Hannah (Griswold) Clark (1658 - 1688)

Born 11 Dec 1658 in Saybrook, Connecticut Colony, British America

Ancestors

Wife of William Clarke — married 7 Mar 1678 in Saybrook, British America

Descendants

Died 20 Feb 1688 at age 29 in Plymouth Colony, British America

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Victoria Stilley [send private message]

A note about places

Although Saybrook was founded as a distinct colony, it had joined the Connecticut Colony in 1644 ^[1], prior to Hannah Griswold's birth. The place identified as “Saybrook” at that time does *not* correspond to today’s Saybrook; rather it corresponds to a place now called “Old Saybrook.”

At the time of her death, the Plymouth colony had not yet been incorporated into the Massachusetts Bay colony; that did not occur until 1691 or 1692 depending upon which step in the process is regarded as the definitive one.

Biography

Hannah Griswold was born on 11 December 1658 in Saybrook, Connecticut to Lt. Francis Griswold and his wife. ^[2] The identification of the mother is the subject of much dispute. Some on Wikitree make a claim for Mary Tracy; others identify Sarah Fitch or Mary Fitch. Webber ^[3] makes a convincing case for discarding those candidates and a strong circumstantial case that the mother was the same "Sarah" who married Major William Bradford following the death of Griswold.

On 7 March 1677 or 1678 (depending of the vagaries of old style dating versus new style), Hannah married William Clark. ^{[4] [5]} Clark was from Plymouth, their children were born in Plymouth, and both of them died in Plymouth. It appears that they had four children in Plymouth: ^[6]

• Sarah, 19 June 1678
• William, 7 June 1682
• Nathaniel, 1 June 1684
• Samuel, 8 Dec 1687, deceased 2 April 1763

In Saybrook, a Hannah Griswold was accused of witchcraft. Previous panics had caused town official to become more skeptical of such charges and “accusations against women like Hannah . . . [and other such] wives of prosperous men . . . were simply not taken seriously by the courts.” ^[7]

Hannah died in Plymouth on the 20th or 21st day of February 1687/8, and is buried at Burial Hill there. ^[8]

Various records give alternative spellings of Hannah’s last name, including Grisill and Griswell.

Remarks on the Webber paper and the Karlsen dissertation

The Webber paper ^[3] is cited as the source that Hannah Griswold's mother was the person who later became the third wife of William Bradford. As Webber himself points out, the analysis is circumstantial, but he makes a convincing argument for discarding other suggested possibilities. Some of the supporting evidence may be questioned, however. He states that the marriages of daughters Hannah and Lydia in Plymouth suggest that they followed their mother there when she married Bradford in 1673.

Hannah’s marriage, however, is recorded in both Saybrook^[5] and Plymouth^[4], rendering the actual location undetermined. Furthermore, according to Karlsen^[7], Hannah, after her marriage, was accused of witchcraft in Saybrook (although no official proceedings occurred). Karlsen cites ^[9] as the source for her information about Griswold.

However, these criticisms have their own flaws. Karlsen gives the name of the accused witch as Hannah Griswold and describes her as married. Of course, "Griswold" would not have been Hannah's married name. Furthermore, their first child was born in Plymouth, in June 1678, leaving only scant time for them to have resided in Saybrook, if at all. There were other Griswolds in Connecticut at the time; perhaps Karlsen's Hannah Griswold is another person entirely. Indeed, the website for Associated Daughters of Early American Witches lists one Anna (Wolcott) Griswold, accused 1667 in Connecticut, as one of its "approved ancestors". ^[10]

Few records are available for Anna Wolcott. Anderson ^[11] has her born, say 1624, to Henry Wolcott and Elizabeth Saunders, and married in Windsor, Connecticut, 16 October 1646 to Mathew Griswold, but complains that this is stated only in secondary sources. Torrey ^[12] reports that Matthew Griswold (1618-1698) married Ann or Anna Wolcott, possibly on 16 October 1646 in Windsor, Saybrook, or Lime, Connecticut, and that she lived until 1700/1.

