Hezekiah Thayer (abt. 1697 - 1774)

Born about 1697 in Braintree, Norfolk, Massachusetts

Ancestors

Husband of Christian (Aspinwall) Thayer — married 3 Nov 1729 in Braintree, Norfolk County, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 27 May 1774 at about age 77 in Braintree, Massachusetts

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Ellen Smith [send private message], Donna Jean Wykoff [send private message], and Allan Morton [send private message]

Disputed Origins

The "Thayer Family Memorial" book published in 1874 and a number of other older books that may be derivative of the Thayer Memorial identify Hezekiah Thayer as a son born to Cornelius Thayer and his wife Abigail in 1708. Works in addition to the Thayer Memorial that list this parentage include the 1883 History of Braintree, Vermont and Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs (1911) by Cuyler Reynolds.

However, in his exhaustive work Genealogies of the Families of Braintree, 1640-1850, Waldo Chamberlain Sprague stated of Cornelius and Abigail that "There was no son Hezekiah as given in the Thayer Memorial (1835) and elsewhere." Instead, Sprague identifies Hezekiah Thayer as a son, born in about 1696 or 1697, of Nathaniel Thayer (who was an older brother of Cornelius) and his wife Hannah (Hayden) Thayer (apparently a sister of Abigail). In documents related to the settlement of the the estate of Nathaniel Thayer, Hezekiah Thayer is named as the youngest living son.^[1]

Biography

Hezekiah was born in about 1696 or 1697, in Braintree, Massachusetts. He was a son of Nathaniel Thayer and Hannah (Hayden) Thayer.

In 1729 Hezekiah Thayer married Christian (Aspinwall) Thayer in Braintree, Massachusetts,^[2] She was the widow of his cousin Moses Thayer, whom she had married in 1723.^[3] Moses died, and in 1729 she married Hezekiah Thayer.^[4] Hezekiah was over 30 years old at the time of this marriage, so it is likely that he had been married previously, but there is no record of an earlier marriage.

The family resided in South Braintree. Children born to the marriage of Hezekiah and Christian Thayer were:^[1]

1. Hezekiah, born September 1730
2. Thankful, born September 11,1732, died young.
3. Dorcas, born August 20, 1734
4. Unnamed child buried February 14, 1736/7
5. Silas, born July 20,1742
6. Unnamed child buried September 27,1743
7. Comfort, daughter born about 1744
8. Noah, born July 11,1745.

Hezekiah died before May 27, 1774, when administration on his estate was given to his son Hezekiah.^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Sprague, Waldo Chamberlain. Genealogies of the Families of Braintree, Mass., 1640-1850. Republished on CD in Boston by New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001. Records for Thayer 4624, Thayer 4627, and Thayer 4638.
2. ↑ Vital Records of Braintree, Massachusetts, 1640 to 1793. page 749. Text: Hezekiah Thayer & Christian Thayer both of this town November 3rd 1729.
3. ↑ Vital Records of Braintree, Massachusetts, 1640-1793. page 746
4. ↑ Vital Records of Braintree, Massachusetts, 1640 to 1793. page 749. Text: Hezekiah Thayer & Christian Thayer both of this town November 3rd 1729.

• GEDCOM file imported on 18 Sep 2009. Author: Allan Morton
• Sprague, Waldo Chamberlain. Genealogies of the Families of Braintree, Mass., 1640-1850. Republished on CD in Boston by New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001. Records for Thayer 4624, Thayer 4627, and Thayer 4638.
• Richard Thayer, First 5 Generations, Thayer Families Association, August 2009.

Acknowledgments

This person was created through the import of thayer jan11.ged on 05 January 2011.