Friday, February 12, 2016

52 Ancestors - Week 111: #134 Jeremiah Knowlton (1745-1785)

Amy Johnson Crow suggested a weekly blog theme of "52 Ancestors" in her blog post Challenge:  52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks on the No Story Too Small blog.  I am extending this theme in 2016 to 156 Ancestors in 156 Weeks. Here is my ancestor biography for week #111:

Jeremiah Knowlton (1745-1785) is #134 on my Ahnentafel list, my 5th great-grandfather who married #135 Abigail Pierce (1750-1776) in 1771.


I am descended through:

*  their daughter, 
#67 Abigail Knowlton (1774-1855), who married #66 Nathan Gates (1767-1830), in 1790. 
*  their daughter, #33 Abigail Gates (1797-1867) who married #32 Benjamin Seaver (1791-1825), in 1817.
*  their son, #16 Isaac Seaver (1823-1901), who married #17 Lucretia Townsend Smith (1828-1884) in 1852.
*  their son, #8 Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922), who married #9 Hattie Louise Hildreth (1847-1920) in 1874. 
*  their son, #4 Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942), who married Alma Bessie richmond (1882-1962) in 1900.
* their son, #2 Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983), who married #3 Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002) in 1942.
*  their son, #1 Randall J. Seaver (1943-....)

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1)  PERSON (with source citations as indicated in brackets):


*  Name:                       Jeremiah Knowlton[1–12]   
*  Sex:                          Male   

*  Father:                      Jeremiah Knowlton (1713-1752)   
*  Mother:                    Sarah Allen (1717-1796)   
  
2)  INDIVIDUAL EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
  
*  Birth:                      3 March 1745, Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[2]   
*  Deed:                      5 March 1773 (age 28),  Lincoln, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[4]
*  Military:                 3 February 1777 (age 31), Saratoga, New York, United States[7]    
*  Military:                 15 June 1777 (age 32), Lincoln, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[8]   
*  Military:                 1 August 1778 (age 33), Lincoln, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[9]
*  Deed:                      24 February 1783 (age 37), Lincoln, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[10]    
*  Deed:                      11 April 1783 (age 38), Lincoln, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[11]
*  Death:                     11 June 1785 (age 40), Weston, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[12]    
  
3)  SHARED EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):   


*  Spouse 1:               Abigail Peirce (1750-1776)   
*  Marriage:               4 April 1771 (age 26), Waltham, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[3]   

*  Child 1:                  Lydia Knowlton (1773-    )   
*  Child 2:                  Abigail Knowlton (1774-1855)   

*  Spouse 2:               Hannah Goffe (1750-1797)   
*  Marriage 2:            9 September 1776 (age 31), intentions; Lincoln, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[5–6]   
*  Child 3:                  James Knowlton (1778-1782)   
*  Child 4:                  Joseph Knowlton (1780-    )   
*  Child 5:                  James Knowlton (1782-    )   
  
4)  NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):   

 Jeremiah Knowlton was the fourth son and fifth child of Jeremiah and Sarah (Allen) Knowlton, and was born in Concord, Massachusetts.  The birth record in the Concord vital records book says[2]:

"Jeremiah Knowlton, the son of Jeremiah Knowlton and Sarah his wife was
born March 3: 1745."

Jeremiah Knowlton married Abigail Pierce in Waltham on 4 April 1771.  The Waltham vital record book records the marriage as[3]:

"KNOWLTON, Jeremiah of Lexington, and Abigail Pierce, Apr. 4, 1771."

The Lexington vital record book records the marriage as:

"KNOWLTON, Jeremiah of Lex., m., in Waltham, Abigail Pierce, of Waltham, Apr. 4, 1771."

Jeremiah and Abigail (Pierce) Knowlton had two children, Lydia in 1773 and Abigail in 1774, both born  in Lincoln, Massachusetts.  Their mother, Abigail, died on 2 February 1776.

On 5 March 1773, John White of Charlestown sold three tracts of land to Jeremiah Knowlton, cordwainer of Lexington, for 77 pounds lawful money[4].  The three tracts were:

a)  One acre of land in Lincoln, mostly orchards, with a dwelling house and barn; bounded Southerly and Easterly on the highway, about 12 rods, Westerly and Northerly on land of George Farmer. 
b)  40 acres of upland and meadow in the Northerly part of Sudbury and partly in Southerly part of Lincoln, bounded Easterly partly on Iosiah Farrar's land and partly on the highway till it comes to Samuel Farrar's land, Westerly and Northerly on Samuel Farrar's land. 
c)  4 acres of woodland in Sudbury bounded Easterly by land of heirs of Alexander Dummond and Northerly and Southerly on land of Edward Sherman, Westerly on land left for a highway.
Witnesses: Thos. Danforth and James Russell
The deed was signed by John White and his wife Mary White, with Thomas Danforth and James Russell as witnesses.  The deedc was recorded 5 March 1773.

After his first wife, Abigail (Pierce) Knowlton, died in 1776 leaving two small children, Jeremiah Knowlton married, secondly to Hannah Goffe in Lincoln, Massachusetts.  The Lincoln town record book records the event[5-6]:

"Jeremiah Knowlton and Hannah Goffe both
of Lincoln their intention of marriage has been
published in Lincoln according to Law & a Certificet 
given.
Lincoln Sept. the 9th 1776     John Adams Town Clerk"

The book, History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, says[1]:

"Jeremiah Knowlton [of Lincoln] was a sergeant in Captain Simon Hunt's company at New York in 1776, and at Saratoga in 1777, and in Captain Francis Brown's company at Rhode Island in 1778."

