Samuel and Alithea had at least 6 children as found in the Weymouth Vital Records on newenglandancestors.org. They were pretty bold in the names they chose for their children as I have not seen many of these names in other families of this area. Their children were Letitia, Olla, Hannah, Cushing, Tirzah, and Zenas. Tirzah Pratt was my 6th great-grandmother.
According to the book, Genealogy of the Cushing Family by Lemuel Cushing, Alithea's family was one of the first families to settle Hingham, MA in 1638 (p14). Alithea's line would be from Matthew Cushing's son Daniel who arrived in Boston first in 1638. Daniel was given a lot of land in Hingham in 1665. According to a later edition of this book written by James Cushing, p.42 , Alithea's father, Adam Cushing, moved the family to Weymouth to an estate at the corner of Commercial and Essex Street. (In order to officially connect Alithea to Adam Cushing as daughter, I will have to obtain the will noted in this book.) The History of Weymouth book (vol 2, p. 912) states that this house on Commercial Street was sold to Colonel White in 1751, at Adam's death. This would mean that the house that Alithea and her husband Samuel Pratt were living in Weymouth was not that of Alithea's father. Perhaps the land came from Samuel's father or they purchased their own property.
There were many Samuel Pratt's in Weymouth during the 1700's, so I will have to look at the probate records the Pratts to find out who my Samuel Pratt's parents are. According to the History of Weymouth book, Samuel Pratt and Abigail Humphrey are Samuel's parents. The History of Weymouth book (vol. 4 p. 509) also states that Samuel Pratt (supposed father of my Samuel) died in 1744 in Weymouth. The book references Suffolk Probate 37:309 as Samuel Pratt's (father) probate, but does not state how his estate was divided, just that his widow Abigail and son Samuel were granted administration of the estate. Even after I obtain this will, it will be difficult to prove that the Samuel listed in the will is my Samuel who marries Alithea Cushing. As I mentioned before, there were many Samuel Pratt's living in Weymouth, MA at this time. Since Samuel was not married to Alithea at the time of his supposed father's death in 1744, there would be not mention of a wife or grandchildren to identify his son Samuel as this Samuel. I could track all the Samuel Pratt's and their father's probates to exclude other Samuel Pratt's living in Weymouth.
Another way to connect Samuel to his parents would be to find more clues as to where Samuel and Alithea were living. If I know the area and street in Weymouth they lived on, I could see if this land is mentioned in his father's probate. Assuming that Samuel Pratt and Alithea are still living in 1790, I searched the 1790 census to get a sense of where they lived in the town. In Weymouth, there are two Samuel Pratt's listed as head of household, both with one male and one female. One Samuel is listed as living near other Pratt's, which is most likely the Samuel that had 4 sons mentioned in the History of Weymouth book (vol. 2 p. 909). The other Samuel seems more likely to be Samuel and Alithea, living next to Frederick Lincoln, Joshua Witmarsh, and near Joshua Bates, ? Porter, Elik Witmarsh, Tho Gould, and Asa Dyer. All of Samuel and Alithea's children, except Zenas, were married by 1790. Since there is only one male listed in the 1790 household, Zenas is not living with them. There is no other listing for a Zenas Pratt in Weymouth; maybe he is living with one of his sisters or his brother Cushing. Cushing Pratt is not listed in the 1790 census in the town of Weymouth either. I am not sure where these brothers are in 1790, but it does seem they ended up in Maine later in their lives (from Rev. War Pension and census).
Since the 1790 Census for Weymouth seems to list the families in order of when they were enumerated, the people listed near Samuel Pratt would probably have been his neighbors. Samuel and Alithea's oldest daughter, Letitia married Ezekial Whitmarsh. There is an Elik Whitmarsh living near Samuel Pratt, perhaps this is Letitia and her family. By 1790 Letitia had 5 daughters and 1 son. The 1790 Census has 2 of those daughters and the son living in the same household. I am not sure this family matches up as they would be missing 2 daughters (their oldest was married in 1790) in the household. It does not seem that any of her daughters died before 1790 either, according to the Weymouth Records. Another daughter of Samuel and Alithea was Olla, who married a Joseph Peaks. After quickly searching for any Peaks in Weymouth, I did not come up with any, so I am not sure where Olla was living either. Olla and her husband did have a daughter born in Weymouth in 1788, so they still could have been in Weymouth in 1790, perhaps living with a sibling also. Samuel Pratt's third daughter, Hannah, married Abraham Bates. There is an Abr Bates living in Weymouth, but enumerated on a different page. This Abr Bates has 2 females and one male, which matches up with Hannah's family of one daughter. The Abr Bates family is linked in the census to an Eph Pratt. (who is Eph Pratt). Samuel and Alithea's fourth daughter, my 6th great-grandmother, Tirzah Pratt married Joshua Bates (Abraham Bates' brother - vol3 p. 26), who is living near her father Samuel Pratt. They have 1 male under 16 (Joshua), 1 male over 16 (Joshua) and 4 females (Tirzah, Nancy, Cynthia, ?) living in the household. There is one un-accounted for female, which could be another daughter not listed in the town records, or Joshua Bates mother. I am not sure when Sarah, Joshua's mother, died, but her death is not listed in the Weymouth Town Records or the Hingham Town Records. Neither is Joshua's father Abraham. (Abraham was from Weymouth and wife Sarah Tower was from Hingham). The census gave me some clues as to who Samuel and Alithea's neighbors were, now I will take a look at a map of the area to pinpoint a location.
