l'

..'

ELEAZERRIPLEY and NATHANIEL

RIPLEY

( Resi'dents in Bennington, vt.)

Two brothers, Eleazer Ripley and Nathaniel Ripley lived in

Bennington, Vermont in the early ci~lteen hundreds. They ~re the sons
of William Ripley n:1, of Plympton, Mass. According to H.V .Ripley' s
" Genealogy of a Part of the Ripley Family", published in 1867, the
progeni tor of this Ripley Itno was V"illia.m Ripley of 'Nest Brldge-
Wll ter, Mass. who was YI1.8.Dried in lS93 to Mary Corbi son of 'Paun bon , Mass.
Of their nine children, William Il, ·,.)orn in 1702 married Hannah
Bosworth, Feb. 24, 1725. She W~8 a. descendent of John Howlnnd of the
Mayflower. TheIr· eldest child was V'!illiam Ripley III, born July 3, 1726.
On Jan. 5, 1745 he mar-r t ed Lydla. Ring of Fl.ympbon, Mass. She was a des-
cendent of Elder Willinrn Brewster and of Stephen' Hopkins, both
passengers on the N£'JI'flower in 1620. They had thirte en children , of
whomnine were e ons , Williar.l Ripley III and five of his sons,
namely David, Eleazer, Nathaniel, Pr anc f.s and William servod in the
RevolutIonary War.
\

Eleazer Ripley was born in Kingston, Mass. on Oct. 22,1751. Hls

--
wife's name was Mary, surname unknown to 'writer. Nathaniel Ripley,
born Oct. 5, 1755 at Plympton, Mass.lTLftrr1.6dLucy sbur-t.evant of
Plympton. She was a descendent of Miles Standish f.nd. John Alden.
She named her two sons, IsftG.c (born Fob. 19, 1779) and Alden (born
1780, died 1854 in Winshestor, N.H.). Lucy died June 2, 1782 in her
twenty third. year and was buried in Plympton, Ma.s s.

Shortly after their services in the Revolutionary War, the two

brothers Eleazer and. Nathaniel Ripley went to Ashuelot; N.H. to live.
Both are listed in the U.s. Census of 1790 as heads of households
resident in Winchester Town, Cheshire County, N.H. (Ashuelot 1s two
miles from Winchester~ Their younger brothers Frtlttlcis :londWillia.m,
and the ir older brother, Da vld, were he ada of hous eho Lda in Plympton
in 1790.
Two younger brother.5, Daniel and L6vy followed their brothers
to Ashuelot to live for their n1.5.rri!lc;es are recorded in the town
records of Winchel!!ter, N.H. "Dg,niel Ripley (born July 10, 1767)
rnt.i.rried Polly HawkIn~;ln 1793." If Levi Ripley, (born March 7, 1772)
married Eli zs.beth H~wkins in 1'798. If After t he dati th of hiE! wife,
Lucy sturt;'.vant Rfpl13Y, Nathaniel Ri ploy married Molly Hlil.wkins
Aprl1'lB; +783. Did ~hree brothere marry three sisters?
.~
~. • ••• <'1
'.

These :four brothers, El'!1azer, No.thaniel, Daniel and Levi Ripley were
living in Ashuelot, N.H. t n }'795 f,'1r in that yec..r their names were signed
to II net! tion to c one tr-uct II public r-oad to be financed by the sale of
lottery tickets. Per-naPi; the r-oad 'W8 ..$ not built for on Decembcr 6, 1796
Nabhanf.e L Ripley ""1~ made a f'r ee man in Bennington, Vermont, 6l.ccordin~ to
records in the Loca L Museum. His name appears in lists of freemen for the
years 1803 and 1804 also. His brother Eleazer Ripley WtOtS sworn.as a
f'r-eeman in Bennf.ngt on in 1802 and 1'10 is listed as present :?t Q Freemens t
meeting sept. 4, 1804. On Dec. 13, 1803, Eleazer Ripley ~nd others signed
a document hcade d, " Subscr!bel'a of the town of Bennington disngred in
religious opinion with the majority- of the 1nhabitnnts of the town of

;
 ..---
2'

B~nnington d1eRgPee in religious opinlon-w!~~he~~or-lty of the I

1nhabitanbe ef ~he tQ~ffi of Benn1ngton in sup~ort of the minister."

