Paul Wentworth (abt. 1657 - abt. 1750)

Born about 1657 in Rowley, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 1750 at about age 93 in Norwich, New London, Connecticut Colony

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Biography

"Paul2 (6. V.), son of Elder William1 Wentworth, was the last son, so far as any accounts exist, to die. He was also among the elder of Elder William's1 children. If twenty-five years of age when his first child was born, in 1680, Paul3 would have been born in 1655. Paul died, probably in 1750, not far from ninety-five years of age. ^[1]

All efforts to find the name of Paul's wife before marriage have proved unsuccessful by John Wentworth. Perhaps the following may yet lead to it, although so far it has failed:

Paul Wentworth of Rowley Mass, is made guardian, 19 December 1705 of Sarah Barhard, in her fifteenth year, and Benjamin Barnard, in his thirteenth year, children of Benjamin (deceased) and Sarah Barnard, of Watertown, Mass. Benjamin Barnard, senior, died 12 January, 1694; and his widow married, 12 January 1698-9, Samuel Winch of Framingham Mass. Paul is called, in the papers on file, the uncle of these children. Bond's History of Watertown gives the names of the sister of Benjamin Barnard, but there is no Catherine among them. Paul's wife Catherine, therefore, must have been a sister to Barnard's wife Sarah, or Barnard's wife Sarah must have been a sister of Paul Wentworth.

Paul's wife was living in 1726, but doubtless deceased before 1746 when Paul gave property to his son Benjamin. Nothing can be found in the burial ground of Preston, Conn about Paul or his wife. The records of New London Conn were mostly destroyed in the Revolutionary war.

The births of Paul's children were all recorded at one time -- sometime between 1718 and 1721. There is an evident error somewhere in the dates given to the first two children, but the record reads as follows:

1. 37. William, born 25 December 1680 [184]
2. 38. Sylvanus born 28 February 1681 [185]
3. 39. Paul born 10 May 1682 [187]
4. 40. Ebenezer born 18 June 1683 [191]
5. 41. Martha born 9 February 1684/5; married in Kittery, Maine, Samuel Lord [198]
6. 42 Mercy born 18 July 1868; baptized in Rowley Mass, May 1697; married (1) 23 April 1707 (int. 5 April 1707) Joseph Chapman, (2) William Chapman.
7. 43 Aaron born 1 January 1687 [204]
8. 44 Moses born 17 April 1689, baptized May 1697, Nothing found of him afterwards.
9. 45 Mary born 25 Dec 1692; died 3 June 1725.
10. 46 Katherine born 28 July 1694; married Daniel Chapman [221]
11. 47 Sarah born 8 April 1697. Married Colen Ffresior [232]
12. 48 Benjamin born 28 December 1698 [234]
13. 49 Edward born 20 June 1700 [241]^[2]

"Wentworth. Paul Wentworth, a son of Elder William Wentworth of Dover, N.H., obtained from Owancco, the Indian sachem, a lease of certain lands in Mohegan, to which he removed with his family. He was dismissed, with his wife Katherine, from the church at Rowley (MA), where he had lived, to the church in New London, June 19, 1707. But his name does not appear on the list of church-members at New London. His farm, though within the limits of the ecclesiastical parish, was at least ten miles from the church, and the intervening country was almost a wilderness. He afterward purchased lands of David Francis, in East Society, Norwich; removed thither and was accepted as an inhabitant of the town December 20, 1715. He had thirteen children, all born before he came to this colony, the dates ranging from 1680 to 1700. He died in 1750. Benjamin, his seventh son, married in 1726, Mehitable Carrier. Jared Wentworth, son of Benjamin and Mehitable, born in 1728, married Abigail Wilson of Ashford. The residence of this couple was in the western part of Norwich, near Bean Hill. One of their daughters, Zerviah, born April 12, 1767, was united Nov. 28, 1790, to Ezekiel Huntley. The only child of this union, Mrs. L. H. Sigourney, has acquired a literary fame second to that of no female in the country. Her numerous writings, in prose and verse, are all of a pure and elevated tone, calculated to charm, console and entertain all willing readers, and particularly to mould and invigorate the character of the young." ^[3]

Paul, taxed at Dover around 1680 and was there in 1684.He was in Newbury in April 1696 when he sold to brother Benjamin land 'formerly my seat in Dover'; admitted to Rowley Church 30 August 1696 with wife Catherine. Married before 21 April 1681). Dismissed to New London Church 29 July 1707. Moved to Norwich in 1715, where in 1726 he deeded for support of self and wife to son Edward who soon died. In 1746 deeded to son Benjamin for support of self alone. He deposed about Rowley in Apr. 1739 aged 79. He had 13 children baptized at Rowley. 11 together on 16 May 1697. As recorded at Dover at one time they were:

1. William b. 25 Dec 1680, living in living Berwick 1764, m. Grace Tucker(18); see Joseph Gunnison(l), List 96. Her father willed her portion to her son William.
2. Sylvanus, b. 28 Feb. 1681, List 289, of Berwick. until 1723, Norwich by 1727, living on 4 May 1762. He m. 1st Mary Key(l), 2d in Bowley 3 Apr. 1723 Eleanor Davis.
3. Paul, Kittery, b. 10 May 1682, m. 1st Jane Bice(4), 4 ch.; m. 2d 24 Sept. 1724 Rebecca (Pickering 8) Jaques(l). In 1730 his father deeded him all his Dover lands; living on 7 July 1736.
4. Ebenezer, b. 18 June 1683, List 289, lived in Conn.
5. Martha, b. 9 Feb. 1684, m. Samuel Lord(7).
6. Mercy, b. 18 July 1686, m. in Bowley 23 Apr. 1707 Joseph Chapman.
7. Aaron, b. 1 Jan. 1687, lived in Conn.
8. Moses, b. 17 Apr. 1689, living in May 1697.
9. Mary, b. 25 Dec. 1692, living May 1697.
10. Katherine, b. 28 July 1694, m. 1713 Daniel Chapman of Colchester, Conn.
11. Sarah, b. 8 Apr. 1697, m. at Norwich 1718 Colen Fraser
12. Benjamin, b. 28 Dec. 1698, baptized at Bowley 1 Jan. 1698-9, lived in Conn. #Edward, b. 20 June 1700, baptized at Bowley 31 Aug. 1700, lived in Conn. ^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ "The Wentworth Genealogy comprising The Origin of the name, the Family in England and a particular account of Elder William Wentworth, the Emigrant and of his descendants". By John Wentworth, LL.D., of Chicago, Ill. In Two Volumes, Volume 1. 1870 Press of Alfred Mudge & Son, Boston, Mass. pg 76-78
2. ↑ "The Wentworth Genealogy comprising The Origin of the name, the Family in England and a particular account of Elder William Wentworth, the Emigrant and of his descendants". By John Wentworth, LL.D., of Chicago, Ill. In Two Volumes, Volume 1. 1870 Press of Alfred Mudge & Son, Boston, Mass. pg 79-80
3. ↑ History of Norwich, Connecticut: from its possession by the Indians, to the year 1866 by Caulkins, Frances Manwaring, 1795-1869 page 252.
4. ↑ Noyes, Sybil, Charles T. Libby, and Walter Goodwin Davis, Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire (Portland, Me.: Anthoensen Press, 1928–29, reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Company, 1972) p. 737