Holbrook line: Walter Phetteplace of Rhode Island

 It's taken a bit of digging to find even a few bits and pieces that tell us about Walter's life.  I am grateful for each nugget but certainly wish we had more.  The man was a deputy to the Rhode Island Assembly for several years, and was referred to as "Mr.", indicating respect, and one would think that more information would be on line about him.  

Walter was the son of Philip Phetteplace and either Ann or Sarah, maiden name unknown at this time.  Some sites say his mother was Ann Pentelow or Pantlow but a later Walter married a woman by that name, so I think it is a case of mistaken identity.  If a reader can confirm his mother's name I would be most grateful.  

He was born somewhere in or near Providence Plantation in the 1676-1680 time period.  I tend to think he was born after 1676 because there were few families in Providence during King Philip's War, and it took a while to get the area built back when the war ended.   Walter was one of at least four children.  He may have been a Baptist, because his father died in Newport, where Baptists were active, and Glocester itself was a center for "New Light Baptists".  

Walter married Johanna (sometimes seen as Hannah) Mowry, daughter of Nathaniel and Joanna Inman Mowry, on August 4, 1709, at Providence.  A more specific location is not known.  Both Philip Phetteplace and Nathaniel Mowry were respected citizens of their towns and Walter, as noted above, was also an active and respected citizen.  He and Johanna were the parents of seven children, but he still found time to serve as deputy in four different years.  

In one tidbit, as deputy on September 29, 1746, he and three other deputies dissented from the vote of the Assembly for additional works at Ft George, saying basically that the proposed amount was too little to do any good and they did not wish to approve more until the Fort was attacked.  Ft. George was in New York and was the scene of conflict in several wars, at this time fighting native American tribes allied with the French.  It appears to be a short-sighted view, but it is quite possible that Walter was a pacifist, as many of his neighbors were during the Revolutionary War a quarter of a century later.  I've not found his name anywhere as a military soldier, but that doesn't mean that he wasn't a soldier or militia member earlier in his life.  He would have been in his later sixties by the time of the 1746 petition.

Walter had his own land, but also received 10 acres from his father in law's estate in 1718.  This may or may not have been part of the original Inman-Mowry land.  He had land in Providence in 1711, and in 1713 settled in Glocester.  

Johanna died sometime in 1750 and Walter died December 29, 1753.  I haven't located a will or inventory for him, which is disappointing.  There are probably still records to be found about this ancestor, and I will keep looking for his footprints in and around Glocester.  Walter's stories should be found.

The line of descent is

Walter Phetteplace-Johanna Mowry

Sarah Phetteplace-Elisha Eddy

Enos Eddy-Sarah Brown

Enos Eddy-Deborah Paine

Joseph Eddy-Susan Lamphire

Susan Eddy-Hiram Stanard

Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick

Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook

Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen

Their descendants