New Hampshire was first settled by Europeans in 1623. It was separated from Massachusetts in 1679.
Women played an essential role in American society as mothers and homemakers.
Sarah (Sally) Dwinnell Colony was born in 1770 in Boxford, Essex County, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of Benjamin Dwinnell and Mary Estey.
She (Sally Dwinnell) married a farmer named Timothy Colony on October 10, 1787 in Keene, New Hampshire. The Reverend Aaron Hall performed the ceremony. Timothy was born on April 5, 1764 in Keene, Cheshire County, New Hampshire. His parents were John Colony and Melatiah Fisher.
Their children listed in Keene Vital Statistics were:
Benjamin Colony ( March 4, 1788), Josiah Colony (April 8, 1791, manufacturer of flannel, married Hannah Taylor and Jane Briggs),
Polly Colony (September 30, 1793)
John Colony (June 24, 1795, farmer, married Almira Keyes),
Lockhart Colony ( May 3, 1800),
James B. Colony (January 23, 1803),
Joshua Durant Colony (December 21, 1804, merchant and postmaster, married Frances Blake), and
George Henry Colony ( January 30, 1811).
The family of Mr. Timothy Colony attended the church at West Keene. “One Sunday morning the horse, ready harnessed, stood at the door, the family was a little behind time and at the ringing of the bell the animal started and trotted to the church door, leaving the family to walk." (J. D. Colony)
The family (Tim Colone) appeared in the 1800 census in Keene. The family consisted of three boys under ten, one man between 26 and 45, one girl under ten, one woman between 26 and 45, and one woman older than 45.
Timothy died August 29, 1836. In 1850, Sarah was living with her son, John, in Keene. She died there on April 27, 1853.
Keene, Cheshire County, New Hampshire was settled after 1736 and was a fort protecting Massachusetts during the French and Indian Wars. It was called Upper Ashuelot. When New Hampshire separated from Massachusetts in 1741 it became Keene, New Hampshire.
During King George's War, the village was attacked and burned.
Three daughters of William Towne and Joanna Blessing were wrongly accused of practicing witchcraft in Salem. Rebecca Towne Nurse, Mary Towne Estey, and Sarah Towne Bridges Cloyes were persecuted in 1692. The children of people in the line below are all descendants of Mary Estey.
