Elisha PRESBREY

Elisha married Hannah WILBOR on 12 Feb 1806. Hannah (daughter of Job WILBOR and Charity WILBOR) was born on 14 May 1783; died on 13 Jul 1865. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Military Service: Revolutionary Soldier - Massachusetts

Notes:

Name:
"William Presbrey and His Descendants": Elisha Presbrey was a Revolutionary soldier, and gave three brief terms of service in the Massachusetts miliitia, as may be seen by the following records copied from "The Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War."
"Elisha Presbrey, pay roll of Sergt. Enos. Dean's detachment of guards, service one day by order of Committee of Correspondence, etc., in order to prevent the escape of Highlanders and other prisoners from Taunton Jail during the alarm of Dec. 8, 1776." vol. XII: p 747

"Elisha Presbory, private, Capt. Josiah King's Co. Col. Daggitt's regt. entered service Aug. 25, 1778, discharged Sept. 1, 1778, service eight days at Rhode Island; Co. detached from roll sworn to at Taunton." Vol. XII: p. 797.

"Elisha Preisberry, Capt. Nehemiah Pratt's Co.: Col. Mitchell's regt. commanded by Lieut. Col. James Williams' brig. George Godfrey's (Bristol County) Brigade, service eight days. Company marched to Tiverton, R.I. on the alarm of Aug. 2, 1780." Vol. XII: p. 735.

Elisha Presbrey lived in Raynham, where seven of his ten children were born. In the spring of 1794, he moved with his family to Keene, NH. He bought land in Keene, July 8, 1794. About 1799, he moved with his family to Lyman, NH., where he bought land, Apr. 22, 1799. In 1811 he went back to Keene, and lived for some tie in Westmoreland, NH., where some of his wife's relatives, the Wilburs lived. The date of his wife's death has not been found, but it is believed that she died in Westmoreland about 1813. Soon after that he returned to Lyman and spent his last years with his son Elisha in Lisbon, NH. He died in Lisbon in 1825.

Elisha married Wealthy WILBOR in 1780. Wealthy (daughter of Abijah WILBORE and Phebe WHITE) was born on 28 Aug 1758 in Raynham, Bristol, Massachusetts, USA; died about 1813 in Westmoreland, New Hampshire. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name:
"William Presbrey and His Descendants": Joseph Presbrey was a carpenter or house joiner, as he was then called. he not only worked industriously at this trade but was interested in real estate. Between 1748 and 1786 his name appears a number of ties in the records of deeds both as grantee and grantor. Such interest in real estate has been a marked characteristic of many of the Presbreys in all the subsequent generations. Many of the descendants of William Presbrey have been sailors; but the descendants of his brother, Joseph, have generally been carpenters farmers, mechanics and engaged in various kids of business. None of the descendants of Joseph have taken to life on the water.

A brother of the first William, named Joseph, lived in Taunton, 1714 to 1771, and was a party to a number of transfers of real estate. While this uncle lived Joseph Presbrey had the suffix, Jr., written after his name to distinguish him from his uncle, after whom evidently he was named. After the death of his uncle in 1771, the Jr. does not appear after his name. Feb. 7, 1765, Joseph Presbrey, senior, conveyed to Joseph Presbrey, Jr., property in Taunton, consideration, friendship and good will. This seems to indicate that the elder Joseph having no descendants to whom to leave his property, gave some of it to his nephew and namesake. His wife had died previous to the date of this deed, and his daughter, an only child, had died a number of years before. He was then an old man, nearly eighty years of age. The Presbreys now living in Taunton and vicinity are all descendants of William. The descendants of Joseph have scattered widely over the country.

Joseph married Mary BAKER on 21 Nov 1745. Mary was born on 1 Jun 1727. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Daughter of Thomas Baker and Abigail White

Abijah married Phebe WHITE on 30 May 1744. Phebe (daughter of John WHITE and Elizabeth CROSSMAN) was born in 1726; died on 26 Aug 1812 in Raynham, Massachusetts; was buried in Hall and Dean Cemetery, Raynham, Bristol Co., Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Daughter of John White and Betsey Crossman
• Death: 1799

Notes:

Name:
"William Presbrey and His Descendants": According to his own statement as preserved by his sons and grandsons, William Presbrey was born in London, England, in 1690. We have no information concerning his ancestors, but the fact that he was placed on board of a British man-of-war when only ten years old may indicate that the family belonged to the great common class of English people of that time. Genealogists have found it difficult to trace the ancestry of immigrants who came from London, and the youthfulness of William Presbrey when he left home makes it unusually difficult to trace his ancestry. it is thought that the family lived in that part of London known as Balckfriars.

