Holbrook line: Nathan Paine 1741-1818

 I was excited to write this post about Nathan Paine when I learned that he was a Revolutionary War soldier.  I printed out military records, and then I went to the DAR website to check for further information.  I was sadly disappointed to learn it was not our Nathan Paine who was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, but further digging found an even more interesting story.  

But let's start at the beginning.  Nathan Paine was born April 14, 1741 at Glocester, Providence, Rhode Island, the son of Stephen and Sarah Thornton Paine.  He was one of at least six children born to the couple.  We know little of his early life.  Glocester was formed from Providence in 1739, and was a farming community, so it is likely that Nathan was raised with an eye to farming.  At about the same time that Nathan was born, the "Great Awakening" occurred in New England.  There were already many Baptists in Rhode Island, but the revival that took place may have increased the number substantially.  By 1776, Glocester was known as a town of New Light Baptists.  

Nathan married Lillis Winsor, daughter of Joseph and Deborah Mathewson Winsor, and a great great granddaughter of Roger Williams about 1765, and the two settled down to have and raise a family.  I've found names for 12 children, but have not found documentation nor, for most, exact dates of birth.  Our link, Deborah, does have a date of birth of August 18, 1772, although I still have no documentation for that.  I hope it comes from the Town Clerk of Glocester, who holds the records.  

The town of Glocester was almost completely Patriot leading up to the Revolutionary War, and so it is hard to understand that when a military census was taken in 1777, Nathan was listed as "Aff".  A little digging led me to the information that he and several other men on the same page had taken the following oath, designed by the Rhode Island Assembly for "persons of tender conscience":  I, (insert name), do sincerely affirm and declare that the art of war and fighting, and the use and exercise of arms therein, either offensively or defensively, is utterly inconsistent with my belief as a Christian; and that I do not declare and refuse the use thereof, out of obstinancy, or singularity, but for conscience sake.  And this affirmation I make and give, without evasion or mental reservation."  The oath had been made available in February of 1777, but it came a bit late for Nathan.  He and eight other men had been arrested and jailed for refusing to serve, and the assembly agreed to their petition for release, at the next session of the assembly.  It is not known how long they had been jailed, but they were released to their home and family.  Whether they participated in any way in the way, by providing supplies, for instance, is not known.  

Nathan was apparently a successful farmer, because the 1778 tax list published in volume 20 of Rhode Island Roots shows him as having one poll (person able to vote), 2 houses, 2 oxen, 5 horned cattle, 10 sheep/goats, 4 swine, 15 acres pasture to keep 3 cows, 4 acres of tillage, 32 bushels grain, 15 acres meadow, 5 tons English hay, 46 acres wood and waste land, total acres 80.  His personal estate was valued at 36.8 and his real estate at 250 pounds.  This seems to have been about average; some men had more and some and significantly less.  

Glocester was so independent that the freemen and freeholders of the town, including Nathan Paine, voted against accepting the US Constitution in 1788, by 288 to 9.  I've not found a clear explanation of why the feeling ran so hard against it.  Did they want Rhode Island to remain independent, not part of the United States, or were they objecting to suffrage requirements, or to the glaring inequities that refused to acknowledge Blacks as free and equal to Whites, or was it some other reason?  Whatever the reason, the town stuck to their beliefs just as Nathan had early in the Revolutionary War.  

We don't know exactly when Nathan moved to New York.  There is a Nathan Paine in Richfield, Otsego, New York in 1799, or at least he owned land there.  This may be Nathan's son, for Nathan was still in Glocester in the 1800 census.  He and Lillis are in New York in 1810, however, where both are listed as over 45 years of age.  

Nathan died in Castleton, Town of Seneca,  Ontario County, New York on July 17, 1818, where Lillis had died two years earlier.   So far I have not located estate or will papers for him.  We don't know whether he was in New York long enough to establish his own home and farm, or whether he lived with one of his children.  This area seems to have been part of a land rush after the natives were driven out, so perhaps that was the motivation for the move.  The search for those last records continues.

I think highly of Nathan.  He was willing to go to jail for his convictions, and he voted with his conscience.  He obviously cared about his country and had a vision for it.  Well done, sir!

The line of descent is

Nathan Paine-Lillis Winsor

Deborah Paine-Enos Eddy

Joseph Eddy-Susan Lamphire

Susan Eddy-Hiram Stanard

Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants