Family:Solomon Reed and Abigail Horton (1)

Identity of Wife

Various sources name the wife as Abigail Stoughton, Houghton, or Horton.

Given claims that all Stoughtons descended from Thomas Stoughton of Windsor, CT, genealogies only show two possible Abigails, one b. 1704, and the other b. 1730. Neither is a good match based on comparing their birth date to Solomon's birthdate (1719), the age at death given on Mrs. Abigail Reed's gravestone (suggests b. 1714), and childbearing considerations (children born from 1750-1756). Further, the first married a John Moore, Jr. and the second "possibly" died unmarried in 1778 in E. Windsor, CT.

Barry's History of Framingham is the oldest source naming Solomon's wife that I have found, and it gives the name as Abigail Houghton, as do some other sources. There are many Houghtons and this remains a possibility. I simply note that Horton is an alternate spelling for Houghton.

Kendall's identification of Solomon's wife as Abigail Horton, daughter of Samuel Horton of New Haven, CT is the only candidate I have found that matches the age at death found in the graveyard for Mrs. Abigail Reed. (Mr. Kendall was a great-great-grandson.) Perhaps Mr. Kendall was influenced by the son, Rev. Solomon Reed, and his wife Susanna Willard naming a child Samuel Horton Reed? Further, it satisfies the consistent identification of her origins as Connecticut. Marriage records for the First Church of New Haven before 1758 were lost, possibly during the British occupation of 1779^[5], and the first marriage in White Haven is dated 1751^[6]. This would explain why no marriage records seem to have been found, as indicated by sources being no more precise than identifying the year of marriage, not the actual date. Such a marriage in 1748 does not seem to contradict what little is known about her: she was still Abigail Horton in 1742 when her father's estate was distributed^[7], and that same year, Abigail Horton was dismissed from the First Church in New Haven to White Haven (now United) Church^[8].

Thus, barring new information, Abigail Horton seems to be the best fit to a confusing puzzle. --Jrich 00:20, 29 August 2008 (EDT)

1. ↑ Crane, Ellery B. Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts: With a History of Worcester Society of Antiquity. (New York: Lewis Publishing Co., 1907)
   253.

   Solomon, born October 22, 1719, died 1785, married (first), in 1748, Abigail Stoughton, of Connecticut; married (second) Sarah Reed, widow of Elijah Reed.

2. ↑ Emery, Samuel Hopkins. The history of the church of North Middleborough, Massachusetts: in six discourses preached by its acting pastor, S. Hopkins Emery
   27.

   Mr. Reed, the minister of this place, was twice married - first in 1748, to Miss Abigail Stoughton of Connecticut, and again, to his cousin, Sarah Reed.

3. ↑ Kendall, Winthrop Reed. American Ancestors of Winthrop Reed Kendall. (Self-published, 1913)
   17.

   Rev. Solomon Reed m. 1748 in Connecticut, Abigail Horton, probably dau. of Samuel Horton, but the name appears also as Houghton and Stoughton.

4. ↑ Barry, William. A History of Framingham, Massachusetts: Including the Plantation, from 1640 to the Present Time: with an Appendix Containing a Notice of Sudbury and Its First Proprietors; Also a Register of the Inhabitants of Framingham before 1800, with Genealogical Sketches. (Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States: James Munroe and Company, 1847)
   117.

   He was ordained over the second church in Framingham, in Jan. 1746-7, and was probably soon after married to Abigail Houghton, of Connecticut.

5. ↑ Bailey, Frederic W. Early Connecticut Marriages as Found on Ancient Church Records Prior to 1800. Vol. 1, page 7.
6. ↑ Ibid. Vol. 6, p. 7.
7. ↑ Fischer, Carl W. Descendants of Thomas Horton of Springfield. Page 12
8. ↑ Historical Catalogue of the Members of the First Church of Christ in New Haven Connecticut. Page 74