Hannah (Langford) Beecher (abt. 1584 - bef. 1659)

Born about 1584 in Sussex, England

Wife of William Potter — married 6 Oct 1607 in St Thomas, Cliffe, Lewes, Sussex, England

Wife of John Beecher — married Jan 1620 in St. Thomas, Cliffe, Lewes, Sussex, England

Descendants

Died before 2 Mar 1659 before about age 75 in New Haven, New Haven Colony

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Hannah (Langford) Beecher migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Research Notes

Disputed Origins

It has been suggested, without evidence, that Hannah was the daughter of John Mead and Cisely Love.

Unproved parents: Edward Langford and wife Mary.

A 2004 TAG article identifies her maiden name as Langford.^[1]

A 2006 "TAG" article explores the possibility of her origins. Her father remains unknown, but he may have had brothers William, Richard and ____ (father of Stephen).^[2]

Confusion of Widow Beecher and Widow Potter

James Shepard, in his 1900 article, asserts that "the record clearly shows" that Widow Beecher and Widow Potter are separate and distinct persons^[3], but he does not cite which sources support this claim.

Mary Walton Ferris, in 1931, noted that Hannah is recorded as "Widdow Beecher the midwife" but does not mention Widow Potter (also recorded as a midwife).^[4]

Donald Lines Jacobus in 1958 deals directly with this confusion and presents multiple sources to support his "strong belief that only one woman is involved in the above records, a midwife who is mother of William and John Potter and Isaac Beecher".^[5]

Biography

This profile is part of the New Haven Colony One Place Study.

Hannah was born Ann Langford about 1584, based on her marriage date.^[1]

Ann Langford married William (not John) Potter 6 Oct 1607 in St. Thomas at the Cliffe, Lewes, England.^[6][7] William was buried there 14 Aug 1619.^[6] They had children:

1. William bpt 28 August 1608^[6] William, his wife Francis and son Joseph immigrated to New England aboard the "Abigail" in 1635.^[8]
2. John bpt 10 Jan 1608/9^[6][9] No burial record found (images 18 and 19)
3. John bpt. 18 Feb 1609/10^[9] John also went to New England^[1]
4. Mary bpt 12 March 1611/12^[6] No further Record.^[1]
5. Steven bpt 1 Aug 1614.^[6] No further Record.^[1] But probably this was the Steven Potter who lived at Alfriston, Sussex in the mid-1630s.

Hannah married in January 1619/20, also at St. Thomas at the Cliffe, Lewes, England, her second husband John Beecher.^[6] John had possibly an unknown first wife, by whom he had Richard and John Beecher.^[1]

"It is generally supposed that her husband, John Beecher, was one of the seven whom Eaton sent to New Haven in advance of the colony and who died before the rest of the colony arrived." ^[10][11] Their children were:

5. Isaac Beecher b. between 1620 and 1627, probably about 1623, went to New England with his parents.^[1] Isaac Beecher was thought by some to be Hannah's step-son from her second marriage,^[12] although Jacobus in Families of Ancient New Haven gives no such impression.^[13] Hatcher shows she was his mother based on his estimated birth date relative to her marriage to his father. She names him as her son in her will and gave him one-third of her property.^[1]

6. Thomas Beecher, b. by 1627. No Further Records ^[1]

Widow Beecher, aka Widow Potter, was early in New Haven, Connecticut. Her sons John and William Potter both signed the Plantation Covenant in New Haven, Connecticut on June 4, 1639,^[14] just nineteen years after the Pilgrims settled at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

She was a midwife in 1646 and 1651. She is called 'Sister Potter the midwife,' in seating the meeting house in 1646.

There are among the early records of New Haven Colony a list of estates. It falls within the pages of 1643, but it is by analysis an earlier document from the end of 1640.^[11] This list contains the following entries:

Widow Potter: 2 persons, estate L30, 20 & 1/4 acres and a rate of L 0.5.01.^[14] The second person is most likely her son Isaac Beecher.

