Re: Jacob KIBBE & Abigail WARNER
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In reply to:
Re: Jacob KIBBE & Abigail WARNER
10/18/01
Hi Steve,
I am hanging my head in shame for not writing to the forum before this. Life has intervened since I did this research earlier this summer!
I did locate an abstract of Samuel Warner's will, quoted in a genealogy entitled "Register of Descendants of John Warner son of William Warner both English Immigrants to Ipswich, Mass. AD 1634" by J. Alfred Warner, Brooklyn, 1910-1927. The will was dated June 19, 1755 and was proved at Hartford, July 22, 1755. It reveals the fact that he was married three times. It mentions Phebe, the daughter of his first wife and daughters Joanna, Mehitable, Experience and Jemima children of his second wife. His wife at the time of his will was named Martha.
The Vital Records of Andover, Mass. confirm that he married firstly, Phebe Hutchinson of Andover, Mass. where their marriage intentions were published June 7, 1718. This marriage produced one child Phebe b. July 12, 1719 according to the Vital Records of Stafford. The date of his first wife's death has not been found but he married secondly Abigail Church on May 7, 1723 according to the Vital Records of Stafford, Ct. Again, according to the Stafford records Abigail had 4 daughters (Jemima is not mentioned in the records), Abigail (her FIRST child) b. Aug. 14, 1724; Joanna b. June 19, 1726; Mehitabel b. Mar. 19, 1728 and Experience b. Sept. 4, 1729. The will mentions son-in-law Asel Root, grandson Samuel Root and granddaughter Naomy Allis. According to the New England Historic Genealogical Register Vol. 67 his daughter Joanna m. Stephen Farnum, Mar. 2, 1752 and the Warner book itself mentions that Phebe m. Moses Brown.
Significantly, there is no mention in the will of his daughter Abigail. As she was the FIRST child of his second wife there would have been no natural reason for her to have been adopted by his brother John's family as you suggested. (I had thought of that possibility as well but could never see any reason why we should believe it to be so.) I believe that the less unusual explanation for the absence of Abigail from her father's will is that she had died by 1755. As we know from the records in Monson, Mass. a microfilm of which I have seen and have photocopies of, the Abigail Warner who married Jacob Kibbe died on Apr. 1, 1771. Directly above the entry for her death is that of her husband Jacob Kibbe who died Apr. 1, 1766.
The fact that Samuel's will so specifically names daughters, husbands and grandchildren but does not mention at all his daughter Abigail, her husband or any of her children I have to conclude that this Abigail was deceased by the date of his will meaning that she cannot have been Abigail, the wife of Jacob Kibbe. The most logical explanation to my mindfor the names of Abigail (Warner) Kibbe's children is that she indeed was the daughter of John Warner and Tabitha Abbe. I believe that she was born ca. 1721 in the largish gap between her brothers Daniell (b. Mar. 25, 1719 in Enfield) and Thomas (b. Feb. 16, 1723/4 in Stafford). I believe it is logical to assume that the record of her birth was a casualty of the family's move from Enfield to Stafford right around this time.
Thanks for jogging me to let you all know about this! It's been a rough month with my father's hospitalization and other family concerns. Sorry to have waited so long!
Karen Smithson
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