Joseph Palmer

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Lieutenant Joseph Palmer (1663–1710), son of Nehemiah Palmer and Hannah Stanton

Frances Prentice (c. 1667–after 1710), daughter of Thomas Prentice and Rebecca Jackson

Joseph, the son of Nehemiah Palmer, was born on 3 October 1663 in Stonington. [1] He was baptized on 14 December 1674 in Stonington. [4] He died on 31 January 1709/10 in Stonington. [1] He was buried on 1 February 1709/10. He married Frances Prentice on 12 November 1687 in Stonington. [1]

Frances, the daughter of Thomas Prentice, was probably born about 1667, based on her marriage date, in Newton, Massachusetts. [2] She died after 13 June 1710.

Unfortunately, the early Newton church records were destroyed in a fire. The Newton vital records give the names of Thomas Prentice's children, but not the dates of their births. Frances is recorded as a son.

On 1 February 1709/10 Manasseh Minor wrote in his diary, "Liut Joseph palmer was buryed." [3, 118].

Joseph Palmer was propounded to the church on 3 January 1696/7; he was examined on 22 January he and his wife were admitted to the first church in Stonington on 30 January. [3, 20–21, 22, 30][4, 190]

Joseph Palmer of Stonington made his will on 9 January 1709; it was proved on 13 June 1710. [5] He left his wife Frances his movables and one-third of the profits from his land. He left his land to his three sons, Joseph, Benjamin and Jonathan. He also left bequests to his two daughters, Hannah and Sarah. His estate was valued at £355 11s. 00d. and it included two guns, a sword and ammunition; a whale boat with ropes and irons; four oxen, six cows, four cattle, 20 young cattle, his riding horse, two mares and a horse, four young horses, 60 sheep, and 23 young swine and pigs.

Mrs. Frances Palmer, the widow of Joseph Palmer, appeared in probate court on 13 June 1710. [5]

Children of Lieutenant Joseph Palmer and Frances Prentice: Birth and deaths of children named Zerviah or Zurviah (the first two as sons [!] of Joseph and Frances and the third the years are uncertain); births of Joseph, Hannah and Benjamin, and birth and death of Sarah (children of Joseph); birth of Jonaathan (son of Lieut. Joseph) all recorded in Stonington. [1]

i. Zerviah Palmer was born on 8 July 1688 in Stonington. She [?] died on 9 July 1688 in Stonington.

ii. Zerviah Palmer was born on 12 September 1689 in Stonington. She [?] died on 13 September 1689 in Stonington.

iii. Joseph Palmer was born on 14 November 1690 in Stonington. He died on 12 June 1789 in Voluntown. He married first Mary Palmer. He married second Hannah Billings.

iv. Zerviah Palmer was probably born on 23 September 1692 in Stonington. She probably died on 28 September 1692 in Stonington.

v. Hannah Palmer was born on 31 May 1694 in Stonington. She died after 29 August 1735. She married first George Palmer. She married second William York.

vi. Benjamin Palmer was born on 18 March 1696 in Stonington. He was baptized on 14 June 1696 in Stonington. [4, 200, 204] He married first Rebecca Palmer, the daughter of Gershom Palmer. He married second Ruth Bidwell on 14 November 1726 in Coventry. [6]

Benjamin is mentioned in the 3 February 1726/7 will of his brother Jonathan.

vii. Sarah Palmer was born on 28 April 1698 in Stonington. She was baptized on 19 June 1698 in Stonington. [4, 200, 204] She died on 25 January 1710 in Stonington.

viii. Jonathan Palmer was born on 1 May 1703 in Stonington. He was baptized on 18 July 1703 in Stonington. [4, 200, 204] He died between 3 and 27 February 1726/7.

Jonathan Palmer of Stonington, “being very sick and weak,” made his will on 3 February 1726/7. He mentioned Rebecca Denison, the relict of Andrew Denison; his brother Benjamin Palmer; his cousins Sarah and Mary, the daughters of his brother Joseph; Amos, his brother Joseph’s son; his sister Hannah Palmer, his brother Joseph Palmer, whom he named executor. His witnesses, Captain Thomas Noyes and Samuel Hinckley, testified on 27 February 1726/7. [5] Rebecca is apparently the daughter of Elisha and Rebecca (Mason) Chesebrough. See [HTS, 294].

Endnotes

1. "Connecticut: Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630–1870," database with images, AmericanAncestors.org > Stonington, 183–97.

2. Vital Records of Newton, Massachusetts, To the Year 1850 (Boston: New England History Genealogical Society, 1905), 158. Frances’s birth record appears as Francis, s. of Thomas & Rebecca, with no date in MVR, Newton, 158.

3. 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).

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

5. Connecticut, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1609–1999," database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/9049) > Hartford > Probate Packets, Newbury–Palmer, Thomas, 1675–1850 > images 1210–6, Joseph Palmer, images 1193–9, Jonathan Palmer.

6. Susan Whitney Dimock, Births, Marriages, Baptisms and Deaths, from the Records of the Town and Churches in Coventry, Connecticut, 1711–1844 (New York, Baker & Taylor, 1897), 155.

Revised June 27, 2023