Letitia Tharp1

b. 1766
Family
Father*Thomas Tharp1 b. 1744
Mother*Elizabeth Pegg1 b. 1749
Birth*1766Letitia Tharp was probably born in Mispillion Hundred, Kent County, Delaware, about 1766.1 

Citations

  1. [S2667] Maner L. Thorpe, The Tharp Family, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. This book concentrates on the descendants of Thomas Tharp (ca. 1744-1804), son of John Tharp and Elizabeth Jordan. He was born in Queen Annes County, Maryland. In the mid-1760s he married Elizabeth Pegg, daughter of William Pegg of Mispillion Hundred, Kent County, Delaware and a native of St. Ives, Huntingdonshire, England. In 1779 Thomas Tharp received a grant of land in Rowan County, North Carolina. Family members migrated from North Carolina to Ohio, Indiana and elsewhere. Contents: Volume 1. The Tharp family of Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina, Ohio and Indiana: ancestry and descendants -- Volume 2. Allied families and appendix. (Santa Barbara, California: M. L. Tharp, 1996), Volume 1, digital page 24. Hereinafter cited as The Tharp Family.

Lydia Tharp1,2

b. 1809, d. 1846
Family
Father*Boaz Tharp3,4,5,6 b. 1778, d. 1841
Mother*Airy Whitaker3,4,5,6 b. 24 Aug 1779
Birth*1809Her name was Lydia Tharp when she was born about 1809 or 1810 in Preble County, Ohio.2,1 
Name-SpellingsHer surname of THARP was recorded as Thorp in several documents, and her father, Boaz Tharp, was also, sometimes, incorrectly identified as Moses Thorp.3,4,5 
Life Changing Event13 March 1813She was about 4 years old when she was stolen by the Mississinewa tribal band of Miami Indians. Hubbard's Pinhook to Brazil, in the final section titled, "The Whitaker Family", Chapter IX, "Thorpe Child Stolen By The Indians", provided us with a more in-depth understanding of the kidnapping of Lydia Tharp than we had read before. Other accounts reported the date of this tragic event as 13 March 1813, during the war of 1812, while Pinhook, (as related by Eli Hendrix, Pioneer), reported it was in the fall of 1814. Whatever the actual date, Eli Hendrix stated that the Boaz Thorp family's eldest child, although she was actually their fourth child, a daughter about 4 years old, was stolen and carried away by the Indians.3,4,5,7 
Miami Custom-Belief* It was the custom and belief of the Miami that when a loved one died, their spirit could not enter the spirit world until a replacement could be found to take their place in the living world. Only then could the spirit of the dead be released. Sometimes a friend who was unattached could be adopted. The most prevalent custom, however, was to raid an enemy camp and capture women and children. These people, as time healed their sorrow, usually adapted to their new lives and would, thereby, become an instrument of release for the spirit of a departed member of the tribe.7 
Life Changing Event Her family had moved from Ohio after Lydia's birth in 1809 and settled in Indiana Territory, in the White Water country, in what was then Wayne county, bordering on what is now Fayette county, Indiana. Lydia had been out in the yard at play with other children and was dressed in a blue dress of fine quality gingham, which in that day was regarded as both exceptional and a rarity. The other children screamed and ran into the house to raise the alarm. Her father, his neighbors, the Simonds family, and other friends began to search, following the trail of moccasin footprints in the soft earth along the way. They crossed Simonds creek, leading off towards the east fork of White river, and followed as far as Muncie town, where all trace of the trail was lost.3,4,5,7 
Life Changing Event The six young Indian warriors who had taken Lydia knew that she was of value to the tribe and was not to be mistreated. They travelled with her for more than three days, doing all they could for her comfort, before arriving at the village of Me-to-cin-yah, their destination. Her captors and the people of the village were excited about her arrival because she would be the replacement to free the spirit of a loved one. As she was surrounded and greeted by excited adults and children speaking a language she didn't know, she also didn't know that by becoming a new member of the tribe she would release the spirit of one who had died. She was given the Miami name Kim-qua-tah, which meant "spirit child", and placed into the care of the chief's wife, Co-po-no-quah, a kind and loving woman. Through signs for communication and an atmosphere of maternal caring, she made Lydia feel welcome and comfortable in her new home. Being so young, Lydia adjusted well to life with the Miami.7 
Name VariationThey gave her the Miami Indian name Kim-qua-tah, meaning "spirit chld"2,7 
Name Variation and in English, she was called Hannah.2,7 
Life Changing Event Kim-qua-tah always remembered her earlier name had been Lydia, and retained some of the language from her original childhood. Although she had to be hidden from sight when white men visited, she shared the cheerful and untroubled life of the other Indian children.7 
Life Changing Event* Her father spent years searching for his missing daughter, traveling over a large area of country. Under the guise of an Indian trader, he visited the Miami and Pottawatomies in the towns and camps -- until he finally had to give up in despair. He sold his farm, and the family, to get away from the memory of their loss, left the neighborhood.3,4,5,7 
Marriage*When she was old enough, Kim-qua-tah was married to Captain Dixon , son of Me-to-cin-yah, the important and influential Miami Chief.8,2 
Life Changing EventSo, what about Lydia's parents?... Again, we thank Hubbard's Pinhook to Brazil, in the final section titled, "The Whitaker Family", Chapter IX, "Thorpe Child Stolen By The Indians", for bringing us full circle and to complete the story.

After a lapse of many years, the parents gained information that their daughter was still living, and that she was with the Miami tribe in the north part of the State, in Wabash county, Indiana. They set out traveling there to search for her again, and were rewarded by finding their true daughter. She was married to Captain Dixon, a Miami Indian, and living near Ashland on Grant creek, Wabash county. She was positively identified by a scar from a burn, caused by a coal of fire dropping from her mother's pipe when she was an infant in her arms. She had no distinct memory of her baby days and manifested no desire to leave the Indians.3,4,5 
Research NotesFrom the few accounts we've read about Lydia's life as Kim-qua-tah, or Hannah Dixon as she was also called, we've learned that she was a gentle woman. Her neighbors described her as kind, affectionate, and gracious. They liked her, and found her to be pleasing company. Although she was too young when she was taken captive to have begun any schooling, she was aware of the education she had missed, and strongly desired an English education for her children. She persuaded her husband to patronize the neighboring schools, and in the winter of about 1845-46, their son, Charley, attended the school taught by Jacob L. Sailors, which was a mile or so west of Ashland village, which became a part of Liberty Township in Wabash County. It was reported that Charley made good progress in his studies, and in 1884, was still living in that neighborhool.3,9,10 
Death*1846Hannah Kim-qua-tah Dixon died about 1846 as a result of drowning in the Mississinewa river, at the mouth of Grant Creek, near her home in Wabash County, Indiana at about age 37. Was it an accident or was it suicide? For more than175 years Lydia and her drowning have been subjects of Miami folklore and, still, we can't be certain of the answer to that question. Her story was "big news" when it happened, and the Miami, with no written language, told the story often, using word-of-mouth, parents to children, friends to friends, village to village. Historians perpetuated her story, putting pen to paper, and two distinctly different versions of Lydia's death have emerged. The accident version is simple: She just slipped and fell. Suicide is more complicated because historians have wanted to know why, and have speculated.

History of Wabash County, Indiana, published in 1884, from the narrative of the pioneer reminiscences of the Honorable Elijah Hackleman, described the place on the river from where Lydia jumped or fell. Hackleman said, and was quoted, that she "left her Indian home and walked down to the Mississinewa River, half a mile distant, to a place called 'Hog-back'. This romantic spot is caused by a long detour of the river, inclosing several hundred acres of land, then coming round with a long sweep, and in connection with Grant Creek, is within 100 feet of its waters above. Between these two parts of the river is a rugged hill, probably about eighty feet high and about the same thickness, and running several hundred feet." He then said, "Here Miss Thorpe, the captive Indian white woman, paused a few moments and then deliberately plunged into the blue waters of the Mississinewa River, and was seen no more alive."

In The Last of the Miamis, published c1935, Winger wrote, "Liquor made her Indian husband quarrelsome and abusive. When she could endure him no longer she drowned herself in the Mississinewa near her home." He reported the timing of her death before her husband's, writing, " Captain Dixon was soon afterwards killed in a quarrel with a Potawatomie Indian at Lafontaine, which was then called Ashland". In Hubbard's Pinhook to Brazil, published in 1936, the author related what he had learned from pioneer Eli Hendrix, writing, "Captain Dixon was a profligate, dissolute, and thrift-less character" and placed Lydia's death after the death of her husband, writing, "About the year 1850, this husband, Captain Dixon, was in a drunken row with a Pottawatomie, who used a garden hoe as a weapon, and in the scuffle the skull of Dixon was fractured, and he died the day following. A party of Miami Indians hauled him home on a sled. Not so long after, Mrs. Dixon committed suicide by drowning in the Mississinewa river, at the mouth of Grant creek, about a half mile from her Indian home."

Miami Chief Gabriel Godfroy, who died in 1910, was a son of the great Chief Francis Godfroy and a 2nd cousin to Captain Dixon. He had spoken with Eli Hendrix before his death about Lydia's drowning, telling him that the story of Lydia's suicide was really an accident. Eli related that information to the Pinhook author who wrote, "Anyway, it all happened" and reported that the rock was called Lover's Leap "to this day", meaning 1936 when Pinhook was published. Searching now, in 2025, have found Hog-Back in the area described by Elijah Hackelman, although no official Lover's Leap or Lovers Leap on the Mississinewa River. Wikipedia told us that Lover's Leap, or Lovers' Leap, are names that have been given to a number of locations of varying height, usually isolated, with the risk of a fatal fall and the possibility of a deliberate jump, and that often have legends of romantic tragedy associated with them.2,3,9,11,12 
(Wife) Death1850Sources disagree about whether her husband, Captain Dixon, died before or after Hannah's death. His Find-a-Grave memorial, citing the year on his grave marker, reported his death in 1839 at about age 32, and the circumstances of his death, as reported in The History of Wabash County, Indiana, recorded his death near Ashland, Wabash County, Indiana, in 1850 or 1851 at about age 45. Either way, he died a young man. This is what we learned from the Reminiscences of the Honorable Elijah Hackleman in the Wabash source:

"Captain Dixon... was a lover of drink and spent most of his time drinking at such places as he could procure whisky—sometimes winding up with a fight. Finally, about the year 1850 or 1851, in one of these drunken fights with a Pottawatomie Indian, he received a blow on the head with a hoe that happened to be nearby, cutting his head open. The wound was dressed by Dr. Mauzy, of Ashland, the fight having taken place in that town; and though it was a terrible wound, the Doctor expressed his opinion that if the patient could be kept perfectly still, there would be a chance for his recovery. The Indians then in town wanted to take him home the same evening, but Dr. Mauzy told them that he would die before reaching town, although the distance was only about two miles.

