Person talk:Joseph Hamilton (29)

Was Joseph's mother Sarah or Hannah? [16 May 2015]

Food for thought. Disagreement exists among some who claim to have seen Joseph's original handwritten birth record. Supposedly, the Concord VR birth record of son Joseph contains a transcription error, in which the mother's name (originally spelled "Hanah") was misread as "Sarah". More research is needed.--Cos1776 22:36, 16 May 2015 (UTC)

There is a copy online that says "Hannah", but the double-N is not likely to be read as "Sarah" (here). This is a copy made in 1849 and further, alphabetized, which depending on the process used, may actually mean it is a second or third generation copy. Notice it did not preserve the "Jn^o" or the exact spelling of the month used in the original either, and that Hannah is used on the line above and the line below, making it easy for a tired clerk to write it instead of Sarah. If this is the copy somebody saw, it is almost meaningless. It all depends on seeing the original.

An error in the published compilation is conceivable, especially with no marriage records available, but the compiler of the vital records can be presumed to have had all the copies available, to have been familiar with the handwriting, etc., plus his work on the Wheeler family vis-a-vis Albert Gallatin Wheeler's Wheeler Family of America suggests he (George Tolman) was a pretty good genealogist (his choice, for example, to print the records in their original order shows he understood the important of preserving all the context possible). Most of the secondary sources go along with the published records. So again, barring other evidence from wills or deeds, etc., it will pretty much require an image of the original to refute the published record, and it doesn't appear the original was filmed. --Jrich 23:09, 16 May 2015 (UTC)

Possible Marriage - Joseph Hamilton & Sarah Wood [18 May 2015]

More working notes. Joseph is widely published as husband of Family:Joseph Hamilton and Sarah Wood (1) with most children recorded in Brookfield. She being from Topsfield, Essex County. Proof needed.

• Marriage NOT recorded in Brookfield VRs or Topsfield VRs.

--Cos1776 18:46, 17 May 2015 (UTC)

It would sure be useful if you would give a source for these apparently speculative assertions you have been posting. Who published it? What proof do you have and what proof do you feel is lacking (i.e., other possible candidates that need to be ruled out, other marriages proposed for the proposed wife, evidence that she moved to Brookfield)? I suspect if you look on ancestry or on the old PRF's on family search you can find 5 or 6 theories about who he married. What makes this one more than all those, so that some other person would think it might be worth spending time researching? --Jrich 00:14, 18 May 2015 (UTC)

I have found this on several websites, without any evidence given. Further, it appears unlikely. The will of Josiah's father (MD, 55:63) in 1747 directs "that Josiah faithfully fulfill the whole of his obligation where he was bound to his honored grandmother, his wife's mother [note: the original says my wives mother], for her comfortable support and maintenance during her natural life". An indenture does not seem to be recorded in Essex or Worcester county deeds, at least that I could find, which is too bad, since it would explicitly name the grandmother and remove the speculation. Assuming Josiah received property in return for promising to care for his grandmother, his residence in Brookfield suggests his grandmother was not the Margaret (Hopkins) Wood advanced by these websites, and presumed to be the mother of the otherwise unidentified Sarah mentioned above, as she lived and died in Essex County. It could happen that she had rights to land in Worcester County that she gave Josiah, and that he was able to fulfill his obligation while residing remote from his grandmother, but it seems unlikely. There is, overall, a general mismatch between Joseph's residence in Brookfield (his father John moving there by 1702), and Sarah's family living in Topsfield, that needs some justification to believe this marriage is possible. --Jrich 15:07, 18 May 2015 (UTC)