THE WOMEN WHO MARRIED THE ORCUTT MEN
(compiled by Judy Orcutt Holy)
Mary Gardiner
Emerson Orcutt (3) (Thomas 2, William 1), continued the pattern of Orcutt men marrying into families which had come to the New World before their own ancestor had arrived. On April 3, 1735, he married Mary Gardiner, daughter of John and Rebecca (Ripley) Gardiner of Hingham (FSO, p. 44, cites marriage recorded Cohasset, Mass., and states that Jas. M. Craft’s book of Hingham, Mass. gives her name as Mary Garnett but marriage and birth record gives her parents’ names as John and Rebecca Gardiner).
Background to their marriage:
Emerson Orcutt (3) was born August 1, 1713 (according to FSO, date could be April instead of August, as the record is illegible) as fourth child and second son of Thomas Orcutt (2) and Jane Emerson Orcutt. According to George and Elizabeth Davenport’s The Genealogies of the Families of Cohasset, Massachusetts, 1909, reprinted 1984, p. 322, the births of all six of Thomas and Jane Orcutt’s children took place in the second precinct of Hingham, which later (1770) became separate as Cohasset. Emerson (3) appears to have lived in the Cohasset area up to the time of their 1735 marriage, after which he and Mary moved to Scituate, and later to Abington, Massachusetts.
Mary Gardiner (Gardner, Garner, Garnet)’s background:
What is currently known (3/2002) of the Gardiner/Ripley families comes in outline from family trees gleaned from various sources, which will be related in full below. According to George Lincoln’s History of the Town of Hingham, Massachusetts, vol. II, The Genealogies, pp. 244-245, John Gardner (3) was born in Hingham January 4, 1683/84. He married Rebecca ____, who survived him and married secondly, Samuel Whiton, widower, on November 11, 1747. John Gardner had died April 20, 1742, aged 58 years. He resided at “Liberty Plain,” South Hingham.
Children of John Gardner (3) and Rebecca, all b. in Hingham, were: 1. Rebecca, March 2, 1711/12 m. Apr. 21, 1736 Benjamin Dunbar, widr; 2. Susanna, Dec. 2, 1714 m. Jan 28, 1734/35 Jonathan Brown; 3. Mary, Jan. 19, 1717/18 m. Apr. 3, 1735 Emerson Orcutt; 4. John, Feb. 5,1719/20; 5. Rachel, Jan. 3, 1723/24 m. Aug, 1742, Joshua Stodder; 6. Amos, May 8, 1726 m. Aug. 13, 1747 Mary Jones of Ab’n; 7. Alice, Feb. 15, 1729/30 m. Feb. 2, 1748/49 Daniel Gardner of Scit. [a 4th cousin]; 8. Grace, Dec. 31, 1732; 9. Mercy, Jan. 29, 1735/36.
From the same source, p. 243, John Gardiner (3)’s father was John Gardner (2), baptized in Hingham July 17, 1652 [JOH: this would likely have been performed by the Rev. Peter Hobart;
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see prior chapter 2 on Jane Emerson, p. 20]. He married Feb. 25, 1682/83 Mary Stowell, dau. of
Samuel and Mary (Farrow) Stowell. She was bt. in Hingham Oct. 16, 1653, and d. 22 Oct. 1714,
age 61 years. He d. 16 Dec. 1700, age 48 yrs. Resided at “Liberty Plain,” South Hingham.
Their children, all b. in Hingham: 1. John 2, Jan. 4, 1683/84; 2. Mary 2, Aug. 3, 1686, d. 4 Dec. 1715; 3. Ruth 2, Feb. 12, 1688/89, m. May 31, 1722 Amos Berry of Weymouth; 4. Elizabeth 2, Oct. 24, 1691; 5. Hannah 2, May 12, 1694, m. Dec. 16, 1731 Daniel Caryl or Carrel; 6. Remember 2, Sept. 25, 1697.
John Gardiner (2)’s father, similarly, was John Gardiner (1). According to Lincoln, pp. 242-243, John Gardner came to Hingham about 1650, and in 1656 had land granted to him in the south part of the town. Whether he was a connection of the early Garners, or Gardners, of Boston is uncertain, as but little information has come down to us relating to his early history.
However, according to Charles Henry Pope, The Pioneers of Massachusetts, p. 181, there is the following account which links to this earliest John (Gardner, Gardiner, Gardener, Gearner) in Hingham:
“John, Plymouth, servant to Kenelm Winslow, was transferred to George Kenrick in 1635. Propr. 2 Nov. 1640. Settled at Hingham. Propr. 1656. Wife Mary; ch. John bapt. at H. July 17, 1652, Francis bapt. March 31, 1653, Mary bapt. Nov. 19, 1654, (m. Nathan Farrow,) Samuel bapt. March 23, 1655/56, Deborah bapt. July 5, 1657, James bapt. Feb. 4, 1659/60, Stephen bapt. Aug. 14, 1662, Thomas bapt. June 5, 1664, Benjamin bapt. April 7, 1666, Christian bapt. June 3, 1668 (m. Joseph Dunbar.) He d. 24 Nov. 1668. Inv. filed 28 April, 1669.”
Pope’s list of children and their baptismal dates are identical with that of Lincoln, the only difference being added information from Lincoln regarding marriages of the children of John 1.
