The family of Samuel Root 1675-1756

Samuel Root, the son of John and Mary Ashley Root, was born in 1675 in Westfield, Massachusetts, and died there in 1756.  He is just one of the reasons (two uncles settled there also) that the family was "rooted" in Westfield for several generations.  He married Mary Gunn in 1702, the daughter of John and Mary Williams Gunn, and the couple had at least 7 children together.  They were a somewhat fortunate couple in that "only" one child died while very young, and a second before she turned 30.

The first child was Jonathan, born in 1704 and died in 1760 in Sheffield, Massachusetts.  He married Dorothy Vosburgh, the daughter of Abraham and Claartje Bressy Vosburgh.  (This marriage is interesting to me because this family was apparently from the Low Countries, and I've not yet figured out how the two families met.)  Their children are Moses, Martin, Abraham, Lydia, Rhoda, Martin, Hannah, Lucy and Stephen.  

Mary was their first daughter, born in 1706 and died in 1788 in Lee, Berkshire County, Massachusetts.  She married John Williams, who is often seen as the son of John and Sarah Weld Williams.  (I think this man may be mis-identified.  The son of John and Sarah was born in 1710 in Roxbury, near Boston, and died there.  There is likely another Williams couple we should be looking for.)  At any rate, Mary and John's children are Warham, John, Desire, Content, Bill, and Hannah.  

Margaret was the next daughter, born in 1710.  She is the one I alluded to in my first paragraph, who died in 1714 at approximately four years of age.  

Abigail was born that same year, in 1714 and died in 1788 in Salisbury, Litchfield, Connecticut.  She married Cornelius Dutcher, son of Roelef and Janettje Bressie Dutcher.  This was another family originally from the Low Countries.  I don't know whether Janettje and Claartje Bressie/Bressie were related, but it seems possible.  Abigail and Cornelius had children named Margaret, Roelof, Abigail, Jane, Cornelius, John, Solomon, Cornelius, William and Revland or Rowland.  

Namesake Samuel was born in 1717 and died in 1743 at Westfield.  He married Sarah Sitton, the daughter of Benjamin and Sarah Kibbe Bush Sitton.  (A note in the Westfield records says her name at death was Sarah Taylor, so she apparently remarried).  I find only two children born to this couple, but they had been married only about four years when Samuel died.  The children are Ruth and Oliver.  

Martin was the next son, born in 1721 and died in 1788 in Westfield.  He married Eunice (Unis) Lamb, the daughter of Samuel and Martha Stebbins Lamb.  Their children are Unis, Miriam, Samuel, Eunice, Martin, Jared, Jonathan, Theodosia, Sarah, Peggy, and William.  I will follow this family in my next blog post.  

The last known child was Margaret, born in 1728 and died in 1756 in Westfield or West Springfield.  She married Henry Rogers Jr., the son of Henry and Sarah Remington Rogers.  The only child I've located for them was named Grace.  

If I had all the time in the world, which I don't, I'd love to explore the Dutcher and Vosburgh families further.  As far as I'm aware, these are the first families not of British origin to marry into the colonial Root family.  They aren't the last, I'm sure.