Email #4 From: David A. Macdonald To: James Gibbs Cc: John E Hoyt ; Terry Colegrove Sent: Saturday, January 28, 2006 11:30 AM Subject: Colegrove-Corwin James, Thank you for your very detailed reply to my inquiry concerning the alleged marriage of John Colegrove and Martha Corwin. until you spoke of Martha Colegrove's gravestone in Oneco, Connecticut, I had not known the source of her name or the basis for estimating the date of her birth. You send a copy of your message only to Terry Colegrove, but I have forwarded a copy of it to a John Hoyt, who has been very helpful in supplementing the information that Terry gave me. You will see that I am sending him a copy of this, and I hope that you will include him in any reply. My principle interest is in the Corwins. I am trying to link all descendants of Matthias Corwin (fl. 1640) who were born before 1850. Hence my interest in spouses' lines is only tangential, but on the other hand I am eager not to propagate false information or to pass on as fact what may be no more than surmise. The interest being tangential, I have not looked deeply into the Colegroves, and much of what you said in your message was new to me. Of course I had not known about the burials at Oneco nor that there were Colvins there. So far as I have ever known, and I have researched Corwins for years, the Corwins and the Colvins were two distinct families. I have never known them to be confused, although "Corwin" and "Corvin" were sometimes confused in southwestern Pennsylvania. You say that you have found several secondary sources claiming that the Corwins and the Colvins of Oneco were the same family. It seems unlikely, and yet it is not impossible because there was a Salem, Massachusetts., branch of the Corwins from which one son disappeared. On the other hand, I do not know of any early unaccounted-for male Corwins in the Long Island family. I'd be most grateful for any information you might give me about those sources and about any early, pre-1800, Colvin burials at Oneco. That there was a connection between the Colegroves and the Corwins is beyond dispute. Many residents of Southold, Long Island, including some Corwins fled to Connecticut in 1776-1777 to escape the British, who occupied Southold. (F. G. Mather's "The refugees of 1776 from Long Island to Connecticut" is the principle source on this.) Among those who went were widow Hannah (Horton) Corwin and her children of whom six are known with certainty: Phineas, b. 1754-5, who married Phoebe Colegrove; Elizabeth, b. 1755-6, of whom no more is known; Hannah, b. 1756-8, who married John Colegrove; Edward, b. 13 February 1759, who married (1) Esther Barstow and (2) Olive Colegrove; and Sarah, who had died in infancy. Since Phineas, b. 1754-5, and Elizabeth were baptized at the same time in 1756, it is unlikely that there was a Martha in the family unless (a) she preceded Phineas (which is unlikely, as Hannah Horton and Edward Corwin married as late as 27 September 1753) or (b) the daughter Elizabeth later became known as Martha. Hannah Corwin, the mother, settled in the vicinity of Norwich and Franklin, New London County, Connecticut, and married (2) on 5 March 1778 Yetonce Barstow, father of the Esther Barstow who married Hannah's son Edward. Thus there were three known Corwin-Colegrove marriages. In more detail: (1) Phineas Corwin was admitted on 4 November 1779 to the Newent Congregational Church of Lisbon, Connecticut. On the same day, Phineas Corwin of Lisbon, Connecticut, was married to Phoebe Colegrove of Coventry, Rhode island, daughter of Stephen Colegrove. Even if the marriage was later entered into the Coventry records, it took place in Newent, Connecticut. (2) Hannah Corwin was married on 5 March 1795 in the Congregational Church at Franklin, New London County, Connecticut, to John Colegrove of Coventry, Rhode Island. (3) Edward Corwin was married on 4 March 1798 in Franklin, New London County, Connecticut to Olive Colegrove. My notes do not indicate whether she was called "of Coventry, Rhode Island." Until recently I had been puzzled why Phoebe Colegrove was called "of Coventry, Rhode Island" in 1779 and why John Colegrove was called the same in 1795. Nor could I understand how Phineas Corwin, solidly in Lisbon, Connecticut, could have had enough contact with a Colegrove family of Coventry, Rhode Island, to marry a daughter of that family. It was in corresponding with John Hoyt that I realized that the Colegroves, like the Corwins, may have been refugees. The British occupied Newport in 1776, and for some time there was no assurance that they would not go further. That would account for the first marriage, and the connection forged between the two families in 1779 could well have led to Hannah Corwin's 1795 marriage, even though the Colegroves had returned to Coventry. I don't see any way of getting around the Phoebe Colegrove in 1779 and John Colegrove in 1795 being described as being of Coventry, Rhode Island. It sounds as though you are deeply familiar with the Colegrove family, and I'd very much appreciate any further light that you might cast on the matter. David A. Macdonald d.a.macd at comcast dot net