Lydia (Danforth) Beaman (bef. 1625 - 1686)

Born before 24 May 1625 in Framlingham, Suffolk, England

Ancestors

Wife of William (Beaman) Beaumont — married 9 Dec 1643 in Saybrook, Middlesex, Connecticut

Descendants

Died 16 Aug 1686 after age 61 in Saybrook, New London, Connecticut Colony

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Biography

Lydia (Danforth) Beaman immigrated to New England as a child during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640).

Lydia Danforth was baptized at Framlingham, Suffolk, England on May 24, 1625, daughter of Nicholas and Elizabeth (Barber) Danforth.^[1] (See "Research Notes" below for more information concerning Lydia's parentage.)

She married William Beaman on December 9, 1643, at Saybrook, Connecticut. ^[1][2] William was born about 1608 and came to Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony, New England from Bridgenorth, Shropshire, England in 1635 aboard the Elizabeth.^[3]

• 1667: May 23: Lydia Beamond age 40, wife of William was treated by John Winthrop Jr. during her pregnancy and within 6 weeks of her due date. ^[3]
• 1676: Lydia, wife of William Beamon was the only women among 28 the the grantees in the will of Joshua Uncas, the Indian, disposed of in 1676 a total of 83, 000 acres of Connecticut lands. Lydia received 2000 acres. ^{[4] [3]}

Lydia died at Saybrook on August 16, 1686. ^{[3] [2]}

William died there on February 4, 1698/9. ^{[3] [2]}

Children

1. Lydia born on March 9, 1644/5; married first Samuel Boyes on February 3, 1667/8; married second Alexander Pygan on April 15, 1684. ^{[3] [2]}
2. Mary born on November 12, 1647; married John Tully on January 3, 1671/2. ^{[3] [2]}
3. Elizabeth born on March 2, 1650; died on October 30, 1694; married John Chapman on March 26, 1677. ^{[2] [3]}
4. Deborah born on November 29, 1652; died on June7, 1683; married Thomas Gilbert on September 27, 1681. ^{[2] [3]}
5. Abigail born on February 20, 1654/5; died unmarried on September 29, 1683. ^{[3] [2]}
6. Samuel born on February 28, 1656/7 ^[2] ; married Hester Buckingham c 1690. ^[3]
7. Rebecca born on September 7, 1659; married John Clarke on December 17, 1684. ^{[3] [2]}
8. ? Sarah born c 1661 or 1667; married Nathaniel Pratt on May 2, 1688. ^{[3] [2]}

Research Notes

Lydia's Parentage

On page 5 of his Danforth Genealogy, John May is cautious^[5] concerning Lydia's parents by stating that Hinman claimed "Lydia Damforth" [sic] was William Beaman's wife but that Hinman "gives no note of her family" (unless there is another Hinman source, May is referring to A Catalogue of the Names of the Early Puritan Settlers of the Colony of Connecticut^[6]). May also says that Savage claimed Lydia "was a daughter of Nicholas of Cambridge; but gives no authority for the statement" (the Savage source is A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England...^[7]) May says that the 24 May 1625 baptism record for a Lydia to Nicholas and Elizabeth "Danforthe" has been used by some to prove Lydia (Danforth) Beaman's parentage. On page 11, May continues delving into Lydia's parents by including a copy of the Saybrook Vital Records entry which mentions Will Beamon's marriage, showing his wife's name. He then says that the name would naturally read as "Lidea dorford or dorsord" and that "[N]o one would think it danford." He then says that the only surname of early settlers to the area (in conjunction with an earlier vital record entry for Danforth Clark), and the name Hinman must have interpreted it as, was "Danford."^[8]

Mary Walton Ferris must have agreed with that line of reasoning because in a footnote for the entry for Lydia, Nicholas Danforth's daughter, Ferris claims that the marriage entry seems to have been written in William Beamon's hand, and that some have interpreted his penmanship as "Danford," but she concludes that "other evidence seems to justify the opinion that she was the daughter of Nicholas Danforth."^[9]

That must have also been Anderson's thinking as he stated that William Beamon married "Lydia Danforth...daughter of Nicholas Danforth," and he used as his source the Saybrook Vital Records, with no note or comment that it was in error.^[10] Anderson claims that the marriage entry shows "her name published as 'Lida Sanford'."^[11]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume II, C-F:283 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1999); image of p. 283, entry for "Nicholas Danforth" by subscription AmericanAncestors.org.
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10} Vital records of Saybrook, 1647-1834. The Connecticut Historical Society and the Connecticut Society of the Order of the Founders and Patriots of America, Hartford, Connecticut, 1952 p. 3: 7: 11: 13: 15: 18: 20: 32
3. ↑ ^{3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12} Anderson, Robert C., George F. Sanborn, Jr., and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume I, A-B, NEHGS, Boston, Massachusetts, 1999 p. 220-2 (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.)
4. ↑ Ferris, Mary Walton, compiler. Dawes-Gates Ancestral Lines A Memorial Volume Containing the American Ancestry of Mary (Beman) Gates-Dawes. Volume 2, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1931 p. 733
5. ↑ May, John Joseph. Danforth Genealogy (Boston: C.H. Pope, 1902); image of p. 5 available at InternetArchive.org.
6. ↑ Royal Ralph Hinman, A Catalogue of the Names of the Early Puritan Settlers of the Colony of Connecticut (Hartford: Case, Tiffany and Company, 1852); image of p. 188, "William Bement" entry available InternetArchive.org.
7. ↑ James Savage, John Farmer, and O. P. (Orrando Perry) Dexter, A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England..., 2:8 (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1860); image 20 of 620, p. 8, "Nicholas Danforth" entry, pp. 7-8, at HathiTrust.org.
8. ↑ May, John Joseph. Danforth Genealogy (Boston: C.H. Pope, 1902); image of p. 11 available at InternetArchive.org.
9. ↑ Mary Walton Ferris, Dawes-Gates Ancestral Lines. A Memorial Volume Containing the American Ancestry of Rufus R. Dawes, 1:254 (Milwaukee: Charles G. Dawes, 1943), image 298 of 836, p. 254 at HathiTrust.org.
10. ↑ Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume 1, A-B:221 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1999); image of p. 221, entry for "William Beamon" by subscription AmericanAncestors.org.
11. ↑ Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume II, C-F:283 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1999); image of p. 283, entry for "Nicholas Danforth" by subscription AmericanAncestors.org.

See also:

• Ferris, Mary Walton, compiler. Dawes-Gates Ancestral Lines A Memorial Volume Containing the American Ancestry of Rufus R. Dawes. Volume 1, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1943 p. 254 (includes discussion of parents Nicholas and Elizabeth Danforth)
• New England Marriages Prior to 1700, p.55,"BEAMON, William (-1699) & Lydia DANFORTH (1627-1686); 9 Dec 1643; Saybrook, CT/Watertown/Cambridge"
• Town and Miscellaneous Records of Saybrook, Connecticut (FamilySearch) Page 1.

• "Lydia Beaumont the wife of William Beaumont departed this life the 29th of August 1683."