One could build a consistent story from these fragments of evidence by assuming that:

• Anna Wolcott Griswold was known as "Hannah," did reside in Saybrook, and was the accused witch described by Karlsen; and that
• Hannah Griswold did follow her mother to Plymouth and did marry William Clark there,

hence supporting Webber's reconstruction.

Sources

1. ↑ "Saybrook Colony," Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saybrook_Colony) : viewed 18 May 2018).
2. ↑ "Connecticut, Town Birth Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection)," database index with images, Ancestry (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1034: accessed 1 September 2017), Saybrook Vital Records 1635-1850, image 68 of p. 68, "Grissill, Hannah, d. Francis, b. Dec. 11, 1658, [vol] 1, [page] 14"; citing White, Lorraine Cook, ed. The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records. Vol. 1-55. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1994-2002.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} David Jay Webber, "Major William Bradford's Second Wife: Was she the Widow of Francis Griswold," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 155 (2001), online archives, AmericanAncestors (https://www.americanancestors.org/DB202/r/0 : downloaded 19 May 2018), pp. 245-250. But see "Remarks on the Webber Paper and the Karlsen dissertation."
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} "Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850: Plymouth Vol 1," database index with images, New England Historic Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (AmericanAncestors.org: viewed 23 January 2016), vol 1, p 85, [p. 126], "Mr. William Clark married Hannah Griswell 7 March 1677"; citing transcription of Lee D van Antwerp (compiler) and Ruth Wilder Sherman (editor), Vital Records of Plymouth, Massachusetts to the Year 1850, Picton Press, Camden, Maine, 1993.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} "Connecticut Vital Records to 1870," online database with images of transcription, New England Historic Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (AmericanAncestors.org: accessed 30 January 2016), vol Saybrook, p 55, "GRISWOLD...Hannah, m. Will Clark, Mar. 7, 1677"; citing original typescripts, Lucius Barnes Barbour Collection, 1928. Also available as "Connecticut, Town Marriage Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection)," database index with images, Ancestry (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1062: downloaded 1 September 2017), Saybrook Vital Records 1635-1850, image 45 showing p. 45, "Will, m. Hannah Griswold, Mar. 7, 1677, [vol] 1 [page] 45"; citing White, Lorraine Cook, ed. The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records. Vol. 1-55. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1994-2002.
6. ↑ "Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850: Plymouth Vol 1," database index with images, New England Historic Genealogical Society, AmericanAncestors (AmericanAncestors.org: accessed 23 January 2016), p. 8
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Carol F. Karlsen, The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England, 2013 kindle edition (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1998), location 1332 (p. 80). But see "Remarks on the Webber Paper and the Karlsen dissertation."
8. ↑ "Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850: Plymouth Vol 1," database index with images, New England Historic Genealogical Society, AmericanAncestors (AmericanAncestors.org: accessed 30 January 2016), p 134, "[p. 200]...Hannah, the wife of Mr. William CLARKE, decd. 21th of Feb. 1687/88 in her 29th year"; citing transcription of Lee D van Antwerp (compiler) and Ruth Wilder Sherman (editor), Vital Records of Plymouth, Massachusetts to the Year 1850 Picton Press, Camden, Maine, 1993.
9. ↑ "Conn. Assistants Records," 6-7; Essex Court Records 7:405; 8:23.
10. ↑ "Listing of those who were Accused, Tried, or Convicted of Witchcraft prior to 1700: Approved Ancestors: Name, Colony, year of first accusation or trial," Associated Daughters of Early American Witches (http://www.adeaw.us/home/approvedancestors.html : viewed 20 May 2018).
11. ↑ Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins, 3 vols. (Boston : New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1993), vol. 3, p. 2051.
12. ↑ Clarence Almon Torrey, New England Marriages Prior to 1700, 2011th ed., 3 vols. (Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011) vol 1, p 667.

Acknowledgements

Various GEDCom imports included Hannah Griswold:

• Ella Lamoreaux.ged imported 28 April 2011.
• Griswold-360 created through the import of Westoversallover.GED by Angela Westover on April 18, 2012.
• Griswold-783 was created by Victoria Stilley through the import of Stilley Family Tree.ged on July 28, 2014.

Jim Moore wrote this biography on 1 September 2017 and revised it on 18-20 May 2018.