george lane french and abigail lewis

I have written a couple of times about George Lane French already, but since this is the 228th anniversary of George and his second wife, Abigail Lewis, I thought I would see if there was any other information I could find on this couple. They were married on April 21, 1782 in Hingham, MA. They were married for only a short time, as Abigail died April 17 1790, 4 days before their 8th anniversary.

Their marriage record is noted in the database, Hingham, MA: Vital Records, 1639-1844 on americanancestors.org. I was unable to locate an official death record for Abigail in this database. I obtained the death date from the History of the Town of Hingham, Massachusetts (note 1), p 235. I am not sure what the source is for this information, but the book also contains other dates that I have been unable to obtain; such as birth records for some of George's children and a death date for George's first wife, Sarah, my 6th great-grandmother.

This is the information from the Hingham book:



There is a discrepancy in the town records on the americanancestors.org database and the Hingham book for the date of marriage for George and Abigail. The record from the town database states they were married in 1782; while the book states they were married in 1783. This difference of one year is important if the other dates are accurate in the Hingham book. George's first wife, Sarah, does not die until June 1782, according to the book (I was also unable to find Sarah's death record in the town records). This information makes the town database marriage record of April 1782 for George and Abigail unlikely, as it is 2 months before his first wife Sarah dies. Perhaps there was a transcription error in the records that I obtained from americanancestors.org or maybe the Hingham book has the wrong date for the death of Sarah. Again, it is necessary to find the primary sources for the dates for this family.

Maybe the authors of the Hingham book had access to Hingham church records for the dates they published in the book for George French's family. After reading through an earlier written history book on Hingham, by Lincoln (note 2), I found there were two churches in Hingham at the time of George and Abigail's marriage. The First Church's pastor at the time was Rev. Ebenezer Gay, from 1718-1787 (p 26). The New England Historic Genealogical Society library has a copy of Dr. Gay's records of births, marriages and deaths from 1718-1787, along with other town records from 1635-1830, in their library. This document on microform will be a good place to start to find the dates that are not listed in the database online (note 3).

There was also another church in Hingham at this time, the Second church of Hingham (note 4) (p. 36), whose first pastor was Rev. Daniel Shute, from 1745-1799. I did not find a document of Shute's that was kept, but perhaps his record of births and other vital records is included in the above mentioned document. Lincoln's Hingham book also mentions a controversy that arose in the town with the creation of the Third Church in Hingham in 1807 (p. 38). The later History of Hingham book (vol. 1 part 2 p 40) states that this Second Church was in the south part of Hingham, and the Third Church was in the north part of the town. The descendants of George were living in South Hingham, so perhaps George became a member of the Second Church if he also lived in South Hingham (note 5). Another book worth obtaining from the NEHGS library is Two hundred years in South Hingham, 1746-1946, which includes information on the Second Church of Hingham.

At the time of their marriage, George had seven children; according to the History of Hingham book in the excerpt above. I have only found three birth recorded in the Hingham town records for children of George, but the Hingham book does have dates for the birth of the other four. George would have been his oldest child at about age 16, then Nathan, age 14, Phinneas age 12, Theodore age 10, and Perez age 6. George's oldest son Joshua and youngest daughter Sarah had died before George and Abigail were married. Abigail would have been taking on a new family with her marriage to George. They did not have any children of their own according to the town records and the Hingham book. George was about 41 years old at the time of his second marriage to Abigail; she was about 52 years old. (note 6)

The Revolutionary War had just ended by the time George and Abigail were married, so the towns and people were settling into their new independence (note 7). The end of the war does not seem to have provided easy times for George though, as he is noted to have had some difficulty supporting his family. Almost 14 years after Abigail died, George and his third wife, Fanny, died in the Hingham almshouse in 1814 and 1819. I am not sure when George had to ask for support from the town, or if Abigail and George lived at the almshouse during their marriage. I would find it surprising if Abigail would marry George if he were already living at the almshouse, unless she was also living in unfortunate circumstances. Hopefully the records for helping the poor in the town of Hingham were kept in town meetings. (note 8)

notes:

