Let me
introduce you to my (ours?) 7th great grandmother: Mary Fisher. Mary
was born on August 29, 1731, which makes it very fitting that I should write
about her this month. In researching Mary, I found documents for a Mary with
the same parents around the same time period of her birth. Once I was able to
suss it out a little more, I came to the conclusion that she must have had an
older sister, with the same name that died shortly before “my” Mary was born.
My 8th
great aunt was bon on December 29, 1726 in Dedham, Norfolk, Massachusetts, and
was baptized on January 10th, 1727 (the record says 1726-7, but
since she was born at the end of 1726, it must be 1727). The record states she
was baptized “in private ye child being apprehended to be nigh its end”. She
died February 10, 1730 in Dedham.
Searching
further, I found records on americanancestors.org that appear to be siblings of
the two Marys:
·
Eleazer,
born January 3, 1726, Dedham, Norfolk, MA
·
Ebenezer,
born January 28, 1732-3, Dedham, Norfolk, MA
The records
for Mary and her siblings reveal their parents’ names: Eleazer/Eliezer and Mary
Fisher. a record of marriage in the database Boston, MA: Marriages, 1700-1809
(americanancestors.org) provides the following information: “OUT-OF-TOWN-MARRIAGES.
…Eleazer Fisher & Mary Penniman. (Married by) Mr. Joseph Marsh (Location) Brantrey,
Nov. 19, 1724.” I believe Brantrey is a misspelling of Braintree. I have seen
it on other early records for Suffolk County, which Braintree was a part of
until the formation of Norfolk in 1793. Assuming Brantrey is Braintree, the
location of their marriage still doesn’t put them in the same location as their
children’s births so it’s difficult to say that this marriage record is a match
for our Eleazer and Mary. Back to researching... I found a birth record for
Eleazer in the vital records for Dedham: “Eleazer, the son of Eleazer &
Mary Fisher, was born September the 29th, 1699.” Although it is
great to have record of his birth, it still doesn’t connect us to Braintree. I
was unsuccessful in trying to find a record of birth for Mary Penniman,
however, there were multiple records for Pennimans in Braintree. So, this is
our possible connection to Boston, and why Eleazer and Mary were married there.
Hopefully further research will confirm or correct this information, but what
we do know is that Mary’s parents’ names are Eleazer and Mary Fisher.
According to
one of the SAR Applications, Mary married Daniel Robbins on May 1, 1751,
however, according to two separate transcribed records by the New England
Historic Genealogical Society (americanancestors.org), Mary and Daniel were
married May 7, 1751 in Walpole, Norfork (misspelling of Norfolk?),
Massachusetts. There is also a handwritten document of “Intentions of Marriage
Entred” that states, “Daniel Robins of Walpole and Mary Fisher of Dedham, Jan.
23d 1750/51”, also in the americanancestors.org database.
Mary Fisher
and Daniel Robbins daughter, Mary, is my 6th great grandmother. She
was born February 2, 1752 in Norton, Massachusetts, married Isaac Marshall May
6, 1772 in Walpole, “Norfork” and died January 7, 1817.
While
searching through the databases at americanancestors.org there was a list of
births in Walpole, Norfolk, Massachusetts. This list contained the following
entries, all very likely siblings of Mary Robbins:
·
“Hanah,
d. Daniel and Mary, Dec. 15, 1754.”
·
“Daniel,
s. Daniel and Mary, Feb. 27, 1757.”
·
“Asa,
s. Daniel and Mary, May 5, 1759.”
·
“Azube,
d. Daniel and Mary, Apr. 7, 1761.”
·
“Kezia,
d. Daniel and Mary, Mar. 30, 1766.”
·
“Mehitable,
d. Daniel and Mary, Nov. 19, 1768.”
·
“Eleazer,
s. Daniel and w., Jul. 16, 1771.”
Unfortunately,
Eleazer’s record doesn’t include his mother’s name. However, since her father’s
name is Eleazer, I wonder if this is a correct match for being her son, named
after her father. At this point, I can’t confirm this theory, but he is in the
right location at the right time to be a match. As well, there are no other
entries for children of a Daniel on this record of Walpole Births besides the
ones I’ve listed above. Therefore, it is likely “my” Daniel is the only one in
Walpole at this time and therefore Eleazer would be his son. As well, according
to the gravestone for Daniel and Mary, located in Lakeview Cemetery, Kennebec
County, Maine (see last month’s post), she didn’t die until 1804, therefore,
Daniel’s wife on Eleazer’s record of birth in 1771 would be Mary Fisher.
In comparing
the SAR membership applications to records I’ve found on americanancestors.org
and findagrave.com, there are some discrepancies that I will have to look into
further. For example, SAR applications have Mary’s date of death as February
25, 1805, and Daniel’s date of death as March 4, 1804, however, in a photo of
their gravestone that a user on ancestry.ca uploaded to their tree, it has Mary’s
year of death as 1804 and Daniel’s year of death as 1803.
It also has differences in Daniel’s lineage. I will definitely look into this and hopefully find some clarity.
 |
The photo was taken by M Shearer at Lakeview Cemetery,
Kennebec County, Maine on June 24, 2011.
|
It also has differences in Daniel’s lineage. I will definitely look into this and hopefully find some clarity.
In the
meantime, happy hunting, fellow gene geeks!
SOURCES:
·
Boston,
MA: Marriages, 1700-1809, Vol: 1, p.309 (americanancestors.org)
·
Photo
by M Shearer, Lakeview Cemetery, Kennebec County, Maine (ancestry.ca)
·
Massachusetts:
Compiled Marriages, 1633-1850 (americanancestors.org)
·
Massachusetts:
Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 (americanancestors.org)
·
Massachusetts:
Vital Records, 1620-1850, Vol: Dedham – V1&2, p.59 (americanancestors.org)
·
Massachusetts:
Vital Records, 1620-1850, Vol: Dedham Church Records, pp.41,46
(americanancestors.org)
·
Massachusetts:
Vital Records, 1620-1850, Vol: Walpole-V1, p.71 (americanancestors.org)
·
Sons
of the American Revolution Membership Applications (#60475 & #28324),
americanancestors.org (americanancestors.org)
