1Charles Thornton Libby, The Knowles Family of Eastham, Mass., NEHGR Vol. 79, p. 383-385 (Oct 1925).
"7. NATHANIEL3 KNOWLES (Samuel,2 Richard1), born at Eastham 15 May 1686, died, probably at Provincetown, in 1732. He married first MARY HUNT, who died at Windham, Conn., 10 June 1716, daughter of William Hunt of Chilmark, Martha's Vineyard; and secondly, at Windham, 25 Apr. 1717, ELIZABETH BACON, who survived him and married secondly (intention recorded at Eastham, 10 July 1734), as his third wife, Beriah Smith of Provincetown. She and her second husband, Beriah Smith, took part in the migration from Provincetown to Cape Elizabeth, Me., taking with them his children by a former wife, her children by her former husband, and their children by this latest marriage. Beriah Smith and his sons appear together in a Cape Elizabeth tax list for 1743.*
. . .
Children by first wife, born at Windham, Conn.:
i. REBECCA,4 b. 30 Jan. 1710/11; m. at Branford, Conn., 10 Jan. 1753, GEORGE HUBBARD, b. at Guilford, Conn., 30 May 1717, d. at Branford 2 Nov. 1762, son of Ebenezer and Elizabeth (Lord) Hubbard. The marriage record describes Rebecca and her husband as "both said of Branford." She is named in the wills of her Grandfather and Grandmother Knowles. Evidently she went back to Branford, where her sister of the whole blood lived, and there contracted an elderly marriage. Deeds appear of this George Hubbard, of Branford from Guilford, 1737-1750; but no records of probate or heirship deed of the estate have been found.
ii. MARY, b. in Sept. 1713; d. 16 Apr. 1759; m. at Branford, Conn., 5 Nov. 1730, WILLIAM LUDDINGTON of Branford, b. 6 Sept. 1702, son of Henry and Sarah (Collins) Luddington of East Haven, Conn. He m. (2) 17 Apr. 1760 Mary Wilkinson of Branford.
Children (surname Luddington), b. at Branford:*
1. Submit, b. 10 Feb. 1732/3; m. 28 June 1754 Stephen Johnson of Branford.
2. Mary, b. 20 May 1736.
3. Henry, b. 25 may 1739; d. at Patterson, N. Y., 24 Jan. 1817; m. 12 May 1760 Abigail ------, who d. 3 Aug, 1825, aet. 80 years, 3 months. Twelve children.
4. Lydia, b. 25 July 1741; m. at East Haven, 20 Oct. 1761, Aaron (not William) Buckley of Branford.
5. Samuel, b. 30 Apr. 1744; m. at Woodbury, Conn., 5 Mar. 1766, Ruth Galpin.
6. Rebecca, b. 10 May 1747; d. 20 May 1754.†
7. Anne, b. 20 June 1750; d. 20 May 1754.†
8. Stephen, b. 18 Oct. 1753.
iii. MALATIAH, b. 4 Jan. 1715/16. The will of William Hunt of Chilmark, dated 13 Mar. 1722, left a Legacy "to my three grandchildren, Mary Knowles, Rebecca Knowles, Malatiah Knowles."
Children by second wife:
iv. RUTH, b. at Windham, Conn., 5 Apr. 1718.
25. v. NATHANIEL, b. at Windham, Conn., about 1720.
vi. MERCY, b. at Windham or Branford, Conn., in 1722; d. at Cape Elizabeth (now South Portland), Me., 20 Aug. 1816, "aged 94;" m. (intention, calling the parties "both of Falmouth," recorded at Falmouth, Me., which then included Cape Elizabeth, 19 Feb. 1743/4) ARCHIBALD DOUGLAS, b. in Ulster, d. at Cape Elizabeth after 1790 and before 1800, son of the Widow Martha Douglas of Boston, Mass., and Pelham, N. H. In 1739 Archibald Douglas and Joseph Cobb witnessed the will of Josiah Cobb, son of Jonathan Cobb, at Cape Elizabeth. Apparently Douglas was an apprentice in the glazier's trade with Joseph Cobb. In 1739 Joseph Cobb, glazier, made a deed of gift to hi son-in-law Joseph Strout and wife of the westerly half of a sixty-acre lot on Barren Hill, "the which easterly half of said lot I formerly gave unto Archibald Douglas,glazier" (York Deeds, vol. 23, p. 81). This land became the Douglas homestead, south of the present village of Pleasantdale. Douglas was elected to minor town offices, both before and after Cape Elizabeth was set off from Falmouth, from 1748 down to 1774. By the United States census of 1790 (Cape Elizabeth) his family consisted of his wife and one daughter. By the United States Cenus of 1810 the Widow Mercy Douglas was living at North yarmouth, Me., the next-door neighbor to William Gooding (her grandson), the household consisting of two women over 45 years of age. By the previous census at North Yarmouth they were apparently living in the family of her son-in-law, Samuel Gooding, whose household contained three women over 45.
Children (surname Douglas), b. at Cape Elizabeth:
1. Mary, b. Jan. 1745; d. unm. She and her youngest sister are said to have been school-teachers in Portland, Me., until late in life, when their brother-in-law furnished them a house for their occupancy, which is still standing on the corner of Pleasant and Smith Streets in Yarmouth, Me.
2. Martha, m. (1) at Cape Elizabeth, 28 Aug. 1770, John Jones; m. (2) 26 July 1774 Samuel Gooding of Falmouth Neck (now Portland), Me., b. at Falmouth 2 Mar. 1751, d. at North Yarmouth (now Yarmouth), Me., 18 Feb. 1809. Eight children.
3. Elizabeth, b. 19 Mar. 1760; d. unm. at an advanced age.
vii. FREEMAN, bapt. at Branford, Conn., 19 Jan, 1723/4.
viii. ELIZABETH, bapt. at Branford, Conn., 12 Nov. 1727. Her intention of marriage was twice recorded at Falmouth (later Cape Elizabeth), Me., first to Thomas Stevens, 27 Dec. 1754, and secondly to Elijah Smith, 15 Feb. 1754/5. Thomas Stevens, then of Pearsontown. probably married (intention recorded at Falmouth, 20 Apr. 1757) Anna Bryant of Falmouth. Possibly this Elizabeth was the Elizabeth, wife of Elijah Smith, who died at Chatham, Mass., 15 Jan. 1766.
26. ix. SAMUEL (posthumous), b. at Provincetown, Mass., in 1733. The place and approximate time of his birth are derived from the roster of a Cumberland County (Me.) company that gives bithplaces and ages and includes the half brothers, "Samuel Knowles, Cape Cod, 27," and "Bryer Smith, Cape Cod, 22" (Massachusetts Archives, vo. 98, p. 110).
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*Cf. REGISTER, vol. 58, p. 77.
†Rebecca and Anne were burned to death "On Monday night after ye 20th of May" 1754, when part of their father's house at Branford was burned.".