Mary Culver was born on October 23, 1751 in Groton, Connecticut. She was the sixth of eight children born to Joseph and Mary (Eddy) Culver of Groton. Mary's great-great-grandfather, Edward Culver, came to America with the Winthrop Fleet of 1635. He removed to Pequot (New London), Connecticut in 1653, and then later settled on a 400-acre farm known as Chepadas (Intersection of Trails) which had been granted to him by the Mohican sachem, Uncas. Chepadas was passed down three generations to Mary's father, Joseph Culver (III). Mary was probably born on this farm.
On August 2, 1772, Mary married William Heath of Groton. The Baptist Elder, Timothy Wightman of the First Baptist Church of Groton, performed the marriage ceremony, which was recorded in his record of marriages as:
August ye 2 1772
Then was William Heath and Mary Collver marriedMary's grandparents, Joseph and Mary (Stark) Culver were instrumental in the establishment of the First Baptist Church of Groton, where she and William were married. The church is located next to the Old Wightman Burying Ground. According to the Colver-Culver Family Genealogy by Valerie Giorgi, page 13, "Historians in the Groton area agree that the Wightman Burying Ground lies within the land that was originally granted to Edward Colver by the King for his services to the Crown in the Indian Wars."
Mary was twenty years old on her wedding day, and William was about twenty-two. In their twenty-two years of marriage, William and Mary Heath had the following six known children:
- Gilbert Heath, b. Abt. 1778, Groton, New London County, Connecticut; d. 06 April 1861, near Mystic, New London County, Connecticut; m. (1) Margaret Searle, 25 January 1800; m. (2) Martha Watrous, 1846.
- James Heath.
- Asa Heath, b. Abt. 1784, New London County, Connecticut; d. Aft. 1850, New London County, Connecticut.
- Amos Heath, b. 11 February 1786, Groton, New London County, Connecticut; d. 12 April 1848, Groton, New London County, Connecticut; m. Mary Chapman, 10 April 1815, Groton, New London County, Connecticut.
- William Heath.
- Mary Heath.
In March, 1776, William Heath enlisted for service in the Revolutionary War. According to John Morgan of Groton, William Heath garrisoned duty at Fort Griswold in 1776, where he served three months as a private under the command of Captain Ralph Stoddard. He then served one year as a private under the command of Captain William Whitney and Captain Oliver Smith. In 1778, William participated in General Sullivan's Rhode Island Expedition, after which he confided to his wife, Mary, "of the sufferings and hardship which he underwent while there by reason of the great strains being obliged to sleep on the fences to keep out of the water."
At least four, but possibly all, of Mary and William's six children were born after William returned home from the war. Records of the births of their children are far from complete. My ancestor, Amos Heath, was born fourteen years after the marriage of William and Mary, which would probably make him one of the youngest of their children.
On April 18, 1777, Mary and William bought for £ 100 from her siblings and her step-mother, Eunice Culver, about forty-three acres of land that was part of her father's estate in Groton. Joseph Culver died on October 12, 1776, and the deed to Mary and William was part of the division of Joseph Culver's estate that transpired in the following land transactions:
Land Records of William and Mary (Culver) Heath
of Groton, Connecticut:September 1, 1777: William Heath and his wife, Mary; along with Daniel Stark, Asa Button and his wife Abigail; Joseph Colver; Bethany Culver; and Hannah Culver, all heirs of Joseph Culver of Groton, sold for £ 100 to Lemuel Culver of Groton, about 40 acres of land "one half of the Cellar under the Late Dwelling House of our Honored father Joseph Culver Deceas'd and the Back Chamber and the East Garret in Said House and one certain Tract or Parcel of Land Situated Lying and being in Groton aforesaid and is part of the homestaid farm of Said Joseph Culver Deceased". The land was bounded by "A Lot of Land this Day Set out to William Heath and Mary his Wife"; and by the property of Daniel Stark; Robert Stanton; Mrs. Eunice Culver (widow of Joseph Culver); Joseph Cullver and his sisters [Bethany and Hannah]. Signed by Daniel Stark, Asa Button, Abigail Button, William Heath, Mary Heath, Joseph Colver, Bethany Culver, and Hannah Colver.
(more to come)
William Heath died in March 1794 at about forty-four years of age. As far as I know, no record is available about his place of death or burial. In her 1837 application to receive a pension for William's Revolutionary War service, Mary (Culver) Heath and her son Gilbert testified that William died in March of 1794 and that she had remained a widow since his death.
Mary outlived William by more than forty years, as she appeared in every census listing up through the 1840 census. In the 1800 census for Groton, she was listed as Molly Heth with 2 males of 26 and under 45 years of age (probably sons Amos and William), 1 female of 10 and under 16 years of age (probably daughter Mary), and 1 female age 45 and up (Mary, herself, age 49). In the 1810 census, Mary was not listed as the head of a household. In fact, the only Heath listed in New London County for this year was Gilbert, who is presumably Mary's oldest son. Gilbert Heath had living in his household 1 male under 10 years of age, 1 male of 26 and under 45 years of age, 2 females of 10 and under 16 years of age, and 1 female age 45 and up. It's possible that the female, age 45 and older, was Mary, who may have been living with Gilbert at the time. In the 1830 census, Mary was listed as Mary Colver, living in the household next to her son Gilbert, with 1 male under 5 years of age, 1 male of 5 and under 10 years of age, 1 female of 30 and under 40 years of age, and 1 female of 70 and under 80 years of age (Mary, age 79). Mary appeared, for the last time, in the 1840 census, living next to the households of Gilbert Heath and his son Reuben. She was once again listed as Mary Heath, of 80 and under 90 years of age (she was 89), the only person living in her household. Under the column with the heading "Name and age of Revolutionary War pensioners" was written, Mary Heath age 89. This appears to have been the last census she was alive for. Mary's exact date of death and her place of burial is not known, although her parents and her son Amos and his wife are buried at the Old Wightman Burying Ground, near the First Baptist Church of Groton where Mary and William Heath were married.
SOURCES
Colver-Culver Family Genealogy As Descended from Edward Colver of Groton, Connecticut to the Thirteen Generations in America by Valerie Dyer Giorgi, Santa Maria, California, 1984, pp. 112-113.
Colver-Culver Genealogy by Frederick Lathrop Colver, Frank Allaben Genealogical Company, New York, New York, 1910.
Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) application information for Revolutionary Ancestor William Heath of Sally Russell Cox, Constance Patterson Russell, and Bertha Burdick Patterson.
Groton Connecticut Land Records.
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Microfilm # 1244: Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land-Warrant Application Files, Pension Application of Mary Heath of Groton.
The records of Helen Louise Heath Palmer
United States Census listings for the years 1800-1840, Groton, Connecticut.
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