Jonathan Nye born 1740, of Rochester and Middleboro, Mass., and His Wife Elizabeth Irish

Jonathan Nye was born 22 March 1740 at Rochester, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, to David and Elizabeth (Briggs) Nye. [Rochester Vital Records 1:225] I wrote about his parents here. He is my 6th great-grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Ellis Davis’ side of the family but my information on him so far is quite sparse. I would love to hear from anyone who knows what became of Jonathan! 

Jonathan Nye married Elizabeth Irish in 1762; marriage intentions 4 July 1762 at Rochester. [Rochester VR 2:227]  She was born 3 August 1745 to William Irish at Plymouth. 

Elizabeth and Jonathan had two daughters:

1. Sophia/Zerviah Nye born 8 November 1763 at Rochester [RVR 1:227]; married Elisha Benson of Middleborough 15 July 1783; removed to Woodstock Vermont
2. Dinah birth unrecorded; died 11 Jan 1847 of old age at Rochester, unmarried; death record names her parents as Jonathan and Elizabeth Nye. 

I descend from Sophia/Zerviah whom I wrote about here.

Jonathan served in the Revolutionary War, according to the Nye Genealogy.  [details from Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors]

• Jonathan Nye was a private in Captain Joshua Benson’s company, Colonel Theophilus Cotton’s regiment; muster roll dated 1 August 1775; enlisted 7 May 1775; service three months two days. 
• Private in Lt. William Tomson’s company, Colonel Theophilus Cotton’s regiment; order for bounty coat or its equivalent in money, datJoed Roxbury 14 Nov 1775. 
• Private in Captain Joshua Benson’s company, Colonel Theophilus Cotton’s regiment, company return dated 7 Oct 1775; residence Middleborough.  
• Private in Captain Thomas Samson’s company, Colonel Theophilus Cotton’s regiment, General Palmer’s brigade; service from 25 Sept 1777 to 27 Oct 1777; one month two days, on secret expedition against Newport RI, roll sworn to in Plymouth County.

That he lived at Middleborough in 1775 when he served in the war was a welcome clue but records in Middleborough are lacking and have not proved helpful. 

From this point, I have a hard time tracking Jonathan and Elizabeth. I have not found death or probate records. I thought I had discovered them living in nearby Plympton and spent a good deal of time researching them there. There is just one Jonathan Nye in the census and town tax records of that time period, but it seems that is a different Jonathan Nye, born 1746 in Rochester, married Elizabeth (or course to make it more challenging!) Ellis, often called Betty. When I found their death information, I realized I had the wrong couple.

A number of Rochester families removed to Hardwick in Worcester County, but I did not find any record of Jonathan there. There was what appears to be a different Jonathan Nye at Hardwick who had children born there: Oliver, son Jonathan, baptized 4 April 1762; Mary baptized 5 August 1764, daughter of Jonathan and Mary or Rebecca; Hannah born 1766, no mother listed; Rebeckah daughter of Jonathan and Rebekah, baptized 28 Jan 1770; Jonathan born 12 February 1773 to Jonathan and Rebecah; and Thomas son Jonathan and Rebecah baptized 13 August 1776.

I found this record interesting, as a Jonathan Nye of Shutesbury, Massachusetts conducted business with two men from Rochester, Massachusetts: Nathanial Sprague, Gent. and James Cowing, Cordwainer,  attached Jonathan Nye, Shutesbury husbandman, for trespass upon the case, on note dated 23 July 1780 for “Six loads of Cole to be delivered to the New Furnace in Rochester at the Still Water so called at or before the twenty fifth day of December then next.” Plaintiffs say that the refusal to deliver the coal, valued at £4 10s was to their damage of £15. Default by defendant. Judgment for £4 10s and £2 10s 5d costs. Appealed by defendant.[Plymouth County Court Records 9:179, Court of Common Pleas October 1783] Note that Shutesbury is in Franklin County, quite a distance away in the western part of the state. I have yet to find anything further on Jonathan Nye in Shutesbury. 

It could be that Jonathan Nye married, second, Mrs. Eunice Pratt, 18 March 1778. Middleborough Vital Records index citing original record of 4:15; intentions published 17 January 1778, both of Middleboro. Middleborough Vital Records index citing original record of 4:31. But again, I do not know if this is the correct Jonathan 

Sources: 

George Hyatt and Frank Best, Benjamin Nye of Sandwich, His Ancestors and Descendants, A Genealogy of the Nye Family, 1907

Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the Revolutionary War, published 1896-1908, 11:589