Enoch Cleveland was of the first generation of New Englanders. His father Moses Cleveland, had arrived probably at Boston in 1635, as a servant to his future father-in-law, Edward Winn. Ann was just a young woman at the time, and perhaps Moses had to serve a period of indentureship, for Moses and Mary weren't married until 1648. Enoch was the youngest son of this couple, one of 12 children, and the family lived in Woburn, Massachusetts.
Enoch married Elizabeth Counts or Counce on October 9, 1695 in Charlestown, Massachusetts, which was just outside of Charlestown and in fact may have been included in the Charlestown borders at one time. Elizabeth was the daughter of Edward Counts/Counce and Sarah Adams, and was one of at least five children.
Enoch learned and practiced the trade of a tailor, so if he farmed it was only to support his family. Likely he had a few farm animals, if nothing else. He and Elizabeth moved several times, from Charlestown to Sudbury to Framingham, then Acton, Marlborough, and finally Concord, in 1719. His first wife died in 1719 and he may have married again, to Elizabeth Wright. There are no known children from the second marriage, and just four children from the first marriage. Sarah was the oldest, and then came Enoch, James, and Jonathan. It is hard to tell whether Enoch moved so much because of hard times, or because his trade was so much in demand.
Enoch has what looks to be an interesting probate record, case number 4616 in the probate court of Middlesex County, and perhaps more can be learned from that. The images are available on americanancestors.org but I can't read them, and I haven't been able to find anyone who has posted the will or papers on line. Apparently FamilySearch will be bringing the images online "soon", as there is a research page about the collection. Maybe I'll have better luck reading them there.
Update: I tried again to read the probate, and have been able to glean a little bit. Enoch died without a will, and his son Jonathan Cleveland was the administrator. There is a document with Israel Joslin's signature on it. There were several pages with numbers and lists. At the end is what I think is an inventory. I will have to wait for better glasses or/and a stronger magnifying glass to read more!
As far as I can tell, Enoch didn't have an involvement with the military, or at least it was only for local drills. There is an Enoch Cleveland who served for about 7 1/2 months in 1725, as a corporal, but this is likely son Enoch, not our ancestor.
More research needs to be done, of course, not only to study his probate records but to determine whether he was a freeman or not, and to find what churches he would have supported. I'd also like to know whether he was a hard-luck kind of guy or a respected citizen with a needed trade. Someday perhaps I will find answers to these questions.
The line of descent is:
Enoch Cleveland-Elizabeth Counts
Sarah Cleveland-Israel Joslin
Sarah Joslin-Edward Fay
David Fay-Mercy Perrin
Euzebia Fay-Libbeus Stanard Jr.
Hiram Stanard-Susan Eddy
Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Holbrook children, grand children, great grandchildren, and great great grandchildren
No comments:
Post a Comment
Don't want to comment publicly? Feel free to email me: happygenealogydancingATgmailDOTcom. You can figure out what to do with the "AT" and the "DOT".