I'm Bill Van Hemert, Edmund WESTON & Rebecca SOULE descendant. Questions: 1) Aside from custom, what is the minimum age for a man and woman to marry in Boston in the mid-18th Century. 2) How old MUST a man be to convey real estate in Plymouth in the mid-18th Century. I am trying to establish birth/death dates and parents for Thomas WESTON, father and son. In the HOWLAND Silver Book, p163, Thomas WESTON’s first marriage to Mary HOWLAND , 1723, is recorded along with the birth/death of son Thomas in 1725, followed by Mary’s death in February, 1730. Thomas remarries Francis COOKE descendant, Prudence CONANT, in May, 1730. Thomas died before May, 1743, when Prudence was name administrator of his estate in Plymouth. There is a record of 'a' Thomas WESTON marrying Isabella CAMPBELL in Boston, Dec, 1751. Prudence, Thomas, Sr’s widow, says her son Thomas is deceased in her will dated Oct 1765, but has surviving children. Can any inferences be made from these property conveyances from Davis ? >From Vol II of Ancient Landmarks of Plymouth - WT Davis - 1899 Page 173, "Titles of Estates" "Mr Little sold the lot in question , in 1715, to Benjamin Pratt a grandson of Joshua Pratt, who came in the Anne in 1623, and was one of he purchasters of Dartmouth. Mr Pratt sold it to Timothy Morton in 1722, who sold it, in 1725, to THOMAS WESTON. After Mr. Weston it passed into the hands of Consider Howland and was sold by his son, Thomas Southworth Howland to James Warren,in 1764, and remained in the Warren family until it was sold by Mary Warren the widow" etc. + Page 175: "The next lot was sold to Nicholas Drew to Donald Turner, who sold it to THOMAS WESTON, by whom it was conveyed to his son-in-law, WILLIAM WESTON, and by him in 1796 to his son, COOMER WESTON, who built and occupied the house now standing, and was the father of the late COOMER WESTON." Page 175: "The next lot was sold by Nicholas Drew to David Turner . . . who sold it to THOMAS WESTON whose son THOMAS conveyed it, in 1755 to WILLIAM WESTON, who built the house now standing. WILLIAM WESTON sold it in 1797, to his son, LEWIS WESTON, the father of the late BENJAMIN WESTON who occupied it until his death, and whose heirs sold it in 1881 to Thomas B. Swift."

Bill asked: > Can any inferences be made from these property conveyances from Davis ?> > From Vol II of Ancient Landmarks of Plymouth - WT Davis - 1899> > Page 173, "Titles of Estates" "Mr Little sold the lot in question , in 1715, to Benjamin Pratt a grandson of Joshua Pratt, who came in the Anne in 1623, and was one of he purchasters of Dartmouth. Mr Pratt sold it to Timothy Morton in 1722, who sold it, in 1725, to THOMAS WESTON. After Mr. Weston it passed into the hands of Consider Howland and was sold by his son, Thomas Southworth Howland to James Warren,in 1764, and remained in the Warren family until it was sold by Mary Warren the widow" etc. + ONLY by reviewing the original deeds on microfilm [NEHGS has several copies & its orderable from FHC of course] can anything be CORRECTLY interpretated from them. In otherwords, I'd undertake a complete search of ALL Weston deeds for 75 years+ to see who's doing what, rather than rely on Davis's precises. However, in the meantime, in this case A "Thomas Weston", of Plymouth? [see what I mean by having to check the original], was of age in 1725 to complete a land purchase. The next sentence infers that this same Thomas Weston then sold/transferred it to Consider Howland, perhaps his son in law but perhaps not. > Page 175: "The next lot was sold to Nicholas Drew to Donald Turner, who sold it to THOMAS WESTON, by whom it was conveyed to his son-in-law, WILLIAM WESTON, and by him in 1796 to his son, COOMER WESTON, who built and occupied the house now standing, and was the father of the late COOMER WESTON." One could presume that as these are adjoining lots, this "Thomas Weston" is the same as the man above but again who knows? No date for the Drew to Weston transfer is given. That it goes from Thomas Weston to a son-in-law is stated in this case, so deciding just who this TW is can be firmed up using the in-law information against other published sources. > Page 175: "The next lot was sold by Nicholas Drew to David Turner . . . who sold it to THOMAS WESTON whose son THOMAS conveyed it, in 1755 to WILLIAM WESTON, who built the house now standing. WILLIAM WESTON sold it in 1797, to his son, LEWIS WESTON, the father of the late BENJAMIN WESTON who occupied it until his death, and whose heirs sold it in 1881 to Thomas B. Swift."NOW, this one clearly states that there's a "father Thomas" to "son Thomas" link. BUT if "son Thomas" sells it in 1755 to his own "son-in-law" William Weston [see second deed above], THEN the first purchasing Thomas has to be the Grandfather of the wife of William Weston. Which in turn suggests that the Thomas named in the first two deeds