Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: Genealogy Report: Descendants of Robert Coles

[ Home Page | First Page | Previous Page | Next Page | Last Page ]

Descendants of Robert Coles

Generation No. 3

3. ROBERT³ COLES (NATHANIEL², ROBERT¹)^2,^3,^4,⁵ was born Bet. 1597 - 1598 in Sudbury, Suffolk , England, and died February 1654/55 in Warwick, Kent , RI. He married (1) MARY Abt. 1630. She died Bef. 1637 in Warwick,R.I.. He married (2) MARY HAWXHURST⁶ Abt. 1635 in QUEENS, LI, daughter of SAMPSON HAWKHURST. She was born Abt. 1602 in Nauneton, Warwickshire, England, and died Bet. 1656 - 1682 in Oyster Bay, QUEENS, LI.

Notes for ROBERT COLES:
" The Records of The Coles family go back to Richard Colles of Pickwick Co., Warwick, England ,who sprung from the family of Collefern of Co. Somerset.
------Research by Robert Coles of Glen Cove LI. NY. ----- 22 Dec. 1980
Robert came from England in the fleet with Govenor Winthrop in 1630 to either Ipswich or Roxbury (Massachussetts Bay Colony) , and October of that yr requsted to be a Freeman of Roxbury. He was made a Freeman in 1631 He was fined several times for intoxication. These fines were remitted possibly with the understanding that he was to leave the colony. He came to Rhode Island in 1637. (possibly forced out of town becaused of drinking)
,reformed in earnest and was one of the founders of the First Baptist Church along with Roger Williams and William Carpenter.
When he died ,he did not leave a will,so his property was distibuted by the town " the same as it should have been had he left a will
He may have been Welch from near Bristol England
Removes: Ipswich 1633, Salem 1635, Providence 1638, Paxtuxet, Warwick 1653
Church Membership: Roxbury Church member #8. Excommunicated at some later date. In 1639, he was in Providence ,RI and was one of the twelve original members of the First Baptist Church.
Freeman: admitted 5/18/1631. Disenfranchised 3/4/1633/4, readmitted 5/14/1634.
Education: Signed his name.
Offices: Representative for Roxbury to General Court 1632. Helped write arbitration law 1640.
From public records:
August 16, 1631: Fined 5 marks, for drinking too much aboard ship "Friendship"
May 9, 1632: Appointed on a committee to confer with the court about raising of a public stock.
March 4, 1633: "The court orders that Robert Coles, for drunkenness by him committed at Roxbury, shall be disenfranchised, weare about his necke and soe to hange upon his outward garment a D made of redd clothe and sett upon white; to contynue
this for a yeare, and not to leace it off at any tyme when he comes amongst company, under penalty of 10 Ls. for the first offense, and V pounds for the second, and after to be punished by the court as they think meete; also he is to weare the D outwards, and in enjoyned to appear at the next general court, and to contynue thise until it be ended."
April 1, 1633: Among those who had gone to Agawam (Ipswich) to plant a colony.
1639: Providence. He was one of the twelve original members of First Baptist Church.
1640: He was appointed with three others to form a committee on all matters of difference regarding the dividing line between Providence and Pawtuxet, and on July 27 of that year , he and 38 others signed a agreement to form a government. He was one of the 17 who purchased the Pautuxet meadows, and he made his home there. Three others were appointed with him to arbitrate disputes and make rules of government, and their report was the compact signed by all the settlers. He became a friend of Samuel Gorton when he came to Providence, driven from Massachusetts by the intolerance of the authorities of that colony, and gave him part of his land.
The actions of Gorton and his followers were such, however, as to cause the older settlers to wish to be free of them, and he, with four others, in September 1642, appeared before the general court at Boston and yielded themselves up to the Massachusetts Colony, which accepted jurisdiction and appointed them magistrates. In the formal complaint of the Indians to the Plymouth colony in September 1652, the seventh article is as follows:
"7th. Ninigrett bought a mastiff dog of Robert Cole, and gave 40 shillings for him, which dog ran home to Robert Cole, who killed the said dog; wherefore, Ninigrett requires 40s. of said Cole."
The commissioners found the charge true, and promised to write Mr. Cole to return the money.
January 2, 1653 he sold his house & lot in Providence,RI to Richard Pray.
Feb. 27, 1654 he & his wife sold to Zacharoah Rhodes for 80 pounds his dwelling house at Pawtuxet and certrain land.

He married Mary Hawkhurst 2nd. He died previous to October 18, 1654, when his property was distributed by the town, "the same as it should have been had he left a will."
After his death, Mary married Mathias Harvey and moved to Oyster Bay, NY where she died.

