PrenticeNet

See also:

• Valentine Prentice on WikiTree.

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Preface by L. J. Dewald:

The information on this page is a portion of that found in our 1997 update to C.J.F. Binney's 1883 classic The History and Genealogy of the Prentice Families of New England. Our book was inspired by C. J. F. Binney's 1852 and 1883 Editions, as well as The Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, by James Savage, but contains much new information not previously available. It also corrects some serious errors in the earlier works.

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1.     Valentine¹ Prentice, of Roxbury, MA has roots which have been traced back to the early 1500s in England. Born about February, 1598/9 in Felsted, Essex Co., England, chr. 25 Feb. 1598/99, in Felsted. He married, in 1626 in nearby Chelmsford, Alice Bredda. Valentine and his family immigrated to America in 1631 aboard the "Lion" with Eliot. Of his three known children, one died before sailing, one died at sea, and the third, John, is the ancestor of all of Valentine's descendants.

Valentine died in 1633 in Roxbury at the age of only 34. His widow, Alice, then married John Watson of Roxbury and she and John Watson had at least six (6) additional children. We do not yet know where she died, but it would have been after the 1644 birth of her last known daughter.

Ellis, in his History of Roxbury quotes from the church records the mention of Valentine Prentice's sufferings and death, closing with a clause that proves how variously our ancient manuscripts may read, "leaving a good cup of gentleness behind him," when my version of the words in Italic is "SAVOR OF GODLINESS."

Children of Valentine Prentice:

1. Josias², b. 14 June 1627, Chelmsford, Essex, England; d. before 1632.
2. John², b. 6 May 1628, Chelmsford, Essex, England. [2]
3. Geremiah², b. 9 April 1630, Chelmsford, Essex, England; d. before 1632.

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2.     John² Prentice, of New London, son of Valentine¹; b. in England; brought by his father to Roxbury in 1631; removed from Roxbury in 1652; m., 1st, Hesther Nichols; m., 2nd, 1685, Esther Nichols (Hester's 1st cousin); m., 3rd, Rebecca Parker, dau. of Ralph Parker. John died in 1691.

Children of John and his first wife, Hester Nichols:

1. John³, b. 6 Aug. 1652; bapt. 19 Apr. 1668, at Roxbury, Suffolk, Mass.; d. 21 March 1714/15, New London, Ct. [3]
2. Joseph³, b. 2 Apr. 1655, New London, New London, Ct.; bapt. 19 Apr. 1668, at Roxbury, Suffolk, Mass.; d. 1 June 1676, New London, Ct., at 21 yrs.
3. Jonathan³, b. 15 July 1657; bapt. 19 Apr. 1668, at Roxbury, Suffolk, Mass.; d. 28 July 1727.[4]
4. Hesther³, b. 20 July 1660; bapt. 19 Apr. 1668, at Roxbury, Suffolk, Mass.; d. 17 May 1751, Stonington, New London, Ct.; m., 1682, Boston, Suffolk, Mass., Benadam Gallup.
5. Peter³, b. 31 July 1663; bapt. 19 Apr. 1668, at Roxbury, Suffolk, Mass.; d. 14 May 1670, at 7 yrs.
6. Stephen³, b. 26 Nov. or Dec. 1666; bapt. 19 Apr. 1668, at Roxbury, Suffolk, Mass.; d. 30 April 1737, Niantic Ferry, New London, Ct. [5]
7. Mercy³, b. Dec. 1668, in New London, Ct.; d. Dec. 1689, at 21 yrs.
8. Hannah³, b. June 1672, in New London, Ct.; d. 2 March 1717/18, Stonington, New London, Ct.; m., 15 Feb. 1693/94, lieut. John Frink of Stonington.
9. Thomas³ (twin), b. 6 Nov. 1675, in New London, Ct.; d. 5 Feb. 1740/41 [6]
10. Elizabeth³ (twin), b. 6 Nov. 1675, in New London, Ct.; d. 13 Dec. 1770, ae. 95. She m., 23 May 1700, Daniel Comstock.

Child of John and his second wife, Esther Nichols:

11. Valentine³, b. abt. 1683, in Woodbury, Litchfield, Ct., d. 1756, Woodbury, Litchfield, Ct. [7]

Child of John and his third wife, Rebecca Parker:

12. Ralph³, b. 1686, New London, New London, Ct., d. 14 March 1720/21, unmarried.

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3.     John³ Prentice, of New London, mariner, son of John², died 21 Mar 1714/5 in New London, CT. He married, 23 Nov. 1675, New London, Ct., Sarah, dau. of Matthew Jones and Ann Griggs of Boston.

Children of John and Sarah:

1. Joseph⁴, b. 1676/77, New London, Ct.; bapt. 4 Feb. 1676/77, Stonington, New London, Ct.; d. aft. 1732. [8]
2. Ann⁴, b. 8 Jan. 1678/79, New London, Ct.; bapt. 19 Jan. 1678/79, New London, Ct.; d. 6 Aug. 1753; m., 24 Dec, 1700, Hartford, Hartford, Ct., Thomas Hosmer.
3. Patience⁴, bapt. 20 March 1680/81, New London, Ct.; d. aft. 1720 ; m., 1701, John Bulkeley.
4. Elizabeth⁴, bapt. 17 Jan. 1691/92, New London, Ct.; m., 11 March 1732/33, New London, Ct., Samuel Green .
5. John⁴, bapt. 27 Feb. 1697/98, New London, Ct.
6. Irene⁴, bapt. 15 Sept. 1700, New London, Ct.; m., 13 Aug. 1726, New London, Ct., Naboth Graves.
7. Sarah⁴, b. 1701, New London, Ct.; m. 2 Nov. 1714, New London, Ct., Samuel Mighill.