"The next morning, however, the Indians came in great numbers and demanded that he should be taken immediately. Of course, no resistance was made, and Captain Dixon was put on a sled, and was last seen going at a pretty lively gait over the rough mud road. The journey was accomplished in good time, but upon reaching the wigwam of the Captain it was found that he was stiff and cold in death, and his blood and brains were bespattered all over the sled."8,3,9,10 
Burial* Although records don't agree about who died first, we did learn that Hannah's body was recovered, and that she and her husband, Captain Dixon, were both buried in the Mississinewa Memorial Cemetery, Wabash, Wabash County.7,2,8 
Descendants*Captain and Hannah Kim-qua-tah (Tharp) Dixon had two children, a son named Charles and a daughter named Hannah. It was related by Pinhook to Brazil, published in 1936, that Charles had four children, three daughters and one son, who were last heard of in Marion, Grant county, Indiana; and that Hannah left but one son, whose whereabouts were not known. Winger in his Last of the Miamis, published in 1935, wrote that Hannah and Captain Dixon had many descendants and that Charles Marks of Peru and Lawrence Dixon of Muncie, were their grandsons.

Genealogy research has come a long way since 1936, and we have now learned the names of many more descendants of Captain and Hannah Kim-qua-tah (Tharp) Dixon. Their daughter, Hannah's, only son, Charles Marks, had eight children, all of whom we've included in our project. We've not included any of his grandchildren, however, because of our policy not to include anyone we think may be living. Hannah and Captain Dixon's son, Charles Dixon, has 25 descendants in our project, and we've included some of his grandchildren, and even a few great-grandchildren, because it was his granddaughter, Lucy Belle Hale, who was the first person, through her mother, Florence (Dixon) Sailors Hale, to introduce us to the Miami Indians. Florence's father was Charles Dixon, the son of Captain Dixon and Hannah Kim-qua-tah (Tharp) Dixon.11,9 
(Child) Research NotesWhile Lydia's story has been told for over 200 years, the names of her siblings, the other children of Boaz Tharp and Airy (Whitaker) Tharp, were not known by early researchers. Hubbard's Pinhook to Brazil source reported that the Tharps had three children; Lydia, who was stolen by Indians and thought at the time to have been their eldest, and two others whose names were not known. The Find a Grave Memorial pages for the Tharp parents identified Letitia and Jesse M. Tharp as Lydia's two siblings, although Jesse's Find a Grave Memorial page reported his birth date as 14 February 1842. While it was possible that Jesse was born posthumously, after Boaz's death in 1841, it was unlikely that Airy would have given birth to a child in her middle 60s. Our reasoning told us that Jesse, born in 1842, was not Lydia's brother. At this point in our research, we had confirmed Letitia as one of Lydia's "missing" siblings, and went in search of the second. If the "missing child" was a son, we wondered if he could have been Andrew Tharp, born about 1804 in North Carolina. Andrew and his wife, Jane, were enumerated on the 1850 census in Hamilton County, Indiana, and we learned from that census that they named their eldest daughter, who was born about 1834, Lydia. While we believed it a worthwhile clue, it was not enough to confirm our suspicions.

With further research, a happy discovery, and with many thanks to The Tharp Family source, we learned that Andrew was, in fact, the second son of Boaz and Airy Tharp. We also learned that the Jesse M. Tharp of the Find a Grave Memorial, was a grandson of the couple. Jesse was the son of Boaz and Airy's eldest son, William. Then, still using The Tharp Family source, we learned that Boaz and Airy Tharp had four children, not two, in addition to Lydia, who was their youngest at the time she was stolen. In order of birth, their five children were William, Andrew, Letitia, Lydia and Matilda.10,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,1,22 
Gravestone Memorial*1996 In 1996, LaMoine N. Marks, a great-grandson of Hannah Kim-qua-tah (Tharp) Dixon, commissioned a special memorial stone to be placed at the site of his great-grandmother's grave.2
(American Indian) Indian Names Getting the Native American Indian names in our project "right" has been a struggle for us because we have often seen the same person's name spelled in several different ways. This was, at first, both frustrating and stressful to those of us who strive for accuracy in the presentation of our research. When we learned that the Miami Indians, who feature prominently in our project, had no written language before their associations with the French and English who kept records by writing them down, we began to understand. It’s all very human. Not every person speaks their words in the same way, and each listener may hear the same words differently. So, it’s not surprising that, phonetically, when names were spoken, they would be written down as each individual listener heard them.23,24,25,26,27,28,29 

Family

 Captain Dixon b. 1807, d. 1850
Children 1.Charles Dixon+2,3 b. 1833
 2.Hannah Dixon+30,2 b. 1840, d. 7 Mar 1872

Citations

  1. [S2667] Maner L. Thorpe, The Tharp Family, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. This book concentrates on the descendants of Thomas Tharp (ca. 1744-1804), son of John Tharp and Elizabeth Jordan. He was born in Queen Annes County, Maryland. In the mid-1760s he married Elizabeth Pegg, daughter of William Pegg of Mispillion Hundred, Kent County, Delaware and a native of St. Ives, Huntingdonshire, England. In 1779 Thomas Tharp received a grant of land in Rowan County, North Carolina. Family members migrated from North Carolina to Ohio, Indiana and elsewhere. Contents: Volume 1. The Tharp family of Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina, Ohio and Indiana: ancestry and descendants -- Volume 2. Allied families and appendix. (Santa Barbara, California: M. L. Tharp, 1996), Volume 2, Children of Boaz and Airy (Whitaker) Tharp, digital pages 157-162, Lydia, digital pages 159-161. Hereinafter cited as The Tharp Family.
  2. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Hannah “KIM-QUA-TAH” (Thorpe) Dixon, Memorial# 35753691, with a photograph of a memorial stone, added by her great grandson, LaMoine Marks, in 1996. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  3. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana : containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc., downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Chicago, Illinois: John Morris, Printer, 1884), Chapter IX., Pioneer Reminiscences -- continued, pages 103-104, Honorable Elijah Hackleman's narrative. Hereinafter cited as History of Wabash County, Indiana.
  4. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Manchester, Indiana: Otho Winger, c1935), Meshingomesia, his brothers, pages 35-36. Hereinafter cited as The Last of The Miamis.
  5. [S2665] Nelle Decker Hubbard, Pinhook to Brazil, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Brazil, Indiana: Hubbard, Nelle Decker, 1936), from the final section titled, "The Whitaker Family", Chapter IX, "Thorpe Child Stolen By The Indians", (As Related by Eli Hendrix, Pioneer), pages 208-210. Hereinafter cited as Pinhook to Brazil.
  6. [S1589] North Carolina, Marriage Index, 1741-2011, online at www.ancestry.com, marriage on 14 June 1802 in Rowan County, North Carolina, USA, of Boaz Tharp and Airy Whiteker. Hereinafter cited as North Carolina, Marriage Index, 1741-2011.
  7. [S2915] LaMoine N. Marks, Kim-qua-tah: The Story of Hannah Thorpe, 1994; a 14-page booklet. LaMoine Marks was born 11 September 1907 in Wabash County, Indiana. He was a member of the Miami Tribe of Indians and made a lifetime study of the tribe, its people and its ways. From the oral history learned from his father, Charles Marks, to his access of research materials gathered for a tribal history, Marks wrote this personal story of his great-grandmother, Kim-qua-tah. He wrote in his foreword: "The people were real -- the story is fictionalized only enough to provide continuity." Viewed on 13 September 2025, beginning at https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/…. Hereinafter cited as Kim-qua-tah: The Story of Hannah Thorpe.
  8. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Captain “Me-ta-ke-ke-ah” Dixon, Memorial# 35753674.
  9. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis, Meshingomesia, page 36.
  10. [S2665] Nelle Decker Hubbard, Pinhook to Brazil, from the final section titled, "The Whitaker Family", Chapter IX, "Thorpe Child Stolen By The Indians", (As Related by Eli Hendrix, Pioneer), page 210.
  11. [S2665] Nelle Decker Hubbard, Pinhook to Brazil, from the final section titled, "The Whitaker Family", Chapter IX, "Thorpe Child Stolen By The Indians", (As Related by Eli Hendrix, Pioneer), pages 210-211.
  12. [S225] Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia, online at www.wikipedia.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lover%27s_Leap. Hereinafter cited as Wikipedia Encyclopedia.
  13. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Boaz Tharp, Memorial# 51092937.
  14. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Airy (Whitaker) Tharp, Memorial# 51093066.
  15. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Letitia (Tharp) Stevens, Memorial# 35015198.
  16. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Jesse M. Tharp, Memorial# 110668488.
  17. [S17] 1850 United States Federal Census, online at www.ancestry.com, household of Andrew and Jane Tharp, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M432; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Noblesville, Hamilton, Indiana; Roll: 148; Page: 109a. Hereinafter cited as 1850 United States Federal Census.
  18. [S2667] Maner L. Thorpe, The Tharp Family, Volume 2, Children of Boaz and Airy (Whitaker) Tharp, digital pages 157-162, William, digital pages 157-158.
  19. [S17] 1850 United States Federal Census, online at www.ancestry.com, household of Eliza F. Tharp, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M432; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Columbia, Fayette, Indiana; Roll: 144; Page: 276a.
  20. [S2667] Maner L. Thorpe, The Tharp Family, Volume 2, Children of Boaz and Airy (Whitaker) Tharp, digital pages 157-162, Andrew, digital page 158.
  21. [S2667] Maner L. Thorpe, The Tharp Family, Volume 2, Children of Boaz and Airy (Whitaker) Tharp, digital pages 157-162, Letitia, digital pages 158-159.
  22. [S2667] Maner L. Thorpe, The Tharp Family, Volume 2, Children of Boaz and Airy (Whitaker) Tharp, digital pages 157-162, Matilda, digital pages 161-162.
  23. [S2698] Prepared by the United States Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs and dated 12 July 1990, "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.", in response to a petition submitted to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs for Federal acknowledgment that this group exists as an Indian Tribe; downloaded record number MNI-V001-D004, (file name 066_pf-2.pdf) from the Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs website (https://www.bia.gov) in October 2024. Hereinafter cited as "Summary Under the Criteria and Evidence for Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc."
  24. [S2695] Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895, online at https://www.genealogycenter.info/search_miamiannuities.php; the website offers a Search capability and notes that the images were taken from microfilm, and that some years are out of order. The records include the following, although we've discovered they are more mixed up than we expected: Annuity Payroll, (reported to be the1854 cover only, although the handwritten pages that follow appear to us to be from 1854); Annuity Payroll, 1882; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Annuity Payroll, Eel River Tribe, 1889 (continued); Annuity Payroll, 1891; Annuity Payroll, 1895; Land Division, Francis Godfroy; and 1881 Census of Miami Indians in Indiana and Elsewhere. Hereinafter cited as Annuities and Census of the Miami Indians, 1854 - 1895.
  25. [S2694] Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal, online at https://aacimotaatiiyankwi.org/2021/10/28/…, with additional information from a linked Google Spreadsheet. Hereinafter cited as Aacimotaatiiyankwi - Myaamia Exempt From Removal.
  26. [S2690] S. P. Kaler and R. H. Maring, History of Whitley County, Indiana, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Place of publication not identified: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1907). Hereinafter cited as History of Whitley County, Indiana.
  27. [S2675] Authur L. Bodurtha, History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, in 2 volumes, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1919). Hereinafter cited as History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests.
  28. [S2661] Otho Winger, The Last of The Miamis.
  29. [S2662] T. B. Helm, History of Wabash County, Indiana.
  30. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Hannah (Dixon) Marks, Memorial# 35394362.

