The SPALDING Family of Chelmsford, Plainfield and Canterbury

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EDWARD SPALDING (d. 1669) of Chelmsford m. Rachel Unknown
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BENJAMIN SPALDING of Chelmsford and Plainfield m. Olive Farwell
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LIEUT. EDWARD SPALDING (1672 - 1739) of Plainfield and Canterbury m. Mary Adams
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RUTH SPALDING (1710-1790) m. Lieut. John Bacon


First Generation

EDWARD SPALDING (d. 1669) of Chelmsford

Parents: Unknown

Edward Spalding died on 26 Feb 1669 in Chelmsford. [Ref] He married first Margaret Unknown. She died in 1640 in Braintree. [Ref] He married second Rachel Unknown.

An Edward Spalding was on the grand jury at the 26 (10) 1648, 26 (4) 1649 and 29 (9) 1653 courts in Salem. [Ref] In 1648 he is referred to as of Wenham. [Ref] He was appointed to a committee for ending small causes on 21 (12) 1648. [Ref]

Edward Spalding was among the first residents of Chelmsford to join the the church there, joining on 27 (2) 1656. [Ref]

Children of Edward Spalding and Margaret Unknown:

  1. John Spalding was born about 1634. He was baptised on 1 Feb 1656/7 in Chelmsford, at about age 23. [Ref] He died on 3 Oct 1721 in Chelmsford. [Ref, 24;222] He married first Hannah Heald on 18 May 1658 in Chelmsford. [Ref "Halle"][Ref, 24;222 says in Concord] Hannah, the daughter of John Heald, died on 14 Aug 1689. [Ref] John married second Mary (Stow) (Cotton) Fletcher on 18 Nov 1700 in Concord. [Ref,2;222]
    A John Spalding is in the Chelmsford section of the 11 Mar 1689/90 list of freemen. [Ref]
    some descendants of John Spalding
  2. Edward Spalding was born about 1636. [Ref says bef. 1643] He was baptised on 1 Feb 1656/7 in Chelmsford, at about age 21. [Ref] He married Priscilla Underwood on 6 Jul 1663 in Chelmsford. [Ref] Priscilla was the daughter of William Underwood. Perhaps he is the Edward who married Margaret Barrett on 22 Nov 1681 in Chelmsford. [Ref]
  3. Grace Spalding [conjectured daughter of Margaret] was buried in (3) 1641 in Braintree. [Ref]

Children of Edward Spalding and Rachel Unknown

  1. Benjamin Spalding was born on 7 (2) 1643 in Braintree. He was baptised on 1 Feb 1656/7 in Chelmsford. He married Olive Farwell.
  2. Joseph Spalding was born about 1647. He was baptised on 1 Feb 1656/7 in Chelmsford, at age 10. [Ref] He died on 3 Apr 1740 in Plainfield. [Ref] He married Mercy Jewell on 9 Dec 1670 in Chelmsford. [Ref] She died on 7 Aug 1728, age 76, in Plainfield. [Ref]
  3. Dinah Spalding was born about 1650. She was baptised on 1 Feb 1656/7 in Chelmsford, at age 7. [Ref] She married Eleazer Brown. [Ref, p. 52]
    some descendants of Dinah Spalding
  4. Andrew Spalding [Ref, born in 1653, s. Edward and Margaret] was born on 19 Nov 1652 in Chelmsford. [Ref, pp. 72-73, s. Edward and Rachel] He was baptised on 1 Feb 1656/7 in Chelmsford, at age 4. [Ref] He died on 5 May 1713. x [Ref, pp. 72-73] He married Hannah, the daughter of Henry Jefts of Billerica, on 30 Apr 1674 [Ref, pp. 72-73] in Chelmsford. [Ref]
    Andrew Spalding settled on the north side of Keyes Pond in Westford. [Ref, p. 10]
    some descendants of Andrew Spalding

Second Generation

BENJAMIN SPALDING of Chelmsford and Plainfield

Parents: Edward Spalding and Rachel Unknown

Benjamin Spalding was born on 7 (2) 1643 in Braintree. [Ref][Ref says son of Edward and Margaret and gives just the year] He was baptised on 1 Feb 1656/7 in Chelmsford, at age 14. [Ref] He married Olive Farwell, the daughter of Henry Farwell, on 30 Oct 1668 in Chelmsford. [Ref]

On 30 (3) 1671 the selectman of Chelmsford assessed the residents of the town to pay the minister; Benjamin was assessed a low rate: £0.18.0. [Ref]

Benjamin was an early freeholder of Plainfield, living on the east side of the Quinebaug. [Ref]

Children of Benjamin Spalding and Olive Farwell:

  1. Sarah Spalding was born on 4 Jan 1669 in Chelmsford. [Ref] Perhaps she is the Sarah Spalding who married John Mirriam of Concord on 16 Feb 1692/3 in Chelmsford. [Ref]
  2. Lieut. Edward Spalding was born on 18 Jun 1672 in Chelmsford. He died on 29 Nov 1739 in Canterbury. He married Mary Adams .
  3. Benjamin Spalding was born on 6 Jul 1685. [Ref] He died on 17 Sep 1712 in Plainfield. [Ref] He married Sarah Hall on 21 Oct 1708 [Ref] in Plainfield. [Ref says 170_ and that she is the daughter of Stephen. ] He married second as her third husband Mehitable (Fenner) (Starkweather) Sterry, the daughter of Lt. Gov. Thomas and Dinah (Borden) Fenner of Rhode Island. [Ref, p. 16] She married first Timothy Starkweather on 18 Oct 1705 in Rhode Island. [Ref, p. 16] She married second Samuel Sterry on 8 Feb 1724/5 in Preston, CT. [Ref, p. 16]
  4. Elizabeth Spalding married Ephraim Wheeler. [Ref] Ephraim was the son of Sgt. Thomas Wheeler and his second wife Sarah Beers. Sarah had married first Isaac Stearns.

