Friday, April 9, 2021

52 Ancestors - Week 377: #588 Samuel Fletcher (1652-1723) of Chelmsford, Massachusetts

 Samuel Fletcher (1652-1723) is #588 on my Ahnentafel List, my 7th great-grandfather, who married #589 Hannah Wheeler (1647-1697) on 5 July 1673 (?) in Chelmsford, Middlesex County,  Massachusetts.

I am descended through:

*  their son #294 Samuel Fletcher (1684-1749) who married #295 Hannah --?-- (1688-1759) in 1712. 
*  their daughter #147 Elizabeth Fletcher (1720-1761) who married #146 Jonathan Keyes (1722-1781)  in 1746.
*  their daughter #73 Elizabeth Keyes (1759-1793) who married #72 Zachariah Hildreth (1754-1829) in 1777.
*  their son #36 Zachariah Hildreth (1783-1857) who married  #37 Hannah Sawtell (1789-1857)  in 1810.
*  their son #18 Edward Hildreth (1831-1899) who married #19 Sophia Newton (1834-1923) in 1852.
*  their daughter #9 Hattie Louisa Hildreth (1857-1920) who married  #8 Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922) 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:                  Samuel Fletcher[1–9]    

*  Sex:                     Male    

*  Father:                William Fletcher (1618-1677)    
*  Mother:              Lydia --?--   (1622-1704)  
2)  INDIVIDUAL EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
 
*  Birth:                  about 1652, Chelmsford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[3]    

*  Baptism:             1 February 1656/7 (about age 4), Chelmsford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[3]    

*  Will:                    will written, 18 March 1713 (about age 61), Chelmsford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[9]    

*  Death:                before 18 December 1723 (before about age 71), widow's petition; Chelmsford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[9]    

*  Probate:             20 June 1726 (about age 74), will not allowed; Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[9]  
 
3)  SHARED EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
 
*  Spouse 1:           Hannah Wheeler (1647-1697)
*  Marriage 1:        5 July 1673 (?) (about age 21) Chelmsford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[4]     
*  Child 1:             William Fletcher (1673-1753)
*  Child 2:             Hannah Fletcher (1676-1759)
*  Child 3:             Elizabeth Fletcher (1679-1715)
*  Child 4:             Samuel Fletcher (1683-1683)
*  Child 5:             Samuel Fletcher (1684-1749)
*  Child 6:             Mary Fletcher (1686-1768)
*  Child 7:             Lydia Fletcher (1689-1766)
*  Child 8:             Susanna Fletcher (1692-1717)
*  Child 9:             Isaac Fletcher (1694-1772)
*  Child 10:           Sarah Fletcher (1696- )

*  Spouse 2:          Sarah Merriam (1654-1703)
*  Marriage 2:       7 June 1699 (about age 47) Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[5–6]

*  Spouse 3:          Elizabeth Proctor (1656-1744)
*  Marriage 3:      20 December 1705 (about age 53), Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[7–8]   
4)  NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):  

The family and biography of the descendants of Robert Fletcher has been extensively researched by:

a)  Edward H. Fletcher, "The Descendants of Robert Fletcher of Concord, Mass", published by Rand, Avery & Co., Boston in 1881[1].  However, this family sketch for Samuel Fletcher is relatively poor. 

b) Winifred Lovering Holman, "Robert Fletcher of Concord, Mass. Bay, 1637," 1930[2].

Samuel Fletcher was born in about 1652 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, the son of William and Lydia (--?--) (Bates) Fletcher.  He was baptized on 1 February 1656/7 in the Chelmsford church which is included in the Chelmsford vital record book, which indicates he was about age 4 at the time of his baptism[3].

He married Hannah Wheeler, daughter of George and Katherine (Pin) Wheeler, on 5 July 1673 (?) in Chelsmford[4].  They had ten children, all recorded in Chelmsford vital records:

* William Fletcher (1673-1753), married 1716 Mary Foster (1686-1768).
*  Hannah Fletcher (1676-1759), married 1697 Ebenezer Wright (1663-1730).
*  Elizabeth Fletcher (1679-1715), married 1701 Benjamin Butterfield (1679-1715).
*  Samuel Fletcher (1683-1683).
*  Samuel Fletcher (1684-1749), married 1712 Hannah --?-- (1689-1759).
*  Mary Fletcher (1686-1768), married 1715 Jonathan Wheeler (1683-1739.
*  Lydia Fletcher (1689-1766), married 1711 Peletiah Adams (1682-1746).
*  Susanna Fletcher (1692-1717), married 1715 Joseph Chamberlain (1687-1755).
*  Isaac Fletcher (1694-1772), married 1716 Persis Shattuck (1695-1747).
*  Sarah Fletcher (1696-????).

