Elizabeth (Patch) Darby (1711 - abt. 1800)

Born 16 Aug 1711 in Ipswich, Essex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, New England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Wife of Andrew Darby — married 2 Apr 1728 in Ipswich, Essex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, New England

Descendants

Died about 1800 at about age 88 in Westminster, Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States of America [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Carolyn Adams [send private message]

Biography

Elizabeth Patch was born on 16 Aug 1711, most probably in Ipswich, Essex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay. She was the daughter of Benjamin Patch of Ipswich and Littleton and his wife, Sarah (Unknown).^[1] (See Research Notes, below.)

Elizabeth Patch married Andrew Darby at the Hamlet Parish Church in Ipswich, Essex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay on 2 Apr 1728.^[2] In the first years of their marriage, they probably lived in Concord, Middlesex County, although they had their first two children baptized at the Hamlet Parish Church in Ipswich. By 1732, they were registering the births of their children in Concord and probably living in portion of the town which was established as Acton July of 1735. In all, they had at least nine children:

1. Elizabeth Darby (b. 15 Mar 1729, Concord;^[3] bp. 16 Mar 1729, Ipswich)^[4]
2. Sarah Darby (bp. 3 Jan 1730/1, Ipswich;^[5] d. Jan. 1730/1, Ipswich)^[6]
3. Sarah Darby (b. 14 Mar 1732, Concord)^[7]
4. Eunice Darby (twin, b. 28 Feb 1734/5, Concord)^[8]
5. Mary Darby (twin, b. 28 Feb 1734/5, Concord)^[9]
6. Nathan Darby (b. 2 Aug 1737, Acton)^[10]
7. Andrew Darby (b. 19 Nov 1739, Acton)^[11]
8. John Darby (b. 4 Jul 1742, Acton)^[12]
9. Ruth Darby (b. 20 Aug 1745, Acton)^[13]

No record of Elizabeth (Patch) Darby's death has been located, but the last known residence for the couple was in Westminster, where, in 1748, Andrew purchased Lot No. 22, with a house and a gristmill. She may have died in about 1800.^[14]

Research Notes

Parentage: There are two schools of thought on parentage of Elizabeth Patch, wife of Andrew Darby:

1. Timothy Patch (1676-1746) and Elisabeth Poland (or Powland) (1667-1742).
2. Benjamin Patch (1673-1748) of Ipswich and Littleton, Massachusetts and his first wife, Sarah (Unknown). See sources below for discussion. I note that Andrew Darby and Elizabeth Patch had a son named Benjamin who died. They then named a second son Benjamin. There is no Timothy among their known children. Adams-21565 23:27, 28 December 2015 (EST)

The sources referenced by Stu Bloom in his Public Message of 13 Dec 2020, are convincing: Elizabeth Patch, wife of Andrew Darby, was not the daughter of Timothy Patch and Elizabeth Powland (or Poland). They have therefore been removed as her parents. Anderson-27719 05:08, 22 December 2020 (UTC)

Elizabeth or Sarah? This profile originally had Elizabeth with Sarah as her middle name, probably because of the intention in the name of "Sarah Patch" published in Ipswich. People in New England generally did not have middle names in time period, so it is unlikely that Sarah was Elizabeth's middle name. Adams-21565 23:27, 28 December 2015 (EST)

See the record of the marriage in the Ipswich VR (cited): "Sarah" was the name which appeared on the intention; "Elizabeth" appeared on the record of the marriage. "Sarah" was probably a clerical error, since she is referred to as "Elizabeth" (or a variant thereof) in the Acton Vital Records, after her marriage. Anderson-27719 05:08, 22 December 2020 (UTC)

Biography of Andrew and Sarah (Patch) Darby on Find A Grave:

