Last month I shared my findings about Mary Fisher, my 7th
great grandmother. Once I was able to establish her identity, her record of
birth gave me the first clue to her parents’ identities. It reads, “Mary, ye
daughter of Eliezer & Mary Fisher, born Augt. 29, 1731.”
At first, I did a broad search for Eliezer. Finding multiple
hits for men with that name living in Massachusetts during this time frame I decided
to pare down my search to Dedham. I was comfortable doing this because I had
already found records revealing that Mary and her siblings were all born there.
Therefore, we know Eliezer and Mary Fisher resided in Dedham between 1725 and
1732.
I came across a record for a Sarah Fisher who was recommended
“into full communion” on May 2, 1742. It states she is the daughter of Captain
Eleazer Fisher. This would make her too young to be the daughter of Eleazer Junior,
but a possible daughter of my 8th great grandfather. If this is a
match, we find out two things: the family is still in Dedham in 1742, and
Eleazer is a Captain.
I then found a death record for Captain Eleazer Fisher. It
states that he died on November 4, 1745, about 46 years of age “soon after his
return from Cape Breton”. He was “buried at Boston, where he died.” Although
the death and burial took place in Boston, I found this information in the
Dedham Church Records, establishing a link for this Eleazer between Dedham and
Boston.
Based on his approximate age at death, Captain Eleazer
Fisher would have been born about 1699, and in the Dedham records there was a
birth recorded for an Eleazer Fisher, born September 29, 1699. He was the son
of Eleazer and Mary Fisher.
Knowing that my 8th great grandparents’ names are
Eliazer and Mary Fisher, I searched for records between 1600 and 1700 in
Dedham. I found a record of marriage for Eleazer Fisher and Mary Avery on
October 13, 1698. This fits well with a firstborn son bearing the same name as
his father being born just under a year after their marriage.
I then found a record of birth for Eliezer, the son of
Cornelius and Leah Fisher. He was born on July 8, 1663. When I found this
record I was super excited. It seemed like a perfect match (not to mention, the
family was well documented making this match a genealogist’s dream!). However,
when I jovially opened my tree on ancestry.ca to enter the information I
realized I had already entered Eleazer’s parents and they were NOT Cornelius
and Leah!
The SAR application states: Eleazer Fisher, b. Sept. 18,
1669, d. Feb. 6, 1722, m. Mary Avery (b. Aug. 21, 1674, d. Mar. 25, 1717) on
Oct 13, 1698; and that he is the son of Anthony Fisher, d. Feb. 13, 1670, m.
Johann Faxon (d. Oct. 16, 1694) on Sept. 7, 1647; and that he is the son of
Anthony Fisher, d. Apr. 18, 1671, m. Mary ---.
I had totally forgotten about this! Thankfully, I had made a
note of where I found the information. It was from a U.S. Sons of the American
Revolution Membership Application for Hugh Gaylord Fisher in 1941. Although
this is not a primary source, they don’t take these things lightly, and the
application had been approved. So, assuming their information is correct, I continued
searching and found another record. This one was for the birth of Eliezer
Fisher, son of Anthony and Johanna Fisher, born September 18, 1669.
Although I was very happy to have that settled, I was still
interested in how Anthony and Cornelius are related. It seems highly likely
that anyone with the Fisher surname at that time and in such a small area are
likely family. So, I continued to search. In the New England Historical Genealogical
Register there was a document titled English Ancestry of Joshua and Anthony
Fisher. It states that Anthony Fisher and Cornelius Fisher are brothers, and
that they had five other siblings: John, Daniel, Lydia, Leah and Nathaniel.
They were all born in England, and arrived in New England with their parents,
Anthony and Alice Fisher, by July 18, 1637 (first record of Anthony Fisher in
the colonies). An excellent find that opens up a new avenue to research! But I’ll
save that for another day.
Until next time, happy hunting, fellow gene geeks!
SOURCES:
· English Ancestry of Joshua and Anthony Fisher,
New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume: 151, pp.182, 183
(americanancestors.org)
· Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850, Volume:
Dedham – V1&2, pp.30, 59 (americanancestors.org)
· Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850, Volume:
Dedham Church Records, pp.89, 162 (americanancestors.org)
· New England Marriages to 1700, Volume: 1, p.545,
Torrey’s New England Marriages (americanancestors.org)
· U.S. Sons of the American Revolution Membership
Applications, 1889-1970, SAR Membership #58904 (ancestry.ca)
