Nathaniel Guild (1679 - 1774)

Born 12 Jan 1679 in Dedham, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 28 Jan 1774 at age 95 in Dedham, Suffolk, Province of Massachusetts Bay

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Biography

Note

The Guild families of America were described in the book "The Genealogy and History of the Guild, Guile and Gile Family" by Charles Burleigh, published by Brown Thurston & Company, 1887.

The biography of Nathaniel Guild includes:

He was appointed by Gov. Belcher, Oct. 10, 1736, Ensign in CaptEben Woodward's 2d Foot Company. He lived at Dedham, and died there Jan. 28, 1774.

The book "Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts," Volume 4, by William Richard Cutter, William Frederick Adams (published by Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1910) includes this sketch for Nathaniel Guild on page 2195:

"(III) Nathaniel, son of Samuel Guild, was born in Dedham, January 12, 1678, and died there January 28, 1774. He was appointed by Governor Belcher, October 10, 1736, ensign in Captain Eben Woodward's Second Foot Company. He married Mehitable Farrington, or Hartshorn, who died February 10, 1771. Children: 1. Mehitable, born February 18, 170708; married, September 23, 1726, Jacob Ellis. 2. Mary, born October 24, 1709; married John Morse. 3. Nathaniel, born March 20, 1712; married (first) MaryBoyden; (second) Ann Rhodes. 4. Susanna, born November 23i I7I3; died September 2, 1714. 5. Susanna, born June 6, 1717; died September 13, 1742; married December 11, 1735, Jacob Hart. 6. Samuel, born July 13. 1719. 7. Rebecca, born September 6, 1721 ; died April 21, 1793; married, January 28. 1742, Deacon Samuel Cony. 8. Sarah, born April 18, 1723; married, November 1, 1748, Jonathan Billings Jr. 9."

(Lengthy) Research Note Burleight's statement above, quoted by Cutter, "He married Mehitable Farrington, or Hartshorn" became the basis for many Guild and Farrington family trees. But Puritan customs, given names, and legal and town record evidence do not support the Farrington connection, pointing instead towards the Hartshorn alternative mentioned by Burleigh.

That other Mehitable Farrington was born in July 1693, as clearly documented in Dedham records. However, the first child born to Nathaniel and Mehitable Guild, also named Mehitable, was born on 18 February 1708, per Dedham records. On that date, Mehitable Farrington was only 14 years old, and if the child was conceived in wedlock , only 13 at marriage. While biologically possible, marriage that early that just did not happen in puritan Massachusetts. In contrast, the most likely (but undocumented) birth year for Mehitable Hartshorn--a different person--was 1683, making her age 24 at the first Guild birth.

The names given to children can sometimes suggest who the parents were. Nathaniel and Mehitable Guild named their children Mehitable, Mary, Nathaniel, Susanna, Samuel, Sarah, Moses, and Aaron. The three older siblings of Mehitable Hartshorn were Susanna, Sarah (who married Samuel Guild), and Mary. In contrast, the older siblings of Mehitable Farrington were John , Mary, Joseph, Judith, Barnard, Eleazer, and Samuel. Not definitive, but the names and her sister's marriage to a Guild is some indication that it was this Mehitable Hartshorn that was Nathaniel's wife.

The definitive evidence, ruling out Mehitable Farrington from having been the wife of Nathaniel Guild, is in the probate of Mehitable Farrington's father. John Farrington died on 12 Oct 1721, intestate. The probate process to allocate his estate was a 17 month struggle, a lesson to us all. The probate judge, the redoubtable Samuel Sewell, allocated two-thirds of the decedent's real estate among:^[1]

• Jonathan Farrington, eldest son
• Barnard Farrington, second son
• Eleazer Farrington, third son
• Samuel Farrington, fourth son
• Mary Cobb, eldest daughter
• Judith Lyon, another daughter
• Mehetabel Farrington, another daughter
• Abigail White, another daughter

The use of Mehetabel's maiden name in that legal record indicates that she, unlike her sisters, had not yet married by 1723-4 and so, of course, could not have been the wife of Nathaniel Guild who produced his first seven children between 1708 and 1723. Therefore, that marriage and those children, and the death in Dedham of "Mehitable, wife of Nathaniel Guild, Obt. February 10th, 1771, Ae. 87"^[2] belong instead to the only other candidate, Mehitable Hartshorn, born circa 1683, thus in her 87th year in February 1771.

Therefore, the spouse, children, and death previously recorded in Mehitable Farrington have been transferred to the new profile Mehitable Hartshorn Guild

Marriage and Children

Nathaniel Guild evidently was married to Mehitabel Hartshorn, possibly in Dedham, about 1707. Primary source records of that marriage have yet to be found.

Nathaniel and Mehitabel Guild had, in Dedham: ^[3]

• Mehitable, b. 18 Feb 1707-8, m. Jacob Ellis, 23 Sep 1726
• Mary, b. 24 Oct 1709, m. John Morse in Boston, 20 Apr 1727
• Nathaniel, b. 20 Mar 1712, m. Mary Boyden of Wrentham, 12 June 1733
• Susanna, b. 23 Nov 1713, d. 23 Sep, 1714
• Susanna, b. 9 Jun 1717, m. Jacob Hart(?), 11 Dec 1735
• Samuel, b. 13 July 1719, m. Sarah Smith in Roxbury, 24 Apr 1766 ??
• Rebecca, b. 6 Sep 1721, m. Samuel Coney in Stoughton, 28 June 1742
• Sarah, b. 18 Apr 1723, m. Jonathan Billing in Stoughton, 1 Nov 1748
• Moses, b. 14 May 1725, m. Rhoda Man in Wrentham, 1 Feb 1753
• Aaron, b. 5 Apr 1728, m. Sarah ____, in Stoughton, 11 Dec. 1777

Death

Mehitable died in Dedham on 10 Feb 1771. Nathaniel outlived her, dying in Dedham on 28 Jan 1774, ae 95.^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ Massachusetts Probate Court, Suffolk county, Probate Records 1636-1899, (Salt Lake City, 1969-71, Genealogical Society of Utah), Case 4493, Vol. 23, p. 137, 18 Feb 1723-4, viewed on FamilySearch.org, film 7703078, image 524-525.
2. ↑ Hill, Don Gleason, The record of births, marriages and deaths, and intentions of marriage, in the town of Dedham . . . 1635-1845, page107
3. ↑ Hill, Don Gleason, The record of births, marriages and deaths, and intentions of marriage, in the town of Dedham . . . 1635-1845, pp. 35, 39, 40, 44, 45, 48, 49, 52, 54, 60, 92, 240, 248, 250.
4. ↑ Hill, Don Gleason, The record of births, marriages and deaths, and intentions of marriage, in the town of Dedham . . . 1635-1845, page112

Source S120

Abbreviation: Dedham MA BMD 1635-1845

Title: Don Gleason Hill (editor), The Record of Births, Marriages and Deaths in the Town of Dedham,1635-1845 (Dedham, Mass. : Town of Dedham, 1886)

Repository: #R39

Repository R39

Name: New England Historic Genealogical Society (99-101 Newbury Street, Boston, Mass. 02116)

Address:

Web Address: http://www.AmericanAncestors.org