Phoebe Millard

Nehemiah, the son of Robert, married first Judith Mason and secondly, Phoebe Shores who was born in Lynn Mass April 20, 1674, the Daughter of Jonathan and Priscilla (Hawthorne) Shores. The Daughter of Nehemiah and Phoebe named Esther married Benjamin Whipple.

Nehemiah inherited 50 acres homestead on the west side of Palmer River in Rehoboth which he traded to his brother Nathaniel in 1707. In 1725 he sold property to his sons Robert and Ebenezer and to his daughter Abigail which suggests he may have been in poor health or circumstances, but he lived twenty years after that. It was his sons' circumstances that changed.

Most of them moved from the province and not long after that Nehemiah was sued for debt. Being unable to meet the judgement against him, he was put in jail. No further details of the imprisonment have been found so the rest of his life is largely conjecture. After his wife died, he lived with his son Robert in the old homestead. As he had no land at the time of his death there is no decided proof that Esther and Phoebe were his daughters. No other Millards could have had daughters that age so they must belong to Nehemiah. The connection of Esther to Nehemiah is undeniable for there are records that Benjamin Whipple and Esther Millard sold the same property that Robert Millard had sold to Benjamin Whipple at an earlier date. The children of Nehemiah and Phoebe Shores were:

THE MILLARDS OF REHOBOTH, MASSACHUSETTS

PART III, Continued from Winter 1959, p. 62

7. NEHEMIAH (3) MILLARD (Robert-2, John-1), b. at Rehoboth, Mass., 6 June 1668, d. there 23 July 1751; m. (1) at Rehoboth, 14 July 1691, JUDITH MASON, who d. there 28 May 1696, probably daughter of Samuel Mason of Hingham, Mass. He m. (2) at Rehoboth, 3 March 1696/7, PHOEBE SHORES, b. at Lynn, Mass., 20 April 1674, d. at Rehoboth, 11 March 1717/8, daughter of Jonathan and Priscilla (Hawthorne) Shores. (Giddings, p. 250)* He m. (3) at Swansea, Mass., 30 Oct. 1719, MARGRET MUNROW, who probably d. between 4 Jan. 1730/1 and 17 Jan. 1737/8. She was the widow of Thomas Munrow, who d. in Bristol, Mass. On 24 Feb. 1717.

   Nehemiah Millard inherited by his father’s will a 50 acre homestead on the west side of Palmer River in Rehoboth.  But on 8 April 1707 he traded 12 acres of this home-lot, plus eight acres adjoining and nine acres of undivided land in Rehoboth to his brother Nathaniel (#8).  Whereupon Nathaniel Millard, weaver of Rehoboth, on the same date, “for valuable consideration”, deeded to Nehemiah Millard, husbandman of Rehoboth, 30 acres on the easterly side of Palmer River in the Second Long Range, “being the 47th lot in number …first laid out to James Brown Sr.” (Bristol Co., Mass. Deeds, Vol. 15, p. 50; Vol. 16, p. 361)  Subsequently Nehemiah acquired twenty additional acres adjoining this property on the south, and the resulting 50 acre farm on the east side of Palmer River was his home for the rest of his life.  On 21 Feb. 1725/6, Nehemiah Millard was listed as one of the constables of Rehoboth.  (Bowen, Vol. II, p. 142) 

   On 17 May 1725, Nehemiah Millard of Rehoboth, sold for eighty pounds to his son Robert Millard, husbandman of Rehoboth, 23 acres “being the easterly part of my home-lot in Rehoboth”, also one undivided half of four acres.  The next day, on 18 May 1725, Nehemiah sold for eighty pounds to his son Jonathan Millard of Rehoboth, 25 acres “being the westerly side of my home-lot”, also the other undivided half of four acres.  (Ibid., Vol. 16, p. 425; Vol. 17, p. 402).  The full description of these halves makes it clear that this division refers to the property on the east side of the river, received from Nathaniel in 1707.  However, this farm was, and continued to be Nehemiah’s home;  apparently the conveyances to his sons were merely a matter of convenience and equity with no change of residence implied.  On 6 April 1727, when Seth and Hannah Garnsey (see #8, v.)  of Rehoboth sold to John Millard Jr. (#22) of Rehoboth, the acres just to the south, that property was defined as adjacent to “land now or lately in the possession of Nehemiah Millard”.  (Ibid., Vol. 21, p. 86)  The undivided four acres mentioned in these deeds had been previously sold by Nehemiah on 19 Jan. 1710 to Bryant Ledoyte of Rehoboth an brought back from Ledoyte’s widow Rachel on 25 March 1720.  (Ibid., Vol. 17, p. 268; Vol. 15, p. 234) 

