Of my 9th G. Grandmother, Esther Baldwin (1746 - 1820), Double Ancestry, and Self-Cousin-ism. Also: Three John Baldwins

The lineage of Esther Baldwin (1746 - 1820)

In my first post I listed my lineage dating back to Robert Baldwin and Agnes Dolte. There was something pretty funny lookin' if you took notice of generation #9, where Asahel Baldwin married an Esther with a maiden name of Baldwin. I was recently able to look into and verify her lineage back to Joseph and his father Richard using Charles Candee Baldwin's The Baldwin Genealogy and its supplemental volume, and please see my previous post "The Problem of Richard Baldwin" for further exposition on the previous generations back to Robert.

After doing this research I can put together a second, different line of descent from Robert Baldwin and Agnes Dolte down to Esther Baldwin, and then down to myself, and it reads as follows:

The Problem of Richard Baldwin (1565)

Before I go any further, I must settle a problem. It's...
 

The Problem of Richard Baldwin (1576 or 1565)

This is going to be a really boring post for some.

To start: Richard (1576) has a birth year given as 1576 in nearly every internet link that I can find. However, I can find no reliable reason for this. He is said by Seversmith (as I will discuss below) to have been born in 1565 based on his research. Since I can not find any reliable source for the date of 1576, I will be using 1565 instead for this blog until I have better information.

When investigating the parents of Richard Baldwin (1565), one can run into a problem. Many sites and sources list his parents as being Richard (1540) and Isabel Chase. Richard (1540) is given as the son of Richard (1503) in these cases, and this seems well enough...

Of my 9th G. Grandfather, Richard Baldwin (1622 - 1665) and Early Milford CT

Richard Baldwin, my 9th great-grandfather

(Now, y'see, that looks like great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandpa when you write it out, which is something, really, and when we get into the 38th and 45th generations later on, not on the Baldwin line, but on others, it's really going to be ridiculous. No one wants to read about great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandpa Richard over and over again, and so I use the numbers. See, 9th g. grandfather, now that looks neater, doesn't it?)

Of The New Haven Company and Ship Martin

In my previous post I referred to the "New Haven Company", whose members included Sylvester and Sarah. If I am correct in my conclusions and assumptions, then this should be a reference not to a company, or corporate business entity, but a colony, a company of people, and much is known historically of the ultimately failed New Haven Colony. This attempted colony based its legal system on the Plymouth colony, but later merged with the Connecticut Colony, and history goes from there. One of the thirteen original colonies, and all of that.


Here is the flag of New Haven Colony:

Of my 10th G.Grandfather, Sylvester Baldwin (1598 - 1638) and Sarah Bryant (1606 - 1669)

My 10th great-grandfather was named Sylvester Baldwin. He was born in Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire, England, either about 1595 or 1598. I have run into two different dates, for reasons unknown. (Like some things in the blog, this is a fact which requires further research). The Baldwin Genealogy by Charles Candee Baldwin lists this Sylvester as first being mentioned, in documentation, in the will of his uncle Richard, and it is from this source (the book, not the will) that I have gathered much of the information on him.

The Book (I'm just going to call it "The Book" from here on) lets us know a few more details. His uncle Richard, in his will, named Sylvester as "executor and residuary legatee", which apparently was a big deal, since this Richard's next heir was a "prosperous lawyer". Wonder what was going on there, eh?

Suspicious!