Friday, October 30, 2020

52 Ancestors - Week 354: #565 Mehitable (Knowles) Brown (1653-after 1721) of Eastham, Massachusetts

 Mehitable Knowles (1653-after 1721) is number 565 on my Ahnentafel List, my 7th great-grandmother, who married #564 George Brown (1652-1721)  in 1674 in Eastham, Barnstable County,  Massachusetts.

I am descended through:

*  their son #282 Samuel Brown (1686-1749) who married  #283 Ruth Young (1688-1768) in 1708.
*  their daughter #141 Mehitable Brown (1714-1758) who married  #140 Thomas Dill (1708-1761) in 1733.
*  their son #70 Thomas Dill (1755-1839) who married #71 Hannah Horton (1761-1797) in 1782.
*  their daughter  #35 Elizabeth Horton Dill (1791-1869) who married  #34 Alpheus Smith (1802-1840)  in 1826.
*  their daughter, #17 Lucretia Townsend Smith (1828-1884) who married #16 Isaac Seaver (1823-1901) 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:                    Mehitable Knowles[1-2]    
*  Alternate Name:    Mehetable Brown[3]  

*  Sex:                        Female    

*  Father:                   Richard Knowles (1614-1675)    
*  Mother:                 Ruth Bowers (1616-1686)  
 
2)  INDIVIDUAL EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
  
*  Birth:                    20 May 1653, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States[1-2]    

*  Distribution:         29 June 1721 (age 68), husband's will written; Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States[3]    

*  Death:                   after 29 June 1721 (after age 68), Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States    
   
3)  SHARED EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
 
 *  Spouse 1:             George Brown (1651-1721)    
*  Marriage 1:           about 1674 (about age 21), Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States[1-2]  
*  Child 1:                   James Brown (1675-    )    
*  Child 2:                   William Brown (1677-    )    
*  Child 3:                   George Brown (1679-1734)    
*  Child 4:                   Mary Brown (1683-1716)    
*  Child 5:                   Mehitable Brown (1684-    )    
*  Child 6:                   Samuel Brown (1686-1749)    
*  Child 7:                   Mercy Brown (1690-1754)    
*  Child 8:                   Joshua Brown (1692-    )  
 
4)  NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):  
 
The New England Historic Genealogical Record sketch for Mehitable Knowles says[1]:
"[KNOWLES] MEHITABLE, b., probably at Eastham, 20 May 1653; d. at Eastham after 1721; m. GEORGE BROWN of Eastham, who in his will, dated 29 June 1721 and proved 3 Aug. 1721, left his property to be divided 'among all my children,' without naming them, although incidentally he mentioned four of them.  Almost two-thirds of the inventory of his estate consisted of a debt due from Joshua Brown.  Three town grants, one to George Brown and two to Joshua Brown, were laid out adjacent to each other.  Joshua Brown had a son Knowles Brown.  These are the reasons for identifying Mehitable Knowles with the wife of George Brown, who was named in his will."
Mehitable was born 20 May 1653, probably in Eastham, the daughter of mariner Richard and Ruth (Bower) Knowles[1].  

Mehitable Knowles married George Brown (1652-1721), son of William and Mary (Moorecock) Brown of Eastham,  in about 1674, probably in Eastham, Massachusetts[1-2],  They had four known children, and probably four others:

*  James Brown (1675-????), married 1704 Ruth Snow (1679-????).
*  William Brown (1677-????), married 1699 Susannah Harding (1676-????).
*  George Brown (1679-1735), married 1700 Elizabeth Mulford (1677-1744).
*  Mary Brown (1683-1716), married 1703 Nathaniel Mayo (1667-1716).
*  Mehitable Brown (1684-????), married 1715 John Hallett (1688-????).
*  Samuel Brown (1686-1749), married 1708 Ruth Young (1688-1768).
*  Mercy Brown (1690-1754), married 1711 John Walker (1696-1760).
*  Joshua Brown (1692-????), married 1723 Rebecca Rich (1701-????).

In his will dated 29 June 1721, George Brown of Eastham, Massachusetts bequeathed to his wife[3]:
"Item I Give unto my Loveing wife Mehetable All the Reminder of my whole Estate for her Supporte as long as shee Lives, and after her decease to be Equally Divided among all my sons and Daughters be it more or Less..."
It is not known when Mehitable (Knowles) Brown died, but it was certainly after her husband's will was written.  There are no known death or burial records for Mehitable, and she has no probate records in the Barnstable County probate court records.
5)  SOURCES
 
1. Charles Thornton Libby, "The Knowles Family of Eastham, Mass.," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 79, Number 3 (July 1925), pages 286-297; page 293, Mehitable Knowles sketch.

2. Frederick Johnson Simmons, A Few Descendants of William Brown of Eastham, Mass., Cape Cod (the author : n.p., 1883), 27 pages; accessed on FamilySearch Books (https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/), page 4, #2 George Brown sketch.

3. "Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991," indexed database with digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 December 2016), Barnstable County, "Probate Records, Vol. 4-5, 1721-1741," Volume 4, pages 9-11 (images 12-13 of 660), George Brown probate papers, 1721.

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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.


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