is the Thomas called "son Thomas" inthe thrid deed. OR this could be a copying error on Davis's part. Have to check the original. Really, without having the old Silver Book 3 and the newer Howland book to hand, and say a 19th century Weston Family compilation to boot, trying to sort out who's who based on these precises is just a start on figuring out this "Other" Thomas Weston who is being discussed here. Its quite doable and I'm a bit surprised it hasn't been addressed before in say the MQ pages. I don't have time to check the printed sources as, yes, they aren't to hand! Robert M. GerrityYANKEE ANCESTRYP. O. Box 2814Acton, MA 01720 _________________________________________________________________ Shed those extra pounds with MSN and The Biggest Loser! http://biggestloser.msn.com/

Bill asked > Questions: 1) Aside from custom, what is the minimum age for a man and woman to marry in Boston in the mid-18th Century. 21+ without consent, technically. 16-21 with consent. Historians generally assume Age Range at First Marriage as Women = 18-25, and Men = 21-28. However, as a General Generality, I would use W=17-26 and M=18-29. I'm never surprised by people marrying later in the ranges; I am surprised if either is younger than 17 or 18. The Men more than the Women fall into the mid-range & later. See the classic book Four Generations about the period 1680-1750 in Adnover, Mass. Also, Demos' Little Commonwealth. The reasons are kind of obvious: father's need the sons' labor on the farm longer than the mother's need the daughters' labor in the house, plus the clearly understood dynamic of women better undergo pregnancy earlier in the range, plus the death rate of women in pregnancy, during labor and shortly thereafter. But each town and family will have variations. > 2) How old MUST a man be to convey real estate in Plymouth in the mid-18th Century. As above, as I've a family record of a 17 year old in the American Army having to agree to a guardian so some land belonging to his father could be sold [Plymouth Probate]. However, I've never seen of a guardianship for an 18-year old for the same. Functionally, 18 was the age you could sell property, IF you had clear title to it. Getting married usually ended all such issues about competence to do such things. > I am trying to establish birth/death dates and parents for Thomas WESTON, father and son. In the HOWLAND Silver Book, p163, Thomas WESTON’s first marriage to Mary HOWLAND , 1723, is recorded along with the birth/death of son Thomas in 1725, followed by Mary’s death in February, 1730. Using the ranges above, the TW who marries in 1723 could have been born between 1694 and 1705. But you then have to square that theory against what you can find for a TW in the old Silver Soule book and/or in other published material. Its all about constructing a chain of inferences and then trying to find some limiting information. This Mary Howland would then have a range of 1697 to 1706. How does that match up with her parents' entry in the Howland book? > Thomas remarries Francis COOKE descendant, Prudence CONANT, in May, 1730. Thomas died before May, 1743, when Prudence was name administrator of his estate in Plymouth. and> There is a record of 'a' Thomas WESTON marrying Isabella CAMPBELL in Boston, Dec, 1751. Prudence, Thomas, Sr’s widow, says her son Thomas is deceased in her will dated Oct 1765, but has surviving children. Ah, now here's The Possibility! The "son Thomas" who is born and dies in 1725 is the son of MARY HOWLAND, not Prudence Conant. IF --> indeed Prudence refers to a deceased son Thomas in her 1765 will, THEN--> that son Thomas Weston is a SECOND son so named of TW d 1743. Its very unlikely that Prudence would need to reference a deceased baby by her husband's FIRST wife. So just what is actually said in Prudence's will needs to be read from the original. For instance, is she referring to CHILDREN of her deceased son Thomas? So, yes, its quite plausible but needs proof in some fashion that, yes Thomas WESTON who died by 1743 had TWO SONS named Thomas, one by Mary Howland who b & d in 1725, and the other, unrecorded apparently, by Prudence Conant who was born very late 1730 and is deceased himself by 1765. IF so, then a TW who marries in Boston in 1751 can indeed be OF AGE to marry on his own, i.e. 21 (Dec 1730 to Dec 1751). OK, everybody got that? Which is why a re-search of Plymouth deeds and probates for Westons needs to be undertaken. You would be looking for the "smoking gun" that is a document mentioning an "Isabella Weston" in reference to land or people otherwise known to be associated with the Thomas Weston who dies by May 1743. Robert M. GerrityYANKEE ANCESTRYP. O. Box 2814Acton, MA 01720 _________________________________________________________________ Shed those extra pounds with MSN and The Biggest Loser! http://biggestloser.msn.com/