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32. GERSHOM PALMER (say 1644–1718) (Walter)
Gershom Palmer was born say 1644. He died on 27 September 1718 and was buried on 30 September. He married first Ann Denison on 28 November 1667 in New London. He married second Elizabeth (Peck) Mason on 11 or 13 November 1707. Elizabeth was the widow of Samuel (John) Mason. [1]
In his will of 1693 George Denison mentioned his daughter Ann Palmer and his son-in-law Gershom Palmer. [2]
At a 10 May 1666 Court of Elections in Hartford, Mr. Thomas Stanton was asked to administer the freeman’s oath to Gershom Palmer and others of Stonington. Gershom took the oath on 5 October 1669. [3]
Gershom lived on the eastern slope of Taugwonk in Stonington, “occupying and improving large tracts thereabouts.” He appears in a 1668 census of the town of Stonington. He is on a 5 October 1669 list of freemen in Stonington. Gershom and his wife Ann were admitted to the first church in Stonington on 19 August 1677. Gershom was chosen deacon on 9 December 1697. He was a soldier from Stonington in the early Indian wars. [4]
Gershom Palmer, John Denison and William Pratt witnessed the will of Joshua Uncas, sachem, on 29 February 1675. Gershom’s brother-in-law John Fish was a land surveyor and Gershom was associated with him in this work in 1680 and 1681. [5]
By 1685 Gershom Palmer and Thomas Bell were operating a sawmill in Stonington. [6]
On 27 March 1697 Gershom entered the following instrument, “… whereas my brother William, now deceased, did give and bequeath unto me his house, and all his land in Killingworth, forever, I settling one of my sons thereon, and in compliance with my deceased brother’s will, I do order my eldest son Gershom Palmer, Jr. to settle in said house upon said land. I … do give said house and lot … to him forever …” [7]
On 13 October 1698 the General Court appointed Deacon Palmer and Ensign Ephraim Minor to lay out 300 acres of land granted to Captain John Gallup. Mr. Gershom Palmer was deputy to the General Assembly at Hartford on 9 May 1706. [8]
In 1708 Gershom gave his sons George and Walter his entire farm on the eastern slope of Taugwonk, keeping for himself one-third of the produce and the use of the eastern end of his house. [9]
33. ANN DENISON (bp. 1649–1706) (George, William)
Ann Denison was baptized on 20 May 1649 in Roxbury. She died on 17 November 1706 and was buried the next day. [10] She married Gershom Palmer as his first wife.
Ann’s father referred to her as Ann Palmer in his will and he refers to Gershom Palmer as his son-in-law. [11]
What is supposed to be Ann’s gravestone in the Ancient Burial Ground in Stonington says, “Ann/ PALMER.” [12]
Children of Gershom Palmer and Ann Dension: [13]
i. Mercy Palmer was born about 1669. She died in 1752, at about age 83. She married, as his second wife, John Breed on 11 April 1689 in Stonington. John was the son John (Allen, Allen) Breed. He was born on 21: 11: 1662 in Lynn. He died in 1751, age about 91, in Stonington. [14]
John took the oath of allegiance in Lynn in June 1678. [15]
John bought land in Stonington from his father-in-law Gershom Palmer. He owned land in Stonington and what is now North Stonington. He is referred to as John Breed, shoemaker, in a deed. [16]
In May 1720 the General Assembly confirmed John as ensign of the third company in Stonington. He or his son John was a representative in 1735 and 1741. [17]
A carved stone in the Ancient Burial Ground in Stonington says, “In Memory of a pious pair/This carved stone is erected here/viz. of Mr. JOHN BREED & his wife/MERCY who lived together in ye/marriage state in a most religious manner/about 64 years & then decd leaving/a numerous offspring, he in ye year/1751 about 90 years of age & she in/ ye year 1752 about 83. erected in ye/year 1772. 6 of their children then living.” [18]
ii. Captain Gershom Palmer (twin) was baptized on 9 September 1677 in Stonington. He died on 2 March 1727 and is buried in the Indian River cemetery in Clinton, Middlesex County. He married Sarah Fenner in Saybrook. Sarah was the daughter of John (Arthur, Thomas) and Sarah Fenner. [19]
John Fenner of Saybrook made his will on 28 October 1708. His daughters Sarah and Phebe, who had had their portions, were left 20 pounds each. Gershom Palmer, husband of Sarah, and David Buell, husband of Phebe, objected to the will. [20]
The first church in Stonington recommended Gershom to the Killingworth church on 16 June 1697. Gershom was confirmed ensign of the western company in Killingworth in October 1718; he was confirmed captain in October 1724. [21]
iii. Captain Ichabod Palmer (twin) (#16) was baptized on 9 September 1677 in Stonington. He died between 8 May 1746 and 28 May 1749. He married Hannah Palmer.
iv. William Palmer (#24) was baptized on 25 April 1678 in Stonington. He died after 8 October 1729. He married Grace Minor.
