Abigail (Allen) Waldo (abt. 1712 - 1799)

Born about 5 Aug 1712 in Bridgewater, Plymouth, Massachusetts [uncertain]

Ancestors

Wife of Shuball William Waldo — married 14 Oct 1730 in Bridgewater, Plymouth, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 6 Sep 1799 at about age 87 in Shaftsbury, Bennington, Vermont, United States

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Biography

We know neither the first name, nor the last name of the mother of Abigail Allen Waldo and her brother Samuel Allen. Many genealogies have Abigail's father ad grandfather reversed, but we can identify her grandparents, her aunts and uncles, and her father by looking at her father's an estate probated in 1735 and her grandfather's Will penned in 1736 but probated in 1750.

Abigail Waldow and (probable) brother Samuel Allen are mentioned as grandchildren of Samuel Allen (III) in the Will he made when seriously ill in 1736. Abigail and her brother's father Samuel Allen IV. had been seriously ill and died around 1735. He is missing from his father's 1736 Will and in his place grandchildren Abigail and Samuel provided for. Samuel Allen III's Will's priorities were 1st, Samuel's wife Jean (Probably the widow Jane Vining Turner of Weymouth who married Samuel Allen in 1728) is to be provided for comfortably. 2nd, Abigail is to receive 5 pounds and Samuel is to receive 50. 3rd, each of three daughters get 50 pounds. Once these are fulfilled and his debts paid, the remainder of the estate to be divided equally among his sons. This is not at all what happened. Instead of selling some of the land, the brothers prioritized keeping the land for themselves and gave modest sums to the others, despite the estate's high value. When the grandchildren challenged the distribution, legal fees were taken out of the estate. Abigail's 5 pound share of the 558 pound estate was now shillings, delivered to Shubael Waldow her husband. Samuel's share seems to have been reduced to 12 pounds. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

The 1736 Will and a 1735 estate Inventory show with near certainty that Abigail's father was the Samuel Allen Jr. who died around 1734 or 1735 after a serious illness. On the fifth of August 1735 Physician Joseph Byram bonded himself as an administrator to Samuel Allen Jr. of Bridgewater's estate which was worth 48 pounds. Samuel owed Byram 28 pounds for care during his final illness and there were other obligations. Samuel's widow is mentioned as receiving a 1/3 widow share of this insolvent estate: "Necessary Utensils to [blank] Allen Relict Widow of Samuel Allen j'r Late of Bridgewater in ye County of Plym'o Deceased", totaling £16=5=6" ^{[4] [5]} Others who signed these papers were Judge Isaac Winslow, Eben Allen, John Orcutt, ...The claimants against the estate may help in finding where the family of Samuel Allen Jr. had lived, since their records are missing at Bridgewater. ^[6]

Abigail's birth not found in vital records of Bridgewater or East Bridgewater. - Ellen Smith, 7 Aug. 2021. Nor is her father's marriage.

Proven Details of her life

In 1730 Abigail Allen married Shuball/Shubael Waldo ^{[7] [8]}and had 15 children, 14 of whom appear to have survived infancy. ^[9] Many, if not all, of their sons fought in the Revolutionary War. At least four of her daughters lived to marry and have children. ^[10]

Abigail and Shubael lived their final years in Alstead, New Hampshire, but deed records show earlier they had lived in Norwich (Lisbon area) and in Mansfield , both in Connecticut. These records listed in Lincoln Waldo's "Genealogy of the Waldo Family" show financial transactions and witnessing of a Will with people bearing surnames commonly associated with the Mayflower families. A long standing, unproven, family tradition claims Abigail's mother was the granddaughter of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins, Mayflower notables, but this appears unlikely.

Abigail's marriage to Shubael Waldow is recorded in Mansfield, Connecticut Records as are the births of their children. ^[11] Genealogist Lincoln locates Abigail and Shubael's October 14, 1730 marriage at Bridgewater, Mass, citing "Bridgewater Records and Mansfield records." He lists Abigail's birth location as East Bridgewater in 1712 and notes she and Shubal joined First Church of Mansfield in 1739. ^[12]

Lincoln provides evidence that Shubael's siblings were involved in the separatist church movement which occurred around 1745, specifically they were key in the founding of the (independent) Brunswick church of Scotland splitting from the (officially recognized) Scotland Church. Some Allen family members were involved as well, and it is through the Brunswick Separatist Church Records (Scotland, Connecticut) that we learn that Abigail's step-grandmother Mary Allen was born as Mary Pratt.

