Mercy or Mary Colver

Not the daughter of James Clark of Boston & Elinor Clark

Family

John Colver was born on 15 Apr 1640 in Dedham, Massachusetts to parents Edward Culver and Ann Ellis. . Children: John, Jabez, Abigail, Sarah, James, Ann, David, Hannah, Mercy. He died on 8 Aug 1725 in Groton, Connecticut.

Untrue statement: He married Mercy Clark on 8 Aug 1665 in New Haven, Connecticut. There is no such marriage mentioned in the New Haven Records. The births of his children in New Haven do not mention a mother's name.[1]

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.

Disputed origins

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

• It is said: Mercy Clark was born on 24 May 1646 in New London, Connecticut to parents James Clark and Elinor Wright.
• Untrue: James Clark (bef.1605-1674) and Elinor Wright lived in Boston. They did not have children in New London. Their daughter Mercy was born about 1660.
• Doubtful: born 24 May 1646. New London was first settled in 1646. It is doubtful if any births were registered.
• In addition: James Clark of New Haven was in New Haven.
• It is said: She married John Colver 8 Aug 1665 in Groton, Connecticut. :But: Groton did not exist as a place in 1665. John Culver's early children were born in New Haven. There is no such marriage mentioned in the New Haven Records. The births of his children in New Haven do not mention a mother's name
• It is said: She died on 13 Mar 1732 in Ipswich, Massachusetts.
• There is no record of this death 1731-1733 in Massachusetts or Connecticut for Mary/Mercy Culver/Colver or Mary/Mercy Clark

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. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Colver-2 cites
   1. Vital Records of New Haven, 1649-1850. Index: Culver, page 1119. < Archive.Org > index, Culver; index, Clark; vol 1
   2. *Massachusetts Town and Vital Records
   3. North America Family Histories 1500-2000
   4. American Genealogical Biographical Index
   5. The New England Historical and Genealogical Register
   6. US New England Marriages Prior to 1700
   7. Colonial Families of the USA, Vol IV, p 110
   8. Colver-Culver Genealogy, < GoogleBooks > Page 43, 47-8; < Archive.org >
   9. History of New London, Connecticut
   10. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/90645530