Matilda Tharp1

b. 20 March 1814, d. 2 February 1884
Family
Father*Boaz Tharp1 b. 1778, d. 1841
Mother*Airy Whitaker1 b. 24 Aug 1779
Birth*20 March 1814Matilda Tharp was born on 20 March 1814 in what would soon become Fayette County, Indiana.2,3 
Marriage*26 January 1835She married William Montieth, son of Henry Montieth and Sarah __?__, on 26 January 1835 in Fayette County, Indiana.1,4 
Death*2 February 1884She died on 2 February 1884 at age 693 
Burial* and was buried in Lick Creek Cemetery, Connersville, Fayette County, Indiana.5 
(Child) Research NotesThe names of Matilda's siblings, the other children of Boaz Tharp and Airy (Whitaker) Tharp, whose daughter, Lydia, was stolen by Indians in 1814, were not known by early researchers. Hubbard's Pinhook to Brazil source reported that the Tharps had three children; Lydia, who was stolen by Indians and thought at the time to have been their eldest, and two others whose names were not known. The Find a Grave Memorial pages for the Tharp parents identified Letitia and Jesse M. Tharp as Lydia's two siblings, although Jesse's Find a Grave Memorial page reported his birth date as 14 February 1842. While it was possible that Jesse was born posthumously, after Boaz's death in 1841, it was unlikely that Airy would have given birth to a child in her middle 60s. Our reasoning told us that Jesse, born in 1842, was not Lydia's brother. At this point in our research, we had confirmed Letitia as one of Lydia's "missing" siblings, and went in search of the second. If the "missing child" was a son, we wondered if he could have been Andrew Tharp, born about 1804 in North Carolina. Andrew and his wife, Jane, were enumerated on the 1850 census in Hamilton County, Indiana, and we learned from that census that they named their eldest daughter, who was born about 1834, Lydia. While we believed it a worthwhile clue, it was not enough to confirm our suspicions.

With further research, a happy discovery, and with many thanks to The Tharp Family source, we learned that Andrew was, in fact, the second son of Boaz and Airy Tharp. We also learned that the Jesse M. Tharp of the Find a Grave Memorial, was a grandson of the couple. Jesse was the son of Boaz and Airy's eldest son, William. Then, still using The Tharp Family source, we learned that Boaz and Airy Tharp had four children, not two, in addition to Lydia, who was their youngest at the time she was stolen. In order of birth, their five children were William, Andrew, Letitia, Lydia and Matilda.6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,1 

Family

 William Montieth b. 1807, d. 8 Aug 1887

Citations

  1. [S2667] Maner L. Thorpe, The Tharp Family, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. This book concentrates on the descendants of Thomas Tharp (ca. 1744-1804), son of John Tharp and Elizabeth Jordan. He was born in Queen Annes County, Maryland. In the mid-1760s he married Elizabeth Pegg, daughter of William Pegg of Mispillion Hundred, Kent County, Delaware and a native of St. Ives, Huntingdonshire, England. In 1779 Thomas Tharp received a grant of land in Rowan County, North Carolina. Family members migrated from North Carolina to Ohio, Indiana and elsewhere. Contents: Volume 1. The Tharp family of Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina, Ohio and Indiana: ancestry and descendants -- Volume 2. Allied families and appendix. (Santa Barbara, California: M. L. Tharp, 1996), Volume 2, Children of Boaz and Airy (Whitaker) Tharp, digital pages 157-162, Matilda, digital pages 161-162. Hereinafter cited as The Tharp Family.
  2. [S2667] Maner L. Thorpe, The Tharp Family, Volume 2, Children of Boaz and Airy (Whitaker) Tharp, digital pages 157-162, Matilda, digital pages 161-162, reporting her birth in late 1815.
  3. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Matilda Montieth, Memorial# 171010638, recording her birth as 20 March 1814. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  4. [S1566] Indiana, U.S., Marriages, 1810-2001, online at www.ancestry.com, marriage of Matilda Tharp and William Monteith on 26 January 1835 in Fayette County, Indiana, United States, citing page 189 and referencing FHL Film# 000469765. Hereinafter cited as Indiana, U.S., Marriages, 1810-2001.
  5. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Matilda Montieth, Memorial# 171010638.
  6. [S2665] Nelle Decker Hubbard, Pinhook to Brazil, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Brazil, Indiana: Hubbard, Nelle Decker, 1936), from the final section titled, "The Whitaker Family", Chapter IX, "Thorpe Child Stolen By The Indians", (As Related by Eli Hendrix, Pioneer), page 210. Hereinafter cited as Pinhook to Brazil.
  7. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Boaz Tharp, Memorial# 51092937.
  8. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Airy (Whitaker) Tharp, Memorial# 51093066.
  9. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Letitia (Tharp) Stevens, Memorial# 35015198.
  10. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Jesse M. Tharp, Memorial# 110668488.
  11. [S17] 1850 United States Federal Census, online at www.ancestry.com, household of Andrew and Jane Tharp, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M432; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Noblesville, Hamilton, Indiana; Roll: 148; Page: 109a. Hereinafter cited as 1850 United States Federal Census.
  12. [S2667] Maner L. Thorpe, The Tharp Family, Volume 2, Children of Boaz and Airy (Whitaker) Tharp, digital pages 157-162, William, digital pages 157-158.
  13. [S17] 1850 United States Federal Census, online at www.ancestry.com, household of Eliza F. Tharp, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M432; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Columbia, Fayette, Indiana; Roll: 144; Page: 276a.
  14. [S2667] Maner L. Thorpe, The Tharp Family, Volume 2, Children of Boaz and Airy (Whitaker) Tharp, digital pages 157-162, Andrew, digital page 158.
  15. [S2667] Maner L. Thorpe, The Tharp Family, Volume 2, Children of Boaz and Airy (Whitaker) Tharp, digital pages 157-162, Letitia, digital pages 158-159.
  16. [S2667] Maner L. Thorpe, The Tharp Family, Volume 2, Children of Boaz and Airy (Whitaker) Tharp, digital pages 157-162, Lydia, digital pages 159-161.

Rachel Tharp1

b. 21 December 1846
Family
Birth*21 December 1846Rachel Tharp was born on 21 December 1846 in Allen County, Ohio.1 
Marriage*15 March 1855She married Thomas J. Deivert on 15 March 1855 in Defiance County, Ohio.1,2,3 

Family

 Thomas J. Deivert b. 1841
Child 1.Matilda Frances Deivert+1,4 b. 10 Mar 1867, d. 14 Nov 1954

Citations

  1. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Rachel (Tharp) Deivert, Memorial# 160492055. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  2. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Thomas J Deivert, Memorial# 86115026.
  3. [S1576] Ohio, County Marriage Records, 1774-1993, online at www.ancestry.com, marriage of Thomas J Deivert and Rachel E Tharp on 15 March 1866 in Defiance County, Ohio, USA, referencing FHL Film# 000909337. Hereinafter cited as Ohio, County Marriage Records, 1774-1993.
  4. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Matilda Frances (Deivert) Harper, Memorial# 59674406.

Thomas Tharp1

b. 1744
Family
Birth*1744Thomas Tharp was born about 1744 in Queen Anne's County, Maryland.2 
Marriage*1760He married Elizabeth Pegg about the mid-1760s.1,2 

Family

 Elizabeth Pegg b. 1749
Children 1.Letitia Tharp3 b. 1766
 2.Jehu Tharp3 b. 1767
 3.James Tharp4 b. 1769
 4.Thomas Tharp Jr.5 b. 1772
 5.Boaz Tharp+1,2 b. 1778, d. 1841
 6.William Tharp5 b. 1782
 7.Andrew Tharp5 b. 25 Mar 1871

Citations

  1. [S2667] Maner L. Thorpe, The Tharp Family, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. This book concentrates on the descendants of Thomas Tharp (ca. 1744-1804), son of John Tharp and Elizabeth Jordan. He was born in Queen Annes County, Maryland. In the mid-1760s he married Elizabeth Pegg, daughter of William Pegg of Mispillion Hundred, Kent County, Delaware and a native of St. Ives, Huntingdonshire, England. In 1779 Thomas Tharp received a grant of land in Rowan County, North Carolina. Family members migrated from North Carolina to Ohio, Indiana and elsewhere. Contents: Volume 1. The Tharp family of Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina, Ohio and Indiana: ancestry and descendants -- Volume 2. Allied families and appendix. (Santa Barbara, California: M. L. Tharp, 1996), Volume 2, digital page 12. Hereinafter cited as The Tharp Family.
  2. [S2667] Maner L. Thorpe, The Tharp Family, Volume 1, digital pages 20 and 21-24.
  3. [S2667] Maner L. Thorpe, The Tharp Family, Volume 1, digital page 24.
  4. [S2667] Maner L. Thorpe, The Tharp Family, Volume 1, digital pages 24-25.
  5. [S2667] Maner L. Thorpe, The Tharp Family, Volume 1, digital page 25.

Thomas Tharp1

b. 1837
Family
Father*William Tharp1 b. 1803
Mother*Eliza F. __?__1 b. 1805
Birth*1837Thomas Tharp was born about 1837 in Indiana.1 

Citations

  1. [S17] 1850 United States Federal Census, online at www.ancestry.com, household of Eliza F. Tharp, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M432; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Columbia, Fayette, Indiana; Roll: 144; Page: 276a. Hereinafter cited as 1850 United States Federal Census.

Thomas Tharp Jr.1

b. 1772
Family
Father*Thomas Tharp1 b. 1744
Mother*Elizabeth Pegg1 b. 1749
Birth*1772Thomas Tharp Jr. was born about 1772 in Mispillion Hundred, Kent County, Delaware.1 

Citations

  1. [S2667] Maner L. Thorpe, The Tharp Family, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. This book concentrates on the descendants of Thomas Tharp (ca. 1744-1804), son of John Tharp and Elizabeth Jordan. He was born in Queen Annes County, Maryland. In the mid-1760s he married Elizabeth Pegg, daughter of William Pegg of Mispillion Hundred, Kent County, Delaware and a native of St. Ives, Huntingdonshire, England. In 1779 Thomas Tharp received a grant of land in Rowan County, North Carolina. Family members migrated from North Carolina to Ohio, Indiana and elsewhere. Contents: Volume 1. The Tharp family of Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina, Ohio and Indiana: ancestry and descendants -- Volume 2. Allied families and appendix. (Santa Barbara, California: M. L. Tharp, 1996), Volume 1, digital page 25. Hereinafter cited as The Tharp Family.

William Tharp1

b. 1782
Family
Father*Thomas Tharp1 b. 1744
Mother*Elizabeth Pegg1 b. 1749
Birth*1782William Tharp was born about 1782 in Rowan County, North Carolina.1 

Citations

  1. [S2667] Maner L. Thorpe, The Tharp Family, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. This book concentrates on the descendants of Thomas Tharp (ca. 1744-1804), son of John Tharp and Elizabeth Jordan. He was born in Queen Annes County, Maryland. In the mid-1760s he married Elizabeth Pegg, daughter of William Pegg of Mispillion Hundred, Kent County, Delaware and a native of St. Ives, Huntingdonshire, England. In 1779 Thomas Tharp received a grant of land in Rowan County, North Carolina. Family members migrated from North Carolina to Ohio, Indiana and elsewhere. Contents: Volume 1. The Tharp family of Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina, Ohio and Indiana: ancestry and descendants -- Volume 2. Allied families and appendix. (Santa Barbara, California: M. L. Tharp, 1996), Volume 1, digital page 25. Hereinafter cited as The Tharp Family.

