Joshua CROMWELL (1665 – Before 1752) was Alex’s  8th Great Grandfather, one of 512 in this generation of the Shaw line.

Joshua Cromwell was born about 1665 in Dover, Strafford, New Hampshire.  His parents were Capt. Philip CROMWELL and Elizabeth TUTTLE.  He married Lydia  [__?__] about 1699 in Dover.  Joshua died before 1752 in Dover NH.

Alternatively, Joshua’s  mother was his father’s second wife Elizabeth Leighton.

Lydia [__?__]  was born about 1669 in Strafford NH.  She is named in deeds from 1709 to 1743.  Lydia was still alive on 19 Jan 1743/44 when she deeds with her husband. Both Lydia and Joshua are dead by 1752 when their children exchange deeds for their land .

Children of Joshua and Lydia:

25 Mar 1673 – Joshua received a bequest in his grandfather Giles’ will

I Giue unto my son Phillip Cromwells Eldest son [Joshua Cromwell] that shall live and Arive unto the Age of one and twenty yeares six Acres of marsh Lying in the Bounds of Newbury called Pine Iland marsh being six Acres of the twelve acres Adjoyning to the marsh of steven Grenleife

1693 – Joshua received a town grant

28 Dec 1697 to 11 Mar 1698 – Joshua is a member of the New Hampshire Assembly

1709 – Joshua, living in Dover,  sold the marsh willed by his grandfather, Giles Cromwell.

21 Aug 1723 – Sold 12 acres to Dr. Jonathan Crosby at Dover Neck.

Children

3 Apr 1752 – Joshua’s seven children conveyed his homestead estate of 15 acres on Back River in Dover NH to Moses Varney.   Varney Brook in Dover was originally Cromwell’s Creek. (See Google Map Satellite View)

2. John Cromwell

John’s first wife Mary Ridley was born 1700 in Dover, New Hampshire. Her parents were Thomas Riddley (1672 – 1754) and [__?__]. Mary died in 1776 in Dover, Strafford, New Hampshire.

John’s second wife Lydia [_?_]

John is a riddle. There is a marriage record for John Cromwell and Mary Ridley on 26 Dec 1720 at Dover, N.H. Yet Mary never appears thereafter.  If Mary existed she died before 23 May 1735 when John, a tinker, deeds land with his wife Lydia

John married at Dover on 26 December 1720, Mary RIDLEY, of unknown parentage.  There is no Ridley family in Dover, or for that matter, in early New  Hampshire.  There is one Ridley family in all of New England, which starts on Cape Cod and eventually moves to Maine.  If Mary was a part of this family, her place in it has not yet been found.  There is also some doubt as to the validity of the transcription of the marriage record.  Outside of this record Mary never appears.  By 23 May 1735 his wife’s name is Lydia [NHPD 25:140].  Whether Mary died between 1720 and 1735 is not known.

John was a tinker. On 3 April 1752 in two deeds, John quitclaims his “father Joshua Cromwell’s land.”.  John was not a religious man.  John and Lydia may have died the same day at Dover on 11 May 1776 [Dover VRs, p. 189, which notes John Cromwell and his wife.]  However, in his diary, Master Tate notes “Mr. John Cromwell of Dover Dyed on Saturday May ye 11th 1776 & Lydia his wife dy’d on Monday, May 13, 1776.  Both Buried in One Grave.

It appears that he had only three children who lived to adulthood.  On 26 March 1794, Abner and Keziah Coffin deeded to the Widow Sarah Chaddock (i.e. Chadwick), land in Dover that belonged to John Cromwell, deceased. [Strafford Co. Deeds 17:326].  One of the witnesses to the deed was Philip Cromwell.

