686 d.2/1769 his cousin daughter of Thomas, son of Immigrant John

John

William Thomas His Uncle John, our Ancestor

John married Margaret Margaret married John

i.William (b.1712 BI,RI d.5/1743 WesterlyRI) moved to Exeter with his father. moved to Westerly

(Rachel Sweet) m.12/16/1739 b.1722 p.Wm&ThankfulSweet.

(Jonathan Allen) m.10/1743 Westerly

ii.Obadiah (b.1710 BI d.1797 NK) moved to NK,RI as young man. ensign in Exeter militia in 6/1742,

signed tax protest petition in 1744.

(Anna Austin)p.Jeremiah&ElizabethA b.1712 m.9/16/1731NK d.178?

A.Joseph (b.9/22/1745 Exeter) dau raised by relatives. The only known Tory member of the

Rathbuns. Wagonner for the British Army at Lloyd's NeckNY in 1781, and 4/1783 was

among a group of Tories who sailed from Long Island to St Johns, New Brunswick in the

Union. There he married in1784 Elizabeth?

(MargtDawley)p.John/Mary(Tripp)D b.1746 m.8/17/1766Exeter d.1780

iii.John (b.1720BI) moved to NK,RI as young man. freeman there 1748, militia captain 1751-3

A.John (b.6/8/1770 ExeterRI) sold 60-acre farm in Exeter to move 1795 to Frankfort

HerkimerCoNY

(Joanna Joslin)p.John&Joanna(Andrews)J. b.11/8/1767 m.3/3/1793 Exeter

d.Ebenezer (b.1/28/1696 BI) BI freeman 1/10/1721 moved to WesterlyRI as young man, freeman there 1747.

Died at Westerly before 1775, as deposition in his son Ebenezer's Revolutionary War pension file says "he

died before the war."

(Sarah Bessey) m.7/23/1721 WesterlyRI living with son in 1782 Westerly census

i.Ebenezer Rathbun Jr. (b.1/1740 WesterlyRI) RevolutionaryWar soldier

A.Ebenezer (b.7/30/1791 WesterlyRI m.1815 to unknown girl) served in War of 1812, died

in an accident at Lyme CT, leaving several children, names uncertain

B.James Noyes Rathbun (b.3/4/1802 Westerly) while gathering hay on James Noyes farm he

was struck by lightning and was instantly killed, his face almost blackened by the effect of

the electrical current but no other wound or scratch found. No record of marriage or

children

ii.Thomas

A.Thomas

c.Thomas

B.James (b.5/6/1754 WesterlyRI) Rev War gvet, pensioner in 1835, first settler by1800 in

Laurens OtsegoCoNY where Susannah died

(Susannah Clark)p.Joseph&HannahC b.1758 m.9/27/1778 Westerly

e.Mercy

f.Eleanor

5.Margaret (b.1663 BlockIsRI)

(Thomas Mitchell) m.1681

6.Joseph (b.1667 BI,RI d.1749 ExeterRI) jurman/town sgt 1692, survey 1709 2nd townsman 1717, 3rd & surv1718 deeded 55 acres on BI by his parents 12/28/1688 (21st birthday?), bought 100 acres at Exeter 1709, moving there 1724, selling 75 aces on BI to Peter Ball for 430 pounds. Exeter freeman 1734. 1/22/1744 singed petition protesting Exeter's tax rate

(Mary Mosher)p.Hugh&Rebecca(Maxson)Mosher m.5/19/1691BI,RI b.1673

a.Elizabeth (m.1/18/1712 her cousin Jonathan, son of her uncle John d.ColchesterCT)

b.Joseph (b.10/1/1707 BI d.1759) moved as young man to Exeter where he was freeman in 4/1734 signed a

1744 petition to RI General Assembly protesting tax rate. Left 50 pounds to each of his 3 dau; 100 acres to

son Joseph; 131 acres to son Jeremiah; and 77 acres & Negro slave Primus to youngest son George, a total

estate valued at 6249 pounds.

(Abigail(Wilbur)Hilliard)p.Joseph&Ann(Brownell)H. b.8/21/703 m.9/4/1734 Exeter widow of JonathanH

i.Joseph (b.7/16/1735Exeter d.1821) lieutenant in Exeter militia 1760, captian in 1767. listed in 1782

Exeter census with two slaves

(Deborah Greene)p.Thomas&Elna(Rice)Greene b.2/25/1738/9 m.5/31/1759WGreenwich d.aft1800

(Anna Tillinghast) p.Stukeley&Honor(Hopkins)T. d.1841 Exeter Together, she and Joseph raised

the some of the nine children of her brother Clark who died as a young man.

ii.Jeremiah (b.3/27/1742 Exeter d.1797 RensselaerCoNY) Sold his inherited 131 acres & moved to

Stephentown AlbanyCoNY 1770, and later to Petersburg RensselaerCoNY

(Mary Phillips)p.Samuel P b.1746 m.8/8/1763 ExeterRI. d.1795 RensselaerCoNY

A.Robert (b.9/17/1771 ExeterRI d.4/22/1822 WayneCoOH) moved as boy to PetersburgNY,

by 1802 a fenceviewer elected at the first town meeting of Moravia, CayugaCoNY. Served

in War of 1812 in Capt Martin's CO of ColHenry Blom's 19th NY Regiment and in 1814

moved to WayneCoOH, settling in Chester Twp

(Anna Allen)p.Caleb A b.2/14/1777 m.1793 Petersburg

B.Jonathan (b.8/11/1775 Exeter) m.1800 to unknown wife served in War of 1812. moved to

SanduskyCoOH where he died 3/27/1841 and is i. Townsend Twp Tew Cemetery

C.Jeremiah (b.9/10/1778 PetersburgNY) served in War of 1812, caught by British, moved

1830 to SciotoCoOH in UnionTwp

D.Wilbur (b.10/11/1791 PetersburgNY d.3/16/1881) his parents died when he was a young

boy and he was bound out to a physician, rec'd a good education & became an engineer.

A bridge he built in 1843 still standing. Sgt in Warof 1812, pensioner in 1854, moved by

1820 to NewportNY

(Esther Case)p.Wheeler&Mercy(Merrit)C b.6/29/1791 m.12/16/1813 d.5/9/1865

Newport HerkimerCoNY

iii.George (b.3/7/1743 Exeter)

(Mercy Herrington)b.6/8/1744 p.Job&ELizabeth(Spencer)H.

c.Benjamin (b.2/6/1710BI d.7/1777 Colchester) moved to Exeter then ColchesterCT "small-sized man"

(Mary Cahoone) b.12/11/11 p.Nathaniel&Jane(Jones)C m.11/11/1742Colchester

i.Benjamin (1774 either he or his dad signed a petition with other Colchester residents asking for the

creation of a District Ecclesiastical Society to be called Antioch. His father reportedly died o f a

fever he contracted while bringing him home from New York, where the son had become ill while

serving in the Revolutionary Army.

ii. Job (b.7/24/1748 Colchester d.5/1/1838 HowardNY) minuteman in CT militia in 1775-6 under

Capt Eliphalet Holmes. bought 300 acres in 1808 in north section of HowardTwp SteubenCoNY,

moving there in 1815. He built a large home in which town meetings were held, later operating a

distillery in what was known as "Old Castle" in a stone house built by his son Alfred. both are

buried in the old Allen Cemetery there

(Deborah Welch) b.1753 Wales p.Hubbard W. d.1845 HowardNYShe & her sister left Nova

Scotia by boat, her sister washed overboard in a storm enroute to NewLondonCT

c.Washington Rathbun

c.Edwin Rathbun

c.Jacob Washington Rathbun (b.1843 IA d.1916 MO farmer)

(Lucinda Catherine Kee)1846-1928

c.EdwinWA b.1871, LucindaElla b.1873, SusanIda b.1880,

JamesArthur b.1884 twin, Rosetta Anna b.1884 twin

iii.Simeon

c.Salah

c.Edward Rathbun (d.1854 BrooklynNY)

(Hannah Miner) d.1879

(Dr John H Shearer) m.1858 SpringfieldIL, living right across the street from the

Lincolns, the Rathbun boys being about the same age as Willie & Tad Lincoln. 1859

the Shearers moved to WellsboroNY to alleviate Dr Shearer's tubercular condition,

but Mary Lincoln and Hannah Rathbun Shearer maintained a correspondence until

Hannah's death in 1879: "...wish your boys had been in the midst," she wrote Jan 1,

1860, referring to Willie's ninth birthday party. Two weeks before the Lincoln's

election to President "Our boys often wish they could see Ed and Miner." Upon

learning of Ed's death at age 14, Mrs Lincoln wrote Hannah a touching letter,

recalling the death three years earlier of little Willie Lincoln of malaria at age 11 "...in

this, the hour of your deep grief, with all my own wounds bleeding afresh, I...express

my deepest sympathy,well knowing how unavailing words are when we are broken

hearted...doubtless ere this, our Angel boys are reunited for they loved each other so

much on earth...so much love...from your truly attached friend Mary Lincoln."

c.Edward Rathbun Jr (b.1850 d.11/1864)

James Miner Rathbun

d.Job (b.4/1/1712 BI d.1745 CanterburyCT) but freeman in Exeter by April 1734. Cooley incorrectly

attributed Job's children to Wm, son of Wm, son of Wm, son of Immigrant John.

(Mary Harris)p.Samuel&Elizabeth(Gibson)H m.9/1/1737Exeter Rathbone Family Historian of 1892 writes

that she lived to a great age.

i.Job (b.1/22/1739 CanterburyCT) 6yrs old when his father died, raised by his Uncle Wm Harris, a

mariner, so he went to sea as a young boy and remained a mariner all his life, becoming a captian

operating fromNewLondon CT. He died at sea from the effects of poison put into the drinking

water by natives near the coast of South America, according to Cooley. Will proven 1797.

Apparently had no children.

(Patience) b.1749 d.3/16/1729 NewLondonCT

ii.William Harris Rathbun (b.6/1/1743 NewLondonCT d.4/16/1822 HowardNY) two years old when

his father died

(Jerusha Beebe)p.Jabez&Eunice(Newbury)B. b.6/4/1752 m.1773 NewLondon. The uncle William

Harris that raised him and his brother build a ship for his two nephews, naming it Two Brothers. It

was burned by the English during the Revolutionary War with a cargo of indigo from the

Caribbean. They were awarded a land grant for their loss, butnever claimed the land. Wm left

New London and moved to Warren HerkimerCoNY and then to Howard SteubenCoNY in1808.

i.William (b.1/28/1778) by 1830 living at GrandIs, near BuffaloNY where he drowned while

crossing the Niagara River in 1835. He had no known children

(Hannah Page)

7.Elizabeth (b.1670)

8.Samuel (b.8/3/1672 NewportRI d.1/24/1757 BI,RI) constable 1695, 1708 third townsman, ensign 1715, deputy warden, town treasurer 1731, 1743, town clerk 1748, freeman 1/2/1693. parents have him ahome and 20 acres in town center, and 15 acres in Corn Neck section of northern Block Island 3/3/1692. gave up farming at age 77 in 1749 and moved in with son Samuel Jr giving his son his "great Bible" (now in possession of the Block Island Historical Society) his "great table and cubbard" (left him by his father a half century before?), farming equipment, cart, plow, three ox yokes, carpenter's and wheelwright's tools etc. There is a still-legible slate stone marking his grave in the town cemetery.

(Patience Coggeshall) p.DepGovJohn&Patience(Throckmorton)Coggeshall) m.11/3/1692 BI,RI. d.8/3/1747.

a.Thomas (b.5/3/1695 BI) but freeman in Exeter by 2/1724. given land on Block Island 6/8/1728 "...to my

loving son Thomas Rathbun of North Kingston, husbandman [farmer]..." He probably returned to Block

Island for he sold land there in 1741 and was listed as a taxable inhabitant in 1744. His father's 1757 will

left "my eldest son Thomas 10 pounds, having already had by deed his portion." No record of marriage or

children but the Family Historian tentatively assigns the following children to him "since they fit nowhere

else in the family tree." (!)

i.Thomas (b.1731 Exeter) moved 1761 to LisbonCT

(Abigail Kimball)p.Nathaniel&Elizabeth(Ringdo)K b.5/30/1731 m.11/15/1755 CanterburyCT

admitted 4/1761 to church, described as "sick" apparently died soon for...

(Priscilla Baldwin)m.7/19/1762 NorwichCT

b.Samuel Jr (b.4/16/1705 BI d.1/24/1780BI ) lived his entire life on Block Island. town treasurer 1743,

town clerk 1744, signed petitions in 1737,1740, given 5 acres by his father 4/1735. Willed his wife 70

silver dollars --"her portion from her father"-- and 50 silver dollars to his daughter Betsey, and 10 silver

dollars to each of his 3 Rathbun grandsons.

(Elizabeth Dodge) p.John&Betsey D. b.12/18/1714 m.3/15/1732 WesterlyRI d.8/8/1792

i.Walter (b.6/16/1734BI,RI d.1/4/1818 BI,RI) freeman 1757, BI town clerk short time later, a post

he held for 60 years, known as "Walter the Scribe." Block Island's rep to RI General Assembly in

1774 and served on town's Committee of Correspondence during the Revolution

(Hannah Rose)b.5/18/1728 m.3/4/1756 BI,RI d.3/10/1807

ii.Samuel (b.7/10/1736BI,RI d.1786 GreenwichCT) sea captain moved to GreenwichCT during

Rev.War due to repeated raids by the British. carried cod/mackerel back to the island to be

preserved in salt or vinegar and sold to merchants on the mainland. given permission 10/29/1779

CT by Gov and Council "Captain Samuel Rathbun, late an inhabitant of Block Island, now residing at Greenwich, to go to Block Island

and bring away his effects and settle his affairs." A letter to a prominent Newport merchant is the earliest known letter

written by a Rathbun, in the Burton Historical Collection in Detroit MI:

"New Shoreham June the 7th,1770 To Aaron Lopez--Sur, I have a percil of choyse pickled codfish which should be very glad if they would sute you--pray

be so kind as to let me know by the bearer andif they will I'le bringthem. I expect I shall have some small mackrel allso, which wont likely be ready till the

first of next month. We jest begin now to catch them. I shall take it very kindly if you would take them for money is not to be had and I want to pay you as

fast as possable. If it should sute you to trade further for fish, should be glad to know if you have any fishsalt, and theprice by the hundred bushel, which

concludes your obliged friend. Samuel Rathbun, Junior

(Susannah Reynolds) b.1739 m.11/18/1758BI,RI)

iii.Elijah(b.5/28/1740BI,RId.1825)moved toGuilfordVT where he was surveyor of highways in 1782

stone is now illegible but standing in NoankCT NoankCem

(Elizabeth Ann Burroughs)p.LemuelB. b.1747 m.6/19/1763 GrotonCT d.11/22/1777 smallpox

(Desire(Packer)Walsworth)p.Ichabod P. b.1755 m.1778 d.10/7/1815 "In memory of Mrs. Dezier,

wife of Capt. Elijah Rathbun, formerly the wife of Mr. Elijah Walsworth. She died Oct 7 1815 in

the year of..." on stone in NoankCem

c.Samuel

c. Capt. Benjamin (1801-1832 died at sea on return trip from Jamiaca)

c.William

c.Benjamin

c.Benjamin Franklin

c.Capt Benjamin Franklin r.NoankCT

(Rosalie)

c.James (b.4/10/1707 BI d.11/1764 GreenwichCT) rec'd land from his father in 1740, bought additional land

in 1741. He sold land to his brother Samuel in 1741 and moved to GreenwichCT 1750, he sold 60 acres

at Exeter but is described as a resident of Greenwich. 1753 petitioned CT General Assembly for land on

the Susquehannah River in PA which was then claimed by CT.

