"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." Jane Austen
In genealogical terms, it should be universally acknowledged that a woman who lived before 1860 and was widowed by the age of 60, got re-married. I was recently adding some details to my Dexter ancestors who lived in Rochester, Mass. Benjamin Dexter (1700-1737) was the son of Benjamin and Sarah (Arnold) Dexter. He married Hannah Barrows, daughter of John and Hannah (Briggs) Barrows on 8 June 1721 at Rochester ["Vital Records of Rochester, Massachusetts to the Year 1850" (NEHGS, Boston, 1914, 2 vols.), II:108]. His estate was administered in December 1737 [Plymouth County Probate 7:355 and 381]. His six sons were all minors and guardianship for them appears in Plymouth Co. Probate 7:383-85. Benjamin's brother and administrator Josiah sold his homestead and 100 acres to John Briggs on 12 February 1739 (rec. 27 Aug 1740) [Plymouth County Deeds 33:174]. Normally 1/3 of the homestead was given to the widow. So what happened to the young Hannah (Barrows) Dexter?
Two women named Hannah Dexter were married in 1741 at Rochester. It seems ours is the one who married Hix Jenney on 10 December 1741. Hix was from Dartmouth, Mass. He re-married in 1767, which means Hannah was dead by then although there is no record of her death in Rochester or Dartmouth, Mass. Vital Records. One of Hix's brothers had married Ruth Barrows, Hannah's sister.
If you can't find what happened to a woman, don't automatically presume she died. It almost certain she remarried and left records under another name.
Posted by: |