Abigail Knowlton

The Lincoln, Massachusetts town record book lists the birth of Abigail Knowlton:

Abigail Knowlton daughter of Jeremiah Knowlton & Abigail Knowlton his wife was born the 21 of June 1774.

The Lincoln, Massachusetts vital records book lists the birth of Abigail Knowlton:

KNOWLTON, Abigal, d. Jeremiah and Abigail, Jan. 21, 1774

Her mother died in 1776. Jeremiah was a Revolutionary War soldier, and married Hannah Goffe on 9 September 1778 in Lincoln. He died in 1785 in Lincoln.

Abigail's residence after the death of her mother is unknown - she may have been given a guardian (although I have found no record of one), or gone to live with a relative of one of her parents.

The next record available is the intentions to marry in Gardner, Worcester County, Massachusetts on 9 May 1790, where she is called "Abigail Knowlton of Westminster." The marriage to Nathan Gates occurred in Westminster on 17 June 1790.

The Westminster, Massachusetts Vital Record book lists the marriage as:

GATES, Nathan and Abigail Knowlton, June 17, 1790.

The Gardner town records provide this information about the Nathan and Abigail Gates family:

Nathan Gates and Abagail his wife Record of their children:

BIRTHS Nathan Born April 13^th 1791 Jeremiah Born March 21^st 1792 Abel Born July 10^th 1793 Asaph Born Dec^m 7^th 1794 Luke Born Feb^u 14^th 1796 Abigail Born Feb 24^th 1797 Luther Born April 5^th 1798 Amos Born No^v 6^th 1799 Susanna was born Feb^r 17- 1801 an infant girl born Feb^r 8^th 1803 Lucinda Born March 9^th 1805 Clarissa Born May 25-d 1806 Jeremiah Knolton Born Sept 28- 1808 James Eliot Born June 11- 1810 Benj Adderson born Feb^r 26- 1813 DEATHS Luke Died May 21^st 1796 an infant girl Died Feb^r 12^th 1803

In the 1850 U.S. census, the Asaph Gates household resided in Westminster, Worcester County, Massachusetts. The household included:

• Asaph Gates - age 55, male, a farmer, $600 in real property, born Massachusetts
• Rachael Gates - age 56, female, born Massachusetts
• Abigail Gates - age 78, female, born Massachusetts
• Harriet Gates - age 16, female, born Massachusetts.

The transcription of the death record for Abigail (Knowlton) Gates in the Massachusetts vital records is:

No.:  4 Date of Death:  Jany 28th 1855 Name and Surname:  Abigail Gates Age, Years, Months, Days: 83 - 1 - 7 Place of Death:  Gardner Disease or Cause of Death: Old Age & Palsy Sex and Condition:   Widow Occupation:   Place of birth:  Chelmsford Name Parents: Widow of Nathan Gates

The age at death from this record calculates to 21 January 1772, which conflicts with the birth record in Lincoln of 21 January 1774.

The most conclusive evidence that Abigail (Knowlton) Gates was the daughter of Jeremiah and Abigail (Pierce) Knowlton, born on 21 January 1774 in Lincoln, is that calculated birth date at death - 21 January. Apparently, Abigail married at age 16, and claimed 1772 as a birth year for all of her married life.

The burial location of Abigail (Knowlton) Gates has not been found to date.

There are no probate records for Abigail (Knowlton) Gates in the Worcester County Probate Court records.