Misidentified Death: Proving Hannah Hawley Lived Past 1757

Oct 13

Setting the record straight on long-standing family history myths is one of the most rewarding aspects of New England genealogical research. For generations, online family trees have prematurely closed the life of Hannah Hawley, recording her death as taking place around 1757. However, comparing early published source material with original Connecticut primary records reveals how a misread entry in a printed book created a persistent online mistake—and proves Hannah actually lived on to marry a second time and raise a family.

ORIGIN & PARENTAGE

Hannah Hawley was born on 17 November 1725 in Middletown, Middlesex County, Connecticut, the daughter of Jehiel Hawley and Hope Stow. Her mother was the daughter of Ichabod Stow of Middletown—a maternal Stow lineage that later proved crucial when tracing Hannah’s marriages across Middletown and East Haddam and identifying her son, Ichabod Stow Selden Spencer.

THE MISCONCEPTION & PRINTED SOURCES

The belief that Hannah died in 1757 is widespread across online databases like FamilySearch and Geni, but the confusion originates in early compiled literature. Lucy Abigail Brainard's 1908 publication, The Genealogy of the Brainerd-Brainard Family in America, records Hannah's 1751 marriage to Samuel Spencer in East Haddam, Connecticut. In that entry, the author notes that Samuel died in 1757, while leaving Hannah's death date entirely blank: "died _____."

Subsequent researchers misread the entry and misattributed Samuel’s 1757 death date to Hannah herself. Copied from tree to tree for decades without consulting original records, this simple clerical mix-up effectively erased the second half of Hannah's life from the published historical record.

THE IDENTITY SWAP ON FAMILYSEARCH

Compounding this error in online trees, another local individual was incorrectly substituted as Capt. William Ward’s wife: a younger Hannah Spencer of East Haddam, Connecticut (born 1746), daughter of John Spencer. FamilySearch profiles frequently attached this East Haddam woman to William Ward. However, primary records show that Hannah Spencer, daughter of John, died in 1773 under the surname Spencer—having never married Capt. Ward at all. It was actually the widow Hannah (Hawley) Spencer who became his wife in 1771.

THE PRIMARY RECORD & NAMING PATTERN EVIDENCE

Reconstructing Hannah’s timeline through Connecticut vital, guardianship, land, and probate records restores the complete sequence of events:

First Marriage (1751): Hannah Hawley married, as his second wife, Samuel Spencer in East Haddam, Hartford County (now Middlesex County), on 9 April 1751. Following Samuel's death in 1757, Hannah was named guardian of her minor son, Ichabod Stow Selden Spencer, in 1770. This distinctive name provides direct evidence of maternal lineage: Hannah was the daughter of Hope Stow, who was in turn the daughter of Ichabod Stow.
Second Marriage (1771): On 4 July 1771, Middletown vital records explicitly record the marriage of "Widow Hannah Spencer of Durham" to Capt. William Ward (also recorded as William Ward Jr.).
Probate & Land Trail (Post-1771): Following Capt. William Ward’s death in 1786, Hannah signed probate actions on his estate in Middletown as "widow Hannah Ward," with her son Ichabod Spencer standing as a witness.
The Dower Deed (1790): In 1790, a Middletown deed concerning the estate of William Ward's late son, Asher Ward, set off dower lands. The record explicitly specifies that 44 acres were currently occupied by the "widow of Wm Ward" until her death, at which point the land would revert to Asher’s widow.

GENEALOGICAL TAKEAWAY

Hannah (Hawley) (Spencer) Ward's case demonstrates how correlating naming conventions with land and probate records can resolve long-standing identity errors. By connecting her son Ichabod's name to her Stow ancestry, tracking her 1771 remarriage as "Widow Hannah Spencer," and following her dower rights through 1790, we dismantle a 100-year-old clerical error and restore her true place in the Connecticut historical record.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY & SOURCES

Christine Tucker