Notable Women Ancestors: Rachel Andrews Colman

Can you imagine the changes and experiences of a woman who lived through almost an entire century in colonial Massachusetts? Details are scant, but her life of 92 years would be remarkable in any time. She survived the hard work of everyday life on the frontier, bearing eleven children, wars and diseases. The family's attitude of stepping up and participating in each new governmental process is attested by her husband's activities in the community. If only "women's work" had been included in the historical records we might know more about her part in the settlement of north-central Massachusetts!

Rachel Andrews Colman was born about 1716. Her parents were Ezekiel Andrews and Abigail Curtis. The place of her birth or marriage is uncertain, likely in or near Ipswich, MA. She was married to James Colman, and their first child, Elizabeth, was born in Ipswich in 1734. Church records of Chebacco (Essex) parish list four more children born in the following years: James in 1736; Rachel in 1738; Ezekiel Andrews in 1740; Job in 1741.

About 1743 the family moved west a distance of 50 miles, and transferred their relationship from the Ipswich church to Lunenburg in 1744. She was 27 with four children under ten as they left "civilization" of a colonial port town which had been in existence for over 100 years for the unknown wilderness.

More children are enumerated in the Lunenburg church records, although it is believed that the family settled in the northeastern part of “Dorchester Canada,” which became Ashburnham and is now in Ashby. They were among the earliest permanent settlers of the area. The years between 1744 and 1749 were dangerous times on the “frontier” and many settlers gathered at the fortifications in Lunenburg during periods of unrest during the French and Indian war.

The remaining children born to Rachel and James include: Mary in 1744; Aaron in 1746; Benjamin in 1749; Solomon in 1752; Ruth in 1754; and Abigail in 1758. That same year her 20-year-old daughter Rachel married Daniel Harper in Lunenburg. Her children spanned 24 years and had names chosen to honor grandparents and biblical figures.

In 1760 a church was established in Ashburnham and the family transferred their church relations there. Her husband, James, was an active member of the community and was named to committees by the proprietors. Records state that James was granted “about one acre and one hundred rods between the house where he now dwells and the saw mill yard which belongs to Moses Foster Jr. and Zimri Heywood” for “his good service in said township in promoting the settlement there.” When Ashburnham was incorporated in 1765, he was chosen as a selectman and surveyor of the highways at the first town meeting. When Ashby was set off as a town, one of the boundaries was delineated along the land of James Colman. James was also one of the first Selectmen in Ashby. When the church was established, the Colman family was assigned the first pew, signifying their place first on the tax rolls based on assets.

Their other children married and began families. Job and Benjamin married sisters, Elizabeth and Susannah Martin in 1766 and 1770, respectively. James died in 1773 and is buried in Ashby in the “front row” of the old cemetery in the town center. Rachel was 57 and had many years ahead of her. Their youngest child was 15. Sons Job and Aaron gave permission to Benjamin to administer his estate, indicating that neither James or Ezekiel were still alive. Solomon was of age but he was not a signatory to the document. Job had continued the westward migration, moving west to Shelburne, MA

What was her life like in the 35 years after her husband’s death? A nation was born, a constitution written, and Ashby remained a quiet, farming community. Sons fought in the Revolutionary war, daughters bore children of their own. Sons Benjamin and Solomon remained in the area and gave her grandchildren. Rachel died on April 27, 1808 and is buried with James and some of their adult children. Her death is not listed in the Ashby records. Was she living with one of her children elsewhere at the time? This a woman with whom I'd love to have a long conversation...

Notable Women Ancestors: Trypheuny Powers Lawrence

In the early 1700s our British settlers had begun to move west, from the port towns in what we now call the North Shore area, north of Boston, to begin farming the inland areas of Massachusetts. In addition to the dangers of infectious disease, French and Indian wars, poor diet or accident, women were subject to the potential complications of childbirth as often as every two years or so during a 25 year period of childbearing. After 250 years, this memorial of one such woman survives in the cemetery at Littleton Common.

Tryphena (or Trypheuny) Powers was born 22 May 1711 in Watertown, MA. She was the fifth and last child of Isaac Powers and Mary Poulter. Mary had had 5 children by her first husband, Samuel Winship. It was the second marriage for both parents. It appears that Isaac also had four older children.

The name Tryphena was used by English Puritains on both side of the Atlantic until the 18th century. It was mentioned by Paul in Romans, and comes from the Greek, meaning delicate.

When she was sixteen, she married Jonathan Lawrence about 1727 in Groton, in northern Middlesex County, MA. He was born in 1703, so was nearly eight years older than his bride. The Lawrance/Lawrence family, in several variants of spelling, was numerous in the area. His grandfather Peleg has purchased land directly from the Nashoba Indians in Groton/Littleton.

Their 11 children were born over a period of 24 years, from the time Trypheuny was aged 17 to 41. The first 9 were listed in Groton records:

• Jonathan, born 27 August 1728
• Isaac, born 19 May 1731
• Abel, born 16 July 1733
• Tryphenia, born 26 September 1735
• Betty, born 24 February 1737

The Littleton records indicate a vote on 8 January 1738 accepting the Lawrance brothers Peleg, Jonathan, Eleazer and Samuel as voters in Littleton. This does not necessarily indicate a relocation, but a change in the boundary between the two towns. Children registered in Littleton are:

• Olive, born 19 May 1740
• Peter, born 17 October 1742
• Abigail, born 26 July 1745
  
• Timothy, born 31 March 1748
• Lucy, born 15 May 1750
• Benjamin, born 2 August 1752

In 1748 her 20-year-old son Jonathan enlisted as a soldier in the French and Indian War. In July of that year he was captured after a skirmish just across the Connecticut River from Fort Dummer VT. Eight were taken to Canada through Crown Point at a rate of 20 miles per day. The were released in October. Ephriam Powers of Littleton was also one of the eight prisoners who returned. He may have been a son of Tryphena's brother Ephriam. Jonathan married 31 October 1751 to Martha Leighton.

Just three weeks after the birth of her last child, Tryphena died on 25 August 1752 in her forty-second year. Her oldest child Jonathan was 24, and her daughter and namesake was 17, and would have been well able to care for the younger children, with help from her sisters.

Two years later Jonathan remarried to Lydia Fletcher. He lived to be 86 and is buried beside Tryphena in Littleton.