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The Americans - Massachusetts




1787-1825
1796-1871
1750-1835
1747-1831
1761-1823
1764-1835

Joseph Cole 

Joseph, Jr. was the son of Joseph Cole and Rachel Braley, daughter of John Braley. His father served in the Revoulutionary War.  He was one of seven children, all born in Rehoboth:   
Russell  May 2, 1776
John Sept. 18, 1777
Molly    February 25, 1779
Thomas July 16, 1781
Rachael  April 14, 1788
Amey March 16, 1792

Joseph was born in Rehoboth, MA on March 3, 1787 and  lived all his life in the Rehoboth and Seekonk area.On March 24, 1817 marriage intentions were posted for Joseph Cole, Jr. and Miss Hannah Daggett of Rehoboth and Seekonk. She was the daughter of Levi and Keziah (Peck) Daggett. Joseph and Hannah were married in Seekonk on September 7,1817. Lemuel May, Esquire, Justice of the Peace married them.  Joseph was thirty years and Hannah was twenty one years old. It is likely he and Hannah had a small farm. He may have also been a fisherman. Joseph and Hannah had several children. He died on October 18, 1825 in Seekonk.



An Inventory of the Estate of Joseph Cole,Jr., late of Seekonk in the County of Bristol, deceased, appraised upon oath by us the Subscribers, duly appointed to that service by Allen Hunt one of the Justices of the Peace for the County.

Inventory as follows:

4 Knives and forks
6 Plates, 4 saucers, 1 cup & 4 teaspoons
1 Pitcher 12c 1 earthen pot 10c
1 Vinegar cruit & salt
1 Buttermould 20c. 1 book 31, 1 bellows 33
1 Bed bolster & pillows
1 Bedstead cord & underbed
3 Blankets 24/ 1 bedspread & 2 sheets 4/6
1 Fish bow & stail ?
1 Shoat 18/ 3 shirts 6, 3 pair of pantaloons 6/
4 old barrel 30c 1 box old iron 6/
1 Hoe & 1 hammer 4/6
2 Flats 1 hatchet & 1 small hammer
1 Skillet 16c 1 chest & contents 30c
1 Sugar box, powder horn & contents
1 Old table & stool
3 Bottles, 2 jugs, 2 lamps, 1 funnel, 1 pot & pail, 3 plates, 1 bowl
1 Breadtrough 1/6, pocket book, purse & contents 20c
1 Pair gloves & 1 pair stockings
1 Woolen coat & vest 24/, 1 old great coat 20c
1 Chest & contents 3/1 Coffee pot 16c
                                             Total Value $31.00
Seekonk October 27th AD 1825      Elhanau W. Wade
                                                       Mason Vial
                                                        Nathaniel Peck
Bristol Probate Court at Norton
November 1st AD 1825








Hannah Daggett 

     Twin daughters were born to Levi and Keziah Peck Daggett on January 19, 1796 and were
named Hannah and Betsey. Hannah is our ancestor.
     The Daggett  family lived on the family homestead, land which had been tilled by their family for more than
one hundred years, the same land that her father Levi and grandfather John fought for in the Revolutionary War.
     She grew up in the country, a farmer's daughter.
     Hannah married for the first time on September 7,1817 in Seekonk, Massachusetts. She was twenty one and Joseph Cole Jr., her groom, was thirty years of age.
Hannah's brother John married Amey Cole, Joseph's sister. Joseph and his bride settled in Seekonk.
 Four children were born to them three sons and one daughter.  
   Joseph died in 1825, leaving Hannah with four young children, the oldest only eight years old. One year later, Hannah married Joseph's older brother Thomas. They settled in the same town, and raised a family of five children. Hannah, widow of Thomas, was living at 359 Pine Street in Providence at the time of her death on October 30, 1871. She was seventy five. I do not know where she or Joseph are buried.


Joseph Cole 


Joseph Cole of Rehoboth was born on May 28, 1750. He was the son of William and Molly (Greenwood) Cole, the first of their six sons and five daughters. Joseph grew up in the farming community of Rehoboth,Massachusetts.
His father was prominent in the politics of the town. His maternal grandfather was the pastor of Newman Congregational Church, Rev. John Greenwood.

On February 3, 1776, marriage intentions were published in Rehoboth. The bride-to-be was Miss Rachel Braley of
the same town. Her family were inhabitants of Rehoboth for many years. They were married on March 5,1776 by
Rev. Ephraim Hyde. Joseph was twenty five and Rachel was twenty nine.