Descendants of Robert Cole(s)

Generation No. 1

1. ROBERT COLE(S) was born Abt. 1598 in Sudbury, Suffolk County, England and died 1655 in Rhode Island7. He married MARY HAWXHURST Abt. 1630, daughter of SAMSON HAWXHURST.

Notes for ROBERT COLE(S):
" COLES, Robert (1598-before 1655), from Eng.
to Roxbury, Mass., 1630; removed to Ipswich
1633; a founder of Providence, R.I.; dep. Gen. Ct."

(Source: "Abridged Compendium" by Vircus, p 3468)

"COLES, ROBERT, Roxbury, came in the fleet with Winth. req. to be made freem. 19 Oct. 1630, and was adm. 18 May foll. rem. perhaps to Salem, and to Ipswich, was oft. punish. for drunken. yet in 1638 seems to be reform. if remis. of fines may just. be thus understood, tho. it may only have been act of policy to ensure his rem. from our jurisdict. But at last he went to Providence, was reform. in earnest, and bec. one of the found. of the first Bapt. ch. there. By w. Mary he had John, beside Daniel, Nathaniel, Robert, and ds. Sarah, perhaps youngest; Ann, wh. m. Henry Townsend; Eliz. wh. m. John Townsend; both from L. I. where Quakers were persecut. by the Dutch. He d. bef. 18 Oct. 1654, when the town counc, exercis. their duty of mak. distrib. of his prop. in the way he should have made his will. The wid. m. Matthias Harvey, and rem. to Oyster Bay, L. I. with her s. Nathaniel and Daniel, and the two ds. that m. Townsend foll."

(Source: Savage, "First Settlers of NE Vol I", p 17)

Notes for MARY HAWXHURST:
"Mary Cole, the wife of Robert Cole. god also wrought upon her heart (as it was hoped after her coming
N.E. but after her husbands excommunication, & falls she did too much favor his ways, yet not as to incur any just blame, she lived an aflicted life, by reason of his unsetlednesse & removing fro place to place."

(Source: "The Rev. John Eliot's Record of Church Members, Roxbury, Mass.")

Children of ROBERT COLE(S) and MARY HAWXHURST are:
i. JOHN2 COLE(S)11,12, d. 1676, Portsmouth, Rhode Island13; m. ANN ?13,14.

Notes for JOHN COLE(S):
'He may have identical with that John Cole, whose inventory was taken 1676, Dec. 10, by George Lawton and Robert Hodgson, at Plymouth, R.I. Amount ú43, 2s, 5d., besides additional inventory including an amount due from the country unto John Cole, for cattle, &c., spent at Mount Hope, July, 1675. (The record o above was made at Plymouth, Mass)."

(Source: "The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island")

ii. DANIEL COLE(S)15,16, d. November 29, 169216; m. MAHERSHALLAL HASHBAZ GORTON17,18.
iii. SARAH COLE(S)19,20.
iv. ANN COLE(S)21,22,23,24, d. Aft. 169525; m. HENRY TOWNSEND26,27,28,29.

Notes for HENRY TOWNSEND:
Descended from Sir Ludoric of Townshend who married Elizabeth de Houtville of Manor Roynhom, Norfolk England about 1100. This is noted on Uncle Harold's tree.

He settled in Oyster Bay before September 16, 1661 according to the "Townsend Memorial." Also it states that he managed a grist and sawmill, held the office of Town Clerk, was a surveyor and was active in public business. Public business is described as "...adjusting boundaries, procuring patents, and buying lands of the Indians."

Savage says that Henry may have been the son of Thomas Townsend of Lynn, Massachusetts. This needs to be confirmed by other sources.

More About HENRY TOWNSEND:
Fact 1: 1655, Appears on the list of Freemen in Warwick, Rhode Island30

v. ROBERT COLE(S)31,32, d. April 16, 171533,34; m. MERCY WRIGHT35,36, January 01, 1669/7037,38.
vi. ELIZABETH COLE(S)39,40,41,42, m. JOHN TOWNSEND43,44,45,46,47.

Notes for ELIZABETH COLE(S):
According to the "Townsend Memorial," John Townsend's wife's name was Elizabeth Montgomery. Other sources state she was Elizabeth Coles, daughter of Mary Hawxhurst and Robert Coles. Perhaps she was the widow of ? Montgomery before marrying John. I am going to assume this is the case.

Bunker also states that Elizabeth's last name was Montgomery, and that she was a daughter of Robert Cole. She makes no mention of who her first husband might have been.

