Robert Coles
1598 - 1654 (57 years)
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Name Robert Coles Born Between 1597 and 1598 Sudbury, Suffolk, England 
Gender Male Died 28 Oct 1654 Warwick, Kent, Rhode Island, USA Buried Oct 1658 Warwick, Kent, Rhode Island Person ID I1738 Alford Hathaway Last Modified 29 Aug 2021
Father Nathaniel Coles, b. 1578, Sudbury, Suffolk, England Mother Hannah Butler, b. 1585, Chattereland, Glouchester, England Family ID F715 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Family Mary Hawxhurst, b. Abt 1602, Nauneton, Warwickshire, England , d. 5 Apr 1656, Oyster Bay, Queens, New York (Age 54 years) Married 1630 Rhode Island, USA - Spouse: Mary Coles (born Hawxhurst)
Children 1. Elizabeth Coles, b. 1631, Salem, Essex, Massachusetts , d. 1684, Long Island City, Queens, New York (Age 53 years)2. John Coles, b. 1633, Salem, Essex, Massachusetts , d. 1676, Newport, Newport, Rhode Island (Age 43 years)3. Deliverance Coles, b. 1634, Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts, United States , d. 10 Aug 1663, Long Island City, Queens, New York (Age 29 years)4. Ann Coles, b. 1635, Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts , d. 1695, Long Island, Province of New York (Age 60 years)5. Sarah Coles, b. 1636, Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts , d. 1655, Oyster Bay, Livingston, New York (Age 19 years)6. Nathaniel Coles, b. 1640, Warwick, Kent, Rhode Island, United States , d. 17 Dec 1668, Oyster Bay, Long Island (Present Nassau County), Province of New York (Age 28 years)7. Daniel Coles, b. 1642, Rhode Island, USA , d. 29 Nov 1692, Oyster Bay, Nassau County, Province of New York (Age 50 years)8. Robert Coles, b. 1642, Musketo Cove LI, NY, USA , d. 16 Apr 1715, Oyster Bay, Nassau County (Present Queens, Long Island), Province of New York, (Present USA) (Age 73 years)Last Modified 29 Aug 2021 Family ID F642 Group Sheet | Family Chart
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Notes " The Records of The Coles family go back to Richard Colles of PickwickCo., Warwick, England ,who sprung from the family of Collefern of Co.Somerset.
------Research by Robert Coles of Glen Cove LI. NY. ----- 22 Dec. 1980
Robert came from England in the fleet with Govenor Winthrop in 1630 toeither Ipswich or Roxbury (Massachussetts Bay Colony) , and October ofthat yr requsted to be a Freeman of Roxbury. He was made a Freeman in1631 He was fined several times for intoxication. These fines wereremitted possibly with the understanding that he was to leave the colony.He came to Rhode Island in 1637. (possibly forced out of town becaused ofdrinking)
,reformed in earnest and was one of the founders of the First BaptistChurch along with Roger Williams and William Carpenter.
When he died ,he did not leave a will,so his property was distibuted bythe town " the same as it should have been had he left a will
He may have been Welch from near Bristol England
Migration: 1630
First Residence: Roxbury
Removes: Ipswich 1633, Salem 1635, Providence 1638, Paxtuxet, Warwick1653
Church Membership: Roxbury Church member #8. Excommunicated at somelater date. In 1639, he was in Providence ,RI and was one of the twelveoriginal members of the First Baptist Church.
Freeman: admitted 5/18/1631. Disenfranchised 3/4/1633/4, readmitted5/14/1634.
Education: Signed his name.
Offices: Representative for Roxbury to General Court 1632. Helped writearbitration law 1640.
From public records:
August 16, 1631: Fined 5 marks, for drinking too much aboard ship"Friendship"
May 9, 1632: Appointed on a committee to confer with the courtabout raising of a public stock.
March 4, 1633: "The court orders that Robert Coles, for drunkennessby him committed at Roxbury, shall be disenfranchised, weare about hisnecke and soe to hange upon his outward garment a D made of redd clotheand sett upon white; to contynue
this for a yeare, and not to leace it off at any tyme when he comesamongst company, under penalty of XLs. for the first offense, and Vpounds for the second, and after to be punished by the court as theythink meete; also he is to weare the D
outwards, and in enjoyned to appear at the next general court, and tocontynue thise until it be ended."
April 1, 1633: Among those who had gone to Agawam (Ipswich) toplant a colony.
1639: Providence. He was one of the twelve original members ofFirst Baptist Church.
1640: He was appointed with three others to form a committee on allmatters of difference regarding the dividing line between Providence andPawtuxet, and on July 27 of that year , he and 38 others signed aagreement to form a government. He was one of the 17 who purchased thePautuxet meadows, and he made his home there. Three others wereappointed with him to arbitrate disputes and make rules of government,and their report was the compact signed by all the settlers. He became afriend of Samuel Gorton when he came to Providence, driven fromMassachusetts by the intolerance of the authorities of that colony, andgave him part of his land.
