The following was taken from the World Family Tree Maker: CD Vol. #3, Tree # 6472.
"The Spraggs left Holland for England, probably in the reign of Elizabeth I, of England. They came to America with the Puritans, stopping to two places (last being Stamford, Connecticut Colony), before the group made a treaty with the Indians on Long Island, New York Colony. Spraggs are in a set of books on early Hempstead history and in St. George Church records. (Both resources are in the L.D.S. library at Salt Lake City, UT.)
"Early Spraggs of Hempstead, Long Island", by John R. Sprague III, M.D., published in "The Genealogist", Spring, 1998, pages 3-42 (note, the reader is left to review the original manuscript for references cited in Attorney Sprague's work.).
The Spragg family of Hempstead, New York, has been studied by several genealogists. The first was William A. Eardeley (1870-1935) of New York, who practiced during the first third of the present century. Among his microfilmed manuscripts at the Brooklyn (formerly Long Island) Historical Society, Brooklyn, New York, is an undated set of notes on the Spragg family of Long lsland. Arthur Soper Wardwell (1883-1970), F.A.S.G., a Long Island genealogist active during the first half of this century, also studied the Spraggs.
In 1939 Wardwell was retained by Warren Vincent Sprague, M.D., of Chauncey, Ohio, to gather information about the Long Island Spraggs for an addendum to Sprague's book, Sprague Families in America, published twenty-six years before. To inform Wardwell of the current status of his work, Dr. Sprague sent him the data he had already gathered. Although that information is not in the files at the Brooklyn Historical Society, the various letters from Dr. Sprague preserved there indicate that he had obtained some of it from descendants. In 1973 the present writer received from Dr. Sprague's son, Lindley V. Sprague, M.D., a copy of his father's notes, undoubtedly the material that had been sent to Wardwell. The identity of the material is confirmed by references in these notes to "Margaret Goetneau," who Dr. Sprague, tile father, erroneously believed was the wife of Edward Spragg (Ediward3, John2, Edward1). Items in the Wardwell-Sprague correspondence refer to the same issue. The notes he sent to Wardwell indicate that Dr. Sprague used as sources family records preserved by descendants, abstracts of wills published by the New-York Historical Society, records of St. George's Episcopal Church at Hempstead, and his own Sprague Families in America.
Wardwell's Spragg family is preserved at the Brooklyn Historical Society.
Neither Eardeley's nor Wardwell's Spragg manuscript is written in dissertation form; they both consist of notes on small pieces of paper. In commenting on these notes it has sometimes been necessary to interpret the intent of the compilers; for example, why was a question mark placed in some particular place, or why was an entry crossed out?
The third person to study the Spraggs was the Hempstead Town Historian, George Combes, who, before his death in 1941, collected voluminous notes on the town's first 100 settlers." His papers include a short essay On the early Spragg family,' which appears to be based almost exclusively on his analysis of Hempstead town records and the census taken there in 1698. In addition to these three manuscript sources, a number of deeds were utilized in the present investigation. All deeds were examined dated before 1808 in the town records, in which a Spragg was the grantor or grantee, mentioned as a witness, or otherwise referred to in the body of the document. Also, a search of the Queens County deeds for the period 1684 to 1808 was made at the Queens County Clerk's office in Jamaica, New York. The only Spragg deeds found there were two involving "John Spragge of London," the Colonial Secretary, who was not related to the Hempstead Spraggs. One relevant non-Spragg deed, which involves the Embree family, is discussed subsequently under Edward2 Spragg.
We begin our analysis of the Long Island Spraggs with the founding of Hempstead. The colony's beginnings are described by Nathaniel S. Prime in his History of Long Island-. "(The first settlers (of Hempstead) were English immigrants, who had temporarily resided at different places in New England, and last at Stamford, Connecticut. The colony, founded about 1644, had sixty landowners in 1647; by 1685 their number had grown to 180. Since the Spraggs were not among the landowners of 1647 and the surviving Hempstead town records do not begin until about 1654, it is not possible to say exactly when the Spraggs arrived. The name Spragg first occurs in the town records in 1657, when a list of cattle owners shows that Edward Spragg was the cattle keeper.
It seems likely that Edward came with his wife and family to the Hempstead area not long before 1657, either from Connecticut or directly from England. But nothing has been found to confirm this hypothesis other than information in a Bible once in the possession of Mrs. George M. Stall of Maplewood, New Jersey. Written in this Bible is a comment: "Edward Sprague son of Moses Sprague, emigrated from England near the close of the 16th century (sic] and married Margaret Gritman. Based upon the 1836 publication date and internal evidence, as well as the spelling, Spragie, the Bible appears to be the family record of Valentine Sprague (born 1800), son of Jacob Sprague (John6, Edward5-4-3, John2, Edward1). A careful reading shows that an earlier family record is imbedded within the contemporary entries. The lack of specificity about dates for the first two generations, as compared with the precise dates found in the third generation, indicates that the information in this Bible may have come from a record started by Valentine's grandfather, John6 Spragg. If so, the compiler of the John Spragg record would have been reciting family traditions that were at the time about 150 years old, assuming, of course, that the writer intended seventeenth, not sixteenth, century for the immigration. Although that date is plainly misstated, there is no reason to doubt the claim that the family originated in England.
