#52 Ancestors - Samuel Hardy (1656- )

 Week # 13 - Samuel Hardy (1656- )

An ancestor a week for 52 Weeks!   #52ancestors

Samuel Hardy is our 8th great-grandfather and was the son of Richard Hardy (1595-1684) and Ann Husted (1623-1707) who were migrants from England. He was the second son of Richard and Ann to be named Samuel. The first Samuel had died at age six in 1653.  Richard had nine children.  

Samuel's birth is recorded in the Stamford, CT town records as shown in The American Genealogist [1]

There is an interesting census of Bedford, Westchester co, NY in Sept 1710[2] that says- Samuel Hardy, freeholder [one who holds title to property], aged 54y.; Rebekah his wife, aged 36y; Samuel his son, aged 11 y. [our 7th great-grandfather]; Daniell, his son, aged 8y.; Phineas, his son, aged 6y.; Aaron, his son, aged 4y.; Hannah, his dau., aged 18y.; Elizabeth, his dau. aged 1y.

So this census gives us complete and very early picture of our ancestors. Samuel's profile at Wikitree [3] has been accessed numerous times and contains all these great references. It appears he married first Anne Savory, second Rebecca Hobby and third Rebecca Forbush, our 8th great-grandmother. FamilySearch provides the reference to the last marriage as part of the Stamford, CT vital records.[4]

Once again we have the abstract of a probate record [5], this time of Samuel's father, which lists widow Ann and eight children- this list of 7 girls and one boy with the married names of the women has proven invaluable [children may be listed in order of birth]: Elizabeth, Hannah Austin, Sarah Cloase, Susanna Sherman, Ruth Mead, Mary Hardy, Abigall and Saml. Hardy- the only son listed.

One of the tips that you will hear repeatedly in genealogy is to look at the sources, not just believe what has been transcribed.  In this case we only have transcripts of the sources but actually reading the transcripts and seeing where the original information can be found makes the information come to life. You can see that it is only 13 miles from Stamford, CT (1683) to Bedford, NY (1710) so a visit to these towns would be something to add to our ancestral journey. Discovery of Samuel's probate would be particularly interesting.

References:

[1] Jacobus, D. L., Stamford, Connecticut Town Records, (Vol 10, Pg 44) The American Genealogist. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. (AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .) accessed online 3/1/2014 - https://www.americanancestors.org/DB283/i/11841/44/0

[2]Miller, Robert. “New York Colonial Manuscripts”, The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record (NYGBS, 1907) Vol. 38, Page 219: English MSS., XLII, Page 58. Census, Sept. 1710, Bedford, Westchester Co. https://archive.org/details/newyorkgenealogi1907gree/page/n467/mode/2up

[3]https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hardy-230

[4] "Connecticut, Vital Records, Prior to 1850," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QP7B-VYCW : 7 February 2023), Samuell Hardy in entry for Rebeckah Furbush, ; citing Marriage, Stamford, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States, Compiled by Lucius A. and Lucius B. Barbour, housed at State Library, Hartford, Connecticut; FHL microfilm 008143428.

[5] Abstract of Probate Records at Fairfield, Connecticut, Down to 1721 (n.d.) Page 170: Will of Richard Hardy, dated July 21, 1683. https://archive.org/details/abstractofprobat00slsn/page/n350/mode/1up