GROUPS OF PALMER FAMILIES FROM WALTER PALMER OF CHARLESTOWN AND REHOBOTH, MASS., STONINGTON, CONN. a: e-J orBmh- ~ ~c-fy ?2'l,''>;,:{ AN~RRANGED BY Mrss EMILY WILDER LEAVITT. PRIVATELY PRINTED. BOSTON: DAVID CLAPP & SON. 19 0 I. PREFACE. "THE data of the genealogy of the Palmer families published in this book has been derived from records gathered during nearly forty years of work by Noyes F. Palmer, of 150 Snediker Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y. They have bee.n gone over by one of the most competent genealogists in the country, and in nearly every instance his original records have been con­ firmed as correct. vVhen found in any particular to be incorrect, they have been corrected by the compiler· and the correct infor­ mation has been added to the lines now in the hands of the gentleman named, and it is the desire of the publisher that any information desired, on Palmer or on lines collateral with Palmer, be obtained from the gentleman above referred to." PAUIER. The compiler's work consisted of personal studies of county, town, church and cemetery records throughout New England, when wills and deeds were selected that best related and estab­ lished the families, by which biographical and personal histories were arranged. After that, ~Ir. Noyes F. Palmer kindly allowed recourse to his bulky, scientific index of vital statistics to verify the arrangement and dates. Later still, comparison was made with Judge Richard A. "Wheeler's more recent issue of Stonington genealogies. L. FIRST GENERATION IN NEW ENGLAND. WALTER PALMER. Tmn .first authentic record of vValter Palmer is found in Charlestown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. There are various traditions pertaining to his English home, chiefly pointing to some town or village in Nottinghamshire, and claiming Abraham Palmer as his brother. Mny 14, 1634, Abraham and Walter Palmer, both citizens of Charlestown,· Middlesex County, Massachusetts, were made freemen by the Great and General Court of Massachusetts Bay. In 1638, the first month, the 26th day, Abraham Palmer was chosen by the town "for keeping the Towne Booke, as also to Record all pprieties of Houses, Lands Meadow or Pastures as any Inhabitants of ye Towne are or shall bee possesst of according to an order of Court provided in yt behalfe." This is followed by "1638, On the 28 day of the pt month· was taken A True Record of all such houses & lands as are Possessed by the Inhabitants of Charl~stown whether by gift from the Towne or by allotments as they were divided amongst them by A Joynt Consent after General Court had settled theire Bounds, by granting eight miles from the old Meeting house into the Contry Northw~st Northly, etc, the bounds of s'd Towne Lying or being bettween Cambridge, alias New Towne, on the West South West & Boston Land on the East as it appd. upon Record by the sevel grants of Gen'l Court." In this "Book of Possessions," page 31, was recorded: "The Possessions of Walter Palmer within Charltowne." Two acres of land in the East Field, tt butting south on the Back street," with a 10 P .ALMER LINE. dwelling house and '' other aptinances, five acres of arable land, Milch cow commons six and a quarter, four acres, more or less, in the line field, eight acres of meadow lying in the :Olystic Marshes, four acres of meadow lying in the Mystic meadows, five acres of woodland in Mystic field, five acres of meadow on the west of :Mount Prospect, three acres of meadow on the north east of Mount Prospect, thirty acres of wood­ land, eighty-six acres of land scituate in the water:field." On the 6th, first month, 1637, there was the cc First Division of lands on Mystic Syde Ten .Acres to House, there of five acres were again resigned for the .Ac­ comodating of After Comers." In this division, both Walter Palmer and his son John received their pro­ portion, about the year 1643. On the 24th day of the 8th month, the men who had agreed to found a new town, met in Weymouth, Suffolk County, Mass., to prepare for the settlement of a place which was to be at Seacuncke, considered at first to lie in Plymouth County, Mass., but later embraced in Bristol County, Mass. Among these was Walter Palmer and his friend William Cheseborough, whose fortunes he closely followed the rest of their lives. The new planters proposed to start a township which should be independent of the other organiza­ tions until they could decide upon a government, but, in 1645, they were assigned to the jurisdiction of the Plymouth Colony, and hither "\Valter Palmer was sent to represent them at their General Court. This as­ signment was made by the ctUnited Commissioners of the Two Colonies," i.e. Plymouth Colony and that of the Massachusetts Bay, and the name, Seacuncke, was changed to Rehoboth, which was selected by their pastor, Rev. Samuel Newman, for, said he, ee the Lord hath made room for us" (History of Rehoboth, page 31). Dming the year 164:3, the proprietors of the new town agreed to give the value of their estates, that the allotment of land might be in proportion to their FIRST GENERATION. 