benjamin whiton and lydia stodder (part 2 of 3)

...continued from previous post


later years of marriage

1830's

As Benjamin and Lydia's children grew older, most did not travel far from them.  In 1830, one married daughter looks to be living in their household, Maria and her husband James Howes/House and their 4 year old son James.  They also have an older woman, aged 70-79 residing with them in 1830.  I am not sure who this would be as both of their mothers had passed by this time.  It could be Benjamin's aunt Abigail, who I wrote briefly about in the last post.  I think she sold her land to Benjamin and his brother Joseph.  This is just pure speculation on my part as to who this woman is though, as I have not looked at Abigail's age, death date, or possible entries of her own in the 1830 census yet.

Males under 5: 1 (james howes); Males 10-14:1 (jared); Males 20-29:1 (freeman howes); Males 50-59:1 (benjamin); Females 10-14:1  (elizabeth); Females 15-19:2 (pamelia, mary); Females 20-29:2  (lydia, maria howes); Females 50-59:1 (lydia); Females 70-79:1 (maybe aunt abigail whiton)

The records do not show that Benjamin and Lydia have any other children after Elizabeth, which gave them a total of 10 children.  All of them, except their first, Jared, lived into adulthood.

1840's

The household for Benjamin and Lydia in the 1840 census has one male between the ages of 20-29.  Their youngest son, Jared, would have been 21 years old.  This would make sense that he is still living with his parents as the records show that he never marries.  Another male between the ages of 30-39 is also living with them, which could be their son Joel who would have been 31 years old.  Joel had not married by this time either, although it is strange he is not included in the 1830 census.  (see note 1)  The only daughter that is living in their household in 1840 would have been Elizabeth, at the age of 19.

1840 Census Scituate, MA

1 male 20-29 (jared); 1 male 30-39 (joel); 1 male 60-69 (Benjamin); 1 female 15-19 (elizabeth); 1 female 60-69 (Lydia); Persons Employed in Agriculture: 1

Six out of the 9 living children are not listed in the 1840 census, but most stayed close to home.  It looks like three of their daughters are all living together in the surrounding town of Abington.  They may be living on the land that their father sold to their brothers in 1828, which is all in the general vicinity of the borders of Scituate, Abington and Hingham; close to what is left of Benjamin's land.  The head of this household in Abington is their daughter Lydia, the eldest at age 37.  The other ages in Lydia's household seem to match up with Mary, age 28, and Pamelia, age 26.  Lydia and Mary never marry according to later census records and their death records.  Their sister Pamelia did marry, but died fairly young in 1843.

Three other children, Maria, Joanna and Richard, are also married by 1840.  Maria stays in Scituate until at least 1846, when her last child is born there; but she does eventually move to Boston by the 1850 census. Joanna is married and living in Abington with her family.  The census does not show that she is near her three sisters listed above; but if she is not living near them in 1840, she and her family eventually becomes neighbors with her sisters and her parents by 1850.

Richard removes to the nearby town of Hingham, MA with his family by the 1840 census and remains there throughout his life.  According to his wife's death record; though, it looks like they were probably living on the North side of Hingham, a little bit away from his siblings and parents.  Richard sold most of his land that he owned in the Scituate/Abington area back to his mother and siblings by 1859. Joel also ends up selling his land in Scituate/Abington back to his family in 1859, and leaves the area for Providence, RI and Seekonk, MA by 1847. (see note 2)

grandchildren

Since 5 out of their 9 living children are residing near Benjamin and Lydia in the Scituate/Abington line area near Accord Pond, they were able to stay close to at least some of their children and therefore grandchildren.  Out of the families that lived close to Benjamin and Lydia, though, Joanna was the only one to have children.  They had 8 grandchildren from their daughter Joanna, all born before Benjamin and Lydia died.  Even though their daughter Elizabeth was married, the census shows she does not have children.  The same for the unmarried children, Lydia, Mary, and Jared.  I also did not find any evidence that Richard, living in North Hingham, had any children.  Benjamin and Lydia's daughter that died young, Pamelia, also did not have children in the census.  Their daughter Maria had 7 children, but seems to have been living in Boston, where it would be likely Benjamin and Lydia did not visit often.  (see note 3).  Their other son, Joel, who moved to RI and later Seekonk, MA looks to have had at least one child, but again, not sure if they were able to visit them.

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notes:

1.  The 1830 census has one male between the age of 20-29 living with Benjamin and Lydia, which I attributed to Freeman Howes, their daughter Maria's husband.  This would make sense as the other ages for Maria and her son James fit, and they are living close to Freeman's parents, head of household Coomb's House.  Coomb's household also contains a male between the ages of 20-29, so it is possible Freeman is still living with his parents, while Maria and her son are living with her parents.  Then that 20-29 male in Benjamin and Lydia's household could be Joel.

2.  Sons Richard and Joel sell land back to mother and siblings in 1859

• Plymouth county deeds 293,130 Their mother, Lydia, widow, purchases parcel of land lying partly in South Scituate and partly in Abington - bounded southerly by the highway, easterly by land of Leonard Cushing, northerly by Accord Pond, and westerly by land of David H. Greely.  Originally land purchased from their father in 1828 (162,253).
• Plymouth county deeds 293,131 Their sister Elizabeth Whiting Burrell purchases the easterly lot of land from land they purchased from their father (162,253), which includes 1/2 of house - to be shared with their sisters, Lydia and Mary.
• Plymouth county deeds 293, 131 : Their sisters, Lydia and Mary Whiting purchase the westerly lot of land from land they purchased from their father (162,253)  which includes 1/2 of house - to be shared with their sister Elizabeth Whiting Burrell.
• Plymouth county deeds 293, 132 : Their mother, Lydia Whiting, widow, purchases 2 1/4 acres of land in Abington from her son Joel.  Bordered easterly by heirs of Joseph Whiton, southerly by land that was just sold to Lydia from Richard and Joel in first deed above.  This is part of the land that Joel purchased from his father Benjamin in 1831 (169,274), and partly land Joel purchased from another deed (173,44).
• Plymouth county deeds 293,133 : Richard purchases from Joel woodland partly in Abington, partly in Hanover, bounded northerly by land just given to Lydia from Joel and Richard.  This is part of same land the sons purchased from their father in 1828 (162,253)

3.  It looks like their daughter Maria continues to live in Boston in 1860, while her husband Freeman is living in Scituate with his sister Lucy.