i.   Nathan Culver, born 4 July 1742 (Colver, 1910).  No additional information has been found about Nathan Culver.  He was named in his father’s will, written on 5 April 1776 (CT. Probate Records, 1609-1999), but he wasn’t included in a series of 1777 land transactions involving the heirs of Joseph Culver III; hence, he may have died after 5 April 1776, and before 18 April 1777. Nathan Culver may have been named after his presumed maternal uncle, Nathan Eddy, who also died when he was young.

  ii.   Jonathan Culver, born 8 October 1744 (Colver, 1910), was not named in his father’s will or the administration of his estate, so it is assumed he died before 5 April 1776. He may have died in infancy.

  iii.  Abigail Culver^[1], born 8 February 1746 (Colver, 1910), married 29 May 1770, Asa Button (Nye, 1971), born 13 May 1745, the son of Jedediah and Elizabeth (Newberry)^[2] Button (Barbour, Groton Vital Records).  Asa Button died 2 June 1826 (Nye, 1971). Abigail and Asa Button had eight children together, born 1771-1799 (Nye, 1971).

 iv.  Joseph Culver IV, born 18 December 1749 (Colver, 1910), married 1) 23 March 177, Tryphenia Newberry, born 20 June 1754 in Groton, the daughter of Tryal ^[3] and Anna (Davis) Newberry (Baker, 1896). Tryphenia (Newberry) Culver died 29 September 1778 (Hale, 1932-5); and 2) 17 November 1782, widow Mary (Nye) Williams (Colver, 1910); died 1 May 1829 in Groton (Wightman Cemetery Memorials; Hale, 1932-5). Joseph Culver IV had two daughters from his first marriage and four children - three daughters and a son from his second marriage. (Colver, 1910).

  v.  Mary Culver, born 23 October 1751 (Colver, 1910), married William Heath 2 August 1772 in Groton, officiated by Elder Timothy Wightman (NARA, 1836); William Heath died March 1794 (NARA, 1836); Mary (Culver) Heath died about 1848^[4]. Like the Groton Eddys, the Groton Heaths came from Swansea, Massachusetts.

vi.   Bethany Culver, born 20 May 1754 (Colver, 1910), married Joseph Stark, son of Judith (Fitch) Stark and adopted son of Daniel Stark  (Stark, 1927).

  vii. Hannah Culver, born 7 August 1755 (Colver, 1910), married 22 October 1789 at Wilbraham, Massachusetts, Timothy Stebbins (Massachusetts V.R.), son of Moses and Dorcas (Hale) Stebbins.  He was born 17 April 1762 at Springfield, Massachusetts (Greenlee & Greenlee, 1904).  Timothy and Hannah (Culver) Stebbins had five children.  Their fourth child, born 8 June 1799, was named “Edy”, (Greenlee & Greenlee, 1904), after Hannah’s mother, Mary (Eddy) Culver.

Mary (Eddy) Culver probably died during the three-year period after the birth of her daughter, Hannah, on 7 August 1755,  and before Joseph Culver III married his second wife, Eunice Wells, on 10 August 1758. 

Who were Mary (Eddy) Culver's parents?

Although primary-source data has not been found, there is plenty of circumstantial evidence pointing to the fact that Mary (Eddy) Culver was probably the daughter of Ebenezer and Sarah (Harding) Eddy of Swansea, Massachusetts:

  1.  Mary Eddy, the daughter of Ebenezer and Sarah (Harding) Eddy, was close in age to Mary (Eddy) Culver.  Mary Eddy was under the age of 14 when she was assigned a guardian on 8 August 1726 (Eddy, 1930; NEHGS, 2017), so she was born after 8 August 1712 (probably after 25 December 1712, her older sister Phoebe’s known birth date) and before 8 August 1726 in Swansea.  Based on the presumed 1714 birthdate of her next older sister, Sarah Eddy, Mary may have been born about 1716. Mary (Eddy) Culver married Joseph Culver III on 31 July 1741, so if she was born about 1716, she would have been about 25 years old when she married; Joseph was 29 years old. 

