The family of Zachariah Eddy 1664-1737

There are a lot of Eddy men to keep track of, and it doesn't help much when so many of them seem to be named Zachariah.  This Zachariah is the son of the the Zachariah I wrote about last week, and Alice Paddock Eddy.  He was born April 10, 1664 in Plymouth County, and lived for over half of his life in Swansea, Massachusetts.  Swansea was very near Providence Plantation and Rhode Island, and tolerated Baptists.  This may be the reason Zachariah moved to Rhode Island, as we know that there were Baptists in the family.  I'm not sure when the decision was made to leave the Puritan church, nor do I know why.  

Zachariah was married twice.  His first wife was Mercy Baker, who was likely the daughter of Samuel and Eleanor Winslow Baker.  They had five children together:

Alice was their first born, in 1684.  She died just eight years later, in 1692.

Eleanor was born in 1686.  She probably died young as I have found no further mention of her.

 Jemima was born in 1688.  She married Stephen Harding, the son of Abraham and Deborah Gardner Harding in 1707.  Abraham and Deborah are our ancestors through their daughter Mercy, so we are starting to see our families intertwining, which I always find fascinating. Their children are Amy, John, Abraham, Stephen, Thomas, Lemuel and Israel.  (It's possible that Lemuel and Israel are twins, also possible that they are one and the same, with a misreading of handwriting somewhere along the line.)  Many sites say Jemima died in 1707 but that was her marriage date.  She is referred to as Jemima Harding in her father's will of 1737.

Zachariah was born in 1691 and married Ruth Thurston, the daughter of Thomas and Mehitable Tripp Thurston.  Their children are Thomas, Joseph, Enoch, Thomas (again, the first one probably died young), Eliphalet, Ruth, Alice, and Elizabeth.

The last child of Mercy and Zachariah was Alice, born in 1694.  She married Obadiah Jenckes, the son of Joseph and Martha Brown Jenckes.  (Martha was the daughter of John and Mary Holmes Brown, who are also our ancestors through another line.)  Alice and Obadiah had Obadiah, John, Martha, Alice, and Zachariah.

Mercy died in October of 1703 and about four years later, Zachariah married Anphillis (or Amphillis) Smith, the daughter of Edward and Anphillis Angell Smith. Anphillis was the widow of Noah Whipple, but no children are known from that marriage.  Zachariah and Anphillis had at least four children:

Anna was born in 1708 and married first Timothy Sweet, the son of Daniel and Ethelanah Carpenter Sweet. Their children are Hannah, Jeremiah, Jonathan, Simeon, Nathan, and Sarah.  After Timothy's death, she married Thomas King, the son of James and Sarah Winsor King.  Their children are Samuel, Stephen, and Amos.

Elisha was born in 1710 and married Sarah Phettiplace, the daughter of Walter and Joanna Mowry Phettiplace.  Their children are George, Enos, Sarah, and Rebecca, and we will follow this family in my next post.

Joseph was born in 1713 and married Barsheba Smith, the daughter of Joseph and Patience Mowry Smith.  (Yes, Joanna Mowry Phettiplace and Patience Mowry Smith are sisters, which makes for more double relationships.)  Their children are Eliakim, Joseph, Jacob, Zilpah, Elisha, and Gideon.  

Finally there was Samuel, who was born in 1715, when his mother was about 49 years old.  He died in his infancy.  

This makes 39 grandchildren for Zachariah, if I've not missed any nor included any erroneously.  The children contributed to the British colonies they lived in, and many of the grandchildren were active during the Revolutionary War.  They helped build out country and our family.