Ruth JEROME, 1760-1824, CT USA

My 4th great-grandmother on my maternal line, Ruth JEROME, is the youngest daughter [the 11th child] of my favourite-named ancestor, Zerubbabel JEROME - and his wife Phebe COOK. Interestingly, Zerubbabel married her younger sister Sarah first. Unfortunately Sarah died in childbirth of her first child who also died, a daughter named Mary. 

I do wonder how those marriages were talked about in the family. Probably the families were close, I have found several siblings to Sarah and Phebe Cook; their father married several times, with 1-4 children from each wife. More research would be helpful in understanding the social context. Certainly the region was still opening up to settlers.

Back to Ruth JEROME: She was born 14 Jun 1760, in Harwinton, Litchfield, CT, surrounded by her many siblings. And on 8 Dec 1778 in Harwinton, CT, she married Stephen Wells GRAVES [sr], b 2 Feb 1752 in East Plymouth, Litchfield CT. Take note of that 1778 date - the "Revolutionary War" had been ongoing for 2 years by this time. Both the Jerome and Graves families, as well as some of their farming neighbours, were apparently not actively pro-revolution. Stephen had furnished a substitute soldier after first being drafted into service. But he and up to 30 of his neighbours were harassed regularly by "Patriot" vigilantes   - the Sons of Liberty - attempting to hogtie the men and force them into fighting the British. The Graves' home was particularly targeted by the Sons of Liberty as it was known to be a rendezvous for the local Loyalists. 

Interestingly, a 32 page history of the region provides anecdotes of how the neighbouring women would blow conch shells to warn the working men to high-tail it to the Tory Den [see photo] and other hiding places when the Patriots came calling on horseback to their farms. Unfortunately that small history is no longer shown on any of the Harwinton sites, nor on Internet Archive.  

I have two short articles which you can request from me - see email address at bottom of page - with this historical information.  One was from the NEHGS March 2015:  "The Connecticut Tory Den - Safe Haven for the Royalist Sympathizers."  The second source would be "The Tories of Chippeny Hill, Connecticut," by E.LeRoy Pond. In addition, there is a history of Harwinton House, compiled by Roger Plaskett, Harwinton Town Historian, 2006.  Stephen GRAVES built this house after the war, 1795. It was moved from Harwinton to New Canaan, where it still stands.

Ruth JEROME and Stephen GRAVES in lived in Harwinton CT, where their 7 children were born - note the two first little girls dying on the same day:

   1.  Nancy, b 7 Nov 1779, d. 20 Aug 1783

   2.  Ruth, b 1 Mar 1781, d. 20 Aug 1783 

   3.  Cornelius [ancestor], b 15 Feb 1783, d. 27 Sep 1828 Auburn, Cayuga,
           NY; m. Anna TREAT est. 1803 in Harwinton; 8 known children,  2 died
           young.

   4.  Major Nelson, [Major is his name], b. 29 Dec 1784, d. 4 Aug 1861 Jordan,
          Onondaga, NY; m. 3 Apr 1806 in Litchfield CT to Abigail Lankton; 10
           known children, of whom 4 died young.

   5.  Stephen Wells jr, b 5 Aug 1791, d. 3 Aug 1854 in Dover, MI; m. 15 Nov
           1811 to Rhoda Clark, in Burlington CT; 3 known children

   6.  Nancy, b. 23 Jun 1793, d. 11 Dec 1873 in Cambridge IL; m. 15 Feb 1815
           in Jordan NY to Miles Welton; 10 children, 9 of whom lived to adulthood.

   7.  Ruth, b. 20 Jul 1795, d. 15 Apr 1886 in Plymouth Hollow [Thomaston],
           Litchfield CT; m. 26 Mar 1817 to Marvin Blakeslee from Plymouth Hollow;
           no children researched as yet.

As you can see, 18 year old Ruth married, moved to Stephen's farm during the early years of the Revolutionary War, and suffered her first two children dying on the same day - likely from a contagious disease - while caring for her 3rd child, a son, who was only 6 months old. During the Revolutionary War, she and her husband were fighting off the Sons of Liberty who stole and destroyed her conch shell at gunpoint, as she was trying to keep her husband safe. She also brought food for the men hiding, leaving it a ways from the cave so as not to lead the Patriots to the loyalist men. Fascinating challenging times.

Several of her children moved away with their spouses to Michigan, Illinois, and further in New York. 

Ruth died 28 Aug 1824, in possibly Harwinton, CT, and has a tall slab gravestone next to her husband's in Terryville, Litchfield, CT.  Her gravestone is inscribed with a short sentence: "The memory of the just is blessed"  She was 64 years old, her original 5 living children were married, and with eventually over 28 grandchildren. Note Terryville is just under 8 miles from Harwinton. See FindaGrave for image of both Ruth and Stephen's gravestones. 

Stephen lived a few years past her death, and died 6 Jun 1828, in Terryville, aged 76 years. He is buried beside her, with his own tall slab gravestone as well. Terryville is a town within the town of Plymouth CT.

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If these are your ancestors, I am happy to share what little I have on these ancestors. And if there are errors, please do let me know, via calewis at telus dot net, or in the Comments below and I will get back to you either by email or in the Comments. I appreciate the opportunity to correct any issues in these family trees.

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