Sarah (Baldwin) Fenn (1621 - 1663)

Born 22 Apr 1621 in Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire, England

Ancestors

Wife of Benjamin Fenn — married 1638 (to Apr 1663) in Milford, New Haven, Connecticut Colony

Descendants

Died 29 Apr 1663 at age 42 in Milford, New Haven, Connecticut Colony

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Carol Baldwin [send private message], Julia Howard [send private message], Lamar Ross [send private message], and Wiley Walters [send private message]

Biography

This profile is part of the Baldwin Name Study.

Sarah (Baldwin) Fenn was born in Buckinghamshire, England.

Sarah (Baldwin) Fenn immigrated to New England as a child during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640).

Birth and Parents

Sarah, the eldest daughter of Sylvester Baldwin and Sarah Bryan was born in 1621 and baptized on 22 April of that year at Aston Clinton, England.^[1][2]

According to Baldwin, Sarah "came to New England no doubt with her parents, June 1638, in ship "Martin" age 18."^[3]Savage supports the living children crossing with their parents when he writes, 'He brot w. Sarah [his wife],...ds. Sarah, Mary, Martha, Ruth, and s. John. "On the main ocean, bound for N.E." his [Sylvester'] nuncup. will was made 21 June, and pro. 13 July of that year.... The est. was good, and provision liberal for the six ch. as well as the wid. to wh. with s. Richard our Gen. Ct. 4 Sept. foll. commit. the admin.'^[4]

Marriage and Children

Sarah Baldwin married the Honorable Benjamin Fenn say 1638 [shortly after arriving in New England] at Milford, Connecticut.^[5]They had six children born at Milford:

1. Benjamin Fenn (bp. 20 Sep 1640; d. 1689), m. 21 Dec 1660 at Milford, CT, Mehitable Gunn (1641-1720)
2. Joseph Fenn (bp. 20 Nov 1642; d. 1671),
3. Edward Fenn (bp. 1644; d. 1728), m. 15 Nov 1688 at Wallingford, CT, Mary Thorpe (1666-1725)
4. Sarah Fenn (bp. Apr 1645; d. 1686), m. 1663 at Milford, CT, Samuel Burwell (1640-1715)
5. Mary Fenn (bp. 1647; d. 1701), m. 1) 11 Jan 1671 at Guilford, CT, William Leete Jr. (1645-1687); m. 2) Capt. Stephen Bradley
6. Martha Fenn (bp. 1650; d. 1708), m. 14 Mar 1668 at Milford, CT, Samuel Newton (1646-1708)

Death and Burial

Sarah (Baldwin) Fenn died on 29 April 1663 in her 42nd year at Milford.^[6]She was buried in 'Peter Prudden's Garden' in the Milford Cemetery at Milford, New Haven, Connecticut.^[7]

Research Notes

• Sarah (Baldwin) Fenn could not have been a widow of John Searle in 1642, nor could she have married Alexander Edwards in 1642 if she was still married to Benjamin Fenn at that time. Her 1st child born in 1640 and her last born in 1650.

• The Sarah Baldwin who married John Searle on 19 March 1639 at Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts was a widow on 28 April 1642 when she married Alexander Edwards. This Sarah Baldwin, the daughter of Richard and Isabel (Harding) Baldwin was born 25 June 1621 and died 3 October 1690.

• Richard Wheeler in his "History of the Town of Stonington, " p. 224, lists only one marriage for Sarah Baldwin (to Benjamin Fenn), as does C.C. Baldwin in his "Baldwin Genealogy from 1500-1881", and in Joseph Baldwin's "Investigations of the Baldwin Family ...". According to all three sources, Sarah (Baldwin) Fenn was the first wife of Benjamin Fenn. She died in 1663, and he married in 1664, as his second wife, Susanna Ward.

Sources

1. ↑ Buckinghamshire baptism index Transcription Collections from England, UK© Findmypast. Record set Buckinghamshire Baptism Index; First name(s): Sarah; Last name: Baldwin; Baptism year: 1621; Birth year -; Denomination: Anglican; County: Buckinghamshire; Country: England; Place: Aston Clinton; Mother's first name(s) -: Father's first name(s): Silvester; Father's last name Baldwin.
2. ↑ Chester, Joseph L. Report of Investigations Concerning the Family of Baldwin, of Aston Clinton, Co. Bucks. The NEHG Register, Vol 38. Boston, MA: NEHGS, 1847-. Page 290. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, NEHGS, 2001-2018.).
3. ↑ Baldwin, Charles C. The Baldwin Genealogy 1550-1881. Cleveland, Ohio: Leader Publishing Co., 1881. Page 49.
4. ↑ Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, Vol 1. Boston, MA: NEHGS, 2016. Page 105.
5. ↑ Torrey, Clarence A. New England Marriages Prior to 1700, Vol. I: A-G. Boston, MA: NEHGS, 2011. Page 535.
6. ↑ Ancestry.com. Connecticut, U.S., Deaths and Burials Index, 1650-1934 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: "Connecticut Deaths and Burials, 1772–1934." Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2009, 2010. Index entries derived from digital copies of original and compiled records. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/2384725:2557?tid=26357735&pid=272233314642
7. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 01 March 2021), memorial page for Sarah Baldwin Fenn (1621–29 Apr 1663), Find a Grave Memorial no. 28919907, citing Milford Cemetery, Milford, New Haven County, Connecticut, USA ; Maintained by Mike Cooper (contributor 46884823).

Acknowledgements

• This person was created through the import of family.ged on 21 September 2010. Thank you to Wiley Walters for creating WikiTree profile.

• Biography rewritten with inline sources and photos added by Baldwin descendant Carol Baldwin PhD, RN on 2 March 2021.