Clan Munro USA
 Genealogy Pages

John Munro

John Munro

Male 1701 - 1793  (91 years)

Personal Information    |    Notes    |    Sources    |    All

  • Name John Munro  [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
    Born 14 May 1701  Bristol, Bristol Co., Rhode Island, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 3, 4
    Gender Male 
    Died 18 Apr 1793  Rehoboth, Bristol Co., Massachusetts, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 3, 7
    • Will dated 2 Apr 1789
    Buried Seekonk, Bristol Co., Massachusetts, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    • John was buried in the family cemetery on the corner of Lake and Lincoln Streets. His headstone reads: "In Memory of Mr. John Munro, son of Thomas Munro of Bristol who departed this life April 18 AD 1793 aged 91 years 10 months & 24 days."
    Person ID I37  Munro
    Last Modified 22 Jan 2014 

    Father Thomas Munro,   b. 1666, Bristol, Bristol Co., Rhode Island, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 24 Feb 1717, Bristol, Bristol Co., Rhode Island, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 51 years) 
    Mother Mary Wormwell,   b. 1677, Duxbury, Plymouth Co., Massachusetts, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 13 Feb 1705, Bristol, Bristol Co., Rhode Island, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 28 years) 
    Married 13 Oct 1698  Taunton, Bristol Co., Massachusetts, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [3, 8
    • Married by Thomas Leonard
    Family ID F20  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Hannah Rosbotham,   b. 20 Jun 1711, Bristol, Bristol Co., Rhode Island, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 18 Jun 1809, Rehoboth, Bristol Co., Massachusetts, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 97 years) 
    Married 29 Apr 1728  Bristol, Bristol Co., Rhode Island, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [3, 4
    • John and Hannah were married at Saint Michael's Church. [4]
    Children 
     1. Comfort Munro,   b. 22 Mar 1729, Bristol, Bristol Co., Rhode Island, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 2 Apr 1789  (Age 60 years)
    +2. Major Nathan Munro, Esquire,   b. 29 Sep 1730, Bristol, Bristol Co., Rhode Island, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 6 Mar 1806, Rehoboth, Bristol Co., Massachusetts, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 75 years)
    +3. Stephen Munro,   b. 22 Apr 1731-1732, Bristol, Bristol Co., Rhode Island, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 9 Apr 1824, Swansea, Bristol Co., Massachusetts, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 91 years)
    +4. Egbert Rosbotham Munro,   b. 9 Feb 1734, Bristol, Bristol Co., Rhode Island, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1831, Galway, New York Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 96 years)
    +5. Benjamin Munro,   b. 5 Feb 1736, Bristol, Bristol Co., Rhode Island, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 22 Feb 1818, Rehoboth, Bristol Co., Massachusetts, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 82 years)
     6. Elizabeth Munro,   b. 6 Aug 1738, Bristol, Bristol Co., Rhode Island, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 31 Oct 1774, Rehoboth, Bristol Co., Massachusetts, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 36 years)
     7. Samuel Munro,   b. 25 Sep 1740, Bristol, Bristol Co., Rhode Island, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 23 Mar 1758, Rehoboth, Bristol Co., Massachusetts, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 17 years)
    +8. John J. Munro, Jr.,   b. 23 Dec 1742, Bristol, Bristol Co., Rhode Island, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 18 Feb 1829, Plainfield, Windham Co., Connecticut, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 86 years)
     9. Mary Munro,   b. 5 Jan 1745, Bristol, Bristol Co., Rhode Island, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 30 May 1772, Rehoboth, Bristol Co., Massachusetts, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 27 years)
     10. Alice Munroe,   b. 1 Jan 1747, Bristol, Bristol Co., Rhode Island, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 2 Apr 1789, Rehoboth, Bristol Co., Massachusetts, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 42 years)
    +11. Thomas Munro,   b. 3 Dec 1748, Bristol, Bristol Co., Rhode Island, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1798  (Age 49 years)
    +12. Joseph Munro,   b. 27 Oct 1750, Rehoboth, Bristol Co., Massachusetts, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 31 Dec 1828, Seekonk, Bristol Co., Massachusetts, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 78 years)
     13. Hannah Munro,   b. 5 Mar 1753, Rehoboth, Bristol Co., Massachusetts, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Aft 1789  (Age 36 years)
    Last Modified 20 Jan 2009 
    Family ID F19  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • **********
      The following is from the E.W. Wait reference via the Beckett file.