The information in Pope’s account about Plymouth and John 1’s apparent indenture periods and owning of land in Plymouth prior to becoming a proprietor in Hingham may bear potential for further research on him. From Pope’s account, he appears to have arrived in Massachusetts perhaps even prior to 1635, but no later than that date. If it was prior, then the Gardiner family would be the earliest of the families connected by marriage with the Orcutts to settle in New England.
Possible corroboration for Pope’s account of this Plymouth episode comes in Eugene Aubrey Stratton’s Plymouth Colony, Its History and People 1620-1691, 1986, p. 376: “On 22 February 1635/36 John Gardiner, a servant of Kenelm Winslow, had the rest of his time turned over to George Kenrick (PCR 1:37).” Kenelm Winslow, a brother of the Edward Winslow who became governor of Plymouth Colony, arrived at Plymouth before 1 January 1632/33 when he became a freeman (PCR 1:5). Edward Winslow [and thus Kenelm Winslow as his brother] was son of Edward and Magdalene (Oliver) Winslow of Droitwich, Worcestershire, England. The first
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Edward was a prosperous salt merchant, son of Kenelm Winslow, “yeoman.” His son the second
Edward went to Leiden where he became associated with William Brewster in the printing business. He was a principal diplomat and trade negotiator, Assistant, and governor in Plymouth. Stratton’s account of the Winslow/Kendrick agreement is as follows (p. 182): “Kenelm Winslow’s servant, John Gardiner, by the agreement of all concerned, was turned over on 22 February 1635/36 to George Kendrick, and Kendrick was to assume Winslow’s obligations to Gardiner, except that Gardiner, in return for an extra six bushels of corn at the end of his term, was willing to free Kendrick of being obligated to teach him the trade of joinery.” (Stratton cited PCR 1:37 for this statement.) Kenelm Winslow is described in other references as “joyner.” Joinery is the early term for furniture carpentry. This stipulation suggests that John Gardiner could have functioned as an apprentice to Winslow, who also had Samuel Jenny apprenticed to him for four years on 6 January 1633/34 (Stratton, p. 376, citing as source PCR 2:176.) George Kenrick, to whom John Gardiner’s service was turned over, is named to a group charged in March 1636/37 to study the feasibility of moving the town of Plymouth (Stratton, p. 76).
About George Kenrick (Kendrick, Kererick, Kinrick) Pope (p.266) says the following: “George, came in the ship with Rev. Richard Mather from Bristol, Eng., May 23, 1635. Settled at Scituate; yeoman, took John Gardiner as an apprentice 22 Feb. 1635-6. Adm. chh. with wife April 9, 1637. Rem. To Barnstable, then to Boston. Volunteer for the Pequot War 1637. Town officer 1640.” (p. 266) Did John Gardiner go on to Scituate and then Boston with Kenrick?
An Internet pedigree chart says John 1 Garnet (Gardner) was b. 1624 in Plymouth. That pedigree states that this John 1 married on 10 April 1651 in Boston Mary Arnold (Arnald), b. abt. 1630 in Boston, d. 9 Oct. 1710 in Hingham. [JOH: However, this 1624 birthdate seems unlikely; there are no Plymouth records supporting such a birth there just 4 years after the arrival of the Mayflower. Nor were there any Gardners living in Plymouth that early – or anyone with the cognate names – who would have been parents. The only Gardiner on the Mayflower was a Richard Gardiner, unmarried, a seaman who returned to England and did not remain in Plymouth. A John Gardiner from another Gardiner line was born in 1624, likely confused here.]
According to Lincoln, pp. 242-243, John 1's wife Mary survived him and married second, June 18, 1669, Nathaniel Chubbuck. The inventory of John 1's estate was appraised by John Tower and John Ripley, 28 Apr. 1669, at 44 pounds, 11 shillings, and included “the Goats that have been sold to pay debt and maintain the family.” Wife Mary was administratrix.
Lincoln adds to Pope’s information on John 1 and Mary’s children above, that Francis 2 married Joanna, daughter of Samuel May of Roxbury on Jan. 5, 1680/81; James 2 married Elizabeth Ward, daughter of Henry and Remember (Farrow) Ward on June 18, 1685 [JOH note: this may be a sister to Frances Ward who married Andrew 2 Orcutt of Weymouth; she and James 2 would be great aunt and great uncle to Mary Gardiner]; Stephen 2 married on Dec. 22, 1687 Sarah Warren, daughter of John and Deborah (Wilson) Warren of Boston; Thomas 2 married Dec. 17, 1705, Judith Tower; Benjamin 2 married Jan. 13, 1695/96 Sarah, daughter of Robert and Rose Dunbar; and Mary 2 married Nathan Farrow on Dec. 5, 1683.
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That south Hingham section where John 1 settled later is called “Liberty Plain.” and is the residence given also for 5 of his 7 sons: John 2, Francis 2, James 2, Stephen 2, Benjamin 2, as well as grandsons, among them John 3, father of our Mary Gardiner who married Emerson Orcutt 3. So our Mary probably grew up there. According to a current (1995) map of Hingham,
it appears that south Hingham would be in the direction of Cole Corner. Cohasset is about 4 miles east of Hingham. [JOH has Hingham maps from 1878, showing that Hingham Centre is south of the head of Hingham Harbour, whereas the current location for Hingham is somewhat southwest of the harbor area. It is not yet clear to the writer whether “Liberty Plain” was part of Hingham Centre, or yet south of that.]