Notes for JOHN TOWNSEND:
According to the "Townsend Memorial," he settled in Oyster Bay before September 1661. Before that, he was in Flushing in 1645 and in Jamaica in 1656. His name appears frequently in real estate transactions. He appears to have bought property often. The "Townsend Memorial" states that he died in 1668 intestate.

More About JOHN TOWNSEND:
Fact 1: 1655, Appears on the list of Freemen in Warwick, Rhode Island48

vii. DELIVERANCE COLE(S)49,50,51,52,53, m. RICHARD TOWNSEND54,55,56.

Notes for DELIVERANCE COLE(S):
The "Townsend Memorial" states that Richard's first wife was a sister of his brother Henry's wife. Henry's wife was Ann Coles. Her sister Deliverance was married to Richard.

Notes for RICHARD TOWNSEND:
According to the "Townsend Memorial" Richard first appears in the records in Jamaica, New York in 1656. In 1668 he bought land at Lusum, Oyster Bay, from Robert Williams. His name only appears in real estate transactions and in the settlement of his estate. His estate was settled in February, 1671 when his youngest son, Richard was twelve weeks old.

"RICHARD TOWNSEND, of Lusum, in Oyster Bay, died intestate, and Letters of Administration were granted to wife, Elizabeth, September 23, 1670. Children are mentioned but not named.

[NOTE.--"Lusum," supposed to be a contraction of Lewisham, is now Jericho.]"

(Source: "Abstracts of Wills Vol I 1665-1707")

More About RICHARD TOWNSEND:
Fact 1: 1655, Appears on the list of Freemen in Warwick, Rhode Island57

viii. NATHANIEL COLE(S)58,59, b. 164060; m. (1) MARTHA JACKSON60, August 30, 166760; m. (2) DEBORAH WRIGHT60, August 30, 1667.

Notes for DEBORAH WRIGHT:
"The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island" says Nathaniel married Martha Wright daughter of Nicholas and Ann Wright of Oyster Bay, N.Y.

SOURCES:

1. Miller, Robert B., "The Hawxhurst Family", The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol XXXII(Jul 1901),172-176,(Oct 1901),221-224, Vol XXXIII(Jan 1902),24-27, (. Reprinted in "Genealogies of Long Island Families, Vol I" .Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc.,1987), 477-488.
2. A Memorial of John, Henry, and Richard Towndend, and Their Descendants, (New York: W. A. Townsend, Publisher, 1865).
3. Savage, James, Genealogical Dictionary of First Settlers of New England, Volume 4, (Boston: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1860-1862).
4. Bunker, Mary Powell, Long Island Genealogies, (Joel Munsell's Sons, Publishers, Albany, NY, 1895).

5. Austin, John Osborne, The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island, (Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc: Baltimore, Maryland, 1969).

6. Bunker, Mary Powell, Long Island Genealogies, (Joel Munsell's Sons, Publishers, Albany, NY, 1895).

7. A Memorial of John, Henry, and Richard Towndend, and Their Descendants, (New York: W. A. Townsend, Publisher, 1865).
Biographical Record, Vol XXXII(Jul 1901),172-176,(Oct 1901),221-224, Vol XXXIII(Jan 1902),24-27, (. Reprinted in "Genealogies of Long Island Families, Vol I" .Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc.,1987), 477-488.

8. The Early Migration Begins,Immigrants to New England 1620-1633
by Robert Charles Anderson ,Pub by New England Historic Genealogical Society
(NEHGS) Boston,Mass. 1995 Vol I-III

9. The Early Genealoges of the Cole Family in America and of Thomas Cole of Salem , Mass. by Frank Cole -Columbus ,Ohio --1887

10 Articles in Coles File @ Glen Cove Public Library,Glen Cove,LI ,NY
by Robert Coles Glen Cove Town Historian---22 Dec. 1980[Rhode IslandY2K.FBK.FTW]

" The Records of The Coles family go back to Richard Colles of Pickwick Co., Warwick, England ,who sprung from the family of Collefern of Co. Somerset.
------Research by Robert Coles of Glen Cove LI. NY. ----- 22 Dec. 1980

Robert came from England in the fleet with Govenor Winthrop in 1630 to either Ipswich or Roxbury (Massachussetts Bay Colony) , and October of that yr requsted to be a Freeman of Roxbury. He was made a Freeman in 1631 He was fined several times for intoxication. These fines were remitted possibly with the understanding that he was to leave the colony. He came to Rhode Island in 1637. (possibly forced out of town becaused of drinking)
,reformed in earnest and was one of the founders of the First Baptist Church along with Roger Williams and William Carpenter.
When he died ,he did not leave a will,so his property was distibuted by the town " the same as it should have been had he left a will
He may have been Welch from near Bristol England

Migration: 1630

First Residence: Roxbury

Removes: Ipswich 1633, Salem 1635, Providence 1638, Paxtuxet, Warwick 1653

Church Membership: Roxbury Church member #8. Excommunicated at some later date. In 1639, he was in Providence ,RI and was one of the twelve original members of the First Baptist Church.