11 ability, and Walter gave his estate as amounting to £419. In the year 1645, young John Winthrop was com­ missioned by the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay to begin the settlement of New London, and he urged William Chesborough to take part in this. Whereupon, Ches borough journeyed from Rehoboth down through Connecticut to view the land. But, preferring that part of the Pequot country called ic W equetequoc," and supposing that it was a part of Massachusetts territory, he applied for and received a grant of three hundred acres of land, which was soon enlarged to two thousand two hundred and ninety­ nine acres. He quickly induced \Valter Palmer to join in this later enterprise. \Vith his family, ex­ cepting his son, Jonas, Walter started for the south in 1652-B, buying land on the east bank of vVeqne­ tequoc Cove from Governor Haynes. This was found to cover a part of the tract which had been formerly sold to Thomas ~Iinor, who had married Grace, a daughter of Walter Palmer, and came to Ohadestown very soon after his father-in-law had settled there. Then the government made an agreement on July 15, 1nfi'~; thiit. -PiilmP.T' i:shn11lo givP. :£100 fnr thP. pl.aP.P. in such cattle as Thomas Minor should. select out of Palmer's stock. This contract recognized the title to the house and land at first sold to Thomas :Minor, the western boundary being the bank of the cove and the rivulet that emptied into that place. The rest of Walter Palmer's purchase was on the south of this and on the eastern slope of · Togwonk, crossing Anguilla Brook. His whole tract was of about twelve hundred acres. Until about 1654--5, the planters of this new town attended worship in New London, but the frequent rough weather, the difficulties of going such a long distance, being obliged to cross two rivers, made the people very desirous to hold a meeting in their own territory, and this gave rise to the contentions which 12 PALMER LINE. thus early begun, lasted for years, and involved them all in serious difficulties. Massachusetts did not wish to give up any claim to what she deemed her southern possessions, and Connecticut was equally anxious to own all the land that was so close to her holdings. Just then, Rev. William Thompson, of Braintree, lYiass., a brother-in-law of Captain George Denison, a prominent settler in this town, started as a mis­ sionary to go amongst them to preach a part of the time to the Indians and the rest of the time to the planters. The first meeting he held was in the house ,of Walter Palmer,. March 22, 1657, and after that in different houses.-(Stonington Church Records, page 30.) This deepened the contest. Petitions were fre­ queD.tly sent to the Massachusetts Court, which or­ dered that of Connecticut to render reason for its unwarr-anted incursions. On June 30, 1658, the planters took matters in their own hands, founded the ee As'otiation of Poquatuck Peple" and declared a kind of squatter sovereignty, regardless of either colony. Massachusetts sympathized with them, brought the subject hefore the Commissioners of the United Colonies who, in September, 1658, decided that all te1Titory west of the Mystic river should be­ long to Connecticut, that on the east to Massachusetts. At the next meeting of the General Court, it was an­ nounced that this territory should be Suffolk County, Mass. ( i.e. the English Plantation between the Mystic and the Pawcatuc rivers), and should be named South­ erton; they appointed local officers and extended the bounds eight miles northward from the mouth of the Mystic.-(Stonington Church Bi-Centennial, page 35.) Thereupon, the settlers busied themselves about their civic affairs, ~~ raised a meeting house on ~fay 13, 1661, and so far completed it that it was :fit for use in September, when the Commissioners attended the religious worship, which was conducted by Major ,John Mason. But Connecticut was not satisfied with FIBST GENERA.TI-ON. 13 this and, in 1659, brought the matter again before the Commissioners, who refused to alter their decision.­ (Ibid, pages 35, 36.) In 1660-1, that part of Sottth­ erton now Westerly, R. I., was sold by Sosoa, an ·old Pequot captain, to a number of persons in Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth, Rhode Island, who im­ mediately took possession and established a juris­ diction of that little State.