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Enoch Colby (b. 1726), son of Enoch Colby and Abial Sanborn
Abigail Blaisdell (b. 1726), daughter of John Blaisdell and Ebenzer Stevens
Enoch, the son of Enoch and Abigail (Sanborn) Colby, was born about 1726 in Hampton Falls, Rockingham County, New Hampshire. [1] He was baptized on 1 December 1728. [1] He married Abigail Blaisdell about 1753. [1]
Abigail Blaisdell, the daughter of John and Ebenezer (Stevens) Blaisdell, was born on 28 September 1726 in Amesbury, Essex County Massachusetts. [2][3]
Note: Candia was part of Chester until 1763.
On 30 March 1769 Enoch was one of the inhabitants of Chester—who having learned that the province was to be divided into counties, and one was to be adjacent to the west side of the Merrimack River—petitioned that Chester be part of the adjacent-to-the-river county. (The signature above is from this petition.) [4]
Enoch signed the Association Test in Candia in 1776. [1] He was a taxpayer there in 1778. [1]
Enoch's father apparently provided for him during his lifetime. In his will of 5 January 1779, he left him only ten shillings and half his wearing apparel.
Children of Enoch Colby and Abigail Blaisdell:
i. John Colby was born about 1755. [1] He died at Valley Forge. [5]
John served as a soldier in the Revolutionary War from Candia from 1775 to 1779. [1] He signed the 1776 Association Test in Candia. [1]
John, Enoch and Jethro were soldiers from Candia in the Revolutionary War. [6]
ii. Hon. Enoch Colby was born on 27 November 1756 in Candia. He died on 3 December 1833 in Thornton, Grafton County, New Hampshire. Enoch Colby of Candia married Mrs. Lydia Worthen on 5 July 1781 in Amesbury or Candia. [2, 313][5][7] Lydia, the daughter of Joseph and Hannah (Morill) Worthen, was born on 10 July 1755 in Amesbury. [1] She died on 31 August 1839.
Enoch and Lydia are buried in the Mad River Cemetery in Thornton. The inscription on Lydia's gravestone says, "Lydia wife of Enoch Colby died Aug. 31, 1839 age 84 years." [8]
On 1 January 1834, the Columbian Central reported the death of the Hon. Enoch Colby in Thornton at age 77. [9]
Enoch was a represententative from Thornton for twelve years. [1]
Enoch's Revolutionary War Deposition
In accordance with the Revolutionary War penisons act of 7 June 1832, Enoch Colby testified on 28 February 17[33?]. He said that he was born on 27 November 1756 in Candia and was 76. He had lived in Candia until 1781, when he moved to Thornton.
He said that on 20 April 1775 the Lexington Alarm arrived in Candia. He and several others, who had previously made preparations to depart at a moment's notice, marched to Cambridge under the command of Captain Nathaniel Emerson. There they guarded the vicinity of Boston for three weeks until enough soldiers arrived and they were dismissed, and they returned to Candia.
Back home, his brother John had enlisted under Lieutenant Moses Dustin of Candia in the company of Captain Thomas Cogswell of Haverhill, Massachusetts. The company had marched to Brookline, Massachusetts, were his brother became ill. With the consent of the officers, Enoch replaced his brother in mid-May. In October, his brother has recovered and resumed his post; Enoch said that he returned to Candia. He re-enlisited in a company commanded by Captain Daniel Runnels of Londonderry for two months; they served in Portsmouth and New Castle, New Hampshire. In the latter part of 1775 or early January 1776 he re-enlisted in a company commanded by Captain Moses Baker of Candia and they marched to Winter Hill near Boston where he was stationed under General Lincoln to guard Boston for three months. In June 1776 he re-enlisted under Captain Joseph Dearborn of Chester for five months and then returned to Candia.
He said that on 10 August 1777 he re-enlisted in Captain Stephen Dearborn of Chester's company for two months and was in the Battle of Bennington on 16 August under the command of General Stark. After the battle they marched to Stillwater on the north river and moved up the river near the lines of General Burgoyne's army and remained there until his enlistment ended a few days before Burgoyne's surrender. He saw a flag of truce come out from Burgoyne's quarters and go to General Stark, which he supposed was to make arrangements for capitulation.