1. Bouvé, Thomas T, Edward T. Bouvé, John D. Long, Walter L. Bouvé, Francis H. Lincoln, George Lincoln, Edmund Hersey, Fearing Burr, and Charles W. S. Seymour. History of the Town of Hingham, Massachusetts. Hingham: Pub. by the town, 1893. Print. (3 vols.)
2. Lincoln, Solomon. History of the Town of Hingham, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. Hingham: C. Gill, Jr, 1827. Print.
3. other repositories of hingham records:

• Massachusetts Historical Society also has hingham records of Ebenezer
  Gay at the First Parish - online catalog
  
• Hingham Public Library Historical and Genealogical Collection
  
• Town Clerk office of Hingham has original records
  

4. This Second Church was actually the third church formed in the town of Hingham. The first Second Church of Hingham later became the First Church in the newly separated town of Cohasset. The third church then became the Second Church in Hingham (South Hingham). History of Hingham Vol 1 Part 2 (p. 31)
 5. History of Hingham book in note 1 (p 237) states George Lane French resided on Hersey Street. Not sure Hersey Street would be considered South Hingham. Most likely did not have land to hand down to children as he died in the alms house. Maybe there are deeds to where this land went.
6. Abigail Lewis' age is determined by History of Hingham book in note 1 (see excerpt in blog). Abigail's death at age 60 in 1790, so born around 1730.
7. I only found a record of George enlisting for a period of 2 weeks in 1776, married to Sarah at this time, maybe he felt he needed to be home to help his family. From Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution, 17 Vols database on ancestry.com. There is no record of George, or any of his sons, asking for a pension from the Revolutionary War on the footnote.com database. Maybe he did not serve long enough to request a pension.
8. Archive Publishing: town of Hingham bibliography lists some documents which may contain information on town meetings. You can order fiche for different Massachusestts towns.

To Do:
1. deed records for George Lane French - what happened to his property - was he living on Hersey Street?
2. find primary sources for birth of 4 children, and death of first two wives.
3. find town meeting records to see if there is information on the alms house records - how long was George there?
4. find gravestone - which cemetery?

george lane french

George Lane French, one of my 6th great-grandfathers, was born on April 4, 1741 in Weymouth, MA, as listed in the Weymouth Vital Records. His parents were Jonathan French and Jael Beal. The History of the Town of Hingham book states that George was baptized July 11, 1742 in Hingham, MA. His family must have lived in Weymouth at the time of his birth, but he eventually found his way to Hingham.

It seems that his family originally settled in Weymouth, but moved back and forth between Weymouth and Hingham, MA throughout the years. I have been able to find some information on George Lane French. The records I have found for him almost always list his middle name of Lane. Perhaps this was to distinguish him from other George French's in the area, or maybe the middle name has some important significance to the family. I did find George Lane French noted in a Lane geneaology book as listed in the will of Elizabeth Stowell Lane. George's mother, Jael French, is listed in Elizabeth's husband (George Lane)'s will.

I was not sure what the connection was to this Lane family, so I started to trace Jael's family back to see if there were Lanes on her ancestry. Using the following book, the History of the Town of Hingham, vol. 3, p 126 and p. 216 , it seems that Jael is the daughter of Elizabeth's Stowell's neice, as follows: Samuel Stowell and Mary Farrow have the following children...Mary, Samuel, John, David, Remember, William, Isreal, Elizabeth and Benjamin. Elizabeth is the woman who lists the French's in her will. A sister of Elizabeth's, Remember, marries Thomas Remington and they have Jael Remington (neice of Elizabeth Stowell Lane). Jael Remington marries Thomas Beal who have Jael Beal (daughter of Elizabeth's neice). Jael Beal marries Jonathan French and they have Abigail, George Lane, Theodore, and Hannah. As noted above, Jeal is mentioned in George Lane's will (Elizabeth's husband), and Jael's children are mentioned in Elizabeth's will. It seems like a distant connection to benefit from someone's will, but I am guessing Elizabeth and George Lane did not have children of their own and became close to this family and their children. After all, Jael and Jonathan French did name their son after George Lane.

