Hannah (Hodgekins) Somers (1667 - bef. 1738)

Born 1667 in Worcestershire, England [uncertain]

Wife of John Somers — married 2 Jan 1685 in Abington, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Descendants

Died before 7 Jan 1738 before age 71 in Great Egg Harbor Township, Gloucester, New Jersey

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Biography

Marriage to John Somers

John Somers "settled at Upper Dublin, Pa., moving soon after to the Egg Harbor Region," ^[1] "and married Hannah Hodgkins, of a family early identified with the whaling industry at Cape May."^[2]

Hannah Hodgkins married John Somers 2 Jan 1685 in Abington Monthly Meeting, Somerton, Pennsylvania.^[3]

After the death of his first wife who died and was buried at sea when John first sailed to America, he married Hannah Hodgkins who was also born in Worcester, England. Although he once belonged to the Church of England, when he came to America he became a preacher, as did his wife, with the Society of Friends (Quakers). John Somers built a log house at Somers Point and resided in it until he died in 1723. He and his wife Hannah had seven sons and three daughters: John (died young); Richard; James; Samuel; Job; Isaac, Edward (or Edmund); Bridget; Hannah; and Millicent. His son Richard was the builder of "Somers Mansion" which is still extant and can be visited by tourists.^[4]

Children named in John's will of 8 Jan 1721^[5]

1. Richard
2. James
3. Samuel
4. Job
5. Isaac
6. Edmond
7. Bridget
8. three daughters, unnamed

Children named in Hannah's will of 12 Oct 1737

1. Richard
2. James
3. Samuel
4. Job
5. Edmond
6. Millicent Townsend
7. Hannah Ingerson, deceased

Grand-children

1. the children of Hannah Ingerson, deceased (three daughters + one or more sons)
2. Hannah, daughter of James Somers

Death and Legacy

There is a discrepancy between two sources for her date of death. A remembrance submitted to Philadelphia Monthly Meeting reports her death as 10th month 1738. The abstract of her will published by the State Archives includes two earlier dates that indicate she had died earlier than this. Her will was affirmed (I believe this means probated) 24 Feb., 1737-8. The inventory of her estate was conducted 7 January 1738. Choosing to use this approximate date for her death rather than the remembrance, as the abstract is a secondary document and can be easily verified with the original probate documents.

The following remembrance was entered into the records of the Philadelphia Meeting by members of Egg Harbor Meeting.

"Hannah Somers our worthy friend says the aforesaid monthly meeting Hannah Somers wife of John Somers was exemplary in her life & conversation, and a promoter of piety being left a widow, she built a meeting house chiefly at her own cost, she had a small gift of the ministry, unto which we believe she was faithful. She lived in good unity with friends, and died in the 10th mo. 1738 in the 72nd year of her age."^[6]

1737, Oct. 12. Somers, Hannah, of Great Egg Harbor, Gloucester Co.; will of. Sons--Richard (to have Bible), James, Samuel, Job, Edmond. Daughter, Millicent Townsend. Grand-children--the children of Hannah Ingerson, deceased, and Hannah, daughter of James Somers. (Memorandum. "Before signing and sealing, the half of the household goods given to the children of Hannah Ingerson, to be equally divided among them, is given only to the three daughters of said Hannah, deceased.") Exectuor--son, Richard. Witnesses--Daniel Ireland, Judith Steelman, Ruth Ireland. Affirmed 24 Feb., 1737-8. Lib. 4, p. 128.

1738, Jan. 7. Inventory, £278; made by Daniel Ireland, John Sculle.^[7]

Hannah is buried in the Somers Family Cemetery in Somers Point.^[8]

Research Notes

There is a lot of conflicting information about Hannah Hodgkins kicking around on the Internet. According to Jordan, she was his second wife and they were married in Pennsylvania. Some researchers have set her birth place as Worcestershire, England, some Somers Point. John Somers was from Worcester, but that's not necessarily true of Hannah. Somers Point didn't exist in 1667, so that's obviously not the place. John Jordan (quoted above) wrote that she was from a Cape May whaling family. Finding the whaling Hodgkins of Cape May should be the next line of inquiry I think.

Some trees have her parents as Samuel Hodgekins (1630-1683) and Millicent Unknown (1635-1692). Here's a mishmashed Ancestry tree for her parents "Samwell Hodgekins" and "Sarah Millicent." Married twice to the same woman? Born in London, died in Warwickshire? A conflation but maybe a kernel of truth. ^[9]

Her sister may be Bridgette Hodgekins (1665-1725) who married William Fisher (1658-1728) in 1686. Bridgette's children:

1. William (1688-1734)
2. Mary (1692-1750)
3. Sarah (1692-1738)
4. Samuel (1694-1741)
5. Millicent (1707-1709)
6. Mary (1711-1750)

Hannah Hodgkins is said to have married in the Abington Monthly Meeting records. Could not locate a record for this in Ancestry's Quaker databases, though that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Other gedcoms record have her married in "Somerton, NJ" or in Worcester, England. Oy! Need to check Pennsylvania Quaker records & come over the Cape May meeting records.

Caution! Some gedcoms give her as parents Jedediah Hodgkins (1695-) of Gloucester, Maryland and Sarah Millett (1704-), but she was born before they were.

Sources

1. ↑ Hall, John F. The Daily Union History of Atlantic City and County, New Jersey: Containing Sketches of the Past and Present of Atlantic City and County. Atlantic City, N.J: The Daily Union Printing Company, 1900, Page 433
2. ↑ Jordan, John W. Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania. Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1911), Vol. 1, Page 630
3. ↑ Clemens, William Montgomery American Marriages Before 1699 (Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, USA: Biblio Co., 1926)
4. ↑ Somers, Constantine, and Harriet S. Lake. A Short History of the Somers Family: Who First Settled on Somers Point. Place of publication not identified: Collis, printer, 1800.
5. ↑ John Somers. Calendar of Wills, 1730-1750. Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey, XXX, 448.
6. ↑ "Memory" of Hannah Somers. Philadelphia Monthly Meeting Minutes, 1667-1761, 10. Via U.S. Quaker Meeting Records on Ancestry.com
7. ↑ Hannah Somers. Calendar of Wills, 1730-1750. Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey, XXX, 447.
8. ↑ Find A Grave Memorial #71872637, Hannah Hodgkins Somers
9. ↑ http://person.ancestry.com/tree/62717398/person/46106895230/facts

• https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/112019/person/-2124632560/facts

• https://books.google.com/books?id=r7VPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA180&lpg=PA180&dq=Esther+(Risley)+Somers&source=bl&ots=mAgUb379wa&sig=ACfU3U236UQfQri6E5A3_P-qtm5M0nZcSA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjp4Y3ex83qAhULGTQIHXzqAisQ6AEwAXoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=Esther%20(Risley)%20Somers&f=false

Acknowledgements

Thank you, Tom Truitt.