Archive:The Connecticut Nutmegger, Volume 34
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Marilyn Labbe, "The Family of William Graves of Killingly, CT, wie information on the wife of William Graves", The Connecticut Nutmegger vol. 34, no. 1 (Jun 2001):27-31.
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The book "Rear Admiral Thomas Graves of Charleston, MA" by Kenneth Vance Graves, states that William Graves born Concord, MA 12 May 1737 son of Jonathan, lived in Killingly, CT, married, and had children. In the First Church of Killingly records there is a baptism of a William Graves on 7 ( ) 1739 son of Lebbeus. Were there two William Graves living in Killingly? The only information to be found on William Graves is in the Land Records of Killingly and the Probate of William:
a) Vol. 8 pg. 177 William Dixon of Killingly sold 30 acres in Killingly to William Graves of Killingly on 21 Oct. 1769.
b) Vol. 10 pg. 91 Stephen Keyes & Amasa Keyes both of Pomfret, CT sold 4 acres of land in Killingly to William Graves of Killingly on 22 Feb. 1775 and the land borders on Thomas Allen's farm.
c) Vol. 10 pg. 305 William Graves of Killingly sells 4 acres in Killingly to Whitney and Isacher Graves of Killingly 19 Jun 1776 and the land borders on Thomas Allen's farm and is the same piece of land he bought on 22 Feb. 1775.
d) Vol. 13 pg. 156 Isacher Graves of Killingly sold land in Killingly to widow Mary Graves of Killingly and it borders on the home lot of William Graves, late of Killingly, deceased, and on Whitney Graves and Samuel Sparks land on 16 Mar. 1782.
e) Vol. 14 pg. 1 Widow Mary Graves of Killingly sold to Isacher Graves of Killingly land in Killingly which borders on Whitney Graves, Samuel Sparks, containing 8 acres on 3 Feb. 1787.
f) Vol. 14 pg. 2 Lebbeous Graves of Killingly sold to Isacher Graves one certain tract of land and one half the building, the west end of the house with a bedroom in the northeast corner of the house with
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fireplace in the bedroom, with the priviledge of the house lot, the west half of the corn house, west half of the barn, the said land and buildings was set off to said Lebbeous Graves as his double portion or part according to law of his honored father, William Graves estate late deceased, sd land by estimation is 8 acres and half and borders Asa Whitney, Samuel Sparks, widow Mary Graves thrids ... deated 22 Feb. 1787.
g) Vol. 14 pg. 12 To all people to whome these presents shall come gretting know ye that we the subscribers to this instrument do for the love and good will and natural effect we have for our Honored Mother do acquit give grant convey & confirm to our Honored Mother one certain piece of land which was set out by the distributors as the third of our Fathers estate lying in Killingly in the county of Windham and State of Connecticut which may by original records appear. We do for ourselves heirs executors and administrators and assigns forever acquit unto our Honored Mother Amity Graves and her heirs and assigns forever to her use and benefit. In witness thereof we have set our had and seal this fourteenth day of February 1787. In presents of Ezekiel Young Signed by Reuben Graves, Whitney Graves, Isacher Graves, Lebbeus Graves & Matthias Graves
h) Vol 14 pg 3 Amity Graves and Whitney Graves, both of Killingly sold to Isacher Graves of Killingly 80 acres of land in Killingly bounded by Samuel Sparks, Ezekiel Young, David Young, Oliver Hulet on the 26 Aug. 1790.
i) Vol. 14 pg. 45 William Graves of Granville, NY sells to Whitney Graves of Killingly a certain tract of land which was set off to William Graves as his full legal share of his father's estate & contains 5 acres & 50 rods on the 4 Jan. 1791 - land borders William Dixon's land.
j) Vol. 14 pg. 178 Mary Graves of Granvill, NY sells to Whitney Graves of Killingly 24 acres & 136 rods of land in Killingly 25 Feb. 1795 - land borders on Samuel Sparks land.
k) Vol. 14 pg. 178 Mary Graves, Lebbeus Graves & Lucy his wife, Matthias Graves & Lovisa his wife, William Graves & Lucy his wife, Rufus Whitney & Sarah his wife, Jonathan Payn & Martha his wife, all of Granville, NY and Levi Moses & Alice his wife of Rutland, VT, sold 12 acres & 60 rods of land in Killingly to Whitney Graves of Killingly 25 Feb 1795 - land borders on Samuel Sparks land. [p. 29]
l) Vol. 15 pg. 17 Rufus Whitney, Jonathan Payne & Mary Graves of Granville, NY & Levi Moses of Rutland, VT sell to Joseph Whitney of Granville, NY land in Killingly - 25 acres - it being the westerly part of a a farm owned by William Graves, deceased. ... 1 Oct. 1798 - land borders on Samuel Sparksd land.
On the 30th day of August 1781 an inventory of William Graves, late of Killingly, deceased, was taken. The widow, Mary Graves, appeared in Court 4 Sept. 1781 where she was appointed guardian to and for William Graves, Sarah Graves, Allice Graves, Martha Graves, and Lydia Graves -- son and daughters to Mr. William Graves, late of Killingly, deceased, all minors.
A division of the estate of Mr. William Graves, late of Killingly, deceased, was made Dec. 1781 as follows: Set out to the widow Mary Graves, widow and relict; to Lebbeus, the eldest son; to Matthias the second son; to William the third son; to Sarah the eldest daughter; to Alice the second daughter; to Martha the third dughter; to Lydia the fourth daughter. Steven Brown and David Day, distributors.
