June 30, 2014

Confused about Hannah Taylor of Newport 1762/3

Based on published work from the local historical society, I thought that Hannah was born in 1762 the youngest daughter of Robert Taylor and his 3rd wife Rebecca Coggeshall. Her father died that year at age 74 -- perhaps old to be having more children. Rebecca was in her 40s.

Hannah married John Easton in 1808 following the death of his 1st wife Ruth, who has been reported to be Hannah's sister.  Ruth was born in 1760 reportedly the daugher of Robert Taylor ... but could they both be the offspring of Robert Taylor Jr (son of Robert and his 2nd wife Elizabeth Stanton) born in 1762?

There are Newport marriage records of a Robert Taylor marrying Mary Pitman in 1759 (which could match up with Ruth's birth in 1860) and with Mary Lyon in Nov 1762. Not at all clear that they are the SAME Robert Taylor --- nor which is which. I have struggeled to find death records, newspaper items, etc which might clarify, but none has resolved the issue yet.

To confound the issue, I recently received a photo of a cross-stitch sampler created in Newport in 1774 by a Hannah Taylor, who lists her birth date as December 17, 1763 --- is that my target Hannah? If so, she clearly was NOT the daughter of Robert who died in Nov 1762.

Photo and permission to post it courtesy of UK-based Tony Meyer who owns it.

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