How long Eleazer Hipley lived in Bennington is unknown to the

writer. Not very lon.g probably for he died in Ashuelot in 1810
It and was buried in the cemetery on the hillside back of Ashuelot.
His tombstone reads: "Died Sept. 27, 1810 in his 59 th yenr." Beside
Eleazer's grave is thut of his widow Mary, who" died Nov. 16, 1833
aged 73 yeArs." They had a large family of children, the to~m records
of W1nchester recording the names and birth dates of the first five.
born between 1780 and 1797. Tho writer knows nothing furt:h.erof their
15 descendents except that Lucy married Luther Alexander in l80B and the1r
descendents built the present stutely Comr!lU.nlty
House in Wl~t..l\..'(.;.~t-e"()~'~' •. .,

Bennington Museum Records mention two other mAn named Natha.niel

and Eleazer Ripley. They were sons of Nnth~n1el RiP~ey, Senior.
According to family records in the possession of the writer, Nathaniel
Ripley, Seni91" was married th1:'eet'lmes, his third wife be ing named
I~
Rachel Oliver, but no proof has been found by the wri tel" for the
third mar-rt age , Chtldren of the t hf r-d wi'fe were four in number;
Nathnniel, who married Phoebe Fay, August 25, 1830 and who died
Feb. 28,1847 and was buried in Bennington; (2) Eleazer, born in 1805, ..
) vr

died Dec. 18, 1842, buried in Bennington. He married Jeanette Norton.

(3) Pame Ld a J (4) Sa,llie. No doubt 1_t was this Sally Ripley who
married Jeremiah Granger tn Bennington, Dec. 31, 1821. It w~s the
second Eleazer Ripley who became a. freeman September 2, 1328 when he
w~s twenty three years old.
In s. collection of newspaper clippings kept by the lil.teDr. Henry
Clay Day of Bennington and in the possession of the Bennington
Historical 1~seum mention i8 made of the second Nathaniel Ripley,
as follows:" Drowned in this town on Thursday eveni!lg the 26 th
instant, Mr. Jesse Downs of BenninGton, aged 49, and Mr. Seth Keys of
Pownal, aged 45. They w~re i~ Q wagon with a boy who drove the horses.
on their way to their respect! ve fs.milies, from the East Village',,'
and the road passes very near the S&fford Mill Pond which has a very
steep' bnnk.i'h.e· eveninG beH.ng·very' dark the' horses; got out of the rond
and plunged into the wnter whore it was ten :_eet deep. Some persons in
hhe company g~ve the alarm. Their bodies were found in about halt an
hour, but too late to'restore th~m to life. The boy was taken from
the wagon without ha vf.ng suattaineil c11ny injury. The horses wer-e
drowned." -Ver-morrt Gaze tte, De c~rr..barl:·118l8. Dr. Day had added in his
own h!M.ndwr1ting;"The hoy mentioned above was Nathaniel Ripley and he
was save d by the box becoming detached from the wagon and floating."
Po L'Lowi.ng this notatH)~ -: _8,,·added. " N~thD..nielrapley, father of
Vcr's. Edwa.rd Ke 11er.. nndMr8. Hannah French and gnandf'a ther of Mrs.
Arthur Sweet and Mrs. John Br arrt;"
Just how long N~than1el Ripley, Senior, lived in Bennington,
is unknown to the writer.Doubtless he was living there in 1818 when
his young son had the above experience. At that time lived~there also,
Nathaniel's oldest son, Isaac and his fc.mily consisting of wife,
11 Laur-a (Torrence) Ripley, daughter Electa and two sons, VlullitH'lIsaac
and Ch~rles Torrence Ripley. By 1848 or 1850 all three of Isa~cs'
 ch11drenhad married and imnigrated to W1aconsin. Where Na.thaniel
Ripley and Isaac and Laura Torrence Ripley spent their last years
and are buried the writer would like to Rscertain. Any ~eader who can
answer this question in whole or part 1s asked to ~~ite to the
oompiler.
.I I
/
S1gned-- ~~
(Mrs. Jacob .Cornog,)
1155 East Court street,
Iowa C1ty, Iowa.

Reference a :
H.W.Ripley:"Genealogy of ~ part of the Ripley Family."
~ •• Mayflower Descendents: Vol. 4,p.73
3. " " Vol. 22,p.135
4. « « Vol. 22,p.69
" " Vol. 22, p.169 and Vol. 5, P. 117
~ •• Massach.usetts Soldiers and Sailors in the R evolutionary War,
Volum~ 13, pages 343,344, 347 and 349
7. Plympton Records, p.376
~myflower Descendents, Vol. 11,p.117
8. tl II Vol. 1, p.248, and Vol. 12 and 23

l~: Plympton Records.

New Rngland Historical ~nd Genealogic&l Register: Vol. 37, pg.297, 397
11. To .•m Papers; "New Hampshire: Hammond, Vol. XIII, 1690-1800 "
12. Bennington Historical Museum Records
13. " « « ff

14. Ripley and Allied Families: Emma Ripley Cornog

15. Genealogical Register: Vol 39.
16. A.nd 17. Ripley and Allied Families: Emmn Ripley Oor-nog , 1938 ----