| Hester (Fowler) Collins migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm |
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Hester Fowler, daughter of Philip Fowler and Mary Unknown, was baptized April 2, 1621, Saint Mary, Marlborough, Wiltshire, England [1][2][3] vs baptized on March 16, 1619/20 as given in Anderson’s Great Migration.[4]
On 24 March 1634, Hester along with her parents and most of her siblings embarked on their voyage from Southampton, England. They arrived in New England in May 1634. [4] [5] [6] Hester’s oldest brother, John (age 22), stayed in Marlborough and married there the following year.
Hester married Ezra Rolfe about 1648. Ezra's probate record in 1652, noted that he had a widow, Hester Rolfe, and two children at that time. [7]
After Ezra's death in 1652, Hester married Robert Collins by about 1658. [8] Joseph Fowler (son of Joseph Fowler) testified that Robert Collins was his uncle, and Ezra and Daniel Rolfe both called Robert Collins their father.[9] Thus we can deduce that “the” Hester that was Collins' wife was indeed Hester Fowler and that she was also the widow of Ezra Rolfe. (See Disputed Marriages above for complete analysis.)
By 1679, Robert Collins and Hester moved to Haverhill in Norfolk County. This is evidenced by the following two land transactions:
On 24 June 1682, Hester and her husband, Robert Collins, sold all their land (15 acres) in Haverhill.[10]
Robert died at Haverhill on 17 June 1688. His death record indicated he was husband of “Esther” implying that Hester was still living at the time of his death.[11]
Children with Ezra Rolfe, all born at Ipswich:
Children with Robert Collins, all born at Ipswich:
Disputed Marriages:
Antiquarian Papers has the notation: “Robert Collins, Ipswich, called father by Ezra and Daniel Rolfe, and uncle by Joseph Fowlar.” [9] The original source of this article and the proof of Joseph's relationship to Hester Fowler Rolfe Collins (his paternal aunt, sister of his father Joseph Sr) and to the sons of Ezra Rolfe (Hester's wife prior to Robert Collins) comes from Joseph's testimony at the Ipswich Quarterly Court of March 1672. When testifying about a horse, brothers Ezra & Daniel Rolfe (sons of Ezra Sr) called their step-father Robert Collins "father Collins" and their testimony was followed immediately by Joseph's about the same horse of his "uncle Collins".[14]
Joseph Fowler’s maternal uncles were Henry Kimball, Richard Kimball, John Kimball, Thomas Kimball, Benjamin Kimball, Caleb Kimball, John Severance, Robert Dutch and Edward Allen. So, Joseph’s “uncels Collinges” would have to be a paternal uncle married to one of his father’s sisters. At the time of Joseph’s testimony, two of his paternal aunts were Margaret Coleman and Mary Chandler, so their husbands could not have been Joseph’s “uncels Collinges.” The only other paternal aunt was Hester. Robert Collin(g)’s wife’s name was Hester, meaning this undoubtedly was Hester Fowler. [10] [15][16] (Robert C. Anderson in the Great Migration series erroneously states there is no record of Hester, daughter of Phillip Fowler, in New England.) Furthermore, since Ezra Rolfe Jr. and Daniel Rolfe called Robert Collins ”father,” Hester Fowler must have been previously married to Ezra Rolfe Sr., and Robert Colling(s) was the step-father who raised them.
Matthew Stickney, in The Fowler Family mentions a number of land transfers etc. that he states relate to Phillip Fowler and daughter Hester, but only some of those are found in "Essex Land Deeds". ... key 1679 sale of property by Robert Collins that supposedly names Hester's father as Phillip Fowler and states that she inherited that property while her name was Bird (i.e. married to presumably Jathnell Bird) has not been found.[10] Stickney's work was apparently based mainly on "Ancient Records of Ipswich Vol 1"[17]
However, a search of Essex deeds for this transaction comes up empty. Robert Collins and his wife Ester (spelled also as Hester) did sell land to Joseph Belknap Sr. (acknowledged June 25, 1682) and to Ezra Rolfe (presumably Junior, acknowledged June 11, 1701) and Simon Stace/Stacey does appear in several deeds from the late 1680s onward but no such transaction between Collins and Stace is found.[18] Perhaps this 1679 transaction was recorded elsewhere; Stickney does not give his specific source. No reference to this transaction appears under the names of Bird, Collins, Fowler or Stacy (with various spellings) in the Ipswich & Essexx Quarterly Court records 1679-1686.
In this reference to the June 18, 1679 land sell by Robert Collins and wife Hester to Simon Stace, Stickney actually quotes part of the land description from an unknown source as bounded by …"land of Philip Fowler, Senior, towards the North East (being part of a lott that was formerly Phillip Fowler, sen'r, which he gave to his daughter Hester, in the time of her husband Bird, and hath beene long time parted by a stone wall, from the other land of the aforesayd Phillip." The use of a quote that uses old English words and spellings show that this was just not Stickney’s assertion, but a direct quote from either a town record or deed in a book that is not readily accessible. This quote seemingly proves Hester Fowler’s parentage, first marriage to Jathnell Bird, and subsequent marriage to Robert Collins (who apparently took over the land that Hester inherited from her father) and hopefully is not ignored just because we don’t have access to all the books, maps and documents that Stickney had.