(Mary Downing) m.4/7/1732 m.2/11/1766 PoughkeepsieNY Benjamin Ketcham

i.James (b.1733 BI) moved w/parents as young child to Greenwich, becoming a sea captain sailing

to West Indies. Moved by 1775 to DutchessCoNY, where 8/15/1775 he signed a pledge of

loyalty to the revolutionary government.

d.Abraham (b.11/23/1709 BI) mariner, moved to Newport. June 1740 enlisted on sloop St Andrew under

Capt Charles Davidson, sailing 7/16 to cruise against the Spaniards in King George's War. The St

Andrew was the first Rhode Island privateer to cross the Atlantic in the war, sailing in November to the

Canary Islands. Abraham was one of 56 volunteers sent ashore to attack the island of Fuerte Ventura.

The Americans were captured by a Spanish garrison there, which refused to trade prisoners with Capt

Davidson. When the boat returned without him, Abraham's wife Mary petitioned the RI GEneral

Assembly to grant her power of attorney to collect her husband's debts, "When her husband went away,"

the petition read, "he left the petitioner w/ 2 small children and one born since, and but little to subsist on,

and part of what he left was in debts due to him which petitioner cannot recover having no power of

attorney..."

(Mary Mosher) m.1/11/1735BI.

i.Coggeshall (b.7/16/1738 BI) sailor in early life, lived for time at Hastings on east end of Long

Island a few miles away from Block Island. described as a "cordwainer" (shoemaker) in 1769 living

in Nantucket. He sold land in Exeter

(Mary Coffin)p.Robt&SusannahC b.11/8/1740 m.3/23/1761

c.Jonathan (b.1764 HastingsNY)

Abraham (b.9/1/1762 seaman, captured by British in Rev War,moved to&died in England.

9 greats-grandfather John Rathbun 1655-1723

He was born about 1655 DorchesterMA shortly after his parents migrated to America. He wnet wit his family as a young boy to Block Island in 1661 was married there 1/10/1679 to a wife whose name is illegible in the records. They had one son, John Jr, b.6/22/1680, who died in infancy. The mother apparently also died about this time.

Then in his late 20's it appears that John had an affair with his 19year-old cousin Margery Acres. When she married Daniel Tosh in 1685, Margery already had a 6month-old son named Acres Tosh, who may have been John's illegitimate son. In 1735, a Rhode Island court upheld a claim that Acres Tosh was illegally in possession of Tosh Block Island property since he was an illegitimate son of John Rathbun and therefore not legally entitled to any Tosh inheritance. The claimant, Penelope (nee Tosh) Holloway, produced a witness, Sarah Potter, who testified she had seen Acres' mother "abed with John Rathbun." Simon Ray, Block Island's clerk in 1735, protested the court's decision and Sarah Potter's testimony, commenting, "...many women have done the same and after that had children lawfully begotten, and if every woman that hath kept company with a man before marriage should make her children bastards, there will be but few lawfully begotten."

John was remarried Nov 11, 1686 at Rochester in the Kings Province (the temporary name for North KingstownRI) to Ann Dodge, the daughter of Thomas Dodge, son of Tristram. He was admitted freeman (ie over 21, a property owner and therefore had the right to vote) of the Colony of Rhode Island 5/1/1684.

His parents gave John "for love" 60 acres of land and their Block Island home 9/21/1679. This gift came into question later, and 1/3/1688 they clarified the deed: for a barrel of pork paid yearly on demand, they gave John Jr full title with the stipulation that if he ever decided to sell it, he should offer it to his brothers five pounds cheaper than any other person. Thirty years later, he had his mother make a formal deposition further explaining the two deeds, "...the intent of my husband and myself [was that] our son John should have it [the property] at his own disposal and that none of our other children or their heirs forever should ever have any rights or property therein." Evidently it was very valuable and the other brothers may have raised objections.

John testified May 1717 as to the kidnapping of three islanders by the pirate Paulsgrave Williams, the black sheep member of a prominent island family. John himself had experience with pirates (see above under "Pirates!).

Island records indicate that John Jr and youngest brother Samuel were the only Rathbun brothers who were literate and could sign their own name. The others customarily signed with "marks." In December 1698 two Block Island Indians ("Great James and his wife") bound their daughter Betsey to John Jr as an indentured servant for 18 years, receiving a gallon of rum and a blanket at the time and to receive another gallon of rum and blanket every year for five years, and then a gallon of rum each year thereafter, and four blankets each third year, so long as the girl remained a servant.

He died in 1723 at age 68, leaving all his housing and land on Block Island to his son John, who was to pay 50 pounds to each of his four younger borthers as they reached 21, and 30 pounds to his younger sister, Anna, upon theirmohter's death. He had already given 100 pounds to his son Jonathan when he was married, and had given daughter Mercy "her share" when she married Jonathan Burch in 1706. A partial listing of his estate:

"2 oxen, 6 cows, 2 heifers, 2 2year-olds, 2 4year-olds, five sheep, 2 mares and one colt. Five pewter platters, one brass kettle, 3 quart pots, a baking pot, 5 basins, 2 plates, 12 spoons, a pint pot, a half-pint pot, earthenware, a jug and 5 bottles. 5 old chairs, 2 old tables, a spinning wheel, a loom, 2 andirons, 2 trammels (for fireplace cooking), 2 spits, a pair of tongs, chests, 3 boxes, 4 towels, 6 napkins, and tablecloths and2 brooms. 3 beds, 8 sheets, a looking glass, a warming pan, and a candlestick. l bible, 4 other books, wearing apparel, a 15-shilling bill of credit, andl ounce of silver. Shoemaker's tools, and stool, carpenter's tools, 2 barrels, a wagon, a cart, and wheels, a grindstone, 2 pitchforks, 2 plowshares, and an iron box. 9 bushels of Indian corn, 3 bushels of barley, 41/2 bushels of beans, 8 pounds of flax, 3 pounds of wool, l barrel of wheat, 21/2 yards of fulled cloth and one rope. Total value of personal estate-- 149 pounds, 7 shillings, 10 pence.".

the Dodge in-laws

"Peter Dodge was the first of this family to use the present spelling. He was granted arms by King Edward I on 8 Apr 1273...Prior ancestors had spelled their name Dogge, Doggeson, Dodson, and other variations. The following are listed as descendants of Peter:

Peter b.ca 1250 -->George 1280 -->Ralph 1310 -->Robert 1352-->Wm 1386-->Wm 1421-->Wm1440-->Michael 1482-->Oliver 1531 -->Isaac 1574 orJohn 1570-->John 1600-->Tristram.

"Tristram's wife is listed as Margart Leonard, supposedly of royal descent. Her presumed ancestors: Robt,Duke of Normandy --> WmI, King of En (Wm the Conqueror) b.1027-->HenryI,KingOfEN,b.1068 m.Matilda, dau of King of Scotland-->Matilda m.Geoffrey of Anjou-->HenryII,KingOfEN b.1133 m.Eleanor, Countess of Poitou and Dutchess of Aquitaine-->John,KingofEN b.1167 m.Isabel of Gloucester&Isabella of Angouleme-->HenryIII,KingOfEN, b.1206, m.Eleanor, dau of Count of Provence-->EdwardI,KingOfEN b.1239 m.Eleanor ofCastille-->Princess Joan D'Arce, d.1307 m.Gilbert deClare, 9thEarl of Clare, 7th Earl of Hertford & 3rd Earl of Gloucester, d.1295-->LadyMargt D'Audley m.Sir Ralph deStafford, 2nd Baron Stafford, created Earl of Stafford in 1351 d.1369 -->Hugh deStafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford d.1386 m.Lady Phillipa deBeauchamp, dau Sir Henry, 3rd Earl of Warwick, one of the original Kinghts of the Garter. She d.1369 -->Lady Margt de Stafford m.Sir Ralph K.G.,4th Baron Neville of Raby, Earl Marshall of EN, created Earl of Westmoreland in 1399 d.1425 -->Lady Phillipa Neville m.Thomas de Dacre, 5h Baron Dacre of Gillesland d.1457 -->Hon Thomas de Dacre, eldest son, dvp; m. Lady Elizabeth dau of Rich'd Bowers esq -->Lady Joane Dacres, Baroness, m.Sir RIchard Fienes, Baron, summoned to Parliament as Lord Dacre. 1459-82 Constable of the Tower, Lord Chamberlain to King Edward IV, d.184; son of Sir Roger Fynes, son of Sir Wm Fynes & his 1st wife Lady Joan, dau of Admiral Sir Geoffrey deSay-->John Fynes, eldest son dvp -->Sir Thomas Fines,kb, 8th Lord Dacre, d.1534 m.Lady Anne dau Sir Humphrey Boucheier, KT -->Thomas Fiennes, 9th Baron Dacre of the South, executed for murder in 1541 and his honors forfeited; m. Lady Mary dau George Neville, Lord Abergavenny -->Lady Margt Fienes, Baroness Dacre d.1611, sister of Gregory who was restored as 10th Baron Dacre d.SPM,MP Sussex in 1614; son of John Lennard of Chevening, Kent, and his wf Elizabeth Harman of Crayford, Kent. -->Sir Henry Lennard, 12th Baron Dacre d.1616 m.Lady Chrysogna, dau of Sir Robt Baker of Sissenghurst,Kent -->Henry Lennard, youngest bro of 13th Baron of Dacre of teh South, seated at Chevening d.1630 m. (1)Lady Anne, dau of Sir ARthury Throckmorton of Paulers Perry, Northamptonshire. She also m.Sir Peter Temple as his first wife, bro of Sir John Temple of Stantonbury, ancest or of Robt Tmeple of TenHills, Boston)-->Thomas Leonard of Pontpool, MonmouthsireEN, younger son, bro of Francis, Lord Dacre, father of the Earl of Essex-->James Leonard, bro of Francis, Lord Dacre, father of the Earl of SUssex, of TauntonMA in1652 where he and his bro Henry erected the first forge in Plymouth Colony-->Margaret Leonard m.Tristram Dodge.

Early Records of the Dodge Family in America (compiled by R R Dodge 1879 published by R R Dodge SuttonMA), and Tristram Dodge and His Descendants in America (by Robert Dodge 1886 published by J J Little & Co NY,NY) form the basis of my knowledge of the Dodge family.

11-greats-grandfather Tristram Dodge was born in England 1607, and died on Block Island, RI before 6 Dec 1683. Another record says he died intestate at 1720 (DodgeGenealogy), but that would be 113 years old! Harris' Block Island Epitaphs p.10 says his grave on Block Island is not marked. His first wife was Margaret Leonard; his second wife's name was Anne. He arrived in an adventurous party of 15 settlers onboard the Shallop, sailing from Taunton, Plymouth Colony, for Block Island in April 1661. The voyage of perhaps a day brough Tristram Dodge with his four sons to Cow Cove. The "Dodges' Lands," as it was known for generations extended across the island through the centre from east to west. Not among the original purchasers of the island, he was granted three acres in the first division of lands, according to testimony dated 28 Feb 1718/9, and was eventually granted a total of 60 acres, evidently as payment for teaching the inhabitants the art of fishing. He bought 4/14/1665 the island of 500 acres known as "No Man's Land" two leagues SW from Martha's Vineyard from New York. He was made freeman 4 May 1664 and Sergeant in 1676, during King Philip's War. He went before the Warden's Court at New Shoreham 13 Dec 1681 and 31 August 1682 with Nathaniel Briggs on charges of sheep stealing. He declared he was of "very brittle memory," as as Moriarty puts it, the case was settled.

Tristram's children, all born in England and Massachusetts or Plymouth Colony probably. All four sons were made freemen July 1670:

1.Israel (b.1645 purchased and settled 1694 in the North Parish of New LondonCT (now Montville) where he d. 1745) The New London records were burned by Benedict Arnold on Sep6,1781. Queens Court reports Israel Dodge settling on Indian fields, NewLondon, in 1705. Purchased land in Montville from Samuel Rogers in 1707. Israel & Hannah gave land to son John in 1719. 10/1/1720 sold land on Block Is, formerly belonging to his father, to his brothers Wm and John and Tristram. Gave Montville land to sons Wm and Samuel 1725. They sold 16 acres of this to their brother Israel. Son John sold his Monville land to brother Israel for 40 pounds. In 1727 Israel Sr and Hannah gave to son Samuel "all of his own farm except the improved part, which should be inherited by him after the deaths of his parents.

(Hannah ?) The following children were baptized as adults 12/16/1722 by Rev James Milhouse, pastor the

Second Congregational Church of North Parish

a.Israel (d.1745 m.Rachel) b.Thomas c.William d.Samuel, and

e.John (b.1689 d.11/1/1776) joined the 2nd Congregational Ch of N Parish 4/7/1723. 1725 sold inherited land

to brother Israel and moved to ColchesterCT, later to CanterburyCT

(Elizabeth Stebbens)m.6/25/1717

i.Ann (bapt 12/16/1722 m.John Dethick)

ii.Hannah (bapt 12/16/1722 m.Daniel Peck)

iii.John Jr (bapt 3/10/1723 d.1/22/1794)

c.Israel (b.9/1760)

c.Henry Dodge (brigadier General in War of 1812, Gov of WI)

c.Augustust Caesar Dodge (brigGen in Iowa Territory, first IA senator, minister to

Spain 1855, defeated by Gov Kirkwood in 1859 race for IA governor, promoted

to General after having 4 horses shot from under him at Battle of Pea Ridge

1862; chief engineer of Union Pacific 1867 completing the cross-country rail line.

IA congressman)

iv.Elizabeth (bap 8/8/1725 m.John Willis)

v.Joel (bap 7/1/1727 d.10/26/1770 m.Dorcas Smith 1/14/1753)

vi.Edward

vii.Bethiah (m.Jonathan Symonds)

viii.Daniel (b.9/5/1729 d.2/25/1821 Rev.War Private in Capt Henry Dodge's Co, Col Frederick

Weissenfelt's Reg, NY Levies. Service was for 3mo10da and renumeration was $22 1/3. This was in

NY militia, not part of the Continental Army. Also enlistee from ColchesterCT 5/11-12/11 (no year

given); EastHaddenCT 1/1/777 to 8/4/1779; lstCo6thReg, Col Parsons-- 1775; 8thCo 75-12/17 (no

year given) m.Mary Brown)

A.Joel B.Daniel (b.8/9/1814) C.Cyrus and

D.Israel (b.1/7/1773 MontvilleCT d.10/18/1855 RocklandNY moved to NY 1795, built long cabin

at CookFalls,DelawareCo in what was then unbroken forest. First 2 children born here, sold

farm and bought land at RocklandNY several years later, where had 9 more children. elected

1st supervisor of Rockland in 1810)

(Elizabeth Austin)p.Nathaniel&Abigail A.b.2/22/1778 MontvilleCT d.12/11/1866 RocklandNY

I.Abigail (b.10/31/1796 d.7/30/1884 m.Trimper Darbee)

II.Austin (b.2/13/1799 d.11/21/1880)

(Mary Ann Montgomery) d.1846

(Mary Grant)

1. Mrs Matilda Fuller writes:

"I can remember my grandfather Israel. I saw him coming down the road with grandma to take dinner at our house. He wore a cap with a long peak over his eyes-- something like jockeys wear. She carried a basket with double lids opening from both ends. They both smoked. She carried her clay pipe in the basket. After they were at our house, I did something that displeased him and he put me behind the door and I cried.