Joh: Potter: 4 persons, L25 estate, about 30 acres and a rate of L 0.7.09^[14]

Will Potter: 4 persons, estate of L40, about 58 acres and a rate of L0.8.09^[14]

Another document from 1646, known as the book of Alienations, shows her share as listed under the name of Widow Beecher, proving conclusively that Widow Potter and Widow Beecher are the same person.^[15]

In 1646, Sister Potter the midwife was assigned the little cross seate with Old Sister Nash, and in 1656, Goodwife Beecher the elder was assigned a seat in the alley for convenience of hearing.^[11]

The Widow Potter had some trouble about her fence and was fined 12d for a gap on 6 Aug 1650^[16] Then about 7 months later 10 Mar 1650/51: "It is ordered that the treasurer paye out of the Towne stocks for the making of 5 or 6 rod of fence, for Widdow Beecher ye midwife^[17] It is a measure of the value of the midwife to the towns well-being that the town paid for this repair and again 4 Aug 1651. "It is ordered that the Treasurer take care and see that widow Potter the midwives house be mended, and paid for out of the Treasury.^[18]

Widow Beecher (4 Nov 1651) testified that John Bishop, deceased, was sane enough to make a will. ^[19] and 4 May 1652, Goodwife Beecher ye midwife testified in a case of fornication^[20]

Hannah Beecher died before 2 Mar 1658/9 in New Haven, when her inventory was appraised, but after she wrote her will 13 June 1657.^[21]

The will of Hannah Potter Beecher was proved April 5 1659,^[22] and is recorded in first part, vol 1, p 80 of New Haven Probate Records.

"I Hannah Beecher of New Haven, expecting my great change do make this my last will and testament, I bequeath my soul unto the hands of my Lord Jesus Christ by whose meritt I hope to be saved and my body to be burried at the discretion of my Son William Potter my Executor. And for my worldly goods I give unto John Potter my Grand Child twenty shillings and to Hannah Blackly, my Grand child, wife to Samuel Blackly, twenty shillings, And to Samuel Potter my Grand child twenty shillings to be paid to them within three months after my decease. And for the rest of my estate I give one third part to my son Isaac Beecher and two thirds to my eldest son William Potter, making him my Executor, desiring him to be as a father to his younger brother and his children. And in dividing my goods my will is that my son William should have my feather bed with that belongeth to it, unto his part and that the rest be divided at the discretion of my Overseers with the assistance of Sister Wakeman and sister Rutherford and I desire my loving freinds Mr. Mathew Gilbert and John Wakeman to be overseers of this my last will whereunto I have set my hand this 13th day of June, Anno 1657." Witnesses: Mathew Gilbert, John Wakeman, Sarah Rutherford. Hannah Becher signed by mark.^[12]