William Tharp1

b. 1803
Family
Father*Boaz Tharp1 b. 1778, d. 1841
Mother*Airy Whitaker1 b. 24 Aug 1779
Birth*1803William Tharp was born about 1803, probably in Montgomery County, Ohio.1 
Marriage*15 May 1830He may have married Eleanor Bolin or Eliza F. __?__ on 15 May 1830 in Fayette County, Indiana.2,3,4 
(Child) Research NotesThe names of William's siblings, the other children of Boaz Tharp and Airy (Whitaker) Tharp, whose daughter, Lydia, was stolen by Indians in 1814, were not known by early researchers. Hubbard's Pinhook to Brazil source reported that the Tharps had three children; Lydia, who was stolen by Indians and thought at the time to have been their eldest, and two others whose names were not known. The Find a Grave Memorial pages for the Tharp parents identified Letitia and Jesse M. Tharp as Lydia's two siblings, although Jesse's Find a Grave Memorial page reported his birth date as 14 February 1842. While it was possible that Jesse was born posthumously, after Boaz's death in 1841, it was unlikely that Airy would have given birth to a child in her middle 60s. Our reasoning told us that Jesse, born in 1842, was not Lydia's brother. At this point in our research, we had confirmed Letitia as one of Lydia's "missing" siblings, and went in search of the second. If the "missing child" was a son, we wondered if he could have been Andrew Tharp, born about 1804 in North Carolina. Andrew and his wife, Jane, were enumerated on the 1850 census in Hamilton County, Indiana, and we learned from that census that they named their eldest daughter, who was born about 1834, Lydia. While we believed it a worthwhile clue, it was not enough to confirm our suspicions.

With further research, a happy discovery, and with many thanks to The Tharp Family source, we learned that Andrew was, in fact, the second son of Boaz and Airy Tharp. We also learned that the Jesse M. Tharp of the Find a Grave Memorial, was a grandson of the couple. Jesse was the son of Boaz and Airy's eldest son, William. Then, still using The Tharp Family source, we learned that Boaz and Airy Tharp had four children, not two, in addition to Lydia, who was their youngest at the time she was stolen. In order of birth, their five children were William, Andrew, Letitia, Lydia and Matilda.5,6,7,8,9,10,4,3,11,12,13,14 

Family

 Eliza F. __?__ b. 1805
Children 1.Eliza Tharp3 b. 1835
 2.Thomas Tharp3 b. 1837
 3.Jesse M. Tharp9,4,3,15 b. 24 Feb 1842, d. 13 Mar 1891
 4.Andrew Tharp3 b. 1848

Citations

  1. [S2667] Maner L. Thorpe, The Tharp Family, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. This book concentrates on the descendants of Thomas Tharp (ca. 1744-1804), son of John Tharp and Elizabeth Jordan. He was born in Queen Annes County, Maryland. In the mid-1760s he married Elizabeth Pegg, daughter of William Pegg of Mispillion Hundred, Kent County, Delaware and a native of St. Ives, Huntingdonshire, England. In 1779 Thomas Tharp received a grant of land in Rowan County, North Carolina. Family members migrated from North Carolina to Ohio, Indiana and elsewhere. Contents: Volume 1. The Tharp family of Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina, Ohio and Indiana: ancestry and descendants -- Volume 2. Allied families and appendix. (Santa Barbara, California: M. L. Tharp, 1996), Volume 2, Children of Boaz and Airy (Whitaker) Tharp, digital pages 157-162. Hereinafter cited as The Tharp Family.
  2. [S1570] Indiana, U.S., Select Marriages Index, 1748-1993, online at www.ancestry.com, marriage on 15 May 1830 in Fayette County, Indiana, of William Tharp and Eleanor Bolin, referencing FHL Film# 1863944, P166. Hereinafter cited as Indiana, U.S., Select Marriages Index, 1748-1993.
  3. [S17] 1850 United States Federal Census, online at www.ancestry.com, household of Eliza F. Tharp, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M432; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Columbia, Fayette, Indiana; Roll: 144; Page: 276a. Hereinafter cited as 1850 United States Federal Census.
  4. [S2667] Maner L. Thorpe, The Tharp Family, Volume 2, Children of Boaz and Airy (Whitaker) Tharp, digital pages 157-162, William, digital pages 157-158.
  5. [S2665] Nelle Decker Hubbard, Pinhook to Brazil, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Brazil, Indiana: Hubbard, Nelle Decker, 1936), from the final section titled, "The Whitaker Family", Chapter IX, "Thorpe Child Stolen By The Indians", (As Related by Eli Hendrix, Pioneer), page 210. Hereinafter cited as Pinhook to Brazil.
  6. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Boaz Tharp, Memorial# 51092937. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  7. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Airy (Whitaker) Tharp, Memorial# 51093066.
  8. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Letitia (Tharp) Stevens, Memorial# 35015198.
  9. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Jesse M. Tharp, Memorial# 110668488.
  10. [S17] 1850 United States Federal Census, online at www.ancestry.com, household of Andrew and Jane Tharp, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M432; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Noblesville, Hamilton, Indiana; Roll: 148; Page: 109a.
  11. [S2667] Maner L. Thorpe, The Tharp Family, Volume 2, Children of Boaz and Airy (Whitaker) Tharp, digital pages 157-162, Andrew, digital page 158.
  12. [S2667] Maner L. Thorpe, The Tharp Family, Volume 2, Children of Boaz and Airy (Whitaker) Tharp, digital pages 157-162, Letitia, digital pages 158-159.
  13. [S2667] Maner L. Thorpe, The Tharp Family, Volume 2, Children of Boaz and Airy (Whitaker) Tharp, digital pages 157-162, Lydia, digital pages 159-161.
  14. [S2667] Maner L. Thorpe, The Tharp Family, Volume 2, Children of Boaz and Airy (Whitaker) Tharp, digital pages 157-162, Matilda, digital pages 161-162.
  15. [S2667] Maner L. Thorpe, The Tharp Family, Volume 2, Children of William and Eliza ----- Tharp, digital page 183, Jesse, digital page 183.

Samuel Thaxter1

b. 8 October 1695, d. 4 December 1732
Family
Birth*8 October 1695Samuel Thaxter was born on 8 October 1695 in Hingham, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Bay Province (New England).2 
Marriage*5 March 1730He married, as her first husband, Mary Hawkes on 5 March 1730 in Hingham, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Bay Province (New England).3,1 
Death*4 December 1732He died on 4 December 1732 in Hingham at age 37.4 

Family 1
Child 1.Captain Samuel Thaxter2 b. 15 Nov 1723

Family 2

 Mary Hawkes

Citations

  1. [S1062] Unidentified Author, "Hancock Family -- 1635 -- from England (Pedigree Chart)", New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 9, page 352, (October 1855). Hereinafter cited as "Hancock Family (Pedigree Chart)."
  2. [S859] The town of Hingham, compiler, History of the town of Hingham, Massachusetts, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. Reprint in one volume of the last two volumes of the History of the town of Hingham, Massachusetts, originally published in three volumes in four parts by the town in 1893. Includes separate indexes for surnames, places, and miscellaneous at the end of Volume 3. Contents: Volume 1, Parts 1-2. Historical --Volume 2. Genealogical -- Volume 3. Genealogical. (Hingham, Massachusetts: Published by the town, 1893), Thaxter, Volume 3, pages 229-239. Hereinafter cited as History of Hingham, Massachusetts.
  3. [S1012] Hingham, MA: Vital Records, 1639-1844, online at www.americanancestors.org, Volume 1, Marriages, page 272. Hereinafter cited as Hingham Vital Records, 1639-1844.
  4. [S1012] Hingham Vital Records, 1639-1844, online at www.americanancestors.org, Volume 1, Deaths, page 102.

Captain Samuel Thaxter1

b. 15 November 1723
Family
Father*Samuel Thaxter2 b. 8 Oct 1695, d. 4 Dec 1732
Birth*15 November 1723Captain Samuel Thaxter was born on 15 November 1723 in Hingham, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Bay Province (New England).2 

Citations

  1. [S796] Massachusetts State Archives, French and Indian War muster roll index cards, 1603-1779. Microfilm of cards at Massachusetts State Archives, Boston, Massachusetts: FHL Film# 2428118, Muster Roll index card# 14349 for Jonathan "Bolten" referencing Volume 95, page 509 of the Massachusetts Archives : Muster Rolls; on 51 microfilm reels, LDS Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. Hereinafter cited as French and Indian War muster roll index 1603-1779.
  2. [S859] The town of Hingham, compiler, History of the town of Hingham, Massachusetts, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. Reprint in one volume of the last two volumes of the History of the town of Hingham, Massachusetts, originally published in three volumes in four parts by the town in 1893. Includes separate indexes for surnames, places, and miscellaneous at the end of Volume 3. Contents: Volume 1, Parts 1-2. Historical --Volume 2. Genealogical -- Volume 3. Genealogical. (Hingham, Massachusetts: Published by the town, 1893), Thaxter, Volume 3, pages 229-239. Hereinafter cited as History of Hingham, Massachusetts.

Sarah Thaxter1

d. 1 September 1678
Family
Father*Thomas Thaxter2
Marriage*13 December 1655She married Thomas Thurston, son of John Thurston and Margaret __?__, on 13 December 1655 in Medfield.1,3 
Death*1 September 1678She died on 1 September 1678 in Medfield.1,4 

Family

 Thomas Thurston b. 4 Aug 1633, d. 20 May 1704
Child 1.Thomas Thurston+5,1 b. 11 Feb 1657/58, d. 15 Dec 1704

Citations

  1. [S1321] Thurston Brown, Thurston Genealogies, 1635-1892, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. Available as a download only from a computer in the Family History Library. Reprint. Originally published: 2nd ed. Portland, Me. : B. Thurston, 1892. Includes indexes. A record of the descendants of all branches of the Thurston family in the United States. (Salem, Massachusetts: Higginson Book Company, 199_?), Person No. 5541, Thomas Thurston, pages 358-359. Hereinafter cited as Thurston Genealogies, 1635-1892.
  2. [S1291] William S. Tilden, History of the Town of Medfield, Massachusetts 1650-1886 : with genealogies of the families that held real estate or made any considerable stay in the town during the first century, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Boston, Massachusetts: Geo. H. Ellis, 1887), Thurston, pages 495-497. Hereinafter cited as History of the Town of Medfield, Massachusetts 1650-1886.
  3. [S451] Massachusetts Vital Records to the Year 1850 - NEHGS, online at www.newenglandancestors.org, Medfield Marriages, Volume 1, page 177. Hereinafter cited as Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850 - NEHGS.
  4. [S451] Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850 - NEHGS, online at www.newenglandancestors.org, Medfield Deaths, Volume 1, page 237.
  5. [S1321] Thurston Brown, Thurston Genealogies, 1635-1892, Person No. 5554, Thomas Thurston, pages 362-363.

Thomas Thaxter1

Family
Residence*He was of Hingham, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Bay Colony (New England).1 

Family
Child 1.Sarah Thaxter+1 d. 1 Sep 1678

Citations

  1. [S1291] William S. Tilden, History of the Town of Medfield, Massachusetts 1650-1886 : with genealogies of the families that held real estate or made any considerable stay in the town during the first century, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Boston, Massachusetts: Geo. H. Ellis, 1887), Thurston, pages 495-497. Hereinafter cited as History of the Town of Medfield, Massachusetts 1650-1886.

