Seth Snell (1747 - 1823)

Born 8 Aug 1747 in Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Husband of Hannah Carr — married about 1771 in Warren, Bristol County, Rhode Island [uncertain]

Died 4 Mar 1823 at age 75 in Warren, Bristol County, Rhode Island, USA

Biography

Seth was born in 1747 at Bridgewater in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, the son of Thomas Snell and Hannah Lewis.^[1][2] He died in 1823 at Warren, Rhode Island.^[2][3]

Seth married Hannah _____ (see below). Children, recorded at Warren:^[4]

• Ruth b. 13 September 1772
• William b. 11 March 1774
• Hannah b. 20 February 1776
• Nathan b. 6 February 1778
• Mary Carr b. 6 April 1780
• Seth b. 8 November 1782
• Abigial b. 25 August 1784
• Philip b. 22 January 1787
• Thomas b. 14 March 1789
• Caleb b. 7 August 1791
• Deliverance b. 15 October 1793
• Betsey b. 21 March 1797

Research Notes

Hannah's Identity

If Seth's twelve children indeed all had the same mother, and if the recorded dates for the first and last are correct, then she almost certainly was born between 1753 and 1757, these bounds coming from assuming she was, respectively, 44 at the birth of her final child and 15 at the birth of her first. The middle name "Carr" of daughter Mary suggests a connection to the Carr family. Three Carr households lived near Seth in the 1774 Rhode Island Census, widow Ruth (Millard) Carr and two of her sons heading up these households. Ruth had a daughter Hannah born in April of 1753.

Following the theory that this Hannah Carr was Seth's wife, we find further among the names of these children many family members either of Seth or of Hannah Carr, as follows:

• Ruth, mother of Hannah Carr
• William, brother of Seth
• Hannah, perhaps named for her mother, but also possibly for Seth's mother or sister or Hannah Carr's paternal grandmother
• Nathan, brother of Hannah Carr
• Mary Carr, sister of Hannah Carr
• Seth, presumably named for his father
• Abigail, unknown connection
• Philip, brother of Hannah Carr
• Thomas, father of Seth
• Caleb, father of Hannah Carr
• Deliverance, sister of Seth
• Elizabeth, unknown connection

Altogether, the birth year, the use of "Carr" and other family names, and the proximity of Seth and the Carr households in the 1774 census make a compelling case that Seth married Hanah daughter of Caleb and Ruth (Millard) Carr.

Some online sites, such as the Family Search world tree, claim that his wife was "Hannah Carr Davol", daughter of David and Hannah (Tripp) Devol. But David mentions no daughter Hannah in his will, nor any Snell grandchildren, so this seems unlikely.

Census

Seth appears as head of household at Warren in the 1774 Census of Rhode Island^[5]. His household distribution and inferred attributions are

• two white males over 16: Seth and unknown
• one white male under 16: son William
• one white female over 16: wife Hannah
• one white female under 16: daughter Ruth

Sources

1. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5NC-8BK : 10 February 2018), Thomas Snell in entry for Seth Snell, 08 Aug 1747; citing BRIDGEWATER,PLYMOUTH,MASSACHUSETTS, ; FHL microfilm 164,691, 164,692.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Mayflower Families, vol. 10 (Samuel Fuller) page 100
3. ↑ Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Commission, gravesite information online
4. ↑ Arnold: Vol. 6, Warren Births, Page 91
5. ↑ 1774 Census

• Arnold, James N. Vital Record of Rhode Island, 1636-1850 (Narragansett Historical Pub. Co. , Providence, R.I., 1891)

• Mayflower Families Fifth Generation Descendants, 1700-1880. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2017). From Mayflower Families Through Five Generations: Descendants of the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth, Mass., December 1620. Plymouth, MA: General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1975-2015.

• 1774 Rhode Island Census, Warren, Page 2, Entry 12 -- Seth Snell; citing transcription by Annie Austin in Rhode Island Roots 33 p.25, March 2007.