JOHN (1634-1696) and ELIZABETH
GREEN (1640-1721) PLUMBE
John Plumbe was born about 1634 to George and
Grace Plume, of Inworth, Essex, England. Nothing is known of his
early life (other than his estrangement from his father
George) until he arrives in the New World in his mid-twenties.
He appears on the ships-list of a vessel which arrives in
Dorchester, Massachusetts in 1659.
John’s age is established through a deposition he
made in Hartford, Connecticut 11 July 1666, when he says he is about
32 years old. John married Elizabeth Green as early as 1660. Her
identity is established as the daughter of Samuel and Jane (Banbury)
Green in papers left by Frederick Plumb, shared with H.B. Plumb by
his daughter, Mrs. Frederick Plumb Miles.
John is in Hartford by 1660 or 1661, certainly less
than 2 years after his arrival in Dorchester,
Massachusetts. H. B. Plumb says “He is a resident of Hartford
in 1660, as he was made attorney…to collect debts in Charlestown,
Massachusetts, for creditors in England, and was named as son of
George Plumbe, of Inworth, County Essex, England…” He is in New
London not later than 1677, perhaps earlier.
John Plumbe of Hartford and John Plumbe of New
London are confirmed by H. B. Plumb to be one and the same man, in
the PLUMB BOOK: “I have a tracing of his signature in a Petition to
the Assembly at Hartford for land in 1674, and another tracing of
his signature to a bond in New London in 1681 which shows them to be
one and the same man." John and Elizabeth’s daughter Mercy is
baptized in New London in 1677, son George in 1679 and daughter
Sarah in 1682. But as F.M. Caulkins affirms “…he had other
children much older than these…John, Samuel, Joseph and Green.”
Caulkins also records John’s work as attorney,
telling specifically of a case in 1683 in which John receives a
tract of land in New London (on the corner of Main and State
Streets, west side) in return for his services. He appears again in
the New London Town records selling a brigantine (the “Tryall,” a
ship of “…18 or 20 tuns…for 80 pounds in pieces of eight, paid
down…” in 1683. He was both ship-owner and Ship Master, and
owner of the ketch Hartford. John's descendants were involved
in coastal shipping (to Barbados and other locations) at least
through the generation of his Grandchildren (Peter Plumbe,
1700-1748...H.B. Plumb:THE PLUMBS, 1635-1800).
H. B. Plumb shares from his research about John:
“This John is the one who writes the ‘Winthrop Letter’ in 1665, and
that hosted the ’Anniversary Feasts' of ship-masters mentioned by
(Gurdon) Saltonstall (minister in New London and later Governor
of Connecticut) in his letters to Governor Winthrop in
1691-1696.” H.B. Plumb says “…this is the John…who tells of the
large meteor seen by him in October, 1665, ‘while rouing in my bote
to Groton.’ John's note is the first known written reference
to the town of Groton, Connecticut.
"In 1664, in a petition to the Connecticut
Assembly at Hartford for land, he says he has a large family of
children, most of whom are boys, so it is probable we do not know
all his family by four or more. They would all be older than
Green…He (John) was a bearer of dispatches from New London to
the Governor at Hartford in January 1676, during the King Philip
War. He was granted land along with others…for services in the King
Philip War, and the land was located mostly in Voluntown and
Preston."
Frances Manwaring Caulkins confuses our John of
Hartford and New London (1634-1696) with John of
Weathersfield & Branford (1594-1648), but she corrects that
mistake later in a revision, and does share this about our
John in her HISTORY OF NEW LONDON: “In 1670 he is noticed as
carrying dispatches between Governors Winthrop, of Hartford, and
Lovelace, of New York.” She says he was chosen Constable of New
London Town in the year 1669-1670, and was “…afterward
known as Marshal of the County (from 1690 till his death in
1696) and innkeeper” (his license was renewed or
granted in New London County Court in 1687 at the rate of 3 pounds
per year..)” In 1691 John is reimbursed by the New London County
Treasurer for use of his “horse boat (used) to fetch ye guns…1
pound, 6 shillings and 6d.”
One receives the distinct feeling that both John and
his wife Elizabeth, at least earlier in their lives, were somewhat
“colorful,” to say the least. The rumor has persevered in
genealogical circles for many years of an “affair of the heart,”
between John and a young woman of Middletown named Sarah Cornwell,
daughter of Sgt. William Cornwell, long after John and Elizabeth‘s
marriage, possibly about 1671 or 1672. The result of this affair was
reportedly the birth of a son named Benoni Plumb, a man who suddenly
appears in the Middletown Records near the end of the
17th century, with no hint of parentage. It is reported
that John paid a “child price” in the Hartford Colonial Court
in order to settle with the Cornwell family.
