Deborah (Hardin) Latham (1694 - aft. 1740)

Born 29 Jul 1694 in Braintree, Suffolk, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Wife of Thomas Latham — married 19 Mar 1712 in Bridgewater, Plymouth, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Descendants

Died after 30 Aug 1740 after age 46 in Bridgewater, Plymouth, Province of Massachusetts Bay [uncertain]

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Biography

Deborah Hardin (a.k.a. Harden, Harding) was born on 29 July 1694 to John and Hannah Hardin in Braintree, Massachusetts.^[1]

She married Thomas Latham, son of James and Deliverance Latham, on 19 March 1711/12 in Bridgetwater.^[2]

Thomas and Deborah are documented living in Bridgewater and Middleborough through 1726, and appear in North Yarmouth in York County (now Maine) in 1731 and '32,^[3] and apparently removed to Bath County, North Carolina sometime shortly thereafter.

On 8 July 1734, Deliverance "Lathan" witnessed the will of Elizabeth Lillington of Bath County, North Carolina. Deliverance could have been Deborah's mother-in-law but is much more likely her daughter, born before 8 July 1720 to be of age to witness.^[4] Deliverance, assuming she was the daughter, apparently returned to Massachusetts shortly after this, for in March Court, 1735/6 in Plymouth Co., Mass., "the grand jurors present[ed] Deliverance Latham of Bridgewater in the County of Plymouth, single woman, the daughter of Thomas Latham, late of Bridgewater, now resident in Carolina... for fornication, to say for having... a bastard child..."^[5]

On 30 August 1740, Deborah Latham, wife of Thomas Latham, millwright, brought suit in court at Bath, North Carolina against Mary Power, widow, now Mary Duncan wife of Abraham Duncan, and her mulatto servant Mary Lewes, for waylaying her on the King's High Road, beating, horsewhipping her and generally assaulting her with "other weapons"... "of which strokes & lashes the said Deborah long languished in danger of her life." Her son Rotheus is recorded as a witness.^[6]

Though she apparently survived this assault, this is the last record yet found of Deborah. Her husband Thomas returned to Bridgewater at some point prior to 7 November 1753 , presumably with Deborah if she was still living, on which date Thomas Latham of Bridgewater gave to Rhoda Conant, his daughter, and David Conant, her husband, one sixth part of his interest "in the eastern parts of the Province upon the Kennebec River, which was purchased of the Indians by John Winslow and others in or soon after the first settlement of New England."^[7]

Their sons Rotheus, James, and Phinehas settled in North Carolina. The inscriptions on the family gravestone which record Thomas' marriage and death years, as well as his brother Joseph's, and also give his brother Joseph's wife, but do not mention Thomas' wife.^[8] This might suggest that Deborah died before Thomas returned to Massachusetts, though it is far from a certainty, and she could just have easily have returned with Thomas.

Children of Thomas and Deborah (Hardin) Latham:

• Jane Latham, b. abt. 1715, m. Joseph Drinkwater in N. Yarmouth in 1732^[9][10]
• Deliverance Latham, b. bef. 8 July 1720, m. Daniel Howell in January 1743 or '43/4^[4]
• (supp.) Joseph Latham, "went eastward"^[11]
• Ann Latham, m. Seth Mitchell in 1738^[11][12]
• Rhoda Latham, m. David Conant in 1748^[7][12]
• Rotheus Latham, bp. 1 May 1726 at E. Parish, Bridgewater^[13]
• Beriah Latham, bp. 10 March 1727/8, E. Parish, Bridgewater^[13]
• John Latham, bp. 13 September 1730^[13]
• Micajah Latham, bp. 11 June 1732 in N. Yarmouth^[14]
• James Latham, b. abt. February 1735/6^[15]
• Phinehas Latham, b. bef. ^[16]

James, and Phinehas are included in the family under strong circumstantial evidence alone, in that: (a) they appear out of nowhere in Beaufort and Hyde Counties, North Carolina, where Thomas and Deborah stopped in during the 1730s-40s and are known to have left their son Rotheus; and (b) they have a high degree of shared names in their families: James' children's names include Thomas and Rotheas; Phinehas' children's names include James, Rotheus, John and Agnes (James' wife's name); and Rotheus named a son Phinehas. Also, both Thomas and Phinehas are identified as millwrights in deeds.

In theirs and the ensuing generation, the h was dropped fron Phinehas, yielding Phineas, and the u in Rotheus became an a, yielding Rotheas.

