Dates and Children for Hannah (Jewett) Foster

Question

Dates and children's birth dates just don't line up for Hannah.  The source (Jewetts of America) has the bogus dates ... and, everyplace I look at on the internet has the same bogus data.  My go to guy, on Ancestry, has the same errors but he does list her death date as 1787 in Temple, NH.  That means she had seven kids by age seventeen ... don't think so.

Any Hillsborough County, NH on line pointers to birth/death/marriage records would be greatly appreciated ... or, any other help ... THANKS, as always.

Answer 1

"New Hampshire Birth Records, Early to 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-11831-82023-67?cc=1542861 : 21 May 2014), 004243842 > image 4067 of 5153; Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics, Concord.

*Note the linked record is a transcription recorded in 1905

Comments

Birth of James Foster (2nd) in 1779:

"New Hampshire Birth Records, Early to 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11838-20842-82?cc=1542861 : 21 May 2014), 004243751 > image 4647 of 5122; Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics, Concord.

Note that Hannah is recorded in the field for mother's maiden name but looking at adjacent records it appears the field is routinely used for mother's given name

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Thanks Rob ... interesting about the maiden/first name interchange.

Family search has the same information as other spots.  No marriage license for Hannah and James ... so, I'm starting to think that this Hannah Jewett was not his wife and she had no children.  I'll keep looking ...

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There are a few mentions of the name James Foster in records of about the right time, including a mention of a 1790 death, in: The History of Temple, NH But nothing more of the marriage.

There is a 1768 marriage listed for a James Foster of Temple to a Hannah Jewett of Hollis given in the marriage records reproduced in the History of the  town of Hollis

I would say this is very clearly not the same Hannah Jewett born in 1770 to Jacob Jewett and wife Mehitable and is simply two individuals who have been conflated.

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The list in the History of the Town of Hollis appears to reflect the Hollis town records volume 6, page 187 which in turn refer to the "Old records of the District of Dunstable" Vol 2. page 498...

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The wife of James Foster, Hannah [Jewett based on the 1768 marriage mentioned previously], also could not have died in 1787 as she is the executrix of her husband's estate in 1790:

Hillsborough Probate Records Vol 4
Page 302 - Adm'n James Foster's estate } Hillsborough June 28th 1790. Administration of the estate of James Foster late of Temple dec[ease]d was granted to Hannah Foster of Temple, widow, who gave bond for the faithful discharge of [said?] trust.

Pages 339-340 (image 545) - Inventory of estate valued at a little over £97, most of that value (£70) derived from real estate.

Pages 599-600, 603 (images 646-8) - The boundaries of the widow's dower are set.

Pages 621-3 (images 657-8) - Administration Account exhibited by Hannah Foster.

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Rob ... I really, really appreciate all the work you did on this and all the pointers.  I also alerted my Jewett guru on Ancestry as he also had the wrong data ... he did a bit of digging and found marriage and death records for Hannah ... and, she wasn't the Hannah married to James Foster.  She Married Ebenezer Parkhurst in 1802 and died in 1857.

He found records in ... New Hampshire, Marriage Records Index, 1637-1947 and Massachusetts, Death Records, 1841-1915 ... both referenced from Ancestry's collection of stuff.

I'll work on her profile ... probably remove the Jewett's in America source and just point to Ancestry stuff ... stay tuned.

Thanks again, Rob!!!!

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Happy to help.

I did just notice an error in my earlier statements - the entry transcribed into volume 6 of the Hollis town records for the 1768 marriage of James Foster and Hannah Jewett was not referencing the "old records of the district of Dunstable" and was under the heading"Marriages to be found recorded in the first three volumes of the Hollis records..." (I overlooked the latter heading) - Unfortunately I have not been able to find the referenced pages in the images of the town books on FamilySearch.

My three jypotheses on the identity of the Hannah Jewett who married James Foster are: 1) She is a Hannah born to a different Jewett family that lived at Hollis - For example, could she have been a daughter of James Jewett of Woburn who was warned out of Hollis in 1768 the year of the marriage Foster/Jewett marriage? 2) Perhaps the surname has been mis-transcribed - I have seen records for a "Jewell" family in the general area which would be very easy to confuse with "Jewett", 3) Perhaps Hannah is "the Widow Jewett" - I find it  unusual that in the first 30+ years of marriages as listed in the Volume 6 entry that none appear to be identified as widows.

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I also noticed that you disconnected and orphaned James Foster and thechildren - I have gone back and added a mention of the erroneous association on that profile and you might consider adding something similar to the profile for Hannah as you continue expanding the profile.

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Thanks Rob,  I'm just old and slow!! lol  I did make mention of there being bogus data in that one source ... I'll go back and make it more specific and in the Bio section.