Jeremiah Woodcock III (1731 - 1824)

Born 4 Oct 1731 in Needham, Suffolk (Norfolk), Massachusetts Bay Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Morse) Woodcock — married 26 Dec 1754 in Needham, Suffolk, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 4 Mar 1824 at age 92 in Needham, Norfolk, Massachusetts, USA

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Biography

Jeremiah was born in 1731. He passed away in 1824.

JEREMIAH WOODCOCK III, eldest son of Jeremiah II and Elizabeth (Bacon) Woodcock, was born on October 11, 1731 in Needham, Suffolk (now Norfolk) County, Province of Massachusetts Bay.^[1] From his Revolutionary War records we know that at the age of 48 he was 5’10” tall and had a light complexion.^[2]

He married in Needham on December 26, 1753, SARAH MORSE,^[3][4] daughter of Samuel and Mary (Lovewell) Morse.^[5] Sarah was reared in that section of Needham that was known as the Needham Leg [Natick]. At the time of her marriage she was described as "of Needham, late of Natick," so her widowed mother may have moved to Needham.

[Family connections: Jeremiah’s mother was a cousin of the Bacons who lived near Sarah on Needham Leg. Jeremiah's younger sister Es­ther married Sarah's older brother Benjamin a few years later.]

Sarah died in Needham on August 3, 1766,^[6] leaving Jeremiah with six children under the age of twelve.

Jeremiah [age 37] married next on November 5, 1767, in neighboring Newton, widow SUSANNAH (CHECK/CHICK) WHITMORE,^[7][8] the 29-year-old daughter of John and Susannah Chick of Boston,^[9] and widow of Joseph Whitmore of Newton,^[10] with at least two sons, Joseph Jr. who died young and Enoch. ^[11]

The location of Jeremiah's farm in Needham is not known for sure. He inherited a small dwelling house in the junction of present Central, Forest and Brookside streets, which was possibly his childhood home, and may have lived there for a while; he sold this property in 1784, as seen below. He was described as "of Needham" in 1760 when he served as a bondsman for the administrator of the estate of his brother-in-law Benjamin Morse,^[12] thus at that time did not live in the Leg which was then part of Natick. His Continental Army service record in 1780, however, lists him variously as "of Natick" and "of Needham."^[13] He continued to work his land near his childhood home, for in 1791 he made an agreement with his brother Samuel that the brook by Samuel's house would be improved at all seasons for the bene­fit of them both.^[14]

Private Jeremiah Woodcock III served with Massachusetts Line during the American Revolution.

Jeremiah Woodcock III is an NSSAR Patriot Ancestor.
NSSAR Ancestor #: 332330
Rank: Private

Jeremiah Woodcock III is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A210134.

With the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Jeremiah [age 44] served four days as a private in Capt. Roger Smith's Company, probably in response to the alarm on April 19, 1775 that the British were coming. The following January, with his son Jeremiah Jr., he served in Capt. Hopestill Hall's company in Col. Lemuel Robinson's regiment. On July 16, 1780, recorded as age 48, he was recruited from Needham as a private for six month's duty in the Continental Army under the command of Lt. Zebulon King and on October 25 was at Camp Totoway in Brig. Gen. Patterson's muster. He was discharged on December 6, 1780. During this time he is also shown as serving in Capt. Job Sumner's company in Col. John Greaton's 3rd regiment.^[15]

Jeremiah inherited half of his father's land, probably on the death of his father in 1774 when Jeremiah was 42. Seventeen years later, in 1791, his brother Samuel drew up a deed listing the following five small tracts, stating that they were Jeremiah's division of his father's estate:

15 acres with small dwelling house bounded west, south and east by roads, west and northwest by his brother's division, north and east by Samuel West's land, and northwest by Lt. Robert Fullers land.

10 acres bounded southeast by a road, north by his brother's division, and west by Lt. Robert Fuller's land.

10 acres bounded south by a road and surrounded by his brother's division and land be­ longing to the heirs of Capt. Lemuel Pratt, the heirs of Samuel Ware Jr., Capt. Silas Alden, Capt. Eleazar Kingsbury, and Daniel Hunting Jr.(probably In Rosemary Meadow).

18-acre woodlot bounded north by Ebenezer Newell's land, east by Amos Fuller’s land, and south by Capt. Moses Draper's land.

3 acres bounded north by a road, west by Lt. Robert Fuller's land, south by Capt. Eleazar Kingsbury's land, and east by his brother's division and by ministerial Iand.^[16]

In 1781 Jeremiah began selling his land.

