John Albro and Lydia Spencer

IV. WHICH JOHN ALBRO MARRIED LYDIA SPENCER?

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        There were two John Albros corresponding to the third generation removed from John Albro who arrived from England aboard the Francis in 1634. One was the son of the John Albro who married Margaret Sweet, and the other was the son of the John Albro who married Abigail Ballou. One of these married Lydia Spencer and became the progenitor of the Albro families who settled in various counties of New York State in the late 18th century. The other, according to most sources, married Freelove Gardiner. Thus one line passed through the first New England John Albro's son John, the other through his son Samuel. The options are: John & Dorothy -> John & Mary -> John & Abigail -> John & (Lydia or Freelove), and John & Dorothy -> Samuel & Isabel -> John & Margaret -> John & (Lydia or Freelove). If you find this confusing, you will understand why there is disagreement.

A. Authorities

        The claim that John who married Lydia was the son of John Albro/Margaret Sweet comes from Martha A. Benns' 1942 book of notes on the Albro family ¹², citing as reference Arnold's 'Vital Records', 10-35. 'Vital Records' states ³⁴: "ALBRO, John, of John, of NK AND Lydia Spencer, of Samuel, of EG m 15 Jan 1740/1. (EG 3-149; WG 1-42)" No more, no less. This indicates that John the father of the John who married Lydia was a freeman of North Kingstown at the time of the wedding, which occurred in 1741 by the modern calendar, 1740 by the calendar in use then. The film made by the LDS from those notes was used as the source for the same claim in the book "The Albro Family History" ⁶ by Darrell Conder.

        On the other hand some sources for the claim that the John who married Lydia was the son of John/Abigail Ballou include several LDS records ³¹, many on-line family tree databases ³², and the book by John Victor Duncanson ³³. The article "A Line of Descent From John Albro of Portsmouth" by Alden G. Beaman, Ph.D. ³ in the Rhode Island Genealogical Register, has the John Albro son of John and Margaret as the John Albro who married Freelove Gardner. Combining the statements of Martha Benns ¹² and Alden G. Beaman ³, the Briggs Family Tree (in the Ancestry World Tree) ¹⁵⁰ has the son of John Albro and Margaret Sweet marrying first Freelove Gardner and second Lydia Spencer. However, the observation that Lydia and Freelove were having Albro children at the same time, e.g. three for Lydia and four for Freelove between 1740 and 1747, makes that assignment most unlikely.

B. Location

        Martha Benns' notes, the references derived from them, R.I. Vital Records, NS, Vol.7, p.1 (a revision of Martha Benns' main reference), and the georgen.gedcom are the only sources we've been able to find that put the place of birth of the John who married Lydia as N. Kingstown, Washington, RI. All other sources, including all the LDS files available on line, put the place of birth in Portsmouth, Newport, RI. This is important because Samuel I moved to N. Kingstown while John II stayed in Portsmouth. The explanation for this discrepancy is probably that the place of birth of John who married Lydia has no primary record, and people are assuming it is wherever his presumed parents lived. Then they will make different assignments based on who they think his parents were.

        That the John Albro who was the son of John and Margaret was born in North Kingstown, Washington, RI seems assured by the fact that all their children born before 1727 were born there, and the parents were both born and died there ^12,35. Moreover, all of John & Margaret's children were christened at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Narragansett. Anglicans living on the mainland used that church so they wouldn't have to cross to the island. Anglicans born in Portsmouth or Newport would probably have been christened at Trinity Episcopal Church in Newport so they wouldn't have to go off the island. That the trip to the church was somewhat troublesome is suggested by the fact that all of John and Margaret's male children (except Stephen) were christened on the same trip to Narragansett ⁵¹.

C. Dates

        John's date of birth is given very specifically (June 7, 1714) and with good agreement among those different sources who believe he was the son of Abigail Ballou. Data from various sources indicate that the John Albro who was the son of Margaret Sweet was born some time between 1714 and 1718, in N. Kingstown, Washington, RI. This range of dates of birth appears in various LDS IGI files, namely [1] film 184281 p.1148 ref.26889 (1714), [2] film 1985585 (1717), and [3] film 459222 p.3 ref 67291 (Abt.1718). All of these files have John and Margaret Albro as the parents, with film 1985585 specifically identifying "John ALBRO and Margaret SWEET". Whether the LDS files served as sources or not is unknown, but the georgen gedcom gives "born abt. 1718 in N. Kingstown, Washington, RI" while "The Register Report of Richard Lawton" by Norman V James gives "born 1718 in N. Kingstown, Washington, RI, died in S. Kingstown."

