Ebenezer Sears

Ebenezer Sears (1723–1814), son of Ebenezer Sears and Sarah Howes

Elizabeth Cook (1734–1797), daughter of Josiah Cook and Hannah Sparrow

Ebenezer, the son of Ebenezer and Sarah Sears, was born on 13 June 1723 in Yarmouth, Barnstable County, Massachusetts.¹ He died on 28 December 1814, age 93 (Elisha Niles' diary) or 29 December 1814, age 92 (church record) in Chatham (now East Hampton), Middlesex County, Connecticut.^2,3 He married first Elizabeth Cooke on 25 January 1753 in Middletown.⁴ He married second Dorcas Bebee of East Hampton on 25 April 1798.²

Elizabeth Cooke, the daughter of Josiah Cook and Hannah Sparrow, was born on 24 February 1733/4 in Eastham, Barnstable County, Massachusetts.⁵ She was baptized with three of her siblings on 4 October 1741 in the Haddam Neck Congregational Church, then in Middletown, Middlesex County, Connecticut and later in Chatham.² According to Elisha Niles's diary, Ebenezer's wife died on 2 July and was buried on 3 July 1797.³ According to the church record, she died on 4 July, age 63.²

Ebenezer lived in the part of Middletown that was set off as Chatham (now East Hampton) in 1767.

In 1790 Ebenezer headed a household in Chatham with one male over 16 and four females, probably Elizabeth, Sarah, Hannah, and Elizabeth, Jr.⁶

Ebenezer was a member of the Congregational Church in East Hampton. Styled Ebenezer, Jr., he was chosen collector in November 1755. He was chosen auditor on 29 November 1762. He was chosen a member of a committee on 10 December 1767 and 28 November 1768. He was chosen a member of the school committee on 26 November 1770. He was chosen a member of the committee to seat the meeting house on 6 March 1775 and his auditor's report was accepted the same day. He was listed as a church member in full communion on 10 February 1779. Ebenezer and Elizabeth were church members in 1792.²

Ebenezer married his second wife, Dorcas Beebe, when he was 74 years old. This suggests that Dorcas was previously previously married and might be the Dorcas Babbit, of Colchester, New London County, who married Rosel or Roswell Beebe of Colchester on 5 or 7 March 1763 in Colchester.^4,7 The title of Stover's article suggest that Rosel and Dorcas might have divorced.⁷

Children of Ebenezer Sears and Elizabeth Cook:

i. Anna Sears was born on 17 February 1755 in Middletown. She died on 8 July 1835. She married Amos Clark.

ii. Lieutenant David Sears was born on 27 November 1757 in Middletown.⁴ David, a Revolutionary War pensioner died on 19 April 1842, age 86 (Elisha Niles' diary) or 19, 20 or 29 April 1842, age 84 (church records).^2,3 He married Lucy Hall of Chatham.⁸ Lucy, the wife of David, died on 2 July 1827, age 66.³

David was appointed lieutenant of the Second Regiment, Connecticut Militia on 23 July 1776.⁸ He is listed as a pensioner in the census of 1840.⁸

David and Lucy were admitted to the East Hampton Congregational Church on 4 October 1795.² David held many offices there between 1780 and 1816.²

iii. Sarah "Sally" Sears⁸ was born about 1761 in Middletown. She died on 2 February 1819, age 58, in Chatham.²[grave] She is buried inthe Lakeview Cemetery in East Hampton.⁹ She married Seth Alvord, Jr. on 5 September 1793.^2,4 Seth, the son of Seth and Eliza (Spencer) Alvord, was born on 28 July 1754 and died on 14 July 1836.⁸

Sally was admitted to full communion at the church in East Hampton on 14 October 1798.²

iv. Hannah Sears was born on 3 June 1760 in Middletown.⁸ She married Captain Timo Ruggles of Cape Cod.⁸ He died on 27 September 1796, age 39.⁸

Timo was a Revolutionary War soldier.⁸ He taught school in Middletown.⁸ He was a Representative from Chathan in 1793–4.⁸

v. Elizabeth "Betsy" Sears⁸ was born on 7 October 1768 in Chatham.² She was baptized in the Congregational Church in East Hampton on 9 October 1768.² She married John Willey, Jr. of Chatham on 5 August 1794.²

John and Betsey died leaving no children.⁸ They moved to Granby, Connecticut.⁸

Endnotes:

1. Robert M. Sherman and Ruth Wilder Sherman, Vital Records of Yarmouth, Massachusetts: To the Year 1850, vol. 1 (Warwick: Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of Rhode Island, 1975), 49.

2. "Connecticut, U.S., Church Record Abstracts, 1630–1920," Ancestry (2013: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3032) > vol. 26 East Hampton (East Hampton Congregational Church), image 25 (Alvord), 451–62 (Sears); vol. 27 East Hampton (Haddam Neck Congretational Church), images 78–81.

3. Notes Taken from the Diary of Elisha Niles of Colchester and East Hampton, 1764–1850, (Connecticut State Library, 1946), digitized copy, Connecticut Digital Archives (https://www.connecticuthistoryillustrated.org).

4. "Connecticut: Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630–1870," database with images, AmericanAncestors (2011) > Chatham, images 68–69; Middletown, image 399; Colchester, image 6.

5. "Eastham, Mass, Vital Records," Mayflower Descendant 13: 31.

6. "United States Federal Census," Databases with images, Ancestry (2004–2010)> 1790 (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/5058) > CT > Middlesex > Haddam, image 1.

7. Margaret Harris Stover, "Mortgage Extractions from the Divorce Records of Hartford County, Connecticut Superior Court 1755–1803," Connecticut Nutmegger 28 (1996): 576.

8. Samuel Pierce May, The Descendants of Richard Sares (Sears) of Yarmouth, Mass., 1638–1888 (Albany: J. Munsell, 1890), 129–30., 214.

9. "Sarah Alvard," webpage, Findagrave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/45453584/sarah-alvard), inscription: "Sarah Alvard consort of Seth Alvard died Feb. 2, 1819 aged 58 years."

Last revised: 14-Jul-2023