Abigail (Wood) Leonard (abt. 1656 - abt. 1697)

Born about 1656 in Plymouth, Plymouth Colony

Ancestors

Wife of Samuel Leonard — married about 1675 (to about 1697) in Plymouth, Plymouth Colony

Descendants

Died about 1697 at about age 41 in Worcester, Massachusetts Bay Colony [uncertain]

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Biography

Abigail Wood was born in about 1656 in Plymouth, Plymouth Colony. Her birth year is estimated based on her being married by 1675, and also on the birth of her brother Isaac in 1653. She was a daughter of John and Sarah (Masterson) Wood, alias Atwood.^[1]

Abigail married Samuel Leonard by about 1675, in Plymouth.^[2] On 7 March 1675/6 Abigail Leonard was mentioned as a daughter of John Wood, deceased, in the division of his estate.^[3] Samuel was of Bridgewater, Plymouth Colony.

Samuel and Abigail had children, all born in Bridgewater:

1. Elizabeth (ca 1676), married Thomas Clark in 1703
2. Mary (ca 1680), married Edward Newton, then David Brigham
3. Samuel (ca 1683), married Lydia Cooke
4. Mercy (1684), married Richard Adams

Samuel moved his family to Quinsigamond (later named Worcester), Massachusetts Colony by about 1690. His brother Jacob had settled there earlier, but Jacob returned to Bridgewater in about 1693 due to Indian attacks. Samuel's 12-year-old son Samuel was taken captive during an Indian attack in 1695, and he did not return to his family until after Abigail's death. Abigail died in Worcester in about 1697. Continued Indian attacks drove most white settlers out of the area.^[4]

Samuel took his daughters to Preston, New London, Connecticut Colony, where in 1698 he was among the twelve founders of the 1st Congregational Church of Preston.^[5]

Samuel married, second, Deborah (Unknown), in about 1699.^[6] They had two children. Deborah predeceased Samuel by a few years. Samuel probably died in 1720, in Preston.

Sources

1. ↑ Mayflower Descendant: A Journal of Pilgrim Genealogy and History. Boston, MA: Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1899- . v.44 p.139 (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010) NEHGS member site
2. ↑ New England Marriages to 1700. Torrey, v.2 p. 941 (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. NEHGS member site
   • Text: "LEONARD, Samuel (1643-1720) & 1/wf Abigail [WOOD?/ ATWOOD?] (-1698±); by 1676; Plymouth/Norwich, CT {Warner-Harrington 126, 407, 795; Plymouth (Davis) 7?; Jennings 568; ?Worcester (1914) 122?; Benton 84; Leonard (,2) 33, 34; Newton (,4) 41, 169; Drown (ms) 84; Preston Rec. (ms) 1:L.M}"
3. ↑ Mayflower Families 15:20, citing Plymouth County probate records 1:338-339
4. ↑ Leonard, Manning, Memorial: Genealogical, Historical, and Biographical, of Solomon Leonard, 1637, of Duxbury and Bridgewater, Massachusetts, and some of His Descendants. (1896) pp.34-36 InternetArchive
5. ↑ Preston, CT: First Congregational Church Records, 1698-1898. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009.) Originally published as: First Congregational Church of Preston, Connecticut, 1698-1898 : together with statistics of the church taken from church records. Preston, Conn.: The Society, 1900. page 14 page 4 NEHGS member site
6. ↑ New England Marriages to 1700. Torrey, v.2 p.941 (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. NEHGS member site
   • Text: "LEONARD, Samuel (1643-1720) & 2/wf Deborah ____; by 1703, by 1701?; Preston, CT {Leonard (,2) 34, 36; Newton (,4) 41, 169; Warner-Harrington 407}"