D. Religion

        Although John I was (maybe) Quaker and later Presbyterian ^6,2, his son Samuel appears to have been active in the Anglican Church ³⁶. The nearest Anglican Church seems to have been St. Paul's in Narragansett, where Samuel's sons John and Samuel II were baptized. On the other hand John II, who married Mary Stokes, was fined for refusing to take the oath of a Grand Juror, and Quakers couldn't take oaths. Many of the Albros, descended from John and Mary and who stayed in Rhode Island, became Baptists, following the example of Roger Williams ⁹⁴. One might therefore expect to see the descendants of John & Lydia associated with an Episcopal church if John was the son of John & Margaret, or with a Calvinist-related church if he was the son of John & Abigail. There is no definite record of an infant christening (baptism) for the John Albro who married Abigail Ballou or the one who married Lydia Spencer. Martha Benns' Notes state that John was baptised June 26, 1726, referring to "John, son of John & Margaret." Baptism can not provide a clear distinction in any case, since Anglicans and Presbyterians baptised infants while Baptists and Quakers did not.

        We have no record of the churches attended by John & Lydia's son Stephen or their grandson Joab, but information provided by the Gorham, New York Town Historian revealed that Joab's wife Sarah was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church, an outgrowth of the Presbyterian Church in Gorham. Joab's daughter Mary was buried in the graveyard adjacent to the Presbyterian Church. There is no information for Joab's son Lucius, and Lucius' son Frank apparently never joined a church. Frank's son Elmer was Episcopalian. Thus the evidence from religion is inconclusive.

E. Children - Migrations

        All of John & Lydia's male children seem to have moved to New York State and eventually died there. Stephen Albro, Lydia's son, bought land ³⁷ in Ontario County, NY in 1806. None of his siblings went to Ontario County. In 1808 land in Ontario County (Gorham township) was transferred from Francis and Isabel (Albro) Briggs on a "share and share alike" basis to Lydia Roberts and Betsy, Isabel, Wait, Joseph and Joab Albro ³⁷. Lydia (Albro) Roberts was Stephen's daughter by his first wife, Hannah Bentley, while Joab was his youngest son by his second wife, Amey Hopkins. If we make the logical assumption that Betsey, Isabel, Wait and Joseph were also Stephen's children (also assumed on the basis of the settlement of his property after his death ³⁸ ), then this strange land transfer to underage children (Joab was born in 1802) makes sense. Isabel (Albro) Briggs would not be a direct relative of Stephen's if his father was the son of John and Margaret, but if his father was the son of John and Abigail she would be his first cousin ³⁹.

F. Name Variations

        The four Johns in the line that passes through John and Abigail are all associated with records giving their names as ALBROUGH ¹⁵³ . All the children of John Albro/Abigail Ballou have at least one IGI record with that spelling. None of the descendants of Samuel I seem to have that designation. Stephen, son of John and Lydia and father of Joab, was listed as Stephen Albrough on the 1800 Ontario Co. census ¹⁵⁴ . Was that just a fluke of the census taker's spelling?

        Samuel Albro (son of John I) is listed as "Samuel Albrow" on the tax roles for North Kingstown ⁴⁰. He signed his name with a mark rather than spelling it out ⁴⁰. A Stephen Albro is listed as "Stephen Albrow" in the census record for Erie Co., NY in 1830, but not in other years there or elsewhere in New York State. Stephen father of Joab had supposedly died about 1812 ³⁸, so the Erie County Stephen was presumably not the son of John and Lydia.

        The children of John and Freelove Gardiner include a Jeremiah, Eunice, Margaret, John and Mary ⁴¹. Jeremiah is not a common Albro name, and that child probably was named for Freelove's father. Margaret would logically have been named for Margaret Sweet. While John's father, John, is included, it is surprising that Freelove's mother Grace is not represented among the names of the known children. The children of John and Lydia Spencer include a Sarah, Job, Martha, Abigail, Samuel, Stephen, and John ⁴². Martha would have been named for Martha Briggs, Lydia's mother, while Abigail would most likely have been named for Abigail Ballou. John's father John and Lydia's father Samuel are represented. Thus the children of John and Lydia include one probably named for Abigail Ballou but none named for Margaret Sweet. The children of John and Freelove include one probably named for Margaret Sweet, but none named for Abigail Ballou.

G. The case of Job

        Job Albro is stated (IGI batch C502001 source 0908269, from Arnold's "Vital Records of Rhode Island") to be the son of John Albro and Lydia Spencer, b.24 July 1743 in W. Greenwich; m.Deborah Andrews 18 Nov 1764 in E. Greenwich, and d.26 Apr 1824 in Edinburgh, Saratoga Co., NY. Six children are attributed to them by various sources. A Job Albro appears in the 1790 Federal census for Washington Co., NY and again in 1800. By 1810 he was in Saratoga Co., and in 1820 he was in, specifically, Edinburgh, Saratoga, NY. His second wife was claimed to be Eunice Potter, married 9 May 1779 in Dartmouth, Bristol MA ⁴⁴. Job would have been the brother of the Stephen mentioned above, and Job is not one of the more common Albro names. If we could find a will from either John who married Abigail, or John who married Margaret, mentioning a grandson Job, we would have our answer. Unfortunately, such do not seem to exist, based on the Will Index in the R.I. Genealogical Register vols 1-20 or the R.I. Vital Records, New Series, vols 1-13.