Andrew Eliot Thayer1

b. 4 November 1783
Family
Father*Ebenezer Thayer1 b. 16 Jul 1734, d. 6 Sep 1792
Mother*Martha Cotton1 b. 30 Nov 1739, d. c 1809
Birth*4 November 1783Andrew Eliot Thayer was born on 4 November 1783 in Hampton, Rockingham County, New Hampshire.1 

Citations

  1. [S1039] Hampton, NH: Vital Records to 1900, online at www.americanancestors.org, Volume 1, page 226. Hereinafter cited as Hampton Vital Records to 1900.

Catharine Thayer1

b. 12 June 1737
Family
Father*Nathaniel Thayer1 b. 17 Jul 1710, d. 15 Dec 1786
Mother*Ruth Eliot1 b. 20 Sep 1711, d. 1746
Baptism*12 June 1737Catharine Thayer was baptized on 12 June 1737 at First Church, Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Bay Province (New England).1 

Citations

  1. [S494] Boston MA: Church Records, online at www.newenglandancestors.org, First Church, page 317. Hereinafter cited as Boston MA: Church Records.

Catherine Thayer1

(Member) Religion31 March 1805Zilpah Bolton and Nathaniel Everett, along with several others including Thomas Ditson, John Hayden, George Briggs Cox, Simeon Blanchard, Francis Green, Peter Vallett, John Woodward, Mary Marnson, Ruth Thayer, Venus Sylvester, Kezia Booth, Lydia Leeds, Botsey Jones, Versan Adams, Zebudah Hayden, Martha Farrar, Betsey Mirth Horton, Catherine Thayer, Lydia Sweetser and Sally Lovis, were baptized and became members of the Second Baptist Church, Boston, on Sunday, 31 March 1805. In the baptismal records, the men and women were listed separately.2,3,4 

Citations

  1. [S893] Records of the Second Baptist Church, Boston, 1788-1809, original manuscript, Reference Item# 26, Franklin Trask Library, 210 Herrick Road, Newton Centre, MA, pages 114 and 118.
  2. [S893] Records of the Second Baptist Church, Boston, 1788-1809, original manuscript, Franklin Trask Library, page 118.
  3. [S183] Boston, Massachusetts, Church Records, 1789-1811; FHL# 856700 Item# 5, LDS Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. Hereinafter cited as Second Baptist Church Records, 1789-1811.
  4. [S494] Boston MA: Church Records, online at www.newenglandancestors.org. Hereinafter cited as Boston MA: Church Records.

Cornelius Thayer1

b. 14 November 1684, d. 1745
Family
Father*Nathaniel Thayer1,2 b. 11 Apr 1639, d. 28 Mar 1728
Mother*Deborah Townsend1,2
Birth*14 November 1684Cornelius Thayer was born on 14 November 1684 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Bay Colony (New England).1,2 
Marriage*8 May 1707He married Lydia Turell, daughter of Samuel Turell and Lydia Stoddard, on 8 May 1707 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Bay Province (New England). They were married by Penn Townsend, Esq.3,4,1 
Death*1745He died in 1745.1 

Family

 Lydia Turell b. 8 Jul 1683
Children 1.Lydia Thayer1
 2.Nathaniel Thayer+5 b. 17 Jul 1710, d. 15 Dec 1786
 3.Deborah Thayer6 b. 27 Jan 1714
 4.Hannah Thayer6 b. 1716
 5.Cornelius Thayer6 b. 1719
 6.Mary Thayer6 b. 16 Dec 1721
 7.Turell Thayer6 b. 20 Mar 1726
 8.Sarah Thayer6 b. 1732

Citations

  1. [S452] The Thayer Families Association Website, online at www.thayerfamilies.com, Richard Thayer, First 5 Generations. Hereinafter cited as Thayer Families Association Website.
  2. [S1034] Boston MA: Births, Baptisms, Marriages, and Deaths, 1630-1699, online at www.americanancestors.org, City Document No. 130, page 164. Hereinafter cited as Boston Births, Baptisms, Marriages, Deaths, 1630-1699.
  3. [S746] Boston, Massachusetts Marriages, 1700-1809, online at www.americanancestors.org, City Document No. 150, page 21. Hereinafter cited as Boston Marriages, 1700-1809.
  4. [S979] Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, online at www.ancestry.com. Hereinafter cited as Massachusetts Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988.
  5. [S745] Boston Births, 1700-1800, online at www.NewEnglandAncestors.org, City Document No. 43, page 71. Hereinafter cited as Boston Births, 1700-1800.
  6. [S494] Boston MA: Church Records, online at www.newenglandancestors.org, First Church, page 300. Hereinafter cited as Boston MA: Church Records.

Cornelius Thayer1

b. 1719
Family
Father*Cornelius Thayer2 b. 14 Nov 1684, d. 1745
Mother*Lydia Turell2 b. 8 Jul 1683
Birth*1719Cornelius Thayer was born in 1719.1 
(Residual Legatee) Probate Dispute2 March 1780 On 2 March 1780, Nathaniel Thayer, Cornelius Thayer, Samuel Bass, William Andrews, Deborah (Thayer) Whitworth, Hannah (Thayer) Abbott, Christian (Bass) Armstrong, Mary Thayer, Sarah (Thayer) White and Rebecca (Bass) Thomas Fowle, all of Boston and residual legatees resulting from the will of the Reverend Ebenezer Turell, submitted a document to the court addressing their concerns regarding the inequities between the value of silver and gold compared with the value of Continental currency, which had gone through several changes and devaluations during and after the Revolutionary War. In 1780, paper money in the new United States, called Continentals, was worth only about 1/40th of its face value. The document stated their understanding that Simon Tufts Esq. of Medford, as Executor to the last will and testament of Ebenezer Turell, late of Medford, Clerk, was entitled by the will to a legacy of £20, and was by virtue of his Executorship in possession of a sum of silver and gold coin, which according to a law of Massachusetts for regulating the value of silver and god coin, amounted to £503, 15s, 6p. Their petition went on to state that a dispute had arisen between the Executor Simon and several of the legatees regarding whether their legacies ought to be paid in silver and gold or in the present currency of the state. The petition's subscribers recommended that the Executor pay them 2/3 of their legacies in silver and gold, after deducting 1/2 of his own legacy, and that the Executor's other half be paid to himself in paper money. The petition went on to recommend that the £150 allowed the Executor for all his services in settling the estate be paid in paper money. The petition's subscribers, all residual legatees as the children, or their heirs, of Lydia (Turell) Thayer and Christian (Turell) Bass, both of whom were deceased sisters of the late Reverend Turell, agreed to be obligated to the court for the sum of £100,000 in lawful money of the state as protection for the Executor. Their document stated that in the case any debts owed to the estate were recovered which would increase the assets owed to the Executor, they would refund their prorated parts of those debts on the condition that their obligation of £100,000 to the court be voided and of no effect. Their petition concluded with the statement that should they fail to keep their agreement, their obligation would remain in full force and effect.3 
(Residual Legatee) Massachusetts Money The pound was the currency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and its colonial predecessors until 1793. Like the British pound sterling of that era, the Massachusetts pound was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence, but the Massachusetts and British pounds were not equivalent in value. British and other foreign coins were widely circulated in Massachusetts, supplemented by locally-produced coins between about 1652 and 1682 and by local paper money from 1690.

The paper money issued in colonial Massachusetts was denominated in pounds, shillings, and pence. Initially, six shillings were equal to one Spanish dollar. After years of high inflation, in 1749 Massachusetts withdrew its paper money from circulation and returned to money in the form of coin.

After the American Revolutionary War began in 1775, the Continental Congress began issuing paper money known as Continental currency, or Continentals. Continental currency was denominated in dollars from 1/6 of a dollar to $80, including many odd denominations in between. During the Revolution, Congress issued $241,552,780 in Continental currency.

Continental currency depreciated badly during the war, giving rise to the famous phrase "not worth a continental". Several factors contributed to the declining value. Monetary policy was not coordinated between Congress and the states which, like Massachusetts, continued to issue too many bills of credit not backed by tangible assets. Congress and the states lacked the will or the means to retire the bills from circulation through taxation or the sale of bonds. Another problem was that the British successfully waged economic warfare by counterfeiting Continentals on a large scale.

By the end of 1778, Continentals retained from 1/5 to 1/7 of their face value. By 1780, the bills were worth 1/40th of face value. Congress attempted to reform the currency by removing the old bills from circulation and issuing new ones, without success. By May 1781, Continentals had become so worthless that they ceased to circulate as money. Benjamin Franklin noted that the depreciation of the currency had, in effect, acted as a tax to pay for the war. In the 1790s, after the ratification of the United States Constitution, Continentals could be exchanged for treasury bonds at 1% of face value. The Massachusetts state currency depreciated greatly and was replaced by the U.S. dollar in 1793.

The painful experience of the runaway inflation and collapse of the Continental dollar prompted the delegates to the Constitutional Convention to include the gold and silver clause into the United States Constitution so that the individual states could not issue bills of credit, or "make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts." This restriction of bills of credit was extended to the Federal Government, as the power to "emit bills" from the Articles of Confederation was abolished, leaving Congress with the power "to borrow money on credit."4,5 
(Residual Legatee) Probate Dispute9 March 1780During the course of the Turell probate, Simon Tufts Esq., Executor, submitted itemized reports to the court accounting for his payments to beneficiaries and the expenses he incurred on estate business. On 9 March 1780, the Executor listed cash paid in the amount of £329, 3s, 8p to the residuary legatees.3 

Citations

  1. [S1067] Patricia Thayer Muno, Descendants of Richard Thayer, Immigrant to America 1641, through the 19th Century, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Beaverton, Oregon: Desktop Publishing, 1992), Descendants of Richard Thayer, page 129. Hereinafter cited as Descendants of Richard Thayer.
  2. [S494] Boston MA: Church Records, online at www.newenglandancestors.org, First Church, page 300. Hereinafter cited as Boston MA: Church Records.
  3. [S485] Probate Records 1648-1924, Middlesex County, Massachusetts (886 microfilm reels of original records in the Middlesex County Courthouse, Cambridge, Massachusetts), LDS Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, Ebenezer Turell 1778 probate packet# 23046, FHL Film# 421543. Hereinafter cited as Probate Records 1648-1924, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
  4. [S225] Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia, online at www.wikipedia.org, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_pound. Hereinafter cited as Wikipedia Encyclopedia.
  5. [S225] Wikipedia Encyclopedia, online at www.wikipedia.org, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_American_currency

Deborah Thayer1

b. 27 March 1634, d. 31 May 1662
Family
Father*Richard Thayer1 b. 5 Apr 1601
Mother*Dorothy Mortimore1
Baptism*27 March 1634Deborah Tayer was baptized on 27 March 1634 at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Braintree, Gloucestershire, England. Her Godparents were William Jones and John Busher as Godfathers and Elizabeth Wenkl as Godmother.1 
(Daughter) Immigrationcirca 1641Shortly after the death of her mother, Deborah Thayer immigrated with her father and seven siblings in circa 1641 to America with his eight children. The family settled in Braintree, Massachusetts following Richard's older brother, Thomas Thayer, who had immigrated in 1637 with his family and also settled in Braintree.2,3 
Marriage*11 April 1653She married Thomas Faxon, son of Thomas Faxon and Joane __?__, on 11 April 1653 in Braintree, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Bay Colony (New England).4,5 
(Wife) Death25 May 1662Deborah became a widow when Thomas Faxon died on 25 May 1662.4 
Death*31 May 1662She died just six days after her husband on 31 May 1662 in Braintree at age 28.4 

Family

 Thomas Faxon b. c 1628/29, d. 25 May 1662

Citations

  1. [S458] Walter Faxon, Edward Henry Whorf and introduction and notes by Henry Ernest Woods, "Tayer (Thayer) Family Entries in the Parish Registry of Thornbury, Gloucestershire, England", New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 60, (July 1906): page 286. Hereinafter cited as "Tayer (Thayer) in Thornbury Parish Records - NEHGR."
  2. [S458] Walter Faxon, Edward Henry Whorf and introduction and notes by Henry Ernest Woods, "Tayer (Thayer) in Thornbury Parish Records - NEHGR", page 284 footnote.
  3. [S452] The Thayer Families Association Website, online at www.thayerfamilies.com, Richard Thayer, First 5 Generations. Hereinafter cited as Thayer Families Association Website.
  4. [S1337] George L. Faxon, The History of the Faxon Family, containing a genealogy of the descendants of Thomas Faxon of Braintree, Mass. : with a map locating the homesteads of the first four generations; accompanied by copious abstracts from the records of deeds and probate. Also a Genealogy of branches of many allied families of Ballou, Barbour, Saxton, Washburn, Whitmarsh, and others, downloaded from the Boston Public Library eBooks and Texts Archive at www.archive.org. (Springfield, Massachusetts: Springfield Printing Company, 1880), Second Generation, pages 39-42. Hereinafter cited as The History of the Faxon Family, containing a genealogy of the descendants of Thomas Faxon of Braintree, Mass.
  5. [S1035] Transcribed by David Pulsifer and William B. Trask, "Records of Boston (Early)", New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volumes 2 - 12, (January 1848 - October 1858): Volume 12, page 110, the date written as "11: 2nd" 53" which, under the Gregorian calendar of that period, was April, not February; his surname transcribed as "Fackson" and hers as "Thayre". Hereinafter cited as "Early Records of Boston."

Deborah Thayer1

b. 1 December 1745
Family
Father*Nathaniel Thayer1 b. 17 Jul 1710, d. 15 Dec 1786
Mother*Ruth Eliot1 b. 20 Sep 1711, d. 1746
Baptism*1 December 1745Deborah Thayer was baptized on 1 December 1745 at First Church, Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Bay Province (New England).1 

Citations

  1. [S494] Boston MA: Church Records, online at www.newenglandancestors.org, First Church, page 327. Hereinafter cited as Boston MA: Church Records.

Deborah Thayer1

b. 27 January 1714
Family
Father*Cornelius Thayer2 b. 14 Nov 1684, d. 1745
Mother*Lydia Turell2 b. 8 Jul 1683
Birth*27 January 1714Deborah Thayer was born on 27 January 1714 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Bay Province (New England).1 
Marriage*31 October 1744She married Miles Whitworth on 31 October 1744 in Boston.3 
(Residual Legatee) Probate Dispute2 March 1780 On 2 March 1780, Nathaniel Thayer, Cornelius Thayer, Samuel Bass, William Andrews, Deborah (Thayer) Whitworth, Hannah (Thayer) Abbott, Christian (Bass) Armstrong, Mary Thayer, Sarah (Thayer) White and Rebecca (Bass) Thomas Fowle, all of Boston and residual legatees resulting from the will of the Reverend Ebenezer Turell, submitted a document to the court addressing their concerns regarding the inequities between the value of silver and gold compared with the value of Continental currency, which had gone through several changes and devaluations during and after the Revolutionary War. In 1780, paper money in the new United States, called Continentals, was worth only about 1/40th of its face value. The document stated their understanding that Simon Tufts Esq. of Medford, as Executor to the last will and testament of Ebenezer Turell, late of Medford, Clerk, was entitled by the will to a legacy of £20, and was by virtue of his Executorship in possession of a sum of silver and gold coin, which according to a law of Massachusetts for regulating the value of silver and god coin, amounted to £503, 15s, 6p. Their petition went on to state that a dispute had arisen between the Executor Simon and several of the legatees regarding whether their legacies ought to be paid in silver and gold or in the present currency of the state. The petition's subscribers recommended that the Executor pay them 2/3 of their legacies in silver and gold, after deducting 1/2 of his own legacy, and that the Executor's other half be paid to himself in paper money. The petition went on to recommend that the £150 allowed the Executor for all his services in settling the estate be paid in paper money. The petition's subscribers, all residual legatees as the children, or their heirs, of Lydia (Turell) Thayer and Christian (Turell) Bass, both of whom were deceased sisters of the late Reverend Turell, agreed to be obligated to the court for the sum of £100,000 in lawful money of the state as protection for the Executor. Their document stated that in the case any debts owed to the estate were recovered which would increase the assets owed to the Executor, they would refund their prorated parts of those debts on the condition that their obligation of £100,000 to the court be voided and of no effect. Their petition concluded with the statement that should they fail to keep their agreement, their obligation would remain in full force and effect.4 
(Residual Legatee) Massachusetts Money The pound was the currency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and its colonial predecessors until 1793. Like the British pound sterling of that era, the Massachusetts pound was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence, but the Massachusetts and British pounds were not equivalent in value. British and other foreign coins were widely circulated in Massachusetts, supplemented by locally-produced coins between about 1652 and 1682 and by local paper money from 1690.

The paper money issued in colonial Massachusetts was denominated in pounds, shillings, and pence. Initially, six shillings were equal to one Spanish dollar. After years of high inflation, in 1749 Massachusetts withdrew its paper money from circulation and returned to money in the form of coin.

After the American Revolutionary War began in 1775, the Continental Congress began issuing paper money known as Continental currency, or Continentals. Continental currency was denominated in dollars from 1/6 of a dollar to $80, including many odd denominations in between. During the Revolution, Congress issued $241,552,780 in Continental currency.

Continental currency depreciated badly during the war, giving rise to the famous phrase "not worth a continental". Several factors contributed to the declining value. Monetary policy was not coordinated between Congress and the states which, like Massachusetts, continued to issue too many bills of credit not backed by tangible assets. Congress and the states lacked the will or the means to retire the bills from circulation through taxation or the sale of bonds. Another problem was that the British successfully waged economic warfare by counterfeiting Continentals on a large scale.

By the end of 1778, Continentals retained from 1/5 to 1/7 of their face value. By 1780, the bills were worth 1/40th of face value. Congress attempted to reform the currency by removing the old bills from circulation and issuing new ones, without success. By May 1781, Continentals had become so worthless that they ceased to circulate as money. Benjamin Franklin noted that the depreciation of the currency had, in effect, acted as a tax to pay for the war. In the 1790s, after the ratification of the United States Constitution, Continentals could be exchanged for treasury bonds at 1% of face value. The Massachusetts state currency depreciated greatly and was replaced by the U.S. dollar in 1793.

The painful experience of the runaway inflation and collapse of the Continental dollar prompted the delegates to the Constitutional Convention to include the gold and silver clause into the United States Constitution so that the individual states could not issue bills of credit, or "make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts." This restriction of bills of credit was extended to the Federal Government, as the power to "emit bills" from the Articles of Confederation was abolished, leaving Congress with the power "to borrow money on credit."5,6 
(Residual Legatee) Probate Dispute9 March 1780During the course of the Turell probate, Simon Tufts Esq., Executor, submitted itemized reports to the court accounting for his payments to beneficiaries and the expenses he incurred on estate business. On 9 March 1780, the Executor listed cash paid in the amount of £329, 3s, 8p to the residuary legatees.4 

Family

 Miles Whitworth

Citations

  1. [S745] Boston Births, 1700-1800, online at www.NewEnglandAncestors.org, page 101. Hereinafter cited as Boston Births, 1700-1800.
  2. [S494] Boston MA: Church Records, online at www.newenglandancestors.org, First Church, page 300. Hereinafter cited as Boston MA: Church Records.
  3. [S746] Boston, Massachusetts Marriages, 1700-1809, online at www.americanancestors.org, page 279. Hereinafter cited as Boston Marriages, 1700-1809.
  4. [S485] Probate Records 1648-1924, Middlesex County, Massachusetts (886 microfilm reels of original records in the Middlesex County Courthouse, Cambridge, Massachusetts), LDS Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, Ebenezer Turell 1778 probate packet# 23046, FHL Film# 421543. Hereinafter cited as Probate Records 1648-1924, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
  5. [S225] Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia, online at www.wikipedia.org, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_pound. Hereinafter cited as Wikipedia Encyclopedia.
  6. [S225] Wikipedia Encyclopedia, online at www.wikipedia.org, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_American_currency

Ebenezer Thayer1

b. 16 July 1734, d. 6 September 1792
Family
Father*Nathaniel Thayer3,2 b. 17 Jul 1710, d. 15 Dec 1786
Mother*Ruth Eliot2,3 b. 20 Sep 1711, d. 1746
Birth*16 July 1734Ebenezer Thayer was born on 16 July 1734 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Bay Province (New England),4,5,3 
Baptism21 July 1734 and was baptized on 21 July 1734 at First Church, Boston.6 
Education*1753Ebenezer graduated from Harvard College, Boston, in 1753.5 
Occupation*17 September 1766The Reverend Ebenezer Thayer was the pastor of the First Congregational Church, Hampton, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, from 17 September 1766 until his death in 1792.5,7 
Marriage*2 October 1766He married Martha Cotton, daughter of Reverend John Cotton and Mary Gibbs, on 2 October 1766 in Newton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts Bay Province (New England).5,8 
(Heir) Will9 November 1776The Reverend Ebenezer Thayer, described as his beloved nephew, was named as a beneficiary of the Reverend Ebenezer Turell in his will dated 9 November 1776 in Medford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts (Continental Congress). Turell's will gave Thayer his preaching Bible and a collection of religious books and his silk cloak from London.1 
Death*6 September 1792He died suddenly, from an oppression upon his breast, on 6 September 1792 in Hampton at age 585,9,10,11 
Burial* and was buried in Pine Grove Cemetery, Hampton.11 

Family

 Martha Cotton b. 30 Nov 1739, d. c 1809
Children 1.Ebenezer Thayer12 b. 15 Jul 1767
 2.Reverend Nathaniel Thayer+5,13 b. 11 Jul 1769, d. 23 Jun 1840
 3.Martha Thayer14 b. 21 Apr 1771
 4.John Thayer15 b. 14 Jul 1773
 5.Katherine Thayer16 b. 28 Sep 1779
 6.Andrew Eliot Thayer17 b. 4 Nov 1783

