Robena "Roby" SOULE

Female Abt 1780 - Aft 1860  (~ 80 years)


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  • Name Robena "Roby" SOULE 
    Born Abt 1780  Westport, MA Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Gender Female 
    Died Aft 1 Jun 1860  Tiverton, RI Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I00920  Sorensen-Remington Family Tree
    Last Modified 9 Jun 2020 

    Father Nathaniel SOULE,   b. Abt 1753, Tiverton, RI Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 7 Jan 1837, Providence, Saratoga Co., NY Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 84 years) 
    Mother Rebecca GIFFORD,   b. Abt 1753, Tiverton, RI Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Bef 1793  (Age ~ 39 years) 
    Married 19 Aug 1773  Tiverton, RI Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Family ID F06528  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family John DENNIS,   b. 18 Aug 1775, Tiverton, Newport Co., RI Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Between 1850 and 1860  (Age 74 years) 
    Married 29 Dec 1799  Westport, MA Find all individuals with events at this location  [3, 4
    Notes 
    • 1799 DENNIS, John of Tiverton, RI, and Roba Sowle, 29 Dec 1799, Marriage Westport (NEHGS website, Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850 database)
    Children 
     1. Joseph Dennis,   b. 19 Aug 1800, Tiverton, Newport Co., RI Find all individuals with events at this location
     2. Daniel Dennis,   b. 1 Dec 1802, Tiverton, Newport Co., RI Find all individuals with events at this location
     3. Mary H. DENNIS,   b. 7 Jun 1805, Tiverton, RI Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 20 Apr 1866, Tiverton, RI Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 60 years)
     4. Mercy Dennis,   b. Abt 1808
     5. William Dennis,   b. Abt 1811
     6. Holder Dennis,   b. 21 Feb 1816, Tiverton, Newport Co., RI Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 30 Jul 1901, Tiverton, Newport Co., RI Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 85 years)
     7. Ruth Dennis,   b. 26 May 1818, Tiverton, Newport Co., RI Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Abt 9 Nov 1887, New Bedford, Bristol Co., MA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 69 years)
     8. Bradford C. Dennis,   b. Between 1821-1823, Tiverton, RI Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 4 Dec 1897, Westport, MA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 74 years)
    Last Modified 7 Aug 2018 
    Family ID F00363  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • Her name is given as both Roby and Roba in marriage and death records of her children. The Mayflower Descendants book gives it as Rube or Rhoda. However, it is Roby (possibly short for Robena, as her granddaughter's name is given in one place). Her granddaughter is named Roby S. Dennis, clearly named after Roby Soule.

      In the 1850 Federal Census, Roby Dennis is age 65, living at Tiverton with her husband, John Dennis, age 70 (these ages are most likely not precise). They are living next to John & Hannah (Manchester) Remington and family, on one side, and next to John & Mary Manchester and family on the other side.

      The 1860 Tiverton Census shows a Rhoda (or Rhoba?) Dennis at age 80, living with (her son) Bradford Dennis 39, next to households of Joseph Rounds 31 and Holder Dennis 44. From this I have estimated her year of birth as c1780, although she may have been born a year or two later than that.

      I had her estimated birth year as 1780, but Soule Kindred email dated 1 June 2020 stated it should be 1774. I don't know how they arrived at that. Based on the censuses, she was born 1780-1785; the ages given could be incorrect.

      According to the death record of her son Bradford, Roby Sowle was born in Westport, MA.

  • Sources 
    1. [S2] Email from Soule Kindred FTD, Deanna Lucas.

    2. [S013269] Mayflower Families Through Five Generations, Vol. 3, George Soule, Edited by Anne Borden Harding, (General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1980), 212.

    3. [S012807] Email from John Redfern, 13 August 2003.

    4. [S013325] Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850.