Susannah (Booth) Thorne (abt. 1617 - aft. 1676)

Born about 1617 in England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Wife of William Thorne Sr. — married about 1630 in England

Descendants

Died after 15 Jan 1676 after about age 59 in Flushing, New York

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Biography

Birth & Baptism

Nothing is known of the origins or parentage of Susanna Booth (or "Both" as the sole secondary/tertiary and no-longer-extant source of her name referred to her). All previously linked/claimed dates and locations such as 1610 in Flushing, New York or a birth in 1617 in Charlesworth, High Peak Borough, Derbyshire, England with parents Nicholas and Elizabeth Booth are unsourced, at least as far as recorded on this profile.

Marriage & Children with William Thorn(e)

No record of Susannah's marriage to William Thorn has been found yet other than in auto-aggregated collections of unsourced user submissions such as the ancestry.com "Family Data Collection" or "International Genealogical Index". The birth years of their children are guesses so they are no real help in determining William or Susannah's ages. Whether they were married in England or New England; in Lynn, Massachusetts or in Flushing, New York is undetermined.

Regarding her name, the work of Arthur Eaton cited here^[1] proved that her first name was Susannah, but said her last name was unknown.

In a followup 1965 NYGBR article her last name is stated as "Booth" and her origin (and their date and place of marriage) are specifically stated as "unknown".^[2] Her last name of "Booth" is derived from genealogical work done by two genealogists (John Ross Delafield and his father Maturin Livingston Delafield) who claimed to have had an account of William Hallett stating that his alimony payment (to his ex-wife Susan, widow of William Thorn) was to be paid to "Susannah Both". No such name has been found subsequently in any original document, but Dickinson holds the Delafields in high regard and gives credence to this statement of Susannah's original surname.

Her first name (and marriage first to Thorn, then to Hallett) however is well established by these June 1669 New York court records from the legal separation of Susanna Hallett and her husband William noting a subsequent alimony suit where Susannah Hallet's son, Joseph Thorne took an active part.^[2]

Torrey in "New England Marriages to 1700" sheds no additional light on the marriage of William Thorn and Susannah and makes no claim to her last name.^[3]

These children are assigned to the couple but it should be noted that primary sources for dates and locations of birth do not appear on their profiles in general. Arthur Eaton's 1888 article on this family provided much detail about them^[4] He only had one son "William"; another was attached at one point but has been removed.

1. William Thorne Jr. 1632 (not actually known)- about 1688 (Eaton states that he did have four sons, one named William who married a Winifred^[4]
2. Joseph Thorne b. Abt 1642, Flushing, N.Y. d. 3 May 1727, Woodbridge, N.J.
3. John Thorn b. Abt 1643, d. 1709, m. Mary Parsell (spelling varies), wrote his will 1709
4. Susannah Thorne b. Abt 1645, d. UNKNOWN m. John Lockerson or Ockerson^[4]
5. Samuel Thorne b. Abt 1648 (Eaton says born between about 1655 and 1670), d. UNKNOWN, will recorded 1732

A previous version of this family included an additional son, Denton Thorne, who has been removed (Denton was actually a grandson of this William through his son William).

Marriage to and Separation From William Hallett

Susannah Thorn (widow of William) married William Hallett between 27 Dec 1657 when her first husband signed the "Flushing Remonstrance" and Jun 1699 when Hallett agreed in court to pay her alimony.^[2]

Torrey (New England Marriages to 1700) gives this marriage as "by 25 Apr 1674, divorced/separated by Jun 1669" which on the face of it is backwards.^[5] This is explained by the date of a complaint filed in court by Susannah (25 Apr 1674) stating that William had not paid her alimony. However, as Thorn Dickinson points out^[2] the alimony agreement had actually been entered into Jun 1669, proving that their marriage had indeed ended by that date.

It is worth following the thread of this case as on 5 Jun 1674 Hallet asked that the alimony agreement be annulled as he was unable to pay and then in June 1675, Joseph Thorne, listed as the son of Susannah Hallett, sued William Hallett (who married at least twice more) about these same payments thus proving that Susannah was the widow of William Thorn. One more court recording was entered regarding Susannah dated 15 Jan 1675/76 which sets an "earliest death date" for Susannah as she was still alive at this point.

Some sites state a death of William Thorn as "before 1664" based on his lack of appearance on a document of that date supposedly offering freemanship of Connecticut to the English still living amongst the Dutch on Long Island but obviously lack of proof is not proof of lack (or proof of death in this instance).

Death & Estate

Susannah's death and burial are unknown although as proven above she was still alive in January 1675/76. And despite the claims on unsourced internet sites, there appears to be no proof that William and/or Susanna were Quakers. This discussion is fully developed on William's profile, the point being that there is no proof or even strong circumstantial evidence that either person is buried at the (Quaker) Friends Burying Ground in Flushing, New York.

Sources

1. ↑ The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. New York, NY: New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, 1870-. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011.) "William Thorne of Flushing, Long Island and His Wife Susannah" by Arthur Wentworth Hamilton Eaton. Vol. 53, p. 18. Jan 1922 subscribers$
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Dickinson, Thorn. "Genealogies of Long Island Families Vol 2: Early History of the Thorn Family of Long Island," The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record pg. 153 $subscription
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. $subscription
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. New York, NY: New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, 1870-. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011.) Vol 19 pg. 153 $subscription
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. https://www.americanancestors.org/DB1568/i/21175/687/426888767

See Also

• Find A Grave: Memorial #7855352
• "Insubordinate Spirit, A True Story of Life and Loss in Early America" by Missy Wolfe copyright 2012. Page 191. Miss Wolfe has documented the marriage or Susannah to William Hallett and the subsequent incident that led to their divorce. This book seems to use, as it's source for William Thorn-related matters, the 1965 work by Thorn Dickinson cited above ("Early History of the Thorne Family on Long Island").