"After his death she came alone, but when I was 12 years old she got so feeble she could not walk. We had a buckboard wagon she could get into easily [so] Kennie and Donie would go after her. One time in haying they were busy and couldn't be spared, and my father sent me with the injunction I was not to let the horse go off the walk, as the old lady didn't approve of girls driving. So I followed the instructions. When we got about halfway, she grabbed the lines, slapping the horse's back and said, 'make him go faster.' We drove up to the gate at good speed and my father commenced to scold me. She said, 'Austin, I couldn't stand going so slow.' So you see where we got our racing blood.

"She used to sit and tell me abut her g irlhood. She was an only child; married and camet o Cooks Falls when about 17. When Aunt Abbie was 6mo old, she went back to visit her people in CT on horseback. She stayed about 6wks and Grandpa went after her. It snowed when they returned and he built a sort of jumper out of poles and came in that.

"The following year, her mother and father sold their property in CT and came to Rockland to live with her...I think they were quite well to do for those days. For they gave to my father and Aunt Abbie, on account of their names, the land where Grams and Lydia Ann's house stood.

"One thing I forgot to speak of in conection with their life at CooksFalls; they had a fireplace that was as large as the whole side of the house. Every night they drew their fuel with the horse...The horse's name was 'old Hanks.' My father used to tell us about it. He said when the horse came in the house, he (my father) ran under the bed."

III.Elizabeth (b.3/29/1801 d.12/11/1866 m.Olney Borden)

IV.Augustus (b.4/16/1803 d.11/16/1849 m.Jane Hall)

V.Israel(b4/4/1805d1/16/1894 m.MaryyAnnGreen,BetsyFitch,ElizaTReedon r.IA 1857

1.Elmira (b.9/21/1832 m.John Stitt Mott)

VI.Harriet (b.6/7/1807 m.WmRoss)

VII.Cyrus (b.4/9/1811 d.5/3/1814)

VIII.CyrusC (b.10/10/1815 d.1/22/1913 m.Gage,SarahReed

IX.Lavina (b.5/29/1817 d.4/26/1898 m.Joseph Green)

X.Julia A (b.3/14/1820 d.1/21/03 m.Aaron Main)

XI.Hannah Dodge (b.7/31/1813 d.10/24/1849)

(Elias Hall) 1809-1866

(Hannah)

ix.Jemima (bapt 7/1/1732 m.James Nichols)

x.Sarah (m.Joseph Mills)

2.John (b.1644 m.2/4/1696 NewShoreham remained on Block Is d.1729)

(Mary Enos) p.Alexander Enos

a.David Britain Dodge(his carefully preserved records say that the sons of Tristram followed him in 1667, and

that they came from the north of England near the river Tweed.

b.John (b.1/10/1680-1 d.4/16/1682)

c.Mary (b.4/18/1682 d.aft 1720 m.12/28/1698)

(John Rose)b.10/10/1678 d.1720

c.Tourmet (b.11/3/1699),Daniel (b.10/6/1701), John (b.6/29/1703),Ezekiel (b.7/17/1705), James, Ann,

Mary, Catherine

3.Tristram Jr (b.1647 d.8/18/1733 m.1/7/1680 BI,RI remained on Block Is. his slate gravestone stands today in the

ancient burial ground on Block Island)

(Dorcas Dickens)p.Nathaniel &Joan Dickens

4.William (b.1649, living 1707 m.4/24/1674 Sarah George remained on Block Is)

a.Sarah b.1/24/1674/5 BI,RIm.Nathaniel Dickens

b.William b.3/17/1680 BI,RI

c.Elizabeth b.5/31/1683 BI,RI

d.Jeremiah bought land in CowNeck, LongIs 31 March 1730

e.Mary, inherited 5 pounds from grandmother Mary George, will dated 5Aug1694

f.Samuel (b.9/9/1681 BI,RI d.1761 NY m.Elizabeth) settled on CowNeck (now PortWA) about 1718. In 1896

this Long Island property was addressed 380 Pearl St. His will left lots at and next to 91 Queen St,

Montgomery Ward's NY to sons Samuel and Jeremiah.

i.Wilkie (b.1720 will dated 13Feb1752 i.QuakerBuryingGround,CowNeck m.Mary Hunt r.FlushingNY

ii.Deborah (m.Mott)

iii.Mary (m.Dr Robert North)

iv.Samuel (b.29Mar1730 CowNeck d.10/4/1807 PoughkeepsieNY m.8/4/1753 Helena Amerman)

v.Jeremiah (b.5/1716 d.NYC 7/1803 prayer meetings which resulted in the first Baptist church in NYC

were held in his house. Original members were Jeremiah, Samuel, and Mary North, siblings, children

of Samuel Dodge. They hired a rigging loft in 1753 and bought a lot in John St in 1760. In 1762 they

organized the Golden Hill Baptist Ch with Rev Gano as pastor. Rev Gano later became chaplain of the

Revolutionary Army, New York Line.

(Margaret Vanderbilt) m.10/6/1737 NY d.4/1808 at age 89

A.John (b.2/22/1738/9 d.PleasantValleyNY 4/13/1816 NY watchmaker but left the city during the

Revolution and became a Baptist minister in Dutchess CoNY where he died.)

(Elizabeth Denton) m.12/23/1759

(Annie Smith) m.2/7/1763

(Keziah Newcomb) m.10/13/1777

B.Margaret Dodge (b.7/23/1745 d.4/1823)

(Adam Todd)r.NYC p.Adam&Sarah(Cox)T. his sister Sarah Todd married JohnJacobAstor

C.Marcia (b.1/12/1751 m.Mr Andre and Major Stoddard)

D.Mary (b.6/7/1753 d.10/21/1755)

E.Samuel (b.8/9/1758 d.10/20/1820 m.Ann Stansbury of Baltimore, no c.)

F.Elizabeth (m.Wm Hallock of Baltimore)

G.Jeremiah (b.10/15/1755NYC d.9/24/1813 SaltPtDutchessCoNY ship's carpenter)

(Sarah Frost) b.2/26/1762 d.11/29/1824 children born New York state:

1.Jeremiah (b.7/23/1781 d.1/11/1860 m.11/16/1805 Eliza Brown/custom's officer)

2.Samuel (d.1825 at sea m.Jane McIntyre, she drank, he left to escape ehr)

cElizabeth(mBingham,aCTcobbler)John(dyoung)Peter(b1823NYmElizabeth Gray)

3.Margaret (b.10/23/1787 d.2/23/1863IL m.1/1/1817)

(Cyrenius N Dodge) son of the Rev.JohnDodge, her uncle

4.Susan (d.yellow fever, i.secretly by bro Jn&Jeremiah in AmitySt Chyd, her body

removed after 1847)

5.James (d.yellow fever also secretly i. there by his brothers)

6.John (b.NYC 5/18/1779 d.12/6/1831 m.8/16/1804 i.GreenwoodCem BrooklynNY)

(Jane Evans) d.11/20/1860 i.GreenwoodCem children born NYC

a.Sarah (b.7/1/1806 d.12/12/1891 PhiladelphiaPA m.5/9/1829 Brooklyn)

(Abram Ludwig Boyer)

b.Elinor Margaret (b.7/5/1808 d.11/20/1862 m.12/21/1842)

(OliverPHicks)carpenter,nephew of EliasHicks, founder of Hicksite Quakers)

i.Oliver Hicks

c.Titus Evans Dodge (b.6/25/1810 d.1886 m.8/17/1834 Mary Cumberson)

d.John (b.9/26/1812 d.8/3/1814)

e.Jane (b.1/23/1815 d.1/27/1895 m.5/13/1835 WmSalt)

5.Ann Dodge (m.11/11/1686 our John Rathbun)

Many sources try to list Margaret ACRES wife of John Rathbun as Tristram Dodge's daughter. It was Margaret ACRES' SON JOHN Rathbun that married Ann DODGE, Tristram's daughter, without doubt.

children

1.JONATHAN (b.5/22/1691BI,RI d.4/1/1766) received wedding present of 100 pounds from his father. Moved 1713 to NewSalemParish, ColchesterCT. 1/28/1713 bought 100 acres form John Morton for 40 pounds. Died leaving 4 Negro slaves

(Elizabeth Rathun) m.1/18/1712 BI,RI his cousin, daughter of his uncle Joseph. d.Colchester between 1748-55

(Katherine Wescott)p.Zorobabel&JaneW. widow of Daniel Wightman(who d.6/6/1753)m.10/1755BozrahCT

d.1797 BozraCT. An inventory of her estate included notes for loans made to four of her husband's grandsons.

Three children, names unkown, are referred to in Jonathan's will as "my three weak children," possibly meaning

they were mentally retarded

a.John (b.1/15/1715 ColchesterCT d.11/27/1755 ColchesterCT) estate left 14 cattle 8 hogs, 3 horses

(Anna Tennant) p.Daniel&Ann(Green)T b.1715 m.3/30/1737 ColchesterCT

i.Amos (b.3/5/1738Colchester d.1816 Horton LandingNS) moved w/his mother to Horton

Landing, Nova Scotia where he had a farm of 450 acres. An excellent millwright, he went in

response to an appeal for help in building a grist mill.

(Humility Randall)p.Ichabod&Humility(Green)Randall b.1739 d.1808 Horton Landing,NS

(Ichabod Randall) m.1756. After he died Anna moved with children (about 1758) to Nova Scotia

b.Joshua (b.9/7/1723 ColchesterCT) church deacon at Colchester

(Sarah Tennant)p.Daniel&Ann(Green)T b.1725 m.12/4/1745 ColchesterCT

i.Moses (b.11/12/1754 ColchesterCT d.4/1823 NorwichNY) RevWar vet, pensioner, moved to

Norwich by 1820

(Olive Ransom)p.James&Betsey(Loomis)R b.1/20/1758 m.11/5/1776 d.8/28/1847 GreeneNY

ii.Samuel (b.9/12/1758 Colchester d.2/16/1831 SalemCT) moved to MontvilleCT by1800

returning to Colchester by 1820, then known as Salem. buried with Lydia at RathbunHillCem,

SalemCT

(Lydia Sparhawk)p.Simeon&Lydia(Brown)S. b.4/20/1765 m.3/1/1785 AshfordCT by his cousin

Rev John (son of Joshua, son of John, son of Immigrant John) d.7/13/1825 SalemCT

(Ruth Stark)m.10/9/1828

(Joshua Stock) m.7/18/1831 SalemCT

c.Jared Lewis Rathbun (merchant, first elected mayor of AlbanyNY d.1845. His widow

married Ira T Harris)

c.Major Henry Reed Rathbone

(b.1837 d.1911 Germany --On the night of April 14, 1865 at 8:15pm,

President and Mrs Lincoln left the White House in their carriage and were

driven to the Harris home at 15th and H streets. Major Rathbone and Miss

Harris joined them in the carriage for the drive to Ford's Theatre, a short

distance away on 10th Street. As they entered their box and 8:30, some 45

minutes into the play, the orchestra broke into "Hail to the Chief" and the

audience rose for a standing ovation. Lincoln waved and then settled back in

a large rocking chair, Mrs Lincoln sat in a chair to his right with Miss Harris

next to her, and Major Rathbone on a sofa slightly behind her. At 9:30

well-known actor John Wilkes Booth entered, barred the bdoor with a heavy

piece of wood and drew his derringer in the second scene of the third act.

Miss Harris was Henry Rathbone's step-sister/fiancee Clara Harris, they

being the daughter and stepson of Senator Ira T Harris of New York, one of

President Lincoln's most loyal supporters. Clara was beautiful and witty,a

frequent and popular White House guest. In Rathbone's own words:

"While the second scene of the Third Act was being performed and while I was intently observing the performance on the stage, I heard the report of a pistol from behind me, and on looking around saw dimly through the smoke the form of a man between the President and the door.

"Iheardhim shriek out some such word as 'Freedom.' He uttered it in such an excited tone that it was difficult for me to understand what he said.

"I immediately sprang towards him and seized him. He wrestled himself from my grasp, and at the same time made a violent thrust at me with a large knife. Iparried the blow by striking it up and received a deep wound on my left arm.

"The man sprang towards the front of the box. I rushed after him but only succeeded in catchinghis clothes as he leaped over the railing of the box (onto the stage). I instantly cried out, 'Stop that man!' I then looked toward the President. His position had not changed except that his head was slightly bowed forward and his eyes were closed."

Rathbone then unbarred the door, admitting only an army surgeon and

ordered another officer to keep everyone else out. 3 doctors eventually

entered, all agreeing he was mortally wounded. Four soldiers carried him

across the street to a boarding house where he died several hours later.

Rathbone soon collapsed from loss of blood and was taken home. He left

the army, and became afflicted with bouts of depression, jealousy, paranoia

and severe headaches, traveling abroad to improve his health and mental

condition. In 1883 while visiting Germany, he awoke and accused his wife

of planning to take his children and leave him. A few minutes later, Clara lay

dead of knife and pistol wounds, and Henry stabbed himself 5 times in a

suicide attempt. He spent the rest of his life in a German mental hospital,

dying there in 1911 at age 74, 46 years after the assassination of Lincoln,

and 28 years after the murder of his wife.

(Clara Harris) m.1867 r.WA,DC d.1883 Germany murdered by her husband

Only two weeks after the assassination, Clara wrote a friend:

"...That terrible Friday night is to me yet almost like some dreadful vision. I have been very intimate with Mrs Lincoln and the family ever since our mutual residence in Washington...and we have been constantly in the habit of driving and going to the opera and theatre together...The night before the murder was that of the general illumination here and they drove through the streets to see it; a less calculating villain might have taken that opportunity for his crime, or the night before, when the White House alone was brilliantly illuminated and the figure of the President stood out in full relief to the immense crowd below, who stood in the darkness to listen to the speech. He spoke from the center window of the Executive Mansion. I had been invited to pass the evening there and stood at the window of an adjoining room with Mrs Lincoln, watching the crowd below as they listened and cheered. Of course, Booth was there, watching his chance. I wonder why he did not choose that occassion, but probably knew a better opportuniy would be offered. After the speech was over, we went into Mr Lincoln's room. He was lying on the sofa quite exhausted, but he talked of the events of the past fortnight...and Mrs Lincoln declared the past few days to be the happiest of her life.

"...one of the gentlest, best and loveliest men I ever knew. I never saw him out of temper--the kindest husband, the tenderest fatehr, the truest friend, as well as the wisest statesman...Our beloved President, when I think that I shall never again stand in his genial presence, that I have lost his friendship so tried and true, I feel like putting on the robe of mourning which the country wears...We four compsed the party that evening. They drove to our door in the gayest spirits, chatting on the way-- and the President was received with the greatest enthusiasm.

"They say we were watched by the assassins; aye, as we alighted from the carriage. Oh how could any one be so cruel as to strike that kind, dear, honest face! And when I think of that fiend barring himself in alone with us, my blood runs cold. My dress is saturated with blood; my hands and face wre covered. You may imagine what a scene! and so, all through that dreadful night, when we stood by that dying bed. Poor Mrs Lincoln was and is almost crazy.

