Person:Ruth Newcomb (1)

Source:Genealogoical memoir of the Newcomb family containing records of nearly every person of the name in America from 1635 to 1874 : also the first generation of children, p. 35 and 54, seems to place this Ruth in two different families. In both families she is shown marrying Samuel Smith, Jr.

On p. 35: Ruth is listed as 10th child of Andrew Newcomb of Eastham and Mercy Oldham of Scituate, and is said on this page to have married 21 Apr 1756 Samuel Smith, Jr., of Provincetown. Andrew and Mercy moved to Truro after the birth of their first child (i.e., 1710-1712). Their 9th child, Sarah, was born 1729 and baptized in 1730. No birth or baptism record is found for Ruth, but this would imply a birth about 1730-1731. This book labels Ruth "probably of this family", and this description appears to been used with little change by Cutter.

On p. 54: Ruth is listed as the eldest child of Joseph Newcomb, and is said on this page to have married 21 Apr 1756 Samuel Smith, Jr. Joseph was born in Eastham, but settled in Truro, and married Mary Eldridge of Truro. Since the marriage of Joseph and Mary is given as 16 Mar 1738, this implies a birth in 1739 for Ruth, which is somewhat young for a marriage for this area and time, with no mitigating reason such as the death of a parent, to motivate it. (Everyday Life in Early America, by Daniel Freeman Hawke, p. 59: "Given the myths about early marriages, they married late - mid-twenties for the men, early twenties for the women...")

It is clear that both descriptions refer to the Ruth Newcomb that married Samuel Smith. Both identifications have problems. The Andrew Newcomb identification suffers from no baptism when most of the other children are shown in Truro Church records, making one question whether she was actually in this family. The Joseph Newcomb identification suffers from forcing Ruth to be married at an uncommonly young age. The wedding record describes Ruth as "Ruth Newcomb of Eastham", but by 1756, both of these families appear to have resided in Truro for many years so there is still the chance that yet another Ruth Newcomb is the one who married Samuel Smith, Jr.

Using children names as evidence is very iffy. Samuel and Ruth had children Ephraim, Hannah, John, Jesse, Chloe, and Ruth. (See Source:Mayflower Descendant, pp. 11:188, 11:217, 12:23.) If Ruth comes from the Andrew Newcomb family, she had a brother Jesse. I can find no other hints from this set of names, in particular, there is no Andrew, Joseph, Mercy, or Mary.

--Jrich 11:45, 3 November 2008 (EST)