Edward Spragg's parents are not known, though his father may have been Moses Spragg, as stated in the Valentine Sprague Bible. It is also possible, however, that the name Moses was transposed from the Embree family, who apparently were related to the Spraggs by marriage (see no. 2). The name appears among the Embrees, and possibly in the family of Thomas Spragg (Ediward4-3, John2, Edward1), who immigrated to New Brunswick, Canada, after the American Revolution. Further work is needed to prove or disprove the comment in Valentine Sprague's Bible about the parentage of Edward1 Spragg.
A review of the sixteen entries in the early Hempstead town records in which an Edward Spragg either signed his name or placed his mark shows that four men of that name resided there in the seventeenth century. The oldest, Edward1 Spragg, who can be distinguished by his signature, was aged about 61 years" in July 1677, when he testified about the town's pur- chase of lands from the Indians "about one an[d] twenty yeares ago [or about 1656]". The other three Edwards signed documents with their respective marks. One, presumably Edward2, used an embellished letter E. Another, an apparent grandson of Edward1, used a combination ES or SE, while yet another apparent grandson used the letter O. Edward' Spragg's house was located "in ye South woods" on the west side of Hicks Neck path, not far from Linington's mill in what was then New Netherland and, later, Queens County, New York.'s He was a keeper of the cattle "in the neck," a job he seems to have undertaken with his son Edward shortly after their arrival in the Colony.
According to Henry Onderdonk, "[t]he abundant grass on the (Hempstead] plains doubtless turned the attention of the early settlers to the raising of stock, but ... there were few or no fences; so a herdsman was hired by the town to take care of the cattle from the 11th of May till the 23d of October, when the Indian harvest would be wholly taken in and housed." "Stock raising ... was carried on in a Mediaeval fashion with some aspects of the later western cattle country." In 1657 the Hempstead herd consisted of 120 head, for which an Edward Spragg, presumably Edward1 Spragg, was the keeper. In 1658 the herd was divided and Edward took responsibility for the cattle on the west side of the town. Edward' Spragg's first recorded contract with the town for cattle keeping probably was in 1658. There was a contract with an Edward Spragg the previous year, but, based on the mark E rather than a signature, it appears to have been an agreement between the town and Edward's son, Edward2 Spragg. Edward1 Spragg's last herding contract with the town was in 1663. On 10 May 1656, according to Onderdonk, an Edward Spragg, together with "Robt Jackson, Thos Ireland and Thos Carle," petitioned for a patent for the town of Jamaica, presumably a misnomer for Hempstead. While there is no proof of the identity of the Spragg petitioner, the early date suggests that he was Edward1. It was about that year, as Edward1 testified later, that he had witnessed the town of Hempstead's purchase of land from the Indians. Edward's roles as petitioner and witness both attest to his standing in the community.
Records do not reveal Edward Spragg's religious inclinations or whether he was even a member of the church. However, since the original Hempstead colony appears to have required of its members "a general attendance (at] public worship" and the only congregation there at that time was Presbyterian or Independent, it is likely that he and his family were participat- ing members of the town's Presbyterian congregation.
The Spraggs' land transactions are found in the town records. The early inhabitants of Hempstead obtained land by deed from the town, from other settlers, or simply by usurpation. An Edward Spragg is recorded about 1658 as having been allotted six taxable acres, but it is not known when he actually obtained that property. The first recorded grant from the town to an Edward Spragg is on 14 March 1659: there is granted unto Edward Sprag one hollow conteyning one and an half Accre upon the same conditions [and with others) he is to secure w'th A sufficient fence and is to pocess it seaven yeares, after ye date hereof paying yearly 18d the Accre with tythes the w'ch is to be paid at Hempsteade.
Cornbes noted that the son Edward's records "are difficult or impossible to separate from those of his father after the son comes of age. Presumably the above references are to Edward1 Spragg, not Edward2, but we cannot be sure since the son would have become of age about that time. While the matter is not entirely resolved-the clerks distinguished neither of the two Edwards as "Senior" or "Junior"-some clarity may be achieved since the father wrote his name and the son used only an embellished E. Thus it can be said with some confidence that it was Edward1 who entered into the herding contracts in 1658 and 1663, and that it was he who gave the deposition in 1677 mentioned above. However, some other records are more difficult to differentiate between father and son. For example, the town gave either Edward1 or his son of that name twenty-two acres in 1665 and one or the other of them six acres of meadow in 1669. In 1677 one of them received an additional thirty acres, said to be north of John Champion's lot. On 20 June 1679 an Edward Spragg was given "Liberety to tacke up fifty acors." An argument can be made that the recorded land transfers before 1673 probably refer to Edward1.
A list of inhabitants of Hempstead of that year shows only one Edward Spragg, under a Dutch variant, "Edward Spry," thus indicating that in 1673 Edward1 and his children probably were all living together. If in fact Edward2 was residing with his father, he may not have owned land before 1673. In 1673, one John Row became indebted to Edward1, or his son, who, when Row failed to pay, attached Row's musket and brought suit in the town court. The constable and overseers heard the action on 2 April 1673; they found for Spragg, who was awarded the musket.