"Henry narrowly escaped with hie life. The knife was struck at his heart with all the force of a practiced and powerful arm; he fortunately parried the blow and received a wound in his arm, extending along the bone, from the elbow nearly to the shoulder. He concealed it for some time, but finally was carried home in a swoon; the loss of blood had been so great from an artery and veins being severed. He is now getting quite well, but cannot as yet use his arm."

Clara's brother William Harris gave this press interview 1883 after his sister's

murder:

"In 1857, when I was working hard as a lawyer in this city [Albany] and had a good practice, Henry Rathbone, who had just graduated at Union College, came to me adn asked if I would take him as a law student. He was rich, worth about $200,000, but he desired to work and wanted a profession. I gave him a seat by my side and he worked hard at law books for a year, and then in 1859 he went to Europe and traveled about the Continent until the War of the Rebellion began. That brought him back to this country. I obtianed hima commission in the Regular Army.

"My belief is that Colonel Rathbone was...insane when he killed his wife. He was one of the kindest men toward his wife and family that I ever knew. His whole life seemed to be concentrated in his family...His wife loved him devotedly and was a gentle, kind-hearted Christian woman...he was in easy circumstances. He had a large fortune. He must have been made insane by dyspepsia...[just before leaving for Germany with his family in November 1882]he came into my law office...looking very ill. I asked him what was the matter and he then said he was suffering from dyspepsia. He described to me in a vivid way all the horrors of that disease...I have no doubt that he killed his beloved wife when his mind was clouded by the disease."

Friends and relatives theorize that he had brooded too much about his failure

to protect President Lincoln that his mind finally snapped.

c.Henry Riggs Rathbone (two term IL Congressman in mid1920s)

c.Isaiah (b.9/7/1723 ColchesterCT) served in Fr/Indian War, in 1756 as private in Col Wm Whiting's CT

militia, and in 1761 in Capt Giles Wescott's 9th CO of Major Gen. Phineas Lyman's 1st CT Reg. Cooley

says he died 6/1789 at Pittstown Renssalear Co NY but Nat'l Archives pension records show son

Jonathan discharged from the Rev Army on 2/20/1783 on account of his father's death.

(Molly Gates) p.Hezekiah G b.1740 m.1/19/1763 ColchesterCT d.10/15/1763 11 days after the birth of

her first child

i.Ashley (b.10/4/1763 Colchester) served in RevWar

(Fanny Lamphere) m.3/9/1764 d.3/16/1806

ii.Jonathan (b.1/6/1765 Cochester)RevWar vet, published acct of his service in 1840

(Hannah Adams)p.Wm&Lydia(Brown)A b.2/11/771 m.11/23/1789 Colchester

d.Jonathan (b.1726 ColchesterCT d.12/5/1755 possibly in epidemic that claimed his bro. Jn a wk earlier)

(Abigail Avery) p. Benjamin & Sarah (Dennison)A b.1726 d.by 2/18/1750 m.11/8/1744 ColchesterCT

(Irene Scovil)p.Arthur&Elizabeth S b.1720 m.2/18/1750

2.JOHN-- our ancestor, see below

3.JOSHUA (b.2/9/1696 BlockIsland d.6/6/1779 StoningtonCT)

(Martha Card) p.James & Martha (Acres) Card b.4/6/1699 m.11/30/1721 WesterlyRI d.1722 shortly after

childbirth

(Mary Wightman) p.Rev Valentine&Susannah(Holmes) Wightman b.2/16/1705 d.1777 StoningtonCT

m.2/17/1724. Her father was the founder of the first Baptist Church in CT, and one of the most prominent

clergymen in New England. His influence led grandson John to study for the ministry

Joshua and Mary moved shortly after this second marriage to StoningtonCT where in 1743 he was co-founder of

the second Baptist Church in the colony. Operated a fulling mill, referred to in Joshua Hempstead's Diary of

1751. At least two of his sons (Valentine and Daniel) had fulling mills to make fabrics for clothing.

a.Joshua (b.5/17/1722/23 Block Island d.7/14/1801 "of a very distressing disorder in his stomach which he

endured with much fortitude and resignation and which terminated his life the evening of the same day)

moved Charlestown, Westerly, Newport, S Kingston, but finally ended

up in StoningtonCT, the home of his father, where he operated the family mill, known as "Joshua of the

Windmill." Joshua & Dorcas became Quakers and raised children thus, but owned a slave at one time and had

problems with the Quaker church over it.

(Dorcas Wells)p.James b.9/17/1721 m.5/4/1742 CharlestownRI d.4/5/1809

i.Joshua (b.8/11/1743Westerly)sea captain,d.11/23/1773 at sea of yellow fever leaving his wife 5mo

pregnant. His estate inventory listed half interest in the StoningtonPoint wind-operated grist mill

owned by his father, and a1/8 share in the schooner, Polly, of which he was captain. He and his wife

were both Quakers and lived at StoningtonPtCT

(Sarah Borden) b.12/27/1748 p.Abraham&Martha(Bagnal)B

(Rev Peter Hoxie)Quaker minister m.12/30/1784, with whom Sarah had 2 children

b.Rev. John (b.6/26/1729 StoningtonCT d.8/2/1826 Willington CT) a Baptist minister for 75 years, one of the

first to adopt the Rathbone spelling. He is the earliest member of the Rathbun family whose likness is known

to exist, his silhouette first published by Cooley in 1898, when it was in the possession of Mrs Margaret

Busse of Brooklyn, his 3-greats-granddaughter. It was made in 1807 when he was 78 years old. Its

present-day whereabout is not known. The silhouette was also chosen for the front cover of the first issue of

the Rathbun Family Historian. His home during the Revolution is still standing in Stonington, bearing a

plaque with his name and the year 1775. In 1779 he moved to Ashford CT where he formed that city's first

Baptist Ch and was ordained its first pastor 3/15/1781. Even in old age crippled w/rheumatism, he walked

w/a cane to church on Sunday 6 miles to preach, according to family tradition. As a very old man, he went

to live for a short time with his eldest son in NYC, but decided to return to Ashford, where he died falling

down a few steps leading from one room to another. He had 13 children, 10 of which lived to adulthood. 2

became ministers, several wealthy.

(ContentBrown)p.Humphrey&Tabitha(Holdridge)B b.8/31/1733 m.1/18/1751Stonington d.9/30/1804

AshfordCT

i.John (b.10/20/1751 StoningtonCT) merchant and trader until 1791 when he moved to NYC and

opened a wholesale merchandising business. In early1800s was a large speculator in Ohio lands,

making him rich.

(Eunice Wells) p.Thomas/Sarah(Thompson)Wells b.6/6/1758 m.6/23/1774 HopkintonRI

c.Thomas Wells Rathbone (b.10/16/1779 d.1826 ElizabethtownKY) wealthy, prominent NYC

merchant, graduated from Columbia College in 1800, commissioned in NY Militia,

disappeared at wife's death, until 1815 in HardinCoKY. 1820s taught French & Latin at

Hardin Academy in Elizabethtown, 1823 named head.

(Maria Hawkins) b.1881 m.1802 d.1805 granddau. of famous British Admiral

c.Edward b.1803 turned over to relatives when his mother died at age2

(Mary Enlow) b.1766 d.1843 HardinCoKY m.5/24/1819 Rathbone. She had no children by

Thomas Rathbone, although she was locally known as "Grandma Rathbone" and had a

dozen children by her two previous husbands. At her death in 1843 at age 77 she left 173

living descendants, including a future KY governor, John L Helme. When Nancy

(Hanks)Lincoln told her husband Tom that the birth of their second child was emminent, he

sent for Mary Enlow, the neighborhood midwife. At that time she was married to Isom

Enlow, her second husband, who at various times was HardinCo sheriff and justice of the

peace. 2/12/1809, in that one-room, dirt-floored cabin near Elizabethtown,KY, she

delivered Mrs Lincoln of a healthy baby boy who was named Abraham. Two years later,

the Lincolns moved 10miles away. Her husband, Mr Enlow, died in 1816

ii.Valentine Wightman Rathbun (b.5/13/1761 Stonington) accompanied his father to AshfordCT

1779 and like his father became a Baptist minister. Returned to Stonington 1782, began preaching

1783 and was ordained minister of Stonington Point Baptist Ch 5/1785, remaining 13yrs, left to

become minister of BellinghamMA Baptist Ch from 1798 to 1800, then 12 years as pastor in

BridgewaterMA, returning in 1812 to Bellingham, where he died 5/12/1813 after an accident which

"after a few days of suffering closed his earthly career."

(Hepsibah Carpenter) p.Daniel?Chloe(Letheridge)C b.1771 m.5/6/1790 d.10/2/1859 WillingtonCT

iii.David (b.5/29/1763 Stonington d.8/2/1823) moved to Ashford 1779, born w/severely deformed

legs and forced to use crutches all his life, he studied for theministry and became an active Baptist

preacher at the age of 20, giving his sermons while seated, helping his father organize the Ashford

Baptist Ch at age 17. he later served ch in UniontownCT, CharlestownMA, SuttonMA, and

Whiting VT. He then moved to NY preaching in Hoosic, Richfield, Scipio, and PaintedPost. His

last pastorate was LawrencevillePA where he died after losing control of his carriage while going

down a steep hill. Descendants report that he was a deeply religious, brilliant man, who studied

scripture in the original Greek and Hebrew.

(Nancy Wales)p.Elijah&Mary(Abbe)W b.3/16/1773 m.7/9/1789 AshfordCT

iv.Joseph Avery (b.6/16/1765 StoningtonCT d.1/18/1813 AlfredNY) moved to Ashford, clerk to his

father's ch there several yrs. Moved to PittsfieldMA where Abigail died shortly after her first child

was born. Joseph left the baby with relatives and moved to LucernCoPA, then to SteubenCoNY

where he bought 674 acres (now AlleghenyCo), and later another 1600 acres. In1802, he taught

the first school in the area, & was town clerk 1801-4.

(Abigail Topliff)p.Clement&Ruth(Merrick)Topliff b.8/17/1766 m.6/8/1785 d.PittsfieldMA

(PriscillaStewart)p.Lazarus&Martha(Epsy)Stewart b10/20/1770 m6/7/1788LucernCoPA

d.4/10/1840

v.Moses (b.7/25/1770 StoningtonCT) moved w/parents 1779 Ashford1779, moved to WestfordCT

where he was clerk and trader on the side. Strict Baptist, he did not smoke, drink, gamble or

dance. He was a stylish dresser with a keen and agile mind, considerable personal attractiveness

and a strong desire to make money. In1807 he moved to Monticello OtsegoCoNY where he

opened a general store and helped organize a Baptist Ch. About 1817 he moved to Batavia

GeneseeCoNY and then in the early 1820s to Buffalo.

(Patience James)b.7/29/1770 m.1/25/1790AshfordCT d.10/7/1823 BuffaloNY

(Charlotte Moore)d.7/21/1825 m.5/2/1824

(Roxanna Bates) m.10/15/1825

c.Benjamin, ill-fated builder and financier

vi.Samuel (b.7/1/1776 StoningtonCT d.11/5/1865 BuffaloNY) moved to Ashford at age 3,

Hartford CT where he was a merchant, and then about 1808 CharlemontMA where he was in

business and served as postmaster and magistrate. In 1816 he moved to NYC where he was in

business more than 20 years, and then relocated to Buffalo in1841. He spent many years

compiling the family history, and much of his work was used by Cooley

(Mary Turner)p.Isaac T b.4/7/1781 m.4/13/1800 MontvilleCT

c.Daniel (b.2/27/1731 StoningtonCT d.1/17/1823 MiltonNY) moved to BerkshireCoMA, operating one of

first fulling mills in Great Barrington, moderator of town meeting there 3/1766. later lived in nearby

Richmond. Deacon in Baptist Ch, occasionally being called upon to preach. About 1804 moved to Milton

SaratogaCoNY to live with their son Valentine.

(Sarah Higbee)p.John&Sarah(Canda)H b.3/24/1739 m.5/4/1758 MiddletownCT d.8/5/1835 MiltonNY)

i.Daniel (b.2/27/1759 StoningtonCT d.12/13/1808 accident which smashed his leg) moved 1763

to RichmondMA to Milton SaratogaCoNY where he was lt in 1798, capt 1803 and maj 1808 in

the local militia. Constable 1802. Established a cloth-dressing businesss, and later a sawmill

with his brother Valentine. Purchased a slave, Frank, for $325 in 1804 RevArmy vet

(Ann Redington) p.Eliphalet&Anna(Kingsbury)R b.9/14/1764 m.3/17/1789 d.1855

ii.Philander (b.1/24/1764 RichmondMA d.12/8/1844 CastilleNY) postmaster at

WStockbridgeMA 1804-5, then operated a flour & cloth-dressing mill in SaratogaNY. In his

will he called himself "Rathbone, formerly written Rathbun."

(Nancy Clark) b.8/31/1766 m.1785 d.5/15/1851 HamburgNY

iii.Valentine (b.3/17/1768 RichmondMA d.3/20/1844 of throat/lung inflammatory disease) moved

to MiltonNY where he and brother Daniel built a sawmill. also owned hotel, store and was

local justice of the peace.

(Love Redington)p.Eliphalet&Anna(Kingsbury)R d.5/28/1844 b.7/11/1768 m.2/3/1789

iv.John Zacheus (b.12/21/1771 RichmondMA d.12/8/1868 ElmiraNY) became a physician in

BallstonSpaNY, then moved to Scipio CayugaCoNY, practicing medicine there for 20yrs

(CeliaTobey)p.Stephen&Lydia(Ellis)T b.4/10/1780 m.6/26/1800 LeeMA d3/17/1853ScipioNY

v.William (b.3/7/1776 RichmondMA d.7/11/1857 NorwichCanada at home of son Horace after

spending 20 yrs confined to bed due to a stroke. moved to SaratogaCoNY w/parents, then as

a young man to UnonTwp TiogaCoPA, about 1811, sold his land and moved back to

SaratogaCo and then about 1814 to Canada.

(IreneNiles)p.Nathan/Irene(Russell)Niles)b.11/11/1780 m.1799 TiogaCoPA d.6/10/1873

Norwich Canada

vi.Solomon (b.5/21/1778 RichmondMA d.2/15/1860 EvansvilleIN) admitted to New York bar

in1806, practicing law for one year at Martinsburg, LewisCoNY and then at Galway and

MiltonNY and was justice of the peace in 1811. In 1817 he started for the great west, ending

in a raft trip down the Ohio River, ending 4/1818 in Illinois, where he founded the town of

Belgrade, becoming its first postmaster. In 1821, he settled in

VincennesIN, later moving to EvansvilleIN. He changed the spelling of his name to Rathbone

in 1815.