Freeman: admitted 5/18/1631. Disenfranchised 3/4/1633/4, readmitted 5/14/1634.

Education: Signed his name.

Offices: Representative for Roxbury to General Court 1632. Helped write arbitration law 1640.
From public records:
August 16, 1631: Fined 5 marks, for drinking too much aboard ship "Friendship"
May 9, 1632: Appointed on a committee to confer with the court about raising of a public stock.
March 4, 1633: "The court orders that Robert Coles, for drunkenness by him committed at Roxbury, shall be disenfranchised, weare about his necke and soe to hange upon his outward garment a D made of redd clothe and sett upon white; to contynue
this for a yeare, and not to leace it off at any tyme when he comes amongst company, under penalty of XLs. for the first offense, and V pounds for the second, and after to be punished by the court as they think meete; also he is to weare the D
outwards, and in enjoyned to appear at the next general court, and to contynue thise until it be ended."
April 1, 1633: Among those who had gone to Agawam (Ipswich) to plant a colony.
1639: Providence. He was one of the twelve original members of First Baptist Church.
1640: He was appointed with three others to form a committee on all matters of difference regarding the dividing line between Providence and Pawtuxet, and on July 27 of that year , he and 38 others signed a agreement to form a government. He was one of the 17 who purchased the Pautuxet meadows, and he made his home there. Three others were appointed with him to arbitrate disputes and make rules of government, and their report was the compact signed by all the settlers. He became a friend of Samuel Gorton when he came to Providence, driven from Massachusetts by the intolerance of the authorities of that colony, and gave him part of his land.
The actions of Gorton and his followers were such, however, as to cause the older settlers to wish to be free of them, and he, with four others, in September 1642, appeared before the general court at Boston and yielded themselves up to the Massachusetts Colony, which accepted jurisdiction and appointed them magistrates. In the formal complaint of the Indians to the Plymouth colony in September 1652, the seventh article is as follows:
"7th. Ninigrett bought a mastiff dog of Robert Cole, and gave 40 shillings for him, which dog ran home to Robert Cole, who killed the said dog; wherefore, Ninigrett requires 40s. of said Cole."
The commissioners found the charge true, and promised to write Mr. Cole to return the money.

January 2, 1653 he sold his house & lot in Providence,RI to Richard Pray.

Feb. 27, 1654 he & his wife sold to Zacharoah Rhodes for 80 pounds his dwelling house at Pawtuxet and certrain land.

He married Mary Hawkhurst. He died previous to October 18, 1654, when his property was distributed by the town, "the same as it should have been had he left a will."
After his death, Mary married Mathias Harvey and moved to Oyster Bay, NY where she died.

Descendants of Robert Cole(s)

Generation No. 1

1. ROBERT COLE(S) was born Abt. 1598 in Sudbury, Suffolk County, England and died 1655 in Rhode Island7. He married MARY HAWXHURST Abt. 1630, daughter of SAMSON HAWXHURST.

Notes for ROBERT COLE(S):
" COLES, Robert (1598-before 1655), from Eng.
to Roxbury, Mass., 1630; removed to Ipswich
1633; a founder of Providence, R.I.; dep. Gen. Ct."

(Source: "Abridged Compendium" by Vircus, p 3468)

"COLES, ROBERT, Roxbury, came in the fleet with Winth. req. to be made freem. 19 Oct. 1630, and was adm. 18 May foll. rem. perhaps to Salem, and to Ipswich, was oft. punish. for drunken. yet in 1638 seems to be reform. if remis. of fines may just. be thus understood, tho. it may only have been act of policy to ensure his rem. from our jurisdict. But at last he went to Providence, was reform. in earnest, and bec. one of the found. of the first Bapt. ch. there. By w. Mary he had John, beside Daniel, Nathaniel, Robert, and ds. Sarah, perhaps youngest; Ann, wh. m. Henry Townsend; Eliz. wh. m. John Townsend; both from L. I. where Quakers were persecut. by the Dutch. He d. bef. 18 Oct. 1654, when the town counc, exercis. their duty of mak. distrib. of his prop. in the way he should have made his will. The wid. m. Matthias Harvey, and rem. to Oyster Bay, L. I. with her s. Nathaniel and Daniel, and the two ds. that m. Townsend foll."