Citations

  1. [S485] Probate Records 1648-1924, Middlesex County, Massachusetts (886 microfilm reels of original records in the Middlesex County Courthouse, Cambridge, Massachusetts), LDS Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, Ebenezer Turell 1778 probate packet# 23046, FHL Film# 421543. Hereinafter cited as Probate Records 1648-1924, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
  2. [S452] The Thayer Families Association Website, online at www.thayerfamilies.com, Richard Thayer, First 5 Generations. Hereinafter cited as Thayer Families Association Website.
  3. [S979] Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, online at www.ancestry.com. Hereinafter cited as Massachusetts Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988.
  4. [S748] Find a Grave website, which often provides cemetery and tombstone photos, and sometimes personal biographies, that may be obtained from the site, online at www.findagrave.com, Reverend Ebenezer Thayer, Memorial# 16999380, created by Marc Thayer III, noting date of birth as 06 July 1734. Hereinafter cited as Find a Grave website.
  5. [S1022] Rev. Increase N. Tarbox, "Necrology of the New-England Historic Genealogical Society (Nathaniel Thayer A.M.)", New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 37, (October 1883): page 413. Hereinafter cited as "Nathaniel Thayer Necrology."
  6. [S494] Boston MA: Church Records, online at www.newenglandancestors.org, First Church, page 312. Hereinafter cited as Boston MA: Church Records.
  7. [S1021] The Meeting Houses of Hampton (New Hampshire), online at http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/hampton. Hereinafter cited as Meeting Houses of Hampton.
  8. [S451] Massachusetts Vital Records to the Year 1850 - NEHGS, online at www.newenglandancestors.org, Newton Marriages, page 264. Hereinafter cited as Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850 - NEHGS.
  9. [S1039] Hampton, NH: Vital Records to 1900, online at www.americanancestors.org, Volume 2, page 189. Hereinafter cited as Hampton Vital Records to 1900.
  10. [S1039] Hampton Vital Records to 1900, online at www.americanancestors.org, Volume 1, page 209.
  11. [S748] Find a Grave website, online at www.findagrave.com, Reverend Ebenezer Thayer, Memorial# 16999380, created by Marc Thayer III.
  12. [S1039] Hampton Vital Records to 1900, online at www.americanancestors.org, Volume 1, page 214.
  13. [S1039] Hampton Vital Records to 1900, online at www.americanancestors.org, Volume 1, page 216.
  14. [S1039] Hampton Vital Records to 1900, online at www.americanancestors.org, Volume 1, page 218.
  15. [S1039] Hampton Vital Records to 1900, online at www.americanancestors.org, Volume 1, page 219.
  16. [S1039] Hampton Vital Records to 1900, online at www.americanancestors.org, Volume 1, page 224.
  17. [S1039] Hampton Vital Records to 1900, online at www.americanancestors.org, Volume 1, page 226.

Ebenezer Thayer1

b. 15 July 1767
Family
Father*Ebenezer Thayer1 b. 16 Jul 1734, d. 6 Sep 1792
Mother*Martha Cotton1 b. 30 Nov 1739, d. c 1809
Birth*15 July 1767Ebenezer Thayer was born on 15 July 1767 in Hampton, Rockingham County, New Hampshire,1 
Baptism19 July 1767 and was baptized on 19 July 1767 in Hampton.2 

Citations

  1. [S1039] Hampton, NH: Vital Records to 1900, online at www.americanancestors.org, Volume 1, page 214. Hereinafter cited as Hampton Vital Records to 1900.
  2. [S1039] Hampton Vital Records to 1900, online at www.americanancestors.org, Volume 2, page 109.

Ferdinando Thayer1

b. 18 April 1625, d. 28 March 1712
Family
BirthFerdinando Thayer was born in Thornbury, Gloucestershire, England.2 
Baptism*18 April 1625Ferdinando Tayer was baptized on 18 April 1625 at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Thornbury, Gloucestershire, England. His Godparents were Ferdinando TAYER and William TAYER as Godfathers, and Margarett KING as Godmother.3,4,5 
Marriage*14 November 1652He married Huldah Hayward, daughter of William Hayward and Margery __?__, on 14 November 1652 in Braintree, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Bay Colony (New England). They were married by Captain Torrey.1,6,7 
Note* Ferdinando Thayer was one of the original grantees and proprietors of Mendon, Worcester County, Massachusetts to which he removed, originally, in 1663. Mendon was a new plantation at the time, and called Nipmug. Ferdinando was forced to return to Braintree with his family for several years during King Philip's War when Mendon was abandoned and his house there burnt, according to court records. He and his son Jonathan Thayer took the oath of allegiance in Braintree about 1678.(Volume 29 - Boston Records Commissioners Reports)

According to Alexander H. Allen, Town Clerk of Mendon, Mendon was first settled by the whites as a plantation in 1662, and continued in that union until 1667, when it was invested with town privileges by the general court of the commonwealth, and so remained until the breaking out of the Indian hostilities in 1675, when the settlement was broken up, the settlers fleeing to Braintree and Weymouth, where they stayed until 1679 or '80. After January 3rd, 1680, there has been no interruption up to the “present time” of 1859.

Ferdinando held many offices of honor in his town and commonwealth and was a man of wealth in his day and age of the world. He provided all of his sons with farms, and several of his sons became extensive land dealers, and many of their descendants occupied those farms, never changing title, for over two hundred years. Before King Philip's war, his name was in the minutes of Mendon’s first town meeting held in June 1667, as selectman. He was selectman in Mendon 1667-70, 1672, 1674, perhaps in 1675, in 1680,1685,1686 and 1688; surveyor of highways in 1682-3 and in 1687. According to the Preserved Smith Thayer Missal, now reported to be in the possession of a relative in Worcester, his house lot of 40 acres was a little south of the residence (1859) of Alexander H. Allen. It was bounded on the east by Muddy Brook, south by the house lot of John Rockwood, west by the house lot of Samuel Hayward, and north by the house lot of John Gurney. His son Benjamin received all his lands that he had not previously deeded to his other sons, Jonathan, Thomas, Samuel, and Isaac.

Ferdinando's name is inscribed on a monument in Founders' Park, Mendon, Massachusetts, as one of the first settlers of that town.8 
Land Grant*January 1674 He had a tract of land set off for him in January, 1674, as well as other lands also. 
Land Grant26 May 1686 After the Indians burned the town, Ferdinando returned and again took lands which included a forty-acre house lot.

Ferdinando Thayer's was the last house on the 10 Rod Road. This was very near the now Blackstone Line, as is the Pine Hill Cemetery. There are more Thayers buried in Pine Hill Cemetery and in Blackstone, Massachusetts, than in Old Cemetery in the center of Mendon. 
Marriage*before 1696He married Ann Freebury before 1696.

She was probably the widow of either Nicholas Freeby whom Savage mentions as being at Casco about 1680, or of Richard Friebury Sr. who was taxed at Pemaquid in 1687 (NEHG Register Volume 32, page 314). No record of her marriage or death has been found except in the court records at Boston which contain much information about her life in Mendon and her violent domestic quarrels with Ferdinando Thayer and his sons to whom he deeded his property, partly at least to prevent her from acquiring it. (Records of Supreme Court of Judicature #4657,4845,4703,4727, Suffolk County Courthouse, Boston).

Ann Freeberry (or Freebury) was an 'eastern woman', meaning from Maine, who had probably been driven away by the Indian Wars. 
Divorce*Ferdinando Thayer and Ann Freebury were divorced.

It was not a happy marriage. According to court documents, Ferdinando’s domestic troubles began as early as July 1696 when Ann Thear, aged 48 years, was deposed in court. (Records of Supreme Court of Judicature #4342). She testified that she saw Ebenezer Thear sell two quarts of sider to an Indian.

She departed from Ferdinando Thayer after 1700, when he made an agreement 'to be shaft of her' after she testified he and his sons sold liquor to the Indians and that he had deserved to have his house burnt by the Indians during the War and that it would occur again if he did not stop trafficking with them; that he had tried to starve her by not providing food in the house, etc.

On May 7,1700 Ferdinando Thear complained of “the wild words, carriages and actions of my wicked disposed and perverse wife Ann Thear, formally an Eastern woman, and until my unhappy marriage with her known by the name of Ann Freeberry who hath been endeavoring to ruinate me in respect to my person, name, and estate either by fire in burning my house over my head as she hath lately threatened in so much that I am afraid to live with her”, etc., “and that none of my children durst live with me, and I am unable to help myself being almost 80 years old, and by reason of her private conveying of things out of the house my house is left almost destitute of outwards comforts”, etc. Depositions were also made by Ebenezer Thayer aged 26, and Martha his wife aged 25, and Benjamin Thayer aged 20, William Howard aged 32, John Rocket aged 59, John Bridges aged 52, and Peter Holbrook aged 41. (Records of Supreme Court of Judicature #4657, 4845, 4703, and 4727 in Suffolk County Courthouse, Boston.) 
Death*28 March 1712He died on 28 March 1712 in Mendon, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Bay Province (New England), at age 86.1,9 

Family 1

 Huldah Hayward b. c 1636, d. 1 Sep 1690

Family 2

 Ann Freebury b. c 1648

Citations

  1. [S442] Oliver Ray Pardo, "The Families of Ray Benson Pardo and Viola Berliot Stevens", 28 December 1996 (Port Orchard, Washington). . Hereinafter cited as "The Families of Pardo and Stevens."
  2. [S448] Prepared by William B. Trask of Dorchester, "Abstracts from the Earliest Wills on Record in the County of Suffolk, Massachusetts", New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 13 (October 1859): page 335 footnote. Hereinafter cited as "Abstracts of Early Wills - NEHGR."
  3. [S449] Family History Library, A Genealogical record of some of the descendants of John Thayer, 1500-1975; Microfilm number 982181, item 10, LDS Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. Hereinafter cited as John Thayer Descendants 1500-1975.
  4. [S450] Reproduction of: English origins of New England families : from the New England historical and genealogical registers and first and second series / selected and introduced by Gary Boyd Roberts, English origins of New England Families, 1500s-1800s, CD-ROM (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, original publish dates 1984-1985 in 6 volumes; reproduced by Broderbund, c 1966), Series II, Volume 3. Hereinafter cited as English origins of New England families.
  5. [S458] Walter Faxon, Edward Henry Whorf and introduction and notes by Henry Ernest Woods, "Tayer (Thayer) Family Entries in the Parish Registry of Thornbury, Gloucestershire, England", New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 60, (July 1906): page 285. Hereinafter cited as "Tayer (Thayer) in Thornbury Parish Records - NEHGR."
  6. [S445] A faithful and exact copy of the original records without any abridgment or variation and copied by various members of the NEHGS from the original records, "Early Records of Boston, Massachusetts", New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volumes 2 - 12 (published as a continuation from January 1848 through 1858): Volume 12, April 1858, page 110; "Brantrey" Marriages. Hereinafter cited as "Boston Records - NEHGR."
  7. [S447] Braintree Massachusetts Town Records - NEHGS, online at www.newenglandancestors.org. Hereinafter cited as Braintree Town Records - NEHGS.
  8. [S454] Bezaleel J. Thayer, Memorial of the Thayer name from the Massachusetts colony of Weymouth and Braintree: embracing genealogical and biographical sketches of Richard and Thomas Thayer, and their descendants, from 1636 to 1874, FHL film number 1081, item 1 (Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1957; microreproduction of book published in 1874 by R. J. Oliphant, Oswego, New York), pages 221-223. Hereinafter cited as Thayer name Massachusetts Memorial 1636-1874.
  9. [S451] Massachusetts Vital Records to the Year 1850 - NEHGS, online at www.newenglandancestors.org. Hereinafter cited as Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850 - NEHGS.

