Rodolphus Thacher (abt. 1649 - 1733)

Born about 1649 in Weymouth or Duxbury, Plymouth Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Ruth (Partridge) Thatcher — married 1 Jan 1669 in Duxbury, Plymouth County (present day Massachusetts)

Descendants

Died 26 Jul 1733 at about age 84 in Groton, Connecticut Colony

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Biography

From p. 415 of The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, vol. 47:

"Rev. Ralph (or Rodolphus) Thacher, b , 1649, about (his birth is not recorded, but, in the will of his grandfather, Rev. Ralph Partridge, he was styled second son of his mother; he was made a freeman of Duxbury in 1670 and assuming him to have been 21 years old he must have been born about 1649), at Weymouth (or Duxbury), Mass.; d. July 26, 1733, at Groton, Conn., where he was buried in what is known as Rose Hill Burying Ground, gravestone; m. Jan. 5, 1669-70, at Duxbury, Mass., to Ruth Partridge (dau. of George and Sarah (Tracy) Partridge of Duxbury, Mass.), b (no record of her birth), at Duxbury, Mass. (probably); d. Oct. 30, 1717, at Lebanon, Conn., and was probably there buried, no gravestone."^[1]

"Res. Duxbury, Mass., Chilmark, Mass., Lebanon and Groton. Conn.; Freeman, Duxbury, 1670; constable there as early as June 3, 1673, and as late as 1678; Town Clerk there 1684-1694; he was ordained sometime previous to Feb. 13, 1694, and made minister at Chilmark, Mass., and remained there until 1714 when he resigned his charge and removed to Lebanon, Conn., where he probably lived with his children who had preceded him there; after his wife's death in Lebanon he removed to Groton, Conn., and made his home with his daughter, Lydia, the wife of John Dean. In the latter years of his life he was totally blind."

Rhodolphus and Ruth had the following children: ^[2][3]

1. Thomas, b. 9 Oct 1670
2. Elizabeth, b. 1 Mar 1672
3. Anne, b. 26 Nov 1673; died young.
4. Ruth, b. 1 Nov 1675
5. Rodolpbus (or Ralph), b. 9 Jan 1677/78
6. Lydia, b. 24 Jan 1679/80
7. Mary, b. 8 Mar 1682/83
8. Anne, b. 30 Mar 1684
9. Peter, b. 17 Aug 1686

Rodolphas Thecher died Jul 6 1733 in Preston, New London, Connecticut ^[4][5]

Rhodolphus/ Rodolphas Thacher was buried in Killam Cemetery, Preston, New London, Connecticut ^[2]

Research Notes

Thacher was the preferred spelling of the name at the time Ralph was born and for at least 2 or 3 generations following. In some lines, especially in New England, the spelling remains Thacher. The name did NOT originally come from the occupation of thatcher, as in thatching a roof, but grew to be spelled that way, because it was a familiar word in English. See the footnote at the bottom of page 4 in Genealogy and Biographical Sketches of the Descendants of Thomas & Anthony Thacher'.

Sources

1. ↑ Also see: Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook). Duxbury Marriages. p. 319.

   Thatcher, Roodolphus (dup. Rhodolphus Thacher) and Ruth Partridge, Jan. 1, 1669.

2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Find A Grave, database and images (accessed 17 January 2020), memorial page for Rev Rodolphas Thacher, Sr (1649–6 Jul 1733), Find A Grave: Memorial #7053157, citing Killam Cemetery, Preston, New London County, Connecticut, USA ; Maintained by Susan Panetta (contributor 46561844) .
3. ↑ Allen, David W. Biographical Sketches of the Thacher Family from their First Settlement in New England. Vineland, NJ: Independent Printing House (1872). p. 10.
4. ↑ "Connecticut Deaths and Burials, 1772-1934", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F7JB-H4G : 16 January 2020), Rodolphas Thecher, 1733.
5. ↑ Connecticut Headstone Inscriptions, vol. xiv. The Charles R. Hale Collection. Hartford, Connecticut: Connecticut State Library. p. 109.

• The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. Volume 47, 1916.
• Genealogy and Biographical Sketches of the Descendants of Thomas & Anthony Thacher, David W. Allen, Independent Printing House, Vineland, N.J., 1872; Digital Image, Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?id=qfQUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA4#v=onepage&q&f=false.

See Also:

• Ancestry Family Trees Ancestry Profile
• Source: S00059 OneWorldTree Publication. The Generations Network, Inc.; Provo, UT, USA; Repository: #R00001 Repository: R00001 www.ancestry.com.