Abilena Abigail (Harding) Stearns (1784 - 1862)

Born 28 Jan 1784 in Pittston, Luzerne, Pennsylvania, United States

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 16 Sep 1862 at age 78 in Weesaw, Berrien, Michigan, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Michael Tryon [send private message]

Biography

Note: The statement in Amos Harding's will of 1839 that his daughter Welthy is his oldest daughter precludes this Abilena Harding Stearns from being his daughter. She could easily be left out of the will, but Amos is unlikely to have denied her existence. However, her connection to the family is corroborated through a census record shortly before her death in Michigan. She may, therefore be an adopted daughter, possibly a daughter of a relative who died young.

Research Notes

"Wood County, Ohio; Its Past and Present, Biographies and Portraits of Early Settlers and Representative Citizens, Chicago, Illinois", J. H. Beers & Co., 1897, page 575, biography of Justus Stearns, b. 8 Jul 1810, Clifford Township, Allegheny County, PA:

"James Stearns was ‘married in Allegheny county [Allegheny township], Penn., to Miss Abilene Hardin, a daughter of Amos Hardin, and settled upon the farm where our subject was born, remaining there until the fall of 1822, when he moved to a farm near Bloomingdale, Richland Co., Ohio, his household goods being transported by an ox-team in primitive fashion. He died there of lung disease, May 5, 1837, and his wife survived him until in September I861, when she died in Berrien county, Mich., at the home of their youngest son. Both were members of the Baptist Church. While he made a comfortable living, he was not a man to accumulate great wealth, nor did he possess the robust physique with which his sons were endowed. Ten children were born to this estimable pioneer couple, the names with dates of birth being as follows: Lydia, January 6, 1804 (married James Wells, and died in Berrien county, Mich.); Amos, January 8, I806 (he was a farmer in Troy township, DeKalb Co., Ind., where he died); Phoebe, January 21, 1808 (married Hiram Stevens, and died in what is now Morrow county, Ohio); Justus, July 8, 1810; William, February 17, 1814 (he was a farmer in Chautauqua county, Kans., and died there); Rhoda, February I6, I817 (married Asa Fields, and moved to Utah, where she died); Masena, March 24, 1819 (married, first, William Hebbert, and, second, Dayton Mills, and died in Berrien county, Mich., November 29, I895); Wealthy, October 22, 1821 (married William Herbert (deceased), and resides at Bloomdale); Silas, March 15, I823 (died in Berrien county,Mich.); and Otis, in February, 1829 (he is now a farmer in Berrien county)."

"The Hardings in America; a genealogical register of the descendants of John Harding, of England, born A. D., 1567"

"Abigail (or Abilena), first child of Amos and Phoebe Harding, was born in Luzerne county, Penn., May 14, 1785; died in Berrien county, Mich., Sept. 3, 1861. Married, Dec. 25, 1802 at Clifford, Penn., James Stearnes who was born at Attleboro, Mass., Aug. 15, 1779; died in Morrow county, Ohio, May 5, 1837. The Stearnes family settled in Morrow county, Ohio, in 1822."

"History of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, by Blackman, Emily C, 1873"

"Amos Harding, in the summer of 1800, built, within sight of Adam Miller, on the same flat. His sons were Tryon ans Zalmon. One daughter became the wife of James Stearns; another the wife of Joseph Baker."

The biographies above clearly indicate she is the daughter of Amos Harding of Allegheny township, Penn., and Richland Co., Ohio. Her connection to the family is corroborated by the 1860 census where she is living with William and Phebe Ann Boyce. Phebe Ann is the daughter of George Tryon Harding.

Research Problem

Though she outlived her purported father Amos Harding by over two decades, neither she nor any of her children is mentioned in his will. Further, the will states that Welthy Wells is his oldest daughter. Another, less critical, issue is that the dates of her birth and death on her headstone and in the Harding genealogy book don't match, and, if the headstone dates are correct, she was born six months before Amos was married, not nine months after.

However, there is a possible solution. Might she be adopted; possibly a relative of Amos Harding? This could explain away her possible birth before Amos was married, her absence from Amos's will, and Amos's statement that Welthy was his oldest daughter.

DNA

Research Notes of Jake Harding:

With DNA testing, Abilena's connection has been proven. She is my 5th great aunt. Her descendants match me at that level as well as other Harding descendants from the other sibling branches. Jake Harding

Research Notes of Michael Tryon:

DNA evidence at the level of a 5th great aunt is tenuous at best, not proof. Five generations is generally considered the limit for autosomal DNA testing and three is considered the limit for reliable results.

From FindaGrave

Name; Abilena Abigail Harding

Sex; Female

Birth; 28 January 1784, Pittston, Luzerne, Pennsylvania, United States

Death; 16 September 1862, Glendora, Berrien, Michigan, United States

Burial; Glendora Cemetery, Glendora, Berrien, Michigan, United States

Inscription:

Abilena

Wife of James Sterns

Died

Sept. 16, 1862

Aged 78 Yrs. 7 Mos.

18 Days

which gives a birth date of 29 jan 1784, death 16 Sep 1862

"Hardings in America..." gives, for Abigail, birth date of 14 May 1785, death 3 Sep 1861

Sources

• "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MWDV-MMY : 19 March 2020), Adelia Stearns in entry for William Boyce, Weesaw, Berrien, Michigan, 1860.

• Harding, Wilbur J. compiler & editor (1925) The Hardings in America; a genealogical register of the descendants of John Harding, of England, born A. D., 1567, pp. 109-15.

• Wood County, Ohio; Its Past and Present, Biographies and Portraits of Early Settlers and Representative Citizens, Chicago, Illinois", J. H. Beers & Co., 1897, page 575

• History of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, by Blackman, Emily C, 1873

• Abilena Abigail Harding Stearns Find A Grave Memorial 125480886