Susan Hunt Cowing

There seems to be a lot of birthdays for the sisters of my direct ancestors in February. Today is the day that Susan Hunt Cowing, my 4th great grandaunt, was born. According to the Massachusetts Vital Records database on newenglandancestors.org, she was born February 7, 1822. I wrote a little about Susan and her involvement in the anti-slavery movement in my entry on the Cowing family here. There were some articles in the magazine, The Liberator, which has Susan noted as the treasurer of the Weymouth Female Anti-Slavery Society from at least 1851 - 1860.

Susan never married, and also had two other sisters, Lucretia and Sarah, that never married. I am not sure how Susan supported herself, as in the 1880 census (page 2 is here) she lived in Weymouth, and her occupation is listed as "keeping house". She was the head of the household though, with her sister Maria Willey listed as boarder with her son Theodore. Her brother, William Cowing, is also living with her, his occupation is listed as unemployed. Perhaps Susan inherited her father, Balch Cowing's, estate, as he appeared to have some status in the town. Another nephew is also living with Susan in 1880 according to the census, Francis H. Cowing, along with a servant Bridget Killion. Chamberlain's History of Weymouth book states her heirs, which were her sisters and nephews.