As mentioned before, the Rev. Peter Hobart was first pastor of the Hingham church, from 1635 until his death in 1678, thus until that date baptisms and marriages in Hingham were likely performed by him [JOH: there is some question about who performed marriages in the early colonial period. At least one document states that only magistrates were to perform marriages. However, this may have been because many early communities did not yet have pastors]. He was followed by the Rev. John Norton, 1678-1716. The first meeting-house in Hingham was built in 1635, surrounded by a palisade erected in 1645 to “prevent any danger that may come into this town by any assault of the Indians” (from Francis H. Lincoln’s Ecclesiastical History of Hingham, available on the Internet at http://genweb.net/~blackwell/ma/hingham/ecclhist.html). This building was used for 45 years, until 1680. During the Rev. Norton’s pastorate, the second meeting house was completed in 1681. In 1717 the famous Rev. Ebenezer Gay became third pastor of the Hingham church (he was ordained June 11, 1717 so may have baptized Mary Gardiner b. Jan. 19, 1717/18; the Rev. John Norton had died in 1716 and the church was without a settled minister for twenty months) and served until his death in 1787 (see prior Jane Emerson chapter, p. 17, for a sketch on him). However, it is unlikely that he performed the marriage of Mary Gardiner and Emerson Orcutt 3, since that 1735 marriage is recorded in Cohasset.
The Cohasset -- or East or Second Precinct -- church was formed around 1717, the area originally called Conohasset. However, also during Dr. Gay’s pastorate, yet another church was formed in the Hingham boundaries in 1742, called “Third” Church until Cohasset became established as a town separate from Hingham in 1770; thereafter it was styled the “Second Church.”
Francis H. Lincoln comments: “The second and third churches were not formed as separate organizations without the earnest protest of the parent church. Perhaps, like a fond mother, she could not bear the thought of trusting her children alone, separated from her protecting influence. But she could not restrain or control the independent determination of her children, and, in spite of all her opposition, they forced her to accede to their wishes.
“Undoubtedly this sentimental view had much influence, but our ancestors were in a great degree matter-of-fact people, and there was a practical side to this opposition to the foundation of new parishes, which had more weight than any sentiment. All real estate within the territorial limits of a parish was in those days taxable for the support of preaching. Much of the real estate lying within the limits of the proposed Conohasset and South Parishes was originally granted to
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residents of the more thickly settled portion of the town, and had been inherited or purchased by those who would still remain residents of the First parish; and naturally enough there was strong objection to being taxed for the support of preaching in parishes from which no direct benefit
would be derived.” (p. 24 of pages printed from web site)
It may be that the Gardiners, living in South Hingham, were affected in 1742 (when Mary was 25) by this creation of the “Third Church” and perhaps were not members. Is that why Mary and Emerson 3 married in Cohasset, the community where his family lived, in 1735? Normally, a woman would be married in the location of her own family if her parents were living, and Mary’s parents were both living in 1735.
Further research may shed light on the pre-Hingham origins of John Gardiner 1.
Mary Gardiner’s maternal line has been given extensively in a pedigree chart available on the internet. (FamilySearch Ancestral File v4.19, accessed through Familysearch.com by asking for Elijah Orcutt m. Prudance [sic] Hayden). Her mother’s name is confidently given there as Ripley, with the following background [Generation numbering in the following is added for clarification by JOH]:
Rebecca Ripley [4], b. 20 Nov. 1674 in Hingham, m. John Gardiner [3] 22 Nov. 1711 in Scituate [!]. [Note that Lincoln states that Rebecca survived John and married Nov. 11, 1747, Samuel Whiton, widower, John having died in 1742 aged 58.] No death date is given for Rebecca from this source.
Her father was Abraham Ripley [3] of Hingham, b. 1624 [probably in England, since Hingham didn’t begin to be settled until 1633], d. 11 Oct. 1683 in Hingham; married Jan. 2, 1659 Mary Farnsworth, b. 30 Mar. 1637 Hingham, Norfolk, England, d. after 11 Oct. 1683.
Abraham Ripley’s father is given as William Ripley (Repley) [2], b. 1600 England, d. 11 July 1656, Hingham, Suffolk, Massachusetts. He married Elizabeth ____, b. 1600 in England. Their 9 children: 1. Phebe Ripley 3, b. 1619 in Norfolk, England, d. 9 Oct. 1710, Plymouth, Mass.;
2. John Ripley 3, b. 1622 “Of Hingham, Plymouth, Mass.” [but Hingham wasn’t settled until 1633!], d. 3 Feb. 1684, Hingham, Mass.; 3. Abraham Ripley 3, b. 1624 “of Hingham” [should be England], d. 11 Oct. 1683, Hingham; 4. ____ 3, b. about 1626, Mass. [Hingham not yet settled]; 5. Mary Ripley 3, b. about 1628 “of Hingham”; 6. Ripley [??] 3, born about 1628, “of, Hingham, Norfolk, England” [this suggests error for John 3 b. Mass.]; 7. Dau. Ripley 3, b. About 1628 Hingham, Plymouth, Mass. [same problem]; 8. Daughter Ripley 3, born about 1619 Hingham, Norfolk, England [this, once again, fits, as does the next child’s birthplace]; 9. Sarah Ripley 3, christened 28 Oct. 1627 Wymondham, Norfolk, England [entry says she was born there in 1631, clearly there is an error somewhere, since she couldn’t have been christened four years before she was born], d. 29 June 1715, Hingham.
