Friday, May 29, 2020

52 Ancestors - Week 332: #543 Hannah (Sanderson) Stearns (1689-1770) of Waltham, Massachusetts

Hannah Sanderson (1689-1770) is number 543 on my Ahnentafel List, my 7th great-grandmother, who married #542 George Stearns (1688-1760) in 1712 in Watertown, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.

I am descended through:

*  their daughter #271 Abigail Stearns (1715-1796)  who married #270 Samuel Peirce (1712-1772)  in 1739.
*  their daughter #135 Abigail Peirce (1750-1776) who married  #134 Jeremiah Knowlton (1745-1785)  in 1771.
*  their daughter #67 Abigail Knowlton (1774-1855) who married #66 Nathan Gates (1767-1830)  in 1790.
*  their daughter, #33 Abigail Gates (1797-1867) who married  #32 Benjamin Seaver (1791-1825)  in 1817.
*  their son #16 Isaac Seaver (1823-1901) who married #17 Lucretia Townsend Smith (1828-1884) in 1851.
*  their son #8 Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922) who married #9 Hattie Louisa Hildreth (1857-1920) in 1874.
*  their son #4 Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942) who married #5 Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962) in 1900.
*  their son #2 Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983) who married #3 Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002)  in 1942.
*  their son #1 Randall Jeffrey Seaver (1943-living)

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1)  PERSON (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
 

*  Name:                           Hannah Sanderson[1–2]    
 *  Alternate Name:          Hannah Saunders[3]    
*  Alternate Name:           Hannah Stearns[4,7]  

*  Sex:                               Female    

*  Father:                          Deacon Jonathan Sanderson (1646-1735)    
*  Mother:                        Abiah Bartlett (1651-1723)  
 
2)  INDIVIDUAL EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

*  Birth:                            31 May 1689, Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[1,3]    

*  Distribution:                 30 September 1735 (age 46), father's will proved; Waltham, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[4]
   
*  Distribution:                14 July 1760 (age 71), husband's will proved; Waltham, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[5]    

*  Death:                          21 May 1770 (age 80), Waltham, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[6–7]  

3)  SHARED EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

*  Spouse 1:               George Stearns (1688-1760)    
*  Marriage 1:            23 October 1712 (about age 23), Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[2,6]    

*  Child 1:                 Jonathan Stearns (1713-1758)    
*  Child 2:                 Abigail Stearns (1715-1796)    
*  Child 3:                 Judith Stearns (1715-1750)    
*  Child 4:                 David Stearns (1717-1786)    
*  Child 5:                 Hannah Stearns (1719-    )    
*  Child 6:                 Lydia Stearns (1724-1752)    
*  Child 7:                 John Stearns (1727-    )    
*  Child 8:                 Daniel Stearns (1729-1779)  

4)  NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):  

The biography and family of Jonathan Sanderson were ably covered by Page Sanderson in "Edward Sanderson of Watertown, Mass.'[1] 

Hannah "Saunders" was born 31 May 1689 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the 8th child of Jonathan and Abiah (Bartlett) Saunders[1,3].  The name in every other record is Sanderson.  The birth record in the town vital record book says:
"[Saunders] Hannah, d. of Jonathan and Abiah, May 31, 1689." 
On 23 October 1712, Hannah Sanderson married George Stearns in Watertown[1-2,6].  George was the son of John and Judith (Lawrence) Stearns of Watertown.