   The year after the division of his homestead, on 11 Jan. 1725/6, Nehemiah Millard of Rehoboth sold for fifty pounds to his son Ebenezer Millard of Rehoboth, several lots near Coxes Meadow, “all laid out to me as may appear in the Rehoboth land records”, and on 17 March 1726/7, for sixty pounds he sold to his daughter Abigail Millard of Rehoboth, one half of his original home-lot on the west side of Palmer River.  (Ibid., Vol. 16, p. 362; Vol. 17, p. 402) 

   These various deeds from Nehemiah to his children, all executed between 1725 and 1727, suggest that the father may have been in poor  health or circumstances and desirous of providing for his children against any contingency.  As matters fell out Nehemiah lived for another twenty years; it was his sons whose circumstances changed.  Jonathan moved to Connecticut and Ebenezer to Rhode Island.  On 30 Dec. 1728, Jonathan Millard (his mark) of Norwalk, Conn., husbandman, sold to his brother Robert Millard of Rehoboth, 25 acres in Rehoboth (his half of the homestead), also his half of the undivided four acres.  On 15 Dec, 1737, at Bristol, Mass., because Jonathan “was now gone out of the province”, Thomas Flagg, one of the witnesses, swore that he had seen Jonathan sign the deed.  (Ibid., Vol. 24, p. 474)  There is an implicit indication in this acknowledgement that Jonathan was then living; but since there is no record of a Jonathan Millard in Norwalk vital statistics, deeds or probates, the presumption is that he either moved on or died without heirs.  

   Not long after he had disposed of his property to his children, Nehemiah was sued for debt; and since he was unable to meet the judgment against him, he was cast into jail until he could pay.  On 9 July 1730, the deposition of Ebenezer Millard, being of lawful age, testified that when he saw his father Nehemiah Millard in prison at the beginning of winter in 1729, the old man was “in great destriss by reason the prison window being nailed up … Sarah Fairbanks … came and asked whether his father was ded … that she might have a pain of glass for closen his eyes and Jeremiah Fairbanks gave his father .. fier to warm himself and there being Jonathan Fairbanks which was their with acres of  wood to burn, -?- into his fathers flesh which he had struck in … and further saith that Sarah Fairbanks said if she had her will of his father that she would wash her hands in his harts blood and further saith not.”  This very interesting, but somewhat illegible, deposition was taken in Warwick, R.I. upon oath on 9 July 1730, before Stukly Stafford, J.P). Bristol Co., Mass. Court Orders, filed with the Clerk of the supreme Judicial Court, Suffolk Co., Mass., #29, 966, Vol. 233, p. 3)  Despite a thorough search in the Bristol County Court records at Taunton, no further details have been found regarding Nehemiah’s imprisonment or his altercation with the outspoken Sarah Fairbanks. 

   Perhaps to pay this debt or to avoid another jail sentence, on 18 Dec. 1730, Nehemiah and Margaret Millard and Robert and Hannah E. Millard, all of Rehoboth, sold for sixty pounds to Nathaniel Millard of Rehoboth, malster (#8), six acres on the easterly side of  Palmer River in Rehoboth, being the northeasterly corner “of Nehemiah’s and Robert’s home lot”.  Acknowledged by Robert and Hannah on 25 Dec. 1730 and by Nehemiah and Margaret on 4 Jan. 1730/1.  (Bristol Co., Mass. Deeds, Vol. 19, p. 424)  On 29 Feb. 1731 (probably should be 1731/2 since 1731 could not be a leap year), both of Rehoboth husbandmen, for f 2.06.00  A writ was issued on 27 March 1732, and on 7 Sept. 1732 Glover signed a receipt for the amount due.  (Bristol Co., Mass. Court Orders, #34, 202, Vol. 244, p.131) 

   The events of Nehemiah’s life immediately following 1732 are based largely on conjecture.  His three youngest children moved to Providence; Esther was married there on 25 Dec. 1734; Ebenezer on 12 July 1739; and Phoebe on 7 June 1744.  The removal of the second daughter seems to indicate that Nehemiah’s wife Margaret may have died about this time; so that Nehemiah went to live with his son Robert, and Phoebe then chose to live with her sister rather than with her sister-in-law. 

