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COLONEL JOHN KNOWLES (b. 1673), son of John Knowles and Apphia Bangs
MARY SEARS (1672–1745), daugher of Paul Sears and Deborah Willard
John, the son of John and Apphia Knowles, was born on 10 July 1673 in Eastham, Barnstable County, Massachusetts. [1, 4:142][2] He died on 3 November 1757 in Eastham. [3] He married first Mary Sears. [3] He married second Mrs. Rebecca Chanly (Chanle) “now resident in Eastham” on 6 May 1746. [3] She died before 12 October 1773.
Birth Record: [2]
Mary, the daughter of Paul and Deborah (Willard) Sears, was born on 24 October 1672 in Yarmouth in Barnstable County and died on 7 November 1745 in Eastham. [3] She is buried in the Cove Burying Ground in Eastham. The inscription on her gravestone says, "Here lies buried the body of Mrs. Mary Knowls wife to Coll.o John Knowls who died Nov.r ye 7th 1745 in the 73rd year of her age." [4]
Administration on the estate of Rebecca ( ) (Chanly) Knowles was granted to Enoch Higgens of Eastham on 12 October 1773. [3]
John, an orphan, was brought up by his uncle Joshua Bangs and probably named his first child after him. Libby says he was brought up by Joshua Sparrow; thus must be an error. [3]
John registered the earmark for his cattle on 24 April 1695. [3] He was a juryman in 1701. [3] He was a member of a board of arbitration in 1706. [3]
John’s uncle Joshua Bangs of Eastham made his will on 13 February 1706/7. He left his wife Hannah the house that John Knowles lived in in Eastham for her lifetime. After, it was to go to John. John and [his presumed stepbrother] Joseph Atwood were the executors. [5]
In 1715 Lieutenant John Knowles was one of five men chosen to apportion the remaining common lands in Eastham. [3]
Colonel John Knowles commanded the Second Barnstable Regiment. [3]
Joshua Sparrow left John Knowles the house he was living in. [3]
Late in life John bought the farm of Reverend Samuel Treat from his heirs. [3]
Children of John Knowles and Mary Sears: Births of the first eight recorded in Eastham [1, 8:89]
i. Joshua Knowles was born on 6 July 1696. He died on 27 May 1786 in Eastham. [3] He married first Sarah Paine. [3] Sarah, the daughter of Deacon John Paine and Bennett Freeman, was born on 14 April 1699 and died on 12 July 1772. [3]
ii. Lieutenant John Knowles was born on 28 June 1698. He died on 22 September 1752 in Haddam, Connecticut. [3] He married Mehitable Walker after 25 March 1721 (intention). [6] She died on 11 October 1752. [3]
iii. Seth Knowles was born on 7 August 1700. He died on 23 August 1752 in East Hampton, a parish in Chatham, Connecticut. [3] He married Martha Remick on 3 October 1723 in Eastham. [3] Martha, the daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth (Freeman) Remick, died in 1760 in East Hampton. [3]
iv. Paul Knowles was born on 8 August 1702. He married Phebe Paine.
v. James Knowles was born on 4 November 1704. He died about 1732. [3] He married Ann Doane on 31 March 1726. [3] Ann, the daughter of Nathaniel [son of Daniel, son of John, b. 1636] and Mary Doane, died on 1 August 1777 in Eastham. [3] She married second her husband’s first cousin Deacon Edward Knowles, the son of John Knowles. [3] Edward was born on 3 February 1713/4 in Eastham and died on 5 December 1799. [3] He married second the widow Eunice Harding on 7 May 1778 in Wellfleet. [3] She died on 27 September 1780 in Eastham. [3] He married third the widow Lydia Berry after 27 June 1781 (intention) in Eastham. [3]
vi. Jesse Knowles was born on 1 April 1707.
vii. Mary Knowles was born in October 1709. She married John Wing, Jr. of Harwich after 10 August 1728 (intention) in Eastham. [3] He was born on 3 April 1702 and died before 1773, when his will was proved. [3]
viii. Colonel Willard Knowles was born on 8 February 1712. [7] He died on 11 March 1786, age 74, and is buried in the Bridge Road Cemetery in Eastham. [8] He married Bethiah Atwood on 10 May 1733. [9]
The inscription on Willard’s gravestone says, “To the Memory of Col. Willard Knowles who after a Life of Virtue & various usefulness attended with Prosperity and Reputation Died March 11, 1786 in the 75th Year of his Age.” [8]
Willard was a tanner. [3] He was justice of the peace. [3]
Like his father, Willard commanded the Second Barnstable Regiment. [3]
He inherited the Treat farm from his father. [3]
References:
1. “Massachusetts Vital Records, 1620–1850,” database with images, AmericanAncestors > Eastham-Orleans. Records are from the Mayflower Descendant and the volume and page numbers refer to their location there. "Eastham and Orleans Vital Records," Mayflower Descendant 8: 89.
2. “Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988,” database with images, Ancestry > Orleans > Records, 1637–1853, image 163. [photo]
3. Charles Thornton Libby, “The Knowles Family of Eastham, Massachusetts,” New England Historical and Genealogical Register 79 (1925): 380–1; 80 (1926): 11–20.
4. "Mary Sears Knowles," Findagrave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20541591/mary-knowles),
5. “Barnstable, MA: Probate Records, 1685–1789,” database with images, AmericanAncestors, vol. 3: 246–49.
6. “Vital Records of the Towns of Eastham and Orleans, Massachusetts,” database with images, Ancestry > vol. 28 (1930): 139.
7. Elijah Francis Atwood, Ye Atte Wode Annals (Sisselton, SD: Atwood Publishing Co., 1928), 11.
8. “Col. Willard Knowles,” Findagrave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/21745671/willard-knowles).
9. New Englanders in Nova Scotia, manuscript, R. Stanton Avery Special Collections, New England Historic and Genealogical Society, online database, AmericanAncestors, 8–9.
©a. buiter
26-Dec-2022