Elizabeth appears on the record as well when she is
fined 3 March 1670 for selling liquor to the Indians, and then fined
again 21 April 1671, and her husband John is heavily fined.
The context for these "liquor sales" is explained by their
involvement in "inn-keeping." Whatever their early lifestyle,
it appears both John and Elizabeth settled down to a somewhat
more "normal" life in New London in their later years. John died in
1696 (F. M. Caulkins HISTORY OF NEW LONDON), and Elizabeth lived
till the latter part of 1721 (Joshua Hempstead records her
death in his DIARY in three words on 18 Nov 1721: “Aunt Plumb
died”).
(The above information is compiled from information gathered
from THE PLUMBS 1635-1800 by H. B. Plumb; Francis Manwaring
Caulkins HISTORY OF NEW LONDON; and THE DIARY OF JOSHUA HEMPSTEAD)
[Submitted by Chuck
Plumb, 8th gr-grandson]
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
JOHN (1666-1732) and ELIZABETH HEMPSTEAD
(1672-1733) PLUMBE
John Plumbe, Esquire was born about 1666
in Hartford, Connecticut to John and Elizabeth Green Plumbe.
Sometime in the mid-1670s, the Plumbs relocated from Hartford to New
London Connecticut. On 13 Feb 1689 John married Elizabeth Hempstead,
daughter of Joshua, Sr. and Elizabeth Larrabee Hempstead, and
granddaughter of Robert and Joane Willey Hempstead. Robert and
Joane Hempstead were among the original settlers of New London,
Connecticut.
Known early as "Deacon Plumbe,"
and eventually as "John Plumbe, Esquire," John was son,
brother, husband, father, grandfather; an attorney,
Justice of the Peace and Probate Judge. He was a Deacon in
First Church of New London, and was chosen along with Deacon
Douglass by his congregation to help seek a new Pastor in
Boston when the New London pulpit became vacant (by the resignation
of the Honorable Gurdon Saltonstall, who accepted the Governorship
of Connecticut). His search ended with the calling of Rev. Eliphalet
Adams, who pastored the New London church for many years.
Deacons Plumbe and Douglass were given "lands" by the grateful
citizens for New London for their work as spiritual
envoys.
Joshua Hempstead (the New London Diarist and
inhabitant of the Hempstead House) was a professional associate
of his Brother-in-Law John Plumbe, Esq. as Justice of the Peace, and
Judge of probate. They made numerous legal decisions mutually over
the years. Hempstead mentions these dozens of times
in his DIARY.
H.B. Plumb, family historian writes: “John Plumb was
a judge in the county court (New London County) in 1710 and after,
as a decision of his in a Groton school case is on record in June
1712...he was appointed Probate Judge, which office he held at the
time of his death…he and his wife joined the church in 1693...the
Mrs. Plumbe who joined the church in 1691 must have been his mother
(Elizabeth Green Plumbe)…this is the son who lived, married and died
in New London."
When John dies at a relatively young age on
Saturday, 28 Oct 1732 Joshua Hempstead records in his DIARY;
"...this morn Brother Jno Plumb died with a violent Cold yt Seizd
him Thursd was Senet. I was Called up at 3 Clock to go to Brother
Plumbs & found him a Dying. he died ten Minutes (unreadable) a
Clock. I Stayed after I help lay him out till after Sun
rise..."
John & Elizabeth's children and grandchildren
continued to be deeply involved in the life of New London for 50
years after their deaths. For example, on 15 May 1782, Green
Plumb (John & Elizabeth's grandson), New London
Rate-Collector, came before the town-meeting asking for an
abatement for the 1780 rate bill. He explained that when the
Traitor (Benedict Arnold's) armies had burned and sacked New London
6 Sept 1781, they had plundered the monies collected from Green
Plumb's home.
John, Esq. and Elizabeth Hempstead Plumb are buried
together in the Ancient Cemetery in New London, Connecticut. Their
inscription reads: “Here lies the body of Mrs Elizabeth Plumbe;” and
“here lies the body of John Plumbe, Esquire.”
(information for the above biography is compiled
from THE PLUMBS, 1635-1800 by Henry Blackman Plumb, Frances
Manwaring Caulkins HISTORY OF NEW LONDON, and THE DIARY OF JOSHUA
HEMPSTEAD) [Submitted by Chuck Plumb, 7th
gr-grandson]
