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Hannah's mark on her will

Hannah's will was written on 31 August 1748.1 Being "old and weak of body," she gave her son Ebenezer £150, to son Nathaniel 2 1/2 acres of land she bought from her brother Jonathan Dodge, to her daughter Hannah Perkins' children £5, to her daughter Abigail Ellinwood's children £5, to daughters Sarah Woodberry, Elizabeth Thorndike, Mary Armstrong, Martha Woodberry, Priscilla Woodberry and Jerusha Thresher each £5, to daughter Mehitabel Thorndike one good cow, to granddaughter Lydia Thorndike one feather bed, one pair of sheets, a bolster, a blanket and a coverlet. She appointed her sons Ebenezer and Nathaniel executors. She signed with mark. The will was brought to court and proved on 2 May 1757.

Hannah's inventory consisted of:

Her clothes, 25 pounds of pewter, a mirror, knives and forks, 2 "gint stules" (probably joint stools), a table, a cupboard, table linen, a chest, a flax comb, a trammel, a hake, an iron pot, a fire shovel and tongs, a pair of dog irons, a smoothing iron, a pair of bellows, tin ware, a box, 2 more tables, glass ware, earthen ware, copper ware, 80 pounds of salt pork, 2 wheels, books, a brass kettle, six chairs, a great chair, a hog, 8 sheep, 9 lambs, 3 cows, a trunk, 2 notes due from Nathaniel Conant, a bond due from Timothy Patch, £2, 13 shilllings and 4 pence in cash and the above mentioned 2 1/2 acres of land. The total value was £79, 2 pence.

Children of Hannah Dodge and Ebenezer Woodbery:2

i. Hannah, b. 27 February 1690/91
ii. Abigail, b. 1 July 1692
iii. Sarah, prob. b. abt 1694 (gravestone), bap. 20 July 1696
iv. Elizabeth, bap. 20 July 1696
v. Mary, bap. 16 October 1698
vi. Martha, b. abt. 1700 (gravestone), bap. 23 August 1702
vii. Ruth, bap. 23 August 1702
viii. Priscilla, bap. 13 January 1703/04
ix. Mehitable, bap. 2 September 1705
x. Ebenezer, bap. 8 August 1708
xi. Jerusha, b. abt 1710 (death record), bap. 21 September 1712
xii. John, bap. 21 September 1712
xiii. Nathaniel, bap. 24 July 1715

vital records sources: Abigail's baptism and marriage are in Vital Records of Beverly, Massachusetts: to the end of the year 1849, baptism in vol. 1 (Topsfield, MA: Topsfield Historical Society, 1906), 108, "2:5m:1671," fifth month being August in the Old Style of dating, from a First Church record. Joseph T. Dodge's genealogy confuses her with an older sister of the same name, whose baptism he calls a birth, and which date is incorrect; marriage in vol. 2 (Topsfield, MA: Topsfield Historical Society, 1907), p. 91. Her will was proved at probate court on 2 May 1757.

1. Essex Co., MA, probate file 30424.
2.Vital Records of Beverly, Massachusetts: to the end of the year 1849, vol. 1 (Topsfield, MA:1906).