Elizabeth Partridge (1688-1768)

Elizabeth Partridge was born on 07 Oct 1688 in Hatfield, Hampshire, Massachusetts, as the eleventh and youngest child of Samuel Partridge and Mehitable Crow. You have to giggle a little thinking about a Partridge marrying a Crow, right? Elizabeth had ten siblings, namely: William, Samuel, Mehitable, another Mehitable, an unnamed Infant, Mary, Jonathan, Edward, Jonathan, and John.

When she was 20, Elizabeth married John Hamlin, son of John Hamlin, on 03 May 1709 in Hatfield, Hampshire, Massachusetts.

John Hamlin and Elizabeth Partridge had the following children:

1. Mehitabell Hamlin was born on 06 Feb 1709/10 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut. She married her step-brother, Joseph Johnson, on 02 Feb 1724/25 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut. She died on 12 Dec 1747 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut.
2. Elizabeth Hamlin was born on 12 Feb 1711/12 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut. She married Return Meigs on 01 Feb 1731/32 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut. She died on 17 Sep 1762 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut.
3. Mary Hamlin was born on 25 Oct 1713 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut, USA. She married Henry King on 22 Jun 1732 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut. She died on 29 Mar 1789 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut.
4. Giles Hamlin was born on 11 Dec 1715 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut. He died on 25 Sep 1756 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut.

Elizabeth’s husband, John Hamlin, died on 9 August 1717 in St. Johns, Attigua, West Indies. He was 30 years old. John was a ship captain. He was master of the sloop, John and Mary. He was had gotten his effects aboard, and his clearing papers out when attacked with a malignant fever from which he died five days later. So, at age 29, Elizabeth was a widow with four children ranging in age from one to seven. Based on the inventory of her deceased husband’s estate, the Hamlin family were quite comfortable.

The first page of the inventory of his estate listed his wearing apparel, including a couple coats, a lot of britches, stockings, and silver buckles. It also listed a pocket knife, a bible and psalm book, a gun, pillow cases and blankets, window hangings and silver spoons. Remember, in 1717, the husband owned everything. So everything in the Hamlin house was considered John’s property and thus listed in his estate inventory.

The next page of the inventory listed more pillow cases, some earthen wares and glasses from the parlor, towels, table clothes, a small looking glass, and a lot of other household items. It is hard to read, so one hint is that they often used what looks like a “p” or “B” instead of writing “ss,” so glasses is written as what looks like glapes or glaBes. Another hint is that they did not always worry much about spelling.

The next page included “things in the kitchen.”

Interesting things listed on the last page of the inventory included a fish net, cows, lots of rum, his house and barn, his land, and a quarter share of the sloop the John and Mary.

In those days, women needed to have a husband to support them and men needed a wife to take care of their children and household duties. So, when she was 33, Elizabeth married a widower named Joseph Johnson, son of Isaac Johnson and Mary Harris, on 22 Aug 1722 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut. John had had eight children with his first wife. His oldest child was 22 and the youngest was four at the time of the marriage.

Together, Joseph Johnson and Elizabeth Partridge had seven children:

1. Ebenezer Johnson was born on 15 Feb 1722/23 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut. He married Elizabeth Gilbert on 29 Oct 1745 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut. He died on 09 Mar 1811 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut.
2. Samuel Johnson was born on 30 Aug 1724 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut. He married Esther Russell on 09 Apr 1753 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut. He died in Oct 1809 in Connecticut.
3. Edward Johnson was born on 27 Mar 1726 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut. He married Hannah Clark on 12 Nov 1747 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut.
4. Oliver Johnson was born on 29 Jan 1728 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut. He died on 01 Apr 1801 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut.
5. Mary Johnson was born on 21 Mar 1729/30 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut. She died on 04 Apr 1731 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut.
6. Jemima Johnson was born on 31 Aug 1732 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut. She married Timothy Boardman on 14 Nov 1751 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut. She died on 30 Dec 1798 in Connecticut.
7. Mary Johnson was born on 06 Sep 1736 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut.

A couple years after Elizabeth married Joseph Johnson, her oldest daughter, Mehitabell Hamlin, married to his oldest son, Joseph, thus tying the families even closer together.

Elizabeth Partridge Hamlin Johnson became a widow for the second time when her husband, Joseph Johnson passed away on 12 November 1739. So, at age 51, she had already lost two husbands, given birth to eleven children, and been a step-mother to eight children.

When Joseph died, the children that he and Elizabeth had together ranged in age from three to 16, but daughter Mary, had already passed away. The children she had with her first husband were adults, ages 24 to 29. The children Joseph had with his first wife were 21 to 40, but three of them had already passed away. So, the point is, there were a lot of family members. When the estate was settled, it didn’t just all go to the widow like it normally would today.

In summary, Elizabeth, the widow, received 1/3 of the estate and the remainder of the estate was split among his children with Joseph, the oldest son from the first marriage, receiving a double share. Joseph, who received the double share, was married to Elizabeth’s daughter Mehitabell.

I wonder if the looking glass Elizabeth was awarded in the distribution of her second husband’s estate was the same one that was part of her first husband’s estate?

Guardianship of the children was decided by the Court.

• Ebenezer Johnson, chose his mother Elizabeth Johnson to be his guardian.
• Edward Johnson, a minor, chose Capt. Henry King of Middletown to be his guardian.
• The Court appointed Elizabeth Johnson to be guardian to Oliver, Jemima and Mary Johnson, all children of Joseph Johnson.
• Samuel Johnson, chose his brother-in-law, Return Meigs, of Middletown, to be his guardian. Return Meigs was married to Elizabeth Hamlin, Samuel’s half-sister.

When she was 54, Elizabeth Partridge Hamlin Johnson married the widower Captain Jonathan Payson about Mar 1743. Jonathan Payson and Elizabeth Partridge had no children together.

Elizabeth was widowed for a third time on 23 Dec 1760 when her 82- year old husband passed away at Woodstock, Windham, Connecticut. He was buried there in the Woodstock Hill Cemetery. Elizabeth, called Jonathan Payson’s relic,  got a small 25£ share of her third husband’s 702£ estate when it was distributed.

Elizabeth Partridge Hamlin Johnson Payson lived almost eight years after the death of her last husband. She died on 13 Aug 1768 in Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut. She was 79-years old at the time of her death. She was buried in Aug 1768 in the Old Farm Hill Cemetery at Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut.

Where is she in the tree?

Sources:

Ancestry.com, Connecticut, Deaths and Burials Index, 1650-1934 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011), www.ancestry.com, Database online.

Ancestry.com, Connecticut, Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015), Ancestry.com, Probate Files Collection, Early to 1880; Author: Connecticut State Library (Hartford, Connecticut); Probate Place: Hartford, Connecticut. Record for John Hamlin.

Ancestry.com, Hartford, Connecticut Probate Records, 1729-50 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000), www.ancestry.com, Database online. Record for Joseph Johnson.

Henry Franklin Andrews, The Hamlin Family: A Genealogy of Capt. Giles Hamlin of Middletown, Connecticut 1654-1900 (Google Books) (1900); Google eBook, Google Books (http://books.google.com/books?id=jZBPAAAAMAAJ).

Johnson, Paul Franklin, Genealogy of Captain John Johnson of Roxbury, Massachusetts, generations i to xiv [ancestry.com] (Los Angeles, California, The Commonwealth Press, Inc., 1951), ancestry.com.