The children listed in the above distribution are the same ones listed in the land record Vol. 14, pg. 178 with the exception of Lydia who may have died young. From the land records and the probate it can be determined that William Graves in Killingly is not the son of Jonathan Graves, but the son of Lebbeus and Amity (Whitney) Graves as found in the vital records of Killingly, CT and the records of the First Church of Killingly (now Putnam Heights).
Lebbeus Graves w1s born in Sudbury, MA, MA 22 June 1705 (Sudbury, MA VR), son of Richard and Joanna; married in Sudbury, MA (SVR) 14 Oct. 1730 Amity Whitney. Lebbeus and Amity came to Killingly sometime after the birth of their first child, Grace, in 1731/2 where Lebbeus died before 15 Mar. 1757 when an inventory of his estate was taken. Amity was living 26 Aug. 1790 when she sold land with her son Whitney Graves. Children: (first born Sudbury, the rest born in Killingly, CT)
Grace b. 7 Jan. 1731/2 Amity b. 7 Jul 1734; bp Putnam Heights Church 1 Sept. 1734 Matthias (named in the land record Vol. 14, pg. 12) Reuben b. 15 Apr. 1737; bp Putnam Heights Church 22 May 1737 William bp Putnam Heights Church 7 (Oct.?) 1739 (the month is worn away but he was bp after the child bp 23 Sept. 1739 in the church record)
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Hepsebeth b. 19 Jan. 1744/5 Elisabeth b. 18 June 1748 Whitney b. 22 Nov. 1751; bp Breakneck Hill Church 12 Jan. 1752 Issaichar b. 8 June 1755; bp Putnam Heights Church Jan. 1756
At a Court held in Canterbury in the District of Plainfield 11 Mar. 1760, William Graves, a minor, appeared in court & made choice of Steven Brown to be his guardian and the court also appoints ye sd Steven Brown to be guardian to and for Hepsebeth Graves, Elisabeth Graves, Whitney Graves & Isicor Graves, all minors, sons and daughters to Lebbeus Graves.
William Graves bp 7 (Oct.?) 1739 married a woman named (* ) and had the following children:
Lebbeus with wife Lucy in 1795 Matthias with wife Lovisa in 1795 William and wife Lucy in 1795 Sarah who married Rufus Whitney before 1795 Alice who married Levi Moses before 1795 Martha who married Jonathan Payne before 1795 Lydia who died before 1795
William Graves was among those who were in the Lexington Alarm 1775 from Killingly, CT.
* The wife of William Graves was Mary Whitney who was born in Killingly 19 Apr. 1743 daughter of Matthias and Alice (Robbins) Whitney as shown in the probate record of Matthias Whitney which is located at the Plainfield Probate District in Plainfield, CT. His inventory was taken 7 Aug. 1776 and on 4 Feb. 1777 Mrs. Alice Whitney widow and relict to Mr. Matthias Whitney, late of Killingly, deceased, moved to this court to have a distribution of said deceased estate real and personal where upon this court appoints Mr. Eliphale Right (sic) & Mr. Barakiah Hardnden, both of Killingly, distributors. Said distribution was made on 7 Feb. 1777 as follows: to Widow Alice; to Asa Whitney eldest son; to Matthias Whitney 2nd son; Cornelius Whitney 3rd son of said deceased, all had received in ye deceased lifetime their full share; to Joshua Whitney 4th son; to Samuel Whitney 5th son; to John Whitney 6th son; to Jonathan Whitney 7th son; to David Whitney 8th son. Mary Graves, eldest daughter, had received in deceased lifetime her full share; to Alice Whitney second daughter.
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Alice Robbins, wife of Matthias Whitney, was daughter of Samuel Robbins as found in the distribution of her father, Samuel Robbins, estate. Samuel Robbins of Killingly, inventory was taken 5 Sept. 1764 and the distribution was mad 2 Apr. 1765 as follows: to widow Dorothy Robbins; to Samuel Robbins eldest son; to widow Jane Shantey, eldest daughter; to Abigail Jeffers ye wife of William Jeffers, 2nd daughter; to Dorothy Herrington 3rd daughter to Sarah Warrin ye wife of Ephraim Warrin, 4th daughter; and to Alice Whitney wife of Mathias Whitney, 5th daughter.
Now we have proof that there was only one William Graves in Killingly, and he is the son of Lebbeus and Amity (Whitney) Graves.
Marilyn Labbe, Research Director, Killinly History Center, Danielson, CT.
Nancy Lawrence Rodriguez, "Abstracts - Connecticut Born People in 1850 Census Broome Co., NY: Town of Chenango (Binghamton)", The Connecticut Nutmegger vol. 34, no. 3 (Dec 2001): 384-423.
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| Fam. # | Name | Age&Sex | Occ. | State of Birth | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1444 | Weed, | Marshall H. | 42 | m | tanner | CT |
| Emily | 45 | f | CT | |||
| James B. | 13 | m | CT | |||
| Frederick M. | 11 | m | NY | |||
| Worster, | Elizabeth | 21 | f | CT | ||
| Mc-----, | ------- | 37 | m | SCOTLAND | ||
| Whitney, | John | 25 | m | grave stone pedlar | NY | |
Copyright © 2020, Robert L. Ward and the Whitney Research Group.