Although Edward1 Spragg is listed in early records as the town's cattle keeper, he probably also operated a farm during that period. He owned one cow "at the neck" in 1658, the year in which he received the assignment of "burning the neck." Most likely he gradually built up his estate, accumulating real and personal property as the years passed. By 1669, when collective cattle keeping had become a discontinued practice, Edward presumably had fully concentrated his efforts on farming. On 2 October 1676 thirty-eight men from Hempstead, including Edward Spragg who signed his name, no doubt Edward1, subscribed to a compact that eventually lead to their indictment for rioting. " The compact expressed their objection to John Comell's settlement at "the Cowe Neck" on land that had been granted to him directly by Governor Andros, but which the Town had planned to divide among its inhabitants. Two weeks later, on 16 October 1676, a band of about twenty men, again including Edward Spragg, confronted Cornell and destroyed his homestead. As a result of these actions the compact signers were indicted and charged with rioting. The ringleaders were taken to New York City, tried, and given various sentences. The remaining men, including Spragg, were referred to the Court of Sessions at Jamaica for trial but records of such, if actually conducted, have not been found.
No direct evidence exists for Edward1 Spragg's children, but it is possible to indirectly identify some of them from the extant records. No doubt one son is the second Edward, already mentioned, who first appears in the Hempstead town records in 1657 and signed documents with a Mark E. He last appears in the town records in 1692, when, with consent of his wife Mary, he conveyed a one-half interest in land to Benjamin Carmen. According to the printed town records, a "Wm Spragg" gave money toward the town's patent, presumably in 1684 or 1685, though the date is not given. Both Combes and Wardwell conclude that he was a son of Edward1.
Eardeley does not mention William, although his analysis of the family begins with the second generation. A John Spragg first appears in the town records on 24 May 1682, when, as "John Spreag," he contributed 10s. for Jeremy Hubard's ministry. Presumably based upon such entries, both Combes and Wardwell concluded that Edward and William were sons of Edward' Spragg, and Combes proposed a third son, John.
Separate indirect evidence for members of Edward1 Spragg's family is found in the 1698 Hempstead census, which lists two clusters of Spraggs as apparent families, and separately lists two unattached Spraggs.
The first cluster consists of the names Mary, John, Thomas, and Richard Spragg; the second consists of the names Edward, Abigail, Sarah, Jacob, and Edward Spragg. A Joseph Spragg is separately listed in the Great Neck locality, and a Hannah Spragg also appears to be residing apart from the rest.
Based on these data, Combes sets forth two hypotheses. In what appears to be an unpublished draft article, he states that Edward1 Spragg married Mary -, and had children Sarah, Jacob, Joseph, Hannah, and Edward. However, in a later revision of the same article he states that there were three Spragg generations during the seventeenth century, pointing out that the Spragg-Carmen deed of 1692, which refers to a moiety, or half interest, may indicate that Edward1 divided his property between two sons. He concludes that Edward'1had three sons, Edward, William, and John, that William predeceased his father, and that before Edward1 died he conveyed his property in equal shares to his sons Edward and John. In addition Combes opines that Hannah Spragg was the wife of William and that Joseph Spragg was the son of either William or John.
Wardwell's interpretation differs. He surmises that Edward1 Spragg had only two sons, Edward and William.
Eardeley makes no mention of the immigrant except to state that the two early Edwards were father and son.
Combes, Wardwell, and Eardeley would all seem to be correct in concluding that Edward Spragg had a son Edward who had a wife named Mary. The one-half inherited interest in property involved in the Spragg- Carmen deed of 1692 is an indication that the Edward named in that deed was of the second generation. Other circumstances also suggest that connection. Although both Edwards engaged in cattle herding and both would have been alive in 1673, the list of inhabitants of Hempstead of that year shows a single entry under the Dutch variant of the name, "Edward Spry. Since it is likely that the list is for heads of families only, one may logically conclude that the two Edwards were residing together at that time. The evidence, taken as a whole, thus creates a reasonable inference that they were father and son.
The William Spragg proposed by both Combes and Wardwell as the son of Edward1 Spragg presents a particularly interesting problem. It is not known for certain what sources Combes and Wardwell used, but both of them apparently included the printed town records in their analyses. These records are based on the original Hempstead town records. The originals were kept by the town of North Hempstead in 1784, when the Hempstead of that time was divided into North Hempstead and South Hempstead (later renamed Hempstead).
The town of North Hempstead published the Hempstead Town records in eight volumes between 1896 and 1904, when the editor, Benjamin D. Hicks, noted that the earliest records were in poor condition and hard to read. The name William Spragg appears only once, in the eighth volume of the printed records. A review of the original Hempstead town records shows that in its present condition the relevant entry can be read either as "Wm. Spragg" or "Mr.Spragg. It happens that the patentees' names had been transcribed from the originals at least three times before the town records were published. Transcriptions made on 2 January 1755 and on 14 July 1774, both interpret the entry as "Mr. Spragg.
A printed account of a lawsuit, including all related documents, concerning the boundary between North and South Hempstead interprets the entry in the original records as either "Mr." or Wm." The complaint, evidently prepared before the underlying trial took place in 1808, states that an "Edward Spragg," who owned 32 acres, and a "Wm. Spragg," who owned 280 acres, had contributed money for the patent in 1658. However, the account also mentions a subsequent proceeding on 17 October 1816, during which the names of the patentees were read into the record. Appearing in that list are "Edward Sprag," 92 acres, and "Mr. Sprag," 288 acres. It is strange that William, if he in fact existed and was Edward' Spragg's son, would have held more land than his father owned and yet be mentioned only once in the original town records.