(Source: Savage, "First Settlers of NE Vol I", p 17)

Notes for MARY HAWXHURST:
"Mary Cole, the wife of Robert Cole. god also wrought upon her heart (as it was hoped after her coming
N.E. but after her husbands excommunication, & falls she did too much favor his ways, yet not as to incur any just blame, she lived an aflicted life, by reason of his unsetlednesse & removing fro place to place."

(Source: "The Rev. John Eliot's Record of Church Members, Roxbury, Mass.")

Children of ROBERT COLE(S) and MARY HAWXHURST are:
i. JOHN2 COLE(S)11,12, d. 1676, Portsmouth, Rhode Island13; m. ANN ?13,14.

Notes for JOHN COLE(S):
'He may have identical with that John Cole, whose inventory was taken 1676, Dec. 10, by George Lawton and Robert Hodgson, at Plymouth, R.I. Amount ú43, 2s, 5d., besides additional inventory including an amount due from the country unto John Cole, for cattle, &c., spent at Mount Hope, July, 1675. (The record o above was made at Plymouth, Mass)."

(Source: "The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island")

ii. DANIEL COLE(S)15,16, d. November 29, 169216; m. MAHERSHALLAL HASHBAZ GORTON17,18.
iii. SARAH COLE(S)19,20.
iv. ANN COLE(S)21,22,23,24, d. Aft. 169525; m. HENRY TOWNSEND26,27,28,29.

Notes for HENRY TOWNSEND:
Descended from Sir Ludoric of Townshend who married Elizabeth de Houtville of Manor Roynhom, Norfolk England about 1100. This is noted on Uncle Harold's tree.

He settled in Oyster Bay before September 16, 1661 according to the "Townsend Memorial." Also it states that he managed a grist and sawmill, held the office of Town Clerk, was a surveyor and was active in public business. Public business is described as "...adjusting boundaries, procuring patents, and buying lands of the Indians."

Savage says that Henry may have been the son of Thomas Townsend of Lynn, Massachusetts. This needs to be confirmed by other sources.

More About HENRY TOWNSEND:
Fact 1: 1655, Appears on the list of Freemen in Warwick, Rhode Island30

v. ROBERT COLE(S)31,32, d. April 16, 171533,34; m. MERCY WRIGHT35,36, January 01, 1669/7037,38.
vi. ELIZABETH COLE(S)39,40,41,42, m. JOHN TOWNSEND43,44,45,46,47.

Notes for ELIZABETH COLE(S):
According to the "Townsend Memorial," John Townsend's wife's name was Elizabeth Montgomery. Other sources state she was Elizabeth Coles, daughter of Mary Hawxhurst and Robert Coles. Perhaps she was the widow of ? Montgomery before marrying John. I am going to assume this is the case.

Bunker also states that Elizabeth's last name was Montgomery, and that she was a daughter of Robert Cole. She makes no mention of who her first husband might have been.

Notes for JOHN TOWNSEND:
According to the "Townsend Memorial," he settled in Oyster Bay before September 1661. Before that, he was in Flushing in 1645 and in Jamaica in 1656. His name appears frequently in real estate transactions. He appears to have bought property often. The "Townsend Memorial" states that he died in 1668 intestate.

More About JOHN TOWNSEND:
Fact 1: 1655, Appears on the list of Freemen in Warwick, Rhode Island48

vii. DELIVERANCE COLE(S)49,50,51,52,53, m. RICHARD TOWNSEND54,55,56.

Notes for DELIVERANCE COLE(S):
The "Townsend Memorial" states that Richard's first wife was a sister of his brother Henry's wife. Henry's wife was Ann Coles. Her sister Deliverance was married to Richard.

Notes for RICHARD TOWNSEND:
According to the "Townsend Memorial" Richard first appears in the records in Jamaica, New York in 1656. In 1668 he bought land at Lusum, Oyster Bay, from Robert Williams. His name only appears in real estate transactions and in the settlement of his estate. His estate was settled in February, 1671 when his youngest son, Richard was twelve weeks old.

"RICHARD TOWNSEND, of Lusum, in Oyster Bay, died intestate, and Letters of Administration were granted to wife, Elizabeth, September 23, 1670. Children are mentioned but not named.

[NOTE.--"Lusum," supposed to be a contraction of Lewisham, is now Jericho.]"