The Declaration of Independence was signed four months later. Joseph and other young men of New England were eager to fight for liberty. They had been oppressed long enough. These young men were able marksmen and hunters. They knew their lands well and were not about to lose them. Their families had worked too hard to establish these farms. The citizens were being drained by excessive taxes. The British government had levied heavy tariffs on tea, nails and cloth and pins. All the necessities of life had to be imported from England at exorbitant prices. England ruled with a heavy hand. As the town prepared for war, young Joseph trained on the new field set aside for that purpose. His brothers, William, Thomas and John also honed their military skills. Although the Cole brothers were needed on the family farm, Joseph was called upon four times from December 12, 1776 to August 8, 1780 to serve
the cause of the Colonials.

On December 8, 1776, he enlisted in Captain James Hill's Company, Col. Carpenter's Regiment from Rehoboth. They marched to Bristol, RI for twelve days service. Governor Cooke wrote to General Washington that “seventy-eight British ships of war and transports entered the harbor yesterday.” One contingent of men landed at Newport, but the main body of British troops landed at Coddington Cove and after a night of pillage, marched in three directions; toward Bristol Ferry, toward Newport and to Howland's Ferry where the soldiers were just in time to fire upon the militia men who were leaving the island. On December 9, 1776, some of the Americans who left Aquidneck Island assembled at Tiverton and Bristol to begin observing and harassing the British.Citizens of the eastern shore of the bay decided to protect themselves and their property by maintaining guard duty from Howlands's Ferry to Sakonnet Point. Five guard houses were set up, and patrols were maintained throughout the long occupation. The same procedures were established on the western shore of the bay.

On April 19, 1777, Joseph  went with his unit to guard the lines at Rhode Island for two months. At that time the British were building forts at Fogland Ferry and Butts Hill in Portsmouth.

Joseph donated money to raise Continental Soldiers on February 18, 1778. He marched again to Tiverton,RI on July 28, 1780 to stand guard for six days. Joseph earned the rank of Corporal in the American Militia.  

He and Rachel raised a family of seven children.Their first child, Russell born in 1776 died at the age of three. They had three other sons, John, 1777, Tom, 1781 and Joseph,Jr., our ancestor. They also had three daughters, Molly, 1779, Amey,1792 and Rachel,1788.He and his wife lived long lives. They were residents of Freetown, Massachusetts at the time of their death. Rachel died  in September, 1831 at the age of eighty one. Joseph died on January 25,1835.
Before his death he applied for and received a pension for his service in the Revolutionary War from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in Bristol County.

Service in the Revolutionary War

Joseph Cole of Rehoboth was on a list of men drafted on April 19, 1777, to guard the lines at Rhode Island for two months.

On February 18, 1778 he paid money to raise Continental Soldiers.

Private Joseph Cole, Capt. Nathaniel Ide's Co., Col. Thomas Carpenter's Regiment; marched August 1, 1780; discharged August 8, 1780; service, ten days, under General Heith at Rhode Island; company marched from Rehoboth to Tiverton, RI on alarm of July 31, 1780.

The distribution of Joseph's land
Ss.To Ethanau W. Wade, Nathaniel Peck and Mason Viall all of Seekonk

Greetings

Joseph Cole, Jr., late of Seekonk in the County of Bristol, deceased, appraised upon oath by the said Subscriber, duly appointed to that service by Allen Hunt, one of the Justices of the Peace in and for the County.

An Inventory of the estate of Joseph Cole, Jr., late of Seekonk in the County of Bristol, deceased, appraised upon oath by the said Subscriber, duly appointed to that service by Allin Hunt, one of the Justices of the Peace in and for the County

                    Nathaniel PeckBristol ss Probate Court at Norton
 November 1st A.D. 1825

Allin Hunt, Administrator of the estate of Joseph Cole, Junior, late of Seekonk, deceased, makes oath that the foregoing inventore contains the whole of said deceased's estate which has come to his hands & knowledge & that he will when he finds any more, reveal the same to be of record herewith.     Volume 63, Page17-18 Bristol Wills         Entered by A. Bessett, Regr.    H. Baylies, J.Prob.Land Deed April 10, 1835

Allin Hunt of Seekonk,Administrator of the Estate of Joseph Cole, sold land in Seekonk which had been owned by the deceased. For the sum of ninety dollars, the land was sold to Thomas Cole, Gentleman, also of Seekonk. The land was described as " a certain tract or piece of river meadow situated and lying in the said Seekonk on the westerly side of the river running from Hunts Mills, so called, to the bridge near Captain Allen Cole's , and is bounded as follows:

Beginning on the bank of the upland and joining Nathaniel Cole's land in the line of the said Allen Hunt, at a buttonwood tree for a corner, by the side of a stone set in the ground, then running easterly through the center of a large white oak tree in the line of said Hunt's land to a buttonwood tree and a stake in the ground on the bank of the river for a corner, then follows the river and by said river to said Nathaniel Cole's land, easterly by said Cole's meadow to the upland.Then, northerly by his upland to the first mentioned corner or however otherwise bounded meaning to convey all the title which the said Joseph Cole had in and to said described premises in and by the division of his father's estate. Containing by estimation about two acres be the same, more or less.And so the land of our ancestor, Joseph, passed into the hands of another member of the Cole family.


