Monday, August 10, 2015

Jonathan Philbrick of Corinth, Vermont

Corinth Center Cemetery - 1992
    Jonathan Philbrick was born in Rye (Rockingham) NH on 6 April 1741.  According to Dearborn's history of Salisbury NH, he went to Salisbury (Hillsborough) and then to Corinth (Orange) VT, where he died after the 1810 census.  His wife was Mary, probably the Mary Folsom who married Jonathan Philbrick in Rye in 1766.
    Jonathan was most likely the son of James Philbrick (son of Ebenezer) and Elizabeth Rand, and his parentage probably would not be in question if it were not for Chapman’s genealogy of the Philbrick family.  This writer stated that Jonathan (born 1740, son of James and Elizabeth) was a blacksmith, who married Anna Jones and moved to Buckfield, Maine.  Dow, in his history of Hampton NH, disagreed, saying it was the son of Nathan and Dorcas (Johnson) Philbrick, born in 1735, who married Anna Jones.
    Just seeing the names of the children of Jonathan and Mary (Stephen, Mary, James, John, Benjamin, Sally, Ebenezer, and Daniel) and those of Jonathan and Anna (Dorcas, Elizabeth, Dolly, Sally, and Enoch) would prompt one to favor Dow’s conclusion.
    The Philbrick / Philbrook Research Group, which has compiled an exhaustive list of the descendants of Thomas Philbrick, the immigrant ancestor, is of the opinion that Jonathan of Corinth was the son of James and Elizabeth (Rand), but cites no document that confirms this fact.  In addition, a lineage society has acknowledged the relationship by accepting a supplemental application for a line from Jonathan of Corinth through James to Thomas.

    Whenever a statement that raises doubts appears in print, it has to be proved conclusively or refuted totally.  So far, to my knowledge, there is no source that actually verifies Jonathan’s parentage.

Sources:
1810 U.S. census, Corinth, Orange County, Vermont
Jacob Chapman, A Genealogy of the Philbrick and Philbrook Famnilies
John J. Dearborn, History of Salisbury, New Hampshire, p. 706 
Joseph Dow, History of the Town of Hampton, New Hampshire
Philbrick / Philbrook Research Group (http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nvjack/fylbrigg/descendants.htm : accessed October 2013)
"Church Records of Newington, New Hampshire," NEHGR, vol. 22, p. 157

Photo from Buffalogen's collection