One Rhode Island Family

Since post one and post two on Lucy Arnold, I have been unable to pursue most of the on-site research I need to do, but I have pursued some research on a number of collateral lines that I was able to do from home.

The problems:

Lucy Arnold married Richard5 (John4, John3, John 2, Maturin) Ballou in Smithfield, Rhode Island around 1777 and they became the parents of nine children, of which my ancestor, Mercy Ballou, is the oldest, born in 1778.  I am trying to determine:

• whether Lucy Arnold is the daughter of Thomas5 (Thomas4, Richard3, Richard2, Thomas1) and Rachel.
• the likely family of Thomas’ wife, Rachel (possibly Smith).

Here is what I learned:

• According to Benson’s Arnold book (see below), a Greene manuscript (see below) is his source that Rachel was a Smith.  Another possible clue that I noticed is Benson’s reference on page 242 that

“Thomas [Arnold] purchased 4 acres of land from Thomas Smith on 20 June 1767″ (p. 242).

• Looking around, I find a Smithfield land owner named Thomas4 (Thomas3, Edward2, Christopher1) Smith, (1697-1777), who was the son of Thomas and Phebe (Arnold) Smith.  Thomas Smith would be Thomas Arnold’s second cousin once removed.  Thomas Smith was a Quaker who married twice and inherited Smithfield property from his father, and his birth in 1697 is noted in Benson’s Arnold book.  It’s doubtful he is Rachel’s father because I think this would have been caught by now, but it would be good to pin down exactly who the seller “Thomas Smith” was.
• Like most early Rhode Island residents, the Arnolds were opposed to the various New England authoritarian churches.  Some of the Smithfield Arnolds were Quakers, and were instrumental in establishing a Meeting in Smithfield.
• My branch of the Thomas Arnold family were driven out of Massachusetts after they became Baptists.  They settled in Providence and later Smithfield, Rhode Island.
• The Ballous were active in the Six Principle Baptist Church in Cumberland.
  

  Elder Ballou Meeting House, Cumberland, R.I.

• In line after line of the ancestors of these Ballou, Arnold, and Aldrich families, who all ended up in Smithfield/Cumberland/Wrentham, I notice that many branches came from nearby Mendon, Mass.  Other branches were among the original founders of Providence. In terms of narrowing down the Smiths, this means that Rachel Smith could possibly have been descended from a Mendon family of Smiths, as well as several early Providence Smith families. I suspect that if my current lead about the land transaction is a dead end, it may take me a long time to prove anything about her.
• The Ballou book (see below) has become more and more valuable as I attempt to place these people in a historical context.  For the first time, I realized that the discrepancies I see about Cumberland, R.I. and Wrentham, Massachusetts are because it was the same place.  I knew that “Attleboro Gore” was a Massachusetts settlement that transferred to Cumberland, R.I. around 1745; what I didn’t realize was that the Cumberland section my ancestors lived in WAS Attleboro Gore.  This will help me to further investigate land records.
• Comparing family connections among the Thomas Arnold (1733 – ) and Richard Ballou families has resulted in lots of distant connections, none of which seem significant.  I believe Richard Ballou acquired his property through his own family (NOT from his wife’s father), but I need to look at each of his deeds.

Next steps:

• Find old maps of the households in Attleboro Gore/Cumberland.
• Pursue Cumberland deeds and also Smithfield deeds (which may be in Central Falls) for Thomas Arnold and Richard Ballou’s activities (already have one for Richard Ballou)

and two steps from the last post that have had to wait:

• Check out Union Village in person, and also Union Cemetery
• Research John and Mary Smith

Sources:

• Austin, John Osborne.  The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island, with Additions and Corrections by John Osborne Austin, and Additions and Corrections by G. Andrews Moriarty.  Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1969.
• Ballou, Adin. An Elaborate History and Genealogy of the Ballous in America Providence: E.L. Freeman & Son, 1888.
• Benson, Richard H.  The Arnold Family of Smithfield, Rhode Island.  Boston: Newbury Street Press, 2009.
• Greene, Welcome Arnold. “Notes of Genealogy of the Arnold Family.”  Unpublished typescript based on a manuscript complied starting in the 1840′s. 1914. Knight Memorial Library, Providence. [photocopy accessed at the NEHGS Manuscript Collection].
• Holman, Winifred Lovering. “Hope Allen and Granddaughter Deborah (Wager) Henchman.”  New England Historic Genealogical Register 102 (July 1948): 177-191 (for my Boyce/Allen/Clifford lines)
• Snow, Nora Emma. The Snow-Estes Ancestry. 2 volumes.  Hillburn, N.Y., privately printed, 1939.[full text was accessed on Ancestry.com]
• Torrey, Clarence Almon. New England Marriages Prior to 1700.  3 volumes. Boston, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011.