Jonathan Cole’s New Brunswick Family

Information taken from Grant Records shows Jonathan Cole registered for a grant Nov. 22 1763 in Cumberland Township and received 500 acres. (Vol. A, p. 272, grant 121). Jonathan Cole registered for a grant on June 22 1774 in Sackville. He received 500 acres. (Vol. A, p. 266, grant 119). Both were originally received in Nova Scotia. Then, in 1786, both grants were registered in New Brunswick. His sons Edward and Ambrose, both received 250 acres in Sackville, registered on June 22 1774 (Vol. A, p. 266, grant 119). They would forfeit these lands by fighting with the Patriots.

Out of all of Jonathan Cole’s family, his two sons, Martin and Ebenezer were the only ones to remain in New Brunswick. Considering that much of the area they lived in was wilderness, the years after the American Revolution were a time of building and construction. Many of the original settlers in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, who had believed in and participated in the Colonists stand against the British, had left their lands in Canada behind. They had returned to the colonies and for those who fought against the British and survived, they received grants of land in return for their patriotism. Most of this land was in areas that became OH, western NY and PA.

Other factors were also at work that had an impact on NS and NB. The invitation to relocate to free lands had been extended to the Irish, the Scots and people living in northern England in Yorkshire. The Yorkists came in droves, settled and stayed, many in NB. New Scotland or Nova Scotia tells us that the Scots had a profound impact on the land they settled. As time wore on, people moved, assimilated, married – rinse and repeat. The main reason for people to move was to find a better life for themselves, a better source of income, and so it was for all the new settlers in the Maritime Provinces.

The resources available in that whole region were considerable. There were thousands of acres of forests, the marshes were full of salt hay, The Bay of Fundy provided fish, shellfish and ample waterfowl, and there were mines of gold, silver, precious stones and Lapis Lazuli. What’s not to like? Travel was slow and arduous as so few roads existed. For those worried about their souls, ministers and missionaries were few and far between. Church was held in homes, until meeting houses could be built, with lay readers offering what they could until the minister came round the circuit once again. Sometimes, four or five children would be baptized all at once. Settlers had to clear land, build roads and bridges, dike the marshes, build homes, barns and schools and farmers had to start raising crops. They had ten years to improve the property they had been granted.

Jonathan Cole must have started out with his sons James, Edward and Ambrose helping with the clearing, cutting, building and planting. But the war soon called these brothers back to New England and Jonathan had just his young sons, Martin and Ebenezer to help. Jonathan’s lands were in Sackville. His son Martin moved off to what is now called Rockport (Upper Joggins before) and built his farm at Peck’s Point.

This Martin (1762 - c.1808) m. before 1786, Zilpha Alverson (1766-1839), d/o                                    David and Elizabeth Sherman Alverson.  They had 9                                           children:

Ambrose (1786-1857) m. 1817 Elizabeth Palmer (1793-1878), d/o Gideon and                                  Catherine Harper Palmer – 10 children

David (1787-1861) m1. 1809 Lavinia Throop (1786-1824 at sea), d/o Ichabod                                    and Lavinia Tingley Throop – 5 children

                              m2. 1831 Elizabeth Ward (1796-1870), d/o Jonathan and                                    Dorothy Maxell Ward – 5 children

John (c. 1791-c. 1851) m. c. 1813  Kreziah Lockhart 1796-1851), d/o Timothy                                   and Elizabeth Teed Lockhart – 9 children                   

Martin (1794-1871) m. 1816 Elizabeth Dixon (1798-?), d/o Robert and Rachel                                    Peck Dixon – 11 children

Japhet (1796-1871) m. Ann Stultz (18??-1900) -  8 children

Benjamin Cole (1802-1874) in Lowell, MA) m. 1824 Jane Lockhart (1806-1888),                               d/o Timothy and Elizabeth Teed Lockhart – 12 children

James (1804-?) m. 1826 Olive Lockhart, ( 1826-??), d/o Timothy and Elizabeth                                 Teed Lockhart – 9 children

Ebenezer (1807- aft. 1828)

Zylpha (1808-1861) m. 1826 Benjamin Tower (1801-1851), s/o Benjamin and                                    Mehitable (?) Tower – 8 children

In all, 72 grandchildren were born to grandparents Martin and Zilpha Cole. Family stories say that Martin, s/o Jonathan and Abigail was gored by a bull in 1808, leaving Zilpha with a house full of children. Only the 2 or 3 oldest would have been on their own. I suppose they continued to help her run the farm until some of the younger children were able to help. It doesn’t appear that she married again, though that was a very common thing for a widow/widower to do.

