There were two Parrs early in New England in 1641 and later. One was Moses and one was Abel, if I remember correctly. Perhaps this has no connection, but there were Parrs and Smiths that intermarried in NJ in mid to late 1700's who possibly had come from New England. I am descendant of John Parr and Mary Corwin who m. 1719, resided in Roxbury, Morris Co., NJ and Queens, LI, NY. I believe that this John Parr may have been a descendant of the early New England Parrs. Mary was part of the Corwin family---Salem, MA/Long Island, NY, either descendant of George who settled Salem or Matthias who settled LI--but were brothers. Mary and John's grandson or grgrandson m. a Mary/Ann or Nancy Smith, dau of Benjamin Smith Jr. and Anne Swayze. It appears that Benjamin Smith, Jr. was the son of Benjamin Smith Sr. who was the son of a Stophel/Christopher Smith. I believe that these two families may be the same as the two you are posting, but I am just beginning to research this possibility. I do know that Bartholomew Corwin b. ca 1690, descendant of George mentioned above, and son of Sheriff George Corwin of Salem---the witch hanging sheriff---came to NJ to escape the backlash of his family's participation in the witch trials and hangings. His father Sheriff George went to Winthrop Neck, Rhode Isand and hid from persecution before his death. Your posting is the first I have seen of the list you give. Prior to that I had seen only the Moses Parr/Mary Sweet marriage. I do think that it is entirely possible that your list is correct. A John Parr appears first ca 1700 in Perth Amboy, NJ (then the seat of govt and commerce) as one of the signers of a petition to the King of England against the Scottish proprietors (assigned by the King) of NJ. I believe that this is the same John Parr who m. Mary Corwin, but I cannot prove it. About 1701 a Matthias/Matys Parr m. a Winnes/Winans in Dutchess Co., NY. Since John Parr and Mary Corwin named one of their sons Matthias, I have been looking for this connection also. John Parr and Mary Corwin had the following known ch: John Parr, Jr., Cornelius, Elihu, Eliphalet, Jess(e), Matthias, Jemima, and Hannah Parr (who married a David Rose.) I believe that I am a descendant of Jesse and his wife Elizabeth. A Thomas Parr appears in NJ in 1690's as an indentured servant to the Gov. I do know that in the early 1700's owners/associators who held large tracts of land advertised in LI and New England for prospective buyers of this NJ land. What is now Sussex Co. NJ was settled by many from LI and New England beginning in the first and second decades of the 1700's. I am sorry I cannot help you more. Nancy Parr in NJ

Thank you for your reply. The family tradition of our Parr family was that our Benjamin was the son of Matthias but I have never found any proof of this. A cousin who did did all the original research who was much older and knew a much older generation of Parrs had no doubt that Matthias was our ancestor. He was a cousin from a generation older than mine and had talked with people from two generations older than his. With no proof I am forced to go with oral tradition on this. I know that is not true genealogical proof and it bothers me but since I have little access to NJ and NY records it has to do. Thanks again for what you sent, none of this I had seen before. Have a healthy and prosperious new year. Larry ----- Original Message ----- From: <Roses674@aol.com> To: <PARR-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, January 11, 2002 10:10 AM Subject: Re: [PARR] SWEET/PARR > There were two Parrs early in New England in 1641 and later. One was Moses > and one was Abel, if I remember correctly. > > Perhaps this has no connection, but there were Parrs and Smiths that > intermarried in NJ in mid to late 1700's who possibly had come from New > England. > > I am descendant of John Parr and Mary Corwin who m. 1719, resided in Roxbury, > Morris Co., NJ and Queens, LI, NY. I believe that this John Parr may have > been a descendant of the early New England Parrs. Mary was part of the > Corwin family---Salem, MA/Long Island, NY, either descendant of George who > settled Salem or Matthias who settled LI--but were brothers. > > Mary and John's grandson or grgrandson m. a Mary/Ann or Nancy Smith, dau of > Benjamin Smith Jr. and Anne Swayze. It appears that Benjamin Smith, Jr. was > the son of Benjamin Smith Sr. who was the son of a Stophel/Christopher Smith. > > I believe that these two families may be the same as the two you are posting, > but I am just beginning to research this possibility. > > I do know that Bartholomew Corwin b. ca 1690, descendant of George mentioned > above, and son of Sheriff George Corwin of Salem---the witch hanging > sheriff---came to NJ to escape the backlash of his family's participation in > the witch trials and hangings. His father Sheriff George went to Winthrop > Neck, Rhode Isand and hid from persecution before his death. > > Your posting is the first I have seen of the list you give. Prior to that I > had seen only the Moses Parr/Mary Sweet marriage. > > I do think that it is entirely possible that your list is correct. > > A John Parr appears first ca 1700 in Perth Amboy, NJ (then the seat of govt > and commerce) as one of the signers of a petition to the King of England > against the Scottish proprietors (assigned by the King) of NJ. I believe > that this is the same John Parr who m. Mary Corwin, but I cannot prove it. > > About 1701 a Matthias/Matys Parr m. a Winnes/Winans in Dutchess Co., NY. > > Since John Parr and Mary Corwin named one of their sons Matthias, I have been > looking for this connection also. > > John Parr and Mary Corwin had the following known ch: John Parr, Jr., > Cornelius, Elihu, Eliphalet, Jess(e), Matthias, Jemima, and Hannah Parr (who > married a David Rose.) I believe that I am a descendant of Jesse and his > wife Elizabeth. > > A Thomas Parr appears in NJ in 1690's as an indentured servant to the Gov. > > I do know that in the early 1700's owners/associators who held large tracts > of land advertised in LI and New England for prospective buyers of this NJ > land. > > What is now Sussex Co. NJ was settled by many from LI and New England > beginning in the first and second decades of the 1700's. > > I am sorry I cannot help you more. > > Nancy Parr in NJ > > > ==== PARR Mailing List ==== > Query lists are okay but please try to limit them to say, half a dozen names. Any more than that and many people just won't read them. > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >