William Heath

        Every record I have found for William Heath of Groton, Connecticut gives his date of birth as "ca. 1750", with no information as to his place of birth or his parentage  He has truly been the proverbial brick wall for me.

        My search through Groton, Connecticut records revealed one principal family of surname Heath living within the Groton town boundaries where my ancestor spent the majority of his life:  Joseph  and Dorothy Heath, whose earliest Groton record appears with the birth of their son, Joseph Heath, Jr. on July 28, 1713.  Early records of this family's presence in Groton are sparse, consisting mainly of the birth records of their children: Joseph in 1713, and two more children: John Heath, born March 10, 1716/17, who later married Temperance Avery of Groton; and Abigail Heath, born February 13, 1720, who later married Samuel Morgan of Groton. Joshua Hempstead gave reference to Joseph Heath, Sr. in two diary entries in the early 1720s:

Monday, December 19, 1720:  "fair.  I went to Stonington.  I put up a note at Groton Meeting house to Enquire after 5 Stray Cattell.  I hear of one at Jos Heath's."

Wednesday, January 11, 1721:  "Some rain.  In the foren I was at home.  Aftern I went to Groton wth Nathll & Stephn.  They carried over ye oxen took along a two year old & yearling tht was at James Averys & a Two year old yt was at Heaths for wch I pd him 3s 6d & & a yearling at Ingrems for wch I m to pay 5s 0d & also pay ye Constable for Crying. They are gone to ye farm."

[From The Diary of Joshua Hempstead]

        Aside from these records, the only other information I have been able to find about the early Heaths of Groton comes from an intriguing series of  land records which provide evidence of this family's origins in Bristol County, Rhode Island and later residence in Bristol County's neighbor, Newport, Rhode Island.  In the Groton land records, Joseph Heath is referred to as "of Swanzey in the Provence of the Massachusets Bay"; and his son and daughter-in-law,  Joseph (Jr.) and Mary Heath are referred to as of "Newport in the Colony of Rhode Island".  These land records led me to the most convincing candidates I have found for parents of my ancestor, William Heath, because within the annals of Trinity Church of Newport, Rhode Island is found the record of Joseph Heath, who married Mary Bell, daughter of William and Martha (French) Bell, on September 14, 1740.  On September 25, 1748, two children, William and Mary Heath, were baptized at Trinity Church.   I suspect that this William Heath is probably my ancestor, the son of Joseph and Mary (Bell) Heath, who later returned to Groton, Connecticut where his grandparents settled and where his father was born.

What is Known of the Life of William Heath of Groton

           William Heath married Mary Culver (or Collver) on August 2, 1772.  Mary was the twenty-year-old daughter of Joseph and Mary (Eddy) Culver of Groton, Connecticut and William was probably between twenty-two and twenty-five years of age. William and Mary were married by Elder Timothy Wightman, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Groton, who wrote in his record book of marriages:

August ye 2 - 1772
Then was William Heath and Mary Collver married

           In their twenty-two years of marriage, William and Mary Heath had the following six known children:

• Mary Heath, b. Abt. 1774; d. May 22, 1834, age 60; buried at Old Wightman Burying Ground, Mystic, New London County, Connecticut.
•  William Heath, b. Abt. 1776; d. Bef. 1850; m. Exeline Lamb, 6 November, 1823, Groton, New London County, Connecticut.
• Gilbert Heath, b. Abt. 1778, Groton, New London County, Connecticut; d. 06 April 1861, buried at Old Wightman Burying Ground, Mystic, New London County, Connecticut; m. (1) Margaret Searle, 25 January 1800; m. (2) Martha Watrous, 1846.
• James Heath, b. Abt. 1780; d. Bef. 1850; m. Temperance, Abt. 1818.
• Asa Heath, b. Abt. 1785, New London County, Connecticut; d. 8 November 1852, age 67; buried at Cedar Grove Cemetery,  New London, New London County, Connecticut; m. (1) Grace Brown, daughter of Christopher Brown, d. 25 March 1850, age 59 years; buried at Cedar Grove Cemetery,  New London, New London County, Connecticut; m. (2) Mrs. Content Lamb, 27 October 1850, Groton, New London County, Connecticut.
• Amos Heath, b. 11 February 1786, Groton, New London County, Connecticut; d. 12 April 1848, Groton, New London County, Connecticut; m. Mary Chapman, 10 April 1815, Groton, New London County, Connecticut.

