Abraham Dennis

Abraham Dennis had 15 children by 3 wives, 5-7 of whom survived to adulthood, according to his will, per Dennis researcher Raymond Kinsman. I have been able to trace 5 of his children, at least one by each wife.

   Thankful Dennis, by first wife Mercy Ellis, married Barnabas Freeman, and became the ancestress of an enormous clan of Canadian Freemans in Liverpool, Nova Scotia. She died at age 35, leaving 4 children.

Chole Dennis, by second wife Rebecca Saywel, married Samuel Blackwell of Sandwich, MA and her descendants later lived in and around Fairfield, ME. She died at age 32, leaving 5 children.
Rebecca Dennis, by third wife Sarah Kirby, widow of Alexander Bonner, married Seth Padelford of Taunton, MA, a widely known and respected judge and had a large family. She died at age 66.
John Dennis, by wife Sarah Kirby, was a sea captain who died in the Bay of Bengal at the age of 31, leaving 3 children. They lived in Gardiner, ME, and one grandson later moved to Buda, IL and on to WA state.
Ann Dennis, by wife Sarah Kirby, married a well known lawyer from Middleborough, MA, James Sproat. They lived in Taunton, MA. Ann Dennis Sproat was a well known author in her own right, publishing children's books and essays on morals. She died at age 60, leaving a large family.
According to Raymond Kinsman's research, two other sons of Abraham, Abraham Jr. and Ezekiel, were named in his will and must have been living and grown adults at their father's death in 1782, but I have not been able to find any record of them.
Much confusion has surrounded which children belong to which wife of Abraham, but a careful examination of the birth, death and marriage dates in the Vital Records of Rhode Island makes it possible to clarify which children go with which wives. As was typical at that time, if a child died as an infant its name was used again for a subsequent child. Another part of the problem is that Abraham apparently named his first daughter by each new wife after the old wife!
Abraham probably came from the well known Dennis family around Newport, Rhode Island. All his children were born in Rhode Island and two of his wives are buried there and two of his marriages took place there. He appears to be listed in the 1774 Rhode Island census at age 62. However he and his third wife and his son John and wife are buried in Taunton, MA, and his younger children's marriage records are there. It seems likely that he moved to Taunton in the mid-1770s.