Joshua Hempstead, Jr.

Joshua Hempstead

• Birth: Sep 1 1678 - New London, New London, CT.
• Death: Dec 22 1758 - New London, New London, CT.
• Parents: Joshua Hempstead, Elizabeth Larrabee
• Wife: Abigail Bailey

notes

From Joshua Hempstead Diary: A Window into Colonial Connecticut

By Patricia M. Schaefer

Although he practiced several trades and careers throughout his life in New London, Connecticut, Joshua Hempstead is best known for his diary. Hempstead began the diary as a way to keep track of his many business activities. He also recorded, on a daily basis, the weather, baptisms and publishments (public announcements of marrige intentions), military trainings, divisions of the Commons, court sessions, ship traffic, town meetings, thanksgivings, fasts, deaths, his travels, celebrations, and other events important to New London or Connecticut. The surviving part of the diary covers 47 years, from September of 1711 through early November of 1758. In its printed form it is about 700 pages long. Because of its thoroughness and the daily nature of its entries, it is one of the most important sources of information about colonial life that we have.

Researchers have been using Hempstead’s diary ever since it was first published by the New London County Historical Society in 1901. Frances M. Caulkins, the noted 19th-century historian of New London and Norwich, used the manuscript frequently in her research. The diary has been used to study such diverse subjects as trade with the West Indies, slavery, and the Great Awakening, a period of evangelical Protestant revival. It is also used extensively for genealogical research.

The Joshua Hempsted House, New London – Daniel Sterner, HistoricBuildingsCt.com

A New London Native

Joshua Hempstead, the son of Joshua, a wheelwright, and his wife Elizabeth Larrabee, was born in New London on September 1, 1678. He lived his entire life in the house built that year by his father. It, along with the addition built by his own son Nathanael in 1728, is still standing and open to the public during the summer. The structure is known as the “Hempsted” House, the spelling used by the first few generations of Hempsteads.

Hempstead married Abigail Bailey of Long Island, probably in 1698. Their first child was born in July of 1699. The Hempsteads had nine children. A few days after the birth of their ninth child in 1716, Abigail died; five days after that their oldest son, aged 17, also died. Hempstead never remarried, bringing up the children with the help of relatives and women hired to do housework and spinning. He died in New London on December 22, 1758, about six weeks after his last diary entry.

A Record of Work, Community Service, and Travels

In his earlier years, Hempstead was a shipwright and carpenter. He was a landlord, lawyer, and surveyor at various times but always a farmer. For many years, Hempstead also served as business agent for the New London Winthrops, descendants of an early governor and owners of vast quantities of land. Throughout the course of the diary, he lettered gravestones, bought pre-decorated from several sources, for families throughout the region. As Hempstead got older, he spent more time writing wills for others and less time in strenuous physical labor, but he was still able to participate in farm work. On October 31, 1758, his last working day before his final illness, he “Rid down to Crossman [lot] & unloaded the Bigger part of the Salt hay.”

Most of all, Hempstead was a public servant, involved in the affairs of the town at many levels. He was a selectman, a member of the school committee, an officer (eventually captain) of the second trainband or militia company, delegate to the General Assembly, member of the committee to divide the Commons, and member of the committee of the First Congregational Society.

Beginning in 1727, Hempstead was appointed annually as a justice of the peace for the rest of his life. He handled cases to the value of 40 shillings and also performed marriages. His casebooks and marriage records survive. The earlier casebook, covering the period 1727 to 1733, is at the New London County Historical Society. The later casebook is at the Connecticut State Archives in Hartford. Marriages performed by Hempstead are recorded in the first casebook.

Hempstead’s travels took him to Hartford, New Haven, Boston, New York City, and the eastern end of Long Island. He participated in “ventures” to the West Indies and recorded the comings and goings of ships to the many trading destinations of New London merchants. On one occasion, in 1749, Hempstead traveled to New Jersey on business for the Winthrops and continued on to visit a sister in Maryland. Along the way he recorded the many people he met from Connecticut, observations of the land he passed through and its crops, and detailed descriptions of an iron furnace, an impressive bridge, and a grist mill.

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• Diary of Joshua Hempstead of New London, Connecticut, covering a period of forty-seven years, from September 1711, to November, 1758 ..by Hempstead, Joshua, 1678-1758
• For Adam's Sake: A Family Saga in Colonial New England By Allegra di Bonaventura

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• Reference: FamilySearch Family Tree - SmartCopy: Aug 23 2017, 22:48:36 UTC

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Joshua Hempsted
BIRTH 1 Sep 1678 New London, New London County, Connecticut, USA DEATH 22 Dec 1758 (aged 80) New London, New London County, Connecticut, USA BURIAL Cedar Grove Cemetery New London, New London County, Connecticut, USA Add to Map PLOT Section 20, Grave #12 MEMORIAL ID 46315538 · View Source

Pictures added by PLUMB

Joshua Hempstead was Grandson of Robert and Joane Hempstead, who were among the founders of New London. He was one of nine children, the only son of Joshua and Elizabeth Larrabee Hempstead (his sister Elizabeth, 1672-1733, who married John Plumbe, is my 7th Great Grandmother).

