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Facts and Events
References
- ↑ Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. Vital records of Westford, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849. (Salem, Mass: Essex Institute, 1915)
p. 89.
PROCTER, Polly, d. John and Sarah, Apr. 24, 1775.
- Acton, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. Vital records of Acton, Massachusetts, to the year 1850. (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1923)
p. 276.
HEALD, Mary, [died] June 23, 1838, a. 63 y. 2 m., [on stone beside that of John Esq.] GR2
[Note: birth about Apr 1775. GR2=North Acton Cemetery. comment about being beside John is irrelevant: John's wife was Dorcas and survived him. John was brother of her husband Joseph.]
- Find A Grave: Forest Cemetery, North Acton, Mass., in Find A Grave
Mary Proctor Heald.
DEA. JOSEPH HEALD
DIED
Feb. 29, 1872.
AEt. 91 yrs. 6 mos.
MARY HEALD
DIED
June 23, 1838.
AEt. 63 yrs. 2 mos. |
- ↑ Proctor, William Lawrence, and Dolly Pauline Howard Proctor. A genealogy of descendants of Robert Proctor of Concord and Chelmsford, Mass: with notes of some connected families. (Ogdensburg)
p. 25, 47.
Children of John Proctor [#47] and wives Mary Nutting and Sarah Wright include
Polly, b. 24 Apr 1775 m. 13 Apr 1796 Henry Chandler
Mary, b. [blank], d. 9 Jun 1838, m. 16 Mar 1804 Joseph Heald of Carlisle.
- ↑ Hodgman, Edwin R. History of the town of Westford in the county of Middlesex, Massachusetts: 1659-1883. (Westford, Mass.: Westford Town History Association, 1883)
p. 469.
Children of John Proctor and 2nd wife Sarah Wright: Polly, b. 1775; m. 1796 Henry Chandler.
- There is a marriage record in 1796 for Polly Proctor to Henry Chandler, and in 1804 of Mary Proctor of Westfield to Joseph Heald. The age at death of Joseph Heald's wife just happens to match Polly Proctor, and Polly being a nickname for Mary, it is sufficient to raise doubts about the sources cited. But no evidence presents itself to explain this problem. Polly Proctor appears to be the only recorded birth in 1775 for a person with name Mary Proctor or one of its derivatives. None of the sources hint at a probate, which might provide some clarity. It may be significant that Joseph and Mary got married in Carlisle. Perhaps it is assuming too much, but the marriage of an unmarried woman was almost always in her home town, while the marriage of a widow was often in the husband's home town. So Joseph Heald's marriage of a woman of another town in his hometown might suggest he married a widow. However, no records in Westford give a marriage, death of a husband, or birth of a child that would identify any potential candidate young wives/widows named Mary Proctor. Presumably it is Henry, the son of Isaac, who married Polly Proctor (Hodgman, p. 442, does not make this connection but the only other Henry Chandler he mentions of appropriate age is said to have married Mehitable Bean). This son of Isaac is said to have gone to Shirley. Oddly, the only mention of Henry Chandler in Shirley seems to be a marriage in 1807 to Mrs. Betsey Rand. Was there a divorce?
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