   In addition, the Rehoboth records of Margaret’s son, Andrew Monroe, lend credence to this supposition of his mother’s death in the 1730’s.  Andrew, son of Thomas and Margaret Monro, born in Bristol on 17 May 1715, died at Rehoboth on 30 April 1779, age 64 years.  On 17 Jan. 1737/8, Robert Millerd gave notice to the Selectmen of Rehoboth saying, “that Andrew Manrow, a wayfoering man is with me and I think he is a very good honist man.”  But the Selectmen were unimpressed by this testimonial, and on 24 Jan. 1737/8, Andrew Munro, who had “Lately obtruded him Selfe into ye town not being an Inhabitant thereof and now residing at the house of Robert Millerd”, was warned out of Rehoboth.  (Bowen, Vol. II, p. 147)  If Andrew’s mother had been living t this time, it seems likely that the son would have sojourned in his step-father’s household rather than with  Robert6, to whom he is quite unrelated.  The inference is that Nehemiah  was then a widower living in Robert’s home. 

   Thus after the death or removal of all of his children, except Robert #18, the last years of Nehemiah’s life were evidently spent on the west half of his old homestead near Palmer River in Rehoboth.  On 19 Nov. 1747, Robert sold to his cousin John Millard (#22) the 20 acres remaining in the easterly half of the homestead; John had already received by his father’s will and six-acre corner bought by Nathaniel on 18 Dec. 1730.  Then, finally, on 27 Feb. 1752, after his father’s death and his own removal to Dutchess Co., N.Y., Robert Millard of Batmans (Presink) (Beekmans Precinct), County of Gekipsee (Poughkeepsie), N.Y. sold to John Millard of Rehoboth (#22) 23 ½ acres, being the westerly “part of ye homestead on which my honored father Nehemiah Millard, deceased, dwelt”.  (Bristol Co., Mass. Deeds, Vol. 37, p. 140; Vol. 19, p. 424; Vol. 39, p. 33) 

   Since Nehemiah had no property in his name at the time of his death, Bristol County probate records have neither a will nor an estate settlement for him.  Consequently it has been impossible to show by direct proof that Esther and Phoebe were his daughters.  Neverthless there is circumstantial evidence for the relationship.  First, let it be said, no other second or third generation Millard whose children are not fully enumerated in either a deed or an estate settlement could have had daughters of this age.  In other words, Esther and Phoebe must belong to Nehemiah, or they do not belong to the Rehoboth Millard family. 

   But the connection of Esther and her husband with these Millards is undeniable.  On 18 Sept. 1744, Robert Millard of Rehoboth (#18) sold to Benjamin Whipple of Providence, R.I., for f 313.03.00, 40 acres with buildings on the east side of Palmer River in Rehoboth.  Acknowledged at Providence on 6 Oct. 1744.  Two years later, on 20 Sept. 1746, Benjamin Whipple and wife Esther (her mark) of Providence, R.I. sold this same property to Stephen Brayton of Rehoboth for f800.00.00.  Acknowledged at Providence, 14 May 1750.  (Ibid., Vol. 34, p. 351; Vol. 38, p. 331)  Nothing further is known regarding the circumstances of this transaction.  Yet the very fact that Robert sold the property so reasonably and brought the deed to the Whipples so soon after Phoebe’s marriage suggests a family settlement between Robert, representing his father who was perhaps unable to travel, and the husbands of these two daughters who had been too young to be included in Nehemiah’s earlier disposal of his estate. 

   Judging solely from her marriage date, Phoebe Millard might have been a child of Nehemiah by his third wife; but her removal to Providence along with Esther and Ebenezer, her son named Jonathan, and the fact that no other Millard children of Margaret Munro are known or recorded make her more probably the daughter of Nehemiah’s second wife, Phoebe Shores.  She is so placed by inference. 