Rachel Braley 

     Rachel, the daughter of John and Joanna (Alger) Braley was born in Rehoboth, Massachusetts on April 14, 1747.
     On February 3, 1776, Rachel became engaged to Joseph Cole. Three months before the Revolutionary War on March 3, 1776, Rachel wed Joseph Cole, also of Rehoboth. They were married by Rev. Ephraim Hyde in Newman Congregational Church. She was twenty nine. Joseph  volunteered for service in the American militia as did two of her brothers. Rachel was the mother of seven children, four sons and three daughters. Her first born son, Russell died in 1779 at age three. Several of her children married into the Daggett family. Her son Joseph, our ancestor, married Hannah Daggett.   
  Rachel died in September of 1831. She is buried with her husband Corporal Joseph Cole
in Newman cemetery in Rumford, RI.



Levi Daggett 

Sent to Tiverton, RI during the Rev. War.
He was a Rev. War Veteran
   Levi Daggett was born in Rehoboth, Massachusetts on April 12, 1761.  He was the son of John and Penelope (Wood) Daggett. John was raised on the family farm. He may have also worked on the river carrying on the trading business his great grandfather Nathaniel had started on the cove.
    Levi often heard his father and older brothers talk about how relations with Britain were becoming progressively worse. There were more and more restrictions on trade, and taxes had more than doubled. The people of Rehoboth were very much aware of the growing friction between themselves and the mother country.
    In the year of 1776, the Colonies signed the Declaration of Independence. It was evident the colonies had set their minds on revolt.  And then the shots were fired at Lexington. Rehoboth sent a contingent.  Young Levi Daggett was fifteen years old. His older brothers, Joshua and John and his father were busy with their farm chores and planting, and training on the town common with their hunting rifles, ready to defend their home.
His father joined Captain Sam Cowell's Co, and served in Col. Benjamin Haws' Regiment.  Anxious to do his part, Levi joined Captain James Hill's Company. It was part of Col. Carpenter's Regiment from Rehoboth, Massachusetts.     He enlisted on December 11, 1776. His first service was for a period of thirteen days. His unit marched to Bristol on an alarm.He was next drafted for three months to guard the shores at Rhode Island on December 29, 1777. Levi then served as a Private in Captain Joseph Franklin's unit from  Rehoboth in Col. John Daggett's Regiment. Col. Daggett was a cousin. His enlistment in this unit was on January 1, 1778. He served for three months and was discharged on March 31, 1778. He had been on duty in Rhode Island. He was then seventeen.  
   When the war was over, there was a great deal of work ahead. Our young country was struggling along trying to regroup and rebuild. There were hard times. Levi helped out at home on the farm. In the next few years, Levi courted young Keziah Peck. They married about 1786 when he was twenty-five and settled down in Rehoboth to raise a large family of four sons and six daughters, including our ancestor Hannah and her twin sister Betsey.
In 1800, John Daggett and  Levi Daggett and their mother,  Penelope Daggett sold land which was recorded ias follows:

To All People to whom those presents shall come know ye, that
 We, John Daggett, Penelope Daggett and Levi Daggett, all of Rehoboth in ye County of Bristol  Commonwealth of Massachusetts, yeomans, for in and consideration of Ninety pounds lawfull money to us in hand, paid by Joseph Paine of Rehoboth in ye Country and Commonwealth aforesaid, yeoman, the receipt whereof we are satisfied, contented & paid, have given, granted, bargained, sold, conveyed and confirmed unto him, the sd Joseph Paine, his heirs and assignees forever, a certain piece of land containing about Fifteen acres more or less, situated in Rehoboth, bounded as followeth:

Beginning at a Red Oak  tree for a Northwest corner by a highway that leads from Elder Paine's Meetong House to Nathaniel Kelton's and from there south by the east side of sd way about 30 rods to a heap of stones for a corner, Easterly by Hale's  Lot about seventy five rods toa s take and a heap of stones, for a corner, then Northerly by Job Horton's Land about thirty-three rods & a half to a heap of stones in sd Joseph Paine's  line, and then Westerly by his line to ye first corner mentioned......
Levi lived to the age of sixty-two. He died in December of 1823 in Seekonk. Keziah died at seventy-one on
November 29, 1835.


Keziah Peck 

Keziah was born on January 9, 1764 in Swansea, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of Keziah and  Comfort Peck. Her mother died when she was two years old . Her father remarried the following year. Keziah had eight half brothers and sisters from her father's two other marriges. Keziah married Levi Daggett when she was twenty-two.
Levi and Keziah were the parents of  ten children, four boys and six girls. Her daughter Hannah, our ancestor was the twin of Betsey born in 1796. Keziah became a widow in 1823. Twelve years later she died at the age of seventy-one.