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4.     Jonathan³ Prentice, of New London, mariner, son of John²; m., abt. 1691, Elizabeth, dau. of Robert Latimer, whose elder sister Sarah Jones had m. his elder brother John.

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5.     Stephen³ Prentice, of New London, son of John²; m. Elizabeth Rogers.

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6.     Thomas³ Prentice, of New London, son of John²; m. 1st, 30 Jan. 1704/05, New London, Ct., Mary Rogers; m. 2nd, 13 June 1725, New London, Ct., Elizabeth Palmes; m. 3rd, 2 Jan. 1739/40, New London, Ct., Bethia Dart. He apparently died without children.

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7.     Valentine³ Prentice, of Woodbury, youngest son of John², of New London; m. Abigail, dau. of the Deacon Zechariah Walker.

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8.     Joseph⁴ Prentice, son of John³; m., 26 Nov. 1700, Stonington, New London, Ct., Hannah Chesebrough, dau. of Nathaniel Chesebrough and Hannah Denison.

Children of Joseph and Hannah:

1. Joseph⁵, b. 1702/03, Preston, New London, Ct.; bapt. 14 March 1702/03; d. aft. 1749. [9]
2. Nathaniel⁵, b. 14 Oct. 1705, Preston, New London, Ct.; bapt. 14 Oct. 1705, Preston, New London, Ct.; d. aft. 1780. [10]
3. Hannah⁵, b. 1707/08, Preston, New London, Ct.; bapt. 21 March 1707/08, Preston, New London, Ct.
4. Elihu⁵, b. 20 July 1712, Preston, New London, Ct.; bapt. 20 July 1712, Preston, New London, Ct.; d. 21 Jan. 1773, Preston, New London, Ct.; m., 8 Nov. 1738, Preston, New London, Ct., Abigail Jamison.

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9.     Joseph⁵ Prentice, son of Joseph⁴; m., 10 Nov. 1725, Preston, New London, Ct., Mary Wheeler.

Major errors were made as to Joseph's ancestry in Binney's earlier 1883 book. Corrected and new information about Joseph Prentice, Mary Wheeler, and their descendants may be found on pages 261-450 of our new, 1997 PRENTICE book.

Children of Joseph and Mary:

1. Joseph⁶, b. 24 Aug. 1727, Preston, New London, Ct.; d. 20 March 1791, Worthington, Hampshire, Mass.; bur. Old Benjamin Cem., Parker Four Cor., Worthington, Hampshire, Mass. [11]
2. Priscilla⁶, b. 20 Jan. 1728/29, Preston, New London, Ct.; d. 12 April 1802, Southampton, Hampshire, Mass.; m. 1st, 14 July 1746, Preston, New London, Ct., Peter Bundy; m. 2nd, 22 Nov. 1782, Montgomery, Hampden, Mass., Thomas Clark.
   
3. Eleazer⁶, b. 28 Sept. 1735, Preston, New London, Ct.; d. Dec. 1805, Preston, New London, Ct.; m., 19 Oct. 1758, Preston, New London, Ct., Sarah Stanton.
4. Elisha⁶, b. 1 Jan. 1736/37, Preston, New London, Ct.; d. 18 Dec. 1804, Preston, New London, Ct.; m. Lydia _______.
5. Jonathan⁶, b. 28 May 1740, Preston, New London, Ct.; d. 18 Jan. 1809, Worthington, Hampshire, Mass.; m., abt. 1766, J. Brewster.
6. Mary⁶, b. 19 June 1744, Preston, New London, Ct.; m., 10 Oct. 1765, Norwich, New London, Ct., Aaron Preston.
7. Hannah⁶, b. 27 March 1747, Preston, New London, Ct.; d. 26 Feb. 1789.
8. Ephraim⁶, b. 22 July 1749, Preston, New London, Ct.
9. Manasseh⁶, b. 22 July 1749, Preston, New London, Ct.; d. 25 Jan. 1825, Griswold, New London, Ct.; m. 1st, 19 Nov. 1772, Preston, New London, Ct., Asanath Burton; m. 2nd, 2 Dec. 1790, Preston, New London, Ct., Mehitable Preston.

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10.     Nathaniel⁵ Prentice, farmer, son of Joseph⁴; m., 23 Aug. 1750, Preston, New London, Ct., Huldah Stallion, they married at the 2nd Church/Preston (Cong. Ch. of Griswold), Huldah was 19 when she married the 45 yr old Nathaniel.

Information about Nathaniel's family and descendants may be found on pages 262-450 of our new, 1997 PRENTICE book as well as in several of our Prentice Newsletter articles.

Children of Nathaniel and Huldah:

1. Simeon
2. Ephraim
3. James
4. Zipporah
5. Huldah
6. Nathaniel
7. William
8. Jemima
9. Ebenezer

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11.     Joseph⁶ Prentice, son of Joseph⁵; m., 15 March 1759, Abigail Leonard; he served in the Revolution.

Children of Joseph and Abigai:

1. Joseph
2. Asahel
3. Ira
4. Phineas
5. William
6. Nathan
7. Eunice
8. Mary/Polly
9. Amy

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Additional information about Valentine Prentice and his descendants are also contained in our Prentice Newsletter.