Doing
a bit of follow up to some research I did while I was at Rootstech and the
Family History Library, this past March.
I don’t
know about you, but it generally takes me quite a while to get back to some of
the research I do while I'm at the FHL.
One
family I found information on while I as there, was the Richard Everett family
of Dedham, Massachusetts. This family is
linked to my Mayflower line.
In
this case I am trying to prove the marriage & children of Richard Everett
and his wife, Mary Fuller. They are my paternal 7th great grandparents. And, I’d like to have more proof
of their marriage and the children they had together.
NOTE: When we are talking about our ancestors back in the 1600’s
we must do a bit of digging.
What have I located so far, in the way of proof?
Let’s
begin with the birth record for Richard Everet (also spelled Everett) in 1683
in Dedham, Colonial Massachusetts.
 |
| Birth Record - Richard Everett, Aug 1683 |
Now,
how about a marriage record for Richard & his wife, Mary Fuller.
 |
| Marriage of Richard Everet & Mary Fuller - 3 Mar 1708 in Massachusetts |
NOTE: These are images of the actual records and not an index that
has been interpreted by a transcriber. It’s important to find the originals whenever we can.
Here’s
another reference to the marriage of Richard & Mary.
U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
Here’s
another source with names, dates and places.
Remember these SAR documents have no proof with them. It is a
document/application submitted by a descendant.
However, what it does give us is leads and combined with other evidence
we can draw a conclusion.
 |
| Sons of the American Revolution application for a descendant of Richard Everet(t) and Mary Fuller |
One
of my favorite sources are wills/probate records. When our ancestors were dying or suspected
they were nearing that age, they often made wills. It was important to them that their spouses,
children and any other heirs were taken care of. These can be gold mines of family information,
including married names for daughters, locations of descendants alive at that time, names
of other family members etc.
Here
then, is the will of Richard Everett dated 1745/6 in Dedham, Suffolk County,
Massachusetts.
In it he names his “dearly beloved wife” Mary and his sons, Joshua, Jeremiah, Jonathan, Israel and Timothy. He later mentions his “beloved” daughter Mary Maxey, “beloved” daughter Bethiah Day, “beloved’ daughters Hannah & Abigail Everett.
What
I learned from this document, was that there were 2 sons, Israel & Timothy and 3 daughters, Hannah, Abigail & Mary I had
not yet discovered for this couple. From this will I see that Bethiah has the surname of Day (married name?) and that Mary has the surname Maxey (married name?). More research into these additional
children will be done.
 |
| 1745 will of Richard Everett of Dedham, Massachusetts, page 1-2 |
 |
| 1745 will of Richard Everett of Dedham, Massachusetts, page 3-4 |
And,
I went back to the Massachusetts Town & Vital Records and located the
births of Timothy, Jonathan, Isarael (how it is spelled in the record), Bethiah born 18 Nov 1721 and another
Bethiah born 9 October 1722 and Hannah.
Because there are two daughters named Bethiah, born within a year of one
another, I will look for a death records of the first one.
 |
| MA birth record entries for children of Richard & Mary Everett |
| Timothy, Jonathan, Isarael, Bethiah in Nov 1721 and Bethiah in Oct 1722 and Hannah |
In conclusion. Have I found enough evidence to
prove that Richard Everett married Mary Fuller? And that they had 5 sons and 4 daughters and possibly 1 daughter who died? Yes, I believe I have.
Do you have any input? Would you have
come to a different conclusion?
Sources:
1Massachusetts,
U.S. Town & Vital Records 1620-1988
2 U.S.and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
3
U.S.,
Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970
4
Massachusetts,U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991
5
FindAGravememorial for Mary Fuller Everett #64356211
6
Massachusetts,U.S., Compiled Birth, Marriage, and Death Records, 1700-1850
If you are related to or connected to anyone in this blog post, please get in touch. Let’s exchange information.
Happy hunting,
Copyright © 2010-2025 Diane Gould Hall
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION
