Rachel (Smith) Harwood (abt. 1620 - 1695)

Born about 1620 in England

Wife of Robert Woodward — married about 1640 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Wife of Thomas Harwood — married 7 Jul 1654 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 1695 at about age 75 in Boston, Suffolk, Province of Massachusetts Bay

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Biography

Married 1640 Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, to Robert Woodward, carpenter (1611–1653), married second 7 Jul 1654 Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, Thomas Harwood (1623–1706), daughter of John Smith tailor of Boston.^[1]

This person was of historical significance.

Children born Boston:^[2]

1. Joseph, b. 24 Oct 1641, bp. First Church, prob. d. young.
2. Nathaniel, bp. 30 Oct 1642 aged 4 days; m. about 1685 Mary (--?--); d. between 29 Sep 1675-26 Jan 1676 (dates of his will & inventory)
3. Smith, b. 4 Aug 1644
4. Robert, b. 14 Nov 1646; killed at Pocasset in 1675 in King Philip's War
5. Mercy, bp. 5 Nov 1648; m. Samuel East
6. Thomas, bp. 2 Apr 1650, prob. d. young
7. John, bp. 4 Dec 1651; d. Boston 23 Aug 1652.
8. Jeremiah, bp. 28 Aug 1653; d. 26 Nov 1653.

An inventory of Robert Woodward's estate was taken on 03 March 1653[/4] totalling £120, minus a note owing to Thomas Savage for £7. Included were carpenter tools, a house with an acre of land, quite a bit of brass & pewter ware (indicating some personal wealth), 2 acres of land at Long Island. Administration on the estate was granted on 07 March 1653[/4] to his widow Rachell Woodward on behalf of herself and children.^[3]

An account of the estate and distribution was settled on 3 November 1663, the eldest son (unnamed) now being of age to receive a double portion, and the other four children as they come of age to be paid by their mother, Rachel now wife of Thomas Harwood. She had brought up three children, from the ages of 4, 5 & 7 years, schooling them to read and write, and clothing them, and expenses were enumerated.^[4]

Rachel Harwood died in Boston in 1695.^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ Doris J Woodward and Patricia Law Hatcher, "The English Origin of Nathaniel Woodward...", in The Maine Genealogist. (Farmington, Maine: Maine Genealogical Society, 1998), 20:147-68
2. ↑ Woodward, Harold Edward, Some descendants of Nathaniel Woodward who came from England to Boston about 1630 (Boston, MA: NEHGS, 1984), p. 4.
3. ↑ Suffolk County probate records, Vol. 2:115
4. ↑ Suffolk County probate records, Vol. 4:168-9
5. ↑ Boston Record Commissioners, A Report of the Record Commissioners Containing Boston Births, Baptisms, Marriages, and Deaths, 1630-1699 (Boston, MA: Rockwell & Churchill, City Printers, 1883), p. 225. "[1695] Rachell wife of Thomas Harwood died -----."

• "The Harwood Family in England and America", Ancestry.com. North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.
• Founding Mothers and Fathers: Gendered Power and the Forming of American Society (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996), pp. 203-7
• Mary Beth Norton "The Ablest Midwife that Wee Know in the Land: Mistress Alice Tilly and the Women of Boston and Dorchester 1649-50, William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd series, vol. 55 (Jan 1998) 105-134 Manuscript
• Percy Emmon Woodward (ed Mary Lovering Holman) Some Descendants of Nathaniel Woodward Mathematician (Newtonville, MA: 1940) MS Cat # SG/Woo/31
• Harold Edward Woodward, Some Descendants of Nathaniel Woodwarfd Who Came from England to Boston about 1630 (Boston 1984).
• NEHGR 158:213-27
• Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Directory: Immigrants to New England, 1620–16400: A Concise Compendium (Boston: NEHGS, 2015), 384, and the sources cited in the entry for Nathaniel Woodward
• The Great Migration Begins 2061+
• Torrey 3:1719