      "John Munroe, second child of Thomas and Mary, was born in Bristol on May 14, 1701. We know quite a bit about him and he appears to have been a good, substantial ancestor. he left a will and from this we get some idea of his property and we learn the married names of his daughters.

      "John married Hannah Rosbotham on April 29, 1728 in St. Michael's Church, Bristol. (This church was burned in May 1778 by British soldiers on a pillaging expedition from the island of Rhode Island.) They had a large family, their first eleven children being born in Bristol, their last two in Rehoboth, to which town they moved between December 1748 and October 1750. A deed dated February 20, 1750 shows that John bought sixty-three acres of land in Rehoboth from Jeremiah Allen for '1180 pounds of ye old tenor.'

      "John Munroe's will is dated April 2, 1789 - he is 'of Rehoboth' and he calls himself 'yeoman.' He appoints his youngest son, Joseph, executor. To his wife Hannah he leaves all his household furniture, half of his dwelling -house, a quarter of an acre of land for a garden west of the house; also a cow and a swine, 'both to be kept for her winter and summer;' also 12 bushels of Indian corn yearly, 4 bushels of rye, 8 pounds of good sheep's wool, two pounds of flax, 50 pounds of beef, and 8 cords of firewood, 'brought to the door and cut fit for the fire.'

      "John's will also leaves to daughter Comfort Bowen 27 pounds; to son Nathan 8 shillings; to son Stephen 30 pounds; to son Rosbotham 3 pouunds; to son Benjamin 15 pounds; to son John 45 pounds; to heirs of deceased daughter Elizabeth Carpenter 15 pounds; to heirs of deceased daughter Mary Fuller 15 pounds; to heirs of deceased daughter Alice Horton 15 pounds; to son Thomas 18 pounds; to daughter Hannah 30 pounds; and to granddaughter Patience Short 'for the love I bare to her and Services She as Done for me' 3 pounds. Son Joseph is to have all the estate, both real and personal, not otherwise disposed of. John died on April 18, 1793 and his will was probated the following 6th of August.

      "In the first United States Census, taken in 1790, we find John Munroe of Rehoboth with a household consisting of one male of sixteen (himself) and two females - his wife Hannah and probably his daughter Hannah, as she was unmarried when he made his will in 1789 and was very likely still living at home.

      "John Munroe appears in the tax lists for the years 1759, 1765 and 1769 as printed in Richard LeBaron Bowen's splendid work EARLY REHOBOTH. In 1759 he was taxed 12 pounds on his real estate and 6 pounds, 9 shillings on his personal estate. That he was a prosperous farmer is shown by the fact that in 1765 his tax jumped to 30 pounds on real and 13 pounds, 1 shilling on personal property; it was practically the same in 1769.

      "John was sixty-three years old when he made the acquaintance of young Hector Munro. In February 1764, Hector, accompanied by a relative named Donald, turned up in Rehoboth and wrote a letter to a cousin back home in the Concord-Lexington area. He stated that he and Donald had been unable to find work in Boston, so had started for New York.

      "'We marched from Boston,' wrote Hector, 'that very same day and came to Providence and as I was very curios inquiring after my Relations and Kinsmen, I was informed that there was Great Many of them in Rehoboth & Bristol within six mile of Providence & that same hour we marched of in order to find them out which we did that same night with one Nathan Munroe as stately a man as ever you seied of the name and he keepted us with him Two days and the Third he convoyed us to his father's house a good stately old man that hath great deal of Regard for his relations and he keepted us four days and the fift he and Nathan his son went along with us to convoy us in order to show us the rest of our relations down at Bristol and the very first house we came to was Doctor Munro, Captain Thomas Munro's son at Concord.' (Doctor Munro was born in Concord in 1731, a grandson of the first William Murnoe of Lexington; but had moved from there to Bristol before 1762.)

      "It was providential for us that Boston had offered no employment to Hector, for otherwise he might never have gotten to Rehoboth and written the letter which adds proof of the relationship between the Bristol and Lexington Munroe families. (Incidentally, Hector went no further to seek his fortune; he married a Rehoboth girl and had several children born in Rehoboth and in 1776 he made his will because he was going into the Army.)"
      **********

      Ref 3, p. 26 says John first married Ruth Bowen [9683]. Since this marriage is almost never mentioned in the many references available for John, there is some doubt about its authenticity. Other references (i.e. Rockwell) say that Ruth was the second wife of John [29187].