Ann, like James and Phinehas, has not been proven as a daughter, though she was identified by Mitchell as such, and like James and Phinehas, the names of some of her children (Rotheus and Phinehas) are suggestive.

Jane's marriage in North Yarmouth during the brief time her family was living there is the support for her inclusion.

Sources

1. ↑ Bates, Samuel A. Records of the Town of Braintree, 1640-1793. Randolph, Mass: D.H. Huxford, 1886, p. 671
2. ↑ Vital Records of Bridgewater, Massachusetts to the Year 1850. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1916, 2(Marriages and Deaths):228.
3. ↑ Banks, "Early Conveyances of Land in North Yarmouth, Maine", Old Times..., 5:2:684-5, citing York County Deeds 15:76 (Houghton to Lindsey) and 15:111 (Jones to Latham and Latham to Houghton).
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Elizabeth Lillington, last will and testament, 1734. North Carolina. Division of Archives and History. "Secretary of State Original Wills," FamilySearch film # 007640351, Hill, George - Madren, Richard, images 1066-7.
5. ↑ Massachusetts. Court of General Sessions of the Peace (Plymouth County). Plymouth County Court Records, 1733-1802, p. 56 (March Court 1735/6); FamilySearch Film # 007726242, image 40.
6. ↑ Modlin, citing General Court and Assize of Beaufort and Hyde Counties in Bath.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Thomas Latham to David and Rhoda Conant, 1753. "Massachusetts Land Records, 1620-1986," images, FamilySearch (22 May 2014), Plymouth > Deeds 1752-1754 vol 42 > images 370-1; county courthouses and offices, Massachusetts, citing Plymouth County Deeds, 42:183.
8. ↑ Find A Grave, database and images (accessed 05 August 2018), memorial page for Thomas Latham (unknown–1769), Find A Grave: Memorial #31964406, citing Old Graveyard, East Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by Sue Williams (contributor 46538018).
9. ↑ "Marriages in North Yarmouth, Maine (from the records of North Yarmouth)," Old Times..., 5:2:658.
10. ↑ Drinkwater, Perez G. "The Drinkwater Family," Old Times..., 1:4:123. Jane (Latham) Drinkwater was age 79 when she died 15 November 1794.
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Outline of Thomas and Deborah Latham family. Mitchell, Nahum. Mitchell's History of Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Bridgewater, Mass.: E. Alden, 1897, p. 231.
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1} Latham marriages. Vital Records of Bridgewater, 2:227-8.
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1 13.2} Latham and Lathum births and baptisms. Vital Records of East Bridgewater, pp. 82-84.
14. ↑ "Record of Baptisms at the First Church, N. Yarmouth," Old Times..., 4:2:491.
15. ↑ Find A Grave, database and images (accessed 05 August 2018), memorial page for James Latham, Sr (14 Feb 1735–10 Oct 1785), Find A Grave: Memorial #203614748, citing Belhaven Community Cemetery, Belhaven, Beaufort County, North Carolina, USA ; Maintained by David Benz (contributor 46547542).
16. ↑ As to the date of Phinehas Latham's birth, DAR (A066938) and SAR (P-233499) pedigrees are the apparent sources of a widely claimed year of 1713, but this date seems rather unlikely, as it wasn't until the 1750s that he began having children or transacting. From contemporaneous records, the best we could say is that he

• Mayflower Families Fifth Generation Descendants, 1700-1880. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2017). From Mayflower Families Through Five Generations: Descendants of the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth, Mass., December 1620. Plymouth, MA: General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1975-2015, 15(James Chilton):86-7. Person profile of Thomas Latham.
• Modlin, Betsy, "A Beaufort-Hyde Mayflower Connection -- Lost and Found]," Washington County Genealogical Society Journal. Plymouth, North Carolina: Washington County Genealogical Society, 1996, 4:2:37-9.
• Old Times: A Magazine Devoted to the Preservation and Publication of Documents Relating to the Early History of North Yarmouth, Maine. Yarmouth, Me: Augustus W. Corliss, 1877.
  • Banks, Charles E. and William M. Sargent. "Early Conveyances of Land in North Yarmouth, Maine (continued)."
  • Drinkwater, Perez G. "The Drinkwater Family."
  • "Marriages in North Yarmouth, Maine (from the records of North Yarmouth)."
  • "Record of Baptisms at the Firts Church, N. Yarmouth."