Hannah (Wheeler) Fletcher died on 11 December 1697 in Chelmsford.

Samuel Fletcher married, second, to Sarah (Merriam) Ball (1654-1703), widow of Eleazer Ball (1651-1698), in Concord, Massachusetts[5-6].  They had no children.

After Sarah died in 1703, Samuel Fletcher married, third, to Elizabeth Proctor (1656-1744) on 20 December 1705 in Concord, Massachusetts[7-8].  They had no children. 

Samuel Fletcher of Chelmsford wrote a will on 18 March 1713, which named his eldest son, William Fletcher, as the executor[9].  

Samuel Fletcher died before 18 December 1723, when his widow, Elizabeth, brought the will to the Middlesex County, Massachusetts probate court requesting her thirds and noting that no action had been taken[9].  

When two of the three witnesses under oath on 7 June 1726 stated that they were unsure that the testator was not of sound mind at the time of writing the will, the will was not allowed on 20 June 1726 by the Probate Court judge[9].

The will mentions wife Elizabeth, children Samuel Fletcher, Mary Wheeler, Sarah Fletcher, Susanna Fletcher, Isaac Fletcher, Hannah Wright, Elizabeth Butterfield, Lydia Adams, and William Fletcher (executor), and witnesses Jonathan Barrit, Joshua Fletcher, and Joseph Fletcher[9].

The probate file refers to those present at the hearings on 7 June 1726: Jonathan Wheeler who had married Samuel's daughter Mary, Ebenezer Wright, Sira Butterfield, Sarah Fletcher, Pelatiah Adams, Joseph Chamberlain, Isaac Fletcher, William Fletcher, Samuel Fletcher, and the witnesses[9].

An inventory of the personal property sold, the debts collected, and the debts owed was taken in 1726 but no appraisal of the real or personal property was made.  There is no distribution of the estate included in the probate file[9].
   
5)  SOURCES

1. Edward H. Fletcher, The Descendants of Robert Fletcher of Concord Mass. (Boston, Mass. :  Rand, Avery & Co.,  1881), page 30, #14 Samuel Fletcher family sketch.

2. Winifred Lovering Holman, Robert Fletcher of Concord, Mass. Bay, 1637: a study of his life and family from the New England records, typescript (1930, 93 leaves); accessed on FHL Microfilm 0015506 Item 11; citing typescript at the New Hampshire Historical Society,  Concord, New Hampshire., Samuel Fletcher family sketch.

3. Town of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Vital Records of Chelmsford, Massachusetts to the Year 1850 (Salem, Mass. : The Essex Institute, 1914), Births, page 66, Samuel Fletcher baptism entry, aged about 4 years.

4. Town of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Vital Records of Chelmsford, Massachusetts to the Year 1850, page 344, Samuel Fletcher and Hannah Wheeler entry, 5 July 1673 (?).

5. George Tolman (compiler), Concord, Massachusetts Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1635-1850 (Concord, Mass. : Committee on Printing, 1894), page 50, Samuel Fletcher and Sarah Ball marriage entry, 7 June 1699.

6. Town of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Vital Records of Chelmsford, Massachusetts to the Year 1850, Marriages, page 231, Samuel Fletcher and Sarah Ball entry, 7 June 1699 at Concord.

7. George Tolman (compiler), Concord, Massachusetts Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1635-1850, page 64, Samuel Fletcher and Elizabeth Procter, both of Chelmsford, marriage entry, 20 December 1705.

8. Town of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Vital Records of Chelmsford, Massachusetts to the Year 1850, Marriages, page 231, Samuel Fletcher and Elizabeth Proctor, 20 December 1705 at Concord.

9. "Middlesex County, Mass.: Probate Papers, 1648-1871," digital images, American Ancestors (http://www.AmericanAncestors.org : accessed 3 May 2017), Probate Packet #7,920, Samuel Fletcher of Chelmsford, 1723.
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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 2021 for an eighth year to 416 Ancestors in 416 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.

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2021/04/52-ancestors-week-377-588-samuel.html

Copyright (c) 2021, Randall J. Seaver

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