James Cole: My Favorite Innkeeper of Plymouth MA

James Cole was the first of the Cole ancestors to immigrate to America and he founded the Cole lineage starting in the Plymouth Colony and spreading across to Virginia and beyond. James Cole and Mary Tibbes are my Eleventh Great-Grandparents! I can hardly believe I was able to go so far with my research! Learning about James Cole made him my favorite innkeeper and person in Plymouth, Massachusetts! Read on to see his story!

James Cole was born in London, England on 25 July 1600 and in 1616, at sixteen years old, he lived in a suburb of London called Highgate with his family. James was the son of William Cole, also known as William James Cole, an Englishman who was born about 1570 in Enniskillen, Fermanagh, Ireland. William Cole was likely married first to Susan Bale, born about 1564 in Littlebentley, Essex, England but Susan may have died because William later married Mary Feake/Feakes about 1598 in London. According to this, Mary Feake is the mother of James Cole.

I found a bit of history of the Cole family. “The surname Cole is derived from an ancient name of unknown antiquity. Coel, as the name was formerly spelled, was the founder of Colchester, England and was one of the kings of Britain. The American family is believed to belong to the Hertfordshire branch. At the time of King James, when the thrones of Scotland and England became one, the Cole family was loaded with additional honors and estates…At this time Sir William Cole, father of James, was established in Ireland by the King and given immense estates at Enniskillen.” (Wikitree citing William James Cole 1570-1634).

The English campaign in the early 1600s aimed to bring the province of Ulster, Ireland under English control. The English captured the Enniskillen Castle in 1607 and the lands of the native Irish were seized and handed over to planters loyal to the English Crown. William Cole from Devon was appointed by King James I to build an English settlement there in 1612. Captain William Cole was installed as Constable and strrengthened the castle wall and built a “fair house” on the old foundation as the center point of the county town. The first Protestant church was erected and by 1630 the town had around 180 inhabitants, mostly English and Scottish settlers. There is a Cole monument in Enniskillen one hundred feet high and can be climbed to give a view of the town.

Now that we have a picture of the histoical background of James and his father, we can continue to explore his life from London to Enniskillen, Ireland to Plymouth MA immigrant. James Cole married Mary Tibbes on 8 May 1625 in Barnstable, Devon, England. Mary was likely the daughter of John and Margaret Tibbes (Tibbs). Not much more is known about Mary Tibbes.

James Cole and his wife Mary and two of their children immigrated in 1632 and may have come to Saco, Maine and then made their way to Plymouth or they landed at Plymouth. Records confirm James Cole was listed in the 1632 census for Plymouth MA although 1633 is used as the year of immigration and admittance as a freeman. His name is on the tax list of Plymouth in 1634 and in 1636, he had a grant of ten acres of land and then received another seven acres for his dwelling house. James was a mariner or sailor, shoemaker, surveyor and Innkeeper and he built his house on the sight of the present Baptist Church in Plymouth.

James was the first settler who lived on “Cole’s Hill”, as it is still known, the first burial ground of the Pilgrims. This land probably included the ground upon which rests Plymouth Rock. Cole’s Hill is now a National Historic Landmark! James accumuated more land from grants through the years and served as a surveyor of highways in several years, a constable in 1641 and 1644, and served on a number of juries. In addition, James was a volunteer in conflicts with the Pequot Indians.

Moving on to one of the more interesting and noted occupations of James Cole which was his job as an innkeeper! Soon after his arrival at Plymouth, he opened the first inn called an “ordinary” or public house which was one of, if not the first, public house in New England. This house was kept as a public house by him and his son James until 1698. An occupation of an Innkeeper was of considerable importance because the state and community recognized the need to provide comfortable lodging, food and drink for visitors. James Cole became Plymouth’s best known innkeeper with his establishment on Cole’s Hill on the north side of Leyden Street. In 1657, 1659 and again in 1669, the court awarded him ten pounds to repair his inn so it would be fit for visitors and kept in good repair.

However, James was not always the upstanding citizen. Of particular interest is his apparent lack of church membership among the scores of early prominent settlers who were often church leaders! Not only did he avoid church, but also operated a rather rowdy tavern! He was fined several times for selling wine to the Indians. One account describes the throwing of stools and general disturbance until early morning hours! James violated his liquor license and lost the license for allowing drunkeness and disorder in his tavern but continued to run the inn without the license as he was apparently financially successful anyway. Even after his license was restored, he and his wife experienced some troubles running the inn and were sometimes fined. Indeed, James appeared in Plymouth records for either being drunk or allowing others to become drunk in his house. He later relinquished operation of the inn to his son James who ran a quieter operation!

Despite his tavern escapades, James was financially successful and acted as surety on bonds at various times and loaned money. He undoubtedly won the respect of the townspeople. He also appeared numerous times in court records as either a plaintiff or defendant in various actions involving business contracts and debt collections. I think James was a bit of a rebel and non-conformist but had a good heart and helped his neighbors and friends. Living in a strict religious community had to be a challenge for his rebellious spirit!

James and Mary Cole had four children including the following:

1. James Cole, born 1626/27 in London, England and married (1) Mary Tilson in 1652 in Plymouth MA and had seven children. He married (2) Abigail Davenport in 1700 or later. James died 4 October 1709.

2. Hugh Cole, born 1627 in London, England and baptized in 1628. He married Mary Foxwell in Plymouth in 1654/5 and had twelve children. Hugh is our ancestor and his story can be found here:Tracing Roots of Hugh Cole II and Deborah Buckland Families

3. John Cole, born about 1630 In Plymouth MA. Died 1677.

4. Mary Cole was born about 1632. she married (1) John Almy by 1668 and (2) John Pococke by 1677. She had no known children.

James Cole died 12 October 1688 in Plymouth MA. Mary Tibbes Cole died 7 Mar 1660. They are buried in Burial Hill in Plymouth also called Cove Burying Ground.

Sources:

Ernest Byron Cole, The Cole Family of Plymouth, Mass. p. 325.

England, Select Marriages, 1538-1973; Database online: Ancestry.com

Robert C. Anderson. The Great Migration Begins; Database online: Ancestry.com: Also: Robert C. Anderson. The Pilgrim Migration. Boston: Hew England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004.

Massachusetts, U. S., Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1790-1890, Database online: Ancestry.com

Ernest Byron Cole. The Descendants of James Cole of Plymouth 1633. New York: Grafton Press, 1908.

Supplement II to Three Hundred Colonial Ancestors, p. 13; Ancestry.com

Robert S. Wakefield and Alice H. Dreger. The Wives and Children of James Cole of Plymouth, Massachusetts. The American Genealogist 67 (1982): 243-45

Find A Grave, Mary Cole, Memorial 128251542; Also: James Cole, Memorial 34205577

Wikipedia. Citing Enniskillen, Fermanagh, Ireland.

Tracing Roots of Hugh Cole II and Deborah Buckland Families

In my efforts to sort out all the Hugh Coles in my ancestry, I am trying to find interesting stories to share! This generation of Hugh Cole II and Deborah Buckland was interesting because of the ancestry of Deborah Buckland that we can trace back to England and because family of Hugh II was involved in King Phillip’s War. This couple are my 9th Great-Grandparents. Read on for more!

Firstly, regarding Hugh Cole II, he was born 8 March 1657/58 at Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay Colony and was the son of immigrants Hugh Cole I and Mary Foxwell. In 1680, Hugh II was admitted as a freeman in Swansea and then began building a house in Swansea in 1681. Amazingly, the house is still standing with some additions having been made to it!

That same year, 1681, on May 6th, Hugh II married Deborah Buckland in Swansea, Bristol County, Massachusetts Colony. Deborah was the daughter of immigrant Joseph Buckland (also spelled Bucklin) and Deborah Allen. Deborah died 7 November 1724 in Swansea at age 64 and he husband Hugh II died 17 February 1737-38 in Swansea at age 80. They are buried in Kickemuit Cemtery, Warren, RI. Their grave markers are pictured below.

Cole Roots

Now to first trace the roots of Hugh Cole II. His father, Hugh Cole I, was born about 1627 in London, England and was the son of James Cole and Mary Tibbes. Hugh I came to Plymouth MA with his father James and mother in 1633 when he was about six years old. From Plymouth records, I found James Cole and son Hugh kept the cows for the community from April to November by bringing the cows to pasture and back for milking. They were paid 50 bushels of corn for this! Later, as an adult, he was admitted as a freeman in 1657 in Plymouth Colony.

He married Mary Foxwell, daughter of Richard Foxwell and Ann Shelley, on 8 August 1654 and they had ten children. Mary Foxwell was born in 1635 in Scituate MA and she died in 1688-89 in Swansea at age 53. She was Hugh’s first wife and he married twice after that but all the children were by his first wife Mary. She was buried in Tyler Point Cemetery in Bristol County, RI and her grave is unmarked but a marker was placed in 2015 commemorating her and her husband.

