Person talk:Lydia How (6)

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Identity of Jonathan Mitchell's Wife. [23 January 2019]

There were two women named Lydia How(e), born in New Haven County between 1710 and 1720, who were possibly married to Jonathan Mitchell and/or Daniel Moulthrop.

(1) Lydia, daughter of John & Hannah (Hemingway) How, born 19 December 1711 at East Haven (family resided at East Haven), and

(2) Lydia, daughter of John & Lydia (Seward) How, born 28 March 1717 at New Haven (family resided at Durham).

According to the East Haven Register, p. 171, "1760, … Feb. 12, Lydia, widow of Dan Moulthrop, [died] meazles, [age] 43. This clue would indicate that she was the Lydia born 1717 since other Lydia would have been 48 at the time.

Jacobus, p. 5:1235, says that Moulthrop married the other Lydia, born 1711, calling her death "12 Feb 1760 æ. 43 (48?) per the East Haven Register.

Jacobus, p. 4:855, does not identify a husband or a date of death for the Lydia born 1717; p. 4:857, he does not identify a husband for the Lydia born 1711 but does attach to her the 1760 date of death per the East Haven Register.

Dr. Talcott, in Families of Early Guilford, Connecticut, p. 830, says that Jonathan Mitchell married in 1733 Lydia Howe, but does not identify her further. The published Guilford Vital Records, p. 173, "Mitchell, … Jonathan, of Deerfield, m. Lydia How, of Guilford, June 5, 1733, by Rev. Nath[anie]l Chancey, of Durham" The fact that the marriage was performed by the minister at Durham implies that this Lydia was of the Durham Family although she would have been barely 16 at the time.

The Howe Genealogy, p. 2:405 says that Lydia, born 1717, "probably m. Daniel Moulthrop." P. 2:409 lists Lydia, born 1711, but does not mention a husband. Note that while Jacobus, 4:854 says that her father died 8 November 1732 (gravestone, East Haven), the Howe Genealogy has his inventory 14 November 1752 and the distribution March 1753. He further lists the widow and, among the children, Lydia with no mention of a husband (three older sisters were listed with their married surnames). Jacobus has the widow dying 1740, almost certainly based on her New Haven County probate.

Conclusion: either of these Lydias or some other one, for that matter, could have married either Mitchell, Moulthrop, or both, although for Mitchell's widow (youngest child born 1744) to bear all the Moulthrop children attributed to her by Jacobus would imply a very tight schedule. My guess is that, based on the dates of birth of the two Lydias and the dates of their marriages, Moulthrop married Lydia b. 1717 and Mitchell married Lydia b. 1711.--jaques1724 21:13, 23 January 2019 (UTC)--jaques1724 21:21, 23 January 2019 (UTC)