Stephen Colegrove

Stephen Colegrove (c. 1694-14 June 1787) was the first Town Councilman of Foster, Rhode Island after the town was formed in 1781.
Family
Stephen Colegrove was born in Warwick, Rhode Island in 1694, the son of Francis Colegrove, a Rhode Island colonial land holder.
Stephen was married in 1721, at the age of twenty six to Welthian Taylor. Welthian was born in 1694. The couple had five children: Stephen Colegrove, Jr. (1722-1811), Thomas Colegrove (born 1724), William Colegrove (1726-1800), Benjamin Colegrove (1729-1820), and Mary Colegrove (born 1731).
After his wife, Welthian, died Stephen decided to remarry. He had known Phoebe Millard for some time before they married. She was the daughter of Nehemiah Millard and Phoebe Shore of Massachusetts. Together they had six children: Nathan Colegrove (1741-1831), John Colegrove (1744-1817), Jonathan Colegrove (1745-1812), Isaac Colegrove (born 1747), Phebe Colegrove (1749-1839), and Charlotte Colegrove born 1751/52).
Later life
Stephen lived for many years in Providence, Rhode Island, where he became a “Freeman of the Colony” in 1737. To be a “freeman” simply meant that one held land and was able to vote in elections.
Many of Stephen Colegrove’s daughters married into the Corwin family, relatives of Thomas Corwin, a well-known 19th century governor and congressman from Ohio.
Stephen seems to have travelled throughout the colonies, as records surface in places other than Rhode Island, such as in Truxton, New York, where his son Stephen, Jr. was born.
Stephen purchased land in the town of Scituate, which later became known as Foster, in 1754, where he lived the remainder of his life. The town of Foster was named after Theodore Foster, a Senator and prominent early American politician. On the formation of the town, Stephen became the first Town Councilman.
Stephen died on June 14, 1787 in Heartford, Connecticut in Oneco County.

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