(Source: "Abstracts of Wills Vol I 1665-1707")

More About RICHARD TOWNSEND:
Fact 1: 1655, Appears on the list of Freemen in Warwick, Rhode Island57

viii. NATHANIEL COLE(S)58,59, b. 164060; m. (1) MARTHA JACKSON60, August 30, 166760; m. (2) DEBORAH WRIGHT60, August 30, 1667.

Notes for DEBORAH WRIGHT:
"The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island" says Nathaniel married Martha Wright daughter of Nicholas and Ann Wright of Oyster Bay, N.Y.

SOURCES:

1. Miller, Robert B., "The Hawxhurst Family", The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol XXXII(Jul 1901),172-176,(Oct 1901),221-224, Vol XXXIII(Jan 1902),24-27, (. Reprinted in "Genealogies of Long Island Families, Vol I" .Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc.,1987), 477-488.

2. A Memorial of John, Henry, and Richard Towndend, and Their Descendants, (New York: W. A. Townsend, Publisher, 1865).

3. Savage, James, Genealogical Dictionary of First Settlers of New England, Volume 4, (Boston: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1860-1862).

4. Bunker, Mary Powell, Long Island Genealogies, (Joel Munsell's Sons, Publishers, Albany, NY, 1895).

5. Austin, John Osborne, The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island, (Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc: Baltimore, Maryland, 1969).

6. Bunker, Mary Powell, Long Island Genealogies, (Joel Munsell's Sons, Publishers, Albany, NY, 1895).

7. A Memorial of John, Henry, and Richard Towndend, and Their Descendants, (New York: W. A. Townsend, Publisher, 1865).
Biographical Record, Vol XXXII(Jul 1901),172-176,(Oct 1901),221-224, Vol XXXIII(Jan 1902),24-27, (. Reprinted in "Genealogies of Long Island Families, Vol I" .Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc.,1987), 477-488.

8. The Early Migration Begins,Immigrants to New England 1620-1633
by Robert Charles Anderson ,Pub by New England Historic Genealogical Society
(NEHGS) Boston,Mass. 1995 Vol I-III

9. The Early Genealoges of the Cole Family in America and of Thomas Cole of Salem , Mass. by Frank Cole -Columbus ,Ohio --1887

10. Research by Cheryl McGraw 2549-D Royal County Down, Uniontown ,Ohio USA 44685
E mail cmcgraw@uakron.edu (2/97)

10 Articles in Coles File @ Glen Cove Public Library,Glen Cove,LI ,NY
by Robert Coles Glen Cove Town Historian---22 Dec. 1980

~ ROBERT COLES ORIGIN. Unknown MIGRATION.-
1630 FIRST RESIDENCE: Roxbury
REMOVES: Ipswich 1633, Salem 1635, Providence 1638, Pawtuxet,
Warwick 1653 ~ CHURCH MEMEBERSHIP-Admitted to Roxbury church as a memeber#8,
" he came with the first company , 1630" [RChR 74]. Excommunicated at some later date [RChR 75]
FREEMAN: Requested 19 October 1630 (as "Mr. Roberte Coles") and admitted
18 May 1631 [MBCR 1:80, 366]). Disenfranchised 4 March 1633/4, but apparently
readmitted 14 May 1634 [MBCR 1: 112, 1181. EDUCATION: He signed his name
to his deed, but his wife Mary made her mark [PrTR 20:821.
OFFICES: Representative for Roxbury to General Court, 9 May 1632
[MBCR 1:951. He helped write the arbitration law, 27 July 1640 [PrTR 15:21.
ESTATE: On 28 December 1635 Salem "granted unto Rob[er]t Cole his heirs and
assignees three hundred acres of land whereof forty acres is marsh fit to be mowed
lying and being about 3 miles from Salem westward upon a freshwater brook
called the North Brook" [STR 1: 11; presumably the same land included under his
name in the 1636 town grant, STR 1:201. By 16 July 1638 Emanuel Downing had
purchased this three hundred acres [STR 1:71, 72, 76]. On 25 December 1637
"Mr. Cole" was granted one acre of marsh and meadow, for a household of eight [STR 1: 103]. Robert Cole was one of the principle men of Providence on 22 Decem- ber 1666 when Roger Williams sold his Indian deed to the town's in- habitants [PrTR 3:901. He received a share of meadow as a Patuxett proprietor, 8 October 1638 [PrTR 15:31]. He paid a town rate at Providence on 2 September 1650 totalling f 3 6s. 8d., placing him among the five richest men in town [PrTR 15:331. On 3 January 1652/3, Robert Coles sold his house and houselot to Richard Pray and his wife Mary [PrTR 2:13]. On 27 February 1653/4, "Robert Coles of Warwick by and with the consent of Mary his wife" sold to Zachariah "Roades" their interest in a dwelling house and homeshare of land and one share of land more "which the said Robert Coles bought of his son-in-law Henery Townsend," also a parcel near the fall and a parcel once in the use of Fraunces Weston, also all the land belonging to Robert Coles in the common near Pawtuxett, excepting only his Mashapauge meadow and an adjoining twenty-four acres [PrTR, 1:87-901.
On 27 April 1655 Robert Coles sold a meadow and twenty-five acres of upland to
Nall. Whitman [PrTR 2:15]. On 28 October 1654
[sic - probably intended to be 1655] the Warwick town council met to "agitate and
order concerning the estate of Mr. Robert Coles of this town of Warwick late
deceased and intestate"; the inventory showed that the estate totalled f 50 1, with
debts of f.1 12 l3s. against the estate; "Mary Coles the wife of the late deceased
Robert Coles" was named administrator, and distribution of the estate was
ordered as follows: to "his eldest son John Coles" L80 and a mare; to "Daniel Coles
the second son" 150 when he is twenty-one; to "Nathaniell the third son" 140
when he is twenty-one; to "Robert Coles the fourth

