James Prime (abt. 1666 - 1736)

Born about 1666 in Milford, New Haven, Connecticut

Husband of Martha (Merwin) Prime — married 20 Sep 1685 in Milford, New Haven, Connecticut

Husband of Sarah (Unknown) Prime — married 1694 in Milford, New Haven, Connecticut

Descendants

Died 18 Jul 1736 at about age 70 in Milford, New Haven, Connecticut

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Biography

James was baptized April 17, 1670, First Church of Milford. Judging by what his age would have been when he married Martha Merwin in 1685, he was probably born between1655 and 1665, possibly earlier.

Families of Early Milford states that Martha (Merwin) Prime died in 1693. The Refugees of 1776 from Long Island to Connecticut and Historical Sketches of the Town of Milford; Families of Early Milford, state that James Prime married first; Martha Merwin daughter of Miles Merwin and Sarah Platt, who was a daughter of Dec. Richard Platt, and second, Sarah (maiden name unk.). The Milford VR does show a marriage of James Prime to Martha Merwin. The Descendants of James Prime does not mention this marriage. And none of the genealogies mentioned here suggests that the first two children, James Prime and Martha Prime, are James’ children by Martha Merwin, and the rest by his second wife, Sarah. On all these genealogies, with the exception of Descendants of James Prime, all the children of James Prime are listed, but only as children of James Prime with no reference as to whether their mother was Martha (Merwin) Prime or Sarah Prime.

I have entered these children accordingly: James Prime and Martha Merwin were married for a number of years before she died in 1693, therefore they could have had a couple of children. And James and Sarah Prime’s children, whose baptism records are recorded after the death of Martha (Merwin) Prime, namely, Elizabeth, Joseph and William, where the mother is listed as “sister Sarah Prime,” and the baptism records for the remaining children are listed as children of “Sarah the wife of James Prime.” Personal, hand written family notes by Ralph E. Prime of Huntington, Long Island, states that “Sarah wife of James Prime was admitted to the church in Milford, Conn., Jan. 30, 1694.” These family records also lists the children of James and Sarah Prime, and although these family notes do not specifically name the two children by Martha Merwin, squeezed in between children Elizabeth and Joseph, as though added later, are Martha Prindle and James Prime. James Prime probably married Sarah mid to late 1694. In the original First Church of Milford baptism records from the archives at the CSL, page: 80, “1694/95, Jan. 30; Sarah ye wife of James Prime was admitted to full communion.”

At a court held in New Haven, March 19, 1699/1700: James Prime was released from training. James Prime Sen. was made freeman at Milford in 1713. Although James Prime Sen. is mentioned in a number of deeds in Milford the only deeds mentioned here are those that pertain to family members. Milford deeds, March 22, 1687/88 (recorded November 12, 1696): Miles Merwin “in good consideration” granted to his “loving son-in-law James Prime ten acres of upland which he bought of Walter Smith.” June 29, 1715: James Prime Sen. conveyed “to my well beloved son James Prime Jun. in way of portion in value of sixty pounds ---- land lying in ye bounds of sd Milford lying on ye both sides of ye East river and ye sawmill containing fifteen acres more or less.” January 09, 1724: James Prime to his “daughter Rebecca Prime now ye wife of John Clark of Milford,” for the sum of twenty four pounds one tract or parcel of land “situated within ye bound of Milford aforesd lying att place called Town Plains containing two acres.” In 1702 James Prime Sen. was a large land owner in New Milford, but it is not known if he lived there. James Prime Jun. of New Milford “in consideration of a valuable sum in hand received of my Honored father James Prime of Milford ----one piece or parcel of land in the township of New Milford being called a home lot by estimation six acres be it more or less.” There are a number of other land transactions in New Milford for James Prime but they are probably for James Prime Jun.

October 11, 1708: At half an hour past afternoon the New Haven Court was opened by Proclamation. James Prime is on the list of jurymen sworn upon the action between Lyron and Glover. October 12, 1708: James Prime is on the list of Grand Jurors that attended the court. October 13, 1708, at eight of the clock in the morning the Court was opened by Proclamation. James Prime is on the list of jurymen sworn upon the action of Frost and Couch.

James Prime’s will is dated September 23, 1732 and was proved September 06, 1736 at Milford. His will mentions daugh-ters, Sarah Plumb, Martha Prindle, Rebecca Clarke, Mary Ford, Deborah Prime and Hannah Prime, each of them were to receive one hundred pounds; and sons, James, Joseph and Ebenezer Prime, each of them were to receive one third of the remainder of the estate. James, Joseph and Ebenezer were appointed executors.

Will

23 SEP 1732 Milford, New Haven County, Connecticut

Last Will & Testament of James Prime of Milford, Conn.

In the name of God Everlasting, Amen. This 23d day of September, in the sixth yeare of ye reign of or Sovereign Lord, George ye Second, King of Great Britain, Anno Dom. 1732, J, James Prime of Milford, in ye County of New haven, in His Majesty's Colony of Connecticut, in New England, Being arrived to Old Age & Being weak of Body but of Sound Mind & Memory (thanks be given unto God therefore), calling unto mind the Mortality of my Body, & knowing it is Appointed for man once to Dye, do Make & Ordain this my last Will & Testament; that is to say: Principally & first of all, J Give & Recommend my soul into ye Hands of God yt Gave it, & my body J recommend unto ye Earth to by Buryed in decent & Christian Buryall by my Executors, & at their Discretion, nothing doubting but at the General Resurrection I shall Receive ye same again by the Mighty power of God; & as touching my worldly Goods & Estate wherewith it has pleased God to bless me, J Give, Devise, & Dispose in the following manner & form, viz.:-

Impr. My Will is that all my just Debts, Dues, & Demands yt may be made upon my Estate & my Funerall charges be first Payd by my Exrs.

Item. J Give, Dispose, & Bequeath to my daughter Sarah Plumb the sum of One Hundred Pounds as money, to her & her heirs forever, to be paid out of my Estate by my Executors.

Item. J Give, Dispose, & Bequeath to my eldest daughter Martha Prindle ye sum of One Hundred Pounds as money, to be paid to her out of my Estate by my Executors.

Item. J Give, Dispose, & Bequeath to my daughter Rebekah Clarke, & to her heirs forever, the sum of One Hundred Pounds as money, to be paid by my Executors out of my Estate.

Item. J Give, Dispose, & Bequeath to my daughter Mary Ford, & to her heirs forever, the sum of One Hundred Pounds as money, to be paid out of my Estate by my Executors.

Item. J Give, Dispose, & Bequeath to my daughter Deborah Prime, & to her heirs forever, the sum of One Hundred Pounds as money, to be paid out of my Estate by my Executors.

Item. J Give, Dispose & Bequeath to my daughter Hannah Prime, & to her heirs forever, the sum of One Hundred Pounds as money, to be paid out of my Estate by my Executors.

Item. My Will is if either of my daughters yt are not yet married shall dye before Marriage & without issue, ye sd Legacy given to ye daughter yt shall lodge shall be Equally Divided by the Surviving Children.

Item. J Give, Dispose, & Bequeath to my three sons, James Prime, Joseph Prime, & Ebenezer Prime, all the rest & remainder of my Goods & Estate, both Reall & Personall whatsoever, yt is not before Given & Disposed of by me, to them & their heirs & assignes forever, Equally to be divided, that is to say, to each of them ye sd James, Joseph & Ebenezer, one third part thereof, to them , their heirs & assignes forever.

Item. My Will is, & J do hereby Constitute & Nominate & Appoint my three sons, James Prime, Joseph Prime, & Ebenezer Prime, to be the only & sole Executors of this my last Will & Testament, & J do hereby dysanyull, revoke, & make void all other Testaments, Wills, Legacys, Bequests Executed by me anyways before made, namd, willd, & bequeathd. Ratefying & Confirming of this to be my last Will & Testament, J have hereunto sett my hand & affixd my seal ye day & date first above written.

James Prime, his seal.

Signed, Sealed, Published, & decd by James Prime as his last Will & Testament, in ye Presence of John Fowler, Ephraim Strong, John Gand.

Proved, Milford, Sept. 6th, 1736.

An ancestor of Majel Barrett Roddenberry

Name James Prime Jr SAR Membership 18701 Role Ancestor Application Date 1 Mar 1907 Father Ebenezer Prime Spouse Hot Brown Children James Prime Household Members Name Age Ebenezer Scudder Prime Emma Catrett Edward Young Prime Edenilce Conklin Ebenezer Prime Mary Widen Benjamin Young Conklin M D Edenilce Lodge Reverend Ebenezer Prime Sarah Prime James Prime Jr Hot Brown James Prime Jr Reverend Ebenezer Prime

Sources

• Prime, Ralph Earl. The Descendants of James Prime (G.B. Mottram, Yonkers, N.Y., 1895)
• Records of The First Church in Huntington, Long island, 1723-1779 (Moses L. Scudder, Huntington, NY, 1899) Page 113
• Milford First Church of Christ, Baptisms 1639–1926, [CSL Film No. 615, FHL Film No. 1013280].
• New Haven County, County Court Records, 1699–1712/13; Vol. 2; Page: 26 [Connecticut Archives at the CSL].
• Milford Deeds, Vol. 3; Page: 181; Vol. 5; Page: 85; Vol. 7; Page: 30 [CSL Film No. 2304, FHL Film No. 0004919].
• New Milford Deeds, Page: 335 [CSL Film No. 3316].
• Colony of Connecticut Minutes of the Court of Assistants 1669–1711. Transcribed and Indexed by Helen Schatvet Ullman, CG, FASG. Pub. By NEHGS, Boston, Mass. 2009.
• New Haven Probate Records; Vol. 6; Pages: 193-194 [microfilm at the New Haven Museum and Historical Society].
• The Ricker Collection of Vital Records of Early Connecticut, based on the Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records and other Statistical Sources by Jacquelyn Ladd Ricker, Genealogical Publishing Company Inc.
• Genealogical and Biographical of the Prime Family by Edward Dorr Griffin Prime, [accessed January 19, 2009 on Google Books.] https://archive.org/details/notesgenealogi00prim/page/12?q=Joseph+Prime+family
• G. Lewis Platt, The Platt Lineage: A Genealogical Research and Record (New York: Thomas Whittaker, 1891).
• Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900

Name James Prime

Arrival: 1654 Connecticut

Source Publication Code 1262

Primary Immigrant Prime, James

Annotation Date and place of settlement or date and place of arrival. Names not restricted to the Order of Founders and Patriots of America.

Source Bibliography COLKET, MEREDITH B., JR. Founders of Early American Families: Emigrants from Europe, 1607-1657. Cleveland: General Court of the Order of Founders and Patriots of America, 1975. 366p. Page 231