Something Interesting about the Colby Family Tree

 

The most Interesting facts about the Colby Family

I began a research project to investigate the Colby family genealogy in order to find out more information about a particularly sad event in their family history.  The drowning death of Nathaniel Colby (1774-1823) left me searching for answers about the incident.  I wanted to learn more about what had happened and the circumstances which caused him to lose his life.  But in order to figure out the key individuals involved in this tragedy, I found it necessary to do a deep dive into the family history in order to identify all the family members involved.  This led me into a Eureka moment where I was able to find out all the information about the disaster from the published sources available in October 1823.  That story itself is a fascinating, yet melancholy bit of history which I will tell you about soon.

            This research enabled me to properly identify at least three generations of the Colby Family starting with William Colby (1739-1784) and his wife Susanna Rowland (1739-1831).  It was a difficult and time-consuming task, indeed.  There were a number of false leads and incorrect marriages found from multiple family trees published in Ancestry.  But finally, I am able to accurately tell this tale which will confound and befuddle your mind.

            Let me begin by explaining some of the most intriguing facts that I discovered.

            At the beginning, it is necessary to understand that William Colby and Susanna Rowland had 8 children:  William (1764), Susanna (1765), Margaret (1767), John (1769), Ann (1773), Nathaniel (1774), Thomas (1776) and Randal (1779).  I am citing the year of birth to help avoid confusion later in the story.

            And now the fun facts begin.  William (1764) married Maria Panks in 1787.  Maria was the base-born child of Margaret Panks so we don’t know who her father was.  But her mother finally found a husband when she married Henry Pritty (1731) after the death of Henry’s first wife.  Henry and Margaret had four children of which you need only concern yourself with Henry Pritty Jr. (1776) and Susanna Pritty (1781).  After Margaret’s marriage, Maria Panks is now the step-sister of both Henry and Susanna Pritty.  Well, wouldn’t you know that Ann Colby (1773) married Henry Pritty Jr. (1776) and Nathaniel Colby (1774) married Susanna Pritty (1781).  That would make Margaret Panks the mother of three spouses for William and Susanna’s children.  In addition, Maria is now the sister-in-law for seven of the siblings, the wife of one and the step-sister of two of her in-laws.

            I found a healthy competition emerge within the 2^nd generation of the children of William Colby and Susanna Rowland.  Particularly when comparing William Colby’s (1764) family and Randal Colby’s (1779) family.  Here are a couple of examples:

            William Colby (1764) and Maria Panks had 9 children.  They were: Maria (1788), Mary Ann (1790), William (1792), Margaret (1795), Susanna (1797), Randal (1799), Thomas (1803), Henry (1807), and Nathaniel (1811).

            Randal Colby (1779) married Judith Fisher in 1804. His niece Mary Ann (1790) married William Fisher in 1810.  William is the younger brother of Judith Fisher. That means that Mary Ann Colby is both niece to Randal Colby (1779) as well as his sister-in-law?

Randal Colby (1779) and Judith Fisher had 7 children:  Henry (1804), Ann (1807), Randal (1809), Benjamin (1812), John Fisher (1815), Emanuel (1818), and Daniel (1821).

Not to be outdone, Mary Ann (1790) and William Fisher had 11 children:  Mary Ann (1811), Henry (1812), William (1814), Maria (1816), Eleanor (1820), John (1821), William (1822), Harriett (1824), Susannah (1826), Randall Colby (1829), and Alice (1834).

            Aside from the naming tributes found in these two families, it became a genealogical nightmare.  So now we have:

Randal Colby (1779), Randal Colby (1799), Randal Colby (1809), and Randall Colby Fisher (1829).

Henry Pritty, Sr. (1731), Henry Pritty, Jr. (1776), Henry Colby (1804), Henry Colby (1807), and Henry Fisher (1812).

Susanna Rowland Colby (1739), Susanna Colby (1765), Susanna Colby (1797), and Susannah Fisher (1826).

John Colby (1769), John Fisher Colby (1815), John Fisher (1821) plus John Fisher (1786)—brother of William Fisher.

Thomas Colby (1776), Thomas Colby (1803) plus Suzanna Colby’s (1765) son Thomas Adams.

Ann Colby (1773) and Ann Colby (1807).

            Then throw in a few ancestors named Mary, Mary Ann and Maria.  Whew!  The research becomes more and more difficult to follow.  But I made it this far.

            The real fun came when I jumped into the 3^rd generation and attempted to distinguish between Henry Colby (1807-1852), son of William Colby (1764) and Maria Panks and Henry Colby (1804-1879), son of Randal Colby (1779) and Judith Fisher.  Let me explain.

            Henry Colby (1807) married Mary Ann Adams in 1832.  Henry’s cousin known as Henry Colby (1804) married Mary Reed in 1831.  About the only way to find the correct records for each family, was to carefully look for records for “Henry and Mary” or “Henry and Mary Ann”

            What was even more confounding was the 1841 census record which showed both Mary Anne Colby on the same page as Mary Colby.  Not only the same page, but they were next-door neighbors.  I believe both Mary’s were cognizant of the problem and throughout their legal lives, they consistently used either Mary Ann for Mary Ann Adams and only Mary for Mary Reed.

            I was able to finally work out the families for each Henry Colby.  Here is what I was able to devise:

            Henry Colby (1807) and Mary Ann Adams had 9 children.  Coincidentally, the same number of children that Henry’s parents had.  They were:  Maria Panks Colby, Harriet Mary Ann, Rebecca, James, Emily Amelia, Henry William, Mary Ann, Alice and Julia Elizabeth.

            Henry Colby (1804) and Mary Reed had 4 children.  Coincidentally, the same number of children that Henry’s parents had.  They were:  George, Mary Ann, Matilda and Emily.

            Both Henry’s were fishermen and were absent quite a bit of the time.  I started imagining the conversations they might have had in 1841 as neighbors.

“Hello Henry.  How’s the fishin’.” 

“Well, hi Henry.  Fishin’s not so good.” 

“How is Mary Ann?” 

“She is just fine.  You know how tough it can be, being pregnant and all.  How is Mary?”

“Oh, Mary’s fine as can be.  It’s just hard trying to feed 4 kids, and all.”

“Tell me about it.  With 5 kids to feed.  And Mary Ann says she still wants more youngins.”

“Hey, how is it going for school with Harriet Mary Ann?  Is she makin’ sense of the new math they are teaching?”

“She is doing fine, as long as we don’t have to count past 10.  I reckon’ she’s doing about as well as your Mary Ann”

“Hey Henry, has your mail been comin’ to you regularly?  It seems that the postman keeps messing up our mail.”

“Yep.  Nothing ever changes.”

“Well, goodbye for now Henry.”

“You too, Henry”

 

Hope you have enjoyed this tale as much as I have had in telling it.

 

P.S.  If you are trying to identify this portrait, it belongs to Nathaniel Colby (1811-1878).