I did find one other connection that George's mother Jael Beal may have had to Elizabeth Stowell Lane while reading through the Beal geneaology in the History of the Town of Hingham, vol. 2, p 54. Elizabeth Stowell Lane's mother Mary married secondly Joshua Beal (both widows). Elizabeth was only 16 years old, so Joshua Beal could have been close to Elzabeth, like a father. Joshua Beal is Jael's father's uncle (so Joshua Beal was Jael Beal French's great-uncle). I am sure that Jael and Elizabeth had a relationship due to this second marriage of Elizabeth's mother.

Getting back to George Lane French now, his first wife was Sarah Tower, married November 14 1762 in Hingham, MA. According to the History of the Town of Hingham, George and Sarah had 7 children together. Their first son, Joshua, died when he was 14 years old, and their last child, Sarah, died before she turned 1. I found records for only three of the children in the Hingham Vital Records. George's first wife died at a young age of 40, in 1783, only three months after she had her last child, Sarah.

Between the birth of his 6 children and the last child, Sarah, George enlisted for a very short time in the Revolutionary War. According to Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution, "French, George Lane. Private, Capt. Pyam Cushing's co., Col. Lovel's regt.; service between March 11 and March 29, 1776, 2 days; company assembled to guard the shore." I searched for a pension file on footnote.com, but there were not any George French's from Massachusetts that filed a pension. I also searched for service records on footnote, but was not able to find any.

After Sarah's death, George married a second time in 1783, to Abigail Lewis. This marriage also ended with his wife's death in 1790. George then married a third time, in 1791, to Fanny James Humphrey. The History of the Town of Hingham book states that this family resided on Hersey Street in Hingham.



I searched the 1790, 1800, and 1810 censuses for Hingham and Weymouth for a George French. I was able to find a Geo. French in the 1790 census, listing in the household 2 males under the age of 16, 1 male over the age of 16 and 2 females. If we match these numbers up to the children listed in the History of the Town of Hingham book, we would have Perez under the age of 16, but Theodore would be about 18 years old. Of course, George Lane would be the male over 16. We still need to account for two females. One of the women living in this household in 1790 could be George's second wife Abigail, although she died in April of 1790. According to a wikipedia entry, the census was taken after she died, in August of 1790. That still leaves us with two females unaccounted for in this household. According to the vital records and the Hingham book, George did not have any daughters except Sarah, who died around 1782. This family does not seem to match up to George Lane French's family very well. I will have to check if there is another George French living in this area in 1790. (George does have a son George, but he does not marry until December of 1790.) The options left for George Lane French would be he was living with one of his sons or he was already living at the almshouse, which did not list residents in the census at this time. My next step will be to track George's sons in the census. I also did not see an entry for a George French in the 1800 or 1810 census in this area.

As stated in the excerpt above and in the Hingham Vital Records, George died on May 12, 1814 at the age of 72. The records of Hingham also state that both George and his 3rd wife Fanny died at the Almshouse in Hingham. The following is a passage in the History of the Town of Hingham, describing the almshouse in Hingham for the period that George and Fanny may have lived there.

I am not sure if the town's records for the meetings still exist, but they may provide names of the poor that were living at the almshouse. This would be interesting to see when George and his wife had to gain the support of the town.

to do list:
1. find records for George Lane French and Jael Beal French's children
2. find town records - may have information on almshouse
3. find where George and his three wives were buried - were George and Fanny buried separately as they died at the almshouse.
4. find if other George Frenchs would be living in this area in 1790 to match them up to the Geo. French entry on the census. update - found 3 possible george's living in 1790 - the one listed in census is probably george lane french's son george who marries delight rice - see next post
5. track George's sons through the census, see if he could be living with them. update - george not living with children - see next post