Charles Elihu Slocum, A Short History of the Slocums, Slocumbs of
America, Syracuse NY 1882
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Pioneer Irish in New England
CHAPTER IX
page 152
In the case of Elephel Fitzgerald, there is an interesting but all too inadequate account of her in the genealogy of the Slocum family, in which it is said that about 1687, she married Eliezer Slocum of Dartmouth, Mass. (now New Bedford). Eliezer was a son of Giles Slocum of Portsmouth, R. I., who, on receiving a grant of a large tract of land in Dartmouth Township, removed to that place before 1682. Eliezer owned extensive properties at a place known as Slocums Neck on Buzzards Bay, and his will, dated March 1, 1727, still preserved in the probate office at Taunton, shows that he divided his estate, which was appraised at the immense sum for those days of £5790, among his beloved wife, Elephel, and his sons, Eliezer and Ebenezer. The time of her arrival in this country is unknown, and among her New England descendants, there are partially conflicting opinions as to the circumstances of her departure from her native land. In one branch of the Slocum family, the tradition is, that although she was a lady of high birth, she was one of a number of young women who were forcibly brought to America and sold for wives to respectable purchasers, the purchase money in this instance amounting to about $600.|R45| Other branches apparently are unwilling to acknowledge
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Pioneer Irish in New England
CHAPTER IX
page 153
In another account of the family, written by a descendant of Eliezer and Elephel Slocum,Collections, New Hampshire Historical Society, Vol. 4, p. 503; Vol. 5, p.86; Vol. 7, p. 158; Vol. 31, p. 578.47 it is stated that she lived as a domestic in the household of Giles Slocum at Portsmouth, that Eliezer was born at Portsmouth in 1664, he and Elephel Fitzgerald having been married before they were twenty, and with his wife, Elephel, he was living at Slocums Neck prior to 1684. A romantic story has come down in the family of the courtship of Eliezer Slocum and the Irish maiden, but it has had no appeal for their descendant, and he not only treats it as a fable but seeks to cast ridicule on the tradition that she was of the noble family of the Geral-dines. In what manner, he relates, our little Irish maid was separated from her sister and came to find a home in the simple household of Giles Slocum in Portsmouth, the tradition sayeth not. Irish maids were not commonly employed in those early days, and even in later times Irish maids were seldom Earls daughters. None the less, it is probable that the Lady
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I copied the following in my notes from the Slocum Genealogy: "Traditionagreeing in families widely separated for generations says that Elephel Fitzgerald was a lady of high birth, and some families hold that she was among the number of young women who were forcibly brought to America and sold for wives to respectable purchasersthe purchase money in this instance amounting to about $600. This tradition is possibly true. The 'children stolen,' 'maidens pressed,' and political prisoners from England were in great demand in the American Colonies and many women were brought who were "young, handsome and well-recommended for their virtuous education and demeanour, and were sold as wives to the planters fetching from one hundred and twenty to three hundred and fifty pounds of tobacco, i.e., from £18 to £52 sterling..."
"The Slocum Family tradition told by Mrs. Julia Ferris Pearce (a descendent of Elephel Fitzgerald concerning the coming of Elephel Fitzgerald to America--
"A daughter of Earl Edmund Fitzgerald of Dublin became affianced to an English Officer against her father's will and eloped with her younger sister (this Lady Elephel), whom they brought to America, perhaps to further the success of their plans. They resided in Dartmouth, he as a Yeoman. In the confirmatory deed of William Bradford, 13 November 1694, Eliezer Slocum and his brothers, Giles and Peleg, were named among the proprietors of Dartmouth, New Bedford, Westport, and Fairhaven. He dealt quite extensively in lands, and was very sucessful in the accumulation of property, considering the circumstances of his time.
Eliezer Slocum's will was proved 30 July, 1727, and his estate was appraised at £ 665.18s and 11a--real £ 5,125--excusive of the former gifts to his children. Elephel Slocum, widow and relist of Eliezer Slocum, "made a will the 19th day of 1st month called March 1745-6", in which she devised a considerable estate. Her will was proved 4 October 1748."