Ruth (Delano) Peterson (1707 - 1761)

Born 25 May 1707 in Duxbury, Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Wife of John Peterson — married 21 Aug 1726 in Kingston, Massachusetts

Descendants

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Research Note

This is a complete rewrite of the biography. Merger of profiles based on GEDCOM-generated records had produced a tangled mess of uncertainly cited sources. Furthermore, many of the source citations were to compilations or other secondary records of uncertain reliability. This rewrite is based on material in the Mayflower Silver Books, notably Hill's Vol. 11, part 2, Edward Doty. Some of the prior source citations remain in the cases where they could be clearly identified and reconstructed. One of the prior source citations has been reconstructed and listed as supplemental reading. -- Jim Moore, 25 March 2020

• Ruth is a Mayflower Descendant from John Alden, Priscilla (Mullins) Alden, Edward Doty, and Myles Standish

Biography

• Ruth was born May 25, 1707, in Duxbury, Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay Colony, to Johnathan Delano and Hannah Doty. She was a descendant of pilgrims Edward Doty and John Alden.

^{[1] [2] [3]}

• Ruth married John Peterson in Kingston, Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay on 21 August 1726. John was a descendant of pilgrim George Soule.

^[1]

During the period between 1735 and 1759, Ruth and her husband engaged in several property transactions which provide their various locations: Middleborough; Rochester; and Scituate, Rhode Island. ^[1]

It is not known when Ruth died, but a property transfer record shows that she was still living on 7 September 1761. On 24 June 1765, her husband performed a transaction where she was not listed. ^[1]

A death of records leaves researchers with little direct evidence to identify their children. Hill ^[1] has this to say:

Except for Sylvanus and Ichabod, none of the children listed ... can be directly attributed to John and Ruth (Delano) Peterson. However, the deeds [for the various property transactions] shows that John Peterson lived in the towns at the times his children were married there. There was no other Peterson family known to be living there at the same time. ... No Rhode Island probate record for John Peterson has been found.

Hill goes on to list the following children:

• Sylvanus, born, 1727
• Hope, married, Rochester 1748
• Lucy, intention, Rochester 1748
• Hannah, "of Rochester." intention, 1751
• Content, married, Smithfield RI, 1757
• Lydia, "of Middleb." married Peter Bennett, 1757
• Zilpha, "of Middleb." married, 1757
• Nathan
• Ichabod, "of Richmond, Kings Co. RI", married, 1755
• Patience, "of Scituate, RI", married, 1765
• Lemuel, married, Scituate RI, Dorcas Young, 12 Jan. 1767
• Rhoda, married, Pelham, 1772
• Ruth, unmarried as of 1800

Source Notes

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Peter B Hill, Compiler, Edward Doty: His Descendants through sons Thomas and Samuel, and daughters Desire and Elizabeth, Mayflower Families through Five Generations, Volume 11, Part II (Plymouth, MA: General Society of Mayflower Descendents, 1996), pp. 13, 32-35, #156, Ruth Delano.
2. ↑ Esther Littleford Woodworth-Barnes and Alicia Crane Williams, compiler and editor, respectively, Family of John Alden, Mayflower Families through Five Generations: Descendants of the Pilgrims who Landed at Plymouth, Mass. December 1620, Vol 16, Part 1 (Plymouth, MA: General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1998), p 156.
3. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988," database index with images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2495/: viewed 25 March 2020), > Duxbury > Vital Record Transcripts, image 68 of 440, Delanoe...Ruth.

Sources

• Hill, Peter B, Compiler. Edward Doty: His Descendants through sons Thomas and Samuel, and daughters Desire and Elizabeth. Mayflower Families through Five Generations, Volume 11, Part II. Plymouth, MA: General Society of Mayflower Descendents, 1996.

• Woodworth-Barnes, Esther Littleford and Alicia Crane Williams, compiler and editor, respectively. Family of John Alden. Mayflower Families through Five Generations: Descendants of the Pilgrims who Landed at Plymouth, Mass. December 1620, Vol 16, Part 1. Plymouth, MA: General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1998.

• "Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988." Database index with images. Ancestry.com. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2495/: 2020.

Supplementary Reading

"North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000," database index with page images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61157/: viewed 25 March 2020), >P>Peterson>"The Peterson family of Duxbury, Mass", images 1-27 of 27.