Children of John and Lydia:

i. Keziah  Cromwell b.~ 1740; m. ~ 1760, Abner⁵ Coffin (b.  25 April 1738 at Exeter, N.H. – d, 21 Feb 1811 at Freeport, Maine .  His parents were Abner⁴ (Stephen³Tristram^2-1) and Mary Rawlings.  Keziah died after 26 March 1794 when she deeds land and likely before 1800 when Abner is enumerated alone in the 1800 census at Freeport, Maine.  He was a blacksmith.  Four known children: Rebecca, Anna, Stephen, and Mary.

ii. Sarah Cromwell b. ~ 1745; d. aft, 26 Mar 1794  Dover,  NH; . m.  14 May 1778, Dover, NH to Jacob Chadwick.  Very likely the parents of William Chadwick of Somersworth, with whom Sarah seems to be living in both the 1790 and 1800 censuses.

iii. Benjamin Cromwll b. ~ 1747; d. bef. 10 Feb 1772 Dover, NH when administration on his estate was granted to his father John Cromwell, of Dover, yeoman. [Rockingham Co. Probate #3908]  Sureties on the estate were Philip Cromwell and William Young, both of Dover.  Benjamin was a mariner.

2. Joshua Cromwell

Joshua’s first wife Elizabeth Larrabee was born 1698 in Falmouth, Cumberland, Maine. Her parents were Benjamin Larrabee and Deborah Ingersoll. Elizabeth died during the birth of her only child Elizabeth on 13 Apr 1725.

Joshua’s second wife Grace (Hodgkins) Tarr was born 28 Jul 1702 in Ipswich, Essex, Mass. Her parents were Christopher Hodgkins and Tabitha Howard (Hayword). Her grandmother was Haselelpony (Willix) Gee-Wood. She first married Richard Tarr (b. 29 Sep 1695 in Gloucester, Essex, Mass. – d. 22 Jun 1724) and had two children Hazel Tarr (b. 1722) and William Tarr (b. 1724) Grace died in 1737 in Maine.

Joshua was of Falmouth, Maine in 1752. He signed  a petition from Kennebunk in 1760. He m. (i) in Falmouth, Elizabeth, who died 13 April 1725, leaving a daughter Elizabeth, b. 13 April 1725. He m. (2) Grace and had dau. Lydia, b. in Falmouth 19 May 1728.

Child of Joshua and Elizabeth:

i. Elizabeth Cromwell b. 13 Apr 1725

Child of Joshua and Grace:

ii. Lydia Cromwell b. 19 May 1728 in Falmouth, Cumberland, Maine; m. 10 Jun 1767 — Age: 39 to Jonathan Strout

3. Joseph Cromwell

Joseph’s wife Abigail’s origins are not known.

4. Samuel Cromwell

It’s possible that this Samuel was Joshua’s nephew, the son of Joshua’s brother Samuel.

Samuel’s wife Betty Pinkham was born about 1705. Her parents were Richard Pinkham and Elizabeth Leighton. Betty died before 1752.

Betty’s father Richard Pinkham was born about 1675 in Dover, New Hampshire. Richard died aft 1758; he was 83. He was a Housewright/Carpenter. His parents were John Pinkham and Martha Otis. He was the Richard Pinkham who had lot 55 of the second division of Rochester,New Hamphshire part of which he deeds to sons Tristram and Richard (Jr.)

Samuel’s grandfather Philip CROMWELL  and Elizabeth “my present wife,” 6 Oct. 1699, sold land to Richard Pinkham.

Child of Samuel and Betty:

i. Mercy Cromwell b. ~ 1735; d. ~ 1796 in Friendship, Lincoln, Maine; m. Samuel Lawry (1730 – 1795) at least one child Benjamin Lawry (1764 – 1839)

5. Caleb Cromwell

Caleb signed a document in Falmouth in 1752,

Child of Caleb and [__?__]

i. child bapt. 1740.

6. Elizabeth Cromwell

Elizabeth’s husband Thomas Waitt

7. Lydia CROMWELL (See Noah CROSS‘s page)

Sources:

http://mhollick.typepad.com/slovakyankee/2009/04/madness-monday-lydia-do-you-know-lydia.html

http://genforum.genealogy.com/cromwell/messages/230.html

http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/m/y/e/Ron-C-Myers/GENE30-0169.html

Landmarks in Ancient Dover, New Hampshire By Mary P. Thompson

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hwbradley/findex15.htm#CROMWELL

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lougene/p55.htm#i10043

http://mhollick.typepad.com/slovakyankee/2010/03/john-cromwell-17001776-of-dover-nh.html

History of the Town of Durnham, New Hampshire (Oyster River Plantation) with genealogical notes (Volume 2)