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Joseph Palmer (1690–1789), son of Lieutenant Joseph Palmer and Frances Prentice

Mary Palmer (1690–1777), daughter of Gershom Palmer and Ann Denison

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Joseph, the son of Joseph Palmer, was born on 14 November 1690 in Stonington. [1][2] He was baptized on 29 March 1691 in Stonington. [3] He died on 12 June 1789 in Voluntown. [2] He married first Mary Palmer on 2 April 1711 in Stonington. [1] Deacon Joseph married second Hannah Billings on 8 February 1778 in Voluntown. [1]

Mary Palmer was born on 14 March 1690 in Stonington. [2] She died on 13 January 1777 in Voluntown. [2]

Mary, the wife of Deacon Joseph, was admitted to the church in Stonington on 4 August 1723. [4]

Joseph moved from Stonington to Voluntown about 1743.

Joseph was admitted to the first church in Stonington on 13 April 1712. He was chosen deacon on 3 July 1723. [3]

Joseph was a deputy from Stonington in 1736, 1738 to 1740 and 1742. [5, 8: 26, 52, 156, 189, 221, 285, 323, 445] He was a justice of the peace for New London County in 1739 to 1743. [5, 8: 224, 288, 368, 448, 515]

On 5 December 1716 John and Mary Breed, Benjamin and Ann Hewitt, Joseph and Mary Palmer and Benjamin and Rebecca Palmer sold 400 acres in Stonington to John Stanton of Newport. On 2 January 1722/3 Joseph Palmer of Stonington and Benjamin Palmer of Coventry sold 100 acres at Pucklagonuck to Daniel Palmer of Stonington. On 11 August 1728 Joseph Palmer sold his dwelling house with 15 acres of salt marsh to William Bell. In 1746 Joseph sold 20 acres of land at Salt Cove and Mary and Frances Palmer witnessed the deed. On 28 June 1743 for “love of his son,” Joseph Palmer, Lieutenant Joseph Palmer sold him sixty (?) acres of land lying by land of Daniel, John and Moses Palmer. On 8 February 1744 Joseph Palmer of Voluntown sold four acres of land in Stonington to William Coats. On 19 March 1746 Joseph Palmer, Jr. of Voluntown traded one half of his father’s farm in Stonington for 60 acres in Stonington. [2]

Children of Joseph Palmer and Mary Palmer: Births of their first five children (children of Joseph) and the next three children (children of Deacon Joseph) are recorded Stonington. [1] The baptisms of all but Amos and Ann are recorded in Stonington. [3]

i. Sarah Palmer was born on 17 January 1711/2.  She was baptized on 13 April 1712. She might be the Sarah who married Amos Kinney on 15 November 1732 in Preston. [1]

Sarah is mentioned in the 3 February1726/7 will of her (paternal) uncle Jonathan Palmer. [6]

Amos and his wife Sarah owned the covenant at the church in Griswold on 14 April 1734. [4]

ii. Mary Palmer was born on 21 March 1713/4. She was baptized on 21 March 1714. She married Daniel Palmer on 6 January 1730/1 in Stonington. [1]

Mary is mentioned in the 3 February 1726/7 will of her uncle Jonathan Palmer. [6]

Daniel and his wife Mary were admitted to the church in North Stonington on 18 February 1732/3. [4]

iii. Phebe Palmer was born on 24 November 1717. She died after 27 March 1769. She married George Darrow.

iv. Captain Joseph Palmer was born on 30 October 1719. He was baptized on 22 November 1719. He died on 26 May 1760. He married Katherine Coates on 7 October 1741 in Stonington. [1] Katherine died between 2 May 1765, when she wrote her will, and 11 July 1765, when it was proved. [6]

On 22 Nov. 1719 Manasseh Minor wrote, "Joseph palmors son baptized." [7]

