Hannah (Bush) Rood (1682 - 1743)

Ancestors

Wife of George Rood — married Jul 1702 in Norwich, New London, Conn

Descendants

Died 1 Jul 1743 at about age 61 in Norwich, New London, Connecticut

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Carrie Lippincott [send private message]

Biography

Hannah Bush was born in 1682^[1] to Reynold Bush and Susannah Lovett.^[2][1]

Hannah's father, Reynold Bush probably died in 1686, this is the year his estate was settled.^[2]

Her widowed mother Susannah had remarried Thomas Hall while Hannah had been away from home, living as a “drudge sometime in one house and sometime in a nother."^[1]

Hannah Bush was new to the area of Norwich, when George began to court her. Hannah was pregnant at this time by her new stepfather Thomas Hall. In an attempt cover the pregnancy, Thomas encouraged George to spend the night with Hannah, to which he refused. ^[3]

"Like many victims of abuse, Hannah was isolated, first by her family’s move to a new community where she had no one to whom she could turn and then by her parents’ horrific abuse she then felt compelled to hide."^[4]

Hannah, age 20 married George Rood, age 30 in Norwich, Connecticut in July 1702. ^[5][1]

In October 1702, Hannah appeared before the magistrate, Richard Bushnell in the New London County Court. It was revealed to the public that she was pregnant at the time of her marriage, due to an incestuous relationship, forced upon her by her new stepfather, Thomas Hall and with her mother's full support and help. ^[3]

"Despite Hall’s denials and his accusation that Hannah’s mother Susannah confessed under the influence of witchcraft, the Court of Assistants found Hall guilty of incest and Susannah guilty of being an accessory to the crime."^[6]

"On May 29th, the Halls were both sentenced under Connecticut’s new marriage law passed in 1702, which eliminated the death penalty for sexual crimes. Instead, Thomas and Susannah were to stand at the gallows with a rope around their necks for one hour, receive a whipping not to exceed forty stripes, and wear a capital “I” two inches long and “proportional bigness in a contrasting color” for the rest of their lives. Hannah, having already confessed, but found to have concealed the crime for “So Long a time” was to be whipped in Norwich."^[7]

George and Hannah had the following children, all born in Norwich, Connecticut:

1. Ebenerer [Ebenezer] Rood b 21 February 1704/5^[5]
2. Isaac Rood b 26 March 1706/7^[5]
3. Solomon Rood b _____^[5]
4. Hanah Rood b 16 July 1712^[5]
5. Simeon Rood b 16 August 1714 d July 1727^[5]
6. Keziah Rood b latter end of December 1716^[5]
7. Experience Rood b 20 January 1719/20^[5]
8. Thankfull Rood b 2 February 1721/2^[5]

Hannah Rood died on 1 Jan 1743/4 in Norwich, Connecticut.^[5]

Research Notes

I have not been able to figure out what came of the baby conceived by Thomas Hall and Hannah Bush. Carrie

The following New England Marriages Prior to 1700 provides clues that Hannah is attached to the correct parents. Carrie

"Bush, Randall/Renold/Randolph & 1/wf Elizabeth ___?; b 1632 [sic?]; Cambridge
Bush, Randoll & 2/wf Susanna Lovett/Lovill?/Lowell, m/2 Thomas Hall b 1686; m cont 2 Sep 1678; Cambridge"^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Hannah is the stepdaughter of Thomas Hall. Alicia Desiree Martin-Cowger A Great Appearance of Force: Puritan Family Government in Colonial Connecticut, 1672-1725 Thesis. August 2010, page 65
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} De Forest, Louis Effingham. James Cox Brady and His Ancestry page 101
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Alicia Desiree Martin-Cowger A Great Appearance of Force: Puritan Family Government in Colonial Connecticut, 1672-1725 Thesis. August 2010, pages 65-66, 69
4. ↑ Alicia Desiree Martin-Cowger A Great Appearance of Force: Puritan Family Government in Colonial Connecticut, 1672-1725 Thesis. August 2010, page 68
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9} Norwich (Conn.); General Society of Colonial Wars (U.S.). Connecticut. Vital records of Norwich, 1659-1848 1913 , 41-42
6. ↑ Alicia Desiree Martin-Cowger A Great Appearance of Force: Puritan Family Government in Colonial Connecticut, 1672-1725 Thesis. August 2010, page 4
7. ↑ Alicia Desiree Martin-Cowger A Great Appearance of Force: Puritan Family Government in Colonial Connecticut, 1672-1725 Thesis. August 2010, page 72
8. ↑ Torrey's marriage index should not be considered a source, but an index to sources. It is best to search Torrey for referenced sources and subsequently access those sources. Torry, Clarence A. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004, page 125 Image