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Captain Joseph Palmer (1717–1791), son of George Palmer and Hannah Palmer

Zipporah Billings (1715/6–1765/6), daughter of Ensign James Billings and Mary Hewitt

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Joseph, the son of George Palmer, was born on 16 August 1717 in Stonington. [1] He was baptized on 1 September 1717 in Stonington. [2] He died on 12 April 1791. [3, 143] He married first Zipporah Billings on 10 July 1738 in Stonington. [1] He married second Elizabeth (Stevens) Stewart. [3, 143]

Zipporah, the daughter of James Billings, was born on 2 October 1715/6 in Stonington. [1] She was baptized on 21 October 1716 in Stonington. [2] She died in 1765 or 1766. [3, 143]

Joseph Palmer was commissioned lieutenant of the sixth company of the eighth Connecticut regiment in May 1755. He was commissioned captain of the same company in October 1758. [4]

James Billings referred to Captain Joseph Palmer as his son-in-law in his will of 23 July 1761.

In 1738 Joseph Palmer, a son of George, sold to Joseph Minor for 150 pounds, 3-1/4 acres of land lying by Gershom and Zebulon’s share in their deceased father’s estate. Joseph lived on Pendleton Hill in Stonington. [3, 92–93]

Children of Joseph Palmer and Zipporah Billings, the births of the first five recorded, as the children of Joseph, in Stonington: [1]

i. David Palmer was born on 20 August 1738. He died in January 1821. [3, 155] He married first Grace Plumbe on 24 April 1760 in North Stonington. [6] Grace, the daughter of Samuel and Grace (Babcock) Plumbe, was born on 19 April 1739 in Stonington. [1][3, 155] David married second Rachel Coffin of Nantucket. [3, 155]

David was a private in the Revolutionary War and he moved to Clarendon, Rutland, Vermont. [3, 155] In 1810 he headed a household in Clarendon with two men and a woman age 45 and older, two women age 26 to 45, one girl age ten to fifteen and two boys and two girls under ten. In 1820 he headed a household in Clarendon with a man and a woman over 45. [5]

ii. Ethel (Eliel) Palmer was born on 25 July 1740.  He died on 10 May 1798 in Voluntown. [3, 156] He married first Elizabeth Williams of Stonington on 22 December 1763. [6] Elizabeth might be the daughter of Henry and Abigail (Avery) Williams, born on 10 November 1743 in Stonington. [7] Ethel married second Thankful Hewitt. [3, 156] Thankful might be the daughter of Elkanah and Elizabeth (Minor) Hewitt, born on 2 September 1753 in Stonington. [1] She might be the granddaughter of Elkanah Hewitt. [1]

Children of Ethel Palmer of North Stonington signed receipts for their share of his estate, received from Thankful Palmer, administratrix, on 9 January 1801. [8]

iii. Phebe Palmer was born on 3 September 1742. She died on 13 September 1793 in Stonington. She married Colonel Elias Sanford Palmer.

iv. Joseph Palmer was born on 1 February 1744/5. He is said to have died on 22 August 1829. [9] He married Susannah Kenny in 1770. [3, 156] Susannah may be the daughter of Jeremiah and Mary (Starkweather) Kenny, born on 5 September 1751 in Voluntown. [10] She died on 8 December 1850, age 103 years, three months and eight days. [9] Joseph and Susannah are buried in the Cranson cemetery in Clockville, Madison County, New York. [9]

In 1850 Susan Palmer, age 101 and born in Connecticut, was living in Lenox with Asher H. Palmer and his household. [5]

v. Zipporah Palmer was born on 31 March 1747. She married Unknown Coats. [3, 156] Her husband may have been William, the son of William and Ansibias (or perhaps Austin or Austice) Gray, born on 14 April 1745 in Lebanon. [6, parents' marriage][9][10] This William Coats died on 7 September 1821 and was buried in the Twelve Thousand Cemetery in Otsego County, New York. [9]

In 1800 William Coats headed a household made up of a man and a woman 45 and older, a woman between 25 and 45, two males between 16 and 25, boys between ten and 15 and two boys under ten in Burlington, Otsego County. [5]

vi. Content Palmer was born on 8 August 1749 in Stonington. She probably died young.