(LucyAllenBeebe)p.DrLewis/Miriam(Kellog)Beebe b.3/7/1782 m.12/5/1806 SaratogaCoNY

d.2/19/1860 EvansvilleIN

d.Jacob (b.11/4/1732 StoningtonCT) enlisted as drummer 4/10/1755 in Maj.Robt Dennison's 3rd CT Co

during Fr/Indian War, killed in action 9/8/1755, 3mo after the birth of his second child. Cooley erroneously

reported killed 1778 during Revolutionary War

(Lydia Burton)p.Jacob&Mary(Herrick)Starkweather Burton b.3/18/1734 m.6/24/1753 PrestonCT

i.Jacob (b.10/21/1753, served under Col. Benedict Arnold in his famous 1775 expedition to

Canada during the Revolution, and died shortly thereafter. The Cooley 7/3/1778 death date may

actually be the death date of this Jacob Jr rather than Jacob Sr

e.Job (b.1/2/1736 StoningtonCT, according to Cooley, a twin with Martha, but Job in an 1804 pamphlet Job

himself says he was born in 1734. Stonington records show Martha's twin as Joshua, although there

already was a brother named Joshua. Job served in Fr/Indian War under LtColDavidWhitney, later moved

to CanaanCT, undergoing a religious experience in 1769, becoming a Baptist minister. After 1810 he left

for PoultneyVT, where he died 7/11/1821

(Abigail Russell)p.Jonathan&Mehitable(Wolcott)R b.1740 m.12/7/1758 d.5/22/1807 CanaanCT

i.Josiah (b.2/5/1762 CanaanCT d.2/12/1840 Denmark LewisCoNY) RevArmy vet moved to

Columbus ChenangoCoNY, where he was overseer of highways in 1805. Muster roll describes

him as 5'5" w/light hair and complexion.

(Catherine Fitch)p.Theopholis&Hannah(Stevens)Fitch b.9/22/1767 m.1/171790 CanaanCT

d.1847 Denmark, LewisCoNY

ii.Solomon (b.3/3/1764 CanaanCT d.8/29/1849 Hanover ChatauquaCoNY)RevWar vet,moved to

Hampton WA CoNY, then moved 1795 to Columbus ChenangoCoNY, by 1818 in CortlandCo,

by 1828 AlleghenyCO, by1830 GenesseeCo, by 1840 in ChautauquaCo. A tailor until 1809 when

his eyesight failed. Cooley says he was musically inclined and quite an inventor. A Scotch

Highlander visited and played the bagpipe, so Solomon made one for himself, also inventing an

electric machine "for the treatment of rheumatism and other diseases he was afflicted with."

(Eunice Fuller) b.12/15/1764 m.12/5/1784NY d.3/11/1837 Hanover ChatauquaCoNY

iii.George Whitfield Rathbun (b.10/28/1782 CanaanCT d.185? WoodfordCoIL) named for the

evangelist, went by his middle name. He lived for a short time in Vermont, then moved to Batavia in

1810. He was captain 1811 and major 1812 in the militia there, then moved 1815 to TazewellCoIL

and by 1850 to WoodfordCoIL.

(Nancy Bentley)p.Ezekiel&LetticeB b.1787 m.1807

f.Amos (b.1/25/1738 StoningtonCT) served in Fr/Indian War, moved to RichmondMA 1765. At the

outbreak of the Rev War, he was named Captain of the 1st Richmond Co in Col Benjamin Simons 2nd

Berkshire Reg. He joined the Shaker Society and remained one the rest of his life. His wife refused to join

and went to live with their oldest son Amos. He became a teaching elder and died 7/24/1817 in the Shaker

village at HancockMA

(Martha Robinson) p.Edward&Martha Robinson b.9/28/1745 m.1761 d.5/171/788 of consumption

i.Amos (b.1/31/1762 StoningtonCT d.9/22/1823 ScipioNY) moved age 3 to RichmondMA, served a

short period in the local militia toward the end of the Revolution, "a large powerful man of great

courage," according to Cooley, strongly opposed to his father's membership in the Shakers he

once broke up a mob threatening to disrupt a Shaker meeting. Moved to TroyNY where he went

into business with his uncle Wait selling drygoods and medicines. In 1798 he was an ensign in the

RenssalaerCo Militia. 1797 bought large tract in Scipio CayugaCoNY, becoming a wheat farmer.

Grand Juror 1800, twp supervisor 1800-2, and elected to 4 terms in NY legislature 1804-7.

(Mary"Polly"Wms)p.Judah&Mary(Skinner)W b.5/23/1770 m.1790 d.8/20/1830 ScipioNY

c.Charles

c.Hugo

c.Frank

c.Frank H (ed. and publisher of Rathburn Family Historian 11308 Popes Head Rd,

FairfaxVA 22030 (703)278-8512 in Jan 1981 16yrs admin. asst to Congressman

WmDFord of MI)

(Hazel J) b.1942 EN legislative rep for Miles Labratoreis in WA,DC

c.Frank H III (b.1953)

(Janice A) dept mgr for Woodward&Lothrop, dept store chain inWA,DC

ii.Joshua (b.4/26/1773 Richmond d.Ossian AlleghenyCoNY 1828) moved to ScipioNY 1790s, early

1820s to Ossian

(Diadema Crippen) b.4/14/1777 m.1/1795 d.7.14.1827 Ossian

c.illegitimate child Milona Rathbun b.2/1/794 PittsfieldMA to Experience Stiles.

(Isaac Schofield)

iii.Edward (b.6/10/1776 RichmondMA) moved to ScipioNY, fence viewer there in 1795, pathmaster

1797-9, lieutenant in local militia in 1798 promoted to captain in1802, and served until 1810.

Served in NY Militia in War of 1812.

c.George (served 2 terms in the House (1843-7) from CayugaCoNY inCongress, leaving

just as Abraham Lincoln entered Congress)

g.Wait (b.8/18/1744 StoningtonCT d.11/14/1832 BergenCoNJ at home of son Wm) changed name to

Rathbone late in life, ship owner during Rev War, moved to TroyNY 1789 where he owned a

boardinghouse and tavern.

(Susannah Dodge)p.Joseph&Mary D b.11/12/1747 m.5/22/1768 Stonington

(Mary (Brown) Palmer) p.Samuel&Phoebe(Wilbur)B b.1/11/1749 m.2/18/1778 widow of Wm Palmer

d.10/10/1834 at home of son Wm BergenCoNJ

i.Wait (b.7/10/1773 StoningtonCT) operated tin forge in Tinmouth, and opened second with

WmVaughn, building stoves under the name Rathbun & Vaughn. He also was a partner in another

stove company, Rathbun & Chase. He served in the Vermont legislature in1821 and 1822.

(Elizabeth Barr)p.Wm/Mary(Watt)Barr b.9/6/1780 m.12/25/1795 TinmouthVT

c.Alfred

c.Wm

c.Charles

c.Henry

cHenry

c.Robt (b.1948 Research Director for Rathbun Family Historian

adolescent team leader ofr KY Dept of Human Resources, Covington

ii.Wm Palmer Rathbun (b.9/21/1782 StoningtonCT) moved to TroyNY 1789. ensign in local militia

from 1805-6 and paymaster in the War of 1812. Lived inNYC, councilman there in1825, engaged

in ship-bldg business, moved to BergenCONY where he was common pleas judge in 1838. In the

early 1840s he moved to ParkersburgVA (now WVa) where he & his sons drilled the first oil well

south of the Mason-Dixon line. He became wealthy and in 1848 was taxed on more than 21,000

acres of land.

(Martha Ming Valleau)p.Wm&Eleanor(Henessey)V b.11/3/1798 m.10/3/1810NYC

c.John

c.William Palmer Rathbone (m.4/10/1865 ParkersburgWV)

(Emma E Hopkins) the two set off for Niagara Falls for their honeymoon, arriving

about April 15. Unfortunately William bore a striking resemblance to John Wilkes

Booth whose picture was on "wanted" posters everywhere. At Buffalo, an alert

policeman arrested him, and it took hours of frantic explanations and telegrams to get

his release.

iii.Samuel Brown Rathbun (b.11/19/1786 StoningtonCT) moved to Troy NY 1789 entered West

Point Military Academy in1803, commissioned in 1808 as Lt. in US Army and died of wounds

12/8/1812 received 2months earlier at the Battle of Queenstown, never married

h.Valentine Rathbun

i.Joshua (b.6/25/1746 StoningtonCT d.9/5/1799 NewportRI) sea captian moved to NewportRI,

sailing for Newport merchant firm Gibbs & CHanning for 30 years, sailing to the West Indies and

the maritime provinces of Canada and ports along America's seaboard. His vessels were: the

schooner Sally in the late 1760s; brig Catherine in the 1770s, the brig John in the late 1780s and

early 1790s, the 82-foot 3 masted ship William in 1794, the 61-foot sloop Aurora 1795, the 67-foot

brig William in late 1795, and early 1796. During the Revolutionary War he refused to sign a

pledge of allegiance to Great Britain when British troops captured Newport, and was arrested and

confined on a ship in the harbor. In 1797, agd 51 he retired from the sea and bought a farm near

Newport. He became ill a short time later and died.

(Elizabeth Hall)m.4/1770Newport b.1747 p.BenjaminH d.4/13/1788

(Ann Sears) p.Geo&Abigail(Hall)Sears b.6/7/1769 m.11/13/1788

ii.Daniel (b.4/11/1754 Stonington) moved w/parents 1769 to PittsfieldMA served several enlistments

in Rev Army and afterward settled in RichmondMA and then RutlandVT, lived at Whiting until

1802, then to Sempronius CayugaCoNY, family tradition says was a Baptist minister like his father

(Lucy Cogswell)p.Joshua&Lucy(Dow)C. b.1757 m.1775 PittsfieldMA d.1791 RutlandVT

(Sabra Holman)b.5/9/1771 m.1/21/1792 Whiting AddisonCoVT

iii.Valentine Wightman Rathbun (b.4/26/1756 Stonington d.12/30/1821 Shaker Colony at

NewLebanonNY) also moved to Pittsfield, served Rev Army, followed father Valentine into Shakers,

remaining even when the father broke away and attacked the Shakers.

(Sylvia Luck) m.1779 b.1756 d.1784 Shaker Colony HancockMA leaving a 4yr-old son raised by the

Shakers

iv.Reuben (b.5/11/1760 Stonington d1807 MarcellusNY) then to Pittsfield, RevArmy vet, also

followed his father into Shaker Society, remaining after father withdrew, becoming a leader, even

serving several months in prison 1784-5 for his activities on their behalf. He became disillusioned

and left to marry . Moved w/parents to MarcellusNY 1801 and a falling tree crushed his skull in

1807 there.

(Elizabeth Deming)p.John&Sarah(Robbins)D b.1764 d.Junius SenecaCoNY 9/27/1830

v.James (b.1764 StoningtonCT d.1814 MarcellusNY)moved to Pittsfield, then MarcellusNY where

he owned 336 acres and operated a woolen mill. Capt in 1801 OnondagaCo militia, major in 1805,

then lt-col 1808. He resigned in 1809. Rev Army vet. died leaving wife w/10 children, the youngest

less than a year old.

(Ruth Langworthy)p.Andrew&Ruth(Brown)L b.1768 m.1787 d.after 1st child

(Margt Ashley)p.Wm/Jane(Butcher)A b.10/2/1771 m.2/27/1791 d.12/18/1843 BenningtonCtr

GenesseeCoNY

4.BENJAMIN (b.2/11/1701BIRI d.1771) assigned by Exeter Town Council to care for the road from Bushy Brook Bridge west to the Connecticut/RhodeIsland line, along with son Benjamin Jr in 1761. moved to mainland in 1720's buying land in Exeter about 1730, a freeman there 5/1736

(Hannah Carpenter)m.10/31/1732 ExeterRI

a.Joshua (b.1733 ExeterRI) given 50 acres of Exeter land by his father in 1768. admitted a freeman of

EGreenwichRI 4/30/1754 and in 1768 rec'd from his father "for love" 50 acres in Exeter. By 1777 moved

to Cambridge, WA CoNY where he was selected that year as overseer of roads

(Amy Ayelsworth) p.Robt&Ann(Davis)A

b.Benjamin Jr (b.1735 ExeterRI) given 25 acres of Exeter land by his father in 1770. The 1774 RI census

shows him in Exeter w/a family of 8, including a male under 16, presumably a son. In 1776, a resident of

HopkintonRI signed a pledge of loyalty to the revolutionary government

5.NATHANIEL (b.2/6/1707 BIRI) moved to Exeter in 1720's with his brothers, admitted as a freeman there May1735. He sold Exeter land in 1750, and was deceased by January 1759 when the Exeter Town Council have a certificate to "Mercy Rathbun, widow of Nathaniel" to move to the neighboring town of W Greenwich.

(Mercy Rathbun) b.2/14/1703 m.1726 his cousin, daughter of Joseph, son of John our ancestor.

JOHN (our ancestor)

JOHN (our ancestor) Joseph

Nathaniel (married Mercy) Mercy (married Nathaniel)

Nathaniel Nathaniel

Mercy was still alive in 1761 when she loaned money to her son, Nathaniel. Her death date is not known.

a.Nathaniel (b.1726 ExeterRI) moved to WGreenwich by1756 when he signed a petition to divide the

military district so that militia members wouldn't have to travel so far. They were there in the1774 &

1782 censuses, but later moved to Stockbridge BerkshireCoMA in the 1790 census.

(Mary) b.7/1730 m.1747

i.Samuel (b.1748 WGreenwichRI) sold farm 1781 moved to Tyringham, then to Great

BarringtonMA, and finally by 1810 Stockbridge, all in BerkshireCoMA.

(Hannah) m.1775WGreenwich

ii.Joshua (b.1750 WGreenwichRI) moved to Tyringham w/bro Samuel, became involved in

Shays Rebellion in August 1786 to protest farm foreclosures and imprisonment of small

farmers for overdue debts. Joshua was one of several killed by state troops putting down the

rebellion when a group of rebels attacked Stockbridge 2/1787.

(Alice James)p.John&Susannah J b.1754 m.1774

(Mr Clark) disbursed the Rathbun children among relatives

6.THOMAS (b.3/9/1708 BIRI d.1784 of cancer) also one of brothers who moved to Exeter in 1720's, admitted as a freeman there 5/4/1736, an ensign in the Exeter Militia in 1745-6 as Thomas Rathbun Jr, to distinguish him from his Uncle Thomas' son Thomas Rathbun, who was also living in Exeter at that time. His name appears in other Exeter records as Thomas Jr, as well. The 1774 Rhode Island census shows him in Exeter with two slaves, one a black, and one an Indian.

(Charity Perkins) m.12/31/1732 ExeterRI b.1709 d.1803 p.Ebenezer/Hannah Perkins

a.Simeon (inherited the bulk of Thomas' property)

i.Thomas (b.10/19/1771 Exeter d.4/11/1839 Exeter) moved to WaterfordCT, but returned to

Exeter. Fought at the Battle of Plattsburg, in the War of 1812. Died in a housefire with 7 other

people.

(Eunice Greene)b.1776 m.1796 i.RiversideCem, ClevelandOH

ii.Russell (b.7/201782 Exeter) moved by1820 to NorwichNY by 1830 to Franklinville

CattauraugusCoNY served in War of 1812

(Lucy Ann Nestley) b.10/7/1787 m.7/14/1804

b.Oliver (b.2/17/1734 killed in action, a soldier in the summer of 1759 in French&Indian War. He is

described in the muster roll of his company in April 1759 as 5'7" with light eyes.)

c.Thomas (b.12/5/1736 ExeterRI) ensign in WGreenwich militia in 1756, captain in 1769, in W Greenwich

censuses for 1774 and 1782. Apparently died 1800, for on December 5 that year, his widow and Jefferey

Hazard were named administrators for the estate of "Capt. Thomas Rathbun."