More About ROBERT COLES:
Immigration: 1630, Roxbury,Massachussetts Bay Colony

Notes for MARY:
MARRIAGE: (1) By about 1630 Mary _; "Mary Cole, the wife of Robert Cole,"
was admitted to Roxbury church as member #34, along with many others who
arrived in 1632, and Eliot notes that "God also wrought upon her heart
(as it was hoped) after her coming to N.E., but after her husband's
excommunication & falls she did too much favor his ways, yet not as to incur
any just blame, she lived an afflicted life, by reason of his unsettledness &
removing from place to place" [RChR 75]; she died by about 1637.

Notes for MARY HAWXHURST:
more on Robert Coles---
son " L 40 when he is twenty-one; and to "Sarah Coles", L 40 at twenty-one;
the "said children which are under age shall be the tuition of the said Mary Coles
their Mother" [ MacDonough -Hackstaff 455-57, citing Warwick Town Council ]

On 5 December 1655 John Coles of Warwick,Having agreed before the Town
Council to receive fourscore pound and a mare of my mother-in-law of my portion
and according date the 25 of October 1655, relinquished any of my deceased
father's estate, housingr lands belonging to me in New England" [WarTR 226-27].
On 20 January 1655[/6] Mary Coles widow of Robert Coles late deceased," of
Warwick granted to my son-in-law Richard Townsend 8 acres of land of meadow'
[WarTR 278]
Long after his death he continued to draw land from his rights in Providence.
In the 19 February 1665/6] on the east side of the Seven Mile Line he drew lot
number 4 [PrTR3:72] In the 12 April 1675 lottery for land on the west side of
the Seven Mile Line,"Robart Coles" drew lot number 75 [PrTR 4:45],In the
24 May 1675 lottery for land on the east side of the Seven Mile Line he drew lot
number 79.In the 17 March 1683/4 lottery for Iand on the west side of Seven
mile Line, he drew lot number 70.
BIRTH: By about 1605 based on approximated date of first marriage.
DEATH: Warwick between 27 April 1655 and 25 October 1655 (the settlement of
his estate as published is dated 28 October 1654, but Robert Coles appears to
have made a deed on 27 April 1655, and a son John Coles says he signed an
agreement on 25 October 1655, which would be three days before the Town
Council meeting if were on October 1655 and not 1654. Also, the deeds of
confirmation made bythe widow of Robert Coles all come within a few months
after October 1655)
MARRIAGE: (1) By about 1630 Mary _; "Mary Cole, the wife of Robert Cole,"
was admitted to Roxbury church as member #34, along with many others who
arrived in 1632, and Eliot notes that "God also wrought upon her heart
(as it was hoped) after her coming to N.E., but after her husband's
excommunication & falls she did too much favor his ways, yet not as to incur
any just blame, she lived an afflicted life, by reason of his unsettledness &
removing from place to place" [RChR 75]; she died by about 1637.
(2) By about 1637 Mary Hawkshurst; she married (2) after 5 April 1656
[WarTR 278] and probably before 5 February 1656/7 Matthias Harwe of
Warwick and Oyster Bay [NYGBR 123:12-13]
upon his submission, & testimony being given of his good behavoir "[MBCR 1: 118].
On 1 April 1633 the General Court gave permission for ten men including
Robert Coles, to settle Agawam (Ipswich) [MBCR 1:103].
[ MBCR 2:26-27].
Robert Coles was one of those who in 1640 and 1642 attempted to bring Pawtuxet
under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts Bay Colony [SLR :33,124-25
; MBCR 2:26-27].
In June 1649 when Nanheggen was accused of being a thief, he professed his
innocence and described his whereabouts and activities, having been at work at Mr.
Coles he met with Wenontupe and offered him wompum to work, but "Mrs. Cole
would not have him to work there, because he had the name of a thief'[PrTR 15:24]
. That Robert Coles had two wives, both named Mary, is indicated by the release
made by John Coles on 8 December 1655, when he called his father's widow
"my mother-in-law." The identity of the second wife is wealed by Nathaniel Coles,
when on 18 December 1683 he participated in a transaction with "my uncle
Christopher Hoackshurst [Hawkshurst]" [Oyster Bay Town Records, Volume I -
1653-1690 (New ork 1916), p. 177].
Based on this information and the settlement of the estate of Robert oles, Harriet
Beach came to the reasonable conclusion that son John and the two daughters
who had already married by the time of their father's death were with the first wife
, and the other four children, still under age, were with Mary Hawkshurst
[NYGBR 123:12-13].
~ GRAPHIC NOTE: In 1901 Rodney MacDonough published an nt account of
Robert Coles, citing many original documents [The MacDonough-Hackstaff
Ancestry (Boston 1901), cited above as MacDonough-Hackstaff].
In 1992 Harriet Beach prepared a careful study of Matthias Harvye, second
husband of the widow of Robert Coles, contains much of interest to descendants
of Robert Coles [Matthias Harvye, A Very Public Man," NYGB R 123:11-16,
87-93].

