Hannah (Leird) Barrett (abt. 1824) Married at age 50 to 24 yr old man?

Question

Hannah M. Leird the daughter of Lucas I. Leird and Hannah Wright. We estimated the date of birth as 1824 as her marriage record shows she is age 50? She married Henry Leroy Barrett in November of 1874 the brother of Lemira A. (Barrett) Goodhue (the mother in law of Pres. Calvin Coolidge). We need collaboration on her birth and death dates.

Comments

@Andrew: Please correct her LNAB to Wright.

The marriage record, which gives the names of her parents as Lucas and Hannah Wright, is not wrong,it is just misleading, because it is easy to assume that the last name of the father is the same as the last name of the person who is being married. However, the instructions on the form ask only for names of parents -- not for first name of father and maiden name of mother. In this instance, Wright was the LNAB for both of her parents. Their marriage record (in Pepperell in 1822) shows the marriage of Lucas Wright to Hannah Wright.

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I’m confused. The marriage record of Henry Barrett and Hannah Laird shows parents see FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N44S-DVP 

I can change lnab to Wright but thought that was her mother’s maiden name?

 ”Wright” makes sense as the 1870 census of Lemira shows two “Wright” family members one a cabinet maker

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Andrew, please revisit the image of the marriage record you found for Hannah Leird and Henry Barrett. It is a list of marriages. The column for parents has the heading Names of Parents. It did not specifically request maiden names for women, and many of the entries are just first names, like "James and Elizabeth" -- no hint of a maiden name for the mother. The only places in this column where a last name appears (after the name of the mother) are lines for the woman who is marrying. It is very likely that all of these were women who were previously married, and the last name in the Names of Parents field is her maiden name (not the maiden name of her mother). In the case of this woman, however, it turns out that her parents both had the LNAB of Wright.

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Your 100% correct the image clearly shows parents as “Wright” maybe the Laird name was a previous marriage her age is 50? She is marrying a 24 yr old man

Oh it does show it’s his first marriage with quotation marks in column. Her column shows a number but can’t read it maybe 2nd?

Wow good find !

I’d like to add the first spouse George Laird to her also if we can source it

Answer 1

I think she was born about 1824, but I am not convinced that Leird was her birth name. I found Hannah M. Leird in the 1855 Massachusetts state census (I added the citation to her profile), as age 30, living with George Leird, age 29, and a 7-year-old child named George F. Leird.

Comments

I find that George Leird died from consumption at age 42 in Tyngsborough (spelling modernized to Tyngsboro in the record) on 9 October 1867. He was married and a carpenter, born in Boston to parents of names unknown who were born in Ireland.

And George and Hannah Leird were the parents of George Frederic Leird (the child in the 1855 census), born 23 May 1849 in Tyngsborough.

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She is Hannah Wright, daughter of Lucius I. and Hannah Wright, born Jan. 20, 1824 in Pepperell, Massachusetts.

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It seems the family was hit hard by “Consumption” as Lemira’s brother Onslow Barrett died from the same disease

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Consumption (the disease now called tuberculosis) was a very common cause of death in those days, not just in this family. George Leird died of it 7 years before Hannah married a member of the Barrett family.

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The carpenter trade and then the Wright’s mentioned in the 1870 census with Calvin Coolidge’s mother in law Lemira

Mentions a Carrie Wright (female) aged 45 and a “cabinet maker” Henry Wright (male) aged 33

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Seems “Consumption” was very common; more than I realized!

Answer 2

Hannah M Leird, 1865 Massachusetts State Census, Tyngsborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts

Household

George Leird  Male  38 yrs old born Massachusetts        Hannah M Leird       40 yrs old born Massachusetts      George F Leird         16 yrs old born Massachusetts

Answer 3

Hanna M. Laird born 22 Jan 1824, Death 22 Feb 1892 (aged 68). Thompson Cemetery, Tyngsborough, Middlesex County, Massachusetts

Their son (birth): (Vol. 1 pg 26)

George Frederick (Leird, son of George, cabinet maker, and Hannah, (born May 23, 1849.

George Laird born 8 June 1825, Death 9 Oct 1867 (aged 42)

Thompson Cemetery, Tyngsborough, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.

Comments

Ok it is making sense now the cabinet maker is also mentioned in 1870 census for Lemira A. (Barrett) Goodhue

I wonder which is the correct spelling Leird?

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Yes, the surname spelling seems to be a puzzle.