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Insert: According to Lincoln’s Hingham genealogies, William [would have been this William 2] “and his wife, and 2 sons and two daughters [internet chart above lists 9 children; perhaps more than one died, and/or others emigrated at other times?] came from Old Hingham and settled in New Hingham, 1638. (Cushing’s MS.) The same year he had a grant of land at Hing. Centre containing four acres, a large proportion of which is still held in the family name. Unfortunately, our rec’s furnish no information relating to the w. who came with him and was the mother of his ch., nor is her chris. Name or date of death known. For his sec. w. he m. in Hingham Sept. 29, 1654, Mrs. Elizabeth Thaxter, the wid. Of Thomas Thaxter. She outlived him , and m. for her third husband, Jan. 20, 1657-58, John Dwight of Dedham, and d. 17 July, 1660. William d. 20 July, 1656. Will dated June 30, 1656, proved 24 Jan. 1656-57. “Weaver.” Resided on Main St., by the “training field,” Hing. Centre. Ch., prob. B. in Engl, were-- 1. John [designated 2 in Lincoln; here, 3 to relate to internet chart addition]; 2. ____ 3; a dau., name not ascertained; 3. Sarah 3, ___ m. Nov. 18, 1652, Jeremiah Beal; 4. Abraham 3, ____. (Lincoln, pp. 131-132.)
In the internet chart, William Ripley 2’s father is given as William Ripley [1], b. 1568 Wramplingham, Norfolk, England; d. 31 Aug. 1613, Wymondham, Norfolk, England.
According to the internet chart, Abraham Ripley 3 and Mary Farnsworth had 9 children: 1. Mary Ripley 4, b. 1 May 1660 in Hingham; 2. Abraham Ripley 4, b. 21 Sept. 1661 in Hingham, d. 24 April 1697; 3. Elizabeth Ripley 4, b. 13 Nov. 1664 in Hingham, died there 30 June 1667; 4. Joseph Ripley 4, b. 25 Jan. 1667 in Hingham, died 3 July 1737 in Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard; 5. Hester Ripley 4, b. 24 July 1670 in Hingham; 6. Rebecca Ripley 4, b. 20 Nov. 1674, Hingham; 7. Isaac Ripley 4, b. 21 Aug 1678 in Hingham; 8. James Ripley 4, b. 19 Sept. 1679 in Hingham; 9. Alice Ripley 4, b. 17 Sep. 1682.
George Lincoln’s Hingham genealogies gives the following listing for Abraham Ripley:
“Abraham 2 [3 via internet chart] (William 1 [2 via internet chart]), b. in Eng. m. Mary Farnsworth. She survived him, and m. secondly, in Hing. June 17, 1684, Edward Jenkins of Scit. Abraham d. 11 Oct. 1683. Resided on Main St., near “Pear Tree Hill,” Hing. Centre. Ch., all b. in Hing., were – 1. Mary [4], May 1, 1660; 2. Abraham [4], Sept. 21, 1661; 3. Elizabeth [4], Nov. 13, 1664, d. 30 June 1667; 4. Joseph [4], Jan. 25, 1666-67, d. 3 July, 1737; 5. Hester [4], July 24, 1670; 6. Rebecca [4], Nov. 20, 1674; 7. Isaac [4], Aug. 24, 1678.” (G. Lincoln, p. 132.)
From the internet chart source, Mary Farnsworth 3 (our Mary Gardiner’s maternal grandmother), wife of Abraham Ripley, was b. 30 March, 1637 “of Hingham, Norfolk, England”), d. after 11 Oct. 1683. Her father was Joseph Farnsworth 2, b. about 1612 Prestwick, England, d. 12 Jan 1659 in Dorchester, Norfolk, Mass., married 29 Dec. 1625 in England Elizabeth Mason, who was born about 1615 in Lancanshire [?], England. Joseph Farnsworth’s parents were William Farnsworth 1, b. 1675 Lancanshire, England, who married 5 Feb. 1600 Grace Bolton, b. 1579 Lancanshire, England.
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According to this source, our Mary Gardiner’s great grandfather Joseph Farnsworth 2 and wife
Elizabeth Mason had 17 children [?? – since 3 Hannahs b. 1638 are questionable, likewise for 2 Rebeccas b. 1639; several of these clearly died in childhood, viz. repetitious given names; also with variant spellings of the surname; this could also reflect a blending of more than one Farnsworth family] as follows: 1. Joseph Farnsworth 3, b. 1626, christened 26 Dec. 1631 in
England; 2. Elizabeth Farnsworth 3, b. 1631, christened 26 Dec. 1631 England; 3. Joseph Farnworth [sic] 3, b. about 1632 “Of Hingham, Norfolk, England” [if he stayed in Dorchester after immigration there in 1638, perhaps it was he who married Mary Martha Lane’s aunt Mary, her second husband; see chapter 1 on Mary Martha Lane, p. 2]; 4. Esther Farnsworth 3, b. 1633, christened 30 Jun 1622 England; 5. Elizabeth Farnworth [sic] 3, b. Abt. 1634 “Of Hingham, Norfolk, England”; 6. Ester Farnworth [sic] 3, b. abt. 1636 “Of Hingham, Norfolk, England”; 7. Mary Farnsworth 3, b. 30 Mar. 1637 “Of Hingham, Norfolk, England” christened 1638/39 Dorchester, Suffolk, MA; died aft. 11 1683 Oct.; 8. Hannah Farnsworth 3, b. 14 Dec. 1638 “Of Hingham, Norfolk, England”, christened 1638; 9. Hannah Farnworth [sic] 3, b. 1638, christened 30 Oct. 1638 Dorchester, Suffolk, MA, d. before 2 1659 Jan.; 10. Hannah Farnsworth 3, b. 14 Dec. 1638 “Of Rehoboth, Bristol, MA”, d. bef. Feb. 1659/1660 Mass.; 11. Rebecca Farnworth [sic] 3, b. 1639, christened 5 Nov. 1639 Dorchester, Suffolk, MA; 12. Rebecca Farnsworth 3, b. 2 Jan. 1639 Dorchester, Mass., christened 1639; 13. Leonor Farnsworth 3, b. 14 Nov. 1639 Dorchester, MA; 14. Rachel Farnsworth 3, b. 1641/41 Braintree, Norfolk, MA, christened 1741 [sic; typo!], d. 10 Jul. 1675 Mendon, Worcester Co., MA; 15. Ruth Farnsworth 3, b. 3 June 1642 Dorchester, Suffolk Co., MA, christened 1642; 16. Samuel Farnsworth 3, b. 27 Aug. 1644 Dorchester, MA, christened 1644, died young; 17. Samuel Farnworth [sic] 3, b. 30 Mar 1647 Dorchester, MA, christened 30 Mar 1647 Dorchester, Suffolk, MA, also died young.
