Benjamin W. Tibbetts

Notes:

I cannot find Benjamin's dates in the RI Cemetery Database, but there are two infants who died young, who may have been his sons. They are both named Benjamin, and both are buried in the cemetery where his father Hon. Benjamin is buried.

Notes:

In the 1850 Federal Census at Warwick, Kent, RI, the family is: Benjamin 69, Alma 62, Almira 36 (she would have been married at this time -- or widowed?), Susan A. 29, Daniel 27, & Benjamin W. 22.

His gravestone has been photographed.

Benjamin married Alma A. Arnold 5 Jan 1805, Warwick, RI. Alma (daughter of William Arnold and Ruth Burket) was born 22 Sep 1786; died 23 Sep 1869. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Arnold's VRs has her name as Henrietta (?).

Notes:

Waterman Tibbitts and his wife Mercy Waterman were first cousins, both descendents of Roger Williams through his daughter Mercy, who married Resolved Waterman, whose son John Waterman married Anne Olney. Waterman's mother -- Phebe, and Mercy's father -- John, were siblings, children of John and Anne.

Waterman & Mercy joined the Six-Principle Baptist Church of East Greenwich together on 16 October 1783. According to author Cherry Fletcher Bamberg, this was 20 years after he contributed money to repair the meetinghouse, and 18 years after being married by Elder Gorton. At 12 o'clock on Christmas Day 1783, there was a church meeting held at "Brother Waterman Tibbitts." Other church meetings were noted as taking place there, also. Later, on 31 April 1787, they were given letters of recommendation to Elder Thomas Manchester's church in Coventry on 31 April 1787. Waterman became clerk of this assembly, the Maple Root Baptist Church, in 1790.

According to Bamberg's notes in the book "Elder John Gorton and the Six-Principle Baptist Church of East Greenwich, Rhode Island," he was born 13 April 1741 in Warwick, RI, by his own sworn testimony. He was a lifelong resident of Warwick. His Revolutionary War service consisted of short enlistments in various alarm companies spanning two years. Town records at Warwick in 1779 listed for Waterman Tibbetts: 93 acres of land used for hay, corn, apples, wood, pasteurage, a house, barn, cider house, corn crib, and a variety of farm animals. The 1798 Direct Tax recorded a two-story home, 40' x 24', on two acres about two miles from Apponaug. The family burial plot was originally located up on the hill where Tollgate High School is now, so I imagine his farm was in that area, probably bordering Bald Hill Road.

Waterman married Mercy WATERMAN 13 Dec 1764, Warwick, RI. Mercy (daughter of John WATERMAN and Mercy STAFFORD) was born 31 Dec 1742, Warwick, RI; died 10 May 1824; was buried , Brayton Cemetery, Apponaug, RI. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Waterman & Mercy were married by Elder John Gorton of the Six Principle Baptist Church, where they also were members.

William — Ruth Burket. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Possibly her surname was Burket.

Notes:

Henry's will at Warwick was dated 30 Dec 1764, proved 28 Jan 1765 or 2 Feb 1765. He mentions sons Henry, Charles, and Waterman, and daughter Phebe. In November 1764, both Charles and Elizabeth Tibbetts died. It is not clear whether these were Henry's children or grandchildren. Henry himself died not long after they did. Capt. Samuel Tillinghast of Warwick recorded these deaths in his diary. The entry for 17 Jan 1765 reads, "Last night died Henry Tibbits, Who has been Long Ill with Many disorders. This is the third out of this Famely in about two months." Editor Cherry Fletcher Bamberg tells us that "John Gorton preached at the funerals of Charles and Elizabeth Tibbits on 16 Nov. 1764 and then at Henry Tibbits' funeral on 18 Jan. 1765." According to "John Gorton's Papers," Elder Gorton's text at Henry's funeral was Isaiah 55:3.

Cherry Fletcher Bamberg's book entitled "Elder John Gorton and the Six-Principle Baptist Church of East Greenwich, Rhode Island" says that Henry was the second son of his father Henry. It reports that he joined the Six-Principle Church of East Greenwich on 19 August 1754, and records that he contributed to repair the meetinghouse in 1763.

Henry was under 21 in 1708 when he was mentioned in his grandfather's will (NK 5:139 - 142). Some records say that he died 17 Jan 1765, but Capt. Samuel Tillinghast's Diary says the 16th.

Henry married Phebe WATERMAN 23 Nov 1738, Warwick, RI. Phebe (daughter of John WATERMAN and Anne OLNEY) was born Between 1705 and 1714; died Bef Dec 1764. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Henry & Phebe were married by Elder Manassah Martin.

Notes:

Captain John Waterman, fourth child of John & Anne (Olney) Waterman, was a master mariner. His last years were lived in Coventry, and the first town meetings for that town were held in his home. He died at Coventry in 1751, at 53 years of age, when he was thrown from his horse and drowned while fording Still River in a blinding snowstorm (info. from "Descendants of Roger Williams" by Dorothy Higson White).

John married Mercy STAFFORD 7 Jan 1741/42, Warwick, RI. Mercy (daughter of Thomas STAFFORD and Anne GREENE) was born 12 Mar 1714/15, Warwick, RI; died 28 Feb 1811. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Mercy (Stafford) Waterman died just one month short of 97 years old.

Notes:

John & Mercy were married by Joseph Stafford, Justice.