Sarah (Unknown) Kelso (1700 - 1737)

Born 1700 in Derry Townland, Cavan County, Ireland [uncertain]

Wife of Hugh Kelso — married 1715 in Londonderry, County Londonderry, Ireland

Descendants

Died Sep 1737 at about age 37 in Worcester, Worcester, Massachusetts Bay [uncertain]

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Biography

Sarah was born 1700 in "Derry," Ireland, which may have been Derry Townland in Cavan County, but more likely Londonderry in Londonderry County, Province of Ulster. [1, 2] Locals sometimes referred to Londonderry by its shorter, and original, name. [3]

She married Hugh Kelso about 1715 in Londonderry, and their first daughter Jean was born there in 1716. [1, 2]

They arrived in Worcester, Worcester County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, British Colonial America in 1718, where a number of former Londonderry residents had immigrated to the New World that same year, including the John Gray Jr and Matthew Gray Sr families, their daughter's future in-laws. [4, 5].

According to immigration records and later will and probate records, Sarah's husband was a wheelwright by trade (someone who builds and repairs wheels for wagons and carriages.) [5, 6]

In 1734, their oldest daughter, Jean, married Matthew Gray Jr. [1, 2] (Both had come to the New World as children, Jean as a two-year-old and Matthew as a ten-year-old. [1, 2, 4])

Only three years later, Hugh signed a will before witnesses on 14 Jun 1737, in which he states he was "sick and weak." He further calls Jean's husband "my well beloved son Matthew Gray," to whom Hugh bequeaths his "wearing cloaths [sic]." Further, John Gray (Mattrew's grandfather) was present at the will signing as both witness and co-executor to Hugh's estate. [6]

In that document, Hugh also includes mention of his wife Sarah, their son John, and their other two daughters Susannah and Marey [sic]. [6]

Sarah's husband died that same summer some time before 14 Aug 1737, when his will was read in the Court of Probate in Worcester by Judge John Chandler. [6] One month later, in September, Sarah died as well. [1, 2]

Sources

1. Sarah Taylor, biographical details. FamilySearch.com [1]

2. Sarah Taylor, biographical details. Ancestry.com [2]

3. "Derry," Wikipedia [3]

4. Bolton, Charles Knowles. Scotch Irish Pioneers in Ulster and America|Scotch Irish Pioneers in Ulster and America (Bacon and Brown, Boston, 1910), Full digital text [4]

5. Bolton, Ethel Stanwood. Immigrants to New England, 1700-1775. Salem, MA: Essex Institute, 1931. 235p. Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1966. "U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s." Ancestry.com database.

• page 102. Hugh Kelso in 1718. [5]

6. "Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991 for Hugh Kelso," Worcester Probate Records, Vol 1, 1731-1739, 1778-1814 and 1863-1870. Ancestry.com database, with original image of the will [6]