In 1781 he sold to John Tolman, a housewright, 20 acres near present High Rock Street just south of Central; the land was described as bounding west by the road leading from Timothy Newell's house to the meetinghouse, north on Ebenezer Newell's land, south on James Herring's land and east on Ebenezer Fuller's heirs' Iand.^[17]

In 1783 he sold to Samuel West 5 acres at Rosemary Meadow,^[18] which was probably part of the third tract mentioned in the paragraph above.

In 1784 he sold to Moses Fuller 30 acres in three sections which were the first, second and 5 acres of the third tract mentioned in the paragraph above. No house is mentioned in the first tract; however, since the house was referenced to in the deed of 1791, it was probably still standing. ^[19]

[In 1793 Needham became part of new Norfolk Co.]

In later years he apparently lived with one of his children, for he is not listed as a head-of-household in the census from 1790 through 1820.

Susanna, “wife of Jeremiah,” died in Needham July 1820, age 84 years

He died on March 4,1824, at the advanced age of 92.^[20][21] No estate papers have been found for him.

Children: ^[22]

By wife Sarah:

1. SARAH WOODCOCK b. Jul 28 1755; m. Dec 20 1778 JONATHAN WARE. Lived in Needham
2. OLIVE WOODCOCK b.Jan 6 1757. Died by 1768 when 2nd Olive was born.
3. JEREMIAH WOODCOCK IV b.Sep 26 1758.
4. MARY WOODCOCK b.Jun 20 1761; m. JONATHAN WILLIAMS Jr. of Newton. The intentions to marry were recorded on Mar 8 1788.^[23]
5. BENJAMIN WOODCOCK b.Aug 18 1763.
6. ESTHER WOODCOCK b.Dec 26 1765. [Shown as daughter of Jeremiah and Susannah, but Sarah died 1766.]

By wife Susannah:

1. Esther Woodcock, b. Dec. 26, 1765, d. Jan. 11, 1844, a. 78 y.
2. Oliver Woodcock, b. June 30, 1768. [In 1794, an Olive Woodcock and child lived with bro-in-law Jonathan Ware.]
3. Nehemiah Woodcock, b. Feb. 1, 1771.
4. Ebenezar Woodcock, b. July 12, 1773.
5. Nathan Woodcock, b. Aug. 22, 1776.

Sources

1. ↑ Needham vital records, p.69; of Jeremiah Jr. & Elizabeth.
2. ↑ Massachusetts Soldiers of the Revolutionary War (1907), Vol.17, p.822.
3. ↑ Needham vital rec., p.13: Jeremiah Jr. of Needham, Sarah 'Mors' of Needham, late of Natick.
4. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001", (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPC8-QH4M : Sun Mar 10 07:11:56 UTC 2024), Entry for Jeremiah Woodcock and Sarah Mors, 26 Dec 1753.
5. ↑ Needham vital records, p.73: b.May 28 1734.
6. ↑ Needham vital records, p.150: Sarah wife of Jeremiah Woodcock Jr.
7. ↑ Newton vital records, p.412: Jeremiah Jr. of Needham.
8. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001", (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHV3-ZY2 : Sat Mar 09 09:08:42 UTC 2024), Entry for Jeremiah Jr. Woodcock and Susannah Whitmore, 5 November 1767.
9. ↑ Boston vital records, p.232: b. Apr 15 1738.
10. ↑ Clarke, George Kuhn, History of Needham (1912), p.434.
11. ↑ Newton vital records, p.514(d), p.209,514,516(child.).
12. ↑ Middlesex Co. Will Bk.38, p.44.
13. ↑ Mass. Soldiers. Vol.17, p.822.
14. ↑ Suffolk Co. Deed Bk.169, p.139.
15. ↑ Mass. Soldiers, Vol.17, p.822.
16. ↑ Suffolk Co. Deed Bk.169, p.139.
17. ↑ Norfolk Deed Bk.16, p.59.
18. ↑ Suffolk Co. Deed Bk.145, p.92.
19. ↑ Per Frederic A. Jones, Old Houses In Needham Massachusetts (1979) p.10, Moses Fuller is thought to have lived in the old Fuller house at Forest and Burrill streeets. Thus, he did not move into the "small house" even if it were still standing.
20. ↑ Clarke, p.615: age 92y4m.
21. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001", (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHBG-ZJS : Fri Mar 08 17:00:04 UTC 2024), Entry for Jeremiah Woodcock, 4 March 1824.
22. ↑ Needham vital records: of Jeremiah Jr. & Sarah
23. ↑ Newton vital rec., p.412: Mary of Needham.

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "Pedigree Resource File," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:2:S5SR-N66 : accessed 2017-07-19), entry for Jeremiah /WOODCOCK/.

• Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed 2021-07-29), "Record of Jeremiah Woodcock", Ancestor # A210134.

• Needham Vital Records https://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Norfolk/Needham/