v. George Palmer (#20) was baptized on 29 May 1681 in Stonington. He died on 8 May 1728 in Stonington. He married Hannah Palmer.
vi. Ann Palmer was baptized on 20 May 1683 in Stonington. She married Benjamin, the son of Benjamin Hewitt (#46).
vii. Walter Palmer was baptized on 7 June 1685 in Stonington. He died on 11 February 1726/7 in Stonington. He married Grace, the daughter of Edward Vose (#54), on 7 August 1712 in Stonington. [22]
On 30 October 1707 Manasseh Minor wrote in his diary, “walter palmer hurt himself.” [23]
In 1708 Walter’s father gave his sons George and Walter his farm on the eastern slope of Taugwonk. Walter built a house on the brow of the hill and kept a small store. [24]
Grace, the wife of Walter, was admitted to the first church in Stonington on 31 August 1718. [25]
Inventory on the estate of Walter Palmer, deceased on 11 February 1726/7, was taken on 3 and 4 April 1727. Grace Palmer, administratrix testified to the inventory on 11 April 1727. [26]
viii. Elihu Palmer was baptized on 6 May 1688 in Stonington.
ix. Mary Palmer (#31) was born on 14 March 1690 in Stonington. She died on 13 January 1777 in Voluntown She married Joseph Palmer.
x. Rebecca Palmer was baptized on 1 July 1694 in Stonington. She died on 22 March 1726 in Coventry. She married Benjamin Palmer, the son of Joseph Palmer (#42). [27]
Endnotes
1. 27 Sept. 1718: “deken Gersham dyed”; 30 Sept. 1718: “deken Gersham was buryed.” DMM, 143. “Novemr ye 28th 1667 Gershome Palmer and Ann Denison were Marded sic together at new London,” in Scott Andrew Bartley, “Marriages from the New London County Court Records, 1667–1670,” NEHGR 170 (2016), 23. Gershom’s second wife’s name, marriage date and first husband’s name and his father’s name in GMB, 1382–3. “Tuesday 26 of november 1667 … brother gershom palmer married] The same week,” in DMM, 199. Nov. 1707: 13 “deken palmer maryed,” in DMM, 103.
2. “Will of George Denison—1693,” NEHGR 13 (1859), 73–77, specifically 75–76.
3. PRC, vol. 2, 32, 523.
4. HTS, 509. PRC, vol. 2, 523. FCC, 40–1, 100, 189. DMM, 26, 179.
5. “Will of Joshua Uncas,” NEHGR 13 (1859), 235–7. HTS, 371.
6. Gale Ione Harris, “Thomas Bell, Boston Executioner, and his son Thomas Bell of Stonington,” The American Genealogist 74 (1999), 280.
7. HTS, 507–8.
8. PRC, vol. 4, 276, 531.
9. Vose, Robert Vose, 30.
10. Ann’s parents, baptism and death dates and places and husband’s identity in Alicia Crane Williams, “Early New England Families, 1641–1700,”database with images, AmericanAncestors, entry for George Denison. This source says Ann died in 1694. Nov. 1706: 17 “Deaken pallmors wife dyed”D; 18 “she was buryed,” in DMM, 96.
11. “Will of George Denison,—1693,” NEHGR.
12. Champlin, “Ancient Burial Ground at Stonington.”
13. The baptism records for their children (children of Gershom), except for Marcy and Mary, and Walter’s marriage record are in FCC, 195–7. Walter’s death record and Marcy and Walter’s marriage record are in CVR, Stonington, 191, 196.
14. John’s father’s and grandfather’s name, his birth date and place and his death year in Lindberg, “Breed Family.” This source says that he married Marcy on 8 January 1690/1.
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid.
18. Champlin, “Ancient Burial Ground at Stonington,” 23–29.
19. “Here lieth ye/body of Capt/Gershom Pal/mer who de/ceased March/ye 2, 1727/aged about/55 years,” inscription, “Capt. Gershom Palmer,” Findagrave, #30494455. The marriage record of Gershom and Sarah (daughter of John and Sarah, no date is in CVR, Saybrook, 86. Sarah’s ancestry in Mary Lowering Holman, “The Fenner, Browne and Tully Ancestry,” The American Genealogist 15 (1938), 80–84.
20. Donald Lines Jacobus, “New London Probate Records,” The American Genealogist 11 (1934), 104.
21. FCC, 190. PRC, vol. 6, 169, 494.
22. Grace, the daughter of Edward, married Walter Palmer, in Vose, Robert Vose, 16.
23. DMM, 102.
24. Vose, Robert Vose, 30.
25. FCC, 190. Aug. 1718: 31 “grace palmor admitted,” in DMM, 142.
26. CPR > Hartford > Probate Packets, Palmer, Thomas–Peck, A., 1675–1850 > images 76–109 of 1440.
27. Rebeckah, wife of Sergeant Benjamin Pallmer. Dimock, Records of Coventry, 191.
Revised November 12, 2019
© 2019 A. Buiter