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Margaret sold her half right in the family house and garden in Beverly 24 February 1798 to her son James, who owned the other half.1 On 21 July 1806, she sold a piece of pasture to Samuel Ober, 2nd, in the same area.2      In September 1808, when Margaret was 82, four of her sons-in-law and grandsons-in-law, Peter Pride, Josiah Foster, Amos Stow and Isaac Smith, petitioned the county probate judge to have her declared "non compos mentis," meaning she couldn't take care of herself ("not of competent mind"), "by reason of age and infirmity."3 They wanted someone to be appointed her guardian "to take cair of her and manage her affars so that she may be made as comfortable as her age and circumstances will admit." In early October the selectmen of Beverly, as was customary, confirmed that she was and appointed her son John Thissel her guardian. The next day, on 4 October, an inventory of her estate was ordered:

Income of her right of dower in lands of real estate &26.00
income of half a pew in the South Meeting House $3.00
1 pine dining table &1.00, 1 breakfast table .45 $1.45
1 pair tongs .24 1 pair dog iron $1.10 &1.35
2 feather beds, bolsters & pillows $12.00
under bed, bedstead & cord $100
tuckle bedstead & cord .30, 1 tow bedsack $0.50
2 bed blankets & 1 old bed quilt $1.55
1 large bed quilt $3.00 1 check'd coverlid $1.50 $4.50
18 sheets $4.50, 22 pillow cases $3.40 $7.90
6 shifts $1.50, 3 old loose gowns $1.00 $2.50
10 diaper towels $1.00, 4 table cloths $2.20
2 old waistcoats .10, 1 black silk handfs .25 $0.35
3 pair white stockings .60, 12 old caps $1.00 $1.60
1 callico gown .75, 1 black silk gown $2.00 $2.75
1 striped loose gown .30, 1 undercoat .25 $0.50
2 small silk cloaks $1.50, 1 long silk cloak $1.00 $2.50
1 red quilted peticoat $1.00, 1 old skirt .25 $1.25
1 red cloak $1.00, some old garments .50 $1.50
2 cloths chests & drawers $1.30 2 pair mittens, 2 pair nippers &0.25
1 small looking glass .20, 1 small trunk .20 $0.40
3 round bottles .06, hammer & swift .08 $0.14
1/4 of a flax comb $0.40
1 case bottles $1.50, 5 old chairs .80 $2.30
1 spining wheel .50, 1 joiner chair .40 $.90
3 bottles, jug, dish & 4 plates $.30
4 pewter basons .75, 8 pewter plates $1.25
3 pewter platters $1.50, 1 porringer .06 $1.56
2 trammels $1.00, 1 iron tea kettle broke .20 $1.20
1 chest .75, old barrel & firkin .20 $.95
1 tape loom .25, 1 gallon keg .20 $0.45
1 old maple desk $2.00, 1 old Bible .20 $2.20
5 silver teaspoons $1.50, 1 string g
[old] beads $1.25 $2.75
old teapot, 2 spoons, kinves & forks $0.35
2 plates, 2 tumblers & wine glass $0.21
1 jug, pepper box, ironing box & candlestick $0.20
1 great chair & 2 kitchen chairs $0.50
------------------
$94.01

Beverly October 10th 1808

Ebenr. Rea
Benjamin Obear
peter Obear

committee sworn

John Thissel, guardian

Another inventory was taken on 31 October 1809

dower income $26.00
12 sheets $6.00
11 towels $1.10
5 table cloths $1.50
14 pillow cases $1.12
1 desk $2.00
1 neck lace gold $3.00
3 shirts $1.50
2 handkerchiefs $0.25
4 pair hose $0.25
1 blue handkerchief $0.10
1 clothes chest $0.33
5 scains cotton $0.40
1 red cloak $0.25
1 black gown $2.50
1 silk cloak $0.50
1 lined cloak $1.00
1 green quilt $5.00
1 striped gown $0.10
1 chintz gown $0.75
1 petticoat $1.00
1 bedstead $0.50
2 blankets $1.00
2 sheets $0.50
2 sheets $0.50
1 quilt $0.50
1 coverlid $1.00
1 featherbed, bolster and 2 pillows $10.00
------------
$68.65

Beverly October 31st 1809

Jonathan Smith
David Larcom
Alexander Boyle

comittee sworn

Josiah Foster 3d, guardian








children of Margaret Sallows and James Thissel:4

i. Hannah, b. 4 March 1746/475
ii. John , b. 17 August 1749
iii. Elizabeth, b. 30 September 1751
iv. James, b. 18 November 1753
v. Margaret, b. 17 March 1755/56
vi. Abigail, b. 18 June 1759
vii. Susannah, b. 20 June 1762
viii. Isachar, b. 22 July 1765
ix. Lucy, bap. 28 July 1765
x. Robert, b. 27 October 1767





vital records sources: her birth is in Vital records of Beverly, Massachusetts, to the end of year 1849, vol. 1 (Topsfield, MA: Topsfield Historical Society, 1906), 288; her marriage intentions are in Vital records of Beverly, Massachusetts, to the end of year 1849, vol. 2 (Topsfield, MA: Topsfield Historical Society, 1907), 572, no month or day given; her death comes from her gravestone in the Abbott Street Cemetery, Beverly.

1. Essex Co., MA, deeds, 176:54.
2. Ibid, 180:182.
3. Essex Co., MA, probate case 27437.
4. Vital records of Beverly, Massachusetts, to the end of year 1849, vol. 1 (Topsfield, MA: Topsfield Historical Society, 1906), 321-324.
5. Beverly church and town records are often not double-dated in the overlap between the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The year of her birth is given as 1746, and very likely in the Old Style, or Julian calendar. Since her parents were intended to be married very early in 1746 and she was baptized in October of 1747, it's far more likely that she was born in 1747 (New Style, or Gregorian calendar).


all text and photographs © 1998-2022 by Doug Sinclair unless where otherwise noted