Eunice (Holmes) Ames (1741 - abt. 1778)

Born 27 Jul 1741 in Halifax, Plymouth, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Wife of Benjamin Sprague — married 12 Aug 1762 in East Bridgewater, Plymouth Co., Province of Massachusetts Bay

Wife of Solomon Ames Jr. — married after 19 Nov 1781 in Bridgewater, Plymouth, Massachusetts

Descendants

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Biography

Unis, daughter of Ephraim and Margaret (Washburn) Holmes was born at Halifax, MA on July 27, 1741.

Massachusetts

• From John Maltby:

Eunice Holmes, born on 27 July 1741 in Halifax,^[1] married:

1.) Benja­min Sprague, son of Jonathan and Lydia (Leavitt) Sprague, of South Bridgewater, on 12 Aug. 1762 in Bridgewater,^[2] and:

2.) Solomon Ames (Jr.), son of Solomon and Susanna (Keith) Ames, in ca. 1781 in Bridgewater.^[3]

Eunice6 Holmes, eldest daughter of (366) Margaret5 Washburn, (111) Lt. John4 (7th), (56) John3 (6th), (43) John2 (5th), (28) John1 (4th); born in Halifax, MA, on 27 July 1741,[1] married 1.) Sgt. Benja­min4 Sprague, son of Jonathan3 and Lydia (Leavitt) Sprague, of South Bridgewater,[2] on 12 Aug. 1762 in Bridgewater.[3] He was born on 4 July 1736 in Bridgewater,[4] a grandson of William2 and Deborah (Lane) Sprague (Jr.), of Provi­dence, RI.[5] He served as a Sergeant in Capt. James Allen’s Company from Bridgewater in 1777, during the Revolutionary War, stationed in Bristol, RI.[6]

Sgt. Benjamin Sprague died intes­tate on 31 Mar. 1778 in Bridgewater, of small pox, aged 41 years,[7] and his widow Eunice Sprague was granted admin­istra­tion of his estate on 1 Feb. 1779.[8] She remar­ried to 2.) Solo­mon Ames (Jr.), son of Solo­mon and Susanna (Keith) Ames,[9] in ca. 1781 in Bridgewater.[10] He was born on 18 Sept. 1741 in Bridge­wa­ter,[11] and they were living in Bridgewater, MA, in the 1790,[12] and 1800 federal censuses.[13] Solomon Ames (Jr.) died testate on 24 Feb. 1814 in Bridgewater, aged 72 years,[14] his will dated 11 June 1810, and probated on 5 Apr. 1814, mentioned his wife Eunice, his two brothers Simeon and Jotham, and his son-in-law Asa Pratt, whom he named as executor of his estate.[15] (See Appendix [A] for a full transcription of his will.) Eunice (Holmes) (Sprague) Ames died on 12 Oct. 1833 in Bridgewater, aged 92 years,[16] but no probate records were filed for her estate.

Eunice Holmes had 3 chil­dren by Benjamin Sprague:

2639 i Capt. Ephraim5 Sprague, born on 17 May 1763 in Bridgewater,[17] married (1673) Vina5 Edson, daugh­ter of Ezra4 and (513) Rebecca (Johnson) Edson,[18] on 29 June 1783 in Bridgewater.[19] She was born on 24 Apr. 1765 in Bridgewater,[20] a granddaugh­ter of Samuel3 and Mary Edson (3rd),[21] and of Capt. David and (135) Rebecca4 (Washburn) Johnson.[22] He served as a Private in Capt. Nathan Packard’s Company from Bridgewater in 1779 during the Revolutionary War,[23] and was apparently promoted to Captain of the Militia after the war. They were living in Bridgewater, MA, in the 1790 federal census, nearby his step-father, Solomon Ames,[24] and the 1800,[25] and 1810 federal censuses,[26] in the South Parish of Bridgewater in the 1820 federal census,[27] and in Bridgewater in the 1830,[28] and 1840 federal censuses.[29] In 1816 he was appointed as guardian of the children of his brother-in-law, Jeremiah Washburn, who died in Smithfield, RI.[30] He died tes­tate on 21 Feb. 1846 in Bridgewater, aged 82 years,[31] his will dated 3 May 1844, and probated in Mar. 1846, mentioned his wife Vina Sprague, his five children Holmes Sprague, Ephraim Sprague, Eunice Washburn, wife of Calvin Washburn, Mira Shaw, wife of John A. Shaw, Esq., and Chloe Sprague, and Trinity Church in Bridgewater, and he named John Edson, of Bridgewater, as executor of his estate.[32] She died a widow on 6 May 1851 in Bridgewater, aged 86 years.[33] (Continued in Washburn Fifth Generation under the family of Vina Edson.)

