Sarah (Price) Handley (abt. 1760 - abt. 1839)

Born about 1760 in Elizabethtown, New Jersey

Descendants

Died about Mar 1839 at about age 79 in South Amboy, Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Julie Mangano [send private message]

Biography

Birth Date and Place

• about 1760
• Elizabethtown, New Jersey

Marriage

• Richard Handley
• 18 May 1779
• Elizabethtown, New Jersey

Children

• John Handley
• Nathaniel Handley
• Mary Handley
• Rozetta Handley
• Richard Scott Handley
• Jane Eliza Handley

Death Date and Place

• about March 1839, based on Widow's Pension List
• South Amboy, Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States

Birth Record ^[1]

Name: Sarah Price

Birth Date: 1760

Birthplace: New Jersey

Volume: 140

Page Number: 394

Reference: Gustine compendium. By Gustine Nancy (Courson) Weaver. Cincinnati, 1929. (339p.):219

Children's Birth Records

Rosetta Handley ^[2]

Gender Female

Birth Date 08 Dec 1792

Christening Date 16 Jun 1793

Christening Place First Presbyterian Church, Cranbury, Middlesex, New Jersey

Father's Name Richd. Handley

Mother's Name Sarah

Richd Scott Handley ^[3]

Gender Male

Birth Date 06 Sep 1796

Christening Date 02 Jul 1797

Christening Place First Presbyterian Church, Cranbury, Middlesex, New Jersey

Father's Name Richd Handley

Mother's Name Sarah

Jane Eliza Handley ^[4]

Gender Female

Birth Date 07 Jun 1800

Christening Date 07 Sep 1800

Christening Place First Presbyterian Church, Cranbury, Middlesex, New Jersey

Father's Name Richard Handley

Mother's Name Sarah

U.S. Census Reconstructed Records, 1660-1820 ^[5]

Name: Richd Handley

Gender: M (Male)

State: New Jersey

County: Middlesex County

Residence Year: 1790

Household Remarks: Name on a petition, 13 May 1793 (at Cranberry), to the Council, etc., from inhabitants of Middlesex Co. against straightening the “main post roads leading from Trenton to Poulass Hook and the roads...

Records of the First Presbyterian Church, Cranbury, N.J., 1744-1891 ^[6]

This document is important because it may provide a clue that confirms Sarah's last name at birth. In her husband's will, he refers to his daughter Mary, and her two children, Rosetta and Sarah, whose last names are not given. The will indicates that the two girls were being raised by their grandparents, Richard and Sarah Price Handley. Daughter Mary was to be specifically cut out of his will if she did not take responsibility for raising the girls after his death.

In this baptism record, a copy of which is attached to this profile, the daughters are referred to as:

• Rosetta Handley, born 16 August 1802
• Sarah Ann Price, born 04 August 1804

Their mother is identified as Mary Anderson. Their mother's surname, Anderson, does not match her daughters' surnames. It's not clear if she married after the birth of the two girls, or if she had multiple marriages between 1802 and 1809.

It appears that Rosetta may have been born out of wedlock and given her mother's surname, rather than her biological father's surname.

Her second daughter, Sarah, has a different surname from her sister. One's first inclination is to think that Mary had married a man with the surname Price, or minimally had a child out of wedlock with a man named Price, but those are the only two options. A third option is that she gave her second child the name of her mother, in honor of her mother: Sarah Ann Price.

I checked multiple online databases and other sources and there is no record of Mary marrying men with the surname of Price or Handley. There is a record of her marrying Samuel Anderson, the marriage which gave her the surname she still used in 1809.

Marriage Record for Mary Handley and Samuel Anderson ^[7]

Name Samuel Anderson

Event Type Marriage

Event Date 12 Nov 1801

Event Place Middlesex, New Jersey, United States

Spouse's Name Mary Handley

Therefore, something happened between November of 1801 and August of 1802, which is coincidentally 9 months, because the child that was born, Rosetta Handley, did not have the Anderson surname. Did Mary and Samuel immediately separate? Was Rosetta the daughter of someone else? Was Mary already pregnant with another man's baby and when Samuel found out he refused to raise the child as his own? Did Samuel Anderson pass away? His name is so common that without additional identifiers, it is difficult to search records for his name and know with any certainty it is the same Samuel Anderson.

Two years later, Mary had another child, Sarah Ann Price. Was she a widow who had a child out of wedlock? Were she and her husband named Price divorced? Did she remarry a man named Price but ask her parents to raise their child because the couldn't do so? If so, they she had to remarry a man named Anderson by 1809 when she was listed as Mary Anderson, mother of Rosetta Handley and Sarah Ann Price, who were both baptized on June 18 of that year. Could she have really married two men with the surname Anderson within an 8-year time span? That does not include any other possible marriages she may have had with a Mr. Handley and a Mr. Price.

Her two daughters were born about 2 years apart and documented in the records of the First Presbyterian Church of Cranbury, New Jersey.

• Rosetta Handley, born 16 August 1802, mother Mary Anderson, baptized 18 June 1808

• Sarah Ann Price, born 04 August 1804, mother Mary Anderson, baptized 18 June 1808

New Jersey Abstract of Wills ^[8]

The content of her husband's will is important because he specifically names their children: Mary, John, Nathaniel, Rozetta, and Jane Eliza. At the time of his death he had two granddaughters through daughter Mary, Rozetta and Sarah. Their father and their surname are not mentioned.

