Margaret (Howe) Child (1717 - 1804)

Born 13 Oct 1717 in Marlborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Ancestors

Wife of David Child — married 10 Nov 1759 (to Dec 1804) in Shrewsbury, Worcester, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died Dec 1804 at age 87 in West Boylston, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Leila Schutz [send private message]

Biography

Margaret How, daughter of James and Margaret, was born in Marlborough, Massachusetts on 13 Oct 1717. ^[1]

She married Thomas Richardson ^{[citation needed]} probably about 1735. They had 10 children.^[2] Thomas died.

In 1759 "widow" Mehitable Richardson married David Child Nov. 29, 1759. ^[3]

Margaret (also known as Mehitable) died in Sep 1804 and is buried in West Boylston, Massachusetts at Mount Vernon Cemeter. ^[4] Grave inscription:

In memory of

Mrs Mehitable

wife of

Mr David Child

who died

Dec 1804

AEt 79

Research Notes

Were Margaret (Howe) Richardson and the widow Mehitable Richardson who married David Child the same person?

Margaret Howe's name on her birth record was "Margret How". The birth records of all 10 children in Worcester list the parents as Thomas and Margaret Richardson. The Howe Genealogies list Thomas Richardson and the 10 children and make no mention of a second marriage or any sign of the name Mehitable.

Thomas Richardson died in 1759 and the widow Mehitable Richardson married David Child in November 1759. When Mehitable Child died in 1804, she was listed as age 79, which would have placed her birth about 1725, not the 1717 from Margaret's birth record.

The clincher comes in the will of Thomas Richardson, which lists 9 of his 10 children (one died young) and his wife "Mehitable". This suggests that Mehitable was a family familiar name or nickname for Margaret and that they are the same person. (posted by Howe-3137 18:35, 6 January 2022 (UTC))

Sources

1. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5NH-S8T : 15 January 2020), Margret How, 1717.
2. ↑ Daniel Wait Howe, Howe Genealogies, NEHGS, Boston, 1929, Vol. 1, page 28
3. ↑ Marriage: "Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988," database with images
   Original data: Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook)
   Ancestry Sharing Link (free access)
   Ancestry Record 2495 #13489381 ($, accessed 13 January 2024)
   Name: Mehitable Richardson; Record Type: Marriage; Marriage Date: 10 Nov 1759; Marriage Place: Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, USA; Spouse: David Child.
4. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 12 October 2020), memorial page for Margaret Mehitable Howe Child (13 Oct 1717–Dec 1804), Find A Grave: Memorial #196552322, citing Mount Vernon Cemetery, West Boylston, Worcester County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by Ron August (contributor 48630827) .

• This person was created through the import of Family.ged on 28 November 2010.