H. The Mothers

         Abigail Ballou was born about 1695 with some disagreement about the place. The Inman Compendium ⁹³ gives her place of birth as Providence, Providence, RI, while IGI records say either Providence or Portsmouth. If she was born in Providence in 1695, it is very unlikely that she would have been Episcopalian. The date of her marriage to John Albro is given as June 7, 1713 (georgen gedcom, p.915.)

         Margaret Sweet was born November 22, 1690 ³⁵ or September 22, 1689 ⁴⁷ or September 22, 1690 ⁴⁸ in North Kingstown, Washington, RI ⁴⁹ and died in North Kingstown, Washington, RI ⁴⁷. Burial date November 2, 1727 ⁴⁰. She married John Albro either between 1714-1715 (LDS ancestral file) or about 1717 (LDS IGI film 2034676) in North Kingstown, Washington, RI.

         Freelove Gardiner (showing up occasionally as Freeborn Gardiner or Freelove Gardner) is reported as marrying John Albro on various dates; [1] Abt. 1737 in LDS IGI film 537442, [2] Abt. 1738 in LDS IR recid=16552520, and [3] Abt. 1744 in LDS IGI film 2034365. In all cases the place of marriage is guessed at as "<north Kingstown>, Washington, Rhode Island" or "Of, Kingston, Washington, Rhode Island". There is an LDS record that has this John Albro also married to Beatrice Golde ⁵⁰ with the marriage date as "1737/1738", a rather strange similarity in dates for the two marriages. The children of the John Albro/ Freelove Gardiner marriage are agreed upon in general, and do not include a Job.

         Lydia Spencer was born June 2, 1721 in East Greenwich, Kent, RI and died "Bef. 1790" in West Greenwich, Kent, RI where she and John had all their children. That she did have a son Stephen is attested in the will of Samuel Spencer, her father. The marriage of John and Lydia was January 15, 1740, in East Greenwich, Kent, RI (LDS IGI batch M501921 source 0908269.) The children of this marriage are not in dispute, and do include a Job Albro.

I. Interpretations

        To cut through the confusion on this issue we have to split the reported data into [1] information based on who the presumed parents were, [2] information based on who the presumed spouse was, and [3] everything else. The first would include things like date of birth, place of birth, and whether or not baptized in the Episcopal Church. The second would include the list of children, place of marriage, and date and place of death. The spellings of Albro/ Albrough/ Albrow can not be distinguished from census taker's whims, so may be suggestive but provide no proof. So the John Albro who was the son of John Albro and Abigail Ballou was born June 7, 1714 in Portsmouth, Newport, RI. He was not baptized in the Episcopal Church. The John Albro who was the son of John Albro/ Margaret Sweet was born about 1717 in North Kingstown, Washington, RI, and was christened at St. Paul's Church in Narragansett on June 26, 1726.

        After sorting all the evidence into facts vs. guesses, only one question remains. Which John Albro is which? There is no evidence that can be considered to prove the point. The evidence that particularly favors John & Abigail as the parents are: Evidence that the closer descendants of John & Lydia attended Calvinist type churches in NY, the listing of Stephen as Albrough in the 1800 census, the land transfer from Francis and Isabel Briggs, and especially the fact that one of John & Lydia's children was named Abigail, with none named Margaret, while one of John & Freelove's children was named Margaret with none named Abigail.

        The only evidence favoring the John & Margaret route are the facts that one of John & Lydia's great, great, great grandsons was Episcopalian, and that the father of the John who married Lydia was referred to as "Of NK" in Arnold's Vital Records. The latter is weakened by the fact that while John & Margaret lived all their lives in NK, John & Abigail had moved there in 1739², before the marriage of John and Lydia. All these John Albros would have been "of NK" in 1740/41. "John Albro the 4th" and his father were both admitted as Freemen of North Kingstown, Washington Co. RI, in 1739¹⁵². The son of John & Abigail is the only John Albro the 4th. It is up to the reader to decide which is the more convincing set of evidence.

References

² "Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island", by John Osborne Austin, 1887, p.234.

³ "A Line of Descent from John Albro of Portsmouth" by Alden G. Beaman, Ph.D., R.I. Genealogical Register, Vol.1, No.1, (1986) p.30.