 2.  Most of the Eddy families living near the Groton, Connecticut area during the time Joseph and Mary (Eddy) Culver were married (1741-1757) were close relatives of Ebenezer Eddy; descendants of Ebenezer Eddy's parents, Zachariah and Alice (Paddock) Eddy of Swansea, Massachusetts. This included the family of Ebenezer Eddy's older sister, Elizabeth (Eddy) Whipple, Ebenezer Eddy's nephew, Constant Eddy (son of Ebenezer's brother Obadiah Eddy), and  Ebenezer Eddy's niece, Jemima (Eddy) Harding (daughter of Ebenezer's brother Zachariah Eddy).  Jemima (Eddy) Harding moved to the Groton area with her husband, Stephen Harding, who was a brother or first cousin of Ebenezer's wife, Sarah (Harding) Eddy (Mary Eddy's mother).

  3.  Ebenezer Eddy died intestate in Swansea about 1726, leaving six minor children^[5] who were assigned guardians to manage their inherited property until they reached majority and could manage it themselves. (NEHGS, 2017; Eddy, 1930). Guardianship had nothing to do with physical custody. The courts usually assumed that fatherless children would live with their mother if she was alive and able to raise them. If the mother was deceased or otherwise incapable of supporting her children, fatherless children were taken in by relatives or friends (Baird, 2010; Blackstone, 1871). The Eddy children were probably initially under the custody of their mother, Sarah (Harding) Eddy, however on 27 November 1727/8, Sarah (Harding) Eddy, was declared “non compos mentis” (of unsound mind) by the Bristol County Judge of Probate of Wills (NEHGS, 2017). It’s likely that the Eddy children were then placed in the care of family and friends who were not necessarily the guardians of the children. Since several relatives settled in Groton, Connecticut, before and shortly after 1727/28, it’s possible that one or more of the Eddy children may have gone to live with family members there. In particular, Stephen and Jemima (Eddy) Harding (Mary Eddy's uncle and first cousin) moved to New London, Connecticut by 1732, just a few years after judgement had been made regarding Sarah (Harding) Eddy's mental state, and it's possible Mary, about age 16, accompanied them or went to live with them in New London.

The probable source of information on the family of Joseph and Mary (Eddy) Culver

Frederic Lathrop Colver completed his genealogy of the Colver-Culver family in 1910.  Initially, Colver had very little information about the family of Joseph Culver III, aside from two daughters, Amy and Abigail. Abigail was named as a daughter of Joseph in the 1755 record of her marriage to Asa Button in Groton, Connecticut Vital Records.  Amy Culver's 1756 marriage record to Elijah Newton was also listed in Groton Vital Records, without a father named, but Colver must have assumed she, too, was a daughter of Joseph Culver given the proximity of Abigail's and Amy's marriage dates. 

However, “after the book was in type and had been made up into page proofs”, Colver received new information about several lines of the Colver-Culver family, including the line of descent from Joseph Culver II, grandson of the immigrant ancestor, Edward Culver, down to the sixth-named Joseph Culver. This new information was included in an addenda to the genealogy.

The new information for Joseph Culver III was precise and complete.  Not only was his wife's full maiden name given, along with a complete marriage date, but the names of six additional children were given, with their complete birth dates, including Abigail's but not including Amy's birth date: Joseph Culver married Mary Eddy on 31 July 1741; their children were Nathan, born 4 July 1742; Jonathan, born 8 October 1744; Abigail, born 6 February 1746; Joseph, born 18 December 1749; Mary, born 23 October 1751; Bethany, born 20 May 1754; and Hannah, born 7 August 1755.

Frederic Lathrop Colver did not cite the source for this new information, however it probably was Dr. Joseph E. Culver, about whom Colver wrote on page 234:

“Joseph Edwin, born 9 February, 1823; died 1 November, 1897. Dr. Joseph E. Culver was a well known physician, resident in Jersey city for many years. He was an energetic collector of family genealogy, and had gathered much interesting material on the Colver-Culver family history.”

