Newman Perkins (1711 - bef. 1796)

Born 8 Mar 1711 in Preston, New London, Connecticut Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Mehitable (Godfrey) Perkins — married 29 Oct 1732 in East Greenwich, Kent, Rhode Island

Descendants

Died before 4 Jun 1796 before age 85 in Exeter, Washington, Rhode Island, United States

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Biography

Newman, a son of Ebenezer Perkins and Hannah Safford, was born 8 Mar 1711 in Preston, New London, Connecticut. ^[1][2] Ebenezer and his family moved from Preston to the adjoining town of Voluntown in 1717, when Newman was about 6. Voluntown is in eastern Connecticut on the border with Rhode Island, about 15 miles inland from Block Island Sound.

It appears that Newman preceded his father in moving to Rhode Island; Newman married Mehitable Godfrey on October 29, 1732 in East Greenwich, Kent, Rhode Island.^[3][4] It is thought that his father Ebenezer moved from Voluntown to Coventry, Kent, RI in 1735 (see his biography for details).

Newman settled in Exeter, RI. He and Mehitable had seven children together whose births were recorded in the vital records of Exeter^[5]:

1. John Perkins (30 May 1733 - )
2. Oliver Perkins (14 Jun 1735 - )
3. Ebenezer Perkins (20 Aug 1736 - )
4. Uriah Perkins (12 May 1738 - )
5. David Perkins (1 Aug 1741 - )
6. Samuel Perkins (15 Jul 1745 - )
7. Martha Perkins (21 Aug 1747 - 2 Feb 1822)

Newman appeared in the 1774 census of Rhode Island with a large household consisting of four males over 16 years of age, five males under 16, two females over 16, and two females under 16.^[6] Later census data show that Newman's sons Ebenezer and Uriah both remained and raised famililes in the Exeter; in fact, Newman's will divided his farm between them. Since Uriah had a separate listing in the 1774 census, it seems likely that many of the residents of Newman's household in 1774 were Ebenezer and his family.

Newman appeared in the 1790 census in a household of only two, one male over 16 and one female. Mehitable is thought to have died in 1778, so the female in Newman's household may have been a younger relative helping to care for Newman, who was then nearly 80.

Newman made out his will on 31 May 1794^[7] As mentioned above, he divided his land between his sons Ebenezer and Uriah; the remainder of his estate was divided between his four other surviving children, Oliver, David, Samuel and Martha. He also made a bequest to his grandson Christopher, the only child of his deceased son John.

Newman died in 1796, perhaps on May 9,^[8][9] and was buried in the Perkins family lot. The inventory of his estate was taken 4 Jun 1796, and the will was probated June 7.

The location of the family lot indicates that Newman's farm was near the northwest corner of Exeter, on the southern border of the town of West Greenwich and less than two miles east of the border between Rhode Island and Voluntown, Connecticut, where Newman had lived as a boy. The land is not well suited to farming, and has reverted to forest since Newman's time. Notwithstanding this, Newman was reasonably prosperous, probably as a result of hard work; his estate was valued at $389.78^[7].

Sources

1. ↑ "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906", database, FamilySearch ([1]: 7 Jan 2020), Newman Perkins, 1711.
2. ↑ The family of John Perkins of Ipswich, Massachusetts by Perkins, George Augustus, 1889, Salem, Mass., pg., 46-47., [2]
3. ↑ "Rhode Island Marriages, 1724-1916", database, FamilySearch ([3]: 22 Jan 2020), Newman Perkins, 1732.
4. ↑ "Rhode Island, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1630-1945," database with images, FamilySearch ([4]: 12 Oct 2021), Mehetabell Godsner in entry for Norman Pickins, 29 Oct 1732; citing Marriage, East Greenwich, Kent, Rhode Island, United States, Rhode Island State Archive, Providence City Archives, city and town clerk offices; FHL microfilm 926,802. Original document.
5. ↑ Rhode Island: Vital Records, 1636-1850. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014), Originally Published as: Vital record of Rhode Island 1636-1850: First Series: births, marriages and deaths: a family register for the people, by James N. Arnold. Providence, RI: Narragansett Historical Publishing Company, 1894 ([5]: 8 May 2023).
6. ↑ John R. Bartlett, Census of the inhabitants of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, taken by order of the General Assembly in the year 1774; and by the General Assembly of the state ordered to be printed (Providence : Knowles, Anthony & Co., 1858), p. 166. Accessed at Internet Archive ([6]: 8 May 2023.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Town Clerk, Probate and Council Record, Town of Exeter, R.I., No. 6, probate record pp. 65-68 (probate and council records are paginated separately); will and inventory of Newman Perkins. Accessed at Ancestry.com, Rhode Island, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1582-1932 [database on-line] (Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015), Rhode Island, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1582-1932 > Washington > Council and Probate Records, Vol 5-8, 1786-1816, image 375 of 1111 ([7]: 9 May 2023).
8. ↑ Rhode Island: Historical Cemeteries, 1647-2000 (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2018), (Transcriptions by volunteers of Rhode Island Historical Cemeteries Transcription Project; compiled by John Sterling. "Rhode Island Historical Cemeteries Database," 2017) ([8]: 9 May 2023). Newman's grave marker, carved roughly, reads:

   DI MA 9

   NP 1790 [the "N" is backwards]

   IX THe 86 of

   Age

9. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images ([9]: 9 May 2023), memorial page for Newman Perkins (8 Mar 1711–9 May 1796), Find a Grave Memorial ID 159102232, citing Perkins Family Lot, Exeter, Washington County, Rhode Island, USA.

• Ullmann, Helen Schatvet. Richard¹ Godfrey of Taunton, Massachusetts, and His Children and Grandchildren, The New England Historical & Genealogical Register (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., 2008) Vol. 162, WN 648, Page 272.
• Descendants of Ebenezer Perkins, Rootsweb World Connect Project,
• Find A Grave: Memorial #159102232