Abigail (Wells) Bartlett (abt. 1625 - 1687)

Born about 1625 in England [uncertain]

Wife of Richard Bartlett — married about 1645 in Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts Bay [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 1 Mar 1687 at about age 62 in Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Katharine Ortloff [send private message] and Hollis Bartlett [send private message]

Uncertain Origins

No evidence has been found for the surname of Abigail, wife of Richard Bartlett. While it has been asserted originally as "Wells" on unsourced internet genealogies (the archived Bartlett family website below said it was "possibly Belknap" without a source).

None of the sources listed below claims any surname at all for her (neither do Torrey's sources that are available on the internet). Her LNAB should be "Unknown".

She was previously attached as a daughter of Isaac Wells of England and Barnstable, Mass and Margaret Unknown (originally and unsupportedly called "Margaret Luce") but there is no evidence that Isaac had a daughter Abigail and no evidence that Abigail the wife of Richard Bartlett was "Wells" so they have been severed.

One profile (pre-merge) provided a specific birthdate of August 6, 1620, but without source. With a first known marriage of 1645 her estimated birth would be about 1625 which is more likely to be England than New England but that cannot be stated definitively as her parentage is unknown.

Biography

Torrey in "New England Marriages to 1700" is vague about the marriage and asserts no surname for Abigail: BARTLETT, Richard2 (1621-1698, ae 76) & Abigail ____ (-1687); by 1645(6?), by 1649; Newbury^[1]

Children

Richard and Abigail Bartlett were parents of eight children all born in Newbury, primary sources generally found on familysearch.org:

1. Samuel- b. 20 Feb. 1645/6,^[2] m. 23 May 1671 Newbury, Elizabeth Titcomb (d. 26 Aug. 1690 Newbury), d. 15 May 1732 Newbury
2. Richard- b. 21 Feb. 1648/9, m. 18 Nov. 1673 Newbury, Hannah Emery, living in 1712
3. Thomas- b. 7 Sept. 1650, m. Nov. 1685 Newbury, Tirzah Titcomb (m.2. James Ordway, d. before Oct. 1699), d. 6 Apr. 1689 Newbury
4. Abigail- b. 14 Mar. 1652/3, m. 27 May 1700 John Emery, living in 1712
5. John- b. 22 June 1655, m.1. 29 Sept. 1680 Newbury, Mary Rust, 2. 13 Nov. 1710 Dorcas Phillips (d. 18 Jan. 1719), d. 24 May 1736 Newbury
6. Hannah- b. 18 Dec. 1657, living in 1695
7. Rebecca- b. 23 May 1661,^[3] m. 5 Sept. 1700 Isaac Bailey

Death

Abigail Bartlett died 1 March 1686/87 at Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony. In the Newbury Town Records she was listed as "Abigal the wife of Richard Bartlett".^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ New England Marriages to 1700. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. Entry for Richard Bartlett and Abigial Unidentified 1649 Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts Vol. 1 p. 101 $subscription
2. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG1K-Z941 : 6 May 2022), Samuell Bartlett, 20 Feb 1645; citing Birth, , Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007009724.
3. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:DC15-VQZM : 11 May 2022), Rebecha Bartlett, 23 May 1661; citing Birth, Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007009706.
4. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG1K-CGMY : 6 May 2022), Abigail Bartlet, 1 Mar 1687; citing Death, , Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007009724.

See Also

• http://minerdescent.com/2011/03/21/thomas-wells-colchester asserting without source that Abigail was "Wells" and a daughter of Isaac Wells; also asserts without source that Isaac's wife's surname was "Luce". It also says that 3 daughters including Elizabeth (another apparent fabrication) were all born in 1621...
• "Families of early Hartford, Connecticut" by Barbour, Lucius Barnes; Barbour, Lucius Barnes, 1878-1934, author, compiler Publication date 1977 Publisher Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Publishing Co. was included as a source but says nothing of Isaac Wells or his family or of Richard Bartlett. The only Abigail "Welles" found was born 100 years later.
• The (now-archived) Bartlett Society archive.org says (without source) that Richard's wife was Abigail but "possibly Belknap" and that a later Bartlett (Samuel) married an Abigail Wells (no parentage listed) around 1700.
• Savage, Joseph, Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1981, Originally Published: Boston, 1860-1862. Vol. 1 p. 132 entry for Richard Bartlett of Newbury gives wife's name as Abigail, no surname given.
• The pioneers of Massachusetts, a descriptive list, drawn from records of the colonies, towns and churches and other contemporaneous documents by Pope, Charles Henry, 1841-1918 Publication date 1900 Publisher Boston, C.H. Pope p. 36 entry for Richard Bartlett does not give any name to his wife but does list children of his father Richard Sr. supposedly from his bible.
• The old families of Salisbury and Amesbury, Massachusetts ; with some related families of Newbury, Haverhill, Ipswich and Hampton by Hoyt, David Webster, 1833-1921 Publication date 1897 Publisher Providence, R.I. (Snow & Farnham, printers) p. 55 lists Richard's wife as Abigail but asserts no surname.