John Colver, Sr.

Not the husband of Mary Winthrop (died young)

John Colver

• AKA Culver
• Birth: 15 APR 1640 in Dedham,Massachusetts
• Baptism: 19 SEP 1641 Dedham,Massachusetts
• Death: 1725 in Groton,Connecticut
• Father: Edward COLVER b: 1610 in Dedham,Norfolk, England
• Mother: Ann ELLIS b: 1 JUL 1619 in Skipton,,Yorkshire,England
• Marriage Mercy CLARKE b: 6 JAN 1644 in New Haven,CT Married: 1672 in New Haven, Connecticut

BIOGRAPHY: John was married to Mercy Clark, daughter of James Clark who was also a Puritan. John was a Rogerene, a sect that didn"t believe in the no-work rule of Sabbath, no organized churches and no Doctors. They believed strongly inthe separation of church and state. They were heavily persecuted and arrested on several occasions, which supposedly re-enforced their belief as their principles called for and encouraged martyrdom. As it was, Mercy Clark had left John Sr. on at least one occasion and lived with some relatives, but was forced to return to her husband under penalty of law.

King Charles II, in a move to strengthen his position in the European power struggle, provided patents for New Netherlands (new York) to his brother James, on the condition he must take them from the Dutch. He was successful and shortly afer being named King (King James II), he provided land grants to his favorites, especiallly to a Sir George Carteret. Sir George throuth the colony administrator Colonel Nicolls, made land patents in 1664 to Puritans in a move to get English speaking people to settle in the area. This area was named New Jersey in honor of Sir George's home of the Isle of Jersey.

Family

2. John6 Culver (Edward5, John4, Edward3, Edward2, Richard1) was born February 15, 1640 in Dedham, Massachusetts1, and died 1725 in Groton, Connecticut. He married (1) Mercy Clark Abt. 1665, daughter of James Clark. He married (2) Sarah Winthrop 1672, daughter of John Winthrop [sic: probably not. No such marriage is known in the Winthrop records].

Notes for John Culver: Moved with his parents to Roxbury, MA in 1645 and then to New London , CT in 1653.

John Colver was born April 15th, 1640 at Dedham Massachusetts and baptized Sept. 19, 1641. Died 1725 in Groton Connecticut. There is a conflict at this point, Myrtice's work suggests that he married Mary Winthrop, daughter of John Winthrop Jr. and lists the children. Don DuBois's work clearly states marriage dates and etc. to a Mercy Clark, daughter of James Clark who was also a Puritan. A couple of books made some reference as to John being married twice, first to Mary Winthrop and second to Mercy Clark. Most facts bear out Don DuBois, as the other articles were far too vague and had many inconsistencies on dates and ages.

John was a Rogerene, a sect that didn't believe in the no-work rule of Sabbath, no organized churches and no Doctors. They believed strongly in the separation of church and state. They were heavily persecuted and arrested on several occasions, which supposedly re-enforced their belief as their principles called for and encouraged martyrdom. Now if John had been married to Mary Winthrop, then it is possible she either perished (Life was quite difficult then), or her family being of such high and noble position in the Colonies, could have ended the marriage. Anyway, there is little to prove that they were indeed married.

The Children of John Colver and Mercy Clark:

• 9 i John, born at New Haven, Connecticut, about 1672.
• 10 ii Jabez, born at New Haven about 1674.
• iii Abigail, born at New Haven in 1676.
• iv James, born at New Haven 13 January, 1679. 1703 he received the estate of his father, the deed reading "John Colver with wife Mary," etc.f
• V Sarah, born 17 March, 1682
• vi David, born in 1684. J

As it was, Mercy Clark had left John Sr. on at least one occasion and lived with some relatives, but was forced to return to her husband under penalty of law.

