Person talk:Isaac Newton (28)

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Who was his mother? [6 October 2011]

It seems more likely his mother was Sarah Fuller rather than Grace Garfield?

If his mother was Grace Garfield then this Isaac did not marry until he was in his mid-30s. Absent any indication of a prior marriage that seems unlikely.

Also, Leonard in Newton Genealogy lists him after the other two brothers she knew of - indicating she considered him to be younger than they?

Any other comments on this question?--Jhamstra 20:24, 28 August 2011 (EDT)


With all due respect, I believe you created Isaac as the son of Isaac and Grace in the first place, and I changed his birthdate from Aft 1710 to Bef 1737 precisely to emphasize the possibility you bring up. However, as I pointed out, since there is no birth record, we have no proof.

It would be very typical that the first male child was named Isaac after the father, born about 1720, with Josiah being the second child, and possibly Josiah's childbirth being the cause of Grace's death, presumably about 1722, since the father married again in 1723. The death of Josiah's mother might also explain why Josiah wasn't baptized in Marlborough, but had to wait until 1728 when several children were baptized in a group in Mansfield. (Since the father m. Sarah in 1723 and they have recorded children born in 1723, 1725, and 1727, the implication is that Josiah could not be Sarah's child. Also he is listed first in the baptism record, suggesting he is older than Moses.) So, in this arrangement, Isaac was in his later 30's when he married in 1758, which is a little old. But he is only known to have had four children, such a small number often being consistent (in colonial times) with an marriage later in life. Eight or ten children would be typical of a man married in his early 20's.

I spent a fair amount of time trying to identify Sarah "Levett" with no luck. Her birthdate could be a useful clue for deciding approximately how old Isaac was. However, as the note on source #1 on Family:Isaac Newton and Sarah Levett (1) indicates, there are at least four reasonable alternate interpretations for the name "Levett" (in addition to expected spelling variations such as Levitt, Leavitt, etc.) and I could find nothing useful under any of them.

Ermina Leonard does not mention the son Josiah, nor daughters Sarah, Mary, or Margaret, who are clearly listed in the Mansfield records (start with this page and "Next" through other matches-not all the matches are pertinent to this family), so she was obviously working with limited information. As a result, her ordering of the children is probably not worth relying on. I tend to agree with your suggestion, namely that Isaac's marriage in 1758 makes it likely he was born after Mary in 1731 and before 1737. Any time in this six year span would allow him to be of legal age when he married in 1758 and make him of prime marrying age at the time of his marriage.

Actually, there is a fair possibility that Josiah in the baptism record is a mis-transcription of Sarah, since the birth of Sarah is recorded before that of Moses, and then the baptism would make perfect sense. As it is printed), we are left wondering when Sarah was baptized. A really motivated person would try to find a microfilm of the original records and determine if the name recorded could have been misread. But either way, this really doesn't impact the discussion of Isaac at all. He could still be born to Grace and married at an older age, or he could be the youngest and married in his early 20's.

However, in the end we have two plausible scenarios, and no matter how much you like one or the other, the only way to resolve this is to search for primary evidence that rules out, or confirms, one case. --Jrich 23:42, 28 August 2011 (EDT)


I did indeed originally add him as you said.

I think we have fairly well exhausted the available sources at this point.

I do think I have identified Sarah Fuller but am open to further enlightenment.

At this point I think my next move will be to update this family to be consistent with the hypothesis that Isaac was the first son and note the other hypothesis as an alternative.

I do not know any way of indicating someone's father but showing alternative mothers.--Jhamstra 00:07, 29 August 2011 (EDT)


I have now shown both possible mothers by deliberately creating duplicate parents.

If we can reach consensus on which arrangement of his mother and his children is correct (Leonard or S2) then I would be happy to show the preferred arrangement and leave the alternatives as footnotes.--Jhamstra 13:51, 6 October 2011 (EDT)


Ermina Leonard thought there were two wives and all children belonged to second wife [28 August 2011]

She shows Moses as the oldest, and it is Moses children's names that convinces her Grace was not Moses's mother. So I think your comment that she showed Isaac as Grace's child is actually misrepresenting her position. So I removed it and tried to make the same point as part of the other note on the birth date. --Jrich 01:16, 29 August 2011 (EDT)


And his children? [6 October 2011]

I think that [S2] probably got it right, considering the 1812 will and the Connecticut VRs - neither of which was available to Ermina Leonard.--Jhamstra 13:49, 6 October 2011 (EDT)