Hester (Lewis) Finney (1665 - abt. 1743)

Born 9 Sep 1665 in Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Wife of Jeremiah Finney — married 7 Jan 1684 in Bristol, Rhode Island

Descendants

Died about 11 Apr 1743 at about age 77 in Bristol, Bristol, Massachusetts Bay [uncertain]

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Disputed Relationship

Thomas Lewis moved his family from Northampton to Bristol County by 1669, the year the birth of his daughter Elizabeth was recorded at Swansea. Thomas named only one of his children -- daughter "Hepzebath" -- in his 1708 will, referring to the others collectively; thus, primary documentation is lacking to directly connect Hester Lewis, born in Northampton, Massachusetts, with Esther Lewis, who married Jeremiah Finney in 1684 in Bristol Massachusetts/Rhode Island. However, as noted in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register of October, 1994 (and as earlier reported by George Harlan Lewis in 1908), it is Hester who is the most probable (and to date -- Jan. 2021 -- the sole identified), logical candidate as Jeremiah's spouse.^[1][2] She is of the right age, at the right place, and at the right time, with -- allowing for a minor, and common, spelling variant -- the right name, and is the one candidate thus supported as spouse of Jeremiah.

Biography

Hester Lewis was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, September 9, 1665, to Thomas Lewis and Hannah Baker.^[3][4]

Esther Lewis married Jeremiah Finney, January 7, 1684, in Bristol -- then a part of Massachusetts Bay, later to become part of Rhode Island.^[5]

Esther is presumed to be the first and only wife of Jeremiah Finney. An unsourced first marriage, originally shown in Jeremiah's profile, to Mercy Watts has been removed; the alleged bride would only have reached the age of eighteen by 1683, and within months, Jeremiah wed Esther. (Mercy Watts in fact married Jeremiah's brother Joshua Phinney in 1688.)

Esther and Jeremiah died within weeks of one another, at Bristol, in 1743.^[6][7][8][9]

Sources

1. ↑ "The Finney Family", NEHGR Vol. 148 (Oct. 1994), p. 346; Vital Records from The NEHGS Register. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (Compiled from articles originally published in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register.); https://www.americanancestors.org/DB522/i/14295/326/38037615 (by subscription)
2. ↑ Edmund Lewis, of Lynn, Massachusetts, and some of his descendants, by George Harlan Lewis, Salem, Mass., Essex institute, 1908, pp. 13-14; https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89062356258&view=1up&seq=17
3. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch ([1] : 10 February 2018), Hester Lewis, 09 Sep 1665; citing Birth, , Northampton, Massachusetts, United States, , town clerk offices, Massachusetts
4. ↑ New Jersey, Church Records, 1675-1970; https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS4F-H348-W?cc=2106099
5. ↑ Rhode Island Town Marriages Index, 1639-1916, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F8V3-4R2 : accessed 5 September 2018), Jeremiah Finney and Esther Lewis, 07 Jan 1684; citing Bristol, Bristol, Rhode Island, United States, town halls, Rhode Island, and Rhode Island Historical Society, Providence; FHL microfilm 64.
6. ↑ "Rhode Island Town Deaths Index, 1639-1932", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F86L-L66 : 4 November 2020), Esther Phinney, 1743.
7. ↑ "Rhode Island, Vital records, 1846-1898, 1901-1953," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL9K-WH17 : 10 December 2017), Jeremiah Phinney, 1743; citing Death, Bristol, Bristol, Rhode Island, United States, Rhode Island State Archives, Providence; FHL microfilm 007727152.
8. ↑ "PHINNEY... Mr. Jer., 85y., Feb. 18, 1743" -- Bristol VRs, Vol. 6, p. 1-157; Rhode Island: Vital Records, 1636-1850. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014), Originally Published as: Vital record of Rhode Island 1636-1850: First Series: births, marriages and deaths: a family register for the people, by James N. Arnold. Providence, RI: Narragansett Historical Publishing Company; https://www.americanancestors.org/DB532/i/14345/1-157/260814116 (by subscription)
9. ↑ Rhode Island Vital Records, database, FamilySearch, image of original record; https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9BL-XQSH-W?cc=1935767 [Note: this image unavailable as of 22 Jan. 2021]

• Betsey Howe

• World Family Tree Vol. 8, Ed. 1

• The Lewises of Northern New Jersey, by Ralph Kimball Potter, 1972

Acknowledgments

This is a merged profile; original profiles included the following:

This person was created through the import of Wilson.ged on 14 September 2010.

This person was created on 09 May 2011 through the import of Lewis2011.ged.

This person was created through the import of rsturley20100927.ged on 16 November 2010.