William Orcutt (2nd)
Replies: 1
William Orcutt (2nd)
| elfstone19551 (View posts) | Posted: 6 Mar 2008 4:57PM GMT |
Classification: Query
Surnames: Orcutt Smith Bellows Larkin Newton
As many Orcutt researchers well know, William Orcutt (s. of William and Mary/Martha (Lane) Orcutt) has mostly been listed as having three wives - Jane Washburn, Hannah Smith, and Hannah Newton. The marriages of William to Jane and the first Hannah are pretty well documented (see Savage, Mitchell, the John Smith land transfer in Taunton). However, the only reference to the marriage to Hannah Newton I have been able to find (outside of undocumented web sites) is in the History of the Town Marlboro by Hudson. Unluckily, Hudson does not follow the Sarah Newton/William Orcutt line another generation.
Having said this, I still have my doubts about the validity of this marriage. I wil try to summarize my evidence/doubts and hope that someone can dissuade me from doubting the marriage.
1) Marlboro is over 50 miles from Bridgewater. I find no evidence Moses Newton (Hannah's father) and the family lived other than Marlboro. Given the condition of roads and the need to travel on horseback, even the best of horses would take half a day to get to Marlboro and then half a day back - leaving little time for "courting" especially for a farmer who needed to tend his fields.
2) Bridgewater Epitaphs (by Latham) shows Hannah Orcutt, relict of William, died Oct. 7, 1751 at the age of 72 years - placing her birth year in 1679 - the same year Hannah Smith was born.
3) Hannah Newton was born 1673 (see above).
4) Various web sites (mostly undocumented) say that Hannah Newton, daughter of Moses and Joahanna (Larkin) Newton (see History of the Town of Marlboro for the marriage of this Hannah to William) actually married John Bellows of Marlboro.
5) Latham (History of Marlboro) shows John Bellows marrying Hannah ? who died in 1719, aged 46 - placing her birth year 1673, the same year Hannah Newton was born.
6) John Bellows and Hannah (?) (see Latham) named one of their children Moses, possibly after his grandfather, Moses Newton.
7) The History of Marlboro links the Newtons and Bellows in a number of instances, most notably assigning the Newtons to the Bellows garison in times of trouble - possibly indicating a family link.
8) Lastly (and only a weak indicator), the connection between the Bellows and Newtons continues as John and Hannah's daughter Hepzibah married Edward Larkin, probably a close relative through Moses Newton's wife, Johannah Larkin.
If my assumptions are correct, this would make the first three children of William Orcutt (younger) children of his wife Jane and the last 6 children arriving via his second wife Hannah (Smith) Orcutt.
I would appreciate any further insight anyone might have (along with possible sources for any information given and/or reasoning behind the assumption). Thanks for reading this far.
Having said this, I still have my doubts about the validity of this marriage. I wil try to summarize my evidence/doubts and hope that someone can dissuade me from doubting the marriage.
1) Marlboro is over 50 miles from Bridgewater. I find no evidence Moses Newton (Hannah's father) and the family lived other than Marlboro. Given the condition of roads and the need to travel on horseback, even the best of horses would take half a day to get to Marlboro and then half a day back - leaving little time for "courting" especially for a farmer who needed to tend his fields.
2) Bridgewater Epitaphs (by Latham) shows Hannah Orcutt, relict of William, died Oct. 7, 1751 at the age of 72 years - placing her birth year in 1679 - the same year Hannah Smith was born.
3) Hannah Newton was born 1673 (see above).
4) Various web sites (mostly undocumented) say that Hannah Newton, daughter of Moses and Joahanna (Larkin) Newton (see History of the Town of Marlboro for the marriage of this Hannah to William) actually married John Bellows of Marlboro.
5) Latham (History of Marlboro) shows John Bellows marrying Hannah ? who died in 1719, aged 46 - placing her birth year 1673, the same year Hannah Newton was born.
6) John Bellows and Hannah (?) (see Latham) named one of their children Moses, possibly after his grandfather, Moses Newton.
7) The History of Marlboro links the Newtons and Bellows in a number of instances, most notably assigning the Newtons to the Bellows garison in times of trouble - possibly indicating a family link.
8) Lastly (and only a weak indicator), the connection between the Bellows and Newtons continues as John and Hannah's daughter Hepzibah married Edward Larkin, probably a close relative through Moses Newton's wife, Johannah Larkin.
If my assumptions are correct, this would make the first three children of William Orcutt (younger) children of his wife Jane and the last 6 children arriving via his second wife Hannah (Smith) Orcutt.
I would appreciate any further insight anyone might have (along with possible sources for any information given and/or reasoning behind the assumption). Thanks for reading this far.