Inventory of the estate of Joseph Palmer, who died on 26 May 1760, was taken on 14 June 1760. The probate court for the district of Plainfield distributed the real estate of Joseph Palmer, Jr., late of Voluntown, to his wife Catherine and his children on 13 May 1763. [6]

v. Frances Palmer was born on 27 October 1721.  She was baptized on 26 April 1722. She might be the Frances of Stonington who married William Guile of Preston on 7 October 1744 in Preston. [1] William, the son of Benjamin and Phebe (Denison) Guile, was born on 1722/3 or 1723/4 in Preston. [1]

vi. Amos Palmer was born on 11 April 1724. He died on 24 August 1745 at Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. [1]

Amos is mentioned in the 3 February 1726/7 will of his uncle Jonathan Palmer. [6]

Joseph Palmer of Stonington posted a bond on of 50 pounds for the administration of the estate of Amos Palmer on 9 December 1745. [6]

On 28 June 1745 the French stronghold on Cape Breton Island surrendered to New England soldiers and British naval forces. Losses to the British in this operation—known as the Siege of Louisbourg—were light, but many, including probably Amos, died in the garrison afterwards of disease and cold.

vii. Moses Palmer was born on 13 April 1726. He was baptized on 17 April 1726. He died on 11 May 1726 in Stonington. [1]

viii. Hannah Palmer was born on 2 August 1727. She was baptized on 13 August 1727. She died on 21 May 1766 in Voluntown. She is probably the Hannah who married Andrew Elliot on 18 August 1745 in Voluntown. [1] Andrew may be the son of Jacob and Hannah Elliot, born on 14 January 1721/2 in Preston. [1] Andrew married second Bridget Harris on 25 March 1767 in Voluntown. [1]

ix. Jonathan Palmer was baptized on 22 March 1730. He died between 19 December 1764 and 4 August 1765. He married Freelove Herrick on 5 May 1749 in Voluntown. [1] Freelove was the daughter of Stephen and Phebe (Guile), born on 22 February 1730/1 in Voluntown. [1] Freelove Palmer of Voluntown married second Collings York of Stonington on 11 December 1766 in Stonington. [1]

Jonathan Palmer of Voluntown, “being infirm & weak,” made his will on 19 December 1764. His heirs were his wife Freelove, his parents and children of [his brother] Joseph Palmer of Voluntown, deceased. He referred to a lot he owned in Stonington in partnership with Gershom Palmer. Inventory on his estate, amounting to 300 pounds, was taken on 4 August 1765. [6]

x. Ann Palmer, the daughter of Deacon Joseph, was baptized on 8 April 1733 in North Stonington. [4]

xi. Asenath Palmerwas baptized on 18 May 1735. Asenath Palmer of Voluntown who married Gideon Ray (Rea) of Preston on 24 December 1751 in Preston. [1] Gideon, the son of John and Abigail (Herrick) Ray, was born on 10 March 1731 in Preston. [1]

Both Gideon and Asenath died before 7 December 1789 when Gideon’s heirs reached agreement on the division of Gideon’s estate. It appears that Asenath (assuming that she was Gideon’s sole wife) died after Gideon as she appears to have been originally included in the agreement. [6]

Endnotes

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

2. Emily Wilder Leavitt, Palmer Family Groups: John Melvin of Charlestown and Concord, Mass., and Some of His Descendants, (Boston, David Clapp & Son, 1901–1905), 44, 68–69.

3. Richard A Wheeler., History of the First Congregational Church, Stonington, Conn., 1674–1874 (Norwich, T.H. Davis and Co., 1875). Joseph's baptism (198), Joseph church membership, Joseph chosen deacon (100, 192) baptisms of children other than Amos and Ann (209–39).

4. "Connecticut, U.S., Church Record Abstracts, 1630–1920, database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3032) > vol. 83 North Stonington, 50–51; vol. 111 Stonington, 304; vol. 43 Griswold, 133.

5. 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).

6. Connecticut, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1609–1999," database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/9049) >

7. Manasseh Minor, The Diary of Manasseh Minor: Stonington, Conn., 1696–1720 (n.p: published by Frank Denison Miner with the assistance of Hannah Miner, 1988), 149.

Revised June 26, 2023

© 2019 A. Buiter