He said that he returned to Candia and in June 1778 volunteered again, marching to Rhode Island under the command of Captain Jacob Worthen, where he remained until August or September. In the summer or early fall of 1779, hearing that Indians and Tories had done harm in Peacham, Vermont, carrying off some young men, he volunteered and went with others through the woods from Thornton to Haverhill, New Hampshire, and remained in that service a month. [10]
On 18 September 1838, Lydia Colby of Thornton testified that she was the widow of Enoch, a Revolutionary War pensioner, who died on 3 December 1833 in Thornton, and that she had married him on 4 July 1781. [10]
Enoch Colby, Esq. of Thornton made his will on 1 February 1833; probate was on 9 January 1834. He named his wife Lydia and his children. [11]
iii. Jethro Colby was born about 1757. [1] He died on the "dark day" in 1780 [19 May], soon after he returned home from the Revolutionary War. [1][5]
Jethro served in Rhode Island. [5] He served in Captain Daniel Reynold's company, Colonel Peabody's regiment from 1 June 1778 to 1 January 1779. [1]
iv. Nehemiah Colby was born about 1758. [1] He died on 14 December 1840 in Candia. [1] He married Mary "Polly" Rowe. [5] Mary was born in 1772 and died on 12 July 1843, age 70, in Candia. [1]
Nehemiah died intestate and his widow Polly and Nehemiah, Jr. petioned the court on 28 April 1841 for Nehemiah, Jr. to be granted administration. Nehemiah's estate was insolvent and on 14 July 1841 the court ordered that notices warning creditors to bring in their claims. Probate was on 28 April 1842. [11]
v. Deacon Abner Colby [5] was born in Candia. [1] He died in Thornton. He married Ruth Cheney of Hopkinton. [1] Ruth, the daugher of Elias and Ruth (Jackman) Cheney of Thornton, was baptized on 9 May 1773. [1]
Ruth was the granddaughter of Timothy Jackman.
Abner was buried in Thornton, but there is no date on his gravestone. [1]
Abner signed 1776 Association Test in Hopkinton. [1] He was a deacon of the church in Thornton. [1]
vi. Samuel Colby was born about 1766. He died on 23 January 1834 in Derby. He married Ruth French.
vii. Abigail Colby was born about 1770. [1] Abigail, the wife of John W., died on 2 March 1842, age 72, in Amesbury. [2] Abigail of Candia married as his second wife John W. Colby of Amesbury on 20 August 1798 in Amesbury. [2][5] John Waterhouse Colby, the son of Obadiah and Mary (Merrill) Colby, was born on 15 November 1765 in Amesbury. [2] He died on 29 October 1815, age 50, in South Hampton. [2] He married first Mehitable Clough on 23 April 1789 in Amesbury. [2] Mehitable was probably the daughter of Elijah and Sarah Clough, was born on 3 October 1768 in Amesbury. [2] Mehitable, the wife of John W., died on 6 June 1797 in Amesbury. [2]
John—Abigail's second cousin—was the grandson of Obadiah Colby and the great-grandson of Samuel Colby.
viii. William Colby was born in 1775. [1] He died in Ohio in 1846. [1]
ix. Mary Colby died in 1780. [5]
References:
1. Frederick Lewis Weis, The Colby Family in Early America (Concord: Colonial Press, 1970).
2. Vital Records of Amesbury, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849(Topsfield: Topsfield Historical Society, 1913).
3. "Blaisdell Genealogy," Essex Antiquarian 9 (1905): 49–59.
4. "New Hampshire, U.S., Government Petitions, 1700–1826," database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62199) > Box 1–10 > Box 8 > March 30–Apr 3, 1769: County Comparison, image 26, entry for Enoch Colby.
5. Benjamin Chase, History of Old Chester (Auburn, NH: author, 1869).
6. Jacob Baily Moore and George Waldo Browne, History of the Town of Candia, Rockingham County, N.H. (Manchester, NH: George W. Browne, 1893.)
7. New Hampshire: Births, Deaths and Marriages, 1654-1969. (From microfilmed records. Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014.) Enoch Colby, Jr. > Grooms C to 1901, image 28606, only the bride's first name.
8. Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 16 May 2023), memorial pages for Enoch Colby III (27 Nov 1756–8 Dec 1833), Memorial ID 99514532 and Lydia Worthen Colby (10 Jul 1755–24 Aug 1839), Memorial ID 99514660, citing Mad River Cemetery, Thornton, Grafton County, New Hampshire; Maintained by stickney (contributor 47966304).
9. "U.S., Newspaper Extractions from the Northeast, 1704–1930," database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/50015) > Massachusetts > Columbian Central > Death > Caban-Cypriano, image 511, entry for Hon. Enoch Colby.
10. "Revolutionary War Pensions," database with images, Fold3 (https://www.fold3.com) > New Hampshire > C > Colby, entry for Enoch Colby.
11. "New Hampshire, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1643–1982," database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8996/) > Grafton > Probate Records, vol. 13–14, image 524, entry for Enoch Colby (III); Rockingham > Estate Papers, no. 14075–14144, image 408, entry for Nehemiah Colby.
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16-May-2023