Volume 9 of the Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the War of the Revolution book has this entry for Jere. Knowlton[7]:

"KNOWLTON, JERE.  Private, Capt. James Prentiss's co., Col. Samuel Brewer's regt.; pay abstract for travel allowance home, etc., from place of discharge, Saratoga, endorsed "travel from fort Edward;"  240 miles travel allowed said Knowlton; warrant allowed in Council Feb. 3, 1777."

This is likely this Jeremiah Knowlton because of the pay entry in the Lincoln town record book below.

The Lincoln, Massachusetts town records contain a payment record to Jeremiah Knowlton dated 15 June 1777[8]:

"June Do [15th]  By Seventeen Pounds five shillings paid
                       Jeremiah Knowlton for his Service in a       
                      Campaign at New York in the year 1776               
                      and at Saratoga in the year 1777                 17  5  0"

An entry in the book Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the War of the Revolution for Jeremiah Knowlton notes[9]:

"KNOWLTON, JEREMIAH.  Private, Capt. Francis Brown's co., Col. McIntosh's regt., Gen. Lovell's brigade; enlisted Aug. 1, 1778, discharged Sept. 11, 1778; service, 1 mo., 14 days, at Rhode Island."

Jeremiah and Hannah (Goffe) Knowlton had three children, James in 1778, Joseph in 1780,and James (again) in 1782, baptized in Lincoln, Massachusetts.

On 24 February 1783, Jeremiah Knowlton, cordwainer of Lincoln, sold land in Lincoln to Seth Badcock, housewright of Lincoln, for 90 pounds[10]. The land in the southwestern part of Lincoln near the dwelling house of Capt. Joseph Adams was one acre, bounded Southerly and Easterly 12 rods on a highway near Miles (?) Bridge, Westerly and Northerly on land of Humphrey Farrar.
Signed: Jeremiah Knowlton and Joanna Knowlton his wife signed the deed with James Adams and Samuel Phip Savage as witnesses.  The deed was recorded: 22 May 1783.

On 11 April 1783, Jeremiah Knowlton of Lincoln, cordwainer, sold land to John Lowell Esq. of Boston for 60 pounds[11]. The land was 40 acres of upland and meadow, partly in Lincoln and partly in Sudbury, bounded Easterly by land of John Lowell and the highway until it comes to Samuel Farrar's land, Westerly and Northerly by Samuel Farrar's land until it comes to a highway, and Southerly on the highway.  Jeremiah Knowlton and Joanna Knowlton signed the deed, with witnesses James Barret and James Adams.  The deed was recorded 15 April 1783.

The family may have moved to Weston, Massachusetts after selling the two properties in Lincoln.  

The death record of Jeremiah Knowlton in the Weston, Massachusetts vital record book says[12]:

"Jeremiah Knowlton, d. June 11, 1785.  His widow, Hannah, and family were removed to Concord."

No gravestone or burial location for Jeremiah Knowlton has been found to date.

There are no probate records for Jeremiah Knowlton in the Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Probate Court records.

5)  SOURCES

1. History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men (Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis & Co., 1890)., Volume 2, page 623, Jeremiah Knowlton sketch.

2. George Tolman (compiler), Concord, Massachusetts Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1635-1850 (Concord, Mass. : Committee on Printing, 1894), Page 167, Jeremiah Knowlton birth entry.

3. Vital records of Waltham, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 (Boston, Mass. : New-England Historic Genealogical Society, 1904), Marriages, page 179, Jeremiah Knowlton and Abigail Pierce entry.

4. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org), Middlesex County, "Deeds 1772-1774, Vol. 74-75," Volume 74, page 138, John White to Jeremiah Knowlton, 1773.

5. Vital Records of Lincoln, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1908), Marriages, page 121, Jeremiah Knowlton and Hannah Goffe, 1776.

6. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), "Lincoln Marriages, Births, Deaths 1754-1811," page 99 (image 58 of 147), Jeremiah Knowlton and Hannah Goffe marriage entry.

7. Massachusetts, Secretary of the Commonwealth, Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the War of the Revolution (Boston, Mass. : Wright & Potter Printing, 1896-1908), Volume 9, Page 383,  Jere. Knowlton entry, 1777.

8. Massachusetts, Town Records, 1620-1988, digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), "Lincoln, Treasurer's Accounts," image 204 of 582, Jeremiah Knowlton, 1777 .

9. Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the War of the Revolution, Volume 9, Page 383,  Jeremiah Knowlton entry, 1778.

10. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org), Middlesex County, "Deeds 1783-1784, Vol. 86," Volume 86, page 64, Jeremiah Knowlton to Seth Badcock, 1783.

11. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org),  Middlesex County, "Deeds 1780-1783, Vol. 82-83," Volume 83, page 448, Jeremiah Knowlton to John Lowell, 1783.


12. Mary Frances Peirce, Town of Weston. Births, Deaths and Marriages, 1707-1850. Gravestones-, 1703-1900. Church Records, 1709-1825. Appendix and Addenda, Centennial Society (Boston, Mass. : McIncloe Bros., Printers, 1901), page 563, Jeremiah Knowlton entry.


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