Joseph Heath, Jr. was born July 28, 1713. He was the second of four children born to Joseph and Dorothy Heath of Groton, Connecticut. I have been able to find little information about the early life life of Joseph Heath, Jr., other than a Groton land record he was party to at the age of twenty-five, and what I believe to be the record of his marriage one year later in Newport, Rhode Island.
On June 2, 1739, Joseph Heath, Jr. of Groton, age twenty-five, bought for £ 105 from John Seabury, Jr. a tract of land bounded by the property of John Seabury, Jr. and a road. The deed was signed by John Seabury, Jr. and witnessed by Joseph Heath (Sr.) and Samuel Seabury.
One year later, Joseph Heath, Jr. was in Newport, Rhode Island, where he married Mary Bell, the sixteen year old daughter of William and Martha (French) Bell at Trinity Church, Newport, on September 14, 1740. I have found no record to indicate why Joseph Heath, Jr. would remove to Newport, other than the proximity of Newport to Bristol County, Massachusetts, where Joseph parents came from, prior to settling in Groton. However, it's clear that Joseph Heath, Jr. of Groton was the same Joseph Heath who married Mary Bell in Newport, as evidenced by a Groton land deed, dated August 18, 1747, in which Joseph Heath and Mary, his wife of "Newport in the Colony of Rhode Island" sold for £ 200 to John Brown of Newport, the same tract of land in Groton, Connecticut that Joseph Heath, Jr. purchased from John Seabury, Jr. in 1739 (see previous paragraph). The deed was signed by Joseph Heath and Mary Heath, Newport, August 19, 1747. and witnessed by Ebenezer Richardson and Hannah Hayward, also of Newport. Further evidence that Joseph Heath, Jr. of Groton and Joseph Heath who married Mary Bell were the same person is provided by the fact that Ebenezer Richardson and John Brown, witness and grantee, respectively, of the Groton land deed, also appear in Trinity Church records for this same time period.
On September 25, 1748, two children, William and Mary Heath, were baptized at Trinity Church in Newport. Aside from the marriage record of Joseph Heath to Mary Bell (and a much later record of a Mary Heath who married John Bell in 1769 -- possibly the child Mary Heath who was baptized along with her brother William in 1748), these are the only other Heath records that appear in the Trinity Church books, so it can be assumed that William and Mary were probably the children of Joseph and Mary Heath. It seems very likely that this is the baptism record of my ancestor, William Heath of Groton, whose date of birth has been listed as "ca. 1750". A possible other son of this couple, Joseph Heath who married Mary Brown in Swansea in 1764 can be included.
Thus, the speculated children of Joseph and Mary (Bell) Heath are:
- Joseph Heath, born abt. 1741-1746; married Mary Brown, April 19, 1764, Swansea, MA.
- William Heath, baptized September 25, 1748; Trinity Church, Newport, Rhode Island
- Mary Heath, baptized September 25, 1748; Trinity Church, Newport, Rhode Island
There were possibly other children born to this couple.
Joseph Heath, Jr.'s mother, Dorothy Heath, died on October 24, 1754 in Groton. On January 3, 1757, Joseph Heath, Sr., age seventy, married Marcy Tracy. Groton records show that on May 31, 1768, Marcy (or Mercy) Tracy Heath died.
The land records of Joseph Heath, Sr. and Joseph Heath, Jr. are confusing and there are several cases in which it is difficult to determine whether the father or the son was a party to the deed. For example, on January 2, 1758, Joseph Heath of Groton sold 1½ acres of land situated in Groton to Christopher Avery, Esq. On August 3, 1763, John Heath of Groton sold to Joseph Heath "of Swanzey in the Provence of the Massachusets Bay" ten acres of land in Groton. Then, on September 16, 1769, Devotion Eddy of Groton served judgement against Joseph Heath of "of Swansey in the Provence of the Massachusits Bay" for £ 36:9:0 Debt and £ 1:0:11 costs of suit. It's not clear which Joseph Heath, father or son, was the subject in each of these exchanges, although it seems more likely to have been Joseph Heath, Sr., who came to Groton from Swansea, whereas Joseph Heath, Jr. settled in Newport, Rhode Island. Still, considering the proximity of Swansea to Newport, it could have been either man.
The 1769 law suit was the last Groton record dealing with either Joseph Heath or Joseph, Heath, Jr. Since Joseph Heath, Sr. was born in 1686, he could still have feasibly been alive in 1769. I have found no further records of either man, Joseph Heath, Sr. or Jr. to indicate their dates of death.
Three years after the Devotion Eddy law suit, my ancestor William Heath (who I speculate to be the son of Joseph Heath, Jr.) married Mary Collver at the First Baptist Church of Groton with the Elder Timothy Wightman officiating. Ironically, Mary Collver was the daughter of Joseph and Mary (Eddy) Culver. Mary Eddy was very likely an aunt or cousin of Devotion Eddy, the man who served judgment against Joseph Heath. The Eddy family also came to Groton from Swansea, Massachusetts.