Among the papers that came into the hands of the executor of the estate of Captain Seth Presbrey of Taunton, a great-grandson of William, was a paper bearing the following title: - "To the Generations of Presbreys in Coning Time, I Bequeathe This Genealogical Document." It is stated that the paper was first written in 1825, rewritten in 1839, and rewritten again in 1845. No copy of the edition of 1825 has been found. The copies written in 1839 and in 1845 are both preserved in the archives of the Old Colony Historical Society at Taunton. The two papers are substantially the same, differing only in the statement of some of the minor details of the story. We give here a brief statement of the story so as to include all the essential facts given in both papers. When only ten years old William Presbrey was impressed or bound out to serve on a British man-of-war until he should be of age. We are not informed as to the name of the ships or vessels on which he sailed, what waters he navigated, or what shores he visited. He served in the navy about eleven years, or until the summer of 1711, when his ship visited American waters and stopped a short time in Boston Harbor. Boston was then only a straggled colonial village. The country looked good to the young man, William Presbrey, and the spirit of freedom arose in his soul. Having permission to go ashore to "See Boston," and feeling that he had rendered enforced service on the man-of-war long enough, he quietly slipped away in the determination to try his fortunes in the new country. With buoyant spirits and a new sense of liberty, he passed out through what is now Roxbury, and took his course in a southerly direction. He kept to the forests and out of sight of human beings as much as possible, subsisting upon nuts and berries, perhaps gnawing the bark from black birch twigs, for about three days, when he arrived in Taunton. Knowing that by that time his ship had sailed and that he was free, he ventured to apply for food and employment. He first stopped at the hose of Nathaniel Crossman, who lived on what is now Cohannet Street, nearly opposite where the "Auditorium" now stands. Crossman's house was near where the Hazelton house now is, possibly a little nearer Mill River, where there was a mill. Mr. Crossman was farmer, miller and shoe-maker. William Presbrey hired out to Mr. Crossman as man of all work. We know not how long he worked for Mr. Crossman or what wages he received....

When William Presbrey built his house here the Plain Cemetery had not been started. Rev. Samuel Danforth, pastor of the First Congregational Church, is said to have been the first person buried here in 1727. The land was secured and the cemetery laid out in 1848. It is supposed that William Presbrey was buried in this cemetery, but his grave is not marked and is not now known.

It is said that William Presbrey built one of the first properly rigged vessels to navigate the Taunton River. It was a sloop. He built it at Benjamin King's landing at Raynham, then a part of Taunton.....

About 1725 William Presbrey married Hannah Smith, dau. of nathaniel and Experience Smith of Taunton. It is said that the ceremony was performed by the Rev. Samuel Danforth, who was at that time pastor of the First Church in Taunton, and who was buried two years later near the residence of William Presbrey in what is now the Plain Cemetery. It is supposed that William Presbrey and his wife are buried in this cemetery, but their graves can not now be located. Hannah Smith was born in Weymouth, March 29, 1687. Her parents moved from Weymouth to Taunton about 1690. Her father, Nathaniel Smith, was a son of James Smith and was born in Weymouth June 8, 1639. thus William Presbrey married into one of the oldest families of the Old Colony. Hannah (Smith) Presbrey died Sept. 20, 1763. At the time of their marriage they were of mature age, he being thirty-five and she thirty-eight. Three children were born to them, two sons and one daughter. The sons married and had families. The daughter died unmarried when about twenty years of age.

William married Hannah SMITH about 1725. Hannah was born on 29 Mar 1687 in Weymouth, Massachusetts; died on 20 Sep 1763 in Taunton, Bristol Co., Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Daughter of Nathaniel Smith

Shadrach married Joanna NEAL on 20 Mar 1700 in Taunton, Bristol, Massachusetts, USA. Joanna was born on 27 May 1680. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Daughter of Henry Neal and Hannah Pray

John married Elizabeth CROSSMAN on 28 Dec 1709. Elizabeth was born on 31 Oct 1691. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Daughter of Samuel Crossman and Elizabeth Bell