Notes

• ♦Some authorities state that John Colver died in 1725 at Mystic, Connecticut. There is, however, some difficulty in asserting positively that this was the case. About 1730 or 1732, a party of Rogerenes emigrated from the vicinity of New London, Connecticut, to Morris County, New Jersey. They were led by John Colver, the party consisting of twenty-one persons in all, among them being Sarah Winthrop, wife of John Colver 3, and ten children. In 1732, on the 2nd of December, the will of John Colver was filed at Black River, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, witnessed by John Peel and Seth Smith (a woman). The records go on to state that soon after this the whole family moved away from Schooley's Mountain, Morris County, where they had located; one son, Jabez, going to Wantage and the other, John, to Monmouth County. John is stated to have returned to Schooley's Mountain later, with his two sons, Thomas and Robert, whose mother is given as Sarah, daughter of Governor Winthrop. Robert bought a tract of land on Schooley's Mountain, and settled upon it, the Colver burying ground being still preserved and now in the possession of the Martinus family, who own the farm. In this graveyard is the tombstone of John Colver, who died in 1760 at the age of ninety, and is, presumably, that of Robert's father; his mother, Sarah Winthrop, died in 1766 at the age of eighty-three. The difficulty which confronted the present compiler was to reconcile the some- what conflicting statements of the various local historians of Connecticut and New Jersey, and to decide if possible, which John Colver it was who died in 1732. Some authorities have taken the John Colver 3, with wife Sarah, as the leader of the Rogerenes. In that case confusion arises as to the date of the will of the John Colver supposed to be the leader, and who died in 1732, with that of the tombstone of 1760, which is that of the John 3, who had wife Sarah. After carefully comparing the various authorities and records available, the compiler has reached the following conclusion: .John Colver, son of Edward the Puritan, although an old man of over ninety years, was probably the one who died in New Jersey in 1732; he may not have been the actual leader of the party but formed one of them; his son, John, with wife Sarah and sons Thomas and Robert, was the one who died in 1760, and was the founder of the New Jersey branch of the Colver family. The other son, Jabez, is not mentioned by the Connecticut historians, but the New Jersey historian. Chambers, in his "Early Germans of New Jersey," mentions him. His descendants removed to Canada. A research of the original will at Hunterdon County and the records of New Haven and New London, Connecticut, would probably clear up the dif- ficulty. It should also be stated that there was a John Colver, born in 1685 at Norwich, Connecticut, who lived at Lebanon, Connecticut, with his wife, Sarah, who might be the John whose will was filed at Black River. New Jersey; he had two children, Martha and Lemuel. He was a cousin of John Colver^, son of John 2; being the son of Edward Colver 2, the son of Edward^ the Puritan.
• tSavage's Genealot^ical Dictionary. The births of John, Abigail and James are given in American Ancestry, Vol. 12, p. 21.
• JThe births of these last two children are given as at New Haven, but else- where it is stated that John Colver had returned to New London, Groton side, in 1679.

Comments

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Clark-8034

• Jacobus does not name Mercy as a daughter of James Clarke of New Haven. Parke (Ackley-Bosworth p. 164) does.
• There is significant disagreement about the wife of John Colver: Torrey: COLVER, John (1640-) & Mary/Mercy CLARK (1644-); by 1676, by 1672?, by 8 Aug 1665; New Haven/New London {New London Hist. 310; New Haven Gen. Mag. 465; Sv. 1:483; Colver-Culver 47-8; NYGBR 51:90; McCormick-Hamilton 301, 302; Ackley-Bosworth 164} Torrey's sources:
  • From the History of New London: No wife is mentioned. p. 310
  • New Haven gen. Magazine ie. Jacobus; Families of ancient New Haven p. 465, briefly mentions this family. John Culver s/o Edward and Ann (Ellis) of Dedham Mass lived in New Haven a short time had children in New Haven: 1)Abigail b. 13 Nov 1676; 2)James b 13 June 1679; 3 Sarah b. 17 Mar 1681/2; 4) John who res. in Groton in 1725. Jacobus does not name the wife of John.
  • Sv 1:483 (Savage's Gen. Dict.) names wife Mary _____
  • Colver-Culver genealogy: "John Colver was married to Mary, the eldest daughter of Governor John Winthrop of Connecticut" cites American Ancestry Vol 12. p. 21 actuall on 22.[1]
  • "Registration of Pedigrees" NYGBR 51:9, 91 Says John Culver married Mary Winthrop
  • McCormick Hamilton 301-302; The listing for this doesn't seem to fit [Genealogical tables of the descendants of John Hamilton of "Locust Hill", Lexington, Virginia, born 1789--died 1825 the book]
  • p 164 Ackley Bosworth

    ---

References

1. New England Marriages to 1700. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. Volume 1, page 404. < AmericanAncestors > COLVER, John (1640-) & Mary/Mercy CLARK (1644-); by 1676, by 1672?, by 8 Aug 1665; New Haven/New London
2. "Colver-Culver genealogy; descendants of Edward Colver of Boston, Dedham, and Roxbury, Massachusetts, and New London, and Mystic, Connecticut" page 47-48. < Archive.Org >
3. For more detailed information on Edward and this generation, refer to http://www.mystic.com/dcd/collver/doc/gen1.html
4. Some trees show John Culver married Mary Winthrop in 1672; b 1644, d 1703. According to the following, Mary Winthrop died in 1653. It is most probably John’s wife Mercy was mother of the children. * http://www.ishipress.com/pafg201.htm
5. Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jul 24 2016, 23:30:07 UTC Son of John Edward Allyn and Anne (Ellis) Culver. Husband of Mary (Winthrop) Culver. Father of Mary; Sarah; John; Jabez; Abigail; James; Sarah; Ann; David; Hannah; and Mercy
6. Vital Records of New Haven, 1649-1850. Index: Culver, page 1119. < Archive.Org >
7. Culver and Winthrop. American Colonial Families: Culver, Edward (New London, Conn).By D.L. Jacobus. The American Genealogist. Volume Name 22 (1945) Page 107-110. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .) < AmericanAncestors >