Onderdonk, in Queens County in Olden Times, mentions that in 1685 a 280-acre tract, Boscobel, on the south side of the plains, was laid out for John Spragg, the Colonial Secretary. Secretary John Spragg was styled "Mr. Spragg" because of his position and gentry status. Neither Combes nor Wardwell believed that the Secretary was a member of Edward' Spragg's family, but it is the present writer's conclusion that they both probably relied on the printed town records, the transcriber of which misread the abbreviation "Mr." as "Wm.," and that the reference in the original town records is to the Colonial Secretary, John Spragg, and not to a William Spragg.
Confirmation is found in the fact that the supposed "Wm. Spragg" owned the exact number of acres contained in Boscobel, the tract granted to Mr. fjohn] Spragg. A different John Spragg evidently did belong in the Edward1 Spragg family. However, it is not easy to determine which of the following alternative hypotheses is correct.
Combes' hypothesis that Edward1 Spragg had a son John2 Spragg, or Wardwell's hypothesis that Edward2 Spragg had a son John3 Sprag-. The "John Spreag" who gave 10s. in 1682 toward payment for Jeremy Hubard's ministry would have been at least 20 years old and probably married at the time. It is likely that he was in fact older because on 6 March 1687/8 he and thirty-one other men agreed to allow property to be given to Thomas Barker, an act which indicates that he was at that time not a youth, but an adult of some years. There is evidence that John Spragg's son Edward was born about 1665 (as further discussed below); thus, assuming that John was at least 20 at the birth of this child, he would have been born before 1645.
To determine who was this John Spragg's father, it is helpful to review records of the divisions of Hempstead lands. These records were created as a result of a vote at a Hempstead town meeting in 1723, by which, to aid the distribution of vacant land, it was decided to trace the various grants and divisions of land from the town's inception to the date of the vote. The scheme was to identify grants made to the original proprietors and their associates, and, if they had not received their proper share, to give them additional land. After the initial division, the remainder was to be divided among the general population.
Six men were chosen to undertake the research, three of whom died during the nearly two decades taken to complete the task. Unfortunately, the results were not viewed with favor by many in town, as the recommendation in some instances was to reassign lands, taking away property held by some families for a century or more. Thus, the completed report should be used with caution at least as to the location of property, although its actual division would seem to be accurate. Based on these records, it appears that an Edward Spragg, presumably Edward1, received at least two patents, one for 22 1/2. acres and the other for 7 1/2 acres, both located on the west side of Hicks Neck path. By 1741 the 22 1/2-acre patent had been divided into two 11 1/4-acre plots, one owned by an Edward Spragg and the other by Mordica Lester. The other 7 1/2-acre patent was owned by an Edward Spragg, presumably John's son Edward. While these records do not offer direct evidence, they nevertheless supply a general framework in which to fit the other pieces of the puzzle.
The equal division of the 22 1/2-acre patent confirms that Edward1 Spragg's lands were divided between two children, presumably Edward2 and another. Further, it would appear that one of the divided plots remained in the family at least until 1741, while the other plot was transferred to Mordica Lester, either through marriage or purchase. Since it is likely that William did not exist, and,considering that John was probably born in or before 1645, it appears that John was that other, apparently younger, son of Edward1, possibly from a second marriage. In attempting to reconstruct these earliest generations, it is important to look to the obvious and to resist the impulse to be creative. The plain interpretation of the data would indicate that Edward1 Spragg had at least two sons, Edward and John, neither of whom appear in the 1698 census, because they had probably died before that date.
EDWARD SPRAGG was born about 1616, presumably in England. His birth date is based on his signed deposition, dated 12 July 1677, in which he states that he is about 61 years old. Edward died most likely in the town of Hempstead, New York. His date of death is given as 10 March 1687 by Amy Sprague Vader in her manuscript on the Sprague family of Prince Edward County, Ontario. However, since the manuscript does not give a source, the date must be regarded as unproven. No probate records are found, but it is possible that Edward died as early as 1681 when his son Edward2 began to sell various real properties in Hempstead which he may have inherited. Edward1 surely had died by 1698, as he is not accounted for in the census of that year. Edward probably married before 1637, the estimated birth date of his first son. No record of a wife for him has survived at Hempstead, but John Winthrop Jr. at Hartford, Connecticut, entered in his medical journal on 27 March 1661 prescriptions for several persons at Hempstead, Long Island, including one for "Sprage Edward his wife at Hempsted."
"Annals of Staten Island, From its Discovery to the Present Time", by J. J. Clute, page 496. SPRAGUE
The tradition in the family is that there were three brothres, Joseph, Edward and John, emigrated simultaneously from England, but the date of that event is lost; it must have been early, however, as we read of Jacob Spragg, who must have been a son of Joseph, as early as 1729. Of these brothers, Joseph took up his abode on Staten Island; of the other two, one settled on Long Island, and one on Rhode Island. William, whose name we find in the county records in 1767, and Joseph in 1772, were undoubtedly grandson of the original Joseph. The original Joseph had three sons--Jacob, John and Edward--notwithstanding, the family has not increased very rapidly, and at present number but a few families, mostly confined to the town of Westfield. The only notices of the name in the old record of St. Andrew's Church are the following: Andrew and Catharine Pryor married June 28, 1800. Jacob and Margaret Wood married July 12, 1800.