If aspects of this pedigree chart can be believed, the Farnsworths immigrated to Massachusetts in 1638 or 1639, apparently arriving and settling in Dorchester. Curiously, Lincoln records no Farnsworths in the Hingham genealogies.
This series of pedigree charts for our Mary Gardiner lists her grandfather John Gardiner as John Garnet (Gardner) [2], b. 17 Jul. 1652 in Hingham, MA, d. 16 Dec. 1700, m. 25 Feb. 1682 in Hingham Mary Stowell, thus Mary’s paternal grandmother.
Mary Stowell [5] was b. 15 Aug. 1653 in Hingham and died there 22 Oct. 1714.
Her father was Samuel Stowell [4], by. 1625/1635 “of Hingham, Plymouth, Mass.” [thus he was the Stowell family immigrant, living in Hingham by the time of his marriage in 1659, see Lincoln account below], d. 9 Nov. 1683 in Hingham; married 25 Oct. 1649 in Hingham Mary Farrow [see p. 8 below].
Samuel Stowell’s father was Samuel Stowell [3], b. 4 Jan. 1581 “Of Resmeen, Somerset, England”, d. 7 Dec. 1628 Chudleigh, Somerset, England, m. Abt. 1619 “Of Resmeen England” Mrs. Samuel Stowell, b. about 1593 “Of Norfolk, Hingham, Eng.”
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Samuel [3]'s father was James Stowell [2], b. 1549 Bath Abbey, Somerset, England, d. 6 June 1587 in England; married 1574 in “Of Bath Abbey, Somerset, England” Mrs. Stowell, b. 1553 “Of Bath Abbey, Somerset, England.”
James Stowell [2]'s father was John Stowell [1], b. 1520, Bath Abbey, Somerset, England, married abt. 1548 there Mrs. Stowell who was b. abt. 1523.
Insert regarding Samuel Stowell [4] from G. Lincoln’s Hingham genealogies: “Samuel, whose name is mentioned in Hobart’s Diary [presumably this is the diary of the Rev. Peter Hobart of Hingham] as early as 1649, m. in Hing. Oct. 25 of that year, Mary, dau. of John and Frances Farrow. She survived him, and m. secondly, Oct. 10, 1689, Joshua Beal, Widr. Samuel, d. 9 Nov. 1683. His will, dated 27 Oct. 1683 , was proved 30 Jan. foll. Inv. 185 pounds, 1 shilling, 2d., as appraised by John Marsh and Thomas Lincoln [this would be one of the four Thomas Lincolns of Hingham; possibly Mary Martha Lane’s uncle, married to her aunt Annis Lane? See chapter 1 on Mary Martha Lane, p. 3]. Resided on Fort Hill St. Ch., b. and bt. In Hing., were: 1. Mary [5], Oct. 16, 1653, m. Feb. 25, 1682-83, John Garnet; 2. Samuel [5]. July 8, 1655; 3. John [5], March 15, 1657-58; 4. David [5], Apr. 8, 1660, m. (1) Dec. 4, 1685, _____, and, it is said, removed to Cambridge, where he m. (2) Apr. 7, 1695, Mary Stedman. They afts. settled in Newton. She d. 1 Oct. 1724. He d. at an advanced age. “Weaver;” and long kn. In Newton as “Old Stowell,”
His ch. were, 1. David [6], m. (1) Elizabeth ____, (2) Patience [6], and d. at H. 1724. 2. Benjamin [6], d. unm. at N. 1729; 3. Samuel [6], was a clothier, and lived at Watertown. He d. 1748; 4. Ruth [6], m. ____ Osborne; 5. John [6], m. Nov. 1, 1722, Mrs. Sarah Ford of Wey., and lived at Watertown; 6. Mary [6], m. ____ King; 5. Remember [5], Apr. 22, 1662, m. March 16, 1687-88, Thomas Remington; 6. An Infant [5], Sept. 5, 1664, d. 21st of same month; 7. William [5], Jan. 23, 1665-66; 8. Israel [5], Apr. 27, 1668, d. 15 Nov. 1669; 9. Israel [5], Aug. 10, 1670; 10. Elizabeth [5], June 7, 1673, m. Dec. 14, 1699, George Lane [it is difficult to identify this George Lane; Mary Martha Lane’s uncle George Lane died in 1698, and had no son named George – see p. 3 of chapter 1 on Mary Martha Lane; possibly this is a child of one of his sons?] .” (G. Lincoln, pp. 216-217.)
