Hezekiah Broad (1746 - 1823)

Born 29 Sep 1746 in Grafton, Worcester, Massachusetts

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Morse) Broad — married 4 Apr 1809 in Natick, Essex, Massachusetts, United States

Husband of Miriam (Sawin) Broad — married 1 Dec 1814 in Natick, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States

Died 17 Mar 1823 at age 76 in Natick, Middlesex, Massachusetts

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Biography

Hezekiah Broad was born on September 29, 1746 in Grafton, Massachusetts, as cited in the Natick Vital Records. His parents were Hezekiah Broad and Rebecca Burridge^[1]

He was married 3 times

1. Lydia Bacon on May 16,1770 in Natick. ^[2][3] They filed their Intention to Marry in April. ^[4]
2. Sarah Morse, the widow of John Sawin, on March 28, 1809 in Natick. ^[2]
3. Miriam Sawin on December 1, 1814 in Natick. ^[2]

His only recorded children were with his 3rd wife Miriam. They were Fanny, who died age 5, ^[5] and Hezekiah ^[1]

Major Broad was a delegate to the 1774 Provincial Congress in Concord, MA and the 1787 Constitutional Convention. He served during the American Revolution and met with General George Washington in South Natick while he was on his way to take command of the Continental Army in Boston.

From the Natick Historical Society: Col. Hezekiah Broad, whose 95 Eliot Street home was near the current Memorial Elementary School, was elected in October 1774 to be Natick’s representative to the Massachusetts Provincial Congress. The Provincial Congress, like those in other colonies, was an illegal gathering that disputed the authority of the British colonial government. Peletiah Morse was a member of Natick’s Committee of Correspondence, a wartime assembly established to channel news and plans among Massachusetts townspeople as the prewar boycott of British goods got under way, and as preparations for resistance and revolution were carried out. Natick voted to pay its taxes directly to the Provincial Congress instead of the British governor, and named 18 men to be Minutemen ready to fight at a moment’s notice.

Newly elected President George Washington passed through South Natick in 1789 and reportedly visited Col. Broad, who had served with him during the war. Historians have not mentioned whether Washington actually slept there. ^[6]

Hezekiah died on March 17, 1823 in Natick at the age of 76 and was buried in the South Natick Burial Ground ^[7]

In his will, written August 13, 1821, he leaves one third of his estate to his wife, Miriam, and the balance to his "only son", Hezekiah. In the event that his son were to die before his majority the balance of the estate would defer back to his wife. The witnesses to his will were Oliver Bacon (probably brother to his first wife, Lydia), John Bacon, Jr., and Calvin Sawin (Miriam's brother). ^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Vital Records of Natick, Massachusetts to the Year 1850, Baldwin, Thomas W., Stanhope Press, Boston, Mass., 1910 Digitized copy from Archive.org p. 21 (https://archive.org/details/vitalrecordsofna00nati/page/21/mode/1up?view=theater|accessed 30 Mar 2023)
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Vital Records of Natick, Massachusetts to the Year 1850, Baldwin, Thomas W., Stanhope Press, Boston, Mass., 1910 Digitized copy from Archive.org p. 123 (https://archive.org/details/vitalrecordsofna00nati/page/123/mode/1up?view=theater|accessed 30 Mar 2023)
3. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPCQ-1PWH : 11 May 2022), Hezekiah Broad and Lydia Bacon, 16 May 1770; citing Marriage, Natick, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007009378.
4. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPCQ-8ZZ9 : 11 May 2022), Hezekiah Broad and Lydia Bacon, 7 Jul 1770; citing Marriage, Natick, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007009378. Note: Incorrect transcription by Family Search
5. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/97979272/fanny-broad: accessed 30 March 2023), memorial page for Fanny Broad (2 Jan 1816–2 Feb 1821), Find a Grave Memorial ID 97979272, citing South Natick Burial Ground, Natick, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA; Maintained by PupDawg (contributor 46990892).
6. ↑ South Natick in the Revolution, Natick Historical Society (https://www.natickhistoricalsociety.org/the-revolution-comes-to-south-natick|accessed 30 Mar 2023)
7. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVLN-G3S1 : 13 December 2015), Hezekiah Broad, 1823; Burial, Natick, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States of America, South Natick Cemetery; citing record ID 97979275, Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/97979275/hezekiah-broad.
8. ↑ "Massachusetts, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991"
   Probate Records 1648--1924 (Middlesex County, Massachusetts); Author: Massachusetts. Probate Court (Middlesex County); Probate Place: Middlesex, Massachusetts
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 9069 #1767353 (accessed 30 March 2023)
   Hezekiah Broad probate on 13 Aug 1821 in Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA.

• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 18 March 2020, 02:54), entry for Hezekiah Broad(PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:LW2G-KRK); contributed by various users.

• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LW2G-KRK

• Holland, Terri. http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/broad/201/

• "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FC2R-NJC : 10 February 2018), Hezekiah Broad, 29 Sep 1746; citing GRAFTON,WORCESTER,MASSACHUSETTS, ; FHL microfilm 0873747 IT 4.

• "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPCQ-8ZZ9 : 31 October 2019), Hezekiah Broad and Lydia Bacon, 7 Jul 1770; citing Marriage, Natick, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007009378.