Ancestor Birthday - October 1 - John Howe 1732

John Howe was my 5th gt-grandfather, born 1 Oct 1732, in Wallingford, the Colony of Connecticut. John's parents were Jeremiah and Elizabeth (Gaylord) Howe. The Howe Genealogies published in 1929 listed 11 siblings for John with at least 6 of his siblings living long enough to be married. It showed that 4 died as young children.

In the History of the town of Goshen, Connecticut a listing of marriages showed that John married twice: 1 Apr 1756 to Mary Wadhams and on 15 Apr 1766 to Lydia Norton. After he and Mary had 4 children: Mary, Experience, Anna and Deliverance, Mary died 30 Sept 1765.

John and Lydia had 7 children: John, Ichabod (my 4th gt-grandfather), Isaac, Luman, Daniel, Seth, and Lydia.

Since I had not found a death date for John, I checked some of the family trees on Ancestry.com. It was easy to see that one which said he died in 1736 was incorrect. But one gave a date of 1781 in Canaan Connecticut. The Howe Genealogies stated that John had moved to Canaan in 1766, apparently after his marriage to Lydia. The youngest child was born about 1779, so this date was plausible. Most researchers have left his death date blank, so I probably will also until I find some evidence about when and where he died.

Trying to Transcribe - Will of Isaac Norton - Pt 2

Here we learn what Isaac is willing to his daughters.

Viz 7th to my Daughter Abigail Beck my will is & I do give the sum of

five shillings at my decease to be at her disposal forever.

8th my will is & I do give to my daughter Mary Curtis the Dwelling

house where she now lives together with the use & improvement of the

land upon which the house stands & two rods in width of land from sd house to

my well with the use of one half of sd well during her natural life

& also the sum of ten pounds out of my household goods at her disposal forever.

9th My will is and I go give to my daughter Lydia How the sum of fifteen

pounds to be at her disposal forever after my decease.

10th my will is & I do give to my daughter Anna Scott the sum of five

shillings at my decease to be at her disposal forever.

11th my will is and I go give to my two granddaughters Lusinda King and

Lusina King the sum of Sixteen Pounds to be equally divided between

them at my decease & to be at their disposal forever.

12th my will is and I do give to my Daughter Deborah Blakely the sum fifteen

Pounds at my decease to be at her disposal forever.

Lastly my will is & I do make and ordain my Sons Isaac Norton & Joel Norton

to be my soule executors of this my Last will and Testament and I do

hereby ratify and confirm this and no other to be my Last will and Testa

ment in witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand the day and date

within.

Signed, Sealed published and pronounced

and declared by the sd Isaac Norton                                 Isaac Norton { seal }

as his Last will and testament in Presence

of James Beckwith

Hannah ?earritt

Zebulon Peck Jr

Trying to Transcribe - Will of Isaac Norton - Pt 1

Isaac Norton wrote his will in 1782 and names his wife and nine children to receive bequests. He also tells more about his Christian faith than many of the wills I have seen.

In the Name of God Amen, this 22 Day of Febry A.D. 1782

I Isaac Norton of Farmington in the County of Middlesex & State of Con

necticut being advanced in years but of sound mind & memory. Thanks

be given to God therefor Calling to mind the mortality of my body knowing

that is is apointed to all men once to die Do make & ordain this my

Last will & Testament that is to say first and principally of all

I give and bequeath my Soul into the hands of God who gave it

trusting in the ______ & intercesion of the Son Jesus Christ as advocate

& Redeemer & my Body to the Earth in Decent & Christian Burial at

the direction of my Executors hereafter named nothing Doubting but

at the General resurection I shall receive the same by the mighty power

of God and as touching such worldly Estate wherewith it has pleased God

to bless me with in the world, I give & demise and dispose of in the follow

ing manner. My will is that after my just Debts are paid that the remain

ing part Shall be Divided as followeth:

Viz. To my well beloved wife Mary Norton I give and bequeath the use & improv

ment of one third part of my Dwelling house & barn together with one

third part of all my improved Lands Livestock and movable Estate

During the sd time of her natural life & all my household goods at her disposal forever.

2ndly my will is and I do give to my Son Silvanus Norton the sum of five

Shillings Lawful money to be paid out of my movable estate at my

decease to be at his Disposal forever.

3rdly my will is and I do give to my Son Isaac Norton Jr. Eight acres of Land

__________________________________Live on bounded North on

highway East on Reuben Hungerfords Land being forty three rods in width at

the East end & running west until it makes full eight acres which Land

I give to him for part of the Land that he the said Isaac has given to

my Son Silvanus at Norfolk & further I do give to the said Isaac

the one half of the remainder of the farm that I now live on which

is to be upon the North side of sd farm Extending from east to west

according to the _______ of sd farm together with the one part of my live

stock and the one half of my

farming tools & wearing aparel & Empty Casks at my Decease

to be at his disposal forever.

4thly My will is and I do give to my son Aaron Norton the one-third

part of my livestock at my decease to be at his disposal forever.

5thly my will is and I do give to my son Joel Norton the remaining

part of my farm that I now live on which I have not given to my

Son Isaac which is to be upo the south side of sd farm

including the dwelling house & Barn together with the one third

part of my live stock and the one half of my farming tools

and wearing aparel & Empty Casks at my Decease to be at his

disposal forever.