Very little is known about Joshua Hempstead's early life. He was apprenticed to Thomas Mitchell, a shipwright, learning skills which he practiced for the rest of his life. Several sources indicate he was involved in the coastal shipping trade, and was at least purported to have marketed rum and other products at Long Island and other locations.

Joshua married Abigail Bailey of Long Island about 1697, and before her death 5 Aug 1716, Joshua and Abigail had nine children, 6 sons and 3 daughters: Joshua, Nathanael (Mary Hallam), Robert (Mary Youngs), Stephen (Sarah Holt), Thomas, John (Hannah Salmon), Abigail (Clement Minor), Elizabeth (Daniel Starr), and Mary (Thomas Pierrepont). After the death of his son Nathanael in 1729, Joshua Hempstead raised the two sons of Nathanael and Mary Hallam Hempstead: Joshua (b. 1724) and Nathanael (b. 1727).

While buried originally in the Ancient Burial Place (see photo), the graves of Joshua and Abigail Bailey Hempstead and many of their descendants were moved to Cedar Grove Cemetery in the 19th Century.

"Biographical comments" about Joshua Hempstead would never do him justice. Allow me to use instead this quote from Frances Manwaring Caulkins in her HISTORY OF NEW LONDON:

"...Joshua Hempstead, 2d--took an active part in the affairs of the town for a period of fifty years, reckoning from 1708. The 'Hempstead Diary,'...was a private journal kept by him, from the year 1711 to his death in 1758...

It's author was a remarkable man--one that might serve to represent, or at least illustrate, the age, country and society in which he lived. The diversity of his occupations marks a custom of the day: he was at once farmer, surveyor, house and ship carpenter, attorney, stone cutter, sailor and trader.

He generally held three or four town offices; was justice of the peace, judge of probate, executor of various wills, overseer to widows, guardian to orphans, member of all committees, every body's helper and adviser, and cousin to half of the community. Of the Winthrop family he was a friend and confidential agent, managing their business concerns whenever the head of the family was absent.

The original homestead of Robert Hempstead remains in the possession of one branch of his descendants. The house now standing on the spot, is undoubtedly the most ancient building in New London... The age of the Hempstead house is determined by the Hempstead diary. The writer occupied the dwelling, and writing in 1743, says it had been built sixty-five years." (end quote)

(The above quotations are taken from HISTORY OF NEW LONDON, CONNECTICUT, From the First Survey of the Coast in 1612 to 1860, A Heritage Classic by Frances Manwaring Caulkins, pp 273-274. Published by H. D. Utley, 1895; a facsimile reprint Published 2000, by Heritage Books, Inc.)

Joshua's obituary appeared in the New London Summary 29 Dec 1758: "New London, Dec. 29 [1758]. Last Friday morning died here, in the 81st year of his age, Joshua Hempstead, Esq; one of his Majesty's justices in Commission for this county; a useful friend, a promoter of peace, and a valuable member of society. In all the publick offices he sustained, his conduct was unexceptionable [i.e., flawless]; he acted with uniform integrity, and preserved an unblemished character. His funeral was attended on Sabbath evening."

On a personal note, a word about THE DIARY. 766 pages in the 1999 edition (counting introduction and index, which all bear study); to undertake a reading seems a daunting task. Yet after 3 of those readings, I have been the beneficiary of a treasure.

New knowledge of my family, direct and indirect, have enriched my personal genealogy. Even more gratifying, however, is the sense, as I traveled through his daily life experiences over 47 years, of personal acquaintance with my 7th Grand-Uncle, Joshua Hempstead, Esquire.

It took a year's research and the assistance of at least two kind volunteers to find the Diarist's grave. My past concerns for the condition of his grave seem unfounded.

Parents Joshua Hempsted, 1649–1689 Elizabeth Larrabee Hempstead, 1652–1727

Spouse Abigail Bailey Hempstead, 1677–1716 (m. 1697)

Siblings Elizabeth Hempsted Plumb, 1672–1733

Children Joshua Hempstead, 1699–1716 Nathaniel Hempstead, 1700–1729 Stephen Hempsted, 1705–1774

Gravesite Details Laura S.'s comments: It's a table-style monument, covered with lichen to the point that no writing at all is visible.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/46315538/joshua-hempsted

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