Hugh I was a shipwright (ship builder) and civil engineer among other things. He also was a surveyor of highways in Barnstable, a selectman in Swansea and a deputy to the General Court. Some sources also list his occupation as shoemaker, innkeeper and sailer. Indeed, a jack of all trades!

The Cole’s lived at the time and place of King Phillip’s War when Native American tribes of the Northeastern Woodlands plundered and killed settlers in an attempt to drive the colonists away. In this calamity of war, 12 of the region’s towns were destroyed and many more damaged. The economy of Plymouth and Rhode Island Colonies was ruined and their population decimated after losing one-tenth of all men for military service

Hugh I had also purchased 500 acres from Native American leader, King Phillip. During the King Phillip’s War, Hugh’s own home was burned and he served as a Sargeant in the conflict. He and King Phillip were actually good friends and when the King warned him that he could no longer keep his braves under control, Sergeant Cole loaded his household goods and family on a raft and left for Tiverton, Rhode Island where he had friends. His home was afire in less than an hour, but he returned about 1680 and built a new house.

Hugh Cole I died in Swansea, Bristol, MA on 22 January 1698-99 and was buried in the southern part of Meadow Neck in the Tyler Point Cemetery next to his wife. The cemetery is now called Howland Meadow.

Buckland Roots

Joseph Buckland, father of Deborah who married Hugh Cole II, was indeed an immigrant but he came to America as an infant in 1634 from England on the ship “Elizabeth Dorcas” along with his mother from Weymouth, Dorset, England where Joseph was born on 26 Jun 1633. His parents, if we can go back a generation, were William Buckland and Mary Bosworth.

A sad story comes out of this journey to America in 1634 on the “Elizabeth Dorcas.” From what I can gather, William Buckland, a carpenter and shipbuilder, had already traveled to Plymouth in 1630 with the Winthrop fleet, but returned to England to bring his wife, Mary Bosworth Buckland, and family back to Plymouth. The Buckland clan coming by ship in 1634 included William and William’s wife Mary, their infant son Joseph Buckland, her mother Mary Bosworth, and her brothers and her father, Edward Bosworth. Here is the sad part, Edward Bosworth died on board ship, just as it landed in Boston Harbor, never to set foot on the land of his choice! The Bosworth Genealogy states that Edward, being close to death, asked to be carried to the deck, “so that he might see the promised land, and after this, consigned his soul to God, and died.”

The Buckland family first settled in Hingham, Massachusetts and by 1656, William Buckland, who was a shipwright, moved his family to Rehoboth, MA. Joseph Buckland married Deborah Allen on 5 November 1659 in Rehoboth, Bristol, MA, British Colonial America. This Deborah Allen was the daughter of John Allen and Elizabeth Bacon of England of whom no further information is verified or written. Deborah Allen was born about 1637 in Huverton, Leicestshire, England and it is assumed she immigrated with her parents.

Joseph Buckland died on 28 Mar 1718 in Rehoboth, Bristol, MA. Deborah died there two years later in 1720. They are buried in Newman Cemetery, East Providence, RI.

William Buckland died in 1683 and Mary Bosworth Buckland was buried in1687, four years later. They were buried in Rehoboth MA and their son Joseph administered his father’s estate.

Sources:

First Families of America, database, Ancestry.com, p. 117.

Massachusetts Vital Records, 1621-1850 & Plymouth Vital Records, p. 670: AmericanAncestors.com, NEHGS

Find a Grave for Hugh Cole: Memorial 9258336

Cole, Ernest Byron. The Descendats of James Cole of Plymouth 1633. Grafton Press, New York, New York, 1908, pp. 25-27, 32-34.

W. R. Cutter. New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial. 1914, Vol. II, p. 630

James Newell Arnold. Vital Record of Rehoboth, 1642-1896: Marriages, Intentions, Births, Deaths…etc. p. 65. Digital copy from http://www.archive.org.

WikiTree for Joseph Buckland (1633-1718)

Ancestry.com, New England, The Great Migration and The Great Migration Begins, 1620-1635 [database online]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.

Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England Boston, Little Brown and Co., 1862, Vol. 1, pp. 416-429.

England, Select Marriages, 1538-1973; database online at Ancestry.com.

Hugh Cole III and Martha Luther of Swansea MA: First Baptists of the Cole Clan

When I started years ago to research my family’s genealogy, I never dreamed I would find ancestors beyond Great-grandparents. Here it is years later and I have found so many that lived so very, very long ago. Hugh Cole III and Martha Luther were my 8th Great-Grandparents and I have even researched beyond them and indeed to the Mayflower and beyond! It is quite a journey meeting all these ancestors and I don’t want to look at them as just names and dates but have strived to find out something about their lives. Even if it is just a blurb in a record, it gives me some insight about them and makes them much more real than just a name!

