Hannah (Fox) Lester (1648 - abt. 1711)

Born 25 Sep 1648 in Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Ancestors

Wife of Daniel Lester Sr. — married 11 Aug 1669 in New London, New London, Connecticut Colony

Descendants

Died about 1711 at about age 62 in New London, New London, Connecticut Colony

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Cindy Barnett [send private message], Tina Truscott [send private message], Erica Fox [send private message], and Deanna Speed [send private message]

Biography

Hannah Fox was born on 25 September 1648 in Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony^[1][2]. Her parents were Thomas Fox and Hannah Brooks.

Hannah (Brooks) was Thomas Fox's second wife. His first wife Rebecca died in 1647, leaving two young children. Thomas died on 14 April 1658, in Concord. Hannah soon removed to New London, New London, Connecticut Colony, where about 1661 she married, second, Andrew Lester, as his third wife^[3][4].

Hannah Fox married her step-sibling Daniel Lester, son of his mother's second husband Andrew by his first wife Barbara (Unknown), on 1 October 1668, in New London^[5][6]. (Note that the birth date of their first child Daniel is often used as their marriage date).

Hannah and Daniel had children, all born in New London^[7]:

1. Daniel, 11 August 1669, d.y.
2. Ann, 30 August 1670, married Thomas Way
3. Hannah, 11 March 1671/2, married William Chapman
4. Elizabeth, 25 February 1672/3, married Philip Bill.
5. Daniel, 15 April 1676, bp. 3 June 1677^[8], married Mary Wells
6. John, 15 October 1679, married, first, Hannah Carpenter; second, Abigail Munsel
7. David, ca 1681, bp. 20 November 1681^[9], died with no heirs in late 1711 (see Notes)

No death record has been found for Hannah. She is given a death year of 1711 or 1712, probably based on a probate index card for a Hannah Lester, who was a minor when she died^[10].

John Lester, son of Daniel and Hannah, married Hannah Carpenter and had three children with her: John, David, and Hannah. Hannah (Carpenter) died in 1708. John married, second, Abigail Munsel, in 1711, but he died a few months later. The probate cards are likely for John's children, who are not mentioned in his probate, and so probably also died^[11]. There may well have been a fatal sickness epidemic in New London in 1711, and Hannah may have succumbed to the same disease as did her sons John and David, and probably also John's children.

Research Notes

Hannah Fox's brother Samuel married, first, Daniel Lester's sister Mary.

Hannah's son Daniel married Mary Wells, and they had a daughter Mary. Hannah had a brother John Fox, and for his fourth marriage in 1719, John married Mary, his sister's granddaughter and more than fifty years his junior.

The birth of son David Lester does not appear in New London vital records. The probate for David Lester, deceased in late 1711, was administered by Daniel Lester, brother of the deceased. Legatees were Daniel Lester (clothes and half an orchard, land, and shop); the heirs of John Lester (clothing and land bought of Jonathan Beebe); Ann wife of Thomas Way (clothing and the other half of orchard, land, shop given to Daniel Jr.); heirs of Hannah Chapman, former wife of William (clothing and land bought of Jonathan Beebe). Sgt. Daniel Lester, father of the deceased, was later given twenty pounds as repayment of support that he had given David.^[12]

John Lester died shortly before his brother David, as David's probate has the heirs of John as legatees. Both of their deaths were in late 1711 or early 1712.

FamilySearch has Daniel's 1677 baptism assigned to David, due no doubt to the difficulty of deciphering the record's script.

Sources

1. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VQ6W-2BW : 5 January 2021), Hanna Fox, 1648.
2. ↑ Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850, Concord, page 5; (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016). by subscription, NEHGS member site
3. ↑ New England Marriages to 1700. (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. (Torrey's v.2 p. 942), by subscription, NEHGS member site
4. ↑ The American Genealogist. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. "Thomas, Henry, and Hannah Brooks of Concord", V. 54. p. 234-5; (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .) by subscription, NEHGS member site
5. ↑ New England Marriages to 1700. (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. (Torrey's v.2 p. 942), TEXT: LESTER, Daniel (1642-1717) & Hannah FOX; 1 Oct 1668, 11 Aug 1669; New London, CT {New London VR 116, 189; Lester 20-1; New Haven Gen. Mag. 1957; Fox Fam. News 3:9; Reg. 50:485} by subscription, NEHGS member site
6. ↑ Vital Records from the New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (Compiled from articles originally published in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register.) NEHGS member site
7. ↑ Connecticut: Vital Records (The Barbour Collection), 1630-1870 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011.) New London, pages 189-19, From original typescripts, Lucius Barnes Barbour Collection, 1928. by subscription, NEHGS member site
8. ↑ "Connecticut, Births and Baptisms, 1639-1941", database, FamilySearch Daniel Lester : 9 June 2020
9. ↑ "Connecticut, Births and Baptisms, 1639-1941", database, FamilySearch David Lester : 9 June 2020
10. ↑ Index to Connecticut Probate Packets, Lester, Hannah, 1712, film 7626850 image 2140; FamilySearch
11. ↑ Connecticut, New London, Probate packets - Lee, Elizabeth-Lester, John, 1675-1850, film 7628875, images 1493-1512, FamilySearch
12. ↑ Connecticut, New London, Probate packets - Lee, Elizabeth-Lester, John, 1675-1850, film 7628875, images 1448-1457 FamilySearch

• Lester, James The Lesters: A Brief History and Genealogy of the Lesters of the Massachusetts and Connecticut Colonies (Calumet Press, Gary, Indiana, 1926) Page 20