Margaret (Unknown) Ford (abt. 1737 - 1825)

Born about 1737 in New London County, Connecticut Colony [uncertain]

Wife of Miller Fish — married before 10 Jul 1761 in New London County, Connecticut Colony [uncertain]

Wife of Ichabod Ford — married 11 Nov 1767 in Bozrah, Connecticut

Died 6 Jan 1825 at about age 88 in Lenox, Berkshire, Massachusetts, USA

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Daphne Maddox [send private message]

Biography

Margaret, maiden name unknown, but possibly Houghton/Haughton/Horton, was, by her Find A Grave memorial, born in 1737.^[1] By her daughter Sarah's death record she was born in Norwich, Connecticut.^[2]

Margaret was first married to a man named Holland, by whom she had one son:

• Joseph Holland^[3]

Her next marriage was to Miller Fish, probably around 1761, probably in New London County.

By him she had two sons:

• John Fish, b. abt. 1762
• Miller Fish, b. abt. 1763

Her husband Miller went to war in the siege of Havana, Cuba, and died there 30 August 1762.

On 31 July 1763, Margaret Fish owned the covenant at the Fourth Society Church of Norwich, Connecticut (now Bozrah), and her three sons were baptized.^[4]

Margaret married, third, widower Ichabod Ford in the same parish, on 11 November 1767.^[4] Ichabod had one son, Ichabod, born to his first wife Ruth.^[5]

Margaret and Ichabod removed to Lenox, Massachusetts, where to them were born:^[3][6]

• Ruth Ford, b. abt. 1768^[7] m. Lemuel Stocking^[8]
• Peggy Ford, m. Andrew Brown
• Lebbeus Ford, b. abt. 1771, m. Aurilla Fisher^[9]
• Philura (or Philena) Ford, m. ___ Hyde
• Sarah Ford, b. abt. 1778, d.s.p. 1861^[2]
• William Horton (or Houghton) Ford, b. 1781,^[10] m. Betsey Woodruff^[11][12]

Ichabod died in 1818, naming his children and grand-daughter Peggy Hyde in his will.^[13][6]

Margaret actually wrote her last will in 1802, but lived until 6 January 1825.^[1]

Notes

Margaret's Find A Grave profile asserts her maiden name was Houghton. As her son William's middle name was either Horton or Houghton, and her son Miller Fish named a son George Horton Fish, and these spellings were used somewhat interchangeably in Connecticut in her day, this notion appears to have something to it.

By vitals, one candidate would appear to be Margaret Houghton/Haughton, daughter of Sampson and Sarah (Pembroke) Houghton, who was born in 1735 in New London,^[14] a supporting circumstance being that this Margaret Houghton had a brother and nephew named Lebbeus Houghton.

However, she also had a brother named Sampson, who wrote his will 28 January 1761, naming his sister Margaret Haughton. It is difficult to imagine how she could have married Holland, had son Joseph, then married Miller Fish and had two sons between this date and 31 July 1763. In defense of this theory, however, Sampson used the surname Haughton for all of his three named sisters, who were aged 19-25, and so it is conceivable that he simply chose to name them as such for his own reasons.^[15]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVVK-2P6K : 11 July 2016), Margaret Houghton Ford, 1825; Burial, Lenox, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States of America, Church On the Hill Cemetery; citing record ID 17673276, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Sarah's death record actually states her parents were born in Norwich, Massachusetts, but this is believed to be a clerk's error. "Massachusetts Deaths, 1841-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N7PD-8VL : 10 March 2018), Sarah Ford, 14 Dec 1861; citing Lenox, Mass., v 147 p 46, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 960,178.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Mayflower Families Fifth Generation Descendants, 1700-1880. Alden, John (16:2:300-1), Gen. 5: 636, Miller Fish; Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2017. From Mayflower Families Through Five Generations: Descendants of the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth, Mass., December 1620. Plymouth, MA: General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1975-2015.(https://www.americanancestors.org/databases/mayflower-families-fifth-generation-descendants-1700-1880/image?pageName=300&volumeId=48617&rId=68981169).
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Ancestry.com. Connecticut, Church Record Abstracts, 1630-1920. Provo, UT, USA: 2013. Original data: Connecticut. Church Records Index. Connecticut State Library, Hartford, Connecticut; Vol. 9, Bozrah, pp. 30, 44 (https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/3032/41107_620303988_0297-00033 and https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/3032/41107_620303988_0297-00047).
5. ↑ Vital Records of Norwich, 1659-1848. Hartford: Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Connecticut, 1913, p. 419 (https://archive.org/stream/vitalrecordsofno01norwi#page/418/mode/2up)
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Ichabod Ford, last will and testament, Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Massachusetts County, District and Probate Courts (https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/9069/007704885_00122?pid=6761507).
7. ↑ "Massachusetts Deaths, 1841-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N7LC-SJ5 : 10 March 2018), Ruth Stocking, 26 Sep 1855; citing Lenox, Massachusetts, v 93 p 35, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 960,171.
8. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVVK-25KC : 11 July 2016), Ruth Ford Stocking, 1855; Burial, Lenox, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States of America, Church On the Hill Cemetery; citing record ID 18328524, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
9. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV25-ZGH4 : 13 December 2015), Lebbeus Ford, 1844; Burial, Steuben, Oneida, New York, United States of America, Steuben Corners Cemetery; citing record ID 75315235, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
10. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FZPY-93X : 10 February 2018), William Horton Ford, 18 Dec 1781; citing Lenox, Berkshire, Massachusetts, ; FHL microfilm 238,335.
11. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FCS5-TLD : 10 February 2018), William H Ford and Betsey Woodruff, 12 Dec 1810; citing Marriage, Lenox, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States, , town clerk offices, Massachusetts; FHL microfilm 238,335.
12. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVVK-2P6T : 13 December 2015), William H. Ford, 1821; Burial, Lenox, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States of America, Church On the Hill Cemetery; citing record ID 17673278, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
13. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVVK-2P6X : 13 December 2015), Ichabod Ford, 1818; Burial, Lenox, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States of America, Church On the Hill Cemetery; citing record ID 17673275, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
14. ↑ "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F772-D38 : 11 February 2018), Margaret Houghton, 08 Jul 1735; citing ; FHL microfilm unknown.
15. ↑ Mrs. James T. Watts, "Some Corrections to the Haughton Family of New London, Conn." The American Genealogist. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009-, 11:137 (https://www.americanancestors.org/databases/american-genealogist-the/image?pageName=137&volumeId=11850&rId=23569857).