      The Stotler reference says that John sailed on the sloop "Providence" with John Paul Jones.

      John and his family moved from Bristol, Rhode Island to Rehoboth between Dec 1748 and Oct 1750. There he bought 63 acres (ref 1) of land from Jeremiah Allen for 1180 pounds. Ref 2 says it was 69 and a half acres and that it may have been part of the land left to Hannah's mother. This land was in Rehoboth, Bristol County, Massachusetts until an 1812 boundary change set it in the rural town of Seekonk. It was situated a short distance west of the Rehoboth/Seekonk boundary, south of Winthrop Street (later Highway 44) and southeast of the intersection of Lake and Lincoln Streets. The family built a house to live in and some out buildings on the property. The farm produced grain and supported cattle, pigs and sheep.

      John was a charitable and hospitable man, a patriarch who valued family connections. A letter dated Feb 1764 gives an account written by Hector Munro, a young soldier, a descendant of William Munro of Lexington, who had been recently discharged from the King's Army after fighting in the French War for King James. Hector tells of his travels to seek work in New York and Boston and to locate his "kinsmen" in Rehoboth and Bristol. During this time Hector met John, who was then almost 63. Hector was delighted by the elder Munro and described him as "a good stately old man and a man that hath a great deal of regard for his relations."

      His will, in which he calls himself "yeoman," is dated 2 Apr 1789 (Beckett says 2 Apr 1781), and contains a wealth of genealogical information. He left the family farm to his son, Joseph, with the stipulation that Joseph care for his mother in the family home for the rest of her years.

      He was buried in the family cemetery on the farm. His grave stone reads: "The Sweet Remembrance of the Just/Shall Flurish when they sleep in Dust."

      References:

      (2) "Brown Munro, Sr.: A Life in Time (1829 - 1909)" by Dr. Nancy Brown
      Brooker Bowers - Ames, Iowa (1993) - p. 11, 21-24

      (3) Clan Munro files - Yard, Prof. F. L. Dixon - Correspondence with Prof. F.
      L. Dixon Yard - 1991-1992 - p. 22, 26, 30, 43

      (4) Clan Munro files - Yard, Prof. F. L. Dixon - Early Rhode Island Vital
      Records - collected by Prof. F. L. Dixon Yard - p. 15

      The May reference says that John [37] was the son of John [65] instead of his grandson.

      Compiled and edited by Allen Alger, Genealogist, Clan Munro Association, USA [2, 3, 4, 9, 10]

  • Sources 
    1. [S122] Clan Munro files - Humphrey, Waldo Decker, Waldo Decker Humphrey, Pedigree Chart of Waldo Decker Humphrey - prepared by Wald o Decker Humphrey - dated 13 Aug 1993 - p. 3 (Reliability: 3).

    2. [S105] Clan Munro files - Monroe, Ronald Peter, Ronald Peter Monroe, Membership application for Ronald Peter Monroe dated 6 Ju l 2001 (Reliability: 3).

    3. [S258] Clan Munro files - Stotler, Jeanne R., Jeanne R. Stotler, Membership application for Jeanne R. Stotler dated 10 Aug 1 998 (Reliability: 3).

    4. [S537] Clan Munro files - Beckett, Gilbert Percy, Gilbert Percy Beckett, Munro Family by E. W. Wait published 1958 (Reliability: 3).

    5. [S812] Clan Munro e-files - Watson, Marston, Marston Watson, E-mail from Marston Watson - 25 Jun 2013 (Reliability: 3).

    6. [S875] Clan Munro e-files - Munro, Mark Conway, Mark Conway Munro, E-mail from Mark Conway Munro - 20 Jan 2014 (Reliability: 3).

    7. [S537] Clan Munro files - Beckett, Gilbert Percy, Gilbert Percy Beckett, Family group record for John Munroe - compiled by Gilbert P . Beckett - 14 Mar 1982 (Reliability: 3).

    8. [S537] Clan Munro files - Beckett, Gilbert Percy, Gilbert Percy Beckett, Marriages in Taunton p. 252 (Reliability: 3).

    9. [S385] Clan Munro files - Rockwell, John W., John W. Rockwell, Ancestry of Elizabeth Monroe Rockwell (Reliability: 3).

    10. [S537] Clan Munro files - Beckett, Gilbert Percy, Gilbert Percy Beckett, Family group record for Thomas Munroe - compiled by Gilber t P. Beckett - 15 Mar 1983 (Reliability: 3).