Hannah (Palmer) Fish (bef. 1634 - abt. 1681)

Born before 15 Jun 1634 in Charlestown, Massachusetts

Wife of Thomas Hewitt — married 26 Apr 1659 in Stonington, Connecticut

Wife of Roger Sterry — married 27 Dec 1671 in Stonington, New London County, Connecticut

Wife of John Fish — married 25 Aug 1681 in Stonington, New London County, Connecticut

Descendants

Died about 25 Aug 1681 after about age 47 in Stonington, New London, Connecticut

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Biography

Hannah Palmer was born before and then baptized on 15 Jun 1634, at what later became Charlestown, Massachusetts^[1]. She was the first child of Walter Palmer and his second wife Rebecca Short.

Christening 15 JUN 1634 Charlestown, Massachusetts^[1]

She came with her parents to Stonington, Connecticut.

HANNAH, bp. 15 June 1634; m. (1) 26 April 1659 Thomas Hewitt [Minor Diary 34]; m. (2) Stonington 27 December 1671 Roger Sterry; m. (3) Stonington 25 August 1681 John Fish. (The precise dates for the second and third marriages of Hannah are given in many secondary sources [e.g., Stonington Hist 418-19, 508], but do not appear in the Stonington vital records. Wheeler does provide clues pointing to the location of the evidence for these marriages [e.g., "An interesting jointure between them is preserved in our old Stonington records," Stonington Hist 508].)^[2]

Marriage: 26 APR 1659 Stonington, New London, Connecticut. They had 2 children:

1. Thomas Hewitt, b. 2 May 1660; married Jun 1683 Lydia Utley
2. Benjamin Hewitt, b. 1662; married 24 Sep 1683 Marie Ellen Fanning

Thomas Hewitt was lost at sea about 1662.

From "History of Stonington" (Wheeler, 1900), p. 418: Pending the session of the General Court of Connecticut in 1670, a hearing was had for the consideration of a petition of Mrs. Hannah Hewitt, the widow of Thomas Hewitt, for liberty to marry again, setting forth that she had not heard from her late husband for the space of eight years, and better, and her neighbors also testifying that the said Hewitt had so long been absent and that they had not heard of him, or the vessel or company he went with since their departure. "The court having considered the premises, declare that the said Hannah Hewitt is at liberty to marry again if she see cause." So on the 27th day of Dec., 1671, she was united in marriage with Roger Sterry.

Hannah (Palmer/Hewitt) & Roger Sterry had 2 children:

1. Hannah Sterry, b. 18 Aug 1672; married William Billings
2. Samuel Sterry, b. 1674; married 1) 22 Feb 1703 Hannah Rose; married 2) 8 Feb 1725 Mehitable Fenner

After the death of Roger Sterry, which occurred before 1680, Hannah (Palmer/Hewitt/Sterry) married 3rd John Fish (likewise, his 3rd wife). The date of this third marriage is not certain, for if she did indeed die on 25 Aug 1681 then it is unlikely that she would have married on that same day.

Death: 25 AUG 1681 Stonington, New London, CT

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Dunnewell, James Frothingham, Under the Care of (1880). Records Of The First Church In Charlestown, Massachusetts, 1632-1789; David Clapp and Son, Boston, Massachusetts; PG 45; Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/recordsoffirstch1632char/page/n93/mode/2up
2. ↑ Title: The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-33; Author: Robert Charles Anderson.

• Torrey, Clarence Almon. Torrey’s New England Marriages Prior to 1700 (Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore, 1985) pg 236

• Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England (Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1862)

• Title: Genealogy of New England, Vol. 1

• Ancestry-Brown. Hannah Palmer, daughter of Walter and Rebecca. Wife of Thomas Hewitt, Roger Sterry, Joe Fish. Mother of Hannah Sterry.

• History of Stonington etc. (Wheeler, 1900), p. 371, and p. 508, no. 7: https://archive.org/stream/historyoftownofs00whee_1#page/n530/mode/1up

• The Fish family in England and America (1948); p. 252-255: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89067390757&view=1up&seq=315

• Leavitt, Emily Wilder. Palmer Groups, John Melvin of Charlestown and Concord, Mass. (David Clapp & Son, Boston, 1905) Page 24.