Caleb Fobes Sr (abt. 1655 - 1710)

Born about 1655 in Bridgewater, Plymouth, Massachusetts, New England

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Gager) Fobes — married 30 Jun 1681 in Norwich, New London, Connecticut, New England

Descendants

Died 25 Aug 1710 at about age 55 in Preston City, New London, Connecticut, New England

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Biography

Deacon Caleb Fobes of Norwich and Preston, Connecticut

Although Frances Manwaring Caulkins in her History of Norwich, Connecticut refers to Caleb as "Forbes", I have yet to find a single instance in the town or church records where it is spelled with an "r". Generally, it is spelled ffobes. The double "ff" is used to distinguish it from "f" which is actually our modern "s".

Birth:
Caleb Fobes was the son of John and Constant (Mitchell) Fobes of Duxbury and Bridgewater, Mass., where it is assumed that he was born, about 1655, which seems to be the currently accepted date. I would put it a few years earlier, because he owned land in Norwich in 1672.

Marriages
1st: Sarah Gager, daughter of John Gager of Norwich. They were married June 30, 1681 in Norwich.^[1] Caleb is listed in his father-in-laws will dated 1695, although John Gager didn’t die until 1703.
2nd: Married Marah by 1699. An entry in the Preston Church records establishes his marriage to Marah before Jan 1699. It lists Marah the wife of Caleb Fobes and others as having "adjoined by renewal of their covenant" on the 1st of Jan 1699.^[2] It is believed by many researchers that the surname of Marah was Huntington.^[3]

Death:
He died August 25, 1710 in Norwich.^[2]

Caleb was the owner of land in Norwich as early as 1672. In 1684 and 1685 he was constable east of the river. He was one of the petitioners for the incorporation of the town of Preston in Oct 1686. He is named among the fifteen landholders on the Plantation Act, dated Jan. 15, 1686 and became a settled inhabitant of the new town. He had several grants of land from Owaneco, chief of the Mohegans, one of which dated Dec 10, 1683, was for 110 acres of upland and meadow “south of Connoughtug brook.”^[4] He was one of the first twelve members and a deacon of the Preston Congregational Church. Caleb was frequently elected selectman or townsman held the office of town treasurer for many years, and was often called upon to lay out lands and highways and to transact other public business.

Upon his death his estate was inventoried at £625. He left a widow, Marah/Mary, and five children, Sarah, Caleb, Mary, John, and Elizabeth.

His children, so far as known, were

1. Sarah, b. in Norwich June 24, 1684;^[1]< m. Samuel Bishop Jan. 2, 1705/6.^[1]
   
2. Caleb Fobes b. about 1688 (1728-40); d. May 7, 1728; m., May 21, 1713, Abigail Gates, who d. July 10, 1774, having borne (i) Abigail, b. May 25, 1714, (2) Joshua, b. Sept. 22, 1715, (3) Sarah, b. Sept. 13, 1717, m. Zebulon Walbridge, (4) Caleb, b. June 20, 1719, m. Edith Walbridge, (5) Simon, b. Feb. 2, 1721-2, (6) Bethiah, b. Feb. 2, 1725-6.^[5]
3. Mary, m., June 6, 1716 Caleb Gates (both of Preston), and had ten children.^[5]
   
4. John Ffobes, d. Feb. 18, 1738/9, m., Jan. 14, 1718/9, Ruth Bruster (Brewster), had eleven children.^[5]
   
5. Elizabeth.^[5]
   

Because there are no records of Sarah's death, Caleb's marriage to Marah, or birth records for the children after Sarah, it is difficult to determine which of these children belong to which wife.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Vital Records of Norwich, 1659-1848, Part I. Hartford, Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Connecticut, 1913.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} First Congregational Church of Preston, Connecticut 1698-1898. Together with statistics of the church taken from church records. Preston, Conn.: The Society, 1900.
3. ↑ Torrey, Clarence Almon. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore, MD.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004. TEXT AS FOLLOWS: Caleb (-1710) & Mary/Marah [HUNTINGTON?] (1657-1710+); by 1699; Preston, CT {Backus Anc. 91 (Forbes); Hale (1952) 651; Preston Ch. Rec. 129; TAG 11:105; Granberry 218; Brainerd Anc. 169}.
4. ↑ See Preston, Connecticut Deeds 1687-1736. at New London County CTGenWeb http://www.ctgenweb.org/county/conewlondon/deeds/PrestonDeeds1.html
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3} Descendants of Henry Wallbridge, who married Ann Amos, December 25th, 1688, at Preston, Conn, with some notes on the allied families of Brush, Fassett, Dewey, Fobes, Gager, Lehman, Meech, Stafford. Scott (1898]). Wallbridge, William Gedney (compiler) Litchfield, Conn. 1898

• Caulkins, Frances Manwaring. History of Norwich, Conn. From its possession by the Indians to the Year 1866. Friends of the Author, 1874.

• First Congregational Church of Preston, Connecticut, 1698-1898 : together with statistics of the church taken from church records.. Preston, Conn.: The Society, 1900 p 84,85

• Descendants of Henry Wallbridge, who married Ann Amos, December 25th, 1688, at Preston, Conn, with some notes on the allied families of Brush, Fassett, Dewey, Fobes, Gager, Lehman, Meech, Stafford. Scott (1898]). Wallbridge, William Gedney (compiler) Litchfield, Conn. 1898

• Vital Records of Norwich, 1659-1848, Part I. Hartford, Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Connecticut, 1913.

• Roberts, Gary B., and William A. Reitwiesner. American ancestors and cousins of the Princess of Wales: the New England, Mid-Atlantic, and Virginia forebears, near relatives, and notable distant kinsmen, through her American great-grandmother, of Lady Diana Frances Spencer, now Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales. Baltimore: Genealog. Publ. Co., 1984. Print.
• Find a grave memorial No stone, no sources.