Hugh Cole III and Martha Luther were the parents of Joseph Cole Sr who married Freelove Mason. Their son, our ancestor, was Joseph Cole Jr. who I have written about in several posts! Hugh Cole III was born 30 May 1683 in Swansea, Bristol, Massachusetts, British Colonial America. He was the son of Hugh Cole II and Deborah Buckland/Bucklin. His line descends from James Cole of 1633. Some other Coles in early Colonial America have descended from a Daniel Cole. These are two separate Cole families that eventually intermarry. I am related to both clans of Cole!

Hugh Cole III married Martha Luther, daughter of Reverend Samuel Luther and Mary Abell on 13 December 1705, location unknown, but probably in Swansea. Martha’s father was the son of Captain John Luther, emigrant. Martha was born 9 December 1681 so was 24 years old at the time of marriage and Hugh was 26 years old. They had seven known children together between 1706 and 1727: Hugh Cole IV, Nehemiah Cole, Joseph L Cole (Sr. – our ancestor), Martha Cole (m. Edward Hoar), Peleg Cole (m. Priscilla Winslow), David Cole (m. Anna Childs) and Deborah Cole.

An interesting bit I found related to Hugh and Martha is about the first Baptist Church in American Colonies. Warren, Massachusetts was originally part of Swansea but was annexed to Rhode Island became a town in 1747. For a while the Puritan Church was a “state power” and would tolerate no other opinions regarding religion. Roger Williams opposed this and moved to Providence, Rhode Island where he established the first Baptist Church in America in 1638. His beliefs were based on the principles of soul freedom and separation of church and state. The Coles of Swansea, including Hugh and Martha, chose to attend the Baptist Church as did many of their descendants for years to come! Below is the Baptist Church today.

Hugh Cole III died on 16 July 1753 at age 70 in Swansea and left a will. His son Peleg Cole was administrator of his estate which was divided between his wife and children as to his wishes “to provision for the Use of ye Family.” Martha Cole died in 1765 at age 83 or 84. Martha and Hugh Cole III are buried in the Kickemuit Cemetery, Warren, Bristol County, Rhode Island.

Links to related posts: A Difficult Fresh Start for the Cole Families

Joseph Cole Sr. and Freelove Mason: From Swansea MA to St. Clair VA!

SOURCES:

The Blankenbeckler Family of Southwest Virginia and Related Families, Database, Ancestry.com., 2005, pp. 78-79.

First Families of America, (Cole, Remond Selecmon), p. 117, Database, Ancestry.com

U. S. & International Marriage Records, 1560-1900; database, Ancestry.com

Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915, Database, FamilySearch, Martha Luther; FHL 0903395, Item 6.

Abstracts from Bristol County MA Probate Records, 1745-1762; Vol. XIII, pp. 137-8; Vol XIV, pp. 227-8, 154.

The Cole Genealogy; Descendants of James Cole of Plymouth 1633; by Earnest Byron Cole: Grafton Press, NY, 1908; pp. 42-55.

Horace A Abell and Lewis P Abell, The Abell Family in America: Rutland, VT: Tuttle Publishing, 1940, p. 47.

Joseph Cole Sr. and Freelove Mason: From Swansea MA to St. Clair VA!

Joseph Cole, Sr. and Freelove Mason were my 7th Great-Grandparents and parents of Joseph Cole Jr. who married Freelove Cole Thomas. I discovered the Cole ancestors when researching my Mayflower connections. I have multiple Cole ancestors – a surname closely associated with Plymouth and the Mayflower descendants and this creates a challenge for reseaching the Cole families. For more on this family, see my stories about Joseph Cole Jr., son of Joseph Cole Sr. and Freelove Mason: A Difficult Fresh Start for the Cole Families and Tribute to Capt. Joseph Cole Jr. – Revolutionary War Ancestor.

Joseph Cole Sr. was born on 3 May 1716 in Swansea, Bristol County, Massachusetts Colony in British Colonial America. He was the son of Hugh Cole III and Martha Luther. (Hugh Cole III was the third Cole in a line that was named Hugh, as you might have guessed!) Martha Luther also came from a very interesting family too with quite a few characters and I hope to write more about the Luther’s later! Her father was the Reverend Samuel Luther.