⁶ "The Albro Family History: Information From Rhode Island, New York, Switzerland Co. Indiana, Gallatin & Grayson Counties Kentucky". researched and written by Mrs. Alice Simonton Seibenthal Pendry, Vevey, Indiana, 1943 and Darrell W. Conder, Pasadena, California, 1990

¹² "Notes on the Albro Family of Rhode Island" by Martha A. Benns, made at the Rhode Island Historical Society, 1942, filmed at Providence, RI 17 July 1950 by the Genealogical Society of Salt Lake City Utah, roll # 22322.

³¹ IGI film 184291 p.957 ref 21351, LDS FGR for family 4651661, AFN:GQ0V-B9 & -H1.

³² V. Price family tree; Whipple family tree; georgen gedcom; Sawyer family tree; King gedcom from World Family Tree.; loc.cit.

³³ Duncanson, John Victor, "Newport Nova Scotia - A Rhode Island Township", Mika Publishing Co., Belleville, Ontario, 1985, pp.81-86.

³⁴ R.I. Vital Records, NS Vol.7, Greenwich R.I. marriages from Probate, Grave & Death Records 1680-1860.

³⁵ See the online database "Register Report of William Lawton - Descendants of Richard Wheeler" p.115, downloaded Dec 5, 1999.

³⁶ Ref. 30 above; "Representative Men and Old Families Of Rhode Island", Vol.1, J.H. Beers & Co., Chicago, 1908; Guyette, Sherman, Autry et.al, P.J.Autry, WorldConnect Project, ref# I1110; Greenwel.ged by Jo Anne Rolston, 3 March 1999

³⁷ Deeds and Land Transfers, Ontario County, NY Archives, Hopewell, NY; copied May 2000.

³⁸ Personal communication from Mary Carr, Rochester, NY; Estate of Stephen Albro.

³⁹ See "They Left Rhode Island", series of articles in the R.I. Genealogical Register, various volumes.

⁴⁰ "Genealogies of Rhode Island Families", Vol. II, Adams-Slack Publ.Co., Baltimore 1983.

⁴¹ Ref.1 above; also R.I. Genealogical Register Vol.1, No.1 and Vol.9, No.2, p.105; "Register Report of Richard Lawton" by V. Price.

⁴² IGI film 2034624; FGR for AFN: HZPH-XK, familyid=5343918 and 5343921; "Ancestors of Penny Sue Sawyer", www.millcomm.com/~yankeez/trees/sawyer/sawyer.htm, downloaded June, 1999.

⁴³ IGI FGR for AFN: LDQH-PD, submitted by Christopher Gleason Clark.

⁴⁴ IGI batch M500031 source 0823562 IT 13, traceable to the "Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, to the year 1850", New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA.

⁴⁵ Albro Forum posting, confirmed by Henry Albro, Rochester, NY.

⁴⁶ Posting on Albro Forum from Yvonne Albro, citing reference 6 above.

⁴⁷ "Ancestors of Martha S. Finfrock";
www.familytreemaker.com/users/f/i/n/Martha-S-Finfrock/index.html, May 1998.

⁴⁸ LDS IGI Record AFN: B53G-4L.

⁴⁹ RootsWeb World Connect Project: P.J. Autry gedcom id=11084.

⁵⁰ LDS FGR for AFN: XV3W-DT recid=23385522 and PRF Pin #502889, CD #6, Eric L. Smith, Aurora, CO.

⁵¹ LDS IGI Batch Number C507001 source 0908272 call V.910 printout 1002430 for example

⁹³ "The Inman Compendium Genealogical Database", on inman.surnameweb.org, owner Jim Williams, Temple, Texas 76501.

⁹⁴ See the extended series of articles "Abstracts of Exeter Baptist Church Records" in the R.I. Genealogical Register.

¹⁵⁰ Briggs Family Tree, Ancestry World Tree database #1551424, Copyright © 1998-2003 MyFamily.com, Inc.

¹⁵² Colonial Records of Rhode Island Vol 4, Clerks of the General Assembly of Rhode Island, 1707/1740

¹⁵³ John Albrough b.7 Jun 1714 - IGI film 170862 p.54 Ref.1889; John Albrough b.23 Aug 1694, husband of Abigail Ballou - IGI film 170518 Ref.12476 & batch A170518 Source 170518; John Albrough husband of Mary Stokes - IGI v.5 after 1991 so no source given.

¹⁵⁴ Microfilm # M32-28 Town of Easton, Ontario, NY, 1800, p.450.

Note: The Spencer coats of arms are derived from records at the following sites: www.winstonchurchill.org/fh102arms.htm; www.geocities.com/Heartland/Flats/6124/Spencercoatofarms.htm; www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/william.htm; and especially www.baronage.co.uk/bphtm-02/moa-01.html, "The Spencers and the Despencers."

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