From Robert Irwin Spragg, Sr
It is the tradition in the SPRAGG (Sprague/Spragge/Sragg & etc) family of America that there were three brothers, Joseph, Edward and John Spragg who emigrated simultaneously from England. The date of this event is lost, but it would have been very early, about 1640. 1: John Spragg settled in Rhode Island and it is believed that he used the Sprague spelling. (nothing more on him).
2: Joseph Spragg took up his home in Staten Island, NY , in the city of what became Richmond, NJ. He used the Sprague spelling. The name William Sprague, in 1667 and Joseph Sprague in 1772, are found in the early Staten Island county records. The are undoubtedly the grandsons of the original Joseph Spragg/Sprague who had three sons, Jacob, John and Edward. (nothing more on him).
3: Edward (1) Spragg settled on Long Island, in what became the town of Hempstead, NY. It is this Edward (1) Spragg who is the start of the Spragg family in America. FROM THE UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT BY: George D. A. Comoes on the early town of Hempstead, L.I., NY, "THE FIRST 100 SETTLERS OF HEMPSTEAD".
Edward (1) Spragg, the first of the SPRAGG line in this area, first appears on the Hempstead records in 1654 as holding 6 acres of estate. He was at this time married and father of several children. He had a son Edward (2) and it is difficult or impossible to separate the records from the father and the son after the son becomes of age, say about 1664 or 1665. The father was for many years in charge of the herds pastured on the common lands. An agreement was made by Edward (1) Spragg and one William Johnson on Apr 16 1657 for Edward (1) Spragg to" Perform the place of cow keeper".
Edward (1) Spragg was granted 1 1/2 acres of land upon the little plains and on Dec 30 1665 he received 22 acres of land on the north side "near ye bevill". Also he received 6 acres of meadowland on Jun 24,1669. Whether these grants were to the father or the son, or to both is not known. On Jul 12,1677 we have the testimony of Edward (1) Spragg, age about 61 years (Born about 1616) . He testifies that the Indians received their final pay for Hempstead in 1656. " It being the last payment for the town bounds. This was paid in kettles (pots)and trading cloth and wampom and led (lead) and I think sum hatchets and hoes". This testimony was signed by Edward (1) Spragg, (With the spelling Spragg), but other papers were signed with his "MARK".
The first time the senior and junior are used in connection with the father and the son, is in 1694 when Edward Spragg Sr. deeded his rights to "6 gates of fenc" on Cow's Neck to a Thomas Harker. This might be Edward (2) Spragg who by this time was the father of Edward (3) Spragg who was over twenty-one years old, so Edward (2) could therefore properly call himself senior. There is no record that gives the approximate death date for Edward (1) Spragg. Perhaps his last act of record was when on Mar 10,1687 , he conveyed 30acres of woodlands on the north side of the plains to a Benjamin Seaman. Note:Cow's/Coe's/Cou's neck is called Manhasset, L.I.,Ny today.
On Nov 4,1692 Edward (2) Spragg and his wife Mary, both signed with a "mark", (note that the above Edward (1) signed with his name). They conveyed unto Benjamin Carman a meadow on Coe's Neck the "equell halfe part of a lot containing six acres". (note that later Thomas Spragg married a Mary Carman in Hempstead). This we believe was Edward (2) Spragg and the fact that the land sold was a 1/2 part may indicate that the property of Edward (1) Spragg was divided among two children and as the son William was perhaps deceased before his father, the two would be Edward (2) and John. (note: A John Spragg was a "Secretary to the Colony" about 1683. Don't know if this is the same John or not. This John Spragg returned to England).There is no record of the deaths of any of the Edward Spragg's, but if the arrangement of the early family is correct (and due to the lack of definite facts, it is only an arrangement). It would seem that both Edward (1) and Edward (2) were deceased prior to the taking of the 1698 census of Hempstead, NY. On this census is found the family of Edward (3) Spragg with his wife Abigail and three children: Sarah, Jacob, and Edward (4). Also found on this census is Mary Spragg (widow of Edward (2) with three children: John, Thomas and Richard. (the younger children) End of the Comoes manuscript
From the Finney Sprague notes.
"It is probable that there were only three different Edwards Spragg's in the early years. The Edward (1) was dead before May 2 1702 and he had a son Edward (2) who married before Nov 4 1692 to a Mary and had a son Edward (3)". Note: Think she was right, but it was Edward (1) who was married to Mary.
General Notes for Child Edward Spragg
"Early Spraggs of Hempstead, Long Island", by John R. Sprague III, J.D., published in "The Genealogist", Spring, 1998, pages 3-42 (note, the reader is left to review the original manuscript for references cited in Attorney Sprague's work.).EDWARD SPRAGG was born say 1637, assuming that he was in his early twenties when he contracted with the town of Hempstead for the care of cattle in 1657; his place of birth is not known. Edward was living in 1692 when he entered into a deed with Benjamin Carmen, but he does not appear in the Hempstead census of 1698, apparently having died between 1692 and 1698. He was "deceased" in May 1702. Edward presumably married by 1671 (son Edward (3) was born by that date) MARY -, whose name is given by the 1692 Spragg,Carmen deed. Although Mary's family name is not known, it may have been Williams, as her sons Edward and John Spragg witnessed deeds involving hereditary transfers of property for the Williams family in 1697 (see below).
