Hazelelponi Wood

Hazelelponi Willix was born say 1636.3 She was the daughter of Balthazar Willix and Annah (—?—) (Willix).2 She died on 27 November 1714 at age 78.3 She was buried in the Ancient (Old North) Burial Ground, Ipswich.3

Married

1. John Gee.
2. Obadiah Wood of Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts.1

John Gee had the following children by her:

• I, Mary b. about 1660; m. Thomas Pickering of Newington, N. H., about 1679 and d. before 1730. One daughter was named Hazelponi.
• II, John, b. May 27, 1662 (Boston).
• lll, Anna, b. 1664; m. Samuel Hodgkins of Gloucester, Mass.; she d. July 28, 1724.
• IV, Martha, m. Thomas Cotes "in his life time was an Inhabitant of the Island of Marthas Vineyard"; d. before 1730

Notes

iii. Obadiah, bp. Nuneaton 2 Oct. 1625, d. Ipswich MA in Nov. 1694; m. 1st c1646 Margaret Sparke, who d. Ipswich 5 July 1667, sister of John and Samuel Spark: 10 ch.; m. 2nd c1674 Hazelelponi (Willix) Gee, b. c1636, d. Ipswich 27 Nov. 1714, dau. of Balthasar and Hannah Willix and widow of John Gee (see HARRIS Family): 4 ch. Baker ("bisket maker"), soldier in King Philip's War.

The name Hazelelponi is from the Bible.

Hazelelponi Willix, younger [SIC: oldest] daughter of Balthasar and Hannah (---) Willix, an Englishman of Flemish ancestry, married first John Gee. Her name, which is frequently mangled, is of Old Testament origin. Hazzelelponi (meaning "coming shadows") was a woman of the tribe of Judah, sister of Jezreel, and is
mentioned in 1 Chr. 4:3. The name appears on her gravestone as "Hasel Elpony" and elsewhere as Haselelpony, Hazelpanah, Hazaell, Hazelpony, Hazillpenah, Haselphena and Hasselphena.

Balthasar's wife and Hazelelponi's mother was murdered and thrown in the Oyster River.

The inscription on her gravestone reads:

• HASELELPONY
• WOOD WIDDOW
• OF OBADIAH WOOD
• DIED NOVEMr Ye
• 27, 1714 AGED
• 78 YEARS
• WRIGHT BLESSED
• ARE Ye DEAD Wo
• DIE IN Ye LORD

  ---

From http://ncpedia.org/biography/sothel-anna

"In 1648 Anna Willix's mother was waylaid, robbed, and murdered on the road from Dover to Exeter. She left three daughters: Hazelelponi, the eldest, then about twelve, Anna, and Susannah. Soon after the mother's death the family moved to Salisbury, Mass., where the father married Mary Hauxworth, a widow. Following his death in about March 1650/51, two of the children, presumably the younger two, were boarded for a time with a neighbor, Robert Tuck. Their stepmother, who became mentally ill, may already have been too sick to care for them. Within a few years all three sisters became servants. Hazelelponi served in a home in Weymouth, Anna became a servant in the residence of the Reverend Timothy Dalton in Hampton, and Susannah took service in a house nearby. ..."
"At the time of Anna's death, Hazelelponi was living in Ipswich, Mass., the widow of her second husband, Obadiah Wood. Susannah and her husband, Francis Jones, were then living in Portsmouth, N.H. In May 1695 the three appointed Hazelelponi's son-in-law, Thomas Pickering, to go to Albemarle as their attorney and represent their interests in Anna's estate. Although there was extensive litigation over the property, Pickering appears to have established the sisters' right to at least 12,000 acres, including the Sothel's home plantation on Salmon Creek. In 1697 Hazelelponi, Susannah, and Francis sold their interest in the estate to Pickering."

---

From The History of Martha's Vineyard, Dukes County, Massachusetts: Town annals
By Charles Edward Banks page 70-72 "John Gee" in the Annals of Edgartown

"Gee was "lost at sea," and is marked as deceased in the town records, Dec. 27, 1669.* He left a widow bearing the extraordinary name of Hazelelponah, which is a scriptural name according to Webster. She was living at the Vineyard in June, 1670, but had removed to Boston the next year, when she was received for baptism at the First Church in that town.4 There she remained for a number of years, until Obadiah Woods, a widower and a baker of Ipswich, met her, proposed, and they mere married. William Harris of Ipswich testified that he "well remembers Obadiah Woods intermarrage with the widdow Hazelelepony Gee .... that sd Wood brought her from Boston, that it was the Taulk of the Times when she came to Dwell at Ipswich."* It does not appear what caused this "Taulk of the Times," but it may be surmised that her name was enough to excite village gossip. The late Hon. James Savage, whose monumental work on the dictionary of the early settlers of New England gave him unusual opportunities of meeting with strange names, confessed fhat it was unique in his experience. As might be expected, the various records spell it in a number of ways, and in later generations it was clipped to Purney! She survived her second husband, and died at Ipswich, where a stone records the last resting place of "Haselelpony Wood widow of Obadiah Wood, died Novem'r the 27, 1714 Aged 78 years,." Hence she was born about 1636, and was first a widow when thirty-three years old. "

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From The New England Historical and Genealogical Register page 81-82. "The first mention of Hazelelponit Willix is found in the will of John Cooper, "now resident in Weymouth," dated 24 Feb. 1652/3. The wife of Henry Waltham, "in whose house I now sojourn," is to be fully paid, and "if there is anything remaining, Hazillpenah Willockes dwelling with Mr. Waltham shall have 10s." (Suffolk Wills, vol. 1, p. 96.) The Boston records show the birth of John, son of John Gee and Hazelpanah his wife, 27 May 1662. Hazelelponi Gee was baptized in the First Church, Boston, 19 day, 9 mo., 1671."