Mary Farrow has the following chart from the internet source: b. 22 Sep. 1633 Norfolk, Hingham, England, d. 24 Oct. 1709, Hingham, Plymouth, MA, married 25 Oct. 1649 Samuel Stowell 4 in Hingham, MA.
Mary Farrow’s chart shows her parents as John Farrow, b. 1590 “Of Hingham, Norfolk, England”, d. 7 Jul. 1687 Hingham, Plymouth, MA, m. 1632 in Hingham, Norfolk, England, Frances Carpenter, b. 1612 Hingham, Norfolk ?, England, d. 28 Jan. 1688 Hingham, Plymouth, MA.
John Farrow’s parents were Nicolas Farrow, b. 27 Jan. 1576 Bramfield, Suffolk, England, m. 1587 [at age 11??] in Hingham, Norfolk, England, Mrs. Farrow, b. abt 1580 [she was 7 when married??], Bramfield, Suffolk, England.
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Mary Farrow’s paternal great-grandmother Frances Carpenter’s parents were William Carpenter, b. 1576, Howll, Lincoln, England, d. 1659/1660 Weymouth, Norfolk, Mass., m. 1605 in Salisbury, Wilts, England Mary Bath, b. 1603/04, in unknown, Hampshire, England, d. before May 1638 Wherewell, Hampshire, England ?
Insert here regarding two notes of interest showing a connection among no less than 3 Orcutt lines, all via Mary Farrow Stowell (and see also p. 3 above for a Gardiner connection as well): This paternal grandmother of Mary Gardiner, Mary Farrow, also turns out to be the aunt of Abigail Farrow Tower Horsewell, third wife of John 2 Orcutt, uncle to Mary G’s husband Emerson. Abigail Farrow Tower Horsewell Orcutt’s father was John Farrow, Jr., third child to John Farrow, Sr. and younger brother to Mary Gardiner’s grandmother Mary Farrow Stowell. This makes [if my calculations are correct] Abigail Farrow Tower Horsewell Orcutt blood-great aunt to Mary Gardiner Orcutt. Her great-uncle by marriage, John 2 Orcutt, was uncle to her husband Emerson 3 Orcutt.
The second Orcutt line which connects with the Farrow/Carpenter line of Mary Gardiner: Andrew 2 Orcutt married Frances Ward, daughter of Henry Ward and Remember Farrow. Frances Ward’s mother Remember was younger sister to Mary Farrow, grandmother to Mary Gardiner who married Emerson 3 Orcutt (thus Andrew 2 Orcutt and his wife Frances Ward Orcutt were great uncle and great blood-aunt to Mary Gardiner Orcutt. Her husband Emerson 3 Orcutt was Andrew 2 Orcutt’s nephew). Further, as shown on p. 3 above, her great uncle James Gardiner married Elizabeth Ward, sister to Frances Ward.
For all three families, through the wives, there was great-uncle/aunt connections.
The John 2 Orcutts continued to live in Hingham. The Andrew 2 Orcutts lived in Weymouth. The Emerson 3 Orcutts moved from the Hingham/Cohasset area to Abington.
The multiple connections here (and there may well be others) underline the way families maintained family connections through the colonial period. A family’s move from one locality to another usually involved family connections, which would have included William 1 Orcutt and his sons and their families. Weymouth is about 2miles from Hingham which is about 5 miles from Cohasset; Abington is about 9 miles from Weymouth.
*** Note: the above information for Mary Gardiner from this internet chart -- where not already verified as indicated above -- should certainly be confirmed for accuracy if it is to be trusted. It seems not to have been carefully proofread and contains discrepancies as indicated above. (Family tree charts almost never account for discrepancies, by their very format). The information from this one is given here only to provide clues for Mary Gardiner’s ancestry where no others occur.
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Family of Emerson 3 Orcutt and Mary Gardiner
(Sources: FSO’s Descendants of Thomas Orcutt, 1677 to 1977, and others as indicated.)
Mary Gardiner was 17 when she married Emerson Orcutt on April 3, 1735, and her husband was 22. She, especially, was rather young according to the contemporary age patterns at
marriage. That they lived in several locations is discernible from the baptismal places of their children.
Baptisms of the children of Emerson 3 and Mary Gardiner Orcutt as recorded occur, first, in Cohasset: unnamed son b. July 14, 1736 who died two days later, therefore is not counted among the 7 children listed by name. Next, there is some discrepancy as to where their next child and first surviving son, 1. Elijah 4 was born. The Scituate V.R. state Elijah 4 was born June 5, 1737, but the source for the record is not given. FSO states (p. 44) that Elijah was born June 5, 1737; bapt. July 10, 1737 (recorded Cohasset, Mass.) Cohasset V.R. state Elijah was bp. July 10, 1737, giving C.R.I. as source (which normally means “Church Record 1st church”; that reference puzzles JOH, since the Cohasset church was initiated in 1742, five years later; perhaps C.R.I. means First Church Hingham?). Davenports’ The Genealogies of the Families of Cohasset, Massachusetts, p. 323, states that Elijah, Hannah and Emerson were baptized in Scituate, and Jane was baptized in Hingham, sec. pre. [i.e., Cohasset]. So there is some lack of clarity among the various records.
