Person:Nathaniel Chaffee (5)

Biography

From: Chaffee Lineage in America [1]

Nathaniel Chaffee, son of Thomas Chaffe, was born between the year 1639 and 1642, probably at Nantasket or Hull, MA, and died in Rehoboth, September 1720. Between 1657 and 1660 he settled in that part of Rehoboth which later became Swansea. On May 19, 1670, he was chosen constable, and from that time was a large land owner, inheriting some from his father and increasing his holding considerably by purchase. He bought sixty acres of land from Obediah Brown in Rehoboth, and later two parcels of land of twelve and a half and ten acres each from John Martin, of Attleboro. That he was highly valued as a citizen is evident from the fact that after his removal from Rehoboth he was invited to return to the town, and as an inducement was offered more land. Four months later he returned. Nathaniel Chaffee was a blacksmith, and from the nature of his work, and the dependence of early settlements on the work of the blacksmith, he held a prominent place in the life of the early settlement. The blacksmith in those days made practically all farm implements, household utensils, arms, bells, etc. Nathaniel Chaffee became a freeman in 1681, on March 26, of which year he was elected constable. On March 22, 1693, he was chosen tythingman (policeman). He received numerous grants of land. During King Philip's war he contributed L3, 16s, 6d to the war fund. He married, in Swansea, MA August 19, 1669, Experience Bliss, daughter of Jonathon and Miriam (Harmon*) Bliss, and they were parents of eleven children, the first three of which were born in Swansea, the others in Rehoboth. Children: Dorothy; Thomas, born Oct. 19, 1672; Rachel; Nathaniel, Jan. 1675-1676; Jonathon mentioned below; David, Aug. 22, 1680; Experience, March 24, 1682; Mehitable, Oct. 30, 1685; Daniel, Oct. 30, 1687; Noah, Jan. 19, 1690; Noah, Dec. 17, 1[6]92.

September 22, 1694, Nathaniel went to the Swansea home of his brother, Joseph, who was ill. Joseph made his will and probably wished his only brother to witness it. Joseph died soon after and on November 13, 1694, Nathaniel went to the county seat, Bristol, with two other witnesses, to swear to his brother's signature. At the same time he became one of the sureties in the sum of 200 pounds for his sister-in-law, Annis (Martin) Chaffee and her sons, John and Joseph, Jr., all executors of the will. Joseph's wife Agnes (Annis) Martin may have been related to either or both Richard or Edward (a father) or John Martin (a brother). John Martin (1634-1713) was born in England at Ottery St. Mary, (10 miles east of Exeter) and was a major land owner in Barrington in 1680.

February 10, 1702. Nathaniel Chaffee, Blacksmith of Rehoboth, gave to his son Jonathan of Rehoboth four and a half acres of land there, near a place called "Broken Cross". May 3, 1715, he gave "for and in Consideration of the good Will and affection which I have and do bear toward my Youngest Son, Noah Chaffe, Yeoman, twenty-four acres of land at half Mile Swamp in Rehoboth, being a Certain tract of Upland and Meadow ground." With this son, Nathaniel and Experience spent their last days, doubtless receiving loving care from Noah and his wife. Both Nathaniel and his wife died in September 1721, and a tradition from Rehoboth says that so devoted was he to his wife that he died of grief a few hours after her death. The old burying ground surrounding the Congregational Church, formerly in Rehoboth, and now in the village of Rumford, East Providence, Rhode Island, is supposed to be the burial place of Nathaniel and Experience, though no stones to their memory remain.

* Miriam Harmon has been disproved as wife of Jonathan Bliss.

1. ↑ Deaths, in Arnold, James N. Vital Record of Rehoboth, 1642-1896. (Providence, RI: Narragansett Historical Publishing Co., 1897).

   CHAFFEE: Nathaniel, Sep. ___ 1721

2. ↑ Chaffee, in Smith, Ethel Farrington. Seventeenth Century Hull, Massachusetts and Her People. New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (1988-1989)
   142:351.

   Nathaniel, b.ca. 1643;