And on page 42:

“+Dr. Joseph E. Culver, late of Jersey City, N. J., who was descended from Joseph, fourth son of Edward Colver the Puritan, speaks of his grandfather, Joseph Culver of Groton, Connecticut, great-great-grandson of Edward Colver the Puritan, as living on the farm at "Chepadas," and following his trade of millwright and wheelwright. There were about two hundred and fifty acres of land belonging to the farm at that time. on which were two gristmills and one sawmill in daily use. Dr. Culver remembers the kitchen at "Chepadas" quite well, and the ancient very heavy smooth bore flint-lock musket, used by Edward Colver in the Indian wars. which hung on brackets in the kitchen. He also owns the seal ring once owned and used by Edward.”

As an authority to a Culver pedigree presented in the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Volume LI, 1920, pages 90 – 92, the following reference was provided:

“Bible Records of Dr. Joseph Edwin Culver who was b. in the Culver homestead in Groton, Conn. , and who was 7th in descent from Edward¹ Culver and the 6th to bear the name of Joseph. He inherited the Groton homestead and lived there awhile and removed to Jersey City, N. J. , where he d. in 1897. He was a close student of Culver genealogy.”

“Affidavits of George M. Culver, M. D. , son of Dr. Joseph Edwin Culver
 Abel I. Culver
 Henry H. Culver
 Samuel H. Culver”

Considering that Dr. Culver was born at the ancestral homestead, was a great-grandson of Joseph Culver III, and provided Culver family bible records as a source for the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, he was probably the source who provided information to Frederic Lathrop Colver on the family of Joseph III and Mary (Culver) Eddy.  An effort is currently underway to find out if these records are still in existence.

Dr. Joseph E. Culver and his wife were the last members of the Colver-Culver family to be buried at Wightman Cemetery, the ancient burying ground where many members of the Colver-Culver family are buried, including the immigrant ancestor, Edward Culver, and his wife Ann.

Amy Culver was probably not the daughter of Joseph and Mary (Eddy) Culver

Frederic Lathrop Colver continued to attach Amy Culver to the family of Joseph and Mary (Eddy) Culver after he received the new information on this family, perhaps because there was no time to move her given “the book was in type and had been made up into page proofs,” and there probably was no other family to place her with.  As noted earlier, Colver probably attached her to this family due to the proximity of her marriage date (1756) to that of Abigail Culver (1755) who was a known daughter of Joseph and Mary (Eddy) Culver.  Probably to accommodate Amy Culver as a child of Joseph and Mary (Eddy) Culver, Frederic Lathrop Colver estimated Joseph and Mary's marriage date as 1739, and Amy Culver's birth date as 1740. In her Colver-Culver genealogy, Valerie Dyer Giorgi carried this information forward without changing it. However, there are several facts about Amy Culver that distinctly show she was not the daughter of Joseph and Mary (Eddy) Culver:

1.   Amy Culver married Elijah Newton on 4 April 1756 (Barbour, Groton Vital Records). Amy (Culver) Newton’s death record (Hale, 1932-5) lists her age as 75 when she died 11 March 1812, giving her a birthdate of 1736-1737, four to five years before the specific marriage date of 31 July 1741 provided to Frederic Lathrop Colver for Joseph and Mary (Eddy) Culver, and two to three years before the assumed date given by both Frederic Lathrop Colver and Valerie Dyer Giorgi. This discrepancy in years between the marriage and the birth of the first child seems questionable.

 2.  Amy (Culver) Newton outlived Joseph Culver III by 12 years.  It is significant that she was not named in his will, the administration of his estate, or in a series of 1777 land transactions involving the heirs of Joseph Culver III.  All of Joseph Culver III’s other living children were named (CT. Probate Records, 1609-1999; Groton Land Records).   

