Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Holbrook line: Kingsland Comstock, another elusive ancestor

I almost regret trying to write a blog post about Kingsland.  I find wide variations on his birth date, no record of his death date, no location to be sure of, and nothing at all about him.  I think I know who his parents are, I am reasonably sure who his wife was, and I do have information that may or may not be correct about his children.  He may be hiding in plain sight but so far I haven't caught many glimpses of him.

Kingsland was the son of Kingsland and Mary Atwell Comstock.  Supposedly his parents were married in 1711, which is a bit of a problem.  First, I can't find documentation for that, and secondly, our Kingsland is presumed to be older than can be accounted for by this couple, if the marriage date is correct.  We know that Kingsland married Rachel Crocker on September 18, 1717 in New London, so Kingsland would presumably have been in the neighborhood of 25 years old then.  That gives a birthdate of about 1692.  Kingsland Sr. and Mary were old enough to have been married when our Kingsland was born  So either Mary Atwell was a second wife, or the marriage date, undocumented, is simply wrong. 

At any rate, the younger Kingsland had at least three brothers and one sister.  The family is believed to have stayed in New London, where our Kingsland married in 1717.  But with absolutely no record to be found after a moderate amount of research, I'm wondering whether he may have taken his family elsewhere.  Kingsland and Rachel are believed to have had at least seven children, all born between 1718 and 1727.  After the 1727 birth, Kingsland disappears from New London records.  Did they live off the grid, so to speak, or did Kingsland possibly desert his family?  Did he die at sea? 

I've not found a record of a will for Kingsland, nor an inventory.  This further exclaims "Mystery" to me.  His mother Mary died in 1755 and left a small estate, but the papers I've found didn't include a distribution.  The supposition is that Kingsland was already deceased by then.

 I wonder if he had actually left New London for some reason?   I wonder what his occupation was  and whether he attended church after his children were baptized.  I wonder if he was literate.  I wonder if he did leave his family an estate that has been lost.  I wonder why he is so mysterious! 

The line of descent is

Kingsland Comstock-Rachel Crocker
Rachel Comstock-John Eames
John Eames-Elizabeth Longbottom
Hannah Eames-James Lamphire
Susan Lamphire-Joseph Eddy
Susan Eddy-Hiram Stanard
Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants

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