The Slovak Yankee

A Better Death Date for Samuel Story (Jr.) of Norwich, Conn.

Samuel Story wrote a will on 14 April 1735.  However, you need to read all the probate papers when you are doing genealogy.  The will was proved on 2 September 1747.  There are 28 receipts all dated in between 1747 and 1748 and the distribution of the estate was dated 14 November 1747.  This probably means that Samuel died closer to 1747 than 1735.

The two most recent Story genealogies rely too heavily on the date of the will.  Robert L. Pratt's The Descendants of William Story (2000), p. 22 says that he died before 1737.  It cites a letter from the Preston Conn. Historical Society, which is not acceptable genealogical evidence.  I wonder if someone mistook 1747 for 1737?  In any case, Betty Andrews Storey's Descendants of William Story and Sarah Foster (2004), p. 24 cites the same date.  In fact, that author merrily notes that she relied almost exclusively on Pratt's book, which makes one wonder why she published hers.  In any case, both books get Samuel's wife Mary's identity wrong as I wrote about already.  I actually contributed to Pratt's book and am given credit for the information on the family of this Samuel and Mary's daughter, another Mary, who married Joseph Elderkin, Jr. and moved to Nova Scotia.

Mary (Burnham) Story 1685-after 1748

I've been checking out various Burnham and Story genealogies lately.  None get the parentage of my ancestress Mary (Burnham) Story correct.  She was the daughter of Thomas^2-1 and Mary (Lawrence)  Burnham.  [START GRANDPA MODE] Back in the day, one used a unique genealogical tool called AGBI (American Genealogical & Biographical Index).  It is an immense set (hundreds of volumes) that indexed an amazing set of documents including the 1790 census, vital records, revolutionary war service papers, etc.  One thing they also indexed was the genealogical column in The Boston Evening Transcript.  In the December 12, 1927 issue, item #6418, it reads:

"What became of the Mary (3) Burnham, daughter of Lt. Thomas (2) [Thomas (1)] Burnham?  It would seem that she must be the Mary published Ipswich, 1710 to Samuel Story and later removed to Norwich, Conn.  Three of the sons of Lt. Thomas (2) Burnham settled or lived in Norwich at various times."

It seems only this person knew the truth.  And it also seems that only I have seen this newspaper item.  All the Story and Burnham genealogies published in the last 20 years (4!) all claim that she is the daughter of John^2-1.  It is true that Eleazer Burnham moved to Norwich and died there before 17 July 1744 when his will was proved.  Aaron Burnham lived there for a while before settling in Windham where he died on 18 August 1727.  Mary's father married as his second wife (and her second husband), Esther (Cogswell) Bishop.  Two of her sons by her first marriage settled in Norwich: Samuel and John Bishop.

Sadly Thomas² lived a long life and left no will or probate.   Also, Mary never named a child Thomas or Lydia.  So there is some doubt, but certainly this seems most likely.  We know that John² (Thomas¹) left a will dated 30 December 1703 in which he notes "his youngest daughter Mary not yet of age." (Essex Co. Probate 308:146).  So he has a Mary born after 1683.  John^2-1 also leaves a will dated 17 December 1708 (Essex Co. Probate 310:83-85) in which he notes "my three youngest daughters, Mary, Elizabeth, and Hannah Burnham, to get 30 pounds when they marry or come to age 21."   So he has a daughter named Mary born after 1688.  However, his widow, Sarah left her own will dated 20 December 1733 (Essex Co. Probate 327:28-30) in which she makes bequests to all her children, including Elizabeth Choate and Hannah Poole, but not Mary.  This probably indicates that Mary was dead, and we know Mary Story is alive and well on 11 October 1748 in Norwich, Conn. as she administered her husband's estate.  So we can eliminate John^2-1 pretty easily.  Lastly, there's James² (Thomas¹) who married a Mary.  In his will dated 27 June 1729 (Essex County Probate 319:223) he calls his daughter Mary Tuttle, identifying her as the Mary who married Charles Tuttle on 22 March 1703. 

The problem with the Burnham family of Ipswich is that no one has done the hard work to do the family correctly.  John¹ has two sons: John² and Josiah².  Josiah had three son: Ebenezer, Josiah and Jacob.  John had John, Thomas, Jonathan, and Robert.  Thomas¹ had Thomas, John, James, Joseph and Nathaniel.  Thomas^2-1 had Thomas, Moses, Aaron, Eleazer, and Daniel.  John² (Thomas¹) had John, Thomas, Joseph, Jacob, Jonathan, and David.  So you have an explosion of Johns and Thomases and others.  The only way to decipher them is through DEEDS.  But no one has done that yet.  You see you must look in three places for Ipswich 17th century deeds:  The Ipswich Deeds (they kept them on the town level--the only one in Massachusetts to do that); the Old Norfolk County Deeds, and lastly Essex County Deeds.  

Someday I'll just have to grit my teeth and plow through all those deeds and the court cases in order to figure out who's who.

Samuel Story, (Jr.) 1684-c.1747 of Norwich, Conn.

From his will, New London Probate #5193.  

Samuel Story c. 1647-1726 of Ipswich, Mass. and Norwich, Conn.

The signature from his will, New London Probate #5192.