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rF h «CS7i.C^l» \nii ^ rF Bi rftrr/s,sr/*///' t ^ DESCENDANTS OF Richard Church Of Plymouth, Mass. By JOHN A. CHURCH New York 1913 The Tuttle Company publishers rutland. vermont *-,CSTj »•« »•• PREFACE. Immigrants of the name of Church have been coming to this, country since the earliest Colonial days and they are coming still, several having arrived within the last half century. There were five Colonial immigrants who became the founders of important families. In the order of their arrival, or of our first knowledge of them, these Founders are: Richard of Plymouth, Mass., 1630. Garrett of Watertown, probably 1631. He was a man of mark in Boston in 1634. Richard of Hartford, Conn., 1632 or 3. John of Dover, N. H., 1665. David of Marlborough, Mass., 1703 to 9. In addition there were some pre-Revolutionary immigrants who arrived in time to take part in that struggle. The best known of them was Gen. Philip Church. David of Marlborough has been confounded constantly with David the son of Garrett, but the evidence that they were different men is convincing. David of Marlborough was one of the patentees of that town in 1709 and married Mary Wilder in 1710. He may have gone there earlier, perhaps in 1703. His ancestry and the date of his arrival, if an immigrant, are not known. Probably he was a young man. He had four children, Adonijah 1710, Noah 1712, Ephraim 1714 and Mary 1717. Noah moved westward to the boundary of New York and founded the town of New Marlborough. PREFACE Garrett's David was born in "Watertown, Mass., 1657, married there Mary and had John 1687 and Sarah 1689. In 1708-9 he went to Killingly, Conn., of which place he was a patentee and town clerk for twenty years. In 1738 he deeded land to his ''well beloved son" John and mentions his grandson John. The grandson married Amy Winter and after his death his son, also John, went with his mother to Fort "Western (Augusta), Me. The cessation of children after the second child has led to the supposition that Garrett's David lost his wife, and the genealogists another but there is no say that he married again, Mary , evidence of the fact. The records of Killingly have the death of Mary widow of David Church, 17 Dec, 1751. He had seven great- grandchildren born in Killingly to "John and Amey Church." Thus the lives of the two Davids run parallel from the year 1708 or 9, he of Marlborough having four children in seven years, 1710 to 17, during which years the son of Garrett rose from 57 tq 64 years of age. One family moved west, the other east. It is possible that the Marlborough David belonged to one of. the other families, though the names Adonijah and Noah seem, to be confined to his family. Eliminating mere conjecture these are the known facts that distinguish the two Davids. Many attempts have been made to compile a history of two of the Church families, those of the two Eichards, but the only one published is that by Hon. J. N. Arnold, "History of the Church Family," 1887. Individual members have had partial genealogies compiled, the data being confined to their immediate line. This is true especially of the Hartford family. Mr. "William A. Good- win, who compiled the annual legislative statistics of Connecticut up to 1882, made such a genealogy and is said to have traced the family (which one is not known) far back in England. This work has been lost. He is said to have offered a copy of it to Morris Church for One Dollar but Morris declined ! In 1878-80 Rev. F. Janes of Philadelphia began a serious effort and collected a large amount of material about all the families but died before he assembled his information. Many of his notes have been used by the present editor. "Wherever possible the source of PREFACE his information has been traced and noted in the various entries. Where the original authority could not be found the entry is cred- ited to "Janes' notes." In preparing this work the editor has found it necessary to assemble his notes of the Hartford family and has about 1600 names "placed" in due order besides several hundred that belong to that line but have not been properly connected with it. This may be published in skeleton form within the year. Considerable material of the Garrett family and some of the Marlborough fam- ily has been gathered. Some of the oldtime questions concerning the Churches are ' ' answered in this book, such as the identity of Edward, merchant, of Boston" and "Consul to Lisbon." But who was the Edward Church who published the Inquisitive Traveller, a poem, in 1807, and described himself as of the fourth American generation "of the first European settlers in North America," and says:—"I was better versed in the Latin and Greek languages at sixteen than now at sixty years of age." He goes on with an assertion that makes his identity difficult to establish:—"I have travelled in America for many years from the North boundaries of the United States to the neighborhood of the Equator." If he meant land travel he accomplished a feat. If a shipmaster he was unusually well educated. The only Edward of any of the families known to the editor whose birth-date approaches that indicated by this author is the son of Edward and Grace (Shaw) Church, b 1744. His history is unknown. The editor has not been able to identify the Edward who took part in the war in the Barbary States, nor the Nathaniel who is said to have been hung for piracy. No doubt they were interesting members of their family. Besides the Edward mentioned above ' ' there is found in the Boston records the name of another Edward Church, merchant of Boston." He married, 5 June, 1796, Mary Hinckley, lived in Dorchester, had four children the eldest of whom, John, died in Andover, Mass., in 1855. The wife died in Dorchester in 1858 in her 88th year. The relationship of this family is unknown. The Boston News Letter of 5 Oct., 1708, published the follow- PREFACE ing item: "Rhode Island. On Sunday last arrived here one Ben- jamin Church who sailed hence Master of a small sloop bound for Antigua the 8th of August last and on the 18th in the Lat of 34 met with the same storm that the Jamaica Fleet met with on said day which overset the Sloop and the people kept on the Bowsprit from Saturday till Monday when the Sloop righted, but lost her Mast, and through their Industry they freed her, the wind hanging easterly. They drove ashore on Cape May, and so saved all their ' ' lives. There are only two Benjamins of suitable age to be sailing masters at the date given; the son of Joseph, No. 24, b 1672, and the son of Col. Benjamin, No. 28, b 1678. In the Hartford family there is a Benjamin, b 1680, but he lived in Hadley, Mass., and probably should be excluded. If the above item relates to either of the Plymouth Benjamins named it is the only mention we have of his career. The editor of a work like this is indebted necessarily to many persons for assistance. There are some who have contributed largely. It is with especial pleasure that he acknowledges the services of Miss Harriet A. Church of Rochester, Mass. Thirty years ago she sent full notes of the Rochester branch to Rev. F. Janes and has added to them for this work. Miss Emily L. and Miss Millie D. Church of Bristol, R. I., Charles H. and James I. Church of New Bedford, Mass., John P. Church of Washington, D. C, Charles S. Church of Allenville, Wis., and A. R. Lewis of Benton Harbor, Mich., are among those who have added most to this history. The editor has not tried to trace the family back to its English home. Richard Church is said by various authorities to lave emigrated from London, from Oxford and from County Essex, and perhaps other cradles of the family have been suggested, but the editor has not found convincing proof that the place of Rich- ard's origin is known. There is a genealogist who asserts that he knows who Richard was, the place where he was born and his relationship to Richard of Hartford, but as he will not allow his manuscript to be shown outside the purchaser's family the editor has not sought to enrich this work by that means. RICHARD CHURCH OF PLYMOUTH. Richard Church, of Plymouth, Mass., founder of one of the large families of that name in America, was born in 1608 as we learn from a deposition made by him: "The Deposition of Eichard Church aged about 56 yeares this Deponent 8aith that hee being att worke about the mill the 19th. day of august hearing of a Cry that the man was killed; hasted presently and healped- to remove the earth from Thomas ffish who being much bruised thereby was gott to bedd and in four dayes and a halfe Dyed; and further saith not." Made at Sandwich 25 Aug. 1664 and recorded in Plymouth Coll. Court Orders, Vol. IV. p. 92. (Mayflower Descendants IV-152). He came to America probably in 1630 since the Council of Massachusetts Bay Colony voted to admit him to the status of "freeman" 19 Oct., 1630. He is supposed to have come 8 Apr., 1630.