        In March, 1776, William Heath enlisted for service in the Revolutionary War. In a deposition for William's Revolutionary War pension application, Benadam Gallup, then a boy of ten or eleven years of age, recalled that William had been working in the barn of his grandfather, Lt. Col. Benadam Gallup, where William enlisted for service. According to John Morgan of Groton, William Heath garrisoned duty at Fort Griswold in 1776, where he served three months as a private under the command of Captain Ralph Stoddard. He then served one year as a private under the command of Captain William Whitney and Captain Oliver Smith.

        In 1778, William participated in General Sullivan's Rhode Island Expedition, after which he confided to his wife, Mary,

"of the sufferings and hardship which he underwent while there by reason of the great strains being obliged to sleep on the fences to keep out of the water."    

        Nehemiah Gallup, the sergeant in charge while William was in Rhode Island, recalled that,

"I well remember Putting said Heath under gard [sic] for a short time when on Rhode Island for being absent when the Gard was called for he was however a good soldier and performed his duty faithfully"

and that

"I shall never forget so long as I have intellect enough left to remember anything he [William Heath] being the only man that I ever put under Guard during the whole of said Year that I served as sergeant in said Company."

        At least four of William and Mary's six children were born after he returned home from the war. Records of the births of his children are far from complete. My ancestor, Amos Heath, was born fourteen years after the marriage of William and Mary and is likely the youngest of their children.

        On April 18, 1777, William and Mary bought for £ 100 from Mary's siblings and her step-mother, Eunice Culver, about forty-three acres of land that was part of her father's estate in Groton. Joseph Culver died on October 12, 1776, and the deed to Mary and William was part of the division of Joseph Culver's estate that transpired in the following land transactions:

The Land Records of William and Mary (Culver) Heath of Groton

April 18, 1777:  William Heath & Mary, his wife; Daniel Stark; Asa Button and Abigail, his wife; Joseph Colver; Bethany Colver and Hannah Colver, all heirs of Joseph Culver of Groton, sold for £ 100 to Lemuel Culver of Groton, about 40 acres of land "one half of the Cellar under the Late Dwelling House of our Honored father Joseph Culver Deceas'd and the Back Chamber and the East Garret in Said House and one certain Tract or Parcel of Land Situated Lying and being in Groton aforesaid and is part of the homestaid farm of Said Joseph Culver Deceased".  The land was bounded by "A Lot of Land this Day Set out to William Heath  and Mary his Wife"; and by the property of Daniel Stark; Robert Stanton; Mrs. Eunice Culver (widow of Joseph Culver); Joseph Cullver and his sisters [Bethany and Hannah]. Signed by Daniel Stark, Asa Button, Abigail Button, William Heath, Mary Heath, Joseph Colver, Bethany Culver, and Hannah Colver. [Groton, CT. Land Records, Volume 8, Page 106]

April 18, 1777:  William Heath & Mary, his wife; Daniel Stark; Asa Button and Abigail, Unice (sic) Culver guardian for Lemuel Culver, all of Groton, sold for 300 pounds to Joseph Culver, Bethany Culver and Hannah Culver, all of Groton, " One half of the Dwelling House of Mr. Joseph Culver late of Groton, Dcd.: the west part with the shop and two thirds of the Sider Mill and press and one half of the Barn the west End and one certain Tract or parcel of Land adjoining said Buildings"  bounded by the property of Moses Culver; Widow Eunice Culver and her thirds of the Estate of her late husband Mr. Joseph Culver, dcd.; Daniel Stark; Asa Button; and Moses Culver.  Signed by Daniel Stark, Asa Button, William Heth, Mary Heth, and Eunice Culver.  Witnessed by Benadam Gallup and Elizabeth Wells. [Groton, CT. Land Records, Volume 10, Page 18].