FSO notes also, after Elijah 4 b. June 5, 1737, bapt. July 10, 1737, and 2. Hannah 4, b. Feb. 28, bapt. June 8, 1740, that Emerson 3 and Mary’s third named child, 3. Mary 4, b. Feb. 12, 1743/44 (V.R. Abington, Mass.) must have died young, for Emerson and Mary had another daughter later who was also recorded by the name of Mary. The death record for this first Mary has not been found. She probably died after Emerson and Mary removed to Abington, Mass. and the birth record was recorded at Abington at the time of her death. 4. Emerson 4, b. July 24, 1745 (V.R. Scituate, Mass.; also recorded in the “Olde Orrington Book, Maine v. 8, p. 160).
According to FSO, the remaining 3 children were all born in Abington: 5. Jane 4, b. March 25, 1749 (V.R. Abington, Mass), bapt. Oct. 7, 1759 (recorded Cohasset, Mass. [as noted above, the Davenports say Jane was b. 7 Oct., 1750 in Hing., sec. pre., i.e. Cohasset]); 6. David 4, b. May 16, 1752, d. 1769, was frozen to death from exposure at Nantasket, Mass. [which is located just east of Hingham]; and 7. Mary 4, b. Feb. 12, 1756 at Abington, Mass. (Orcutt reunion [not explained by FSO]).
Assessing these records, it appears, as FSO states on p. 45, that Emerson 3 and Mary (Gardiner) Orcutt, who in 1749 lived on So. Main Street in Cohasset (Davenports, p. 323), settled in Scituate after their marriage in 1735 and later moved to Abington, Mass. The reference to living in Cohasset in 1749 probably comes from property records. Since Jane 4 was born in Abington in 1749, it seems likely that the family moved there that year.
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Emerson 3 bought 40 acres of land in Abington from Joshua Shaw (FSO cites Plymouth, Mass. record B. 53, p. 105, but does not give a date for this transaction [it may be of interest that Emerson 3's descendant, William 6, married 2nd, Anna Shaw age 37 March 13, 1849, daughter of Brocklin and Ann Shaw -- Brackley and Anna, according to V.R. Abington; further research could possibly discover a link]). In 1762 [Emerson 3] sold 10 acres of the original purchase to John Ford (recorded B. 52, p. 24).
In 1763 Emerson 3 Orcutt sold to his son, Emerson 4 Orcutt 7 acres from the same original purchase (recorded B. 52, p. 25). Emerson 4 would have been just 18 at that time; it is interesting to speculate what he would have used to buy the property, since the record specifically states: “sold”. This left Emerson 3 with 23 acres of his original purchase of 40 acres. To this 23 acres he then added 20 acres purchased of Edward Cobb in 1766 (recorded B. 54, p. 58) making a total of 43 acres in his possession. [Emerson 3's son Elijah served in the Revolutionary War in Capt. Edward Cobb’s Company, Major Carey’s Regiment, in 1780, 14 years later; was this the same man?]
Abington can be located on a current (1995) map of Massachusetts as about 11-12 miles (as the
crow flies, direct) south and west of Cohasset, and about 11 miles west and south of Scituate. (The town of Scituate is about 6 miles south and slightly east of Cohasset. However, if Emerson 3 and Mary Gardiner Orcutt resided closer to South Scituate, now called Norwell, then they lived 1/3 of the way between Cohasset and Abington before moving to Abington.
Abington was first settled around 1668-69, about 75 years before Emerson 3 and Mary Gardiner Orcutt moved there with their three youngest children. Pratts were early settlers in the area, since after the year 1672 the heirs of Phineas Pratt had grants located here; possibly this is an ancestor to the Nathaniel Pratt whom Mary Gardiner Orcutt married after Emerson 3’s death. Andrew Ford of Weymouth was one of the buyers of a tract purchased in 1668 from Plymouth colony; in 1762, Emerson 3 Orcutt sold 10 acres of his original 40-acre purchase to a John Ford, quite possibly a descendant of that early Abington settler Andrew Ford.
The first minister of Abington’s first church was the Rev. Samuel Brown, who was ordained in 1714; his successor was Ezekiel Dodge, who was ordained in 1750 (and may have baptized the 3 youngest children of Emerson 3 and Mary Orcutt). Mr. Dodge was succeeded by the Rev. Samuel Niles, who was ordained in 1771, and died in 1814. There was no other church until 1808.
Abington is described in a book sketching the history of individual Massachusetts towns as “perhaps the best grazing town in Plymouth county.” It has not yet been possible to identify Emerson 3’s occupation, but since he twice bought acreage in Abington (totaling 60 acres), farming seems a genuine possibility. It is worth noting at this point that Emerson 3 is the first of 5 generations of Orcutt males to dwell in the area in and around Abington: Elijah 4,
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Emerson 5, William 6, and William Edwin 7 as a youth also lived there. (William 6 and William Edwin 7 are listed by FSO as living in Hanover, which became a separate entity in 1727. Hanover center is about five miles due east of Abington center.)
Emerson 3 Orcutt died before 1778 (likely 1777 or early 1778 as his widow Mary married Nathanial Pratt Oct. 8, 1778, recorded V.R. Abington, Mass.) He was buried probably in
Abington, according to FSO, p. 44.
Three of Emerson 3 and Mary (Gardiner) Orcutt’s 5 children who reached adulthood married in Abington: Elijah (although he married Prudence Hayden of Scituate in Scituate, all their children were born in Abington, and both Elijah and Prudence died there; see following chapter); Hannah who married David Cobb June 11, 1763 (V.R. Abington, Mass.) -- this David perhaps was related to the Edward Cobb from whom Emerson 3 later made his second purchase of acreage (20 acres in 1766; and the second Mary who married Jacob Thayer Dec. 12, 1778 (V.R. Abington, Mass.). Jane 4 married William Sprague, Jr. at Cohasset, Mass. Oct. 3, 1776 (V.R. Abington, Mass.).