5 Apr 1659 "The last will & testament of Hannah Beecher, late of Newhaven deceased, was by her sonne Wm Potter presented, wch being read… to be ye last will of the deceased,… It was judged legall." An inventory was presented in the amount of L55.05.06, attested to by William Potter. At some time later Isaac Beacher acknowledged receiving his third part.^[22][23]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8} Patricia Law Hatcher, "English Origin of the Potter and Beecher Families of New Haven, Connecticut," in TAG, 79:28 (2004): starting on page 28
2. ↑ Hatcher, Patricia Law. "Langford Origins Redux." The American Genealogist 81:133-140 (2006)
3. ↑ Shepard, James. "The New Haven (Conn.) Potters, 1639" NEHGR 54(1900):20-26
4. ↑ Ferris, Mary Walton. Dawes-Gates Ancestral Lines, vol. 2 (1931), p. 671
5. ↑ Jacobus, Donald Lines. "The Widow Potter-Beecher of New Haven", The American Geneaologist, 1958-10: Vol. 34, Issue 4, Page 218. at archive.org
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6} Hatcher, citing St. Thomas Parish records
7. ↑ "England Marriages, 1538–1973 ," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NK4Z-7V9 : 10 February 2018), William Potter and Ann Langford, 06 Oct 1607; citing Saint Thomas, Lewes, Sussex, England, reference , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,067,241. image 15 of 665
8. ↑ Hotten, John Camden (editor). The Original Lists of Persons of Quality: Emigrants, Religious Exiles, Political Rebels, Serving Men Sold for a Term of Years, Apprentices, Children Stolen, Maidens Pressed, and Others, who Went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700. London: John Camden Hotten, 1874. p. 97,98
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} Parish registers and poor law records for St. Thomas-in-the-Cliffe. General register (baptisms, marriages, burials), 1606-1744; Baptisms, 1713-1881; Marriages and burials, 1738-1812; Marriages and banns, 1755-1812; Marriages, 1813-1837. image 6 of 665 three lines above "WILLIAM Holney" this is the record mentioned in the article by Hatcher. At the bottom of the same page, very faded is another entry. John the sonne of william potter and [? Elizabeth] the daughter of ? ? baptized 18th of februarye [1609/10]
10. ↑ "Genealogies of Connecticut Families from The New England Historical Genealogical Register" vol III Painter--Wyllys,selected and introduced by Gary Boyd Roberts, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.,Baltimore, 1983, p 150-151.
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1 11.2} History of the Colony of New Haven to Its Absorption Into Connecticut By Edward Elias Atwater, Lucy M. Hewitt, Bessie E. Beach. Meriden, Connecticut: 1902. (death of John Beecher- see p 63); list of estates p. 108-111; seats pp 544, 549.
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1} Shepard, James, "The New Haven (Conn.) Potters 1639. in "Genealogies of Connecticut Families, from The New England Historical and Genealogical Register" Vol III. Previously published as "The New Haven (Conn.) Potters, 1639." NEHGR 54:20. 1900. p. 21
13. ↑ Jacobus, Donald Lines (compiler). Families of Ancient New Haven, Vol I-VIII. and Index Vol IX New Haven: 1931. Reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1974, 1981, 1997. Originally published as New Haven Genealogical Magazine, Volumes I-VIII. Rome, NY and New Haven, CT 1922-1932.
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3} Hoadley, Charles J, MA. (editor) Records of the Colony and Plantation of New Haven, From 1638 to 1649. Hartford: Case, Tiffany and Company, 1857. Covenant signers p. 17, estate list, p. 92
15. ↑ Great Migration Newsletter, V.1-20.(Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015.) Vol 13. pp 9, 15
16. ↑ Dexter TR1: p. 43
17. ↑ Dexter TR1: p. 67
18. ↑ Dexter TR1: p. 80 The footnote claims this is the widow of John Potter, however John Potter's widow married Edward Parker in 1646, and would have had no need of someone to tend her house. An errata on p. 548 corrects this statement.
19. ↑ Dexter TR1: p. 96
20. ↑ Dexter TR1: p. 124
21. ↑ Hoadley, Charles J, MA. (editor) Records of the Colony or Jurisdiction of New Haven, From May 1653 to the Union Hartford: Case, Tiffany and Company, 1858. p. 357
22. ↑ ^{22.0 22.1} “New Haven Probate Records, Vol. 1-2, 1647-1703”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L92K-G9NR-K : 5 March 2021), New Haven, Connecticut, FHL microfilm 007626739, image 52. New Haven Probate Record, 1647-1687, Vol. 1, Part 1, page 80-81.
23. ↑ Dexter TR1: p. 399

• Dexter TR1: Dexter, Franklin Bowditch (editor) Ancient Town Records Vol 1. New Haven Town Records 1649-1662. New Haven: New Haven Colony Historical Society, 1917.

• Jacobus, Donald Lines. "The Widow Potter-Beecher of New Haven." The American Genealogist." 34:218. (1958) Link at archive.org