vi. Gershom Palmer was born in 1755. He died on 30 April 1831, age 76, in Pendleton Hill. [3, 158] He married [his first cousin] Zerviah Palmer on 1 January 1778. [3, 158] Zerviah, the daughter of Reverend Gershom Palmer and his wife Dorothy Brown, was born in 1756 in Preston and died on 16 December 1832 in Pendleton Hill. [3, 158]

viii. Jemima Palmer [3, 158] was born about 1757. She died on 4 May 1811, age 54, in Preston or Griswold. [10][11] She may be the Jemima Palmer of Stonington who married Jonathan Phillips of Preston on 21 January 1779 in Preston. [3, 158][10] Jonathan, the son of Jonathan and Jenevereth (Branch) Phillips, was baptized on 4 February 1753 in Griswold. [11]  He died on 5 December 1815, age 63, in Griswold. [11] He married second Amy Unknown.

Jonathan wrote his will on 4 December 1815 and witnesses testified on 27 December 1815. He mentioned his wife Amy and his children Ethel, Palmer, Joseph, Jonathan, Mary and Asenath. [8]

ix. Eunice Palmer was born in 1759. [9] She died on 1 February 1846. [9] She married [8er second cousin once removed] Stuckley (Stully or Stutely?) Palmer on 30 January 1780 in Stonington. [1] Stuckley, the son of Wait and Mary (Stafford) Palmer and grandson of Wait Palmer, was born on 23 January 1758 in Stonington. [1] He died on 23 July 1832. [9] Eunice and Stuckley are buried in the Dennison Corners Cemetery in German Flatts, Herkimer County, New York. [9]

Children of Joseph Palmer and Elizabeth Stevens:

10. Sabra Palmer was born on 25 April 1767. [3, 187] She died on 21 July 1850, age 83. [3, 187][9] She married Rowland Palmer on 1 January 1791 in Stonington. [1][3, 187] Rowland, the brother of Sabra’s half sister Eunice’s husband, was born about 1767. [3, 187] He died on 29 April 1856, age 69, in Lafayette, Onondaga County, New York. [3, 187][9] Sabra and Rowland are buried in the Christian Hollow cemetery in Lafayette. [9][19]

Endnotes

1. "Connecticut: Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630–1870," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org > Stonington.

2. Richard A Wheeler., History of the First Congregational Church, Stonington, Conn., 1674–1874 (Norwich, T.H. Davis and Co., 1875), 212.

3. Leavitt, Emily Wilder, Palmer Family Groups: John Melvin of Charlestown and Concord, Mass., and Some of His Descendants, (Boston, David Clapp & Son, 1901–1905).

4. Charles J. Hoadley, The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, vols. 4–12 (Hartford: Press of the Case, Lockwood and Brainard Co., 1868–1890), vol 10: 363; vol 11: 209.

5. Federal Census Collection, searchable databases, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/categories/usfedcen).

1800 > NY > Otsego > Burlington > image 10, line 8 from bottom, Wm. Coats

1810 > VT > Rutledge > Clarendon > image 5, line 19, entry for David Palmer

1820 > VT > Rutledge > Clarendon > image 4, line 23, entry for David Palmer

1850 > NY > Madison > Lenox > image 12, lines 28–35, Asher H. Palmer

6. "Connecticut, U.S., Church Record Abstracts, 1630–1920, database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3032) > vol. 83 North Stonington.

7. "Connecticut, U.S., Church Record Abstracts, 1630–1920, database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3032) > Stonington.

8. Connecticut, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1609–1999," database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/9049) > Hartford > Probate Packets, Palmer, Anna–Palmer, Sally, 1766–1875 > images 397–408 (Ethel Palmer); New London > Probate Records, vol. 11–12, 1806–1818 > images 483–4 (Jonathan Phillips).

9. Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 23 June 2023), memorial pages for

10. "Connecticut: Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630–1870," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org > Voluntown (Susanna's birth); Preston (Susanna's parents' marriage; Jemima's death and marriage); Lebanon (William's birth).

11. "Connecticut, U.S., Church Record Abstracts, 1630–1920, database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3032) > vol. 43 Griswold.

© 2019 A. Buiter