3.   Elijah Newton died at the age of 36 in early 1773.  His will, written 13 January 1773 and probated 26 March 1773 (CT. Probate Records, 1609-1999), names his wife Ama (Amy), son Elijah, daughters Mabel, Mary, and Ama, and his “Honored mother-in-law Mary Whipple widow”. The widow Mary Whipple^[6] clearly was highly esteemed by Elijah, as noted in the following entries from his will:

 “… and furthermore I give unto my Beloved wife Ama Newton the whole improvement of my Real Estate … for her maintaining decently my Honored mother-in-law Mary Whipple widow during her natural life according to the provision I shall make hereafter for her my mother-in-law, my said wife to the whole Improvement and Increase of my said Real Estate for her own use and Behoof in and for the consideration afores'd during said term and then after my said son Elijah Newton shall come of lawful age as afores'd.”

“Item. I Give and Bequeath unto my honored Mother Mary Whipple Widow, a Dower of a Honourable maintenance suitable for a person of her age in sickness and in health during her natural life and a Decent Burial at Death if she shall continue to & Dwell in my now dwelling house. But if she shall Remove or Depart from s'd Premises to lose the right in said Dower, the Dower above given or Maintenance to be duly & full completed unto her my said Honored Mother by my well Beloved wife afores'd from the provision made in her right of Dower.” (Meech & Meech, 1911; CT. Probate Records, 1609-1999)

       The use of the term “in-law” in colonial times sometimes varied from the way we use it today; however, Elijah Newton’s use of the term was clear: “my said Honored Mother by my well-beloved wife.” He was referring to the mother of his wife, Amy.

      If Mary (Eddy) Culver was the same person as the widow Mary Whipple, she was alive in 1773 when Elijah Newton wrote his will. This seems highly questionable because Joseph Culver married his second wife, Eunice Wells on 10 August 1758. Divorce did occur during this time period, however divorces were required to go through the Connecticut Superior Court, and there is no record of this.  

4.    It is very likely that "Mary Whipple widow" was the second wife of Zachariah Whipple of Groton.  Zachariah Whipple was the son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Eddy) Whipple, who came to Groton from Providence, Rhode Island, around 1711. Zachariah Whipple’s first marriage was to Elizabeth Rogers, the daughter of John and Bathsheba (Smith) Rogers of New London. Elizabeth’s grandfather was the founder of the Rogerene Sect. Elizabeth (Rogers) Whipple died on 18 September 1751. 

       Sometime after the death of Elizabeth (Rogers) Whipple on 18 September 1751 and before Zachariah wrote his will on 8 February 1758, he married a second time to Mary (__), whom he named in his will, which was proved 4 February 1760.  Considering when Zachariah and Mary Whipple married  (after 1751) and when Zachariah Whipple died (1759/60), his widow was most likely “my Honored mother-in-law Mary Whipple widow” whom Elijah Newton named in his will, written 13 January 1773 and probated 26 March 1773. This is the only case found in mid-18th-century New London County records in which a Mr.Whipple married a woman named Mary and left her a widow before 1773, when Elijah Newton wrote his will.

       These facts also make it highly unlikely that "Mary Whipple widow" was the same person as Mary (Eddy) Culver.  Mary (Eddy) Culver gave birth to her youngest child, Hannah, on 7 August 1755. Two and one-half years later, Zachariah Whipple wrote his will on 8 February 1758, naming his second wife, Mary. It seems very unlikely that a woman who recently gave birth would have enough time to remove herself from one marriage and establish herself in a new marriage in two and one-half years, especially when she had several other very young children, and there is no divorce record to be found.  It just doesn’t make sense.

      What the records show is that Mary (__) married (__) Culver ca. 1735 (or earlier).  Their daughter, Ama “Amy” Culver, was born 1736/37.  (__) Culver probably died 1736/7-1752.  Elizabeth (Rogers) Whipple, wife of Zachariah Whipple, died 18 September 1751. Zachariah Whipple married the widow Mary (__) Culver after Elizabeth’s death and before 8 February 1758, when Zachariah wrote his will and named Mary as his wife. Zachariah Whipple died before 10 November 1759. Elijah Newton named his mother-in-law, Mary (__) (Culver) Whipple, as his “Honored mother-in-law Mary Whipple widow” in his will, written 13 January 1773.

My line of descent from Mary (Eddy) Culver down to my maternal grandmother is as follows: