Hannah (Knight) Darby (1743 - 1795)

Born 1743 in Scarborough, Cumberland, District of Maine, Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Wife of Japheth Hill — married 9 Oct 1760 in Scarborough, Cumberland, District of Maine, Massachusetts Bay

Descendants

Died 30 Jul 1795 at about age 52 in Machias, Washington, Maine, United States

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Biography

Hannah Knight was born, probably at Scarborough, Maine, c1742/43 (if 17 or 18 at time of marriage), the daughter of Westbrook Knight and Abigail Munson; died, probably at Machias, after 30 Jul 1795, when in a deed she is referred to as "the late Hannah Hill, now Hannah Darby," (Washington County deed 1:474) and before the 1800 US census of Machias, in which no female is enumerated in the household of John Darby/Derby whom she married after the 1790 US census and before 6 Sep 1792 (Washington County deeds 1:277, 474), his identity not established. She had married (1) at Scarborough, Maine, 9 Oct 1760, Japhet Hill, born, probably in Biddeford, Maine, in that part later set off as Saco, c1740, the son of Joseph Hill and Amy Johnson, his parents' marriage intentions recorded at Biddeford, 29 Jul 1739, she of Kittery; drowned at Machias, Maine, 14 Jul 1788.

Japhet Hill was one of the "original 16", mainly of Scarborough, who formed an association for the construction of a mill at Machias and the establishment of the settlement, and who arrived in Machias in May 1763 to initiate this venture. While he is considered to have been of Scarborough, the only land he is known to have had in southern Maine is that in Biddeford, which his father sold him in 1762 and which was taken to settle a debt following his removal to Machias (York County deeds 37:144, 38:83-84). Japhet reportedly participated in the capture of the British Schooner, Dilgence, and the tender, Tatmagouche, in Machias Bay in Jul 1775 and subsequently served as a private in the revolutionary forces on four occasions in 1777, 1778 and 1779. As one of the original 16, Japhet received a seven-acre town lot and a 250-acre farm lot, plus marsh lots and after-divisions. Either through an unrecorded purchase (perhaps from his brother, Samuel, who removed to Nova Scotia) or a reconfiguration of the town lots, Japhet actually possessed all or parts of town lots 13 and 14 (Lincoln County deed 11:66). One and a half acres of those lots were set off in Sep 1773 to settle a debt (Lincoln County deed 10:57). In Jul 1774, Japhet "sold" (though perhaps, rather, mortgaged) to Stephen Jones his 250-acre farm at Potato Point and his interest in two mills (Lincoln County deed 11:12). Following Japhet's death, his wife, Hannah, redeemed half of the property sold to Jones (Washington County deed 1:226-27). Hannah then, in Jun 1791, again "sold" (but perhaps, rather, mortgaged) the one-half of the homestead lot redeemed from Jones to Stephen Parker (Washington County deed 1:346). For "one pepper corn", Parker sold 12 acres of this lot to Hannah's daughter, Amy, in Oct 1794, and the balance of 138 acres to Hannah's son, Samuel, in Jul 1795 (Washington County deeds 1:454, 1:174), suggesting that Amy's purchase was 1/12 share of her father's residual farm. Samuel sold his interest in his father's land in Sep 1803, probably confirming that his mother was then dead (Washington County deed 3:404-5). Hannah had retained Japhet's redeemed interests in the Rock and Phoenix mills and, together with her second husband, John Darby, soldl these interests in 1792 and 1793 (Washington County deeds 1:277, 460-61). Darby was a yeoman (Washington County deed 1:277). Hannah was taxed 19 shillings in 1790 for the west school district of Machias. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Sources

1. ↑ Gerald F. Gower and Kathleen Nichols, Lifting the Fog from the Hills of Machias (The Maine Genealogist, Aug 2000, Vol. 22, No. 3), p. 130
2. ↑ Edited by Joseph Crook Anderson II, Maine Families in 1790 (Maine Genealogical Society, Picton Press, Rockport, ME), Vol. 8, p. 219
3. ↑ George W. Drisko, Narrative of the Town of Machias, The Old and the New, The Early and the Late (Press of The Republican, Machias, ME, 1904), pp. 12, 20, 23, 25-27, 96, 174, 182, 237, 239, 245, 247, 450, 452, 458-459