It was their son Emerson 4 among the descendants of Thomas 2 who first moved farthest from the Orcutt lands in Massachusetts after marrying his 1st wife Ann Mansell August 8, 1770 (V.R. Scituate, Mass.). She was daughter of John Mansell who came to Scituate, Mass. from Scotland via London in 1740 at the age of 18. Emerson 4 (sometimes referred to as “Amasa”) and Ann (Mansell) Orcutt settled in Orrington, Maine in 1771, shortly after their marriage.
FSO believes that Mary Gardiner Orcutt Pratt would have been buried “probably at Abington, Mass.” although no death record nor place has been located as of yet. It would be under the name Pratt, since she married Nathanial Pratt in 1778 in Abington.
Mary’s Era
Since we don’t know Mary Gardiner Orcutt Pratt’s date of death (sometime after her second marriage in 1778, when she was age 60), just as for that of her mother-in-law Jane Emerson Orcutt, for this sketch the presumption is that she may have lived until around the end of the 18th century when she would have been 82. Two months after her own re-marriage, Mary’s youngest child and namesake, Mary 4 Orcutt, age 22, married Jacob Thayer in Abington on Dec. 12, 1778.
Just as appears to be the case with Mary Martha Lane and Jane Emerson, Mary Gardiner’s maternal ancestry all comes from England, as probably does that of her father, and she herself is 4th generation in the New World via her paternal grandmother. If her great-grandfather, John 1 Gardiner came to Plymouth at least by 1635 and possibly somewhat before, then her family line may be the earliest in the New World among the families intermarrying with this line of Orcutts.
(This would be splitting hairs, since many of the Orcutt wives’ ancestors arrived right around
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1635, including those of both Mary Martha Lane and Jane Emerson.)
As did all from those early generations, Mary certainly experienced many of the rigors of colonial America. Their son, sixth child David (was he named for his father’s younger brother?), tragically froze to death from exposure at Nantasket in 1769 at the age of 17. But before that, their first child, a boy, died two days after his birth in 1736. Their 3rd child and second daughter, named Mary probably after her mother, who was born in 1743, also seems to have died as a child, though perhaps not quite so young as the first baby. Mary Gardiner Orcutt did have a surviving namesake later in their last child, Mary born in 1756. But she and Emerson lost 3 children.
By the time of Mary’s marriage at age 17 in 1735, George II was on the throne in Britain; she was 27 and had given birth to four children, two of whom still survived, when the Jacobites under Bonnie Prince Charlie were defeated in 1745 at the Battle of Culloden in Scotland (her son Emerson 4 married Ann Mansell, the daughter of a Scotsman). Her brother—in-law David 3 Orcutt participated in Wolfe’s capture of Quebec from the French in 1759.
Those French and Indian Wars ended in 1763. By that point, the American colonies had grown to be a strong and thriving part of the British Empire, and their people were passionately concerned to manage their own affairs. From then on, strains grew between the American colonies and Great Britain, particularly relating to increasing burdens of taxation from which the colonists felt they did not benefit, such as from the Townshend Acts of 1767. Ultimately, in 1774, the First Continental Congress declared that no taxation of any kind was legitimate without their consent. Thus the breach developed between the country of her birth and the country of her ancestors. 1774 was also the year of the Boston Tea Party. In Massachusetts John Adams responded to the appeals of Loyalists like Daniel Leonard.
In April 1775, the battles of Lexington and Concord took place on Massachusetts soil, not so very far from Abington. The battle of Bunker Hill was fought on 17 June, 1775 – participated in by Joseph Emerson, ancestor of Lydia Emerson Woolever, wife of Willard Merton 8 Orcutt (see chapter 8 below). Soon the likes of Thomas Paine were arguing for complete separation from Britain, with the Declaration of Independence affirmed the following year.
As has often been noted in social-cultural histories of the early colonial period, world events did not often impact directly on the busy-with-survival lives of the colonists. But for Mary and Emerson, the next event certainly did.
As noted above, Mary’s oldest child, son Elijah served as a Revolutionary soldier, marching from Massachusetts to Rhode Island in 1780, two years after Mary’s remarriage. Her first husband Emerson 3 Orcutt appears to have died during the early years of the Revolutionary War, or just before. The scene of battles shifts soon from Massachusetts for Mary and her family. But perhaps she lived long enough to hear the news from the Constitutional Convention in
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Philadelphia in 1788 (she would have been 70 if so). Rufus King and Elbridge Gerry from Massachusetts were participating. Sam Adams refused to participate; John Adams was in London, but was vitally interested in the convention.
Furthermore, Massachusetts had just suffered public humiliation over Shays’ rebellion in the west in 1786, where farmers had revolted against ruinous taxation “by Boston” they said, and marched on county courthouses after the best Revolutionary technique, frightening sound-money men out of their wits and rousing General Washington to express disgust and anger that a country which had won a difficult war was not able to keep order in peacetime (Catherine Drinker Bowen, Miracle at Philadelphia, 1966, p. 10).
Whether or not she lived to see the result of an independent and United States of America, Mary Gardiner Orcutt Pratt was affected by the momentous events of the century in which she lived.
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