richard stodder and monica marsh

My 5th great grandmother, Lydia Stodder, is indexed in the Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 on ancestry.com as having died February 5, 1864. This record connects my family to Richard Stodder and a Mary Marsh as her parents.

death of lydia stodder whiting in Hingham, MA

I have not been able to find a record of marriage for a Richard Stodder and Mary Marsh, but there is one for Richard Stodder and Monica Marsh, on May 30, 1773 in Hingham, MA. This marriage would be in the same time period of Lydia's birth around 1779. All other records for Monica do not refer to her as Mary, so I am not sure why Lydia's death record would have recorded her mother's name as Mary, if these are in fact the correct parents. Maybe it is an incorrect transcription or someone mistakenly informed them of the wrong name at the time of Lydia's death.

marriage of richard stodder and monica marsh in hingham, ma

I wanted to find more information on Richard Stodder and Monica Marsh to see if I could connect them further with Lydia Stodder.

The first place I checked was History of the Town of Hingham, Massachusetts, Volume 3, page 201, which lists Lydia as the daughter of Richard Stodder and Monica Marsh. The problem with these town history books, is many times the source of their information is not noted. I am not sure where the authors found the children of Richard and Monica, as I have not been able to locate birth records for them. Maybe they are in the Hingham church records somewhere, but I did not find them in the Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988. The only records I did find were the death records of the three unnamed children, which states Richard as their father and no mention of a Mary or a Monica.



History of the Town of Hingham, Massachusetts, Volume 3, page 201
Richard Stodder and Monica Marsh family

The next record produced would be Lydia's marriage to Benjamin Whiton. Unfortunately, marriage records from Massachusetts for this time period usually do not provide the parent's names. This is also the case for Lydia's marriage to Benjamin. Lydia's supposed siblings listed above also do not list their parents on their marriage records.

marriage of Benjamin Whiton and Lydia Stodder in Hingham, MA

If Lydia is part of this family, her mother Monica, dies in 1810 in Hingham. There is an entry for Monica Stodder's death in Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, and the date of 1810 matches. This only shows that there was a Monica married to a Richard Stodder in Hingham that dies in 1810, but still does not connect any of their children to this couple. Since the probate records are accessable online for Plymouth County, I searched the index to see if there was a Monica or a Mary Stodder listed which may show this connection. There are many Mary's; however, none with a date around 1810. I did the same for Richard's death of 1819, but again there was no match in the probate index. (note 1)

Although the History of Hingham book states that Lydia's siblings are Gridley Stodder and Mary Stodder, I have not found any evidence to support this. The 1790 census does show that Richard Stodder from Hingham has 2 males under 16 living in the household and 4 total females. This would account for Gridley and another male child and for females: Lydia, Mary, and Richard's wife Monica, plus one more female. Perhaps another widow and child, maybe a sister to Richard or Monica, is living with them at this time; or maybe Richard and Monica have another son and daughter that is not accounted for in the History of Hingham book.  By 1800, the census shows that Richard and Monica are living by themselves in Hingham.   I am not sure where their supposed son Gridley would have been living in 1800.   He was 19 years old, and not married yet; but he does not seem to be listed as a head of household in the area. Maybe he was on a ship at this point, as his later profession is a mariner.

I also searched for death information on these siblings listed in the Hingham book.  Gridley's death does not list any parents, and I was unable to find Mary's death record. Mary's husband Ichabod Stodder does have some probate records online, but since Mary died before Ichabod (according to History of Hingham book), Mary is not mentioned in the probate. His supposed sister-in-law, Mary's sister, Lydia, is also not mentioned. Lydia's brother Gridley does have some probate records online, but they are for gaurdianship appointed to Jedidiah Lincoln, as Gridley is unable to take care of himself in 1810, at the age of 32. His death record states he was a mariner, but also insane. It seems strange to me that although he was incapable of taking care of himself, Gridley was married in 1807. Maybe something happened to him after marriage, or maybe they were married inspite of it.

None of these records have shown a connection of Lydia Stodder to Richard and Monica together, or to her siblings Gridley and Mary. So far, the only connection I have that Lydia is connected to Richard Stodder is Lydia's death recorded mentioned first in this post, from the Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 database. There does not seem to be any other Richard Stodder's in Hingham for this time period, so it is likely that Lydia is the daughter of Richard and Monica; but not conclusive. Hingham town and church records will have to be located to find more evidence than the History of Hingham book provides.

notes:

1. I also searched the Plymouth County Probate index for Monica Marsh's siblings, and Richard Stodder's siblings; hoping I would find one that mentions either Monica Stodder as wife of Richard Stodder; or one that mentions any nieces and nephews as children of Richard and Monica. I obtained sibling information for both from the History of Hingham book, shown below. There were some probate records online for them, but none mention Monica or Richard or their children.