For many long years the roads were poor, hardly more than trails. Most of the settlers relied on small boats to get them to and from other parts of the area. For this reason, many towns grew up on or near rivers or on or near the Bay of Fundy. Jonathan’s youngest, living son, Ebenezer headed to a new place. Into the Bay of Fundy juts a peninsula with easy access to boats which could take them across the tidal Memramcook River to Albert County. Ebenezer established his farm on this peninsula, which soon became known as Cole’s Point. Here, he and his first wife, moved with their growing family in about 1802. He had married Martha Grace in 1789. She was the d/o John and Mary Thompson Grace (Grace is the surname). They had 7 children:

Jonathan (1791-1872) m. 1815, Sarah Wade (1793-1859) – 10 children

Michael Grace (1792-1869), m. 1810, Cynthia Estabrooks (1791-1882) d/o                                        James and Sarah Lawrence Estabrooks – 13 children

Rufus (called Squire Rufus) (1796-1884) m. 1814, Lavinia Cutler (1797-1862),                                   d/o Ebenezer and Olivia Dixon Cutler – 11 children

Elizabeth (1797-1875) m. 1814, John Palmer (1789-1889), s/o Gideon and                                        Catherine Harper Palmer – 13 children

Ruth (1800-1826) m. 1820, John Calhoun (1795-1843), s/o John Rebecca                                         Rand Calhoun – 4 children

Martha (1805-1890) m. 1824, Caleb Read (1803-1865), s/o William and Jemima                               Finney Read – 12 children

Martin (1809-1885), m1. 1830, Mary Smith (1811-c. 1870) – 6 children

                              m2. 1871 Phebe Parsons (1814-?) – no children

Ebenezer and Martha Grace Cole were the grandparents of at least 69 children. Infant mortality was high. Often babies died and somehow the records for them never survived. There could have been more children, but no information of them seems to exist.

Martha Grace Cole died in 1809, possibly in childbirth. This left Ebenezer with 7 children, Jonathan the oldest at 18 and possibly a new born. The men of that day worked long, back breaking hours with little or no time to care for a family’s needs. So in 1810, Ebenezer married again. His second wife was Margaret Wade. She has been a brick wall for 30+ years. So far nothing has been found about her life before she lived in Dorchester NB. There were many Wades who came from New England and settled in Nova Scotia and it’s possible that she is connected to them somehow. The other possibility and I believe this is more probable, is that she came from Yorkshire. The Colpitts family, living in the area, came from Yorkshire and had family connections to Wade in Yorkshire.

Ebenezer and Margaret Wade were married on Aug. 10, 1810. Ordinarily, there would be a recorded birth within the first two years after the marriage, but none show up until the birth of Edward in 1815. Olive was b. on Jul. 14, 1817 and Silas was b. on Nov. 4, 1818.  It’s possible there a couple of children born before Edward and there is evidence of infant burials near Ebenezer’s grave. However, no names or dates are on the stones so it’s not known to which marriage they may have been born.

Edward is my gt. gt. grandfather. It will be his line that I follow in the next episode. Three of Edward’s older half-siblings were married by the time he was born. At least two of them had children the same age as Edward and one of them had 3 or 4 children older than him. So he would have grown up knowing his nieces and nephews better than he did his siblings. Ebenezer continued to farm his land at Cole’s Point. His sons Rufus and Martin had taken over the quarries of their Uncle Martin (the one killed by a bull) and together they prepared and shipped grindstones all up and down the east coast. Martin was the Mariner while Rufus ran the business at home.

Then on Nov. 12, 1826, Ebenezer died at the age of 59. One story is that he drowned and his body was never recovered. A burial site and a stone are located on the property that was once his farmland. But no one really knows if there is a body there or if the stone was put there as a memorial. By this time, Edward is just a boy of 11 years and must have felt a great deal of responsibility thrust onto his shoulders. Edward continued to live on the farm and this is where his children were born.

Ebenezer and Margaret Wade Cole had 3 children:

Edward (1815-1897) m. 1841, Catherine Buck (1824-1904), d/o George and                                               Phebe Palmer – 9 children

Olive (1817-1901) m. 1840, Reuben Salisbury Ward (1818-1895), s/o Jonathan                                           and Dorothy Maxwell Ward – 12 children

Silas (1818-1809) m. 1849, Mary Davidson (1829-1884), d/o Oliver Davidson –                                            10 children

Ebenezer and Margaret had 31 grandchildren.  All together, Ebenezer had (drum roll, please!!) 100 grandchildren and that’s only the ones that can be found. Granted he didn’t live long enough to know most of these grandchildren, in fact a quick scan of birth dates indicates he knew of 29 grandchildren before he died.

Ebenezer’s brother Martin had 72 grandchildren, combined with Ebenezer’s 100, amounts to 172 gt. grandchildren for Jonathan and Abigail Cole. This total does not include any children from the older two sons, James and Ambrose, back living in the States and any children of his one daughter, Patience Cole Halliday. It would be an easy stretch to stay that Jonathan and Abigail Cole had at least 200 gt. grandchildren.

Edward and Catherine Buck Cole will be the next agenda item.

http://newscotland1398.ca/hist/nshistory04.html

The Chignecto Isthmus and its First Settlers, Howard Trueman, 1902

History of Sackville New Brunswick, Dr. William Cochran Milner, 1934

 

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