| Notes |
- "Sprague Families in America", by Warren Vincent Sprague, page 521.
Benjamin Sprague resided in New Jersey until about 1790-1800, when he brought his family through Virginia to Ohio. He crossed the Ohio River at Marietta and proceeded to Smith Township, Belmont Co., where he died.
The order of birth of his children is not certain nor is the child-mother relationship a certainty.
It is said that the sons John and Randall were sea-captains and never married. At the sale of land at Marietta, July 5, 1796, John Sprague bought of Rufus Putnam two shares. After living for a time at Marietta these brothers returned to a seafaring life and were not heard from again.
From a document prepared by Mr. John Sprague, Parkersburg, WV.
The Ohio Co., VA tax list of 1795 was quite instrumental in giving me a name in which I've been able to link with my known lineage and go forward in time, but how about backwards? Two things should be kept in mind as we travel back in time, one, as stated in the 1850 census, my 4th Great Grandfather Benjamin Sprague was born in New Jersey, and two; Warren Vincent Sprague stated in his book on page 528, that a William Sprague, shown on that page who remained behind in the New Jersey area, was probably a brother to the so called Benjamin Sprague on page 521. It's important to know that this William Sprague lived in Sussex Co., Hardyston Twp., NJ near a small town called Vernon. Descendants of this line, who have done research, feel that Warren Vincent Sprague was very accurate about the details he gave in this section of his book. With this in mind, a May 1780 Sussex Co., NJ Tax List:
John and Ebenezer Sprage
Stevan Sprage
Steven Sprage
William Sprage
Randle Sprage
Another earlier tax list for 1774 for the same location shows this:
Ebenezar Sprage
Ebenezar Sprage
William Sprage
First, the 1780 tax list shows definitely that Stephen Sprague Sr. (spelled Sprage) was in New Jersey at that time period, and that he was living in the same township and county as William Sprage. This information, more than anything else, has convinced me that the proper first name for William Spragues' brother, on page 521 of "Sprague Families in America", by Warren Vincent Sprague, should have been Stephen Sprague, Senior.
The 1774 tax list doesn't list a Stephen Sprague, but it is very interesting to note that the two Ebenezar Spragues' were very well established (based on listed ownership which I have not included here), and were probably Senior and Junior. Ebenezar Senior, with further research, could someday prove to be helpful in tracing the fathers name of William and Stephen Sprague Senior.
One other tax list should be mentioned, and that is the list of 1792 for Hopewell Twp., Washington Co., PA., and it shows the following:
Stephen Sprage
This list shows that Stephen Sprage left New Jersey sometime after the 1790 census of Pennsylvania was taken, and arrived in that state in time to pay taxes for the year 1792. He appears to have followed his son Ebenezar Sprage to PA, because Ebenezar is listed in the 1790 census for Washington Co., Donegal Twp., and it looks like this:
Ebenezer Sprague 2 Males over 16 5 females 2 Males under 16
This Ebenezer Sprague is the son of Stephen Sprague Sr., and is the same Ebenezer Sprague listed on page 522 of Warren Spragues' book. This is also the same Ebenezer that was in Wheeling, VA tax list of 1795 and Jefferson Co., OH tax list of 1810. It would be nice to look for the Spragues' in the 1790 census of NJ, but this census was destroyed by fire and does not exist.
In conclusion about Stephen Sprague Sr., none of the leads for him completely prove that he is the father of Benjamin and Samuel K. Sprague, but my theory at least has some base to build on, to be proven or disprove. I am sure that there will be skeptics and people who will not want to change their thought process because of what Warren Sprague wrote in his book, but this chapter must be written with the belief that it is more correct than his, to maybe help and give leads to people researching their Sprague and Sprigg lines.
From Marjorie Rice:
Benjamin Sprague/Spragg, "of New Jersey", lived there until 1790-1800, when he brought his family through Virginia to Ohio. Crossed the Ohio River at Marietta and proceeded to Smith Twp., Belmont Co., OH. He was a farmer and a hunter.
My theory of the father of Benjamin is Thomas Spragg, who is shown in LDS records as having been the father of a Benjamin, christened in 1740 in Cannock, Staffordshire, England.
There is a tradition among the descendants of Benjamin Sprague that four Sprague brothers, all bachelors at their time of arrival, came from Scotland, a short time before the Revolutionary War and settled in New Jersey. One of these brothers is said to have been this Benjamin. Another brother was brobably the William of Sussex, NJ who died in 1808, and who had three sons, John, William and Randall' (and whose son John had a son Randall, born 13 June 1820, who lived and died in Vernon Twp., Sussex Co., NJ.
The name Sprague has been variously spelled by descendants, by census takers and in genealogy as Sprague, Spriggs, and Spragg. The origin of the name is Dutch, from Spraak, meaning speech. I have found four 17th century residents of Massachusetts, who may or may not have been relatives of our root Sprague. Those four were Francis (resident Plymouth, MA 1623 and one of original purchasers of Dartmouth, MA); Ralph (son of Edward of Upwey, Dorsetshire, England, who was born in 1603 England and came to Salem, MA in 1628, moved to Charlestown, MA in 1629 and lived on Malden side thereafter); Richard (brother of Ralph, born England 1605, a freeman Charlestown, MA 1631, and died 25 November 1668); and William (youngest brother of Richard and Ralph, born England 1609, also settled Charlestown, MA 1629 and moved Hingham, MA 1636).
It is said that Benjamin married twice, to Catherine _____ and to Mary _____; our Ebenezer was child #1, and since it is verified that child #2 was indeed the son of Catherine and child #3 and beyond were from wife Mary, we can safely assume that Catherine was the mother of Ebenezer.
It is said that the sons John and Randall were sea-captains and never married. At the sale of land at Marietta, 5 July 1796, John Sprague bought two shares of land; after living for a time at Marietta, these brothers returned to sea, and were not heard of again."
Sources include: LDS/IGI; Journals of Dr. Warren Sprague and Dr. Jesse S. Spriggs; "Sprague Families in America" (and supplement thereto) by Dr. Warren V. Sprague; and information obtained in Campus Martius Museum, Marietta, NJ.
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