Groton Land Records of Joseph, Joseph, Jr., and John Heath
June 2, 1739: Joseph Heath, Jr. of Groton bought for £ 105 from John Seabury, Jr. a tract of land bounded by the property of John Seabury, Jr. and a road. Signed by John Seabury, Jr. Witnessed by Joseph Heath and Samuel Seabury. [FHL Microfilm # 0004294; Groton Connecticut Land Records, Volume 4, page 66.]
November 24, 1739: Joseph Heath and 12 other men (Capt. Jonathan Stone, Mr. Jonathan Sholes, Capt. Robert Allyn, Esqr. Ralph Stoddard, Thomas Baley, Sergt. Peter Lester, Sergt. John Hurlbut, Mr. Jonathan Williams, James Baley, James Baley, Jr., Joseph Millison, and John Allyn), all of Groton, were granted a small parcel of land in Groton for the use of a school and to be improved for no other use. The land was bounded by Preston Road, the highway that goes from the Old Meeting House in Groton to the Pine Swamp Road, property of James Baley, Jr. and the above mentioned persons. Signed by Christopher Avery, Jr. Witnessed by Luke Perkins and Eunice Perkins. [FHL Microfilm # 0004294; Groton Connecticut Land Records, Volume 4, page 87.]
July 16, 1745: John Heath of Groton bought for £ 345 from Paul Pelton of Groton, 10 acres of land situated in Groton and bounded by Shole's land. Signed by Paul Pelton. Witnessed by Christopher Avery and Samuel Avery. [FHL Microfilm # 0004296; Groton Connecticut Land Records, Volume 5, page 19.]
August 18, 1747: Joseph Heath and Mary, his wife of "Newport in the Colony of Rhode Island" sold for £ 200 to John Brown of Newport, a tract of land in Groton, bounded by the property of John Seabury, Jr. Signed by Joseph Heath and Mary Heath, Newport, August 19, 1747. Witnessed by Ebenezer Richardson and Hannah Hayward. [FHL Microfilm # 0004296; Groton Connecticut Land Records, Volume 5, page 91.]
August 29, 1750: John Heath of Groton bought for £ 13 from Ralph Stoddard, Jr. of Groton a small 73-rod parcel of land bounded by the property of Joseph Heath (probably Sr.). Signed by Ralph Stoddard, Jr. Witnessed by Christopher Avery, Jr. and William Avery. [FHL Microfilm # 0004296; Groton Connecticut Land Records, Volume 5, page 102.]
September 29, 1750: Joseph Heath of Groton bought for £ 20 from Samuel and Hannah Hutchinson of Groton 1 ½ acres of land in Groton located near the property of Christopher Avery and the Preston Road. Signed by Samuel Hutchinson and Hannah Hutchinson. Witnessed by Christopher Avery, Jr. and Parke Avery. [FHL Microfilm # 0004296; Groton Connecticut Land Records, Volume 5, page 103.]
October 9, 1754: John Heath of Groton sold for £ 7, 10 shillings to Hutchinson Sholes of Groton, a small parcel of land in Groton containing about 30 rods, bounded by the property of John Heath and Hutchinson Sholes. Signed by John Heath. Witnessed by Christopher Avery and Sarah Avery. [FHL Microfilm # 0004296; Groton Connecticut Land Records, Volume 5, page 163.]
January 2, 1758: Joseph Heath of Groton sold for £ 4 to Christopher Avery, Esq., 1½ acres of land situated in Groton, bounded by Christopher Avery's land near the school house on the southeasterly side of the highway; land of John Heath, and of Ralph Stoddard. Signed by Joseph Heath. Witnessed by Jasper Latham and Henry Williams. [FHL Microfilm # 0004296; Groton Connecticut Land Records, Volume 6, page 40.]
August 2, 1760: John Heath of Groton sold for 30 shillings to Christopher Avery of Groton one quarter acre of land in Groton abutting west upon Preston Road and bounded by land of Ralph Stoddard and by Christopher Avery. Signed by John Heath. Witnessed by Jabez Smith and Joseph Williams, Jr. [FHL Microfilm # 0004296; Groton Connecticut Land Records, Volume 6, page 82.]
August 3, 1763: John Heath of Groton sold to Joseph Heath of "Swansey in the Provence of the Massachusets Bay in New England aforesaide" for £ 100, ten acres with buildings in Groton bounded by the property of Jesse Baley, Hutchinson Sholes, "or however otherwise Bounded by a Deed of the same from Thomas Pelton to the sd Joseph Heath Recorded in the Records of Groton Refference thereunto being had may Appear Togeather with the Buildings thereon standing or to the same belonging." Signed by John Heath. Witnessed by Peter Lester and Christopher Avery. [FHL Microfilm # 0004296; Groton Connecticut Land Records, Volume 6, page 126.]
September 16, 1769: Joseph Heath of "Swansey in the Provence of the Massechusits Bay" was served judgment by Devotion Eddy of Groton for £ 36:9:0 Debt and £ 1:0:11 costs of suit. The record was signed by Daniel Coit, Clerk. [FHL Microfilm # 0004296; Groton Connecticut Land Records, Volume 6, page 17.]
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