The actions of Gorton and his followers were such, however, as to causethe older settlers to wish to be free of them, and he, with four others,in September 1642, appeared before the general court at Boston andyielded themselves up to the Massachusetts Colony, which acceptedjurisdiction and appointed them magistrates. In the formal complaint ofthe Indians to the Plymouth colony in September 1652, the seventh articleis as follows:
"7th. Ninigrett bought a mastiff dog of Robert Cole, and gave 40shillings for him, which dog ran home to Robert Cole, who killed the saiddog; wherefore, Ninigrett requires 40s. of said Cole."
The commissioners found the charge true, and promised to write Mr. Coleto return the money.
January 2, 1653 he sold his house & lot in Providence,RI to Richard Pray.
Feb. 27, 1654 he & his wife sold to Zacharoah Rhodes for 80 pounds hisdwelling house at Pawtuxet and certrain land.
He married Mary Hawkhurst. He died previous to October 18, 1654, whenhis property was distributed by the town, "the same as it should havebeen had he left a will."
After his death, Mary married Mathias Harvey and moved to Oyster Bay, NYwhere she died.
Descendants of Robert Cole(s)
Generation No. 1
1. ROBERT COLE(S) was born Abt. 1598 in Sudbury, Suffolk County, Englandand died 1655 in Rhode Island7. He married MARY HAWXHURST Abt. 1630,daughter of SAMSON HAWXHURST.
Notes for ROBERT COLE(S):
" COLES, Robert (1598-before 1655), from Eng.
to Roxbury, Mass., 1630; removed to Ipswich
1633; a founder of Providence, R.I.; dep. Gen. Ct."
(Source: "Abridged Compendium" by Vircus, p 3468)
"COLES, ROBERT, Roxbury, came in the fleet with Winth. req. to be madefreem. 19 Oct. 1630, and was adm. 18 May foll. rem. perhaps to Salem, andto Ipswich, was oft. punish. for drunken. yet in 1638 seems to be reform.if remis. of fines may just. be thus understood, tho. it may only havebeen act of policy to ensure his rem. from our jurisdict. But at last hewent to Providence, was reform. in earnest, and bec. one of the found. ofthe first Bapt. ch. there. By w. Mary he had John, beside Daniel,Nathaniel, Robert, and ds. Sarah, perhaps youngest; Ann, wh. m. HenryTownsend; Eliz. wh. m. John Townsend; both from L. I. where Quakers werepersecut. by the Dutch. He d. bef. 18 Oct. 1654, when the town counc,exercis. their duty of mak. distrib. of his prop. in the way he shouldhave made his will. The wid. m. Matthias Harvey, and rem. to Oyster Bay,L. I. with her s. Nathaniel and Daniel, and the two ds. that m. Townsendfoll."
(Source: Savage, "First Settlers of NE Vol I", p 17)
Notes for MARY HAWXHURST:
"Mary Cole, the wife of Robert Cole. god also wrought upon her heart (asit was hoped after her coming
N.E. but after her husbands excommunication, & falls she did too muchfavor his ways, yet not as to incur any just blame, she lived an aflictedlife, by reason of his unsetlednesse & removing fro place to place."
(Source: "The Rev. John Eliot's Record of Church Members, Roxbury,Mass.")
Children of ROBERT COLE(S) and MARY HAWXHURST are:
i. JOHN2 COLE(S)11,12, d. 1676, Portsmouth, Rhode Island13; m. ANN?13,14.
Notes for JOHN COLE(S):
'He may have identical with that John Cole, whose inventory was taken1676, Dec. 10, by George Lawton and Robert Hodgson, at Plymouth, R.I.Amount âu43, 2s, 5d., besides additional inventory including an amount duefrom the country unto John Cole, for cattle, &c., spent at Mount Hope,July, 1675. (The record o above was made at Plymouth, Mass)."
(Source: "The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island")
ii. DANIEL COLE(S)15,16, d. November 29, 169216; m. MAHERSHALLALHASHBAZ GORTON17,18.
iii. SARAH COLE(S)19,20.
iv. ANN COLE(S)21,22,23,24, d. Aft. 169525; m. HENRYTOWNSEND26,27,28,29.
Notes for HENRY TOWNSEND:
Descended from Sir Ludoric of Townshend who married Elizabeth deHoutville of Manor Roynhom, Norfolk England about 1100. This is noted onUncle Harold's tree.
He settled in Oyster Bay before September 16, 1661 according to the"Townsend Memorial." Also it states that he managed a grist and sawmill,held the office of Town Clerk, was a surveyor and was active in publicbusiness. Public business is described as "...adjusting boundaries,procuring patents, and buying lands of the Indians."
Savage says that Henry may have been the son of Thomas Townsend of Lynn,Massachusetts. This needs to be confirmed by other sources.
