Hugh (Cowperthwaite) Cowperthwait (abt. 1648 - 1730)

Born about 1648 in Kentmore, Westmorland, England

Husband of Elizabeth (UNKNOWN) Cowperthwait — married about 1668 (to 15 Dec 1697) in Flushing, Queens, New York

Husband of Elizabeth (Rogers) Cowperthwaite — married 11 May 1699 (to 27 Aug 1707) in Marshfield, Massachusetts

Husband of Grace (Burling) Bowne — married Apr 1709 (to 20 May 1730) in Flushing, Long Island, New York

Died 20 May 1730 at about age 82 in Flushing, Queens, New York

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Biography

Hugh was a Friend (Quaker)

Hugh Cowperthwait (spelling on his Last Will and Testament) was born at Kentmore, Westmorland, England about 1648.^[1] In June 1675 Hugh settled in Flushing, Long Island, where he lived for almost 56 years:

“Hugh Cowperthwite of flushing A substantial friend came out of England and dwelt in said town about 56 years a minister near 40 years lived to the age of about 82 years in good credit being vneuersally belouved and dyed the twentieth day of ye 3 month 1730.”^[1][2]

In the 1670's, Hugh was apparently hired by Col. Lewis Morris (Morris-24175) to tutor his ward the young Lewis Morris (who would later become Governor; Morris-3579). Source: Smith, Samuel Stelle "Colonel Lewis Morris: Anglo-American Statesman ca. 1613-1691" p.113. New jersey, USA: Humanities Press, Inc., 1983. Copyright. Accessed 6 Dec 2022. E-book available for borrowing at https://archive.org/details/lewismorrisanglo0000smit/page/n7/mode/1up?q=Quakers&view=theater

Hugh married three times:^[1]

(1) 1668 Elizabeth ?; she died 15 Dec 1697^[2][3]

(2) 11 Mar [May] 1699 at Marshfield, Massachusetts, Elizabeth Rogers, daughter of John Rogers;^[2][4] she died 27 Aug 1707^[1][2]

(3) Between 05 Jan and 02 Feb 1709/10 Grace Burling at Flushing, Long Island, New York

Grace Burling, the second child of Edward Burling and Grace Norrington, was born 29 Oct 1676 at Barking, Essex, England. Grace was about four years old when she immigrated to New York with her parents and two brothers. When her father died in 1697, Grace was 21. She remained unmarried for 13 years, staying with and helping her mother. Her mother remarried in 1706 to John Ferris.^[1]

In 1709, Grace married her first husband, Hugh Cowperthwaite, as his third wife. She was 33 and Hugh, a Quaker minister, was 61. Hugh and Grace had no children, neither did he have any from his first two marriages. Hugh died in 1730 at about the age of 82. He left all houses and lands in Flushing to Grace plus legacies to various members of Grace’s family and to friends, including Samuel Bowne.^[1][5]

Hugh also remembered his brother John in his Will:

“I leave to my beloved brother, John Cowperthwait, all my wearing apparell, and my riding mare and saddle, and £10, to be paid as soon as convenient.”^[1][5]

Hugh Cowperthwait wrote his Last Will and Testament on 28 Apr 1730, probated 3 Jun 1730 at Flushing, Queens, New York.^[5]

Grace (Burling) Cowperthwait married her second husband, Samuel Bowne (1667-1745), son of John Bowne, as his third wife, at Flushing, New York on 14 Nov 1734/5. They had no children.^[1][6]

Samuel Bowne, a friend of Hugh Cowperthwait, was, like Grace’s first husband Hugh, a Friends minister, as well as treasurer of Friends Meeting. She was close to her Bowne step-grandchildren and remembered some of them in her will. Grace lived 15 years after the death of Samuel. Her will is dated 27 Feb 1759 and proved 13 Mar 1761.^[1] Grace Bowne died 22 Nov 1760 at Flushing, Queens, New York.^[1]

