'Elder' Richard Sweet

Not the husband of Mehitable Swaitt

Not the man born 11/04/1653

Suggested edit: Richard was born at Rehoboth and married there in 1687 also. His will was proved at E. Greenwich RI.

PRISCILLA CARPENTER,

b. 24 July 1661,
d. East Greenwich, R.I., 1745;
m. prob. Rehoboth, say 1681, RICHARD SWEET,
b. prob. Warwick, R.I., say 1660,
d. East Greenwich (not Westerly), R.I., 1744,
son of John2 and Elizabeth (______) Sweet;
both bur. Richard Sweet Lot, East Greenwich (RI Cems 313; Austin 110, 121, 194–95; WarTR 105–7).

AUSTIN: GDRI Gladys Palmer Papers: 'SWEET' Will dated 10 Mar 1728; probated 9 Jun 1744.

Richard Sweet did not marry Priscilla Carpenter on 15 Dec 1673 as noted above. That date is when another man Richard Swait married Mehitable Larkin. Richard Swaite was deceased in 1702/3. Richard Sweet and Priscilla were married later than 1673 (not at age 14 & 12!) . Richard Sweet died in 1744. Priscilla was his only wife and alive 9 Jun 1744 when she appeared before the E.Greenwich RI Town Clerk.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Carpenter-528

I should have given a more precise date for when Richard 3 & Priscilla (Carpenter)Sweet married. They married 22 May 1712 (error) at Kingstown RI (before the town divided into N. & S. Kingstown). The marriage was recorded years later at W. Greenwich RI. (As Baptists, they believed in separation of church & state; thus didn't always have their marriages, etc., recorded in town records, though they sometimes relented if required by law & if they wanted to vote & participate in town matters.) I should also note that while Priscilla (Sweet) Carpenter called Miriam her mother, when receiving distributions in Sep 1704 from her father William's estate, Miriam was William's 2nd wife. His first wife was Priscilla Benet who died 20 Oct 1663, possibly in childbirth. She may in fact be the natural mother of Priscilla (Carpenter)Sweet.[4]

From Eugene Cole Zubrinsky, "William3 Carpenter of Rehoboth Massachusetts" (2008; rev 25 February 2018, viewed online at https://www.carpentercousins.com/Wm3_Rehoboth.pdf Accessed August 2024

iii. PRISCILLA CARPENTER, b. 24 July 1661, d. East Greenwich, R.I., 1745; m. prob. Rehoboth, say 1681, RICHARD SWEET, b. prob. Warwick, R.I., say 1660, d. East Greenwich (not Westerly), R.I., 1744, son of John2 and Elizabeth (______) Sweet; both bur. Richard Sweet Lot, East Greenwich (RI Cems 313; Austin 110, 121, 194–95; WarTR 105–7). Richard Sweet was elder of North Kingstown Six Principle Baptist Church, 1710–1740 (NKingstown Hist 438).

Electronic databases often identify Richard Sweet’s mother, Elizabeth, as the daughter of Robert Jeffreys. This appears to be based solely on the fact that Elizabeth Jeffreys (aged 6 in 1635) and Elizabeth (______) (Sweet) Wilson (aged 55 [not 45] in 1684)—the latter had been the longtime wife of Richard’s father, John2 Sweet (d. 1677)—were both born about 1629 (see Hotten 77; Austin 194–95). In his sketch of John1 Sweet, however, Robert Charles Anderson gives no surname for John2 Sweet’s wife (GMB 3:1789–90). And in his sketch of Robert Jeffreys, Anderson states that “[n]o record for any member of this family has been found in New England after 1646 [WP 5:118], so they probably returned to England or removed to some other colony outside New England” (GM 4:33 [WP = Winthrop Papers]).

The colonial clergy and the colonial churches of New England, ... Weis, Frederick Lewis, 1895-1966. He was pastor of the Second Baptist Church after the death of Rev. Thomas Baker.

References

• http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db...
• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/KNSD-CQ3
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Sweet-142
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/85595842/richard-sweet
• Eugene Cole Zubrinsky, "William3 Carpenter of Rehoboth Massachusetts" (2008; rev 25 February 2018, viewed online at https://www.carpentercousins.com/Wm3_Rehoboth.pdf Accessed August 2024
• Sources: 8 Vol Sweet family of Rhode Island by Florence Sweet Wetzel in Gen. Lib. p. 194-195 History of Washington, Kent, Rhode Island Records of N. Kingston, Probate rec. N. Kingston HIs. N. Kingston 49687-F929.273 Sw 362 pt. 4