Comstock Family History & Genealogy

Comstock
Hannah Comstock was born the 27th of March 1772 in Smithfield, Providence, Rhode Island.
• Hannah is one of four children born to Ezekiel Comstock and Mary Russell.
o Her siblings were Henry, Waite, and Phebe.
o Hannah has one half-sister from her father’s second marriage. Her name was Martha Comstock.
• We believe Hannah was married twice, first to James Gardner, date and place not known then to David Hutchinson, in Rhode Island in 1795.
o David and Hannah had eleven children; Hiram, John, David, Noah, Joab, Ruthelia, Keturah, Lydia, William, Moses and Byron.
• Hannah died after 1816.
o Age at time of death not known.

Ezekiel Comstock was born the 1st of May 1733 in Smithfield, Providence County Rhode Island.
• Ezekiel is one of five children born to Hassadiah Comstock and Martha Balcom.
o His siblings were: Ann, Phebe, Rufus and Martha.
o Ezekiel has ten half siblings from his father’s first Marriage: they are Susannah, William, Gideon, Rachael, Catherine, Hassadiah, Penelope, Anthony, Andrew and John.
• Ezekiel married twice, first to Martha Arnold (Daughter of Israel Arnold and Waite Mowry) on the 30th of June 1757, then to Mary Russell (Daughter of Stephen Russell and Hannah Brayton) in about 1765.
o Ezekiel and Martha had one child named Martha.
o Ezekiel and Mary had four children; Henry, Waite, Hannah and Phebe.
• Ezekiel Comstock died in Smithfield Rhode Island on the 6th of July 1777.
o His will was dated the 2nd of July 1777 and proved the 15th of September 1777.
o He was 44 years old.

Hassadiah (Hazadiah) Comstock was born on the 16th of April 1682 in Providence, Rhode Island.
• Hassadiah is one of eight children born to Samuel Comstock and Elizabeth Arnold.
o His siblings were, Samuel, Thomas, Daniel, Elizabeth, John, Ichabod, and Job.
• He married twice, first to Catharine Pray (Daughter of John Pray) in 1706, then to Martha Balcom on the 10th of August 1730. (Some Reports show his second marriage as being 9 July 1713.
o Hassadiah had ten children with Catharine Pray; Susanna, William, Gideon, Rachel, Catharine, Hazadiah, Penelope, Anthony, Andrew and John.
o Hassadiah had five children with Martha Balcom; Ann, Ezekiel, Phebe, Rufus, and Martha.
o The Comstock and the Arnold families had many marriage between them; Susan married Thomas Arnold, Hazadiah married Mary Arnold, Ezekiel married Martha Arnold, and Gideon married Ruth Arnold.
• Hassadiah (Hazadiah) Comstock died in Smithfield, Providence Rhode Island on the 21st of February 1764.
o He was 82 years old.

Captain Samuel Comstock was born in Providence Rhode Island in 1654.
• Samuel is one of two children born to Samuel Comstock and Anne Tucker.
o His siblings name was Daniel Comstock.
• He married Elizabeth Arnold (Daughter of Thomas Arnold and Phebe Parkhurst) on the 22nd of November 1678 in Providence Rhode Island.
o Samuel and Elizabeth had eight children; Samuel, Hazadiah, Thomas, Daniel, Elizabeth, John, Ichabod and Job.
• Samuels name appears in many town records in regards to land transactions, road planning, tax payment and collection and various other matters.
• April 1697 the following report appears in the town records
o “Whereas there hath Bin a late inCurtion & invation made upon some of Our English plantations by the Cruel and Barborous Indian Enemies ...Wee the Councel of war for the Town of providence Have thought fitt in his Majesties Name to Nominate and Appoynt you ...[list of names including:] Samuel Comstocke...Every of you to take the Comand and Conduct of Ten men ...Rainge beyound the outmost of our plantations Each of you two Daies at a time or more as Need shall Require...indevour to Resest Expulse Kill and Distroy them according to the best of your Indevour…”
• Samuel and his brother-in-law Richard Arnold are recognized as the first settlers of Woonsocket and they shared land without devising boundaries for their entire lives. This is according to History of Woonsocket page 17.
• Samuel Comstock died on the 27th of May 1727 in Smithfield, Providence, Rhode Island.
o He was 73 years old.

Samuel Comstock was born in 1628 in London England.
• He is one of five children born to William Comstock and Elizabeth Daniels.
o His siblings were John, Daniel, Elizabeth and Christopher
• Samuel and Anne Tucker (Parents unknown) married in 1652 (1650) in Connecticut.
o Samuel and Ann had two children; Samuel and Daniel.
o The last name of Samuel’s Wife is missing in most documentation. But was found a document entitled New England Marriage Prior to 1700 from the Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore Maryland, 1985 on Page 175. It is listed as Qnn Tucker, but since other references list the first name as Ann, with no reference to the last name. I will conjecture that his spouses name is Ann Tucker.
• His family immigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635. In 1636 they moved to Connecticut.
• According to The First Settlers of the Colony of Windsor- Samuel Comstock is listed.
• Samuel Comstock died in 1656 in Providence Rhode Island.
o Some reports show 1652, but if this is the case he cannot be the father our Captain Samuel Comstock who was born in 1654 other reports show 1660.
o He was 28 years old.

William Comstock was born about 1595 in England
• His parents are unknown
• He married Elizabeth Daniels (Questionable) about 1622.
o William and Elizabeth had five children; John, Samuel, Daniel, Elisabeth and Christopher.
o In “History of the national Society of Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America” Mary Ella Comstock gives the wife of William Comstock as Elizabeth Daniels, but no documentation is provided.
• The family immigrated in 1635 to the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
• In 1636 they moved to Connecticut and William owned land on the Connecticut River.
• William is believed to be one of 23 men led by Captain John Mason that captured the Pequot Fort I 1637, killing about 500 Pequot Indians.
• In 1641 it is recorded that he hold lands on the Connecticut River in Wethersfield purchased from Ric. Milles.
• In 1644 Richard Mylls was a plaintiff against “Willi Combstocke” and John Sadler in an action for Slander.
• In 1649 William and Elizabeth moved to new London Connecticut.
• In 1650 he transferred to Pequot, now New London.
• February 25 1661/62 “Old Goodman Comstock” was elected Sexton, “to order youth in the meeting house,
• Williams date of death is listed both as 1661 in the CFA and 1683 in the Comstock book.
o He died in Lyme Middlesex Connecticut.

Most records indicate that William is Samuels Father. William is not listed in the Great Migration books and there are no records of him in the colonies before 1634. The first record of him is in 1637, where he is listed as having been one of the twenty-six men from Wetherfield in an expedition commanded by Capt John Mason. The exact date he arrived in the new land and on which ship has not been determined.

The origins of the Comstock family name is likely a place named Culmstock, in Devonshire County England. A History of the Descendants of the Comstock Family in America says: "The name Comstock undoubtedly traces to a village in Devonshire County England, called Culmstock which is located on the River Culm some ten miles east of Tiverton and an equal distance south of Taunton. In 1635 the Comstock’s came to America to the Massachusetts settlements." However, the actual origins of William Comstock have not been discovered.

The Comstock family is listed as one of the early settlers in the “A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, before 1692.



No additional information has been found for the Comstock name. Further research will need to be conducted at a later date.

Web Links Used for Research












Books used for Research
History and Genealogy of the Comstock Family in America Commonwealth Press Los Angelas 1949 - - - Written By John Adams Comstock

History of Western Massachusetts
Written By Josiah Gilbert Holland