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Additional Information
Thomas SPENCER:
Name: THOMAS
2
Name: THOMAS
3
Born: 1679, RI
4
Born: 22 JUL 1679, Rhode Island
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Died: 25 APR 1752, Rhode Island
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Notes:
In a note in the Spencer file of the North Kingstown Free Library, Thomas is said to be the "first white child born in East Greenwhich". John Spencer is listed as the justice of his marriage to Elizabeth Pierce in 1703. He is also listed as the justice in his second marriage to Mary GREENE in 1709. He died at 5am at the age of 73 on April 25, 1752. The author gets this information in "The History of the Narragansett Church" by Wilkins Updike and revised by Daniel Goodwine. He quotes "Sarah, dau of Joseph Wanton born 1696 married first Benjamin HOLAND and second Thomas SPENCER of East Greenwich, the first English child born in the town."
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Book: History of East Greenwich 1677-1877, by D. H. Greene, MD, J.A. & R.A. Reid, Printers and Publishers, Providence, RI., 1877.
- (p. 158) "Thomas Spencer, son of John and Susannah Spencer, born on the 22nd day of July 1679, was the first English child born in East Greenwich. He was also the first physician who practiced here. As he was a seventh son, he may have been indebted to this fact for his title, as it was the custom of his time to attribute wonderful powers to the seventh son in the healing art, and call him doctor.
" However this may have been, he was evidently a man of respectable attainments, as the records of the town abundantly show. He was town clerk for thirty-nine years, from 1713 to 1752; several times deputy to the General Assembly, a magistrate and large proprietor, a member of the Soceity of Friends, and for some years before his death a recognized minister of that respectable body of Christians.
- "Dr. Spencer built the house in which he resided on the hill near the bluff, the southern termination of that beautiful ridge which extends from the Drum-Rock near Apponaug, to this point. The house has been removed within the last fifteen years, and is now replaced by one of modern construction, owned by Mr. Henry P. Eldridge. ... Dr. Spencer's house was a generous mansion of the olden time, with its huge stone chimney and hipped roof, small windows -- some of them with diamond-shaped panes -- set in leaden sash; one great room with the guest chamber over it, of the same liberal dimensions, to be used on occasions of festivy and hospitality, for which it was always noted.
- "Dr. Aldridge came from Smithfield to reside in his (Dr. Spencer's) family as a student of medicine, and remained there, marrying his only daughter and succeeding him in the possession of his estate and reputation as a man of note, and as a member of the Society of Friends, although it does not appear that he ever practiced medicine. Perhaps his wife inherited property sufficient to save him from the laborous life of a country physicail. Lucky man, and how much to be envied!
- (p. 159). "At a town meeting held for the choice of officers early in April 1752, Giles Pearce was chosen clerk for the day: 'In ye room of Thomas Spencer of his imparied action and nonability of body, he not being able to perform ye duties of ye same." A few days later a meeting was called to choose a clerk in place of Thomas Spencer, deceased. A manifestation of respect and tender regard not often whown for our most honored public officials in these days.
- "Dr. Spencer nearly completed his seventy-fifth year. He was buried in the Old Friends' Meeting House yard, near Payne's Mill, but there is no stone with an inscription to mark the precise spot. He was twice married, his first wife dying in 1742, and his second one in 1747. By his first wife he had two children, a son who died in early life, and a daughter who married Thomas Aldrich. Mrs. Aldrich left no children.
Footnotes
- Yates Publishing, U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 (Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004).
Online publication - Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004.Original data - This unique collection of records was extracted from a variety of sources including family group sheets and electronic databases. Originally, the information was derived from an array of materials including pedigree charts, family history articles, querie.
- Ancestry.com, Rhode Island Births, 1636-1930 (Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000).
Online publication - Ancestry.com. Rhode Island Births, 1636-1930 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000.
- Ancestry.com, Rhode Island Deaths, 1630-1930 (Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000).
Online publication - Ancestry.com. Rhode Island Deaths, 1630-1930 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000.
- Yates Publishing, U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 (Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004).
Online publication - Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004.Original data - This unique collection of records was extracted from a variety of sources including family group sheets and electronic databases. Originally, the information was derived from an array of materials including pedigree charts, family history articles, querie.
- Ancestry.com, Rhode Island Births, 1636-1930 (Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000).
Online publication - Ancestry.com. Rhode Island Births, 1636-1930 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000.
- Ancestry.com, Rhode Island Deaths, 1630-1930 (Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000).
Online publication - Ancestry.com. Rhode Island Deaths, 1630-1930 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000.
Revised: May 06, 2009
Copyright © May 2009