July 17, 1736- My seventh great granduncle, Samuel Doolittle, dies at the age of 44 in Palmer,
Hampden, Massachusetts.
Samuel was born in Wallingford,
New Haven, Connecticut, the son of Samuel Doolittle & Mary Cornwall.
He first married Nancy Hall, next Jane Wheeler. The family resided at Wallingford until the birth of their third child in
1720. With Jane, he moved to
Stafford, Connecticut, where he was among the first settlers. On
June 20, 1720, he laid out four acres of meadow land. In
1723 he was assigned 50 acres, in
1724 another 50 acres, in
1726 a division of 80 acres, and in
1728 a piece of meadow of 4 acres.
In
1731, he bought a farm called
"the Elbows" in
Palmer, Massachusetts from Thomas Richardson.
He was known as Sergeant Doolittle in
1732 and his name appears frequently in the city records. He was a community leader, signed petitions, was on the meeting house building committee and the committee to lay out roads. He owned at least 100 acres.
It appears that he was a very capable and well to-do-man, and was much appreciated by his fellow townsmen.
His death came soon after the completion of the first church in town and in all probability his was the first funeral held within its walls.
The following interesting notice of his death and funeral appears in the Palmer records:
"Lieutenant Samuel Doolittle Departed this Life on Saturday ye 17th Day of July 1736. After a Short Illness of two or three days, and was Decently Inter'd on the Day following, after ye Afternoon Service, it being the Sacrament Day, a mulitude of people Respectfully attened ye Funeral."
He was probably the first one buried at the old Centre cemetery,which was laid out the previous year. No headstone marks the place of his burial.
The estate of Lieutenant Samuel Dollittle was inventoried at 900 lbs., a goodly sum for those days, and was divided among the heirs in
1738, portions of which were sold from time to time till
1750, when Ephraim, one of the sons, bought out the rights of the remaining heirs and disposed of the original farm in
1757 for 300 lbs.
Ephraim was then of
Worcester, Massachusetts, and was a styled gentleman.The deed was signed by Ephraim and Sarah Doolittle.
