Hester (Fowler) Collins (bef. 1621 - aft. 1688)

Born before 2 Apr 1621 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England

Ancestors

Wife of Robert Collins — married 1654 in Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

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Hester (Fowler) Collins migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Hester (Fowler) Collins immigrated to New England as a child during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640).

Hester Fowler, daughter of Philip Fowler and Mary Unknown, was baptized April 2, 1621, Saint Mary, Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ^[1][2][3] vs baptized on March 16, 1619/20 as given in Anderson’s Great Migration.^[4]

On 24 March 1634, Hester along with her parents and most of her siblings embarked on their voyage from Southampton, England. They arrived in New England in May 1634. ^{[4] [5] [6]} Hester’s oldest brother, John (age 22), stayed in Marlborough and married there the following year.

Hester married Ezra Rolfe about 1648. Ezra's probate record in 1652, noted that he had a widow, Hester Rolfe, and two children at that time. ^[7]

After Ezra's death in 1652, Hester married Robert Collins by about 1658. ^[8] Joseph Fowler (son of Joseph Fowler) testified that Robert Collins was his uncle, and Ezra and Daniel Rolfe both called Robert Collins their father.^[9] Thus we can deduce that “the” Hester that was Collins' wife was indeed Hester Fowler and that she was also the widow of Ezra Rolfe. (See Disputed Marriages above for complete analysis.)

By 1679, Robert Collins and Hester moved to Haverhill in Norfolk County. This is evidenced by the following two land transactions:

1. On 18 June 1679, Robert and Hester “sold 40 rods of land on the north side of Ipswich River, in common field on hill, bounded with the land…of Philip Fowler, Sr.^[10]
2. On 25 November 1679, Robert and Esther mortgaged “my now dwelling house in Ipswich, in the high street, bounded on North by Philip Fowler.” This estate was sold 26 January 1680 when of “Haverhill, County of Norfolk.”^[10]

On 24 June 1682, Hester and her husband, Robert Collins, sold all their land (15 acres) in Haverhill.^[10]

Robert died at Haverhill on 17 June 1688. His death record indicated he was husband of “Esther” implying that Hester was still living at the time of his death.^[11]

Children

Children with Ezra Rolfe, all born at Ipswich:

1. Ezra born about 1652.
2. Daniel born about 1652.

Children with Robert Collins, all born at Ipswich:

1. Philip, born on ___; died April 7, 1659. ^{[8] [12]}
2. Hester, born on April 18, 1658 ^[13]; died on January 19, 1662/3 at Ipswich. ^{[8] [12]}
3. Robert, born on March 15, 1659/60. ^{[8] [13]}
4. Nathaniel, born on June 18, 1662. ^[8][13]
5. Elizabeth, born on January 16, 1664/5. ^{[13] [8]}

Research Notes

Disputed Marriages:

Antiquarian Papers has the notation: “Robert Collins, Ipswich, called father by Ezra and Daniel Rolfe, and uncle by Joseph Fowlar.” ^[9] The original source of this article and the proof of Joseph's relationship to Hester Fowler Rolfe Collins (his paternal aunt, sister of his father Joseph Sr) and to the sons of Ezra Rolfe (Hester's wife prior to Robert Collins) comes from Joseph's testimony at the Ipswich Quarterly Court of March 1672. When testifying about a horse, brothers Ezra & Daniel Rolfe (sons of Ezra Sr) called their step-father Robert Collins "father Collins" and their testimony was followed immediately by Joseph's about the same horse of his "uncle Collins".^[14]

Joseph Fowler’s maternal uncles were Henry Kimball, Richard Kimball, John Kimball, Thomas Kimball, Benjamin Kimball, Caleb Kimball, John Severance, Robert Dutch and Edward Allen. So, Joseph’s “uncels Collinges” would have to be a paternal uncle married to one of his father’s sisters. At the time of Joseph’s testimony, two of his paternal aunts were Margaret Coleman and Mary Chandler, so their husbands could not have been Joseph’s “uncels Collinges.” The only other paternal aunt was Hester. Robert Collin(g)’s wife’s name was Hester, meaning this undoubtedly was Hester Fowler. ^{[10] [15][16]} (Robert C. Anderson in the Great Migration series erroneously states there is no record of Hester, daughter of Phillip Fowler, in New England.) Furthermore, since Ezra Rolfe Jr. and Daniel Rolfe called Robert Collins ”father,” Hester Fowler must have been previously married to Ezra Rolfe Sr., and Robert Colling(s) was the step-father who raised them.

Matthew Stickney, in The Fowler Family mentions a number of land transfers etc. that he states relate to Phillip Fowler and daughter Hester, but only some of those are found in "Essex Land Deeds". ... key 1679 sale of property by Robert Collins that supposedly names Hester's father as Phillip Fowler and states that she inherited that property while her name was Bird (i.e. married to presumably Jathnell Bird) has not been found.^[10] Stickney's work was apparently based mainly on "Ancient Records of Ipswich Vol 1"^[17]

However, a search of Essex deeds for this transaction comes up empty. Robert Collins and his wife Ester (spelled also as Hester) did sell land to Joseph Belknap Sr. (acknowledged June 25, 1682) and to Ezra Rolfe (presumably Junior, acknowledged June 11, 1701) and Simon Stace/Stacey does appear in several deeds from the late 1680s onward but no such transaction between Collins and Stace is found.[18] Perhaps this 1679 transaction was recorded elsewhere; Stickney does not give his specific source. No reference to this transaction appears under the names of Bird, Collins, Fowler or Stacy (with various spellings) in the Ipswich & Essexx Quarterly Court records 1679-1686.

