The curious case of Hannah Hubbard

+3 votes
286 views

I have a really twisted up case of conflation if anyone would like to help me out here. 

We will set the scene. It is Middletown, Connecticut, in 1722. A young girl named Hannah Hubbard marries a man named Samuel Wetmore. Two months later, the wedding bells ring again - another Hannah Hubbard marries John Stow. 

But now, people think that those two girls were one in the same - even though they were having children with two different men at the same time.

What we know:

On July 4, 1700, Nathaniell Hubbard and his wife Mary Earl(e) have a daughter Hannah in Middletown, Connecticut. 

On June 21, 1722, Hannah Hubbard marries Samuel Wetmore in Middletown, Connecticut. They have children Samuel (1723), Hannah (1725), John (1727), Noah (1730), Mehetable (1732), Sarah (1734), Lois (1735), Joel (1737), Millecent (1739), and Mary (1741). All of these births occurred in Middletown.

On August 1, 1722, Hannah Hubbard marries John Stow in Middletown, Connecticut. They have children Hannah (1723), John (1725), Stephen (1727), Martha (1729), George (1731), and Katherine (1734). All of these births also occurred in Middletown. 

Unfortunately, both Hannah’s share a FamilySearch profile, and it is unknown who was the actual daughter of Nathaniel and Mary. Both women are consistently listed as their daughter in research, even when they aren’t combined into one. John Stow’s sister married another child of the Hubbard’s, but Hannah on Wikitree is listed as a Wetmore (connected to this question). John Stow is also on Wikitree. The Stow-Hubbard couples even married on the SAME DAY. Help separating the Hannah’s is appreciated.

WikiTree profile: Hannah Wetmore
in Genealogy Help by Liz Marshall G2G6 Pilot (111k points)
edited by Liz Marshall

Nathaniel Hubbard profile (in case one gets disconnected) https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hubbard-613

2 Answers

+5 votes
 
Best answer
Happens all the time.  You go looking for a birth.  You only have a name, an estimated date, and a place where they lived later.  You find one that seems to fit.  That'll do nicely.

But unbeknown to you, somenody else is looking for a birth for a different person, and the same birth ticks their boxes too.

So now the same birth is claimed for two different people.

So they both need deparenting, but try persuading the descendants.

But in this case the double wedding is surely a clue.  John Hubbard married Elizabeth Stow, and her brother John Stow married Hannah Hubbard in the same place on the same day?  My money is on this Hannah being John Hubbard's sister.  So how certain is it that John Hubbard was the son of Nathaniel and Mary?

Were the Stows and the Wetmores both local families?  Usually one party to a wedding is local, but the other one might not be.
by Living Horace G2G6 Pilot (632k points)
selected by Liz Marshall

Both were local families that intermarried a bunch of times as far as I can tell.

John is definitely the son of Nathaniel and Mary. Birth record here to confirm.

A book (a terrible source) that is cited on the profile lists Hannah Hubbard Wetmore as being born 21 July 1700. Whereas the Hannah born to Nathaniel and Mary was the 4th of July 1700. Could be a mistake, or indicative of a different person... who knows? I will wait for some actual descendants to weigh in, I guess, but the double marriage seems to confirm to me that Hannah Hubbard b. 4 July 1700 is the wife of John Stow.

+3 votes

FMP has only one Hannah born that time

First name(s) Hannah

Last name Hubbard Or Hubard Or Hebbert

Sex Female

Birth year 1700

Principal's first name(s) Hannah

Principal's last name Hubbard or Hubard or Hebbert

Relationship Principal

Father's first name(s) Nathaniell

Father's last name Hubbard Or Hubard Or Hebbert

Mother's first name(s) Mary

Mother's last name Hubbard Or Hubard Or Hebbert

Event type Birth

Event year 1700

Event date 04 Jul 1700

Event place Middletown

Town Middletown

State Connecticut

Country United States

Title The Barbour Collection Of Connecticut Town Vital Records, Vol 26

Author White

Year Range 1651-1854

Collection United States, Connecticut Town Vitals, The Barbour Collection

Record set United States, Connecticut Town Vitals, The Barbour Collection Indexes

Category Life Events (BDMs)

Subcategory Civil Births

Collections from Americas, United States

© findmypast

https://www.findmypast.com.au/transcript?id=US%2FGPC%2F01348966

by Living Poole G2G Astronaut (1.3m points)
There are a number of Hannah Hubbard variations born around 1700 in England

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