Haverhill Deaths
Ipswich Births
Ipswich Deaths
This week's featured connections are Redheads: Hester is 13 degrees from Catherine of Aragón, 15 degrees from Clara Bow, 23 degrees from Julia Gillard, 12 degrees from Nancy Hart, 11 degrees from Rutherford Hayes, 14 degrees from Rita Hayworth, 15 degrees from Leonard Kelly, 19 degrees from Rose Leslie, 15 degrees from Damian Lewis, 14 degrees from Maureen O'Hara, 20 degrees from Jopie Schaft and 30 degrees from Eirik Thorvaldsson on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.
F > Fowler | C > Collins > Hester (Fowler) Collins
Categories: Mary and John sailed Abt Mar 26 1634 | Puritan Great Migration Minor Child | Puritan Great Migration
edited by K OBrien
Thank you for supporting WikiTree and for your important work on this profile.
I note the recent baptismal date change to the profile--from 16 March 1619/20 (seems referenced to Anderson et al.) to "April 2, 1621" (seems FamilySearch database only or IGI entry).
Might anyone be able to elaborate/provide analysis on records/apparent conflict before the changes are made to the data field? --Gene
Image is here
Marlborough, St Mary the Virgin > Parish Registers > 1602-1623 Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Image (accessed 1 July 2022)
Ann
As always, ever so helpful. I'll need to spend a little more time on the shared link. As well, to advance this, believe we'll need to tear down the sources from the Anderson, et al. article to understand how the discrepancy comes to pass. Again, will take a little more time, at least on my part. --Gene
Ann
Name: Hesters Fowle Gender: Female Event Type: Baptism Baptism Date: 2 Apr 1621 Baptism Place: Marlborough, St Mary the Virgin, Wiltshire, England Phillimore Ecclesiastical Parish Map: View this parish Father: Phillip Fowle
edited by K OBrien
To be honest, the Fowlers haven’t been that difficult to identify, the Will was the keystone. I think the primary source should always be cited rather than a reference from a book which can also be cited as a secondary source But that’s my humble opinion. If there is a register image I always check it and check through the register a few years either side as not everything has been transcribed or in some cases not transcribed fully or correctly.
Ann
Anderson did have quite a few errors on the Fowlers in the original publication i.e. no more records exist for Hester or Mary and Hester's baptismal date. I went back through the register to find if another Fowler child may have been born on 16 March 1619/20 (the date Anderson gave). I only found one record for that date and it was a daughter of Edward something. I don't think we will ever know how he came up with that date.
Believe I noted that. As above, we need to tear down the reporting by Anderson et al. in the hope of discovering the source of the discrepancy.
I hope to advance this a little later. --Gene
edited by GeneJ X
edited by K OBrien
The unproven piece in my mind is whether Hester Fowler first married Jathnell Bird before Ezra Rolf. Matthew Stickney (cited on these profiles) found a 1679 land sale that explicitly named Hester as daughter of Phillip Fowler AND wife of "Bird" while she sold land as wife of Robert Collins. This would obviously completely prove this theory but so far we have been unable to re-find that 1679 sale in Essex Deeds, Ipswich Town Records or anywhere else. But even without that deed, existing evidence (in my opinion) strongly supports the theory that Hester Fowler was wife of Ezra Rolf & Robert Collins.
Ann
On March 26, 1672, Joseph Fowler (son of Joseph, grandson of Philip) testifies about his “uncels Collinges hors.” (Stickney, Pg 27) Joseph’s maternal uncles were Henry Kimball, Richard Kimball, John Kimball, Thomas Kimball, Benjamin Kimball, Caleb Kimball, John Severance, Robert Dutch and Edward Allen. So “his uncels Collinges” would have to be on his paternal side i.e. one of his father’s sisters. Richard Collin(g)’s wife’s name was Hester meaning this was Hester Fowler, a sister to Joseph Fowler. This is solid proof the Hester Fowler married Robert Collins. The fact that Ezra Rolfe Jr and Daniel Rolfe called Collins “father” also clarifies that Hester was previously married to Ezra Rolfe Sr.
The following excerpts from Matthew Stickney’s book clearly link the Collin(gs) to the Fowler family i.e. Collings is mentioned with Margery Fowler’s husbands (Osgood and Rowell) and Joseph Fowler’s sons (Joseph and Philip Jr.)
• 1650: Christopher Osgood’s will was “proved by the oath of Daniel Rolfe, the 10th of the 8th mo. 1650, per me. Robert Lord.” Pg 13 (My note: Daniel Rolfe would have to be the brother of Ezra Rolfe who Hester was married to from about 1648 to 1652.)
• On 24 February 1651, Margery Fowler Osgood marries Thomas Rowell. • On 28 September 1652, Hester married Robert Collin(g)s. She names her first son “Philip.”
