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24. WILLIAM PALMER (bp. 1678–after 1729) (Gershom, Walter)
William Palmer was baptized on 25 April 1678 in Stonington. He died after 8 October 1729, when he made a quitclaim deed. He married Grace Minor in January 1701/2. [1]
On 24 June 1703 Manasseh Minor wrote in his diary, “William palmor & his wife were examined at mr Noyses house.” [2] William and his wife Grace were admitted to the first church in Stonington on 27 June 1703. [3]
By a 9 May 1716 deed, William’s father gave William land at Puckhunganuck, and on William’s decease, the land was to go to William’s sons William, Elihu and Wait. On 29 December 1719 William mortgaged this land. In 1728/9 he assigned rights in two parcels of land to his three sons and two of them — William and Wait — gave a deed to the land to the third, Elihu. On 8 October 1729 William made a quitclaim deed to his sons William, junior, Elihu of Westerly and Wait of Stonington. [4]
William and Grace lived at Taugwonk and later moved to Puckhunganuck. [5]
25. GRACE MINOR (1683–after 1711) (Ephraim, Thomas)
Grace Minor was born in September 1683 in Stonington. She was baptized on 14 November 1683 in Stonington. She died after 27 May 1711, when her last child was born. [6] She married William Palmer.
Children of William Palmer and Grace Minor: [7]
i. Grace Palmer was baptized on 27 June 1703 in Stonington. She married David Fish on 30 March 1720/1 in Stonington. David, the son of John and Margaret Fish, was baptized on 18 August 1695 in Stonington. [8]
On 31 August 1718 Manasseh Minor wrote in his diary, “grace palmer propounded for Comunion.” Grace Fish was admitted to the church on 18 November 1733. [9]
ii. William Palmer (#12) was born on 16 November 1704. He died after 23 March 1777. He married Abigail Wyatt.
iii. Elihu Palmer was baptized on 22 December 1706 in Stonington. He died before 23 December 1733. He married Deborah Reynolds on 19 January 1726 in Westerly. [10]
On 23 December 1733 Elihu, the son of Elihu, deceased, was baptized “at the request of his grandfather William Palmer.” [11]
iv. Elder Wait Palmer was baptized on 27 May 1711. He died “about” 20 August 1799 in North Stonington. He married Mary Brown in 1727. Mary, the daughter of Eleazer and Ann (Pendleton) Brown, was born on 28 November 1703. [12]
Wait and his wife Mary were admitted to communion on 12 December 1736. Wait was ordained at the first Baptist church in Stonington in September 1743. After the First Congregational Church in Stonington and the second Congregational Church in what is now North Stonington, the third church to form in Stonington was the Baptist Church in Puckhunganuck in 1743. Wait was the first pastor. However, for reasons “not now fully known,” he was excluded from the church after serving for almost twenty years. [13]
Endnotes
1. William’s baptism (son of Gershom) record is in Palmer. FCC, 195. In January 1701/2 Manasseh Minor wrote in his diary, “william palmer maryed,” DMM, 50.
2. DMM, 61.
3. DMM, 61. FCC, 190.
4. PFG, 55.
5. PFG, 55.
6. Grace’s birth (daughter of Ephraim) record is in CVR, Stonington, 165. Her baptism (daughter of Ephraim) record is in FCC, 196.
7. The baptisms of their children, described as children of William, are found in FCC, 204–6, 209.
8. David’s marriage record is in CVR, Stonington, 94. David’s baptism record is in CCR, vol. 111 Stonington, 163. David’s parents and baptism record (April), in HTS, 372.
9. DMM, 142. CCR, vol. 111 Stonington, 163.
10. Elihu’s wedding record in Westerly marriages. “Rhode Island Vital Extracts,” Ancestry > vol. 5 Washington County: Births, Marriages, Deaths > image 306.
11. CCR, vol. 83 North Stonington, 51.
12. Wait ordained over first Baptist church, Sept. 1743, d. “about” the 20th of Aug. 1799 in CCR, vol. 83 North Stonington, 52. Mary’s parents and birth date, Wait and Mary’s marriage date in HTS, 279, 516.
13. CCR, 83 North Stonington, 52. HTS, 90.
Revised November 9, 2019
© 2019 A. Buiter