Ephraim Abbot (1779 - 1870)

Born 28 Sep 1779 in Newcastle, Lincoln, Massachusetts, United States

Ancestors

Died 21 Jul 1870 at age 90 in Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Patricia Abbott [send private message]

Biography

EPHRAIM ABBOT, b. at New Castle, District of Maine (but noted in records at Concord), 28 Sep 1779 son of Benjamin Abbot and Sarah Brown;^[1] d. at Westford, MA, 21 Jul 1870;^[2] m. 1st, at Andover, 5 Jan 1814,^[3] MARY HOLYOKE PEARSON, b. 10 Mar 1782 daughter of Eliphalet and Priscilla (Holyoke) Pearson; Mary d. at Westford (burial at Harvard, MA), 15 Jul 1829.^[4] Ephraim m. 2nd at Groton, MA, 21 Jan 1830,^[5] ABIGAIL WHITING BANCROFT, b. at Groton, 25 Mar 1797 daughter of Amos and Abigail (Whiting) Bancroft; Abigail d. at Groton, 17 May 1886.^[6]

Rev. Ephraim Abbot was co-compiler of the Genealogical Register of the Descendants of George Abbot. He graduated from Harvard in 1806 and Andover Seminary in 1810 as part of the first graduating class. He was a missionary in Eastern Maine from 1811 to 1812. He was pastor of the Congregational Church in Greenland until 1828 when he left that post due to ill health. He was preceptor of Brackett Academy in Greenland from 1825 to 1828. Following that, he was principal at Westford Academy for nine years.^[7][8]

Ephraim Abbot was twice married. He and Mary Holyoke Pearson did not have children. Ephraim and his second wife, Abigail Whiting Bancroft, had six children whose births are recorded at Westford. Three of the children lived to adulthood, but none married. In 1880, the three surviving children were living with their mother in Groton,^[9] and in 1900, the three of them shared a household in Groton.^[10]

Ephraim Abbot did not leave a will. Son George E. H. Abbot was named administrator, and heirs noted were widow Abigail W. Abbot and two daughters Lucy M. B. Abbot and Sarah B. Abbot.^[11]

Children

i ABBA MARIA ABBOT, b. 14 Nov 1830; d. 30 Oct 1831.

ii LUCY MIRANDA BANCROFT ABBOT, b. 10 Apr 1832; d. at Groton, 2 Dec 1908.

iii AMOS B. ABBOT, b. 11 Nov 1833; d. 25 Jan 1835.

iv EPHRAIM E. P. ABBOT, b. 9 Aug 1835; d. 20 Apr 1841.

v GEORGE EDWARD HENRY ABBOT, b 15 Feb 1838; d. at Groton, 24 Dec 1911. George was a teacher.

vi SARAH BASS ABBOT, b. 13 Jul 1841; d. at Groton, 9 Feb 1908.

Sources

1. ↑ "New Hampshire Births and Christenings, 1714-1904", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FDNB-1QB : 18 January 2020), Ephraim Abbott, 1779.
2. ↑ "Massachusetts Deaths, 1841-1915, 1921-1924," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N7VC-HXN : 2 March 2021), Ephraim Abbot, 21 Jul 1870; citing Westford, Massachusetts, v 230 p 232, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 960,196.
3. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPZH-6FLP : 19 April 2021), Ephraim Abbot and Mary H Pearson, 5 Jan 1814; citing Marriage, Andover, Essex, Massachusetts, United States, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007010678.
4. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK1L-3YJK : 4 August 2020), Mary Holyoke Pearson Abbot, ; Burial, Harvard, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America, Harvard Center Cemetery; citing record ID 148965789, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
5. ↑ "Massachusetts Marriages, 1695-1910, 1921-1924", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FCH6-X8G : 28 July 2021), Ephraim Abbott, 1830.
6. ↑ "Massachusetts Deaths, 1841-1915, 1921-1924," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N7T5-YLR : 2 March 2021), Abigail W. Bancroft Abbot, 17 May 1886; citing Groton, Massachusetts, v 374 p 98, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 960,232.
7. ↑ Abbot, Genealogical Register, p 115
8. ↑ NEHGS, Memorial Biographies of the New England Historical and Genealogical Society, pp 394-395
9. ↑ Year: 1880; Census Place: Groton, Middlesex, Massachusetts; Roll: 538; Page: 239C; Enumeration District: 365
10. ↑ Year: 1900; Census Place: Groton, Middlesex, Massachusetts; Page: 4; Enumeration District: 0762; FHL microfilm: 1240659
11. ↑ Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014.

• Abbot, Abiel, and Ephraim Abbot. 1847. Genealogical Register of the Descendants of George Abbot of Andover, George Abbot of Rowley, Thomas Abbot of Andover, Arthur Abbot of Ipswich, Robert Abbot of Branford, CT, and George Abbot of Norwalk, CT. Boston: James Munroe and Company.

• NEHGS. 1905. Memorial Biographies of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Boston: Published by the society.

Further Information

• The Ephraim Abbot papers are held at the American Antiquarian Society. See Catalog Record #271111; the finding aid for the collection includes a brief biography; https://www.americanantiquarian.org/Findingaids/ephraim_abbot.pdf