   Nehemiah Millard and his first wife, Judith Mason, had three children, born at Rehoboth, Mass.:      

i

Nehemiah

b. 12 Apr. 1692, d. at Rehoboth, 14 May 1696.

ii

Abigail

b. 15 Nov. 1693, prob. D. unmarried, soon after 24 Jan. 1729/0.  Her intention to marry Adam Ferris of Taunton was declared at Rehoboth on 28 Dec. 1728 and again on 24 Jan. 1729/0, but there is no record that the marriage was ever performed.  Instead Adam Ferris m., int. Rehoboth 19 June 1731, Abigail Barstow.  (Genealogy of the Sampson Mason Family, 1902, by A. H. Mason, p. 19)

iii

Josiah

b. 14 July 1694, d. at Rehoboth, 14 April 1697.

 Nehemiah Millard and his second wife, Phoebe Shores, had eight children, the first five recorded at Rehoboth: 

iv

Judith

b. 1 Feb. 1698, d. at Rehoboth, 14 April 1698.

  v

Jonathan

b. 7 Mar. 1698/9, living in Norwalk, Conn., 30 Dec. 1728.  See discussion above.

  vi

Elizabeth

b. 23 Aug. 1700.  No further record.

18

vii

ROBERT

b. 20 Apr. 1702.  For a continuation of this branch of the Millard family see “Descendants of Robert Millard of Pawling, New York”, by Ruth Kline Lee, to be published in the DSGR Magazine immediately following this genealogy.

19

viii

EBENEZER

b. 1 Mar. 1703/4

ix

Esther

Living 10 Sept. 1777; m. at Providence, R.I., 25 Dec. 1734, as his second wife, Benjamin Whipple, b. there 11 Nov. 1688, d. N. Providence, 27 Apr. 1788,  son of Benjamin and Ruth (Mathewson) Whipple.  Eight children by Esther, born at Providence.  He m. (1) 11 Nov. 1722, Sarah Bernon, dau. Of Gabriel Bernon.  (A Brief Genealogy of the Whipple Families, 1873, by Henry E. Whipple, pp. 15-16)  On 10 Sept. 1777, Esther Whipple (her mark), wife of Benjamin Whipple, surrendered her right of dower and power of thirds in 63 acres and a dwelling house in Providence which her husband had earlier deeded to his son Benjamin Whipple Jr. (Providence, R. I. Deeds, Vol. 19, p. 307)  For other Whipple deeds see discussion above.

x

Phoebe

Prob. D. before 7 May 1786; m. in Providence, 7 June 1744, as his second wife, Stephen Colegrove Sr., who d. at Coventry, R.I., shortly before 23 June 1787.  Four children.  The will of Stephen Colegrove Sr., written 7 May 1786, proved Coventry, R.I., 23 June 1787, named sons: Stephen, Thomas, William, Benjamin, Isaac, Nathan, Nichols; and Phoebe Corwin.  (Arthur Aylsworth and His Descendants in America,1887, by H. E. Aylesworth, p. 66)

GEDCOM Note

3-9 Phoebe Shore m Rehoboth, Bristol County, Massachusettsr. 3, 1697, as his second wife, Nehemiah Millard b Rehoboth, June 2, 1668, and d Rehoboth, July 23, 1751. He was sb Robert (1632-1699) and Elizabeth Sabin (1642-1717/8) d/o William Sabin, seen above. Much has been written on the Millard family and their descendants, ancestors of President Millard Fillmore. Their children:

4-7 Judith b Feb. 1, 1698, d Rehoboth, Apr. 14, 1698 4-8 Jonathan b Mar. 7, 1699 4-9 Elizabeth b Aug. 23, 1700 4-10 Robert b Apr. 20, 1702, d abt 1784 in Dutchess Co., New York, m Norton, Bristol County, Massachusettsssachusetts, Mar. 7, 1726, Hannah Eddy who was b Taunton, 1704, d Pawling, New York, 1789. Hannah Eddy was d/o Eleazer and Elizabeth (Randall) Eddy 4-11 Ebenezer b Mar. 1, 1704 4-12 Esther b abt 1705, m Dec. 25, 1734, Benjamin Whipple as his second wife. He was s/o Benjamin and Ruth (Mathewson) Whipple. 4-13 Phoebe b abt 1707 m Providence, June 7, 1744, Stephen Coigrove as his second wife. She d Dec. 29, 1775. He was s/o Stephen Coigrove

SOURCE: REHOBOTH MARRIAGES p 331; ANCESTRY AM. PRESIDENTS