"Elizabeth was the daughter of Benjamin and Sarah Patch, of Littleton. She was born in Ipswich on August 6, 1711. She married Andrew Darby on April 2, 1728 at Ipswich. He was born in Beverly on January 26, 1706-7, the son of John Darby and Deborah Conant. He was a weaver by trade, as was his father. Andrew & Elizabeth settled in Concord and eventually became the parents of nine children. In 1733, Andrew purchased land in the "New Grant" of Concord, which became the Town of Acton, and moved there with his family. In 1748, the family moved again; Andrew disposed of his Acton estate and bought lot number 22, with house and gristmill, in Westminister. Because of his new occupation, he became known as "Miller Darby" in that town. Andrew died March 23, 1783. The exact date of Elisabeth's death is not known, but she supposedly died in 1800. Her grave is not recorded in Woodside Cemetery in Westminster, she may have died somewhere else."^[15]

The Littleton Records: The transcription of the notebook or diary of Elizabeth's father, Benjamin Patch, which appeared in the published Records of Littleton, Massachusetts in 1910 was based on a copy of the original then in the possession of a resident of Littleton. Insofar as it reproduced the original, it is a valuable resource. However, there is no indication in this transcription of the place where any of the recorded events happened. It is unlikely that they took place in Littleton. What we know of Benjamin's life seems to indicate that he spent it in Essex County, in or in the vicinity of Ipswich. The biography on the Find a Grave memorial has no specific source citations, but states that he was born in Ipswich (as is likely, based on the marriage of his parents there only three years prior to his birth) and cites court records which indicate that, after his father deserted the family, he was brought up there, married there, and lived there after his marriage.^[16] The portion of the Littleton record which describes Benjamin's date of death and age at the time of his death could not, of course, have been written by him. From its wording, it may have been taken from his gravestone ("Benjamin Patch ... d. Feb^y 11^th 1763, Aged 90 year"), but there is no indication of where that gravestone was. There are entries among the published Vital Records of Ipswich involving Elizabeth and two of her siblings for the period from 1716 to 1728, as well as a record there of her father's second marriage at Wenham in 1726, which would indicate that the family was living in or near Ipswich during that period and that Elizabeth was probably born and grew up there.

Sources

1. ↑ "Elizabeth b. Aug^t 16^th 1711," citing notebook in the possession of Frank A. Patch, "'A copy of the Record of Benjamin Patch and his Family as taken from his own hand writing:'" Records of Littleton, Massachusetts, Page 535. See also unsourced memorial; no photo of gravestone: Find A Grave Memorial# 88455806, Elizabeth Patch Darby (accessed 24 Apr 2021).
2. ↑ "Patch, Elizabeth [Sarah. int.] , and Andrew Darby, Apr. 2, 1728," citing Hamlet Parish Church records; intention under the name "Sarah Patch" also recorded: Vital Records of Ipswich, Massachusetts, Volume II, Marriages and Deaths, Page 327.
3. ↑ "Elisabeth Darby th'e Daughter of Andrew Darby and Elisabeth his wife was born March : 15 : 1728/9:" Concord, Massachusetts, Births Marriages and Deaths, 1635-1850, Page 130.
4. ↑ "Darby, Elizabeth, d. Andrew, bp. Mar. 16, 1728-9," citing Hamlet Parish Church records: Vital Records of Ipswich, Massachusetts, Volume I, Births, Page 110.
5. ↑ "Darby, Sarah, d. Andrew, bp. Jan. 3, 1730-31," citing Hamlet Parish Church records: Vital Records of Ipswich, Massachusetts, Volume I, Births, Page 110.
6. ↑ Note that this record would be an Old Style date: "Darby, -----, ch. Andrew, bur. Jan. ----, 1730," citing extracts from Mr. Whipple's account books, Hamilton, printed in the Essex Institute Historical Collections: Vital Records of Ipswich, Massachusetts, Volume II, Marriages and Deaths, Page 537.
7. ↑ "Sarah Darby th^e Daughter of Andrew Darby and Elisabeth his wife was born March : 14 : 1731/2:" Concord, Massachusetts, Births Marriages and Deaths, 1635-1850, Page 130.
8. ↑ "Eunice and Mary Darby th^e Daughters of Andrew Darby and Elisabeth his wife being Twins was born February, 28 : 1734/5:" Concord, Massachusetts, Births Marriages and Deaths, 1635-1850, Page 138.
9. ↑ "Eunice and Mary Darby th^e Daughters of Andrew Darby and Elisabeth his wife being Twins was born February, 28 : 1734/5:" Concord, Massachusetts, Births Marriages and Deaths, 1635-1850, Page 138.
10. ↑ "Darby, Nathan, s. Andrew and Elizebeth, Aug. 2, 1737, in A.:" Vital Records of Acton, Massachusetts, Page 32; also available online at AmericanAncestors.org (accessed 21 Dec 2020 - subscription required).
11. ↑ "Darby, Andrew, s. Andrew and Elizebeth, Nov. 19, 1739, in A.:" Vital Records of Acton, Massachusetts, Page 32; also available online at AmericanAncestors.org (accessed 21 Dec 2020 - subscription required).
12. ↑ "Darby, John, s. Andrew and Elizebeth, July 4, 1742, in A.:" Vital Records of Acton, Massachusetts, Page 32; also available online at AmericanAncestors.org (accessed 21 Dec 2020 - subscription required).
13. ↑ "Darby, Ruth, d. Andrew and Elizebeth, Aug. 20, 1745, in A.:" Vital Records of Acton, Massachusetts, Page 32; also available online at AmericanAncestors.org (accessed 21 Dec 2020 - subscription required).
14. ↑ "The d. of his [i.e., Andrew Darby's] wid., Elizabeth (Patch) Darby, occurred in the year 1800, month and day not ascertained.": Derby, Darby Genealogy, Page 6. See also unsourced memorial; no photo of gravestone: Find A Grave Memorial# 88455806, Elizabeth Patch Darby (accessed 24 Apr 2021).
15. ↑ Unsourced memorial; no photo of gravestone: Find A Grave Memorial# 88455806, Elizabeth Patch Darby (accessed 24 Apr 2021).
16. ↑ No photo of gravestone: Find a Grave Memorial# 88456185, Benjamin Patch (accessed 24 Sep 2021).