Name Richard Handley

Residence Date 24 Apr 1806

Residence Location South Amboy, Middlesex, New Jersey, United States

"1806, April 24. Handley, Richard, of South Amboy, Middlesex Co.; will of. Real and personal estate to be sold. Wife, Sarah, to bring the familly up out of my estate; also an equal share with my children. That share of my estate which would fall to my daughter, Mary, not to be paid her but divided between her 2 daughters, Rozetta and Sarah; said 2 granddaughters, each an out set of $100, when 18, and daughter mar, the interest of said children's share provided she takes them and brings them up. sons, John and Nathaniel, each a horse and to be supported during their education in college. To Handley Flin (son of Edward Flin), a new suit of clothes, when 21. To Handley Price (son of Wm. Price), a suit of clothes, when 21. To Charles H. Halsey and Wm. McAroy (son of George), each a new fur hat for services done me. Remainder of estate to divided between wife, Sarah, my 2 sons, John and Nathaniel and my 3 daughters, Sarah, Rozetta and Jane Eliza, and granddaughters, Rozetta and Sarah. Executors--wife, Sarah, and sons John and Nathaniel. Witnesses--John Van Kirk, William Reed, Rem Vanderbeck. Proved February 29 1808.

"1808, Feb. 25. Inventory, $4,148.16; made by David Chambers and John Van Kirk. File 10177L."

New Jersey, Deaths and Burials Index, 1798-1971 ^[9]

Name: Col Richard Handley

Death Date: 4 Feb 1808

Death Place: Trenton, Mercer, New Jersey

Gender: Male

FHL Film Number: 542518

New Jersey, Wills and Probate Records, 1739-1991 ^[10]

Name: Richard Handley

Probate Date: 24 Apr 1806

Probate Place: Middlesex, New Jersey, USA

Inferred Death Year: Abt 1806

Inferred Death Place: New Jersey, USA

Item Description: Wills, Vol A-B, 1804-1824

Sources

1. ↑ Godfrey Memorial Library, comp. American Genealogical-Biographical Index (AGBI) [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 1999. Sarah Price, born 1760, New Jersey. Original data: Godfrey Memorial Library. American Genealogical-Biographical Index. Middletown, CT, USA: Godfrey Memorial Library. See: http://ancstry.me/2Dpm27X.
2. ↑ "New Jersey Births and Christenings, 1660-1980," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FZZF-3JT : 12 December 2014), Richd. Handley in entry for Rosetta Handley, 08 Dec 1792; citing , reference ; FHL microfilm 0982045 IT 5, 0982045 IT 6, 0982045 IT 7, 0982045 IT 8, 962550.
3. ↑ "New Jersey Births and Christenings, 1660-1980," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FZZF-Y5G : 12 December 2014), Richd Handley in entry for Richd Scott Handley, 06 Sep 1796; citing , reference ; FHL microfilm 0982045 IT 5, 0982045 IT 6, 0982045 IT 7, 0982045 IT 8, 962550.
4. ↑ "New Jersey Births and Christenings, 1660-1980," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FZZF-XQN : 12 December 2014), Richard Handley in entry for Jane Eliza Handley, 07 Jun 1800; citing , reference ; FHL microfilm 0982045 IT 5, 0982045 IT 6, 0982045 IT 7, 0982045 IT 8, 962550.
5. ↑ Reconstructed Records, 1660-1820, Document: Record Group: Legislature; Series: Petitions and Other Papers relating to Bridges, Canals, Dams, Ferries and Roads, 1765-1835 [New Jersey State Archives]; Call Number: Box 4, Folder 40; Page Number: 1; Family Number: 6. Richard Handley, Middlesex, New Jersey, 1790. Source Information: Ancestry.com. U.S. Census Reconstructed Records, 1660-1820 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. See: http://ancstry.me/2EXazwy.
6. ↑ Records of the First Presbyterian Church, Cranbury, N.J., 1744-1891, page 41, Ancestry.com, see: http://ancstry.me/2Dnh9w4.
7. ↑ "New Jersey, County Marriages, 1682-1956," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VKMZ-JWH : 18 October 2017), Samuel Anderson and Mary Handley, 12 Nov 1801; citing Middlesex, New Jersey, United States, New Jersey State Archives, Trenton; FHL microfilm 849,560.
8. ↑ New Jersey Abstract of Wills, Ancestry.com. New Jersey, Abstract of Wills, 1670-1817 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: New Jersey State Archives. New Jersey, Published Archives Series, First Series. Trenton, New Jersey: John L Murphy Publishing Company. See: http://ancstry.me/2DSojJT.
9. ↑ New Jersey Deaths and Burials, 1720–1971, Richard Handley, Ancestry.com. New Jersey, Deaths and Burials Index, 1798-1971 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: "New Jersey Deaths and Burials, 1720–1971." Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2009, 2010. Index entries derived from digital copies of original and compiled records. See: http://ancstry.me/2DNZ9Mh.
10. ↑ Probate Records and Indexes, 1780-1971; Author: New Jersey. Surrogate's Court (Middlesex County); Probate Place: Middlesex, New Jersey. Richard Handley, 02 February 1808, Middlesex, New Jersey. Source Information: Ancestry.com. New Jersey, Wills and Probate Records, 1739-1991 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. See: See: http://ancstry.me/2mRyVAx.