Charles Waldo in The Continuation of the Waldo Genealogy ^[13] documents that both Shubael and "Abagail" were members of this controversial church as well:

Clip from Continuation of Waldo Genealogy by Charles Waldo

Lincoln reports that in her final years, Abigail lived with her son, Abiather, in Vermont, and died in his home. Her Shaftsbury Vermont Death Record indicates she was 88 years old. ^[14]She is buried at Center Shaftsbury Cemetery. Her grave inscription say, "Mrs. Abigail Wife of Mr. Shubel Waldo who died Sept 6 1799 in the 88 Year of her Age." A short poem follows.

Misunderstanding about her mother and father

Caution: All charts and sources specifying Abigail's mother should be taken with a large grain of salt. While countless genealogies put forth Mary Alden or Mary Pratt as Abigail's mother, there is no evidence it was Mary Alden and there is evidence that Mary Pratt was Abigail's grandfather's second wife. Wikitree researcher Ellen Smith has clarified the Mary Pratt mix-up and manages a profile showing that Mary Alden may be a fiction or the product of misunderstanding. Neither the Mayflower Society nor the Alden Kindren recognize Mary Alden or Abigail Waldo based on lack of primary source proof.

No small part of the misunderstanding about Abigail is based on early researchers failing to see that her father died before her grandfather thus leading to Abigail's mention in the elder's Will while her father was missing. These Samuel Allen relationships are described will in the online Graves Genealogy in the part about Shubael Waldo's wife. Details about the Brunswick church records also included. ^[15]

In 1935 Viola Main Turner explained the Will mix up of Samuel Allens, while summarizing the lingering Mary Alden/Mary Pratt Dilemma in "Alden Genealogy". ^[16]. Partial clip:

Samuel Allen III 1736 Will

The Mayflower Society's mtDNA study

Abigail Allen Waldo had four daughters who lived long enough to marry and have children. If Abigail descended from Priscilla Mullins Alden, Abigail would have inherited the H6a1a9 haplogroup^[17] . If there is no match, the debate could be put to rest. If there is a match, a relationship could be corroborated, though not fully proven since the match could come from some other lineage parallel to Priscilla's. Still, if you are a proven maternal line descendant of Abigail Allen Waldo, please your mtDNA haplogroup.

Misleading DNA Claim on Find A Grave Memorial

Abigail Allen Waldo's Find A Grave Memorial ^[18] claims that DNA has proven that the wife of Samuel Allen IV is Mary Alden daughter of Joseph Alden, and granddaughter of John Alden. The post says there is more info at the Alden Kindred group, but as of late January 2018 the "Alden Kindred of America" does not know anything about this claim. Possible hoax.

Sources

1. ↑ Distribution of Will, Plymouth records. Vol 12. p. 530
2. ↑ Inventory of estate. Plymouth Records. Vol. 12 p.473
3. ↑ Division of real estate among brothers from Will. Plymouth Records. Vol 11, p.473
4. ↑ Inventory and Widow share of estate of Samuel Allen. Plymouth Records, Vol.7, page 174
5. ↑ Inventory of the Estate of Samuel Allen Jr. (D. 1735)  of East Bridgewater. Plymouth Probate Film no 308-347, Allen, Matthew-Allen, Zabina, Image 196-204
6. ↑ Claims against Abigail's father's estate. Plymouth Records. Vol 7, p. 302
7. ↑ Marriages and Death Records of Bridgewater
8. ↑ Verbatim transcription of Bridgewater Record. p. 98, 181
9. ↑ Image of Mansfield Town Records for marriage and children
10. ↑ Lincoln, Waldo. Genealogy of the Waldo Family, A Record of Descendants of Cornelius Waldo of Ipswich, Mass., from 1647 to 1900 (C. Hamilton, Worcester, Mass., 1902)
11. ↑ Dimock, Susan. Births, baptisms, marriages and deaths, from the records of the town and churches in Mansfield, Connecticut, 1703-1850, p. 189, 293, 369
12. ↑ Lincoln: Page 133
13. ↑ Continuation of Waldo Genealogy by Charles Waldo page 11
14. ↑ Image of Vermont Death record
15. ↑ Online Graves Genealogy
16. ↑ Turner, Viola Main. Alden Genealogy, 1935, page 100-102
17. ↑ Mayflower Society mtDNA Study
18. ↑ Find A Grave Memorial #52770968

See Also:

• Bridgewater, Mass Vital Records Verbatim transcription Searchable Index

• The Best source hub at Geni for links to Samuel Allen III (grandfather) Will documents

• "Epitaphs in old Bridgewater, Massachusetts" by Williams Latham provides a history of the settlement of East Bridgewater and the founding of its cemetery as well as a listing of inscriptions. Much is there to help sort the various Samuel Allens, one of whom donated land for the cemetery. Epitaphs in old Bridgewater, Massachusetts by Latham, Williams

• Genealogy of Allen and Witter Families