- 15. Col. Oliver'' Babcock, son of John and Mary (Law-
ton) Babcock (James ist). b. Westerly. R. L, 1683 (?) ;
d. Oct. (?), 1773; m. (i) Jan., 1704-5, Susanna, dau. of
Joseph and Betliiah (Hubbard) Clark, and sister to Rev.
Thomas Clark, who married Elizabeth, dau. of Capt. James
Babcock. Susanna b. Westerly, Aug. 31, 1683. She joined
the S. D. B. Church at Newport, July, 1707. At that time the
Newport Church had a branch at Westerly. Oliver m. (2)
Dec. 2, 1 76 1, Deborah Knowles. She had no children.
Oliver was a minor, Apr. 21, 1698, at which time he chose
his brother, Capt. James, as guardian.
The Babcock Genealogy. 25
On Nov. 25, 171 5, Oliver gave a mortgage on one hundred
and thirty acres of land for £100 currency, which he borrowed
from the Colony of Rhode Island, without interest. A month
earlier his brother James had borrowed £300 under similar
conditions, fully described in his biography.
Oliver was admitted a freeman May i, 17 16. fie w'as Dep-
uty from Westerly to the General Assembly in 1730, '34, 'T,y,
'38, '52. (C. R. of R. I., vol. V.) For a large part of his
life public records refer to him as "Col. Oliver Babcock." At
a meeting of the General Assembly held at Warwack, R. I.,
on the second Monday of Aug., 1735. Capt. Oliver Babcock
was appointed one of a committee "for creating a new harbor
in Westerly by turning the Pawcatuck River into the largest
salt pond along the Westerly shore, so that said pond would
become a very commodious and navigable harlx)r, and would
likewise be very convenient for the catching and making of
codfish." The proposed work was no doubt found to be im-
practicable, as it was never performed.
The same year he was a commissioner to lay out twenty
acres of land upon which to build an Indian meetinghouse in
W^esterly. W'as also one of the commissioners to build a
bridge across the Pawcatuck River at Westerly. (W. and W.,
P- 1 39-)
Mar. 19, 1757, Hopkinton was set off from Westerly, and
Col. Oliver Babcock's home was in the new town. He was
probably ninety years old at the time of his death in 1773.
Apr. 14, 1749, Oliver Babcock, of Westerly, conveyed lands
in Voluntown to John Dixon, of Stonington, Conn. Said land
was laid out to John Babcock, father of Col. Oliver, who w^as
one of the Connecticut volunteers in the Narragansett War.
Col. Oliver's will was dated Dec. 3, 1761, and was proved
and recorded in Hopkinton Nov. i, 1773. It mentions wife
Delx^rah, daughters Susanna Beebe and Mary Cobb, sons
Thomas, Nathan, Oliver, Simeon, Jose])h, John. He appoints
his sons Simeon, Oliver, John, and Joseph to be the executors
of his will.
Children, all by first wife:
Susanna, b. Sept. 20, 1705; m. James (?), son of Samuel and
Elizabeth (Rogers) Beebe, b. Oct. lO, 1710. (Rogers Genealogy.)
50 Thomas,* b. Mar. 7, 1710; m. (i) Mary Davidson ( ?) ; (2) Judith
Davis.
51 Mary, b. Feb. 8, 1712-3; m. Henry Cobb.
Nathan, b. Oct. 12, 1715.
52 Simeon, b. Sept. 27, 1717; m. Sarah Gardner.
John, b. May 12, 1720.
26 The Bahcock Genealogy.
53 Oliver, Jr., b. Sept. i6, 1722; ni. Patience Pendleton.
54 Joseph, b. Oct. 18, 1726; m. Anna Harris.
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