KNOWLES PROGENITOR BIOGRAPHIES
WILLIAM KNOWLES (1710 - 1794)
Knowles Progenitor: CT-05 (Litchfield Co.)
(based on research by Larry Daniels; Bowie, Maryland)
William Knowles (b c 1710) of New Milford, Litchfield Co., Connecticut, a Quaker, sold a house in Warren, Bristol Co., Rhode Island to Ephraim and Rebecca Sheldon on 14 November 1752. The deed indicated William was the son of 'After' Knowles.
No other record of 'After' Knowles has ever been found, but there was a William Knowles, a cooper, who came from England and lived in Newport, Newport Co., Rhode Island in 1701 and had land in Swansea (later called Warren). On 18 September 1701 this elder William Knowles of Newport and his wife, Mary sold six lots in Swansea to John Child. Warren was incorporated in January 1746/7, and this William Knowles was admitted freeman in Warren in 1747. William died intestate in Warren 2 March 1747/8. His wife, Mary, died 4 January 1750/1. William's estate was administered by Ephraim Sheldon, the same man who bought the home from the younger William Knowles of New Milford in 1752. Therefore, Larry Daniels believed from his research that William of New Milford, son of 'After', was the son of William of Warren.
In any event, the younger William Knowles married the widow, Innocent (Butts) Phillips in 1740. Innocent was the daughter of Idido (Hodijah) Butts of Little Compton, Newport Co., Rhode Island. She married first, Elisha Phillips in Little Compton on 30 September 1736 and had a son, John born 28 May 1737. After her first husband died, Innocent married the aforementioned William Knowles. William and Innocent had two children of their own: Elizabeth born 20 February 1741 and Arthur born 29 December 1743. An 1897 book quotes her grandson that indicates Elizabeth had been born in Dartmouth. So William and Innocent presumably stayed in Dartmouth on Swansea (Warren) for the next ten years. The Quaker Dartmouth records don't begin until 1792, too late to help establish the residency of William and Innocent.
In 1751, this Knowles family moved to New Milford, Connecticut. New Milford had been first settled in 1707 and organized in 1712. New Milford had a good-sized and growing Quaker population. On 25 December 1751, William bought 32 acres of land in New Milford. Following the local custom, William and Innocent then registered the births of all three children; John Phillips as well as Elizabeth and Arthur Knowles in the New Milford town records.
The son, John Phillips married Ann Burden in New Milford on 17 November 1757. The daughter, Elizabeth Knowles married Aaron Benedict on 21 November 1759. This marriage was recorded at the Oblong, New York Monthly Meeting, witnessed by William, Innocent, Arthur, John Phillips and his wife, Ann. The son, Arthur Knowles married Abigail Hamlin (or Hamblin), the daughter of Ruth Seeley, a single woman in New Milford on 15 January 1761. William became one of the regular New Milford Quaker delegates to the Oblong Monthly Meeting in the 1780s.
Innocent (Butts) Phillips Knowles died sometime after November 1759, and William later remarried, widow Ann (Barlow) Sturges of Stamford, Fairfield Co., Connecticut. William and an unnamed wife (undoubtedly Ann) appear in New Milford in the 1790 Census.
William himself died in New Milford in 1794. His will, dated 20 September 1794 and presented for probate on 5 November 1794, mentions his 'aged wife' without naming her, and calls Elizabeth and Arthur his only daughter and son.
The daughter, Elizabeth and her husband moved to New York, c 1795, and in 1812 they moved to Ohio. The son, Arthur and his wife Abigail had at least four children: William, Elizur, Salvine and Gideon Bennett. Two others, who were probably Arthur's children were: Arthur Knowles, Jr. who married Urania Lamson in 1787 and Abigail Hopestill Knowles (called Hopen) who married Eli Perry in 1796.
Arthur and Abigail died sometime between 1790 and 1800 (between censuses). Arthur's son Elizur married Joannah Hill and had eleven children in New Milford.
NOTE: Direct male Knowles descendants of this William Knowles are needed for the Knowles Surname DNA Project to verify the Y-DNA profile for this line. Please contact Robert B. Noles if you are eligible and would consent to participate.
