William Eldredge (abt. 1660 - 1749)

Born about 1660 in Yarmouth, Plymouth Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Newcomb) Conant — married about 30 Jan 1706 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died 27 Apr 1749 at about age 89 in Chatham, Barnstable, Massachusetts Bay

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Biography

Lieut. William Eldredge, (son of Robert) had a least 3 children by a first wife (possibly Rebecca, last name unknown ^{[citation needed]}). There were probably other children. He married a second time to Sarah (Newcomb) Conant, ^[1] a widow of Joshua Conant of Salem and later Truro, and daughter of Andrew Newcomb.^{[citation needed]}

William was Selectman for seven years between 1697 and 1727 and a Lieutenant as early as 1713. As early as 1700 he had a sloop or small vessel used in coasting trips. In it he brought lumber from Oyster River, NH (Durham, N.H.) for the first meetinghouse. He aquired his father's farm at West Chatham in the John K. Kendrick neighborhood, laying between the highway and Oyster Pond river, besides considerable adjacent land. This property, consisting of about 200 acres, he sold it in 1711 and removed to Monomoit Beach. He built a house here and opened a tavern for the entertainment of sailors and others seeking a temporary harbor at or near Wreck Cove. After a few years he sold this and returned to the main land. His death which occurred April 27, 1749, is the only one recorded in the first book of Town Records.^[2]

Children of William and (--?--) Edredge (order uncertain)^[2]:

1. Rebecca, b.?; m. 13 Oct 1713 Ebenezer Berry of Harwich, son of John (Har. Rec.)
2. William, b.?; m. 20 Mar 1718 Thankful Crowell, dau of John of Yarmouth (Yar. Rec); lived at Harwich; children Reuben, Rebecca, Sarah, Thankful, Bridget, William, Isaac, Jeremiah and Thomas.
3. Isaac, b.?; m. Dorothy; lived at Harwich; children Jerusha, Monica, Mary and Elizabeth m. John Smith of Har.
4. Prob. a son Joshua, b.?; m. ____ (taxed in 1755)
5. Other children, if any, not identified.

Birth

1660 Yarmouth, Barnstable, Massachusetts^[3]

Death

27 Apr 1749 Chatham, Barnstable, Massachusetts^[4]

"Deaths April 27, 1749 Then Lieut William Eldredge departed this life in Chatham.

"Entered this third day of May 1749, James Covel Town Clerk."^[5]

Research Notes

William(2) [Robert(1)] Eldredge^[6]

b. ?

d. 1749

m1. [unknown]

m2. 1706 Sarah (Newcomb) Conant dau Andrew(2) Newcomb, widow of Joshua Conant.

Children:

1. William
2. Isaac
3. Rebecca
4. Joshua

Hannah (3) Eldridge (Lieutenant William2, Robert1 Eldred) daughter of Lieutenant William and Rebecca (Nickerson) Eldridge, was born about 1700-1, married Feb. 19, 1719, John Kelley, born Yarmouth 1695, son of Jeremiah O'Kelley and Sarah Chase. They had the following children: Harriet, John, Hannah, Isaac, Rebecca.^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ Eastham-Orleans Vital Records, vol 1, published in Mayflower Descendant, V.6, p.205: "William Eldred of monomoy [island off the coast of Chatham] and Sarah Conant were married by Capta Sparrow Januarie the 30th 1706/7
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Smith, William Christopher, A history of Chatham, Massachusetts (Hyannis, MA:1917) Part III, pp. 218-219
3. ↑ Edmund West, comp., Family Data Collection - Individual Records, Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000.. UNRELIABLE. BETTER SOURCE SOUGHT.
4. ↑ Hamblen, David. First Settlers of Chatham, Mass., The New England Historical & Genealogical Register (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., 1853) Vol. 7, Page 81
5. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (20 May 2014), Barnstable > Chatham > Births, marriages, deaths, town records 1693-1789 vol 1A > image 130 of 271; citing Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston. (Original record.)
6. ↑ Brownson, Lydia B.; Norton, Doris V.; Held, Grace V., Genealogical Notes of Cape Cod Families, (Duxbury: 1966) Vol. 18:191.
7. ↑ Boston Evening Transcript: Genealogy Pages, 1911-1940. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2016. 1 June 1931, 565, citing "Nickerson family paper."

• Ancestry Family Trees.

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ancestral File (R), Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998. Ancestral File Number 8XD0-90