Freelove Mason was also born in Swansea on 14 November 1720 and she was the daughter of Joseph Mason and Elizabeth Barney. She and Joseph Cole Sr. married on 1 May 1738 in Swansea. A 1738 land record shows the Joseph’s father, Hugh Cole III, sold the newlyweds 10 acres with a shop in Swansea. However, in 1751 Joseph had land in Swansea that he sold to Martin Luther for 850 pounds as Joseph moved his family to Providence, Rhode Island in about 1749. The family moved again to Scituate, RI about 1758 when he was admitted as a freeman there. Land records show on 1 May 1758, he bought 65 acres in Situate but that land was later sold.

The Cole’s were of the Baptist Faith and their next move was to Poughkeepsie, Dutchess Co., New York Colony where a branch of Swansea’s Baptist Church had been formed. They resided in the New Paltz area of Ulster County, New York. Sometime between 1771 and 1774, Joseph Sr. and his wife and children journeyed by boat down rivers with families and relatives, including others of the Cole clan, from New York City to a remote corner of Virginia, bordered by Kentucky and North Carolina, to the Washington County area.

There is a story regarding the migration of the Cole family to Virginia that was carried down through the generations. When the relatives were getting aboard the boat at New York to sail for Virginia (probably Norfolk VA), one of the party, Dorcas Cole, was very much alarmed by the sight of so much water, and cried out, “We will all be drowned, we will all be drowned!” (she was a Baptist). Her brother Eleazer Cole (who was a Methodist Minister), remarked to her, “Stick to your faith; if you are born to be drowned you will be and if not, you will not.” That was the Baptist doctrine. Below, a map gives an idea of the long journey they embarked on!

The Joseph Cole Sr. family and their children settled in Washington County VA and on the South Fork of the Holston River. This area of the Holston River was known as Sinclairs or St. Clair Bottom, named after an English Settler, Charles Sinclair, who was granted the first patent issued to anyone in that region by the Governor of Virginia. Until 1776, the entire area of Virginia Colony west of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the border of Kentucky was known as Fincastle County. By 1776, this county was dismembered and three new counties were made of the area including, Washington, Montgomery and Kentucky Counties. Charles Sinclair died about 1776 and land was passed to his sons who conveyed a large portion of this land to Joseph Cole Sr. and his son, Joseph Jr., in multiple transactions over the years.

Besides acquiring lands, Joseph built a Grist Mill, called Loves Mill. Amazingly, this mill was still in operation in 1962! It was rebuilt around 1837 and the photo below is the rebuilt mill. It is in the town of Loves Mill in Washington County VA near Chilhowie.

Now we are coming up to the time of the Revolutionary War and Joseph served as Corporal in the 4th Regiment of Virginia. He is a DAR Ancestor (#A203135) and recognized for his service to the country. Joseph served on the Grand Jury in Washington County also. As mentioned above, the Coles were of the Baptist faith and in Virgnina, they participated in establishing a Baptist congegation of which the Coles were the principal communicants. As a matter of fact, in 1792, their son, Joseph Cole Jr., donated by deed the land on which a church house was built and cemetery established in St. Clair Bottom. This was the beginning of the Primitive Baptist Church and Cemetery in St. Clair Bottom.

Joseph and Freelove raised possibly nine or ten children. Children I found named were: Lydia, Joseph Cole Jr, Susanna, Zacheus, Urania, Hannah, Sampson, Hugh, Joanna and Elizabeth. Some records also include a John Cole as a son and some records do not name Susanna or Hannah.

Joseph Cole Sr. died on 22 April 1785 in Chilhowie, Smyth County, VA. By this time, Washington County was also divided and part of it became Smyth County. Freelove Mason Cole died in 1792 and it is believed that Joseph and Freelove are buried in St. Clair’s Bottom Primitive Baptist Cemetery in the back under a pine tree. A memorial gravestone was later erected to honor Joseph Cole Sr. in the Baptist Cemetery for his military service.

Joseph Cole’s will, dated 22 april 1785, left everything to his surviving wife, Freelove, and upon her death, the children would each inherit land or money. His will did note that his son Hugh was deceased at the time of the will and other children mentioned in the will were Joseph Jr, Samson, Elizabeth, Urania, Lydia, and Zacheus. Not mentioned in the will were Susanna, Hannah and Joanna and John.

Sources:

Find A Grave.com, Joseph Cole

Redmond Cole, Mayflower Briefs

Descendants of James Cole of Plymouth, by Barbra Frisby Thompson, Mountain View CA, 2000

Luther Family Genealogy by George Luther

U.S. Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783, Ancestry.com database

Summers, Annals of SW Virginia, part 2, p. 1124

Washington County Will Book 1, page 103

U.S. & International Marriage Records, 1560-1900; Database on Ancestry.com

Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915; Database, FamilySearch