(Ruth Clark)p.Thomas&Bridget(Barber)Clark b.5/20/1733 d.10/6/1819 ChenangoCoNY m.6/20/1757

CharlestownRI moved to ChenangoCoNY where several of their childrenlived

d.Nathan (b.1753 ExeterRI m.1775 FosterRI) served in Revolutionary War for various periods, pensioned

1831. Justice of the Peace in Exeter for many years,. became a practicing physician, moved in 1820's to

HopkinsRI

(? Hopkins)p.Nicholas H. d.1798

(Sarah (Blivin) Dalton) p.Samuel&Polly B b.3/18/1783 m.9/15/1805 d.7/28/1878

i.Nathan Dodge Rathbun (b.2/1807 Exeter d.10/13/1847 NorwichCT) carpenter/"house joiner"

(BridgetHakes)b10/6/1806p.Jesse&Polly(Wheeler)H d2/22/1868NorwichCT 1828 N Stonington

ii.Beriah Safford Rathbun (d.2/19/13 NorwichCT) carpenter,stairbuilder his 3rd wfie d 3/8/11

8 greats-grandfather John Rathbun 1693-1752

He was born December 20, 1693, on Block Island and died early in 1752 at Exeter.

His wife

A few words about who his childrens' mother was NOT. Cooley's mentions Patience Fish. John wed Patience, the daughter of John and Joanna Fish, December 25, 1720 on Block Island, but Patience must have died with a year or two of their marriage, and all of John's children were apparently children by his second wife, Alice, last name unknown, based on early Exeter (then North Kingston) RI records, which shows that John had married Alice by 1731.

The 1737 will of John Fish, father of Patience, left 50 pounds to "my grandson Joshua Rathbun, son of my daughter Patience, deceased." This Joshua must have been born shortly after their marriage, and died between 1737, when he was mentioned in the will, and 1741, when John and Alice named another son Joshua. John must have marie Alice about 1722 for John, his oldest by her, was marrried 1744 and must have been born about 1723. He named his first child Alice, another strong indication that Alice, not Patience, was his mother. If John had been Patience's son, surely he would have been mentioned with Joshua in John Fish's 1737 will.

His children.

(by wife Patience Fish)

1.Joshua

(by second wife Alice)

2.John (b.1722 BlockIsland) given land by his father before his father died, moved to ExeterRI, as "John

Rathbun Ye 3rd" he signed a petition protesting high taxes in Exeter, admitted a freeman there 5/5/1747, an

officer in the Exeter militia 1747 to 1750

(Olive Perkins) m.1744 ExeterRI

i.Elsie (m.Randall Lewis)

c.Elsie Lewis

(David Rathbun) see below, son of Edmund, son of John, son of John, son of Immigrant John

ii.John

c.Olive Rathbun

(Joseph Sheffield Rathbun) see below

Immigrant JOHN

JOHN

JOHN

Joshua

Joseph Sheffield (m.Olive Rathbun)

Edmund

David (m.Elsie Lewis)

John

Elsie (m.Mr Lewis)

Elsie (m.David Rathbun)

John

Olive (m.Joseph Sheffield Rathbun)

3.Jonathan (our ancestor, see below, inherited 240 acres)

4.Daniel (inherited 240 acres).

5.Gideon (b.1736 ExeterRI inherited 120 pounds in bills of credit, living in Exeter in1790 and 1800 but in 1810

was in Chenango CoNY where several of his children moved. Presumably died between 1810 and 1820)

(Dorcas Kenyon) p.John&Mary(Gardiner)K b.8/4/1737 m.2/18/1759 Exeter d.1766

i.Paris (b.1760 Exeter)RevArmy vet, moved 1790s to ArlingtonVT then 1800s to WACoNY. 1811 to

ChenangoCoNY and finally NewHaven, OswegoCoNY

(Ann Nichols) p.Stephen&Sarah N

(Joan Austin)

ii.Job (b.1762 Exeter d.12/22/1813 LickingCoOH) moved as young man to NY then to PA, and about

1801 to FairfieldTwp LickingCoOH, among the first settlers.

(Sarah Crooks)b.1/10/1765NY d.9/5/1835 LickingCoOH

6.Edmund ( b.12/8/1737 Exeter) inherited 120 pounds in bills of credit, moved by 1774 to BerkshireCoMA and

in 1780's to NY. in 1787 at Little Hoosick, Albany Co, when he sold land there and was among first settlers

at Delhi, DelawareCoNY. A mill owner, he moved in late 1790s to Wheeling VA, now West VA, where he

died in the summer of 1801 "from the effects of drinking too much water while overheated from

overworking." A heart attack would be a more likely explanation since he was then 64 years old.

(Mercy Carpenter) p.Jeremiah&Elizabeth(Reynolds)C. b.3/3/1739 m.1759 Exeter d.5/7/1827 Washington

County, Ohio, where several of her children had settled.

i.Perry (b.1760 Exeter)moved to TyringhamBerkshireCoMA as young man w/parents, RevWar vet,

moved 1788 w/parents to Delhi Montgomery/DelawareCoNY, then 1797 to EastonNY. Bought 50

acres in Tyringham for $1000 and was living there in1800. By 1807 in Peru ClintonCoNY, then about

1815 migrated to Belpre WashingtonCoOH, described as a cooper in1797, but in OH built and operated

a sawmill, reportedly the first on the Little Hocking River.

(Mercy Babcock)b.1765 m.7/24/1782 BeckettMA

c.John

c.WmHenryHarrisonRathbun (b.1840 BelpreOH m.1863 d.1921) shoemaker, moved as

young man to IL, in 1883 to Nebraska where he was justice of the peace.

(Mary Keller) d.1925 FillmoreCoNB

c.Lewis b.1867, JohnThomas b.1857, Owen b.1859, Fred b.1863, Mary b.1961,

WmJr b.1869, Frank b.1865, Paul b.1873

ii.John (b.1762 Exeter d.1802OhCoWVA) RevWar vet, moved to Tyringham w/parents then to Delhi,

then in 1800 to OhioCo,VA (now W VA).

(name unknown)m.NY d.1798

(Amelia)m.180? bound out her two stepsons as apprentices in 1802

iii.David (b.1765 Exeter d.3/7/1850 AthensCoOH) like his brothers, to Tyrhingham and Delhi. Operated

a grist mill at the foot of Falls BrookNY, owned a house, selling the mill in 1806, the farm in 1808, and

moved 1809 to Ames Twp AthensCoOH to be a farmer, and operating a horse-powered grist mill.

Later he built a hand-operated mill for use by him and his neighbors, noted as a skilled trapper. Settlers

for miles around came to him for advice on trapping wolves.

(Elsie Lewis)p.Randall&Elsie(Rathbun)L. b.1777 m.1796 DelhiNY d.11/4/1851 AthensCoOH Her

mother was the dau of John, of John, of John, of Immigrant John:

Immigrant John Rathbun

John

John

John

Elsie (m.Randall Lewis)

Elsie (married David Rathbun

Edmund

David (married Elsie Lewis)

iv.Gideon (b.10/3/1766 Exeter) also moved tyringham/delhi, also a miller like his brothers. Delhi records

show he paid 1798 taxes on 200 acres, a mill and a 20x24 home. He moved to Belpre

WashingtonCoOH in1807. An early county history calls him "the eccentric character among the settlers of 1807. He first

settled on an eight-acre lot...when he sold this he moved down on Little Hocking. His only source of revenue was the fur-bearing animals he was enabled to

capture. For a time he owned a pony on which he was accustomed to go to Marietta witha small grist of corn and skins to barter for necessities of life. As he

grew older, his luck at hunting turned and then to add misfortune ot misery the old pack horse died and Gideon was compelled to carry corn to the mill on his

own back. One day as he was sweltering under his burden, a neighbor made friednly inq;uiry concerning his circumstances. Gideon despondingly replied, "Oh I

haint got nothin' to get nothin' with nor I haint got nothin' to bring nothin' home.' The latter part of his life was not free from want...He was one of those

eccentric characters so frequently met with in pioneer history who are content as long as they have anything to eat and a place to sleep."

This depiction of Gideon may not be completely accurate. When he died 6/5/1838, he left his wife

Anna "...the plantation on which we now reside...containing about 120 acres...and all horses, cattle,

sheep and hogs."

(Anna Newberry)p.Jonathan&ElizabethN b.3/25/1777 m.1795 DelhiNY d.9/18/1866 JayCoIN at the

home of her son, John. Her father Jonathan was a great-grandson of Jonathan Birch and Mary

Rathbun, daughter of John, son of Immigrant John.

c.John

v.Edmund (in 1816 Tom & Nancy Lincoln moved from HardinCoKY to PerryCo (now SpencerCo) near

GentryvilleIN, near the Edmund Rathbun family. Edmund recalls switching his political allegiance

from the Whigs to the new Republican Party in 1860 to vote for Lincoln with whom he was "well

acquainted while living in Springfield."

(Deborah Taylor)

c.Gideon (b.1809) the same age as neighbor Abraham Lincoln

(Eliza Jane Howell)p.Samuel&PollyH b.1811 m.6/14/1829 this family had also moved from

HardinCoKY, and both the Lincolns and Howells moved to SpringfieldIL in the late 1820s. It

is likely the Lincolns attended their wedding. Abraham Lincoln, at age 22, decided to strike

out on his own, Gideon tells of seeing him that year: "In the spring of 1831 I remember seeing Mr Lincoln on his

way from Decatur to Springfield. It was a very muddy season and he passed my home with his shoes in one hand and a bundle tied in a handkerchief

in the other. Mrs Rathbone recognized him and as he stopped overnight with her father, who lived nearby, we went over and spent the evening with

them.

"He told us he had just struck out into the world for himself and wanted work. Mr Howell told him of a gentleman in Springfield who wanted a stout

man to help load and pike a flatboat down the Sangamon to the Illinois River. He accepted this offer and assisted until the boat was landed at

Beardstown (at the junction of the Sangamon and Illinois Rivers). Later that spring, Lincoln

and 2 other men were hired by Offut [again] to take a flatboat loaded with corn, pork, and

live hogs down the Mississippi to New Orleans. On this trip Lincoln first realized the horrors

of slavery when he saw a young mulatto girl being examined by a group of men on a slave

auction block.

It was there he swore he would fight to end slavery if he ever had the chance. Offut offered

him a job as clerk in one of his NewSalemIL stores, where Lincoln's 6-year stay proved

fruitful: he became postmaster, surveyor, and in 1834 was elected to the state legislature. In

1837 he opened a law office in Springfield, and renewed acquaintances with the Howells and

Rathbones. In 1847 he took his seat in Congress just as our New York Congressman

Rathbun was stepping down.

c.John

c.Franklin founded Rathbun Family Historian c.1900, the first family magazine

published in the US, in Oberlin Kansas

7.Joshua (inherited 120 pounds in bills of credit)

i.Joseph Sheffield Rathbun (b.1/18/1780 d.9/1859 Exeter) went by his middle name, lived entire life on

the old Rathbun farm settle by his grandfather 1726 on Eschoheag Hill at Exeter. Justice of the peace

for 18yrs

(Olive Rathbun) m.2/10/?? d.4/18/1829

JOHN

Joshua

Joseph (m.Olive)

John

John

Olive (married Joseph)

(Penelope Babcock) p.Simeon&Mary(Perry)B. m. 6/20/1829 d.1832

(Esther(Cranston)Adams p.Samuel&Zilpha(King)C widow of JohnA. b.9/26/1785 m.1/1/1833

d.5/29/1849

(Betsey(Briggs)Woods)p.Caleb&PhoebeB widow of JoabW. d.8/24/1875 CoventryRI

8.Anna (inherited furniture)

9.Patience (b.1725 d.1751)

(John Reynolds)p.James R

c.John,Anne, Elisha-- her children inherited furniture from her father

his possessions

At age 30, he inherited from his parents all their "housing and land on Block Island." In 1725, two years later, he sold his Block Island property and moved to the mainland. He was admitted a freeman of North Kingston (now Exeter RI) in May 1732, described as "John Rathbun of Nesquaheague" the Escoheag Hill area of what later became Exeter). Escoheag Hill should have been called "Rathbun Hill" there were so many Rathbuns living there. John's three brothers (Benjamin, Nathaniel, and Thomas), Thomas and John (sons of Thomas), John (son of William) and Joseph (son of Joseph) were there, too. The Rathbun cousins had at least 47 children between them!

He died early in 1752 at Exeter.

7 greats-grandfather Jonathan Rathbun 1734-aft1790

He was born October 1, 1734 at Exeter, and married there Susan Barber (born about 1737, the daughter of Joseph and Rebecca (Potter) Barber) on March 3, 1757 by Newman Perkins, Justice. He was admitted a freeman in Exeter in 1755, and was still living there when the state's 1774 census was taken. He inherited 240 acres from his father. He died after 1790 TyringhamMA.

children

1.EDMUND (b.1758 ExeterRI d.12/20/1848 Newburg CuyahogaCoOH) moved as young man to Western MA, served in Rev War, receiving pension for his service, living few years at TyringhamMA then 1798 to Avon, OntarioCoNY. moved to Newburg, CuyahogaCoOhio in 1803.

(Anna Carpenter)p.Elisha&Deliverance(Misrigh)C. b.1/8/1756 m.12/19/1782BecketMA d.1800 AvonNY

(Margaret(Breakle)Warren) b.1781 m.10/20/1815 Willoughby LakeCoOH d.aft 1855

2.JOSEPH (b.1/28/1763 Exeter d.9/28/1854 Monroe AshtabulaCoOH) moved with parents to TyringhamMA as boy, migrated as young man to NY, in Duanesburg, SchenectadyCoNY by 1790, by 1800 in Hartford OntarioCoNY, by 1810 in Caldonia GeneseeCoNY, about 1817 joined his borther Edmund in Newburg, CuyahogaCoOH in what was then known as the "Rathbun Settlement" In 1830 he moved to Monroe, AshtabulaCoOH

(Olive Pearson)p.Ephraim P b.9/23/1774 m.7/23/1787 DutchReformedCh at SchoharieNY

3.JONATHAN --our direct ancestor, see below

4.CLARK

(Abigail Tillinghast)

5.PATIENCE m.Allen, 2nd John McGould

6.SUSAN m.Brant Milliman

7.REBECCA m.Wainright

c.Mrs J (Marvell) Osborn

c.Mrs Elizabeth Norton, and Angeline

9.LILLIBRIDGE BARBER--born before the marriage, Jonathan's stepson, b.5/10/1755 ExeterRI. It was claimed that Edward Lillibridge, husband of Thankful Tefft, was the father of Susannah's natural son.

a.Leonard E Barber (b.11/30/1787)

(Pheobe B Rathbone) p.Rowland Rathbun b.9/10/1765

i.Rowland Rathbun Barber (b.9/23/1817)

His in-laws, the Barber/West/Soule families

James Barber (came from BerkshireEN to Boston 1633 r.NewportRI)

William Barber

Moses Barber (1652-circa1730) r.SKingstonRI

(Susannah West) p.Francis&SusannahW. maternal gp.Pilgrim George&Mary(Becket)Soule

Joseph Barber (Rebecca Potter)

Susan Barber (Jonathan Rathbun)

MOSES BARBER b.1652 d.between 4/15/1728 (when his will was written) and 12/17/1733, when it was proven, in his South KingstonRI home. i.W or NW of Barber's Pond, but there are no markers or records of proof. (see Moses Barber and Many Descendants compiled by Lois J (Barber) Schroeder c.1984)

is considered to be the first in this line with satisfactory documentary proof. Taxed 9/6/1687 8 shillings and one pence, in 1693 he purchased 330 acres of the "Pettaquamscut Purchase" (sold 1/20/1657 by Chief Sachems of the Narragansett Indians Quassaquanch, Kachanaquant and Quequaquenet to Samuel Wilbor, John Hall, John Porter, Samuel Wilson and Thomas Mumford, the company later admitting Wm Brenton and Benedict Arnold, both afterwards governors of RI) within the present limits of SKingston. This land is bounded on the east by the two Yawgoo ponds and the Shickasheen River which joins them. The south pond, near where he built his house, is called Barber's Pond. Moses and Susannah applied for permission to build a dam for a mill just east of this pond. He was listed as a Freeman of South Kingston 9/16/1723. The Old Barber House stood on a knoll called Bald Hill near the residence of Mrs Luke Clarke in 1889, just west of Barber's Pond. A small portion of Moses' land was still in Barber hands in 1935 (Sarah Elizabeth Barber, dau of Gardiner Smith Barber). His will:

"In The Name of God Amen the 29th Day of March 1728 I Mofes Barber Senr of South Kingston of Rhod Island Yeoman begin Aged and Weak In body but of Perfect Mind and Memory thanks be Given unto God for it--therefore Calling unto mind the Mortallity of My body and Knowing that it is Appointed for all men once to Dye Do Make and Ordain this My Laft Wil & Teftment that is to Say principally and First of all I give and Reccommend my Soule Into the Hands of God that Gave it and my body to be burriediIn Decent Christian Burial At the Difscrestionof my Executrix and Executor Hearafter Named Nothing Doubting but at the Generall Resfurrection I Shall Reciev the Same Again by the Mighty Power of God. As Touching Such WOrldly Eftat wherewith It hath Pleafed God to Blefs me In this Life I Give Demise and Difpofe of the Same In the following manner and Form that is to say--

"Imprimus After My Just Debts Funeral Charges and Leagacis are Duely Difcharged and paid by my Executrix and or Executor The use o fthe Rest of my Movable Eftate I Give and bequeath to Susanah my Wife So Long as She Remains my Widow as alfo the use of my Home=Sted farm and House with all the privileges and profits thereunto belonging and fujrther my Will is that at the Deceafe of myh Wife Susannah that then all the Remaining part of my Said Estate shall be Eaqually Devided between the Daughters of my Said Wife or their Children.