Mary died after 1692, when she consented by mark 0 to a deed, and before tile Hempstead census in 1698. It is likely that Edward (2) Spragg inherited his father's property on Hicks Neck path. The exact location of his home is not known, however, as he owned property in several locations. Although no specific evidence has been found, he probably was a farmer and a Presbyterian, like his father.
As seen above, the earliest mention of Edward (2) Spragg is in 1657, when he agreed by mark E to a contract with the town. He subsequently affixed this mark to five deeds. On 21 May 1681 he sold two parcels to Joseph Thurston, one on the north side of the path to Foster Meadows and the other at Hungry Harbor adjoining Adam Mott and Henry Linninton.
Four years later he sold six acres on the west side of Little Neck to Richard Tottun. On 7 January 1687 he conveyed to Moses Embree a lot at a place called "haybridge," bounded by properties of Abraham Smith and Samuel Pines. In the same year he sold to Benjamin Seaman some property adjoining Harmon Hendricks, located in the eastern part of Westbury." In 1692, for L30.
Edward and his wife Mary, both of Hempstead, conveyed six acres of "fresh meadow and salt" to Benjamin Carmen. This property, described as a moiety, or half interest, was bounded on the east by Samuel Embree and on the west by Robert Marvin. Wardwell concluded that Edward (2) Spragg had children Edward, John, Joseph, and Hannah, the latter of whom he believed may have been a house-maid residing with the Flower family in 1698. Eardeley proposed instead the following children: John, Thomas, Richard, Edward, Joseph, and Han-nah, although he questioned whether Thomas and Richard could have been children of John (3) Spragg (Edward (2-1).
The 1698 Hempstead census, as noted above, shows two clusters of Spragg names, presumably separate family groups. One group, Edward, , Abigail, Sarah, Jacob, and Edward, is readily identifiable as the family of Edward (3) Spragg (John (2), Edward (1)) (see no. 7).
The other group, Mary, John, Thomas, and Richard, would at first appear to be the widow and children of Edward (2) Spragg. However, a closer analysis of the existing records shows instead that the situation is less obvious and that the names belong to a more extended version of his family. The John Spragg with the second group in 1698 first appears on record in 1696 as a witness to two deeds, and again as a witness to a deed in 1701. He is listed as a freeholder in 1702. Thomas Spragg's, first appearance is his listing with this group in 1698. He appears again next year, when he recorded an earmark. He witnessed a deed in 1713 and a will in 1715. He is last known to be alive in 1724, when he purchased gloves from the Langdon store in the east part of Hempstead.
Richard Spragg, like Thomas, first appears in the 1698 census. He is subsequently mentioned in Christopher Dingee's will in 1723. He recorded his earmark on 25 March 1725 and wrote his own wilI in 1731. It appears from these data that John Spragg and Thomas Spragg were of the same generation, while Richard Spragg may have been younger. John would have been born no later than 1682, assuming he was at least fourteen years old when he witnessed the two Williams-Denton deeds.
Similarly, Thomas would have been born by 1679, assuming he was twenty or more years old when he recorded his earmark. There is no indication that Richard was contemporary with Thomas and John; after the 1698 census he is first mentioned in Christopher Dingee's 1723 will. If he were in his twenties when he recorded his earmark in 1725, he would have been an infant in 1698. Richard Spragg's 1731 will (see no. 4 i) and an examination of the Ernbree family shed more light on the problem. His bequests included L10 to "my father and mother, Moses and Mary Embry, of Pennsylvania ... (but) should both of them dye before the time of payment then the said money to be equally divided between my Brothers and Sisters." Based on this wording, "father and mother" Embree could be the parents of Richard's deceased wife or, more likely, they were Richard's own remarried mother and her second husband, Richard's stepfather.
According to Wardwell, Moses Embree, son of Moses, bom at Hempstead about 1675 and died after 1731, married in 1698 Mary -, who died after 173 1. They had, also according to Wardwell, nine children: a daughter, bom at Hempstead after 1699, who married Richard Spragg; Mary, in New Jersey after 1701, who married an Onger; and seven younger children, six of whom Wardwell states were born in New Jersey. Wardwell says, with no source cited, that the family resided at Hempstead, Little Egg Harbor, and Pennsylvania. His data for the younger children born in New Jersey seem to come from Eli K. Price's biographical sketch of James Embree, Which, in turn, is based on Quaker records in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Wardwell's comments about the first two children appear to be conjecture.
A "Moazes Emery" was assessed as an inhabitant of Hempstead in 1683. The 1698 census at Hempstead includes two groups of Embree names, the one of particular interest to us consisting of Mary Embro and Moses Embro. This listing can be interpreted different ways. Since entries in this census begin with the head of the household and since this "Embro" pair begins with Mary, one may suppose that it represents a household consisting of a widow Mary and a son Moses. However, since their names follow a listing of the Christopher Dingee family, it is likely that Mary and Moses were children of a widow Mary Embree, who, before the census date, had married Christopher Dingee. If so, we would also have an explanation for the fact that Christopher Dingee witnessed deeds involving the Embrees and Spraggs."" In any case, it appears that the Moses Embree who was assessed at Hempstead 1683 had died by 1698, when his son Moses was living there, still unmarried.
