| Notes |
The wife of John Hyde is shown to be Mary Thompson of Canterbury, CT(1,3). This Mary cannot be the one shown in the IGI, the daughter of David Thompson and Abigail Mackenzie, who, although born about the right time in CT, Massachusetts rried Joseph Nichols (2) not John Hyde. A summary of the clues to her identity follows, followed by a list of candidates.
She could not have been born much after 1735 unless she was under 18 at her marriage and not much earlier than 1727 to have a child born in 1769.
There are several Thompson families contemporary to Mary Thompson and John Hyde in Canterbury, CT (3), who could be related to her. These are:
Firstly, William and Prudence Thompson are recorded as having three children in Canterbury between 1745 and 1751. This couple is probably the William and Prudence Herendeen [Harrington] Thompson who were married in Preston, CT, on Feb. 4, 1733 (IGI) and who had a daughter born in Norwich, CT in 1734 (8). This William has not been further identified and may yet prove to be related to the wife of John Hyde.
Secondly a Jonathan Thompson is recorded as marrying a Hannah Dean in Canterbury on Jan. 11, 1749. He is probably the son of William and Katherine Richardson Thompson born in 1729 in Stonington (9).
Thirdly, there are one or two Samuel Thompsons. A Samuel and Eunice Thompson are shown as having a daughter Eunice in 1754. A couple of years later in 1758 and 1760 Samuel and Lucy Thompson [the IGI says she was Lucy Armstrong] are shown as having children. Whether these are the same Samuel Thompson is not known.
A search of the surrounding towns in Massachusetts, CT and RI has so far found:
1. Mary Thompson, daughter of Woodland Thompson, bap. in Uxbridge, Massachusetts on 4/22/1733. She is probably the one who married Nathaniel Poer on 12/2/1753 in Uxbridge (4).
2. Mary Thompson, daughter of Joseph and Mary Holbrook Thompson, born in Bellingham, Massachusetts, on 11/18/1729. She married Samuel Wight on 10/18/1752 in Bellingham (5).
3. Mary Thompson, daughter of Benjamin and Mary Darling Thompson, born in Bellingham, Massachusetts, on 3/5/1728. There is no marriage record for this person and the family seems to have also resided in Smithfield, RI, for a time (5,6). The AF indicates she probably died before 1746.
4. Mary Thompson, daughter of Isaac Thompson and Ann Stanton of Stonington, CT (7). This Mary Thompson had a brother Samuel who is probably John Hyde s contemporary in Canterbury, CT (3). The IGI shows a Mary Thompson of Stonington about this age married to a Charles Avery, but examination of the Stonington vital records showed him married to Mary Thurston, not Mary Thompson (7). This Mary Thompson appears to have married to Andrew Denison however.
Sources:
1. Stowell, W.H.H. "Four Generations of Descendants of Jonathan Hyde of Newton, Massachusetts " NEHGR, Vol. 71, pp.270.
2. Jacobus, D.L. "History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield" Vol. II#2. pp. 952-953.
3. Canterbury CT Vital Records, Barbour Collection.
4. Uxbridge, Massachusetts, Vital Records.
5. Bellingham, Massachusetts Vital Records.
6. Smithfield, RI, Vital Records.
7. Vital records, Stonington, CT, Barbour Collection.
8. Vital records, Norwich, CT, Barbour Collection.
9. Wheeler, R.A. "History of the Town of Stonington..." pp. 618
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1731 - Yes, date unknown