"Item I Give unto my son William Barber one Shilling In tokin of my Love he having Received his portion already in Land---

"Item I give unto my Son Mofes Barber one Shilling in Token of my Love to him He having Recieved his portion Already in Land---

"Item I give unto my Son Samuel Barber one Shilling in tokin of My Love to him he having Recieved his portion already In Land---

"Item I give unto my Son Thomas Barber one Shilling In token of my Love to him he having Recieved his portion already In Land---

"Item I give unto my Son Joseph Barber on e Shilling In token of my Love to him he having Recived his portion allready In Land--

"Item I give unto my Son Benjamin Barber A Certain Tract or percell of Land Scituate Lying and being In Westerly by Estimation one hundred and Forty Six Acres which I bought of Francis Colgrove to be to him my Said Son Benjamin and to his heirs & afsigns Forever---

"Item I give unto my Son Ezekiel Barber 25 Acres of Land being the North West Corner of My Homstead Farm Bounded Westerly on the Petequamscut Line & Easterly on Yaucup Pond I allso Give to my Said Son Ezekiel Barber 25 Acres of Land on the SE Corner of My Homstead Farm be the Same more or Lefs--Butted and bounded as followeth Begining at a Certain Rock by the Pond where brook Runs out of the pond and to Extend Westward to a Large Oak Stump and heap of Stones and So to Extend the Same Corse to Samuel Barber's Land and So bounded Westerly on to Samuel Barbers Land Southward on the Land of Robert Willcox and Eastward on the sd Brook and the brook is the bounds to the before Mentioned Rock and both the above mentioned percells of Land Which I Give to my Said Son Ezekiel Barber To---to him his heirs and afsigns forever I allso Give to my Said Son Ezekiel Barber one Loom and all my Weavining Utentials---

"Item I Give unto my Son Daniel Barber all my Remainding part of my homstead Farm with all the Housing Orchard and Fencing and all other to the Same Belonging to him my Said Son Daniel Barber and to his heirs and afsigns forever

"Item I Give to my Youngest Daughter Ann Barber one Good feather Bead well Fixed and Twenty pounds In money to be paid to her when She COmes to the Age of 18Years--

"Item I Give to all my Daughters which are Married to Each of them Five Shillings In Token of My Love they Haveing Recieved their portion already also I give to the heirs of My Daughter Lydia Mory Deceased. Five Shillings Lastly my Will Is and I Do hereby Order Constitue and appont my True and Loving Wife my Executrix As also my Son Benjamin Barber my Executro of this My Last will and Testament and I Do hereby Utterly Disallow Revoke and Disannul All and Every other Former Testament with Leagacis and Bequeaths and Executor by Me In any Ways before Named Willed and Bequeathed Ratyfiing and Confirming this and No other to be my Last will and Testament.

[signed his mark, witnesses wre Benjamin Potter, Josiah Shearman and Isaac Shelden. Josiah Shearman died before the proving of the will, but the other two attested to his witnessing of the signing.]

(unknown first wife) m.1679 d.before 1691 Alden G Beaman PhD, ed & pub of the Rhode Island Genealogical Register and "A Line of Descent from Moses Barber of Kingstown" in Vol I,No2,pp112-120 10/1978 speculates that this first wife may have been Ann, b.1663 mentioned in will of John Babcock of WesterlyRI dated 6/26/1685.

Marjorie Schunke, WKingstonRI, theorizes Susannah Wait, pointing out that Sarah named her first son Waite. Doubtful to me, since there was already confusion on the marriage license of Moses & Susannah West, since the spelling of West is sometimes Waist. Susannah West had sometimes been theorized to be Susannah Wait, daug of Samuel, son of Thomas & Hannah Wait. The diaries of Samuel West (b.1766), a circuit-riding preacher of NewLondonCT published in The Mayflower Descendant XXVI pp1-11 firmly established the West surname.

Ruth Wilder Sherman in The American Genealogist 52:1010-102 Apr1976 cautioned to seek more than one source, using Moses as an example: Moses Barber and Susannah Waist m.3/24/1691/2

Moses Barber and Susannah West, 3/24/1691/2 Susannah Wait and Moses Barber 3/22/1691/2 Susannah West and Moses Barber 3/20 or 24/1691/2. The name Wast often appeared in early records, she says, gradually evolving into West. Rouse Helme and Francis Willet, named in the Assembly Act to make copies of Kings Towne records would have been familiar with the handwriting of their own periods AND also acquainted with the bride and groom-- yet the different spellings. Also, little fading and damage had yet taken place in the original documents.

1.Moses (Elizabeth Eldred) deeded "for love" 100 acres 7/7/1705 by parents

2.Sarah (David Greene) c.Waite

3.William --deeded 1705 100 acres by parents "where the three towns meet." Deed in possession of Mabelle

Dorcas (Tucker) Gleason of EGreenwichRI in 1940. 2/16/1709/10 given 150 acres by parents, bound on

the west by his brother Moses. Moses had originally bought 363 acres from John Wilkie.

(Susannah West) p.Francis & Susannah (Soule) West. b.1666 or 1674? m.3/24/1691 d.between 9/21/1755 & 4/4/1758 (will dates again) in CharlestonRI.

When Gov Andros took over the King's Province in 1687 he levied taxes on the inhabitants of KingstownRI, renamed Rochester. Included in the list was Francis West Sr and Jr, and Richard Wast. The last name is spelled Wast, West, Waste and Weast commonly. Only Francis Sr, had a rate, of 2 shillings 1 pence. The West children (all born N KingstonRI) included

1.Francis West b.1660 remained in the Kingston area

2.Richard b.1661-4 lived in Middleboro and Taunton

3.Susanna b.1666 remained in the Kingston area

4.Peter b.1668/9

5.John b.1672

6.Martha b.1675 remained in the Kingston area

7.William b.5/31/1681 moved to Newport after death ofhis first wife

8.Thomas b.9/18/1684 twin

9.Clement b.9/18/1684 twin moved to CharlestownRI then possibly DutchessCoNY

Susannah Soule was the daughter of the Pilgrim George Soule, who came in the Mayflower in 1620, and Mary Becket, who came in the ship Anne. Her will:

"In the Name of God Amen This 21st Day of September & in the 29th year of his Majisties Reigne Georg ye Second King over Great Briton AD 1755- I Susannah Barber of Charlestown in Kings County and Coloney of Rhodeisland Widow Beeing in Helth of Body...

"Item I Give and Bequeath unto my beloved Daughter Anne Kinyon My Great Bible whose Name is written in Said Bible and to bee Dellivered to her by My Executor Before My Other Estate to my Children hereafter named-

"Item I Give and Bequeath unto My Beloved Daughters viz: Dinah Wilcock & to ye Heir of Lyda Mory and to Susannah Perry Widow to Marthe Parker to Ruth Bently Marey Tift and Ann Kinyon all of Remained of my Estate to bee equelly Devided Between them to them and theire Heirs for Ever--

"Lastly I Constatute Make and ordain My BEloved Son Benj' Barber to be My whole and Soul Executor...

An detailed inventory of her estate is listed in Ms Schroeder's tome.

4.Dinah (b.NorthKingston,Rhode Island)

5.Lydia (b.NK)

6.Samuel b.NK

7.Susannah b.NK

8.Thomas b.NK

9.JOSEPH BARBER b.NK --OUR DIRECT ANCESTOR b.10/16/1701SK d.bef 6/1779 Exeter On

1/6/1753 Joseph and his wife Rebecko (sic) sold a large tract to John Wilbour who, on the same day, sold

half the tract at a very good price. Rebecca predeceased her husband whose will dated 4/17/1779 proved

ExeterRI 6/7/1779 named son Nathaniel, grandson Joseph Rathbone under 21 years, granddaughters

Abigail Wilbour and Rebecca Wilcox, with grandson Lillibridge Barber as executor.

(REBECCA POTTER) m.2/4/1724SK d.aft 1/1753

a.Nathaniel

b.SUSANNA --OUR DIRECT ANCESTOR m.3/3/1757 Exeter RI

(JONATHAN RATHBUN)

c.Abigail

10.Martha b.NK

11.Ruth b.NK

12.Benjamin b.NK

13.Mercy b.NK

14.Ezekiel b.NK

15.Abigail b.NK

16.Daniel b.SouthKingston

17.Ann b.SK,RI

GEORGE SOULE [b.EN prob between 1593 and 1600 (based on his signing of the Mayflower Compact in 1620 when he was at least 20, and that a life span of 85 was rare in those days) d.Duxbury before 1/22/1679 (when his inventory was taken by Edward Southworth and Thomas Delano]. Probably no other of the Pilgrim band has been so exhaustively researched as George Soule. Roland Soule studied all the American records and took a 1922-3 trip to England to determine his parentage, concluding Robert Soule of Eckingham was the father of George and his two brothers Thomas and Robert. But later he says that a George Soule married in 1631, and a Nathaniel Soule, presumably his son, was baptized three years later." This could not be George's father, since he could not have been a Pilgrim. It is also noted that The Soule Genealogy by Ridlon "contains many inaccuracies both in detail and in family organization." Much information here comes from Families of the Pilgrims compiled by Hubert Kinney Shaw for the MA Society of Mayflower Descendants and published by them 1956, 9 in BostonMA, and The Mayflower Descendant.

His name does not appear in any known list of those who joined the Mayflower in Leyden, and there are strong reasons to believe that Winslow found him somewhre in the vicinity of London. He is clearly established as "servant" to relatively wealthy Pilgrim Edward Winslow, also a signer of the Mayflower Compact. Winslow probably bore the cost of his passage.

"...After interminable delays the Mayflower set sail in the worst season of the year for an ocean crossing, and after a rough passage, anchored on 11 November 1620 in the harbor of Cape Cod...No group of settlers in America was so ill-fitted by experience and equipment to cope with the wilderness...yet none came throug hso magnificently. For as Bradford put it, 'they knew they were pilgirms, and looked not much on those things, but lift up their eyes to the heavens, their dearest country' and as another wrote to [Sir Edwsin] Sandys, 'It is not with us as with other men, whom small things can discourage, or small discontentments cause to wish themselves at home again.' For several years the colony ran neck-and-neck with famine. But they never lost heart or considered giving up and going home. These simple folk were exalted to the stature of statesmen and prophets in their narrow sphere, because they ardently believed and so greatly dared and firmly endured. They set forth in acts as in words the stout-hearted idealism in actin that Americans admire; that is why Plymouth Rock has become a symbol. For, as Governor Bradford concluded his annals of lean years: 'Thus out of small beginnings greater things have been produced by his hand that made all things fo nothing, and gives being to all things that are; and as one small candle may light a thousand; so the light here kindled hath shone unto many, yea, in some sort to our whole nation.'" --The Growth of the American Republic, Morrison/Commager Oxford Univ Press 4th ed 1950

The Compact George Soule signed,

"IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, etc.

"Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presnets solemnly and mutually in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, sonstitute and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shallbe thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony: unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.

"In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod the 11 of November, in the year of the reign of our sovereign Lord, King James of England, France and Ireland the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Ano.Dom. 1620."

It is noted that November 21 is the same as November 11 of the Old Style Calendar.

Bradford tells us that Mr Winslow brought with him his wife, Elizabeth and "2 men servants, caled Georg Sowle and Elias Story...[and in 1655] Georg Sowle is still living, and hath 8 children." In the division of lands in 1623, George was alotted one acre "on the South side of the brooke to the baywards." His home and lot were near Eel River at first, but he had subsequent grants at Powder Point and "Ye watering place." In 1645 with Myles Standish and others he crossed the bay and founded a new home in Duxbury, locating at Powder Point, where he lived the rest of his life. Here in Duxbury he served as selectman and civil magistrate and was frequently re-elected. He was also representative to the General Court in 1642-5, -50, -51, -53 and -54. He had for colleagues during his official career such distinguished men as Alden, Southworth, Pabodie, and Starr. When Bridgewater was set off from Duxbury, he was one of the original proprietors of that town, but soon disposed of his property there and became one of the earliest purchasers of Dartmouth and Middleboro. He thus became an original proprietor in the founding of four new settlements. Unlike some of his colleagues, George never returned to his homeland. However, suffice to say that he became a relatively well-to-do leader, business man and office holder in Plymouth Colony. As early as July 1627 George Soule was one of a group of 58 Purchaser or Old Comers who assumed Plymouth Colongy's debt to "The Adventurers," the promoters and capitalists who financed the voyage of the Mayflower and othe early ventures and expenses of the colony. In return the group received profitable trading concessions in Maine, at Cape Ann, on Buzzard's Bay and subsequently on the Connecticut River. The General Court voted 3/5/1639/40 to pay these Purchasers for the surrender of their patent. Existing holdings in Duxbury, Dartmouth, Middleboro, Marshfield and Bridgewater but resided only in Plymouth and Duxbury or "Ducksburrow" as it was called originally. On 9/27/1642 he appeared before the General Court as one of two "Deputies" or representatives from Duxbury, Plymouth Conly having established a representative government in 1639 after finding it no longer practical to have all of the colonists participate as individuals. The representatives were limited to terms of l yr and denied the right of succession so we find George Soule serving each alternate year for many years, with increasing assignments such as forming a committee 10/26/1646 with Anthony Thatcher "to draw up an order concerning disorderly drinking of tobacco."