Quaker Records, Cowperthwaite, New York Monthly (Pre)^[7]

John Copperthite, amist(announced marriage intention) Sarah Adams, 29 9mo 1690

Hen  Coperthwait,  rqc(requested certificate) 29 6mo 1696

Elizebeth Coperthwaite d(died) 15 10mo 1697

Heugh Cowperthwait. gct(granted certificate) New England to marry, 25 12mo 1698

Elizebeth Cowperthwite d(died) 2d w of Hugh. Flushing, 27 6mo 1707

Hugh Cowperthawait rmt(reported marriage to)  Grace Burling. See also pg 59, 2 12mo 1709

Hugh Cowperthwite d(died) Flushing. Age about 82y, 20 3mo 1730

Hugh Coperthwait gc(granted certificate) to marry, 1 5mo 1731

NOTES FROM BOOK "COWPERTHWAITE" BY WOODRIDGE: ^[8] Hugh Cowperthwait, a native of England, was born in 1648, and emigrated to Long Island in 1674, and settled at Flushing, where he followed tailoring and taught school. He acquired considerable estate. He was a minister of good repute in the Society of Friends, as appears from the minutes of Flushing monthly meetings- "A substantial friend, a minister for nearly forty years, and universally beloved." He deceased May the 20th, 1730, and by the minutes of the meeting at Flushing he devised to that body a legacy of £100. He married first, in England, Elizabeth ______, who died at Flushing, Long Island, December 5th, 1697. In February, 1698, he obtained a certificate to travel in the New England States, and whilst there married his second wife, Elizabeth _____, who died August 27th, 1707.

The children of Hugh Cowperthwait and Elizabeth, his first wife, were- John, b. m. 1-1-1690, Sarah Adams of Flushing, LI. Hugh, b. m. 1709, Grace Burling 1st. m. 1731, _____ ______ 2nd (Notes: no children are mentioned in Hugh Sr.'s Will. John is mentioned as his brother. However, Quaker records show a certificate for Hugh to marry, after the death of Hugh Sr.)

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9} Thompson-Stahr, Jane. The Burling Books: Ancestors and Descendants of Edward and Grace Burling, Quakers (1600-2000). Baltimore: Gateway Press, 2001. pp 53-56
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Monnette, Orra Eugen, B.A. First Settlers Of Ye Plantations Of Piscataway and Woodbridge, Olde East New Jersey - 1664-1714: A Period Of Fifty Years, Part Five. The Leroy Carman Press, Los Angeles, CA, 1933, pgs. 811-812
3. ↑ Backhouse, Backhouse & Mounsey. Biographical Memoirs. Society of Friends. Elizabeth Cowperthwait
4. ↑ "Massachusetts Marriages, 1695-1910," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FH9S-BLY : 4 December 2014), Hugh Coperthwait and Elizabeth Rogers, 11 Mar 1699; citing reference p 60; FHL microfilm 423,495.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} ABSTRACTS OF UNRECORDED WILLS PRIOR TO 1790, Volume XI (pages 107-108): Hugh Cowperthwait
6. ↑ Thompson, Benjamin Franklin. The History of Long Island, from Its Discovery to the Present Time. Vol. II. Gould, Banks & Co. New York. 1843. pg. 388
7. ↑ James E Hazard Index, Online Search: (https://www.swarthmore.edu/Library/friends/hazard/fhlreport.php)
8. ↑ Removed from profile of Sarah Adams

• Encyclopedia of American Quaker genealogy, by ... v.3. Hinshaw, William Wade, 1867-1947. Cowperthwaite, p. 91
• Wesley, Rusha Our Quaker Ancestry, 1945. [Out of print.]

See also:

• Long Island Surnames - Cowperthwaite

Acknowledgments

• Sara V Mosher, Sept 2019
• WikiTree profile Cowperthwaite-11 created through the import of Lupton file.ged on Jul 7, 2011 by Kim Ostermyer. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Kim and others.