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Archiver > MAESSEX > 2008-11 > 1225650995


From: Sarah Sully <>
Subject: Re: [MAESSEX] Anna Herrick
Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2008 10:36:35 -0800 (PST)
In-Reply-To: <8ee4fc600811012321k17b0faebxebc5aa7ea2c6be1d@mail.gmail.com>


Bob Gillis beat me to it, but this is not exactly a duplicate of his response, so here goes.
 
I have to ask.  Where did you get the information about the parents of Henry Davis and Anna (Anne) Herrick?  Do you have death dates for either couple? 
 
I found out something interesting about how the search feature at Mass VR to 1850 works at NEHGS.
 
I noticed that some Davis VR data at NEHGS website came from P. R. 840.—Family record now in possession of Mrs. Elizabeth J. Rowe.  So I plugged in P. R. 840 as the first name, and Rowe as the surname.  It worked!  Then I did it with "Davis."  P. R. 840 is a Rowe family record and the only Davis in it is Deborah.
None of the children's names gives a clue about the grandparents of Deborah.
 
Henry, son of Ebenezer Davis and Elizabeth Tarr, was born at Glocester, Nov. 24, 1715, not 1735, unless this is a typo, but Eben and Elizabeth were married Feb. 9, 1714-15.
 
I looked up Henry Davis b. Gloucester bet. 1730 and 1750.  I found one Henry, s. Samuel and Deborah (Haynes), July 17, 1742. P. R. 224.  It would be logical if this Henry named a daughter Deborah.  Henry JR. doesn't always mean "Henry, son of Henry."  It also means "Henry, the younger," if there were another older Henry Davis in town.  I believe that Henry son of Samuel is the father of your Deborah [Davis] Rowe.
 
Searching "P. R. 224" Davis, I found these birth and death records:
Births, Gloucester
1725 DAVIS Ebenezer, s. Samuel and Deborah [(Haynes). P. R. 224.], Nov. 18, 1725.   
1728 DAVIS Samuell, s. Samuell and Daborah [(Haynes). P. R. 224.], Mar. 12, 1728.   
1730 DAVIS Agnes, d. Samuel and Deborah (Haynes), Oct. 15 1730. P. R. 224.   
1730 DAVIS Debroah, d. Sam[ue]ll and Debroh [(Haynes). P. R. 224.], Sept. 23, 1730. [bp. Sept. 6. C. R. 1.]   
1736 DAVIS William, s. Samuel and Deborah [(Haynes). P. R. 224.], Sept. 21, 1736.   
1738 DAVIS William, s. Samuel and Deborah (Haynes), Mar. 16, 1738. P. R. 224. [1738-9. C. R. 1.]   
1742 DAVIS Henry, s. Samuel and Deborah (Haynes), July 17, 1742. P. R. 224.   
1744 DAVIS Deborah, d. Samuel and Deborah (Haynes), Oct. 29, 1744. P. R. 224.
 
Deaths, Gloucester  
1746 DAVIS Ebenezer, s. Samuel and Deborah (Haynes), drowned, -----, 1746. P. R. 224.   
1759 DAVIS William, s. Samuel and Deborah (Haynes), drowned coming home from W. I., -----, 1759. P. R. 224.   
1766 DAVIS Henry, s. Samuel and Deborah (Haynes), drowned, -----, 1766. P. R. 224.   
1770 DAVIS Samuel, Eld. [h. Deborah (Haynes), P. R. 224, a. 67 y. P. R. 964.], Aug. 25, 1770. C. R. 5.
 
I believe that you are talking about the same Henry Davis and Anna Herrick in all four town records.  The marriage date is Dec. 7 in both towns for both the bride and the groom. People who were scrupulous about registering marriages did register in both towns when the bride and groom were not of the same town.  Henry and Anna (Anne Herrick) had two daughters in Gloucester: 
Anna [Anne. C. R. 5.], d. Henry, Jr. and Anne, Aug. —, 1764. [bp. Aug. 12. C. R. 5.]
Deborah, d. Henry, Jr. and Anna [Anne. C. R. 5.], Aug. —, 1766. [bp. Aug. 3. C. R. 5.]
 
Now notice in P. R. 224, the death of Henry, s. Samuel and Deborah (Haynes), drowned, -----, 1766.
This left Anna with two small daughters to support.
I also found this:
Davis, Anna [wid. C. R. 5.], and Henry Witham, Jr., Dec. 17, 1767. *
 
They had several children in Gloucester before "a" Henry died in 1777:
1768 WITHAM Sarah, d. Henry, Jr. and Anna, Aug. 26, 1768.   
1770 WITHAM Henry, s. Henry, Jr. and Anna, June 1, 1770.   
1773 WITHAM Joshua, s. Henry, Jr. and Anna, July 15, 1773.   
1776 WITHAM Molly, d. Henry, Jr. and Anna, July 10, 1776.
   
1777 WITHAM Henry, Eld., Mar. 18, 1777. C. R. 5.
That isn't proof positive that Henry, "Elder," deceased, was the husband of Anna, but there were no more children for Henry, Jr. and Anna Witham after that date.  Given that "Joshua" is a variant of "Josiah," you might make another assumption about the identity of Anna.
 
Essex Probate has a file for Sarah Witham, but it isn't dated:
File #: 30209
Name: Sarah Witham
Residence: Gloucester
Occupation: minor
This probably has something to do with a guardianship and might be worth investigating.  
 
I do not find a death date for Anna Witham.
 
 

--- On Sun, 11/2/08, Kay Hamilton <> wrote:

From: Kay Hamilton <>
Subject: [MAESSEX] Anna Herrick
To: ,
Date: Sunday, November 2, 2008, 1:21 AM

I have been trying to find out who the Anna Herrick is who was married to
Henry Davis and was the mother of Deborah Davis.

Deborah Davis, baptised August 3, 1766 in Gloucester, Mass., daughter of
Henry Davis jr and *Anna* *Herrick*, was married January 23, 1781 in
Gloucester, Mass. to Ebenezer Rowe.

I have two Henry Davises:
1. Henry Davis jr, born December 25, 1735 in Gloucester, Mass., was married
December 7, 1762 in Wenham, Mass. to Anna Herrick of Wenham.
Marriage listed in Wenham VR's
(Henry, son of Henry Davis and Lydia Smith)
(Anna, born February 16, 1730/31, daughter of Benjamin and Lydia)

2. Henry Davis, born July 17, 1742 in Gloucester, Mass., was married
December 7, 1762 in Wenham, Mass. to Anna Herrick of Wenham.
Marriage listed in Gloucester VR's
(Henry, son of Ebenezer Davis and Elizabeth Tarr)
(Anna, born March 26, 1744, daughter of Josiah and Joanna. This Anna is
listed in the Wenham VR's as Mrs.)

Since Deborah's birth says her father is Henry jr, and the marriage in
Wenham says Henry jr, I could assume this Henry is the right one. However, I
don't like making assumptions that may turn out to be incorrect.

Any help would be appreciated.

Kate

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