In this reference to the June 18, 1679 land sell by Robert Collins and wife Hester to Simon Stace, Stickney actually quotes part of the land description from an unknown source as bounded by …"land of Philip Fowler, Senior, towards the North East (being part of a lott that was formerly Phillip Fowler, sen'r, which he gave to his daughter Hester, in the time of her husband Bird, and hath beene long time parted by a stone wall, from the other land of the aforesayd Phillip." The use of a quote that uses old English words and spellings show that this was just not Stickney’s assertion, but a direct quote from either a town record or deed in a book that is not readily accessible. This quote seemingly proves Hester Fowler’s parentage, first marriage to Jathnell Bird, and subsequent marriage to Robert Collins (who apparently took over the land that Hester inherited from her father) and hopefully is not ignored just because we don’t have access to all the books, maps and documents that Stickney had.

Source notes

Haverhill Deaths

COLLINGS, Robert, h. Esther, June 17, 1688. (p. 378) ^[11]

Ipswich Births

COLLINGS, Elizabeth, d. Robert, Jan. 16, 1664. CTR (p. 100)

COLLINGS, Hester, d. Robert, Apr. 18, 1658. CTR (p. 100)

COLLINGS, Nathaniell, s. Robert, June 18, 1662. CTR (p. 100)

COLLINGS, Robert, s. Robert, Mar. 15, 1659. CTR (p. 100) ^[13]

Ipswich Deaths

Collings, Philip, s. Robert, Apr. 7, 1659. CTR (p. 530)

Collins, Hester, d. Robert, Jan. 19, 1662. CTR (p. 530) ^[12]

Sources

1. ↑ "Wiltshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812" Marlborough, St Mary the Virgin > Parish Registers > 1602-1623 Image (accessed 1 July 2022)
2. ↑ "England, Wiltshire, Church Records, 1518-1990", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6DS1-DSTY : 25 February 2022), Phillip Fowle in entry for Hester Fowle, 1621.
3. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J93Z-492 : 20 September 2020), Phillip Fowle in entry for Hester Fowle, 1621.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Anderson, Robert C., George F. Sanborn, Jr., and Melinde Lutz Sanborn, Phillip Fowler in: Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume II, C-F, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts 2001, p. 560-4 (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) https://www.americanancestors.org/DB115/i/7373/560/22174971
5. ↑ Passengers on the Mary & John in: New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 9, New England Historical and Genealogical, Boston, Massachusetts, 1855, p. 265-7
6. ↑ Focus on Identification: Mary and John of Southampton: 1634 in: Great Migration Newsletter, Volume 17, p. 12 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2018.) https://www.americanancestors.org/DB1567/i/21161/12/426837239
7. ↑ Essex County, MA: Early Probate Records, 1635-1681.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. Vol. 1, pages 149-150.
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5} Hoyt, David Webster, The Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury, Massachusetts: With Some Related Families of Newbury, Haverhill, Ipswich, and Hampton, and of York County, Maine, Genealogical Publishing Co,, Baltimore, Maryland, Reprint: 2013, (p. 111-122
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} Caldwell, Augustine, Antiquarian Papers, Volumes 1-4, Ipswich, Massachusetts, 1879 https://www.google.com/books/edition/Antiquarian_Papers/ucUMAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Antiquarian+Papers,+Volumes+1-4,+by+Augustine+Caldwell,+Ipswich,+MA,&pg=RA2-PA11&printsec=frontcover
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4} Stickney, Matthew Adams, The Fowler family: a genealogical memoir of the descendants of Philip and Mary Fowler, of Ipswich, Mass. Ten generations: 1590-1882, Salem Press, Salem, Massachusetts, 1883, p. 26
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Vital Records of Haverhill Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849: Volume II: Marriages and Deaths, The Topsfield Historical Society, Topsfield, Massachusetts, 1911
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1 12.2} Vital Records of Ipswich Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849: Volume II: Marriages and Deaths, The Essex Institute, Salem, Massachusetts, 1910
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4} Vital Records of Ipswich Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849: Volume I: Births, The Essex Institute, Salem, Massachusetts, 1910
14. ↑ Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex CountyEdited by George Francis Dow Transcribed and Abstracted from the Original Manuscript by Harriet S. Tapley Published and Copyrighted by the Essex Institute Vol. 5 1672-1674 p. 12
15. ↑ Hoyt, David Webster, The Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury, Massachusetts: With Some Related Families of Newbury, Haverhill, Ipswich, and Hampton, and of York County, Maine, Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, Maryland, Reprint: 2013, page 320
16. ↑ Crane, Ellery Bicknell, Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts: With a History of Worcester Society of Antiquity, Volume 3, Lewis Publishing, 1907
17. ↑ The ancient records of the town of Ipswich: vol. 1- from 1634 to 1650 by Ipswich (Mass. : Town); Schofield, George A. Publication date 1899 Publisher Chronicle motor press various pages for Bird, Collins, Fowler

Acknowledgements

• WikiTree profile Fowler-964 created through the import of Ancestors of PBHowe.ged on Jun 6, 2011 by Buck Howe.