The marriage record says:
"George Stearns of Cambridge Farms and Hannah Sanderson of Watertown were Joyned in Marriage the 23'd of October 1712 by M'r Samuel Angier Minister in Watertown.
George and Hannah (Sanderson) Stearns had eight children, the first recorded in Watertown, the next two recorded in Lexington, and the last five recorded in Waltham:

*  Jonathan Stearns (1713-1758), married 1737 to Beulah Chadwick (1719-1804) in Watertown.
*  Abigail Stearns (1715-1796), married 1739 to Samuel Peirce (1712-1772) in Waltham.
*  Judith Stearns (1715-1750), married 1738 to Jonathan Hammond (1717-1776) in Waltham.
*  David Stearns (1717-1786), married (1) 1741 Bethia Stimpson (1723-1760) in Weston, and married (2) 1761 Dorothy Fulham (1740-1792) in Weston.
*  Hannah Stearns (1719-????), married 1747 John Hagar (1726-1804) in Waltham.
*  Lydia Stearns (1724-1752), married 1746 to Samuel Fuller (1724-1750) in Waltham.
*  John Stearns (1727-????).
*  Daniel Stearns (1729-1779), married 1755 to Hannah Fuller (1731-1797) in Waltham. 

By 1717, the George Stearns family had moved from Lexington to Waltham, Massachusetts[6]

Hannah's father, Jonathan Sanderson, died on 3 September 1735, having written his will in 1728.  The will was proved 30 September 1735[4].  He provided for each of his children.  Daughter Hannah Stearns received:
"Item.  I give unto my Daughter Hannah Stearns and to her heirs and assigns for Ever, That part of a dividend lott Which I bought of Sarah Hager Called Coolledges Dividend, Which with what I gave her at Marriage is her full Portion."
George Stearns died on 26 June 1760 in Waltham, having written his will on 28 February 1760, which was proved on 14 July 1760.  In the will, George left to his wife, Hannah:
"Imps.  I Give to my Beloved wife y'e Improvemnt of one Third part of all my Estate During her natural Life.  My Exectr to bury me & my wife in a Decent & Christian manner."
Hannah Stearns died 21 May 1770 in Waltham, Massachusetts[7].  The death record in the Waltham town records book says"
"[Stearns] Hannah, wid. George, May 21, 1770, a. 80."
There is no apparent burial record, and there is no probate record in Middlesex County Probate Court records.
 
SOURCES:

1. Page Sanderson, "Edward Sanderson of Watertown, Mass." New England Historic Genealogical Register, New England Historical and Genealogical Society,Volume 127, number 2 (July 1973), pages 181-190, page 182, #2, Jonathan Sanderson family sketch.

2. "Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988," indexed database and digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com), Watertown > "Birth, Marriage and Death," image 204 of 3991, George Stearns and Hannah Sanderson marriage entry, 23 October 1712.

3. Thomas W. Baldwin (compiler), Vital Records of Cambridge, Massachusetts to the Year 1850 (Boston, Mass. : New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1915), Births, page 624, Hannah Saunders birth entry, 31 May 1689, parents Jonathan and Abiah Saunders.

4. "Middlesex County, MA: Probate Papers, 1648-1871," digital image, American Ancestors (http://www.AmericanAncestors.org : accessed 28 May 2020), Probate Packet 19,801, Jonathan Sandersonestate, of Waltham, 1735 (8 images).

5. "Middlesex County, MA: Probate Papers, 1648-1871," digital image, American Ancestors (http://www.AmericanAncestors.org : accessed 21 May 2020), Probate Packet #21,234, George Stearns estate, of Waltham, 1760.

6. Henry Bond, M.D.,  Family Memorials: Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts (Boston, Mass. : Little, Brown & Co., 1860), Volume 1, page 555, George Stearns family sketch.

7. Vital records of Waltham, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 (Boston, Mass. : New-England Historic Genealogical Society, 1904), Deaths, page 291, Hannah Stearns, widow of George, death entry, 21 May 1770, age 80.

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NOTE:  In 2014, Amy Johnson Crow suggested a weekly blog theme of "52 Ancestors" in her blog post  52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks on the No Story Too Small blog.  I have extended this theme in 2020 for a seventh year to 364 Ancestors in 364 Weeks.  The list of 52 Ancestors biographies from my great-grandparents to the 7th great-grandparents (in work) is in   https://www.geneamusings.com/p/ancestor-biographies.html.


Copyright (c) 2020, Randall J. Seaver

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