Hannah Thayer1

b. 1716
Family
Father*Cornelius Thayer2 b. 14 Nov 1684, d. 1745
Mother*Lydia Turell2 b. 8 Jul 1683
Birth*1716Hannah Thayer was born in 1716.1 
Marriage*8 May 1739She married Richard Abbott on 8 May 1739 in First Church, Boston.3 
(Residual Legatee) Probate Dispute2 March 1780 On 2 March 1780, Nathaniel Thayer, Cornelius Thayer, Samuel Bass, William Andrews, Deborah (Thayer) Whitworth, Hannah (Thayer) Abbott, Christian (Bass) Armstrong, Mary Thayer, Sarah (Thayer) White and Rebecca (Bass) Thomas Fowle, all of Boston and residual legatees resulting from the will of the Reverend Ebenezer Turell, submitted a document to the court addressing their concerns regarding the inequities between the value of silver and gold compared with the value of Continental currency, which had gone through several changes and devaluations during and after the Revolutionary War. In 1780, paper money in the new United States, called Continentals, was worth only about 1/40th of its face value. The document stated their understanding that Simon Tufts Esq. of Medford, as Executor to the last will and testament of Ebenezer Turell, late of Medford, Clerk, was entitled by the will to a legacy of £20, and was by virtue of his Executorship in possession of a sum of silver and gold coin, which according to a law of Massachusetts for regulating the value of silver and god coin, amounted to £503, 15s, 6p. Their petition went on to state that a dispute had arisen between the Executor Simon and several of the legatees regarding whether their legacies ought to be paid in silver and gold or in the present currency of the state. The petition's subscribers recommended that the Executor pay them 2/3 of their legacies in silver and gold, after deducting 1/2 of his own legacy, and that the Executor's other half be paid to himself in paper money. The petition went on to recommend that the £150 allowed the Executor for all his services in settling the estate be paid in paper money. The petition's subscribers, all residual legatees as the children, or their heirs, of Lydia (Turell) Thayer and Christian (Turell) Bass, both of whom were deceased sisters of the late Reverend Turell, agreed to be obligated to the court for the sum of £100,000 in lawful money of the state as protection for the Executor. Their document stated that in the case any debts owed to the estate were recovered which would increase the assets owed to the Executor, they would refund their prorated parts of those debts on the condition that their obligation of £100,000 to the court be voided and of no effect. Their petition concluded with the statement that should they fail to keep their agreement, their obligation would remain in full force and effect.4 
(Residual Legatee) Massachusetts Money The pound was the currency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and its colonial predecessors until 1793. Like the British pound sterling of that era, the Massachusetts pound was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence, but the Massachusetts and British pounds were not equivalent in value. British and other foreign coins were widely circulated in Massachusetts, supplemented by locally-produced coins between about 1652 and 1682 and by local paper money from 1690.

The paper money issued in colonial Massachusetts was denominated in pounds, shillings, and pence. Initially, six shillings were equal to one Spanish dollar. After years of high inflation, in 1749 Massachusetts withdrew its paper money from circulation and returned to money in the form of coin.

After the American Revolutionary War began in 1775, the Continental Congress began issuing paper money known as Continental currency, or Continentals. Continental currency was denominated in dollars from 1/6 of a dollar to $80, including many odd denominations in between. During the Revolution, Congress issued $241,552,780 in Continental currency.

Continental currency depreciated badly during the war, giving rise to the famous phrase "not worth a continental". Several factors contributed to the declining value. Monetary policy was not coordinated between Congress and the states which, like Massachusetts, continued to issue too many bills of credit not backed by tangible assets. Congress and the states lacked the will or the means to retire the bills from circulation through taxation or the sale of bonds. Another problem was that the British successfully waged economic warfare by counterfeiting Continentals on a large scale.

By the end of 1778, Continentals retained from 1/5 to 1/7 of their face value. By 1780, the bills were worth 1/40th of face value. Congress attempted to reform the currency by removing the old bills from circulation and issuing new ones, without success. By May 1781, Continentals had become so worthless that they ceased to circulate as money. Benjamin Franklin noted that the depreciation of the currency had, in effect, acted as a tax to pay for the war. In the 1790s, after the ratification of the United States Constitution, Continentals could be exchanged for treasury bonds at 1% of face value. The Massachusetts state currency depreciated greatly and was replaced by the U.S. dollar in 1793.

The painful experience of the runaway inflation and collapse of the Continental dollar prompted the delegates to the Constitutional Convention to include the gold and silver clause into the United States Constitution so that the individual states could not issue bills of credit, or "make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts." This restriction of bills of credit was extended to the Federal Government, as the power to "emit bills" from the Articles of Confederation was abolished, leaving Congress with the power "to borrow money on credit."5,6 
(Residual Legatee) Probate Dispute9 March 1780During the course of the Turell probate, Simon Tufts Esq., Executor, submitted itemized reports to the court accounting for his payments to beneficiaries and the expenses he incurred on estate business. On 9 March 1780, the Executor listed cash paid in the amount of £329, 3s, 8p to the residuary legatees.4 

Family

 Richard Abbott

Citations

  1. [S1067] Patricia Thayer Muno, Descendants of Richard Thayer, Immigrant to America 1641, through the 19th Century, downloaded from the Family History Library at www.familysearch.org. (Beaverton, Oregon: Desktop Publishing, 1992), Descendants of Richard Thayer, page 129. Hereinafter cited as Descendants of Richard Thayer.
  2. [S494] Boston MA: Church Records, online at www.newenglandancestors.org, First Church, page 300. Hereinafter cited as Boston MA: Church Records.
  3. [S746] Boston, Massachusetts Marriages, 1700-1809, online at www.americanancestors.org, Records of the First Church in Boston, page 397. Hereinafter cited as Boston Marriages, 1700-1809.
  4. [S485] Probate Records 1648-1924, Middlesex County, Massachusetts (886 microfilm reels of original records in the Middlesex County Courthouse, Cambridge, Massachusetts), LDS Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, Ebenezer Turell 1778 probate packet# 23046, FHL Film# 421543. Hereinafter cited as Probate Records 1648-1924, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
  5. [S225] Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia, online at www.wikipedia.org, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_pound. Hereinafter cited as Wikipedia Encyclopedia.
  6. [S225] Wikipedia Encyclopedia, online at www.wikipedia.org, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_American_currency

Jael Thayer

b. 2 June 1633, d. 10 March 1701
Family
Father*Richard Thayer1 b. 5 Apr 1601
Mother*Dorothy Mortimore1
Baptism*2 June 1633Jaell Tayer was baptized on 2 June 1633 at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Thornbury, Gloucestershire, England. Her Godparents were Richard Dymmerie as Godfather and Katheryne Dawney and Agnes Tayer as Godmothers.1 
(Daughter) Immigrationcirca 1641Shortly after the death of her mother, Jael Thayer immigrated with her father and seven siblings in circa 1641 to America with his eight children. The family settled in Braintree, Massachusetts following Richard's older brother, Thomas Thayer, who had immigrated in 1637 with his family and also settled in Braintree.2,3 
Marriage*17 January 1654She married John Harbour Jr. on 17 January 1654 in Braintree, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Bay Colony (New England). Their marriage was performed by Captain Tory (sic) of Weymouth.4 
Death*10 March 1701She died on 10 March 1701 in Braintree, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Bay Province (New England), at age 67.4 

Family

 John Harbour Jr.
Child 1.Esther Harbor+5 b. 1663

Citations

  1. [S458] Walter Faxon, Edward Henry Whorf and introduction and notes by Henry Ernest Woods, "Tayer (Thayer) Family Entries in the Parish Registry of Thornbury, Gloucestershire, England", New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 60, (July 1906): page 286. Hereinafter cited as "Tayer (Thayer) in Thornbury Parish Records - NEHGR."
  2. [S458] Walter Faxon, Edward Henry Whorf and introduction and notes by Henry Ernest Woods, "Tayer (Thayer) in Thornbury Parish Records - NEHGR", page 284 footnote.
  3. [S452] The Thayer Families Association Website, online at www.thayerfamilies.com, Richard Thayer, First 5 Generations. Hereinafter cited as Thayer Families Association Website.
  4. [S451] Massachusetts Vital Records to the Year 1850 - NEHGS, online at www.newenglandancestors.org. Hereinafter cited as Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850 - NEHGS.
  5. [S869] Marcus Taft Jones, Hayward-Howard genealogy and family history: descendants of William and Margery Hayward of Braintree, Massachusetts, 1648; earlier of Weymouth. Microfilm of typescript at the Rhode Island Historical Society in Providence, Rhode Island. Hayward genealogy 1648-1690: pages 133-150; FHL Film# 22344, Item 2, LDS Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. Hereinafter cited as Hayward-Howard genealogy and family history.

Joanna Thayer1

Family
Marriage*7 January 1689/90She married John Crossman on 7 January 1689/90 in Taunton, Bristol County, Massachusetts (Plymouth Colony).2,1 

Family

 John Crossman
Child 1.Abigail Crossman+1,2 b. 7 Oct 1690, d. 22 Jan 1767

Citations

  1. [S1194] Thomas J. Lothrop, The Nicholas White Family, 1643-1900, downloaded from Google Books at www.google.com. (Taunton, Massachusetts: Thomas J. Lothrop, printed by C.A. Hack & Son, 1902), page 22. Hereinafter cited as Nicholas White Family, 1643-1900.
  2. [S451] Massachusetts Vital Records to the Year 1850 - NEHGS, online at www.newenglandancestors.org, Taunton Marriages, Volume 2, page 126. Hereinafter cited as Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850 - NEHGS.

John Thayer1

b. 14 July 1773
Family
Father*Ebenezer Thayer1 b. 16 Jul 1734, d. 6 Sep 1792
Mother*Martha Cotton1 b. 30 Nov 1739, d. c 1809
Birth*14 July 1773John Thayer was born on 14 July 1773 in Hampton, Rockingham County, New Hampshire.1 

Citations

  1. [S1039] Hampton, NH: Vital Records to 1900, online at www.americanancestors.org, Volume 1, page 219. Hereinafter cited as Hampton Vital Records to 1900.

Joseph Thayer1

Family
Marriage*1727He married Hannah Hayward, daughter of William Hayward and Esther Harbor, in 1727.1 

Family

 Hannah Hayward

Citations

  1. [S869] Marcus Taft Jones, Hayward-Howard genealogy and family history: descendants of William and Margery Hayward of Braintree, Massachusetts, 1648; earlier of Weymouth. Microfilm of typescript at the Rhode Island Historical Society in Providence, Rhode Island. Hayward genealogy 1648-1690: pages 133-150; FHL Film# 22344, Item 2, LDS Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. Hereinafter cited as Hayward-Howard genealogy and family history.

Katherine Thayer1

b. 28 September 1779
Family
Father*Ebenezer Thayer1 b. 16 Jul 1734, d. 6 Sep 1792
Mother*Martha Cotton1 b. 30 Nov 1739, d. c 1809
Birth*28 September 1779Katherine Thayer was born on 28 September 1779 in Hampton, Rockingham County, New Hampshire.1 

Citations

  1. [S1039] Hampton, NH: Vital Records to 1900, online at www.americanancestors.org, Volume 1, page 224. Hereinafter cited as Hampton Vital Records to 1900.