This interpretation is supported by a deed of 22 September 1690, in which "moses Embre" is referred to as de-ceased. No record of the son Moses Embree's marriage has been found and no Embrees are among the Queens County freeholders in 1702. However, on 6 April 1714 Moses Embree "of Hempstead" sold land at Merrick. Moses signed and his wife Mary placed her mark X on the deed."'s Thus it seems that the Embrees were in the Hempstead area at least until April 1714. Richard Spragg's 1731 will also provided L5 to "my loving Sister" Mary Onges of Little Egg Harbor, West Jersey; L20 to Mary's oldest son, "his name I know not," when he reaches 21 years, or if he dies before, then to be divided equally among his surviving brothers and sisters; and one cow and the remainder of the estate to "my couson Micah Spragg. Who was "sister" Mary Onges?
Material included in a compilation by members of a New Jersey association in 1880 states that her maiden name was Spragg and that she married Jacob Ong Jr., son of Jacob and Elizabeth Ong. Wardwell suggests without proof that Mary was either a daughter of John3 Spragg (Edward2-1) or a sister of Richard Spragg's wife. A wife is not mentioned in Richard's will, but it is possible that he had married and that she predeceased him, leaving no children. If so, he could have been making bequests to his sister-in-law and her "oldest son." However, the total amount of the bequests to them, L25, represented the major portion of his estate, suggesting a closer tie to these beneficiaries. It is more likely that "sister" Mary Onges was Richard's own sister or half-sister. Similarly, Richard gave a large portion of his estate to his "father and mother," Moses and Mary Embree, with the residuary legatees being in this case his siblings, which suggests a closer relationship than father- and mother-in-law. Thus Richard Spragg's will, taken as a whole, indicates that it was probably his mother, not mother-in-law, who had become Moses Embree's wife Mary sometime before 1714.
Since Moses Embree was still single at the time of the 1698 census, Richard's mother should appear in that census as Mary Spragg. That name, as already seen, does head the second cluster of Spraggs at Hempstead in 1698: Mary, John, Thomas, and Richard. This household, however, does not include a second Mary as expected if Richard's "sister" Mary Onges in 1731 was his full sister. Thus she was probably his half-sister, and born sometime after 1698 to his mother and her second husband, Moses Embree.
Based on the above discussion, it is proposed here that the second Spragg household in 1698 consisted of a young widow, Mary Spragg, her brothers- in-law John and Thomas Spragg, and her young child, Richard Spragg. Moreover, it is proposed that her brothers- in-law and deceased husband were sons of Edward2 Spragg, who is not listed in that census, apparently having died sometime before. The Mary Spragg household appears in the census close to the families of Samuel Pine and Samuel Embree, who owned properties adjoining land of Edward2 Spragg. By the close associations they disclose, several deeds, including Moses Embree's deed in 1714 mentioned above, lend support to a conclusion that Moses's wife Mary had been a sister-in-law of John Spragg, one of the four persons in Mary Spragg's household in 1698. In 1696 John Spragg had witnessed two deeds conveying property that abutted land of Samuel Denton. Moses and Mary Embree's deed in 1714 was witnessed by Samuel Denton Christopher Dingee, and others. Later still, on 7 December 1727, Christopher Dingee and John Spragg's son, Micah (see no. 5 i), witnessed a deed to Benjamin Seaman Jr. Micah also witnessed a deed to Seaman that day from Christopher Dingee and John Dingee.
The persistence of these associations over a period of at least three decades supports our conclusion that Mary Embree was the former Mary Spragg and widow in 1698 of a son of Edward2 Spragg. Mary's deceased Spragg husband appears to be Edward2 Spragg's son Edward.
Based on the available records, Edward2 apparently had children in addition to the John and Thomas listed with Mary Spragg and her son Richard in 1698: Edward, Hannah, and Joseph. The evidence for each of the latter three children is reviewed in the following paragraphs. Wardwell and Eardeley both wrongly supposed that Edward (son of Edward2) was the Edward Spragg who married Abigail Southard, apparently not realizing that four Edward Spraggs were residing in the Hempstead locality in the late seventeenth century. They are distinguished as follows: Edward1, who could sign his name; Edward2, son of Edward1, who used an embellished mark E; the Edward who used a mark 0, married Abigail Southard, and appears in the 1698 census; and an Edward who used the initials ES. The latter Edward is the one of particular interest here.
There are only three entries in the Hempstead town records for Edward (ES] Spragg. On 20 August 1694, as "edward spradg sener," he conveyed six gates (the right to pasture six cows, horses, etc.] on "Cou neck" to Thomas Barker. He signed with mark SE, probably a clerical transposition of ES. "John Spradg" witnessed.121 Edward (ES) Spragg twice appears in the town records on 27 May 1696 as a witness to deeds from John Williams to Joseph and Benjamin Williams. The deeds describe the property conveyed as a "moyetie or half interest" consisting of eighteen acres on the west side of Mill River and bounded by property of William Tliiekson and the Mott family.
Edward (ES) Spragg is not ccounted or in the 1698 census. The "Edward Spragg sr." who does appear then is listed with (his wife] Abigail and children Sarah, Jacob, and Edward. He is no doubt the Edward Spragg (no. 7), ith wife Abigail (Southard), who had distinguished himself by mark 0 in the disposition of the Southard estate in 1690. Edward (ES) Spragg's identification as a son of Edward2 Spragg is supported by the fact that John Spragg witnessed his sale of six gates in 1694, as well as by deeds involving the Williams family indicating that the two men probably were siblings Since John Spragg was residing in 1698 with Mary Spragg, widow of one of Edward2 Spragg's sons, it would appear that Edward (ES) Spragg, like John Spragg, was a son of Edward2.
