Monday, April 3, 2023

Single Mom in the 1720s: 52 Ancestors 2023 Prompt “Strength”


Hannah Holmes: Single Woman and Mother in a Puritanical Era

Hannah Holmes: 1689-1777 (Maternal 6th Great-Grandaunt)
Beulah Holmes: 1729-1778 (Maternal First Cousin 7x Removed)

 

We like to believe that life in the Puritan era of the New England colonies was tidy and perfect, but people were human. Nothing was perfect. The life of Hannah Holmes, my maternal 6th Great-Grandaunt, is proof of that. Hannah’s “sin” became all too public, and her society seems to have punished her.

Hannah was born April 18, 1689 in Worcester, Massachusetts. She was the eldest child of her parents, James Holmes and Jane Stephens Holmes. James and Jane went on to have eight more children. Hannah probably helped to raise these children as every family member was expected to contribute to the family’s survival in the harsh colonial world.

Hannah’s life is a complete blank. People only appear in records of that era for birth, marriage, and death. Men could appear in records when they held an office or job in the community, but of course women had no power so never held offices.

Hannah never married. Yet in 1729 or 1730, when she was nearly forty years old, she gave birth to a daughter she named Beulah. This would have been scandalous in the early 1700s. The entire small community must have been wildly gossiping about who the father of the child might be. I expect the man must have been married already, or community pressure would have forced the couple to marry.

I have found no birth record for Beulah. Some sources give her birth date as May 10, 1729, but I cannot verify that. I did find her baptism record; the church ceremony was performed in Woodstock on December 16, 1733. Beulah was at least three years old at that point. Such a late baptism is very unusual. I expect church leaders were uncomfortable baptizing a bastard child. I wonder why they finally changed their minds and permitted her to be baptized at last.

I wonder how Hannah’s family reacted to Hannah’s indiscretion (or of course sexual assault—there is no assurance that she willingly had a sexual relationship). Did they help her or did they reject her and her helpless daughter? We get slight hints in the wills Hannah and Beulah left.

Excerpt from Hannah's will written in 1759

Hannah stated plainly in her will that she was a “single woman” and that she wished her body to be buried “in a Decent and Christian-like manner”. I don’t remember ever reading the phrase “Christian-like” in a will before. I wonder if she feared the church would refuse her a proper burial due to her supposed sin in having an out-of-wedlock child. She was laid to rest in the local cemetery, so the church showed some mercy to her in death.

Hannah Holmes Headstone in Woodstock, MA

She goes on to state in the will, “I give and bequeath to my only child, Bulah Holmes, so called and known, of Woodstock aforesaid, who as heretofore, so by these presents I acknowledge to be my Child, the whole of my estate…”, thus publicly attesting to her single parenthood.

She goes on to state that she is “remembering what she [Beulah] has heretofore done, and still does toward my support and comfort in the world, my Will is that she be sole Heir…”

Hannah acknowledges that Beulah has been caring for and supporting her in her old age.

Hannah’s estate includes interest in several plots of land left to her father’s heirs following his death in 1758; she states she has a one-sixth interest, which means her father treated her the same as her siblings when dividing his estate and didn’t disinherit her. So it appears she had some familial support. Hannah also noted she has an “interest & Right in my sister Rachel Holmes’s Estate both Real & personal, who is now deceast.” Upon examining records for Rachel Holmes, I determined that she also never married. Perhaps the two sisters lived together and jointly raised Beulah.

Beulah’s will demonstrates that while the Holmes family didn’t completely cut Hannah and her out-of-wedlock daughter off, they did not seem to have maintained close relationships. Beulah leaves nothing to her extended family. She leaves the entirety of her estate, including her inheritance from Hannah, to “Sarah Nelson, the Daughter of Wm. John  Nelson of Woodstock aforesaid. Who now lives with me in token of my regard for her and as an acknowledgement for her faithful service to me….”

Excerpt from Beulah's will

She also names her “trusty friend & Neighbor Mr. Ebenezer Coburn of Woodstock” as the executor of the estate.

It sounds as if the rest of the Holmes family left the two women on their own, so that their closest friends were the woman they employed to care for them, and a kindly neighbor. This is a sad commentary on the cruelty of the era towards women who did not fit the mold of wife and mother. In addition, the greater community seems to have treated Beulah with disdain, as she was never able to make a marriage of her own. 

Hannah wrote her will in 1759, but didn’t die until August 31, 1777 at the ripe old age of 88. Sadly, Beulah died just a year later on January 17, 1778. She was only 48 years old.

Beaulah Holmes headstone in Woodstock, MA

Hannah and Beulah seem to have exhibited great strength in the face of community disapproval and difficult circumstances. They built a life together and supported one another and loved each other, dying just months apart.

 

Sources:

Findagrave entry for Hannah: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/65819523/hannah-holmes?_gl=1*6hfga6*_ga*MTQ5MDkwODUzMi4xNjI2MjI0NDE0*_ga_4QT8FMEX30*MWJjYjljOWEtZjFiMy00ZTUyLWE5NGYtZmVmZDZiYTdhOGRiLjQ4MS4xLjE2ODA0ODgzMjQuMTYuMC4w

Findagrave entry for Beulah: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/65809108/beulah-holmes?_gl=1*cth5su*_ga*MTQ5MDkwODUzMi4xNjI2MjI0NDE0*_ga_4QT8FMEX30*MWJjYjljOWEtZjFiMy00ZTUyLWE5NGYtZmVmZDZiYTdhOGRiLjQ4MC4xLjE2ODA0ODQ4ODIuNTcuMC4w

Probate Files Collection, Early to 1880; Author: Connecticut State Library (Hartford, Connecticut) Description. Notes: Probate Packets, Hayward, S-Holmes, S, 1752-1880. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/3631725:9049?ssrc=pt&tid=46986934&pid=24034662843

Probate Files Collection, Early to 1880; Author: Connecticut State Library (Hartford, Connecticut); Probate Place: Hartford, Connecticut. Description Notes: Probate Packets, Hayward, S-Holmes, S, 1752-1880. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1330694:9049?ssrc=pt&tid=46986934&pid=322468447582

No comments:

Post a Comment