Mary (Thurber) Mason (1736 - 1820)

Born 25 Jun 1736 in Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts

Ancestors

Wife of Oliver Mason Jr. — married 25 Apr 1765 in Rehoboth, Bristol County, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 21 Apr 1820 at age 83 in Saxtons River, Rockingham, Windham, Vermont, United States

Biography

Mary, second of the name and daughter of Samuel and Rachel (Wheeler) Thurber, was born on June 25, 1736 in Rehoboth, Massachusetts. ^[1]Mary, first of the name's death must have been imminent as this Mary was named before the death of the first (July 9, 1736), or possibly not named until after the death of Mary (1). (Note: it is likely that she was christened Mary after the death of her older sister.)

Mary married Oliver Mason in Rehoboth, Massachusetts on April 25, 1765. ^[2]

Their children were:

• Martha b. 2 April 1766
• Isaac b. 2 February 1768
• Samuel b. 22 March 1771
• Daniel b. 1773
• Oliver b. 22 March 1775

Mary passed away in Rockingham, Vermont in 1820^[3].

Caution

This Mary is often conflated with another Mary Thurber. The several records that show Mary the daughter of Samuel and Rachel (the second by that name) was also she who married Oliver Mason are discussed at the profile of the other Mary Thurber. Notable is the bible record of Samuel Thurber born 1757, son of Samuel Thurber and Hopestill Martin, which states that Mary Thurber who married Oliver Mason was 25 June 1736 and that she was the sister of the Samuel Thurber who married Hopestill Martin. In other words, she was the paternal aunt of the man who seemingly entered the information in the bible, so he was probably a credible source for this information. The bible states that Mary was the daughter of Samuel Thurber and Rachel Wheeler.

But one clarification is in order her: Samuel and Rachel Thurber recorded two daughters named Mary, one born 15 September 1732 and the other on 25 June 1736. They buried a daughter Mary on 9 July 1736.

The chronology would indicate that Mary b. 1732 died by 25 June 1736, since it was highly unusual to give two living children the same name. Then it would seem that the second Mary died two weeks after her birth.

There is another possibility: the family did not go to the town clerk to record the birth of the younger Mary until after 9 July 1736. After the death of the elder Mary, the family may have changed the name of the 2-week-old baby to Mary in honor of her sister. If so, the family would have been in turmoil and grief for those two weeks with the birth of a new baby and possible illness and death of a young child. It is reasonable that the trip to the town clerk was placed on low priority, or even delayed on purpose.

The gravestone of Oliver Mason's wife says she died in the 84th year of her age, from which we infer a birth year of 1737, or more likely 1736 since she died in the first half of the year. Joanne E. Martin's one-name-study of the Thurber family has only two Marys born in the 1730s -- the two daughters of Samuel and Rachel. The next older Mary was born in 1729 and married John Sisson, while the next younger Mary was born in 1748 and married Benjamin Alger.

So unless there is an unrecorded Mary born in the 1730s, or if Oliver's wife Mary Thurber was born with a different name and had a prior marriage to a Thurer, the above description of the delayed recording is tentatively included on this profile. The marriage to Oliver Mason should be understood to have considerable uncertainty.

Sources

1. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FC7F-G5L : 15 January 2020), Mary Thurber, 1736.
2. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG1V-T5S1 : 29 November 2018), Oliver Mason and Mary Thurber, 25 Apr 1765; citing Marriage, Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts, United States, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007578641.
3. ↑ "Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XFK4-VM9 : 3 November 2017), Mary Mason, 21 Apr 1820, Death; State Capitol Building, Montpelier; FHL microfilm 27,623.

• Arnold, James Newell. Vital Record of Rehoboth, 1642-1896 (Narragansett Historical Pub. Co., 1897) Page 753. Brith record.
• Gargaro, Florence Thurber. The English Origins of John¹ Thurber of Swansea in Plymouth Colony, and His Descendants, NEHGR (NEHGS, Boston, 2023) Vol. 177, Page 274.