According to both Eardeley and Wardwell, Hannah Spragg also was a child of Edward . She is listed in the 1698 census between entries for the Flower and Mott families. Since Adam Mott's property adjoined Edward2 Spragg's land, the Flowers, with whom Hannah seems to have been living, also probably lived nearby.
Eardeley, who investigated the Flower family, concluded that Elizabeth Flower, widow after 1695 of the progenitor, Marmon Flower, married John Beats. Thus the entries for the Flower family in the 1698 census should be combined with those for the Beats family immediately preceding it. The household apparently consisted of John Beats Jr., Elizabeth Beats, John Beats, Martha Beats, Mary Flower, John Flower, Hannah Flower, Elizabeth Flower, Jonas Flower, Harmon Flower, and Hannah Spragg. But it does not seem likely that Hannah Spragg was related to either the Beatses or the Flowers. If she was a Beats who had married a Spragg, she would not have been listed after the Flower children. Similarly, she probably was not a widowed daughter of Martin Flower since an evident daughter, Hannah Flower, is separately listed. It is of course not possible to say with certainty why in 1698 Hannah Spragg was living apart from members of her own family. But if she was residing with the Beats-Flower family, she may have, been, as Wardwell suggested, a housemaid.
Both Eardeley and Wardwell state that Joseph Spragg was a son of Edward2. The relationship may be inferred from deeds and the 1698 Hempstead census. On 25 June 1685 Edward sold to Richard Totten a six-acre meadow on "Little Neck" (near present-day Great Neck), adjoining property of "George Peasall. Richard subsequently sold this property in 1702 to his son Benjamin Totten. The census in 1698 lists Joseph Spragg next to the Richard Totten family."' The implications are that Edward2 Spragg owned property on Little Neck, that he sold a part of it to Richard Totten in 1685, and that he may have given a portion of it to Joseph before 1698.
Following Eardeley and Wardwell, I place Joseph and Hannah as children of Edward" Spragg; but the known chronology and circumstances do not exclude a possibility that they were instead children of his son Edward3 Spragg (see no. 4).
General Notes for Child John Spragg
Early Spraggs of Hempstead, Long Island", by John R. Sprague III, J.D., published in "The Genealogist", Spring, 1998, pages 3-42 (note, the reader is left to review the original manuscript for references cited in attorney Sprague's work.). JOHN SPRAGG (,Edward1) was born say 1640, assuming fie was twenty- five years old when his son Edward was born. He was living at Hempstead in March 1687/8, but he does not appear in the 1698 census, probably having died before that date. He married, but his wife's name is not known. Most likely, he was a farmer and a Presbyterian like his father.
The Hempstead town records show that on 24 May 1682 John gave 10s. toward the ministry of Jeremy Hubard."O His name appears again on 6 March 1687/8, when he and thirty-one other owners of Coe Neck agreed to give land to Thomas Barker. Later appearances of the name John Spragg in Hempstead probably refer to a nephew, son of Edward2 Spragg (no. 5). it is difficult to deduce John's family.
Eardeley mentions only that he was born about 1668, which is a generation too late. Combes placed the Joseph Spragg of the 1698 census as a son of John2 Spragg, but for reasons already given, Joseph was most likely another nephew, a son of Edward2 Spragg (no. 2 iii). Similarly, Wardwell concluded that John2 Spragg's family was represented in the 1698 Hempstead census by the Spragg cluster, Mary, John, Thomas, and Richard, but, as discussed above, these names also refer to descendants of Edward2.
The available records point with certainty to only one child of John2 Spragg: the Edward Spragg who married Abigail Southard. This Edward first appears in the town records on 7 October 1690, when he witnessed by mark O four statements concerning the disposition of the Southard estate. He next appears on 29 December 1691, when, again sign-in by mark O He acknowledged that he had reserved L3 6s. in settlement of that estate. He was a contemporary of Edward (ES) Spragg, identified above as a son of Edward'. By elimination, Edward (O) Spragg should be a child of John2, the only other known son of Edward1 Spragg. The town records support that deduction. Since John owned land on Coe Neck, one may expect to find his children there. The 1698 Hempstead census lists Edward (O) Spragg one family away from "John carle,"who was among those who had consented in March 1687/8 to give the Coe Neck land to Thomas Barker. Indeed, within a twenty-family "radius" from Edward (O) Spragg, we find ten men or members of their families who had agreed to the Coe Neck gift. A reasonable inference may be drawn that John2 Spragg owned land there, which, probably upon his death between 1688 and 1698, came into the possession of his son, Edward (O) Spragg.
Sources:
1. Long Island Genealogy CD from http://longislandgenealogy.com.
2. "The Genealogist", (Rockport, ME: Published for The American Society of Genealogists by Picton
Press), Volume 12, No. 1, "Early Spraggs of Hempstead, Long Island, Spring 1998, by John Russel Sprague III, J.D, pages 3-42.
3. Ken Page, contributor..
4. Hal R. Spragg, contributor..
5. Dale Wilken, "Spragg Family: New York Line, Pennsylvania Line & Indiana Line".
6. Robert I Spragg Sr., contributor..
Comments or suggestions ...