2640 ii Benjamin5 Sprague (Jr.), born ca. 1766 in Bridgewater,[34] married Priscilla Chur­chill on 17 Nov. 1785 in Bridgewater.[35] She was born ca. 1766.[36] They were living in Bridgewater, MA, in the 1790 federal census,[37] but he was not a head of household in Bridgewater in the 1800 federal census, and he may have been living with his step-father, Solomon Ames. He died on 15 Jan. 1806 in Bridgewater, aged 39 years,[38] but no probate records were filed for his estate, and she was still living in Bridgewater in the 1810 federal census.[39] She died a widow on 20 Jan. 1820 in Bridgewater, aged 53 years.[40] They had children:

a. Capt. Benjamin6 Sprague (3rd), born on 27 Nov. 1790 in Bridgewater,[41] married Lucy Ames, daughter of Joseph and Martha (Williams) Ames (Jr.),[42] on 11 Mar. 1818 in Bridgewater.[43] She was born on 4 Aug. 1792 in Bridgewater.[44] They were living in the South Parish of Bridgewater, MA, in the 1820 federal census.[45] She died on 20 Sept. 1827 in Bridgewater, aged 35 years, of “affection of the brain.”[46]

b. Friend Sprague, born on 1 Nov. 1792 in Bridgewater,[47] as a minor over the age of 14 years he chose Nathan Mitchell, Esq., of Bridgewater, as his guardian in right of his father on 15 Apr. 1808,[48] but no marriage record was found for him, and he probably died young.[49]

c. Lydia6 Sprague, born on 17 Aug. 1799 in Bridgewater,[50] married Capt. Barnabas “Barney” Leonard (Jr.), son of Barnabas and Phebe6 (Bassett) Leonard,[51] on 27 Aug. 1815 in Bridgewater.[52] He was born ca. 1790,[53] a grandson of Lt. Joseph5 and Phebe6 (Cushman) Bassett (Jr.), of Bridgewater.[54] He died on 6 Apr. 1847 in Bridgewater, aged 56 years,[55] but no probate records were filed for his estate.

d. George6 Sprague, born on 31 Aug. 1801 in Bridgewater,[56] went to New York, then to Florida.[57]

2641 iii Lydia5 Sprague, born on 24 Aug. 1777 in Bridgewater,[58] married (2447) Capt. Asa Pratt, son of Deacon Seth and (928) Hannah6 (Washburn) Pratt, on 21 Mar. 1799 in Bridgewater.[59] He was born on 22 Apr. 1774,[60] a grandson of (354) Capt. Joseph5 and Deliverance (Orcutt) Washburn.[61] He was executor of the estate of his step father-in-law, Solomon Ames, in 1814. He died testate on 15 Dec. 1831 in Bridgewater, aged 57 years, of an “affection of the throat,”[62] his will dated 29 Sept. 1831, and probated on 20 Feb. 1832, mentioned his wife Lydia, his grandson John Edward Howard, his granddaughters Harriet A. Howard and Sarah H. Mitchell, his nephew Seth Pratt, and his two daughters Harriet M. Howard and Lusannah T. Mitchell, and he named his sons-in-law, Cushing Mitchell and Jno. E. Howard, as co-executors of his estate.[63] She was probably living with her son-in-law John E. Howard in West Bridgewater in the 1840 federal census, and she died a widow on 18 June 1848 in Bridgewater, aged 71 [sic] years,[64] and they were both buried in the Old Graveyard in Bridgewater. (Continued in Washburn Sixth Generation under the family of Capt. Asa Pratt.)

Adopted Profile for: Eunice (Holmes) Ames Sprague; Holmes-7350

Sources

1. ↑ Halifax VRs, p. 49, as “Unis Holms.”
2. ↑ Bridgewater VRs, Vol. 2, p. 184.
3. ↑ Bridgewater VRs, Vol. 2, p. 354, marriage intentions recorded 19 Nov. 1781, she is called “widow Eunice Sprauge.”

• George Ernest Bowman, comp., Vital Records of Halifax Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849, (Boston: Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1905), p. 49 (birth)

• John A. Maltby Genealogies - Eunice Washburn
• Holmes-7350