Early in 1637 the Pequot Indians "fell openly" upon the English at CT. In response to a plea for assistance, the Plymouth General Court agreed to send 50 men. George Soule volunteered for this service 6/7/1637 as one of 42 men under Lt Wm Holmes and Rev Thomas Prence as chaplain "but when they were ready to march...they had word to stay; for the enemy was as good as vanquished and there would be no need." The Society of Colonial Wars recognizes the eligibility for membership of any descendant of George Soule by reason of this "service" which, strictly speaking, was not actually performed. Five years later he was appointed to the committee for offensive and defensive war. He was called as a collaborator with Governor Prince, Winslow and Constant Southworth in the revision of the Colonial laws, a position of great responsiblity.

An eyewitness has also identified one "George Soule Sr" as having occupied the fort at Middleboro for 6wks in 1675 during King Phillip's War. Admitting that Pilgrim George Soule was an original proprietor of Middleboro, the disposal of his property there in 1668 and his advancing age, lend credibility to a theory that the member of the fort party was actually the Pilgrim's son George. His will, probated 1679: "In the Name of God Amen I Gorge Soule senir of Duxbury in the Collonie of New Plymouth in New England being aged and weake of body but of sound mind and Memory praised be God Doe make this my last Will and Testament in Manor and for me following

Imprimus I comitt my soule into the hands of Almighty God whoe Gave it and my body to be Decently buried in the place appointed for that use whensoever hee shall please to take me hence; and for the Disposall of my outward estate which God of his Goodness hath Given mee first I have and already formerly by Deeds under my hand and seale Given unto my two sonnes Nathaniel: and Gorge All my lands in the Township of Dartmouth;

Item I have formerly Given unto my Daughters Elizabeth and Patience all my lands in the Township of Middleberry

Item I Give and bequeath unto my Daughters Susannah and Mary 12 pence a peece to be paid by my executor hereafter Named after my decease; and forasmuch as my Eldest son John Soule and his family hath in my extreme old age and weakness bin tender and careful of mee and very healpful to mee; and is likely to soe to be while it shall please God to continew my life heer therefore I give and bequeath unto my said son John Soule all the Remainder of my housing and lands whatsoever to him his heires and Assigns forever

Item I Give and bequeath unto my son John Soule all my Good and Chattles whatsoever

Item I Nominate and appoint my son John Soule to be my sole Executor of my last will and Testament; and lastly I doe heerby make Null and voyde all other and former wills and Testaments by mee att Any time made; and Declare this instrument to be my last WIll and Testament In Witness whereof I the said Gorge Soule have heerunto sett my hand and seale this eleventh Day of August in the year of our Lord one Thousand six hundred seaventy and seaven: Gorge Soule and a seale

The above named Gorge Soule Did signe seale and Deliver this Instrument to be his Last Will and Testament in the presence of us Nathaniel Thomas The Marke D T of Deborah Thomas.

Apparently son John was displeased with the amount of property given to his sister Patience and this codicil was written:

Item the twentyeth Day of September 1677 I the above Named Gorge Soule Doe heerby further Declare that it is my will that if my son John SOule above named or his heires of Assignes or any of them shall att any time Disturbe my Daughter Patience or her heires or Assignes or any of them in peacable Posession of Injoyment of the llands I have given her att Namassaket allies Middleberry and Recover the same from her or her heires or Assignes or any of them That then my Gift to my son John Soule shall be voyd; and that then my will is my Daughter Patience shall have all my lands att Duxburrey And she shalbe my sole executrix of this my last Will and Testament And enter into my housing lands and meddowes att Duxburrow, In Witness whereof I have heerunto sett my hand and seale; Gorge Soule and A seal

The above Name Gorge Soule Did Signe and seale to this addition in the presence of us Nathaniell Thomas The Marke DT of Deborah Thomas

(MARY BECKET) d.12/1676 DuxburyMA m.PlymouthMA before 1626 arrived Plymouth bef.7/31/1623 aboard

the Anne "In more than one instance, a lonely puritan came to the door of a maiden he had never seen, presented credentials, told his need of a housekeeper, proposed marriage, obtained hasty consent, and notified the clerk, all in one day. On one occassion, a bold fellow removed a rival's name from the posted marriage notice, inserted his own, and carried off the bride. After his death she married the first lover...Many towns assigned building lots to bachelors upon marriage. It is not strange that bachelors were scarce...In case of the decease of husband or wife, remarriage was prompt. The first marriage in the Plymouth Colony was that of Edward Winslow, who had been a widower only 7 weeks, to Susanna White, who had been a widow not twelve weeks...Selectmen were to see to it that parents educated their children...If after admonition and repeated fine negligent parents did not improve, the children were to be taken away and placed with masters where they should receive training and government...In the bareness and cold of MA, mortaility of infants was frightful. One man had 16 children. The first was only a year and a half when the second was born. When the baby was four days old, the older child died. This calmity was 5 times repeated. Married nine years, the mother had one child living and five dead. With freezing homes, bad diet, and Spartan treatment, it does not seem strange that a large proportion of 17th-century children died in infancy...Of Cotton Mather's 15 children, only 2 surivied him, and of Judge Sewall's 14, only 3 outlived their father. A little book of etiquette apparently widely circulated in Colonial days contains directions for the table behavior of children: 'Never sit down at the table till asked, and after the blessing. Ask for nothing; tarry till it be offered thee. Speak not. Look not earnestly at any other that is eating. When moderately satisfied leave the table. Sing not, hum not, wriggle not. Spit nowhere in the room but in the corner. When any speak to thee, stand up. Say not I have heard it before. Never endeavor to help out if he tell it not right. Snigger not; never question the truth of it.'"

1.Zachariah (b.PlymouthMA bef 1627 as in Aug 1643 was enumerated on the list of Duxbury residents aged

16 to 60 able to bear arms, and in 22 May/1 June 1627 he shared in the division of cattle d.DuxburyMA prob.

shortly before inventory of his effects was taken 11 Dec 1663 by John Alden and Constant Southworth)

(Margaret)p.Wm Ford Sr who gave the widow's bond as administratix of her deceased husband's estate.

Nothing has been found to suggest Zachariah had children.

2.John b.1632 Plymouth

3.Nathaniel b.1637 Plymouth

4.George b.1639 Plymouth

5.Susanna b.1642 Plymouth

6.Mary (b.1644 Plymouth d.Plymouth aft 1720)

(John Peterson)m.1666 Duxbury b.1636 d.betw 4/29/1718 and 3/26/1720 Duxbury (will & proving)

a.Joseph b.Benjamin c.David d.Isaac e.Martha f.Mrs Joseph (Mary) Soule g.Mrs Jn (Rebecca) Weston&

h.Isaac (Inherited the homestead farm of Pilgrim George Soule thru' his father)

7.Elizabeth b.1645 Plymouth

8.Patience b.1648 Duxbury

9.Benjamin b.1651 Duxbury d.3/26/1676 PawtucketRI by Indians in King Phillip's War. Nothing suggests

marriage or children

6 greats-grandfather Jonathan Rathbun 1762-1824

He was born about 1762 at Exeter, Rhode Island, and moved with his parents about 1775 to Tyringham, Massachusetts. He married at Beckett, MA in October of 1786 Elizabeth Clark, who was born October 30, 1770. They lived in Tyringham for some years, then moved by 1810 to Avon, Ontario County, New York, where his brother Emund was already living. Jonathan had financial problems, and in February 1820 most of his property was sold at auction to pay a $2000 debt. He sold his remaining 50 acres on December 20, 1820 and moved to Sandusky County Ohio where he built a log cabin home in Green Creek Township on what was known as the Persing farm, a quarter mile west of the village of Clyde. He was elected fence viewer at the first township election in April 1822 and was on the town's first jury list. He died in the fall of 1824, when according to family tradition he became overheated while working in the fields. His widow returned to New York state with her younger children and died there in VarysburgNY 1845, buried in OrangevilleNY.

Cooley writes

"Jonathan was a revolutionary soldier and was in the battle of Bunker Hill. During the battle his wife Elizabeth, thinking she owuld like to locate the battle as she heard the roar of the cannons, thought she would go and climb a haystack, thking she would know pretty near by the mark of the land where the battle was. She succeeded in climbing the stack. She decided the battle must be on Bunker Hill or very near there, she returned home, picked up all her pewter spoons and pieces of lead she could find and made them into bullets, she also had a pewter platter, an article much prized in those days, she melted her platter up and made a great many bullets, which helped the army. She also cared fo r the wounded. Jonathan was also at the battle of Lexington, also at the burning of Buffalo and in the battle of Lundy's Lane, when themilitia was called out. His son Clark was a drummer in the army. He removed from Rhode Island to Verona Ohio, thence to Clyde. He died at Green Creek, Ohio 1824, aged 82 years. She lived with her father's family after her husband's death. Jonathan Rathbone of County or TyenbinghamMA bought land of Elnathan Mitchell of WA,CT date 11/21/1801. Pittsfield's records, book 38, page 861. He deeded to Jehabod Clark of Granville, land dated 10/1/1802 signed by Jonathan and Elizabeth. Page 51 Pittsfield Records, deed of land to John Northop, date 12/3/1799. On 5/19/1812 he acknowledged the deed as his free act.

children

1.JONATHAN (b.1787 m.Mary Higbee)

c.Mrs Calista Aldrich

2.CLARK (b.10/8/1789 d.&i.MaskesawWI) was at BuffaloNY with bro Chaplin when it was burned by the Indians

and the English. Clark lived a few years with his father in Sandusky Co then returned to NY.

(Maria Woodruff) p.Gad W of LennoxMA b.GreenCreekOH m.LivingstonCoNY d.SenecaFallsNY

(Nancy Barlow) d.&i.MaskesawWI

3.LAURA (b.1791 m.John Davidson c.John, Maria and Lydia) d.GreenCreekTwpSanduskyCoOH

4.CHAPLIN (b.7/4/1793 TyringhamMA d.1865ClydeOH) settled first at BloodRiverOH then GreenCreek, in the War of 1812, and was at Buffalo when burnt by the English and Indians. They arrived in Sandusky Co from Loraine Co in1824. The History of Sandusky County says he and his wife were born in New York State.

(Lucinda Sutliff)

a.Saxton S Rathbun (b.1813 LivingstonCoNY d.1895) Cooley in one place lists ClydeOH and NY in another

as birthplace. He lived on the Chaplin Rathbun homestead after his father died.

(Barbary E Huss) m.4/19/1835

i.Clark (b.8/23/1835 d.young)

ii.Edwin C (b.3/10/1837 d.9/4/1878 StLouisMO unmarried)

iii.Norton G (b.9/19/1839 SanduskyCoOH m.12/25/1865. County commissioner 1878.

(Elizabeth Hufford) p.Cornelius & Mary H.

c.Edwin, Arthur, Herman r.GreenCreek

iv.James H (b.6/14/1840 d.12/31/1862 at battle of Stone River)

v.Burton Saxton (b.2/26/1842 m.2/25/1859 Marg't Beunthorer) r.GreenCk

vi.Thadeus S (b.10/20/1843 d.1/10/1852)

vii.Chaplin I (m.11/25/1870 Mary Grover c.Mary,Edith,Frncis,James,Nina,Lucy,Olive) r.Ballville

viii.Mary Lucinda (b.a3/1/1847 m.CWStorer 12/7/1871 c.:Alice,Bessie,Mary,James,Carrie) r.GrCrk

ix.Norman H (b.1/19/1849 d.11/1/1872)

x.Brace Martin (b.4/2/1851 m.11/17/1889 r.GreenCreek

(Mary C Cooper) b.12/21/1854 GenesseeNY c.BerthaAmelia(b.1/15/1882 ClydeOH) & Bannie Ann

xi.Orvilla (b.10/19/1853 m.Horace Lockridge 12/18/1879 c.Lyman,Blanch,Maude,Fred,Jesse)

(Sackrider) r.GreenCreekOH

xii.Jacob (b.9/12/1855 d.8/28/1856)

xiii.John F (b.8/11/1857 m.9/1880 Eloise Andrews c.Ferne) r.Ballville

b.Mrs Janet Cleveland r.GreenCreekOH

c.Mrs Catharine Huss r.GreenCreekOH

d.Mrs Sarah Foster r.IN

e.Mrs Eliza Hunter r.IN

5.SARAH "Sally" (b.5/1/1798 m.Roswell Pettibone Merrill 1/4/1813) lived in SanduskyCoOH some years and then returned to NY.

6.ELIZA (b.4/29/1798 m.Aaron Milliman, her cousin, 1/24/1824) lived in GreenCreek SanduskyCoOH sometime, then moved and died in MI.

7.LUCIUS (b.4/11/1800 m. 1.Rhoda Gillette 2.Sarah Glick) remained in Sandusky township and reared a large family. He died in Michigan, according to the History of Sandusky County.

8.MARVEL (b.1802 d.&i.GreenCreekOH 8/28/1824

(Lyman Jones) b.1892 m.1819 AvonNY d.&i.GreenCreekOH 8/12/1824 --our direct ancestor, see below)

9.ANNA (b.1804 m.Truman Woodruff)

c.Freeman Woodruff

10.MARTIN DUDLEY (b.6/17/1807 AvonNY m.2/13/1834 AvonNY Frances Harvey) lived in Sandusky Co OH a number of years and moved to MI where he died.

11.CALISTA (b.1809 d.1819 according to Cooley, but listed as heir in 1832 newspaper ad)

12.NAME UNKOWN (died aged 12 according to Cooley)

5 greats-grandmother Marvel Rathbun1802-1824

For more, see the Jones chapter, since she married Lyman Jones in 1819 at AvonNY, moving to Green Creek OH in the 1820's when they bought 380 acres of land. He died August 12, 1824, she died about two weeks later, August 28, 1824, and they were buried side by side.

children:

1.Mary Ann Jones (b.3/28/1820 Avon NY)

(E P Talman)b.Galway SaratogaCoNY d.8/21/1867 Perinton MonroeCoNY m.5/13/1841 OrangevilleNY, a

freewill Baptist, talented and loved by all

a.Lyman J Talman (b.6/6/1842 Perinton MonroeCoNY)

(Mary E Staples) m.6/21/1867 d.5/29/1877

(Sarah Whalen) m.3/1/1879 WalworthNY

i.Ezra Talman (b.12/8/1879)

ii.Isaac N Talman (b.10/14/1851 Middleville HerkimerCoNY)

Research Notes:

Kings Towne, first settled in 1641, was incorporated 10/28/1674 as the seventh town in the colony of Rhode Island. Briefly the name was changed to Rochester in 1686 but restored in 1689. In Feb 1722/3, when the town was divided into North and South Kingstown, NK was designated in an Act of the General Assembly as the elder of the two towns, with its clerk to have custody of the early records. Apparently SK anticipated this event and kept a few earlier records of its own. Unfortunately for both towns, the Wickford National Bank, where the records were stored, was burned by robbers in an attempt to blow open the bank's safe on the night of 12/15-16/1780. The records were badly licked by the flames, destroying page numbers and words near page edges. J N Arnold had copied many of the early Rhode Island records, but caution must be used in depending on any secondary records. (For information one must go to the various towns, as Rhode Island does not have the county system of keeping records). Later NK and SK became Exeter RI

Colchester is now Salem

Block Island and New ShorehamRI are the same place

Other chapters in my genealogy include those of the Yochum family, the Hinsch family, the Mattson family, and the Stahl family