Priscilla (Thayer) Spear (1710 - 1794)

Born 7 Mar 1710 in Braintree, Suffolk, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Wife of Elijah Hayden — married 11 Jul 1732 in Braintree, Norfolk, Massachusetts

Wife of Joseph Ford — married 27 Mar 1735 in Weymouth, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Wife of William Spear — married 23 Dec 1781 in Braintree, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA

Descendants

Died 20 Oct 1794 at age 84 in Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts

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Biography

Priscilla Thayer was born 7 March 1710 (probably 1710/11) to Ephraim and Sarah Thayer in Braintree, Massachusetts.^[1]

She married Elijah Hayden on 11 July 1732.^[2]

Children of Elijah and Priscilla (Thayer) Hayden:

• Elijah Hayden, b. 22 March 1732/3^[3]
• Enoch Hayden, b. 24 March 1733/4^[4]

Letters of administration on the estate of Elijah Hayden were granted to Priscilla Hayden on 23 October 1734, sureties Ephraim Thayer, weaver of Braintree and William Tory, joyner of Boston.^[5]

Priscilla married, second, Joseph Ford of Weymouth, intention recorded 27 March 1735 in Weymouth.^[6]

Children of Joseph and Priscilla (Thayer) Ford:

• Joseph Ford, b. 25 September 1736, d. young^[7]
• Hannah Ford, bp. 22 October 1738^[8]
• Joseph Ford, b. 18 September 1740^[9]
• James Ford, b. 13 June 1743^[10]
• Nathaniel Ford, b. 23 June 1746^[11]

They seem to have moved from Weymouth to Braintree around 1739, where their latter three children's births are recorded.

Joseph must have died before 24 November 1781, on which date widower William Spear and Priscilla Ford entered their intention to be married in Braintree.^[12]

William Spear died in 1782.

It is asserted that Priscilla Spear died "about the year 1795".^[13] No death record for her has been found in Braintree. A Priscilla Spear died 20 October 1794 in Dorchester, "advanced in years."^[14] It is unclear whether she was the proband.

Sources

1. ↑ Birth of Priscilla Thayer, 7 March 1710. Vital Records of Weymouth, Massachusetts, p. 689.
2. ↑ Marriage of Elijah Hayden and Priscilla Thayer, 11 July 1732. Records of the Town of Braintree, p. 749.
3. ↑ Birth of Elijah Hayden, 22 March 1722/3. Ibid., p. 768.
4. ↑ Birth of Enoch Hayden, 24 March 1733/4. Ibid., p. 770.
5. ↑ Letters of administration, 23 October 1734. Estate of Elijah Hayden. Suffolk County Probate Case No. 6638; Massachusetts, Suffolk County, probate records. "Probate and Family Court Department FILE PAPERS, Box 36 Case 6491 to Case 6670, 1 Jan 1636-31 Dec 1894," FamilySearch, Film # 103,137,595, image 1240.
6. ↑ Marriage intention, Priscilla Haydon and Joseph Ford, 27 March 1735. Vital Records of Weymouth, Massachusetts, 2:86.
7. ↑ Birth of Joseph Ford, [dup. Sept. 25] [1736]. Vital Records of Weymouth, Massachusetts, 1:108.
8. ↑ Baptism of Hanna Ford, 22 October 1738. Ibid., 1:108.
9. ↑ Birth of Joseph Ford, 18 September 1740. Ibid., p. 782.
10. ↑ Birth of James Ford, 13 June 1743. Ibid., p. 786.
11. ↑ Birth of Nathaniel Ford, 23 June 1746. Ibid., p. 791.
12. ↑ Marriage intention, William Spear and Priscill Ford, 24 November 1781. Vital Records of Weymouth, Massachusetts, p. 883.
13. ↑ Thayer, Elisha et al., Family Memorial: Part I. Genealogy of Fourteen Families... Part II. Genealogy of Ephraim and Sarah Thayer, with Their Fourteen Children... Hingham, Mass.: J. Farmer, printer, 1835, pt 2, p. 72.
14. ↑ Death of Priscilla Spear, 20 October 1794. A Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston: Containing Dorchester Births, Marriages, and Deaths to the End of 1825. Boston: Rockwell and Churchill, 1891, p. 276.

• Bates, Samuel A. Records of the Town of Braintree, 1640-1793. Randolph, Mass: D.H. Huxford, printer, 1886.
• Vital Records of Weymouth, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850. Boston, Mass: Publ. by the New England historic genealogical society, at the charge of the Eddy town-record fund, 1910.