More About HENRY TOWNSEND:
Fact 1: 1655, Appears on the list of Freemen in Warwick, Rhode Island30
v. ROBERT COLE(S)31,32, d. April 16, 171533,34; m. MERCYWRIGHT35,36, January 01, 1669/7037,38.
vi. ELIZABETH COLE(S)39,40,41,42, m. JOHN TOWNSEND43,44,45,46,47.
Notes for ELIZABETH COLE(S):
According to the "Townsend Memorial," John Townsend's wife's name wasElizabeth Montgomery. Other sources state she was Elizabeth Coles,daughter of Mary Hawxhurst and Robert Coles. Perhaps she was the widowof ? Montgomery before marrying John. I am going to assume this is thecase.
Bunker also states that Elizabeth's last name was Montgomery, and thatshe was a daughter of Robert Cole. She makes no mention of who her firsthusband might have been.
Notes for JOHN TOWNSEND:
According to the "Townsend Memorial," he settled in Oyster Bay beforeSeptember 1661. Before that, he was in Flushing in 1645 and in Jamaicain 1656. His name appears frequently in real estate transactions. Heappears to have bought property often. The "Townsend Memorial" statesthat he died in 1668 intestate.
More About JOHN TOWNSEND:
Fact 1: 1655, Appears on the list of Freemen in Warwick, Rhode Island48
vii. DELIVERANCE COLE(S)49,50,51,52,53, m. RICHARD TOWNSEND54,55,56.
Notes for DELIVERANCE COLE(S):
The "Townsend Memorial" states that Richard's first wife was a sister ofhis brother Henry's wife. Henry's wife was Ann Coles. Her sisterDeliverance was married to Richard.
Notes for RICHARD TOWNSEND:
According to the "Townsend Memorial" Richard first appears in the recordsin Jamaica, New York in 1656. In 1668 he bought land at Lusum, OysterBay, from Robert Williams. His name only appears in real estatetransactions and in the settlement of his estate. His estate was settledin February, 1671 when his youngest son, Richard was twelve weeks old.
"RICHARD TOWNSEND, of Lusum, in Oyster Bay, died intestate, and Lettersof Administration were granted to wife, Elizabeth, September 23, 1670.Children are mentioned but not named.
[NOTE.--"Lusum," supposed to be a contraction of Lewisham, is nowJericho.]"
(Source: "Abstracts of Wills Vol I 1665-1707")
More About RICHARD TOWNSEND:
Fact 1: 1655, Appears on the list of Freemen in Warwick, Rhode Island57
viii. NATHANIEL COLE(S)58,59, b. 164060; m. (1) MARTHAJACKSON60, August 30, 166760; m. (2) DEBORAH WRIGHT60, August 30, 1667.
Notes for DEBORAH WRIGHT:
"The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island" says Nathaniel marriedMartha Wright daughter of Nicholas and Ann Wright of Oyster Bay, N.Y.
SOURCES:
1. Miller, Robert B., "The Hawxhurst Family", The New YorkGenealogical and Biographical Record, Vol XXXII(Jul 1901),172-176,(Oct1901),221-224, Vol XXXIII(Jan 1902),24-27, (. Reprinted in "Genealogiesof Long Island Families, Vol I" .Baltimore: Genealogical PublishingCompany, Inc.,1987), 477-488.
2. A Memorial of John, Henry, and Richard Towndend, and TheirDescendants, (New York: W. A. Townsend, Publisher, 1865).
3. Savage, James, Genealogical Dictionary of First Settlers of NewEngland, Volume 4, (Boston: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1860-1862).
4. Bunker, Mary Powell, Long Island Genealogies, (Joel Munsell'sSons, Publishers, Albany, NY, 1895).
5. Austin, John Osborne, The Genealogical Dictionary of RhodeIsland, (Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc: Baltimore,Maryland, 1969).
6. Bunker, Mary Powell, Long Island Genealogies, (Joel Munsell'sSons, Publishers, Albany, NY, 1895).
7. A Memorial of John, Henry, and Richard Towndend, and TheirDescendants, (New York: W. A. Townsend, Publisher, 1865).
Biographical Record, Vol XXXII(Jul 1901),172-176,(Oct 1901),221-224, VolXXXIII(Jan 1902),24-27, (. Reprinted in "Genealogies of Long IslandFamilies, Vol I" .Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc.,1987),477-488.
8. The Early Migration Begins,Immigrants to New England 1620-1633
by Robert Charles Anderson ,Pub by New England Historic GenealogicalSociety
(NEHGS) Boston,Mass. 1995 Vol I-III
9. The Early Genealoges of the Cole Family in America and of ThomasCole of Salem , Mass. by Frank Cole -Columbus ,Ohio --1887
10 Articles in Coles File @ Glen Cove Public Library,Glen Cove,LI ,NY
by Robert Coles Glen Cove Town Historian---22 Dec. 1980