The Weymouth Map of 1876 on ancestry.com is helpful in locating what part of Weymouth Samuel and Alithea Pratt were living. Even though it is about 100 years later, the map shows the residences of many of the descendans, giving a good idea where their land and houses came from. The History of Weymouth book, with the chapter on century old houses, also gives us information as to who lived where. Putting all these resources together with the town records and the census shows that Samuel Pratt and Alithea Cushing Pratt were probably living in East Weymouth, in the area that the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church and the Middle School on Commercial Street are now located.
Map of East Weymouth, MA 1876
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| From May 2010 |
The map above shows who was living in East Weymouth on Commercial Street in Weymouth in 1876. The History of Weymouth book, on page 918, vol. 2, gives a list of residences for this same area in the early 1800's and also who lives there when the book was published, in late 1800's to early 1900's. The book does not mention Samuel Pratt, but it does mention Joshua Bates, who lives near Samuel Pratt in the 1790 census. The book also states that Francis Cowing (Joshua's grandson) is living at this residence by the late 1800's. The Weymouth map above shows us the location of Francis Cowing's residence, and therefore Joshua Bates' residence around 1790. Samuel was living in this same area in 1790. The next step would be to locate deeds for Suffolk County and Norfolk County for Samuel Pratt to gain more information on his land and where it came from and who it was sold to. Samuel's probate record would provide more information also. There is a probate record for a Samuel Pratt for 1794 which could be his, indexed in Norfolk County Probate Index on ancestry.com, Will Case Number: 15128. (Norfolk County was created in 1793). I have not been able to find any record of Alithea's death.
The History of Weymouth book also mentions some other Pratt's that were living in this area in the early 1800's. The first mentioned is John L. Pratt, which is not closely related to Samuel Pratt. He did have many children who are listed as owning property on the 1876 map, across the street from S. Healy and E. Bass. The next Pratt mentioned on this page is Capt. James Pratt. James Pratt's father (Matthew) was Samuel Pratt's brother (so James was Samuel's nephew). Since I know from the 1790 census that Samuel also lived in this area, perhaps he and his brother Matthew lived next to each other, maybe on land handed down to them from their father. (The History of Weymouh book does state that Samuel and Matthew's father Samuel Pratt lived in the South Section of Weymouth though). I will have to find the Norfolk deeds for their property. It also seems that Samuel did not hand down his land in this area to his children as their descendants are not listed on the 1876 map of Weymouth in this area.
I did look into the other names listed on the 1876 map to see if there were some connections to Samuel or Matthew Pratt. The area that seems to match the description in the History of Weymouth book for James Pratt looks to be the land where Q. Randall and E. Nickerson are located. Quincy Randall does not seem to have a connection that I could find. He is listed on the census as living alone, and in the History of Weymouth book it is stated that he left his estate to cousins, so it appears that he does not have children or a wife. Edmund Nickerson does seem to have a connection to the Pratt's. I traced his lineage using the History of Weymouth book (4_524). Edmund married Matthew Pratt's great-granddaughter, Lydia Bicknell (Lydia Pratt Bicknell, Joshua Pratt, Matthew Pratt). This land could have been James Pratt's land handed down through the family, or separate land that was given to her grandfather Joshua (James' brother) through his father Matthew. Perhaps then Samuel (my ancestor) and his brother Matthew did receive land from their father Samuel Pratt.
to do list
1. obtain adam cushing's will proved 1752 weymouth to prove alithea's parentage
2. abstract of will for matthew cushing (mentioning daniel cushing) located in nehgr 1856 10 p.173
3. james cushing's book states that daniel's will is published in nehgr 13 p. 293, but i did not find it there - i searched for daniel cushing up to vol 46 and did not find his will
4. find abraham bates and sarah tower bates death - probate
5. find grave/tomb of joshua bates (elder) - history of weymouth books states it is on a hill nearby his home (francis cowing home - now weymouth middle school)
6. find norfolk deed for samuel pratt and alithea
topics of interest
1. cushing family from history of hingham on google books here p 150
2. daniel cushing wrote - Early Settlers of Hingham. Extracts from the Minutes of Daniel Cushing 3. adam cushing said to have started the herring run - google books Proceedings on the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the permanent ... By Charles Francis Adams, Weymouth (Mass.) p 49
4. lineage of cushings from Historic homes and places and genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Volume 2 - page 693
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