Children of ROBERT COLES and MARY are:

4.	i.	JOHN⁴ COLES, b. Abt. 1630; d. Bef. January 01, 1632/33, Portsmouth, Newport, RI.
5.	ii.	DELIVERENCE COLES, b. Abt. 1632; d. Abt. 1671.
6.	iii.	ANN COLES, b. Abt. 1634, Ipswich, Mass; d. Aft. 1695.

Children of ROBERT COLES and MARY HAWXHURST are:

iv.

ELIZABETH⁴ COLES, b. Abt. 1635, Salem , Essex County, Mass; d. 1684, Rhode Island; m. JOHN TOWNSEND.

Notes for ELIZABETH COLES:

Notes for ELIZABETH COLE(S):
According to the "Townsend Memorial," John Townsend's wife's name was Elizabeth Montgomery. Other sources state she was Elizabeth Coles, daughter of Mary Hawxhurst and Robert Coles. Perhaps she was the widow of ? Montgomery before marrying John. I am going to assume this is the case.

Bunker also states that Elizabeth's last name was Montgomery, and that she was a daughter of Robert Cole. She makes no mention of who her first husband might have been.
[Rhode IslandY2K.FBK.FTW]

Notes for ELIZABETH COLE(S):
According to the "Townsend Memorial," John Townsend's wife's name was Elizabeth Montgomery. Other sources state she was Elizabeth Coles, daughter of Mary Hawxhurst and Robert Coles. Perhaps she was the widow of ? Montgomery before marrying John. I am going to assume this is the case.

Bunker also states that Elizabeth's last name was Montgomery, and that she was a daughter of Robert Cole. She makes no mention of who her first husband might have been.

Notes for JOHN TOWNSEND:

Notes for JOHN TOWNSEND:
According to the "Townsend Memorial," he settled in Oyster Bay before September 1661. Before that, he was in Flushing in 1645 and in Jamaica in 1656. His name appears frequently in real estate transactions. He appears to have bought property often. The "Townsend Memorial" states that he died in 1668 intestate.

More About JOHN TOWNSEND:
Fact 1: 1655, Appears on the list of Freemen in Warwick, Rhode Island48

7.	v.	DANIEL COLES, b. Bet. 1635 - 1642, Ipswich, Essex, Mass; d. November 29, 1692, Oyster Bay, Queens, NY.
	vi.	SARAH COLES⁶, b. 1636, Ipswich, Essex, Mass; d. June 26, 1655⁶; m. THOMAS TOWNSEND.
8.	vii.	NATHANIEL COLES, b. Abt. 1637, Ipswich, Essex, Mass; d. Abt. 1678.
9.	viii.	ROBERT COLES, b. Abt. 1644, Ipswich, Mass; d. April 16, 1715, Musketo Cove, LI, NY.

[ Home Page | First Page | Previous Page | Next Page | Last Page ]