April 18, 1777:  William Heath & Mary, his wife; Eunice Culver, guardian unto Lemuel Culver; Asa Button and Abigail, his wife; Joseph Colver; Bethany Colver and Hannah Colver, all heirs of Groton, sold for £ 100 to Daniel Stark of Groton, about 40 acres of land locatred in Groton and bounded by land laid out (this day) to William Heth and his wife Mary; Whitman's land; Asa Button and his wife Abigail; Joseph Culver and sisters (Bethany and Hannah); and Lemuel Culver.  Signed by Eunice Culver, Asa Button, Abigail Button, Joseph Culver, William Heth, Mary Heth, Bethany Culver, and Hannah Culver.  Witnessed by Benadam Gallup and Elizabeth Wells. [Groton, CT. Land Records, Volume 11, Page 8].

April 18, 1777:  William Heath & Mary his wife bought for £ 100 from Lemuel culver, Daniel Stark, Joseph Culver, Bethany Culver, Hannah Culver, Asa Button and Abigail his wife; all of Groton, about 43 acres of land with one small barn, bounded by the land of Daniel Stark; Lemuel Culver; Robert Stanton; and "the land of Joseph Culver Late of Groton Decesd." Signed by Eunice Culver, Daniel Stark, Asa Button, Abigail Button, Joseph Culver, Bethany Culver, and Hannah Culver.  Witnessed by Benadam Gallup and Elizabeth Wells. [Groton, CT. Land Records, Volume 11, Page 31].

April 18, 1777:  William Heath & Mary, his wife; Eunice Culver, guardian unto Lemuel Culver; Daniel Stark; Joseph Colver; Bethany Colver and Hannah Colver, all heirs of Groton, sold for £ 100 to Asa Button and Abigail, his wife of Groton, about 40 acres of land located in Groton and bounded by land this day laid out to Joseph Culver and his sisters (Bethany & Hannah Culver); and bounded by the property of Daniel Stark; Wightman's land; and Moses Culver.  Signed by Eunice Culver, Daniel Stark, Joseph Culver, Bethany Culver, and Hannah Culver, William Heath and Mary Heath..  Witnessed by Benadam Gallup and Elizabeth Wells. [Groton, CT. Land Records, Volume 11, Page 232].

          Nearly eleven years later, William and Mary sold their portion of Joseph Culver, Sr.'s estate to Mary's older brother, Joseph Culver, Jr., for a mere £ 10 -- one-tenth of the property's original value.  One can only speculate as to their reasons for this sale,  however with the transaction they gave up "all Our Right & Title that we now have ever had or Ought to have to the Real Estate of Our Hon^d. Father Mr. Joseph Cullver Late of Sd. Groton Deceas'd":    

February 9, 1789: William Heath & Mary Heath of Groton sold for £ 10 to Joseph Culver of Groton "all Our Right & Title that we now have ever had or Ought to have to the Real Estate of Our Hon^d. Father Mr. Joseph Cullver Late of Sd. Groton Deceas'd. Signed by William Heath and Mary Heath.  Witnessed by Joshua Enos and Thos. Niles. [Groton, CT. Land Records, Volume 11, Page 93].

        William died five years later. As far as I know, no record is available about his place of death, burial or probate. In her 1837 application to receive a pension for William's Revolutionary War service, Mary Heath and her son Gilbert testified that William died in March of 1794.

     

SOURCES

• Bristol County, Massachusetts Vital Records, filmed on LDS Family History Microfilm # 0022366

• The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records, Town of Groton, compiled under the supervision of Lucius B. Barber and Lucius B. Barber, 1911-1934.

• Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) application information for Revolutionary Ancestor William Heath of Sally Russell Cox, Constance Patterson Russell, and Bertha Burdick Patterson.

• The Diary of Joshua Hempstead, A Daily Record of Life in Colonial New London, Connecticut 1711-1758, New London County Historical Society, Inc. New London, Connecticut. 1999, pages 103 and 105.

• Groton, Connecticut Land Records, Volumes 4-6.

• National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Microfilm # 1244: Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land-Warrant Application Files, Pension Application of Mary Heath of Groton.

• The records of Helen Louise Heath Palmer.

• Records of Trinity Church of Newport, Rhode Island,  filmed on  LDS Family History Library Microfilm # 0022422.

• Swansea, Massachusetts Vital Records, filmed on LDS Family History Library Microfilm # 0903395.

• U.S. Federal Census Records for Groton, Connecticut, 1820 - 1810.