Person:Phebe Cornell (1)

Identification of Parents

Source:Cornell, John. Genealogy of the Cornell Family, p. 271 lists no daughter Phebe in this family (Joshua Cornell and Sarah Thorne).

In John Hallock's will, Abner Hunt is referred to as her second husband.

It is not clear what evidence suggests she is in this family, but it almost certainly seems wrong.

If that name is given here because Abner married a woman named Phebe Cornell, that name would have reflected her first marriage, not her maiden name. But we don't know why that name is specified here since there are no sources.

Rule Out Phebe (Hunt) Cromwell

Could she have been Phebe, wife of Thomas Cornell of Westchester, whose 1730 will Abner Hunt witnessed?

Thomas Cornell's will mentions brother-in-law Abraham Underhill. This may suggest that Thomas Cornell married a sister of Abraham Underhill. Or vice versa. Now, Abraham Underhill married Hannah Cromwell, d/o Thomas Cromwell of Westchester, according to Source:Frost, Josephine C. Underhill Genealogy and many other sources. Is Cromwell a variation of Cornwell and thus Cornell (or vice versa)?

Source:Cocks, George William. History and Genealogy of the Cock, Cocks, Cox Family, p. 381 says Phebe Underhill, d/o Nathaniel Underhill and Mary Ferris, and sister of an Abraham Underhill, m. "?Thomas Cornell". He appears to have been following this line of reasoning, thinking that Phebe Underhill m. Thomas Cromwell, then Abner Hunt and John Hallock. However, Source:Frost, Josephine C. Underhill Genealogy shows no daughter Phebe in this Underhill family and evidence below will show Mr. Cocks to be off the mark.

NYGBR, Vol. 52, p. 172, from Land Records of Westchester Co., NY: Joseph Hunt of Westchester unto well-beloved son-in-law Thomas Cromwell of Westchester, weaver, and Pbebe his wife on 5 Jun 1721. Same date: James Cromwell Esq. of Westchester to son Thomas Cromwell. Source:Doherty, Frank J. Settlers of the Beekman Patent, Dutchess County, New York, Vol. 6, p. 866, says Phebe, d/o Joseph Hunt and Bethiah Ferguson, b. 1701, m. Thomas Cromwell.

Thus, the wife of Thomas Cromwell, sometimes interpreted as Cornell, was Phebe Hunt. [Note: in looking for Thomas Cromwell, I now find the same Thomas Cornell will witnessed by Abner Hunt filed in a different source under the name Thomas Cromwell here. Hmmm....]

But that does not help us...

More land records from NYGBR, Vol. 53, p. 220, 10 Dec 1734: "Abraham Underhill, John Williams and Phoebe Cranston, late Phoebe Cromwell, Executors to the last will of Thomas Cromwell" sold land "given him by his father-in-law Joseph Hunt, Esq." So Phebe (Hunt) Cromwell is not the lady who married (2) Abner Hunt and then (3) [or higher?] John Hallock.

Other Clues No Help

John Hallock's will mentions son-in-law Abraham Underhill. This is eerily reminiscent of the above mention of brother-in-law Abraham Underhill, but appears to be coincidence. Abraham Underhill, s/o Abraham Underhill and Hannah Cromwell, m. John's daughter Phebe Hallock from his first marriage, which explains the son-in-law reference. Thus it probably doesn't have anything to do with John's widow Phebe.

John Haviland is named as Phebe's son-in-law in John Hallock's will. One would assume this John Haviland either married a daughter or step-daughter of Phebe's, or was a son or step-son of a previous husband. After searching, and paging through Source:Frost, Josephine C. Haviland Genealogy, I can find no explanation for this relationship?? A John Haviland [#16 in Haviland Genealogy] had wife Rachel ---, born about 1712, which would seem to be too early to be a daughter of Phebe's. There is a John Haviland [#36 in Haviland Genealogy], wife unknown, s/o Caleb Haviland and Catherine Merrel, but they lived in New Brunswick, NJ, so seem a distant possibility at best. A Phebe Cornell married 1735 Ebenezer Haviland [#31], and he died in 1749. They had no son John that I can find and she is said to have married next John Williams and died by 1756. John Haviland [#56], s/o Luke Haviland and Sarah Oakley, had a wife Sarah, maiden name unknown, and may be the most likely, though outside the potential due to the lack of maiden name, no connection is apparent. John Haviland [#77] m. 1764 Phebe Carpenter, his mother apparently not remarrying, and appears to be ruled out. No others seem to be old enough to qualify. An Isaac Carpenter m. 1751 Martha Hunt, d/o Abner Hunt. Isaac could be a son-in-law, but he was uncle to Phebe Carpenter, and by extension, John Haviland. So kinsman would seem more appropriate description based on that connection of John Hallock's widow to John Haviland. So I cannot determine the significance of this.

Abner Hunt

The parents are listed on this page are Josiah Hunt and Martha Honeywell. According to Torrey's marriages, Josiah Hunt m. Mary (Spofford) Honeywell, widow of Israel, after Israel died in 1719. It appears Josiah Hunt m. (1) Rebecca Harrison, m. (2) Martha ---, and m. (3) as above, Mary Hunnywell. The marriage date given for Abner and Phebe, 1714, doesn't mesh well with estimated birth of 1704 for Phebe.

So, we don't seem to be able to trust the information on this page.

And unfortunately, Abner Hunt does not seem to be well-represented in the literature. Source:Wyman, Thomas Bellows. Genealogy of the Name and Family of Hunt : Early Established in America from Europe : Exhibiting Pedigrees of Ten Thousand does list a Josiah Hunt of Grove Farm (p. 162) with children Thomas, Moses, Josiah, David, Abner, Phebe (this Phebe Hunt m. Joseph Fowler), Martha, and Abigail, but gives no marriage information and has nothing further to say about Abner. Further, the marriages of his brothers, given as 1743, 1756, 1760, compared to the dates that the father was involved in the church, 1692, 1700, 1702, suggesting a strong likelihood the author intermingled two generations.

Source:Doherty, Frank J. Settlers of the Beekman Patent, Dutchess County, New York, Vol. 6, p. 918 says Abner and Phebe (Cornell) Hunt had children: Abner, Nehemiah b. 1724, Charity, Elnathan and Hannah b. 1731. It does not list the Martha mentioned above, though reportedly her marriage certificate shows her to be Abner's daughter. But Doherty is mainly interested in the son Abner, who lived in the Beekman Patent for a while, and so his brief introduction on the parents probably cannot be considered authoritative.

Conclusions

Leaving us with next to nothing. The only real primary source mentioned is John Hallock's will and most of what we can conclude comes from that.

The maiden name of Phebe is unknown. It is possible that she married first a Mr. Cornell. Meanwhile, Abner Hunt probably had the 5 children listed by Doherty by an unnamed first wife because it seems unlikely Phebe could already be married for the second time by then.. After the death of their two spouses, Phebe and Abner married and had children (as mentioned in John Hallock's will), including Martha b. 1734. (Unless Abner had two wives named Phebe, Phebe Cornell, followed by the Phebe that eventually m. John Hallock?) When Abner died, Phebe married John Hallock, though, since we have no idea of the actual dates of the marriage to John Hallock, to Abner Hunt, or Abner's death, we can't rule out an intervening marriage. Phebe then died by 1765, since she is mentioned as deceased in John Hallock's will.