Bristol County, the towns associated with this family are New Bedford, Fairhaven, & Freetown. And yes, he was 40+ when he married Mercy who was 17 years his junior leaving open the possibility that he had a previous wife and family. In the 1845 Illinois State census he was in the 60-70 age group. All of the children I have found were born after he married Mercy. ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Chandler" <john.chandler@alum.mit.edu> To: <SWEET-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2005 9:42 PM Subject: Re: Silas Sweet VT, MA & IL > Karen wrote: > > Silas Sweet was born in Bradford, Vermont about 1777, married Mercy > > White in Bristol, Massachusetts January 1, 1820 > > Do you mean the town of Bristol? Or perhaps Bristol County? The > town of Bristol was originally in Massachusetts, but it was > transferred to Rhode Island in 1747 when the boundary was redrawn. > I have seen a report that Silas married a Mary White in Freetown, > which is indeed in Bristol County, Mass. The date matches. > The question is: is it clear it's the 40+ Silas who married then? > > John Chandler > > > ==== SWEET Mailing List ==== > Visit Daisy's Sweet Home Page! > http://www.rootsweb.com/~daisy/sweet.htm > >