Third Generation

LIEUT. EDWARD SPALDING (1672 - 1739) of Plainfield and Canterbury

Parents: Benjamin Spalding and Olive Farwell

Edward Spalding was born on 18 Jun 1672 [Ref] in Chelmsford. [Ref] He died on 29 Nov 1739 [Ref says 1740] in Canterbury. [Ref] He married Mary Adams. [Ref] She died on 20 Sep 1754 in Canterbury. [Ref]

About 1690, and for several years after, many Chelmsford families migrated to Connecticut to found the new town of Canterbury. These included Capt. Joseph, Samuel, David and David Adams, Samuel and Josiah Cleveland, Jacob Warren, Joseph, William and Edward Spaulding, Eleazer Brown. [Ref]

Edward was an early freeholder of Plainfield, living on the east side of the Quinebaug. [Ref]

Edward Spalding became a member of the Canterbury Congregational Church on 19 Feb 1729/30: "The Chh accepted off the Recommendation of Edward Spaulden from the Pastor & Chh of Plainfield." [Ref, p. 42]

Children of Edward Spalding and Mary Adams:

  1. Ezekial Spalding was admitted to the Canterbury Congregational Church on 16 Apr 1782. [Ref] On 3 Sep 1790 he received a letter from the Canterbury Congregational Church certifying that he was a member in good standing and recommending him to any other Connecticut church. [Ref]
  2. Ruth Spalding was born on 28 Sep 1710 in Canterbury. She died on 2 Oct 1790. She married Lieut. John Bacon
  3. Abigail Spalding was born on 10 Mar 1713 in Canterbury. [Ref] She was baptised on 31 May 1713 in the Congregational Church in Canterbury. [Ref] She married Benjamin Douglas on 6 Aug 1733 in Canterbury. [Ref]
  4. Ebenzer Spalding was born on 24 Jun 1717 in Canterbury. [Ref] He was baptised on 11 Aug 1717 in the Congregational Church in Canterbury. [Ref] He married Mary Fasset on 24 Feb 1742/3 in Canterbury. [Ref]
  5. Thomas Spalding was born on 7 Aug 1719 in Canterbury. [Ref] He was baptised on 20 Sep 1719 in the Congregational Church in Canterbury. [Ref]
  6. John Spalding was born on 1 Dec 1721 in Canterbury. [Ref] He was baptised on 17 Jan 1722 in the Congregational Church in Canterbury. [Ref]
  7. Elizabeth Spalding married William Darby on 9 Jun 1718 in the Congregational Church in Canterbury. [Ref][Ref]
  8. Benjamin Spalding married Abigall Right ([Ref]), Kight ([Ref]), the daughter of Ebenezer Right of Chelmsford, on 7 Mar 1720 in the Congregational Church in Canterbury. [Ref][Ref]

Fourth Generation

RUTH SPALDING (1710-1790)

Parents: Lieut. Edward Spalding and Mary Adams [Ref, p. 130]

Ruth Spalding was born on 28 Sep 1710 in Canterbury. [Ref][Ref] She died on 2 Oct 1790. [Ref] She married Lieut. John Bacon on 24 Sep 1734 in Canterbury. [Ref][Ref]

On 14 Sep 1734 Ruth owned the Covenant in the Congregational Church in Canterbury. [Ref]

References

Barbour Vital Records for Windham County Connecticut, Windham County, CT USGenWeb Project.

Davis, Betsey Warren, The Warren, Jackson and allied families, being the ancestry of Jesse Warren and Betsey Jackson. Philadelphia: Printed for private circulation by J.B. Lippincott Co., 1903.

Dumas, David W., "Bacon - Adams - Whitney - Kingsbury Family Record," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 138, 1984, 32-38.

Hayward, Kendall P., "Connecticut Descendants of John Spaulding," The American Genealogist 24, 1948, 220-230.

Holton, David Parsons, Farwell Ancestral Memorial: Henry Farwell of Concord and Chelmsford, Massachusetts, and all his descendants to the fifth generation, New York, D.P. Holton, 1879.

Horton, Horace Ebenezer, Ancestry of Horace Ebenezer and Emma (Babcock) Horton, New York, Wright, 1920.

Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850. Online Database: NewEnglandAncestors.org, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 2001-2007.

Records of the Congregational Church in Canterbury Connecticut 1711-1844, published jointly by the Connecticut Historical Society and the Society of Mayflower Descendants of in the State of Connecticut, Hartford, 1932.

Thompson, Bradley Deforest and Franklin Condit Thompson, Blodget-Blodgett Descendants of Thomas of Cambridge, Condord, NH, 1955.

Underwood, Lucien, "A Brief Notice of the Underwood Families of Massachusetts," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 38, 1884, 300-405.