• In 1656-7 (12 Feb.) Thomas Rowell and Alex. Knight make an agreement with Robert Collings, to lease his farm in Ipswich for seven years from date, excepting two acres and the home lot for himself. (pg 16) (My note: Thomas Rowell would be Robert Collings’s brother-in-law.)
• In 1656-7 (12 Feb.) Alexander Knight agrees to let his farm in Ipswich, for seven years from date to Thomas Rowell and Robert Collings of the same place (brothers-in-law), with the exception of 2 acres and a home lot for himself. Pg 26
• In 1662 (16 June) Robert Collings was “a debtor of 5 shillings to the estate of (his brother-in-law) Thomas Rowell of Salisbury.” Pg 26
• ****In 1671-2 (18 March) from the court files it appears, that there was a controversy between Robert Collins and Deacon William Goodhue, in regard to a colt taken up by Amos Stickney at Newbury, which they both claimed, and 26 March, 1672, Joseph Fowler testifies about his “uncels Collinges hors.” Pg 27 (My note: (oseph would be son of Joseph, grandson of Philip.)
• In 1677 (10 Sept.) Robert Collins of Ipswich and “Eastor” his wife, sell land there to Philip Fowler, jr. (their nephew), which was ac, by them, 9 July 1678. Pg 27 (My note Philip Jr. was the son of Joseph Fowler)
Please re-link Hester to Collins-851 and Rolfe-68.
edited by K OBrien
By process of elimination it does seem like Hester Fowler, daughter of Phillip the immigrant was the one who married Ezra Rolf and then Robert Collins.
It doesn't look like we have anything about Jathnell Bird in this set of information though. I haven't looked at Torrey's sources for this marriage though.
No marriage record has been found for Jathnell Bird and Hester. But we do know is in 1639 Jathnell's property was adjacent to Philip Fowler Sr. Christopher Osgood's property was also adjacent to Philip Fowler Sr. It would appear that Philip gave each of the girls some property. After Philip's death, Collin(g)s and his wife, Hester, sold this very same property. So it looks to me like Hester owned this property with Jathnell.
edited by K OBrien
I went through Essex land records and the only two transactions I found for Robert Collins selling land was in 1682 to Joseph Belknap Sr. (Stickney does show this one in his book exactly as it appears in Essex Deeds) and in 1701 to Ezra Rolfe (presumably Jr). I documented it on Hester Unknown profile https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Unknown-548873 with links to the deeds. Maybe that earlier sale was documented somewhere else, Amendeded this comment to note that he relied on "Ancient Records of Ipswich" along with apparently other sources. And he seemed to be unaware that Hester (Fowler or otherwise) married Ezra Rolfe before she married Robert Collins.
I didn't see a sale to Fowler either, the Collins grantor deeds start here with "Esther" wife of Robert and the others appear on the following pages under Hester and Robert (there was no entry for "Eastor") https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9ZZ-YGKG?i=442&wc=MCBL-TM3%3A361613201%2C361822801&cc=2106411
The earliest entry with Phillip Fowler as a grantee seems to be 1695 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9ZZ-YB9G?i=536&wc=MCBL-NZ9%3A361613201%2C361757101&cc=2106411
edited by Brad Stauf
https://archive.org/details/ancientrecordsof00ipsw/page/n51/mode/2up?view=theater&q=bird
And Stickney’s statement in that same paragraph: “6 April 1641 Granted Jatnell Bird, a little parcel of ground lying by Goodman Mussey’s, on the side of the hill, not exceeding 2 acres” can be found right here:
https://archive.org/details/ancientrecordsof00ipsw/page/n91/mode/2up?view=theater&q=bird
And on and on… until 1654. There must be a Vol. 2 for the rest of the information but I can’t find it online. But Stickney’s material is not unsourced!
I haven't seen it but I would think there must be another book of deeds or land transactions or something. Stickney matches Essex Land Records exactly for the sale to Belknap, so why would he then make up other transactions out of thin air? The only thing that gives me hesitation is that the 1679 transaction is so ultimately perfect in that it names Hester's father AND her first, otherwise undocumented-as-husband jathnell Bird. It's the kind of genealogical holy grail that we are always looking for so if you WERE going to make something up to create the family linkage, that's exactly what you would make up. But I'm not claiming that he made stuff up, I just want to find what he found so that we can have certainty which I know is not always possible. Still researching...
edited by Brad Stauf
In the Great Migration Sketch for Phillip Fowler (2001), Anderson states that Hester's baptism is the only known record of her. And that many secondary sources claim that she married m1 Jathnell Bird and 2 Ezra Rolf and 3 Robert Collins. Ezra Rolfe's widow Hester, did marry Robert Collins. But "no evidence has been found to connect Hester Fowler to Jathnell Bird or the widow of Bird to Ezra Rolf).
Is there any more recent evidence?
edited by M Cole
Information in Fowler-964 is more complete
Additional source https://archive.org/stream/cu31924025963772#page/n317/mode/2up