From The daughters of Balthazar Willix. By Virginia Hall. 1914. Page 18-19. Footnote: Essex Antiquarian, vol 9, page 79, for tombstone illustration.

Source: http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/w/o/o/Carolyn-e-Wood/GENE6-0016.html

Is first found as servant of Henry Waltham of Weymouth.

Married first: John Gee, abt. 1660, removed to Martha's Vineyard.

Burial: Unknown, Rowley Old Burying Hill, Essex, MA Moved 1: Abt. 1663, from Cambridge, Suffolk, MA, to Martha's Vineyard, MA Moved 2: 1671, Returned to Cambridge, Suffolk, MA

...well remembered Obadiah Woods Intermarriage with the widow Hazelelponi Gee near about sixty years ago he brought her from Boston that it was the talk of the times that her former husband Gee was a Dweller or inhabitant at Martha's Vinyard, later than when Obadiah brought his new wife "from Martha's Vinyard" it was "the talk of the town for many months." She brought with her into Obadiah Woods family a maiden daughter named Mary. I was well acquainted with the family & the said Mary who we used to call Mary Gee till she Intermarried with one Thomas Pickerin who lived at Piscataqua & the said Mary is still Living there for ought any thing I know for I never heard of her Death. [Deposition of William Harris, April 26, 1732, Suffolk Court File 33564; quoted in The New England Historical Genealogical Register, January 1914, page 82].

Headstone Inscription: HASELELPONY WOOD WIDDOW OF OBADIAH WOOD DIED NOVEMR YE 27, 1714 AGED 78 YEARS WRIGHT BLESSED ARE YE DEAD WO DIE IN YE LORD

Burial: Rowley Old Burying Hill, Essex, MA Moved 1: Abt. 1663, from Cambridge, Suffolk, MA, to Martha's Vineyard, MA Moved 2: 1671, Returned to Cambridge, Suffolk, MA

↑ 1.0 1.1 1 Balthasar Willix, in Noyes, Sybil; Charles Thornton Libby; and Walter Goodwin Davis. Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire. (Portland, Maine: Southworth Press, 1928-1939), 759. Hazelelponi (Willix), servant of Henry Waltham of Weymouth, see N. E. Reg. 5: 303. She m. 1st John Gee of Boston and Martha's Vineyard, m. 2d aft. 19 Nov. 1671 Obadiah Wood of Ipsw., d. 27 Nov. 1718, ag. 78 (gr.st.). Gee ch: Mary, m. Thomas Pickering; John, b. in Boston 1662; Anna, m. Samuel Hodgkins of Gloucester; Martha, m. Thomas Cotes. See vol. 2, Hist. of Martha's Vineyard (Annals of Edgartown, p. 70, of Tisbury, p. 13); Essex Antiq. 8: 164.

2.0 2.1 2.2 Obadiah Wood, in Smith, Dean Crawford, and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. The Ancestry of Eva Belle Kempton 1878-1908. (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1996-2008), 476. … Hazelephony (Willix), … born say 1640, died in Ipswich 27 November 1714, aged 78 years, widow of John Gee and daughter of Balthasar and Hannah (_____) Willix.

3.0 3.1 Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records of Ipswich, Massachusetts to End of the Year 1849. (Salem, Massachusetts: Essex Institute, 1910, 1919), 2:715. Wood, Hasel Eupony, wid. Obadiah, [died] Nov. 27, 1714, a. 78 y. (gravestone record, Old Burying Hill)

https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/MPRG-83D/hazelelponi-willix-1...

• http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2012/03/balthasar-and-hazelelpo...
• http://brazoriaroots.com/p10170.htm
• Charles Thornton Libby, Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire (Portland, Maine: The Southward Press, 1928), 255.
• The New England Historical and Genealogical Register; (Online database: NewEnglandAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001), (Orig. Pub. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA. The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 148 vols., 1847-1994) 50: 47.
• NEHGR, 68: 82.
• The Lincolnshire origin of some Exeter settlers by Sanborn, V. C. (Victor Channing), 1867-1921; Hall, Virginia S Published 1914.  Hall, Virginia, "The Daughters of Balthazar Willix of Exeter." page 18 Grave reads:

HASELELPONY WOOD WIDDOW OF OBADIAH WOOD DIED NOVEMR YE 27, 1714 AGED 78 YEARS WRIGHT BLESSED ARE YE DEAD WO DIE IN YE LORD

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jun 17 2021, 18:14:49 UTC