• Derby, Webster D., compiler. Derby Genealogy. A Record of the Descendants of John Darby of Marblehead, Mass.: Ten Generations, reprinted in part from the Town History of Westminster, Mass., Darling & Co., Printers, 1903. Note: Unsourced genealogy.
• Find a Grave, database and images (www.findagrave.com/memorial/88455806/elizabeth-darby : accessed 24 April 2021), memorial page for Elizabeth Patch Darby (16 Aug 1711–1800), Find a Grave Memorial ID 88455806, ; Maintained by Ken Smith (contributor 46985536) Unknown.
• Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99XF-Z5S2?cc=2061550 : 29 November 2018), > image 1 of 1; citing Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston. Note: This is the Littleton Records.
• Records of Littleton, Massachusetts, First Installment, Births and Deaths, Printed by Order of the Town, Littleton, Massachusetts, Concord, Massachusetts: Patriot Press, 1900. Also available (with subscription) at AmericanAncestors.org (accessed 24 Sep 2021).
• Vital Records of Acton, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850, published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society at the Robert Henry Eddy Memorial Rooms at the charge of the Eddy Town-Record Fund, Boston, Massachusetts: Newcomb & Gauss, Printers, 1923.
• Concord, Massachusetts, Births Marriages and Deaths, 1635-1850, Authorized by the Town of Concord, Massachusetts, Boston, MA: Beacon Press, Thomas Todd, Printer, 1895.
• Vital Records of Ipswich, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849, Volume 1, Births, Published by The Essex Institute, Salem, Massachusetts: Newcomb & Gauss, Printers, 1910.
• Vital Records of Ipswich, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849, Volume II, Marriages and Deaths, Published by The Essex Institute, Salem, Massachusetts: Newcomb & Gauss, Printers, 1910.

Additional sources: Adams-21565 23:27, 28 December 2015 (EST)

• http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/patch/448/
• http://www.earlvillepost.com/stubloom/Fam_Darby.pdf

Other Sources

• Link removed as no longer valid, unable to locate a replacement on Wayback Machine: h ttp://www.ensample.com/GenData/HTMLFiles/HTMLFiles_04/P85.html (note: separated first letter of link address to disable the invalid link) Anderson-27719 23:56, 24 April 2021 (UTC).