Family:Joseph Packard and Susanna Mitchell (1)

Source:Mitchell, Nahum. History of the Early Settlement of Bridgewater, in Plymouth County, Massachusetts notes "It is difficult to distinguish this family from that of Joseph 8, and there may be some confusion in the accounts here given of them." This is nicely understated. Both couples married about the same time and appear to having many of the same names among their children.

Both Mitchell and Source:Packard, Theophilus. Genealogies of Samuel Packard of Bridgewater, Mass., and of Abel Packard, of Cummington, Mass show the same distribution of children between these two families:

To this family: John, Joseph, Edward, Susanna, Mary, Parnel, and Judith.

To the other family: John, Joseph, and Mary [to which I add Susanna, distinct from the one in the other family]

Source:West Bridgewater, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records of West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 contains the baptisms of four children of Joseph (mother not named): Joseph, Mary, Susanna, and John. Unfortunately, these four names are in both families. The natural assumption, however, would be that all four children are from one family, belonging to the church in the West Bridgewater parish (the town did not incorporate until 1822). Since the family on this page has three other children (Edward, Parnell, and Judith) which are not found in West Bridgewater, it is reasonable to suppose this family did not attend this church, and so the West Bridgewater records belong to the other family.

Various other circumstantial arguments for this arrangement are:

• This Susanna b. 1731 according to her age at death, but the Susanna bp. in West Bridgewater in 1735. Note: a birth in 1735 could still be a minor in 1753 court records as we know the daughter of Joseph and Mary Packard was, but 1731 could not.
• The eldest West Bridgewater children were Joseph and Mary, which may suggest these are the parents' names.
• West Bridgewater records also contain the marriage record of Joseph Packard and Mary Willis but not Joseph Packard and Susanna Mitchell (both are recorded in Source:Bridgewater, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records of Bridgewater, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850).

--Jrich 01:13, 31 March 2010 (EDT)

1. ↑ Bridgewater, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. Vital records of Bridgewater, Massachusetts, to the year 1850. (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1916)
   2:278.

   Packard, Joseph and Susanna Mitchel, Dec. 31, 1724.