6thly my will is that my Sons Isaac Norton and Joel Norton shall pay

to my daughters out of my movable Estate at my decease in the

manner following Provided that I & my wife do not live to spend the estate.

Ancestor Birthday - Isaac Norton - 1712-1793

Isaac Norton was my 6th gt-grandfather. His birth to Joseph and Deborah (Cruttenden) Norton on 17 Aug 1712 was recorded in the Barbour Collection for Durham, Middlesex County, Connecticut. The town of Durham was formed in 1708. His marriage to Mary Rockwall, of Windsor, on 12 Nov 1735 was also recorded in Durham.

From his will written in 1782, we can see that Isaac and Mary had at least 9 children, 4 sons (Silvanus, Isaac Jr, Aaron, Joel) and 5 daughters (Abigail Peck, Mary Curtis, Lydia How, Anna Scott, Deborah Blakely). I was glad to see that my 5th gt-grandmother, Lydia (Norton) Howe received a bequest of 15 pounds from her father's will.

When he wrote his will in 1782, Isaac stated that he was of Farmington, County of Hartford, State of Connecticut. On the 1790 census, Isaac was listed in the town of Bristol, which was formed from Farmington in 1785 and was on the west side. There were just 2 people in his household, he and a female, probably his wife Mary. Adjoining entries show his son Isaac with 7 people in his household and his son Joel with 8 in his household.

The Hale listing of headstone inscriptions for Bridge St. Cemetery, in the town of Bristol, showed that Isaac died 4 Jan 1793 and Mary died 23 Nov 1791. The Find A Grave entry for Isaac gives the death year as 1797, however I believe that is a misreading of a very old gravestone. The Hale listing was done in 1934, so the gravestone might have been easier to read then.

I am planning that tomorrow and the next day I will do a transcription of Isaac's will.

Ancestor Birthday - June 5 - Ichabod Howe - 1769-1857

Litchfield County, Connecticut

It seems so fitting that my 4th great-grandfather, Ichabod Howe, lived at Cornwall Hollow in the town of Cornwall, Litchfield County, Connecticut. He was the son of John Howe and John's second wife, Lydia Norton. John married his first wife, Mary Wadhams, in 1756 and they had 4 children before Mary died in 1765. So Ichabod had 4 older half-siblings as he was growing up. John's 2 marriages and the births of the 4 older children were recorded in Goshen vital records. The Howe Genealogies published in 1929 state that the family moved to Canaan Connecticut in 1766, apparently after John and Lydia's marriage 15 Apr 1766. Ichabod was born on 5 Jun 1769, the 2nd of 7 children born to Lydia. At least 3 of these children died young.

Ichabod was in the town of Cornwall by the 1800 census. The censuses before 1850 only name the head of household and give numbers for the various age categories, so it is difficult to know who the members of the household were. Tomorrow (6 Jun 2017) I will plan to write about some of my conclusions about the census entries for Ichabod's family.

As his father did, Ichabod also had two wives. His first wife, Irene Scovill, died in 1813 and his second wife, Lucy ? , died in 1841. Both are buried in the Cornwall Hollow Cemetery. I have not found a record for Ichabod's burial after his death 30 Apr 1857.

The town meeting minutes for Cornwall mention Ichabod Howe as one of the surveyors of highways in 1803, 1811, 1821 and 1822. In Theodore S. Gold's book of Historical Records of the Town of Cornwall..., there is a section on ecclesiastical history. Ichabod was named as one of those "brought into this fold of Christ" in a revival held in 1795. By 1822 he was listed as one of the deacons on the committee "to settle difficulties between brothers." In a historical address given in 1865, the following was written about him as one of the prominent laymen of the church: "Ichabod Howe will be remembered as a man of Pauline gentleness, and Christlike spirit of self-sacrifice for his brother's good. To a life of rectitude and consecration he added a very fitting closing chapter, by giving himself almost wholly to visitation of the parish and prayerful lay-labors for the conversion of men to his dear Lord. He died in 1857." It makes me feel good that he had this good reputation.

Ancestor Birthday - Lydia Norton - 5 March 1739/40

Lydia Norton was a 5th great-grandmother of mine. I seem to have very little information about her. Her entry on my website shows that she was born on 5 Mar 1739/40 in Durham, Connecticut, the daughter of Isaac Norton. She married John Howe, the son of Jeremiah Howe and Elizabeth Gaylord, on 15 Apr 1766. There is one child listed for her: Ichabod Howe. And that is all that is there.

What more can I tell about her?

Well, I can add her mother's name: Mary Rockwell.

From her father's will: she had at least 4 brothers: Silvanus, Isaac Jr, Aaron and Joel.

and she had at least 4 sisters: Abigail, Mary, Anna and Deborah.

Her marriage was recorded at Goshen, Litchfield County, Connecticut.

She was John's second wife, so became a step-mother to at least 2, maybe 4 young children.

The birth of her first child, John, was recorded at Goshen.

Her second son Ichabod was said to have been born in Canaan, Litchfield County, Connecticut.

She probably had about 7 children.

Now there needs to be some effort on my part to get this information entered into my database so it can be uploaded to my website.

But as seems to often be the case from this time period, I don't have information about her death. I need to keep looking.