2. Rowland² Soule (George¹) was born in Duxbury or Dartmouth, MA November 5, 1733.

He married Mary Irish. The investigation of the history of this branch of the Soule family must involve that of the Soules in Dutchess County, New York; and all is connected and linked by a peculiar name. It was long ago conceded by a distinguished Scotch genealogist (Nisbit) that when some peculiar Christian name was found to be common in two families it was strong presumptive evidence of their relationship. This fact has been illustrated in a very marked degree amongst the descendants of Rowland Soule, the youngest son of George and Lydia (Howland) Soule, who removed from Duxbury or Swansea, Mass., to Nine Partners, Dutchess County, N. Y., early in the 17th century. This was not, however, the first appearance on record of the name of a Rowland Soule (Sole), for a man of this name served in the early wars (1675) under Capt. Daniel Henchman; and the same man was in the command of Capt. Samuel Mosely that year. Where this man came from or whither he went is not known to me. I suppose this would be considered an "accidental coincidence." The history of Rowland Soule of Nine Partners, N. Y., starts very well. He belonged not only to a family of Quakers but during the Revolutionary period of ardent Tories or Royalists. He was appointed as the administrator of his father's will in 1784. He married MARY IRISH, daughter of Jesse Irish, and disappears from the known records of the district. At the close of the Revolution nearly all, if not all, of the male survivors of his father's family were practically evicted from their farms which were confiscated, and expatriated themselves to Nova Scotia and the Province of Quebec in the North American British Dominion. While there was found public records of several members of the Nine Partners families, nothing was found in Nova Scotia concerning Rowland Soule. He evidently settled in Hebron, N. Y. However, this Rowland turns up in Albany, Vermont, in 1790. Rowland Soule (1), the youngest son of George (4) and Lydia (Howland) Soule, was born in Duxbury or. Dartmouth, Mass., Nov. 5, 1733; married MARY IRISH, daughter of Jesse Irish, an early settler in the Nine Partners in Dutchess County, New York, and is supposed to have lived in Washington and Hebron, N. Y. There are some features of uncertainty in the history and genealogy, but the perpetuation of the peculiar name in branches descended from this man are a sufficient evidence of their connection with the parent stock. A principal reason for believing that some of the families whose records will appear in this department of this work lies within the fact that there has been found no other family from which they could have sprung. See a more extensive treatment of this subject where the name of Rowland Soule appears in the list of his father's children. The following records and biographical information will comprise all that is important found in the accumulation of notes during an investigation covering more than fourteen years. We herewith swing wide the gates that open into a broad field wherein will be the treatment of several branches of the Soule family, and we introduce

Rowland Soule and Mary Irish had the following child:

+ 3 i. Jonathan³ Soule was born 1761.

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