Amos Woodward (1693 - abt. 1765)

Born 5 Jun 1693 in Medford, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Province

Ancestors

Husband of Hannah (Parke) Woodward — married [date unknown] in Massachusetts

Husband of Meribah (Luce) Woodward — married 15 Apr 1750 in Scotland Parish, Windham, Windham, Connecticut Colony

Descendants

Died about 1 Oct 1765 at about age 72 in Windham, Windham, Connecticut Colony

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Halsey Bullen [send private message]

Cautionary Note: Two men named Amos Woodward were born in Middlesex County, Massachusetts a few years apart, married women named Hannah, and removed to the neighboring towns of Windham and Canterbury, Connecticut Colony where they raised large families. This one was born first, in 1693 in Medford. His cousin, the other Amos Woodward was born in 1702 in Newton. Try not to confuse them.

Biography

Birth and Baptism

Amos Woodward (often spelled Woodard) was born to Daniel and Elizabeth Dana Woodward on 5 June 1693 in Medford, Middlesex, Massachusetts.^[1]

Amos was apparently christened on 10 Oct 1697 Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts

Marriages

Amos married Hannah Park, in Massachusetts.^[2]

Amos and Hannah removed to Windham, Connecticut Colony, before 1713.

Hannah (Park) Woodward must have died after 17 March 1723-4, when their last child was born, and before 1750, when he married again.^[3]

Amos Woodward married Meribah Luce, as his second wife, on 15 Apr 1750.^[4]They married in the First Congregational Church in Scotland parish of Windham.^[5]

Meribah (Luce) Woodward died in Windham, and was buried in the Old Scotland Cemetery there.^[6]. She died on 14 Mar 1778 per that source. However, that is the date recorded for the death of Hannah Woodward, "w. of [Amos]."^[7] More research in progress.

Death, will, and probate

Amos Woodward's will is dated 23 Sep 1765 and it was proved 7 Oct 1765, suggesting that he died about 1 October 1765, presumably in Windham. In his will, Amos Woodward leaves "to his beloved Meribah the whole of his personal estate" (except two guns which he leaves to his two grandsons, the sons of the late Ebenezer) and the use of the north room in his dwelling so long as she remains his widow. Then he notes that it has pleased God to take all his children before taking him, and that he had "given to them, by deed and otherwise, all that he had to give them while living." He appoints son-in-law Benjamin Follett as executor. ^[8]

Apparently things weren't that simple, since two years later his executor had to request the assistance of the probate court in apportioning the value of his real estate among the heirs. A committee of three men was appointed to accomplish that.^[9]

Children

Amos and Hannah Park Woodward had, in Windham:^[10]

• Dorothy 'Dority", b. 21 Nov 1713
• Jacob , b. 25 May 1715
• Hannah, b. 26 Sep 1716, m. Benjamin Ffollet, 10 Nov 1736
• Ebenezer, b. 18 Mar 1718
• Mary , b. 6 Mar 1720, m. Daniel Cutler in Windham in 1736
• Eunice, b. 16 Oct 1721
• Amos, b. 17 Mar 1723-4, d. 16 Sep 1751. Apparently unmarried, since when administration over his estate was granted on 2 Apr 1761 "his heirs were his brothers and sisters."^[11]

Sources

1. ↑ "Middlesex, Vital Records of Medford, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850, p. 169
2. ↑ No record of the wedding yet found, but the marriage surely took place before the birth of their first child in 1713.
3. ↑ No record yet found of her death or her burial
4. ↑ McCourt, Martha F. The American Descendants of Henry Luce of Martha's Vineyard (NEHGS, Vancouver, WA, 1994). Volume 1, page 22, citing Banks' History of Martha's Vineyard, Vol. 3, pp. 251-252
5. ↑ Connecticut Church Record abstracts 1630-1920, Scotland, p. 138 in transcription viewed on ancestry.com($): "Woodward, Amos, m. Meribah Luce Apr [ ]1750, by Rev. Ebenezer Devotion", citing Book 2, p. 39 in original.
6. ↑ find-a-grave memorial #163505458, which includes a photograph of her gravestone.
7. ↑ The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Records, Windham, p. 273, citing Vol. 1, p. 56 in the town records.
8. ↑ probate transcription of Amos Woodward's will viewed online on familysearch.org, image 59 of 599
9. ↑ 18 Sep 1767 Windham probate special records 1734-1917, image 285 of 447 on FamilySearch microfilm 007627144.
10. ↑ Barbour Collection, Windham Town Records, pp. 308-310 in transcription viewed on ancestry.com($), citing Vol. 1, pp. 18, 56, 85 in original
11. ↑ Boston Evening Transcript, Genealogy Column, Answer #4240, March 10, 1915

• Hinckley, Miss Ella S., "Literal Copy of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in Medford From Earliest Records", The Medford Historical Register (Medford Hist. Soc., Medford, Mass., January 1898) Vol. 1, No. 1, Page 27
• Parks, Frank. Genealogy of the Parke Families of Connecticut (F.S. Parks, Washington, D.C., 1906) Page 35
• Amos Woodward familysearch profile page, person ID K8YQ-2NV, at: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/K8YQ-2NV .
• "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F7W5-391 : 11 February 2018), Amos Woodard in entry for Hannah Woodard, 26 Sep 1716; citing ; FHL microfilm unknown.
• "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F74B-ZM8 : 11 February 2018), Amos Woodard in entry for Ebenezer Woodard, 18 Mar 1718; citing ; FHL microfilm unknown.