"[L]iberty must at all hazards be supported.
We have a right to it, derived from our Maker.
But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us,
at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood."
-- John Adams, 1765
Greenwich, Hampshire County, Massachusetts was incorporated in 1749 and dissolved in 1938. It was renamed from Quabbin in 1754 .
Quabbin was also called Quaker Plain and Narragansett. Quabbin is now under the Quabbin reservoir.
Captain Jeremiah Powers, II was born on February 21, 1733 in Quabbin, Hampshire County, Massachusetts. His parents were Jeremiah Powers and Hannah Fiske.
Jeremiah enlisted in the Revolution at the age of 16. After that he was a surveyor.
He married Elizabeth (Betty) Cooley on May 4, 1755. Betty was born on January 7, 1734/35 in Brimfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts. Her father was Nicholas, Benjamin or Gideon Cooley.
Jeremiah and Betty's children included:
Dolly Powers Colton (March 19, 1756, married David Colton),
Elizabeth Powers (November 2, 1757, died age 16),
Prudence Powers Lampon (married John Lampon),
Jeremiah Powers, III (February 14, 1760, married Lydia Haskell and Mary Ray),
Dr. Charles Powers (February 1, 1762, married Silence Rogers), Joab Powers (1764),
Achsah Powers Thayer (1766, married John Thayer),
Gardner Powers (1771),
Reverend George W. Powers,
Major Justus Power (February 26, 1774, married Lucy Carpenter),
Richard Montgomery Powers (December 26, 1775, married Polly Carpenter), and
George Washington Powers (1778, married Deborah Howard).
In 1772, Paul Chase, a 3 year old orphan came to live with the Jeremiah Powers family.
They were original settlers at Pittsford, Rutland County, Vermont in 1792.
Jeremiah died in June 2, 1801 in Pittsford, Rutland County, Vermont. Elizabeth died August 17, 1823. They are buried at the Old Congregational Cemetery in Pittsford, Vermont.
Old Style Calendar
Before 1752 the year began on Lady Day, March 25th,. Dates between January 1st and March 24th were at the end of the year. Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) are used to indicate whether the year has been adjusted. Often both dates are used.
In 1662 Hampshire County, Massachusetts was formed from the western section of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Parts of the original county became Hampden, Franklin, Berkshire and Worcester Counties.
The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) was between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the 13 colonies which became the newly formed United States.
from The Book of Biographies
Jeremiah Powers was a native of Greenwich. Massachusetts, where he was born, in 1732. He was twice married. His first wife, whose name has not been preserved, bore him eight children, namely: Jeremiah; Dolly; Prudence; Justus; Joab; Richard Montgomery; George and Gardner. Harry P. Powers' great-grandmother died in August. 1823. and the surviving husband contracted a second matrimonial alliance. In this instance, he married Elizabeth Cooley, who was born in 1775 the result of this union, as follows. [This biography is a bit mixed up.]
The Journal of the American-Irish Historical Society by Thomas Hamilton Murray et. al. published by The Society, 1919
Pittsford, Vt.-Jeremiah Powers from Ireland came very early to Pittsford (date unknown). He settled first at Greenwich, Mass., where his son, Jeremiah, was born in 1735. His grandson, Jeremiah Powers, was also born at Greenwich. At the age of 16 he enlisted in the Revolutionary army and served during part of the war, after which he was employed as a surveyor in Vermont.
Estate inventories give us a glance into the home life of Colonial Americans.
from the Cooley Genealogy
Benjamin Cooley II m. (I) Sept. 1, 1730, Brimfield, Elizabeth Charles, da. John and Elizabeth) Swetman or Sweetman) b. Feb. 15, 1709/10, Springfield, d. October 26, 1743, Brimfield; he m. (2) Feb. 14 1744/5, Brimfield, Mary Needham, da. Anthony and Mary (Mancton or Moulton), b. June 21, 1725, prob. Springfield.
10 Children:
By 1st wife:
i. Gideon, Jan. 20, 1731, Brimfield.
ii. Eunice, Sept. 2, 1732, Brimfield
iii. Elizabeth, Jan. 7 1734/5 Brimfield; D. Aug. 17, 1823, Pittsford, Vt.; m. May 4, 1755, Jeremiah Powers of Greenwich, d. June 2. 1801, Pittsford where he removed in 1792; they had children one of whom was Jeremiah Cooley Powers.
iv. Keziah, March. 19, 1739, Brimfield, d. Feb. 15, 18222, Hardwich, Mass., m. there (int.)Aug. 2, 1760, Seth Johnson of Shrewsbury, Mass.
By 2nd wife:
v. Benjamin, Apr. 30 1747, prob. Greenwich
vi. Reuben, April 25, 1752, prob. Greenwich
vii. Azariah, July 25, 1755, prob. Greenwich (his birth also given as July 26, 1756, twin with Naomi).
viii. Naomi, July 26, 1756, prob. Greenwich; d. May 4, 1841; m. James Ewing(s)...
ix. Margaret, Nov. 13, 1757, prob. Greenwich m. (1) July 27, 1780, Hardwick, Mass., Job Winslow; m. (2) Peter Rice...
x. Caleb, Feb. 12, 1762, prob. Greenwich, Mass.
Lush forests in Colonial America allowed settlers to build wooden homes.
Early European settlers in the American colonies were mostly farmers and craftsmen. They had to work hard to provide daily neccesities for themselves.
History of the Town of Pittsford, Vt.: With Biographical Sketches and Family Records, Tuttle & Co., 1872
Jeremiah Powers, Sen., father of the Jeremiah who has been mentioned, removed from Greenwich to Pittsford in 1792, and located in Sugar Hollow, on a lot of land now constituting the farm owned by "William Nicholas. He made the first improvements on that farm and built the house that is there. His wife, Elizabeth, was a daughter of Benjamin Cooley of Greenwich. Mr. Powers died in Pittsford, June 2, 1801; Mrs. Powers died Aug. 17, 1823.
Joab Powers, son of Jeremiah of Greenwich, probably came to Pittsford with other members of his father's family. On the 31st of August, 1799, he bought of Joseph Rowley 55 acres of land, "being the easterly half of the second-division lot of the original right of Peter Johnson;" and on the 6th of November, the same year, he bought also of Joseph Roley 55 acres, the same "being one-half of the third-division lot of the original right of Peter Johnson." This land was located in Sugar Hollow and was nearly identical with the farm recently owned by John Rand. Mr. Powers built the house now standing on the west side of the road, and about the year 1803, married Millicent, and located on the westerly half of that farm. He died there about the year 1830.
Justus Powers, brother of the preceding, married Lucy, daughter of Daniel Carpenter, and located with his parents on the east side of the highway, opposite his brother. He moved to Rutland about the year 1810.
Rowley, Essex County, Massachusetts was first settled in 1639.
Jeremiah Powers was the son of Jeremiah, of Greenwich, Mass., who was the third generation from the early settler of this name in that township, and who was originally from Ireland.
Jeremiah, 3d, married Elizabeth, daughter of Benjamin Cooley, of Greenwich, and resided some years in that township where the following children were born, viz.: Jeremiah, Justus, Joab, Charles, George, Prudence, Montgomery and Gardner.
from The Fish Family in England and America
Gideon Cooley, who was one of the first settlers to come down Otter Creek and settle Pittsford, and his dau. Elizabeth m. Capt. Jeremiah Powers
and later in the book
Nicholas [Cooley] was great grand son of Gideon Cooley, who was one of the first settlers to come down Otter Creek and settle Pittsford, and his dau. Elizabeth m. Capt. Jeremiah Powers. From Gideon he inherited his great skill as a construction engr.
