Person:Paul Wetherbee (3)

There are two Paul Wetherbee's born a year apart, cousins. They are often conflated on Internet websites.

Paul, the son of Ephraim, was born in Lunenburg 6 Oct 1776. Paul, the son of Paul, was born in Fitchburg 8 Mar 1777. The fathers, Ephraim and Paul, were brothers. From wikipedia:Fitchburg, Massachusetts: "Fitchburg was first settled in 1730 as part of Lunenburg, and was officially set apart from that town and incorporated in 1764."

One Paul, Paul Jr. of Fitchburg, married 1803 Ruth Smith and lived in Fitchburg. The other Paul, Paul of Orange, m. 1800 Anna Woodward, and later moved to Troy, New York. He is of Orange when he married in 1800 and the last deed found in Orange is dated 1809. Which is which?

Since the one father, Paul, was of Fitchburg, and the father Ephraim, was of Lunenburg, many websites assume Paul Jr. of Fitchburg was the son of Paul Sr. of Fitchburg. But this is incorrect.

Various deeds show that Paul Jr. of Fitchburg (called Paul 2'd in some of the deeds) had a wife Ruth, including some in 1804. One deed in particular helps establish that Paul Jr. of Fitchburg was the son of Ephraim of Lunenburg: Worcester deed Vol. 152, p. 314 25 Apr 1803: Paul Wetherbee of Fitchburg yeoman for $10 quitclaims to Ephraim Wetherbee of Lunenburg yeoman all right in the estate of my Honoured Father Ephraim Wetherbee late of Lunenburg deceased and the personal estate of every kind. Signed Paul Wetherbee Jr.

This leaves Paul Wetherbee of Orange to be the son of Paul Wetherbee and Dorcas Hovey. The overlap in children's names between Paul and Anna of Orange/Troy, and Paul and Dorcas, further suggests this is correct (esp., not so common names Abel and Salome/Saloma).

1. ↑ Lunenburg (Massachusetts.) Town Clerk. Vital records, 1719-1797. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1971)
   p. 249.

   Paul Wetherbee son of Ephraim Wetherbee & Kezia his wife, was born at Lunenburg October ye 6th 1776.

2. ↑ Fitchburg, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. The Old Records of the Town of Fitchburg, Massachusetts. (Fitchburg, Mass.: Sentinel Printing Co., 1898-1913 )
   Vol. 3, p. 293.

   Paul Wetherbee Died at Fitchburg August 31, 1842. Age 66. [birth about 1776] Recorded April. 1843. by J. A. Marshall Town Clerk.