Benjamin1 Cooley

Abt 1615 - 1684  (~ 69 years)

• Name	Benjamin1 Cooley  [1]
  Birth	Abt 1615	Tring, Hertfordshire, England
  Christening	25 Feb 1615/16	Tring Parish, St Albans Archdeaconry, Hertfordshire, England   [2]
  Gender	Male
  Death	17 Aug 1684	Springfield, Hampshire Co, Massachusetts   [1, 3]
  Person ID	I515	Cooley Miller Sears Barnhouse
  Last Modified	29 Sep 2020

  
  

  Father	William Coley,   b. Hertfordshire, England d. Abt Mar 1640/41
  Mother	Joan Arnott   bur. 9 Aug 1630, Tring Parish, Hertfordshire, England
  Marriage	25 Feb 1607/08	Tring Parish, Hertfordshire, England   [4]
  Family ID	F522	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Sarah (wife of Ensign Benjamin Cooley) [?],   b. Abt 1621, Probably England d. 23 Aug 1684, Springfield, Hampshire Co, Massachusetts (Age ~ 63 years)
  Marriage	Abt 1642	Probably in the New World   [5]
  Children	1. Bethia Cooley,   b. 16 Sep 1643, Springfield, Non-County Area 1, Massachusetts Bay Colony d. 9 Dec 1711, Springfield, Hampshire Co, Massachusetts (Age 68 years)   2. Obadiah Cooley,   b. 27 Jan 1645/46, Springfield, Non-County Area 1, Massachusetts Bay Colony d. 3 Sep 1690, Springfield, Hampshire Co, Massachusetts (Age 44 years)   3. Eliakim Cooley,   b. 8 Jan 1647/48, Springfield, Non-County Area 1, Massachusetts Bay Colony d. 1 Dec 1711, Springfield, Hampshire Co, Massachusetts (Age 63 years)   4. Daniel Cooley,   b. 2 May 1651, Springfield, Non-County Area 1, Massachusetts Bay Colony d. 9 Feb 1726/27, Springfield, Hampshire Co, Massachusetts (Age 75 years)   5. Sarah Cooley,   b. 27 Feb 1653/54, Springfield, Non-County Area 1, Massachusetts Bay Colony d. Yes, date unknown   6. Benjamin Cooley,   b. 1 Sep 1656, Springfield, Non-County Area 1, Massachusetts Bay Colony d. 29 Nov 1731, Springfield, Hampshire Co, Massachusetts (Age 75 years)   7. Mary Cooley,   b. 22 Jun 1659, Springfield, Non-County Area 1, Massachusetts Bay Colony d. Yes, date unknown   8. Joseph Cooley,   b. 6 Mar 1660/61, Springfield, Non-County Area 1, Massachusetts Bay Colony d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F190	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	12 Sep 2018

  
  

• Notes

  According to research completed in 2000 by Eleanor L. Cooley Rue, circumstantial evidence links the Benjamin Cooley christened in Tring, Hertfordshire, England (chr 1615) to the Benjamin Cooley of Springfield through the posited marriage of Richard Sikes and Phebe Cooley (chr 1609), Benjamin's sister. The only evidence found by Cooley-Rue was in Benjamin Cooley's will which used the phrase "cousen Sikes". She concluded that "cousen" meant brother-in-law which it did not. Cousen was primarily used to refer to neices and nephews. A major problem with Cooley-Rue's logic is that Richard and Phebe Sikes's church activities, and his becoming a freeman are well documented* while there is no record of Benjamin and Sarah Cooley's church activities prior to 1643 (to become an accepted member of Massachusetts Bay Colony church membership was mandatory). Assuming unaccompanied women seldom made the voyage from England to New England and further assuming Phebe Cooley and Benjamin Cooley traveled together, it appears to me that information about Benjamin and Sarah must be uncovered before a link can be made between Phebe Sykes and Benjamin Cooley. *Richard Sykes joins Dorchester church 4 Nov 1639; he becomes a freeman 13 May 1640 in Cambridge; Richard marries Phebe Sykes 13 May 1640 also the date she joined the Dorchester church. Their first child Rebecca born 6 Dec 1640 in Roxbury (Pynchon's hometown). (Research):Early Massachusetts Bay Colony political organization. The four original counties all formed 10 May 1643 were: o Middlesex o Essex o Suffolk o Norfolk (now a part of SW Maine) Formed in addition were o Non-County Area 1 o Non County Area 2 Agawam Plantation (later Springfield) was founded in 1636 by William Pynchon. At that time it was simply a village in the Connecticut River basin under the jurisdiction of Connecticut Colony. Pynchon changed the name of the village to Springfield in 1641. On 10 May 1643, Non-County Area 1, was formed comprising the western portions of Massachusetts Bay Colony of which Springfield was a part (Winthrop expanding his power base). The area had no western boundary and extended an indefinite distance westward into the ill-defined "Western Country". On 7 May 1662 Hampshire County was formed (towns of Springfield, Northampton, Hadley, and all territory within 30 miles), effectively covering the entire western part of the province. (Mass. Recs., vol. 4, pt. 2:52) On 1 Aug 1812 Hampden County, containing Springfield, was created from Hampshire County (Mass. Acts 1812, ch. 137/p. 291). Springfield remains in Hampden County to this day. [6, 7]

  
  

• Sources

  [S289] Mortimer Elwyn Cooley, Cooley Genealogy main, (The Tuttle Publishing Company, Inc., Rutland, Vermont, 1941), p195-8 (Reliability: 3). [S516] American Genealogist, Vol 50 #2 1974 article by Robert L Ward (Reliability: 3). Source of article: The parish registers of Tring, St Albans, Hertfordsire 1567- [S600] New England Historical and Genealogical Society (NEHGS), MVRS, Vol 2, p1691 (Reliability: 3). John Pynchon "Hampshire Records" transcribed by the New England Historical ande Genealogical Society (NEHGS) in 2003. "Ensign Benjamin Cooley was Sicke & died: August 17th 1684" [S584] Debrett Ancestry Research Ltd., PO Box 379, Winchester, Hampshire, SO23 9YQ UK , Debrett, 2009 for the CFAA (Reliability: 3). [S289] Mortimer Elwyn Cooley, Cooley Genealogy main, (The Tuttle Publishing Company, Inc., Rutland, Vermont, 1941), pp195-98 (Reliability: 3). [S535] Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springfield,_Massachusetts (Reliability: 3). [S534] Website, http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/MA_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm#Individual_County_Chronologies (Reliability: 3).