Margaret Thacher

Margaret (Webb) Thacher (1625 - 1693), only known child of Henry Webb and probably Dowsabel Smith, was baptized 25 September 1625 at Salisbury, England. She died at the age of 67 on 4 February 1693/4 at Boston, Mass. She was named during the Salem witch trials but no arrest warrant was issued.

Margaret married (1) Jacob Sheafe (also known as Sheaffe) about September 1642 by special license, with whom she had at least eight children. Margaret's husband died intestate on 22 March 1658/9 at Boston. In November 1659 the value of his estate was rendered at an astounding £8,528.08s.03d. Jacob Sheafe is characterized in the literature as "opulent Jacob". He was interred in a tomb at Boston's King's Chapel Burying Ground

Less than one year later Margaret's mother Dowsabel died in February 1660 at Boston, followed by her father seven months thereafter. Thus, at age 35, the widow Margaret (Webb) Sheafe was not only the sole heir of her husband's large estate, but principal executrix of her father's estate at Boston, inventoried at the almost equally astounding sum of £7,819.05s.2d. In her father's extensive will she was given a lump sum of £500 as her immediate legacy plus numerous properties throughout Boston to hold, occupy, use and/or rent during her lifetime. Upon her death the property was to be divided between her two living daughters, Elizabeth and Mehitable, or their respective heirs. If by a second marriage she had further children, the first born child of such marriage was to receive a legacy from the maternal grandfather of £400.

After June 1664 Margaret married (2) Reverend Thomas Thacher as his second wife. Rev. Thacher had been the pastor of the Weymouth, Massachusetts church, until shortly after his first wife's death. He then relocated to Boston where he practiced medicine for several years mixed with occasional preaching, before associating on 4 August 1667 with the Boston First Church, where the widow Margaret Sheafe was a member and where all of her children had been baptized. No written record of Margaret's marriage to Rev. Thacher exists, but it likely occurred after Rev. Thacher relocated to Boston.

Margaret Webb Thacher was interred at King's Chapel Burying Ground at Boston with the following inscription, "Here lyeth interred ye body of Mrs. Margaret Thacher, formerly wife of Mr. Jacob Sheafe, and lately wife of the Rev. Thomas Thatcher, Æ 68, obit 23d February 1693."

Margaret Webb Thacher BIRTH Sep 1625 Salisbury, Wiltshire Unitary Authority, Wiltshire, England DEATH 4 Feb 1694 (aged 68) Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA BURIAL Kings Chapel Burying Ground Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA PLOT in Sheafe tomb MEMORIAL ID 48078398 · View Source

Margaret Webb was the only known child of Henry Webb and an unknown first wife of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England and Boston, Mass. She was baptized at St. Edmund in Salisbury Sept. 25, 1625 and died Feb. 4, 1693/4 at Boston, Mass., Æ 69.

Margaret m. (1) by special license dated 7 Sep 1643, Jacob Sheafe with whom she had eight known children, but only two of the children apparently survived, and were named in the April 1660 will of her father, Henry Webb of Boston. Margaret's husband died intestate Mar. 22, 1658/9 at Boston and in November 1659 the value of his estate was rendered at an astounding £8,528.08s.03d. Jacob Sheafe is characterized in the literature as "opulent" Jacob. He is interred here with a table top tomb:

• Here lyeth interred ye body of Jacob Sheafe, of Boston, who for some time lived at Cranbrook, in Kent, in Ould Ingland. Hee deceased 22d of March 1658 [1658/9], aged 42 years.

Less than one year later Margaret's step-mother, Dowsabel (Smith) Webb, died in February 1660/1 at Boston followed by her father seven months thereafter. Thus, at age 35 the widow Margaret (Webb) Sheafe was not only the heir to her husband's large estate, but principal executrix of her father's estate at Boston, inventoried at the almost equally astounding sum of £7,819.05s.2d. In her father's extensive will she was given a lump sum of £500 as her immediate legacy plus numerous properties throughout Boston to hold, occupy, use and/or rent during her lifetime. Upon her death the property was to be divided between her two living daughters, Elizabeth and Mehitable, or their respective heirs. If by a second marriage she had further children, the first born child of such marriage was to receive a legacy from the maternal grandfather of £400.

Margaret m. (2) after June 1664 Rev. Thomas Thacher as his 2nd wife. In her father's will dated April 1660, Henry Webb left numerous pastors, pastoral teachers, deacons and elders of churches small tokens, including to "Mr. Thomas Thacher, Pastor of ye Church of Christ in Weimouth, my Antient friend, as a token of my love, £4." In 1660 Rev. Thacher was 40 years old and hardly ancient in age, suggesting that Henry Webb had likely known Rev. Thacher for a long time, perhaps prior to his arrival in New England in 1635.

Until shortly after his first wife's death, Rev. Thacher had been the pastor of the Weymouth, Mass. church. He then relocated to Boston where he practiced medicine for several years mixed with occasional preaching before associating on Aug. 4, 1667 with the Boston First Church. The First Church is where the widow Margaret Sheafe was a member and where all of her children had been baptized. No written record of Margaret's marriage to Rev. Thacher exists, but it likely occurred after Rev. Thacher relocated to Boston. It is certain that they were husband and wife by 1669 when Rev. Thacher and wife Margaret gave a power of attorney for collecting a debt owed to the Webb estate by persons then residing in Maryland. There are no known children by Margaret's second marriage.

Margaret was interred at King's Chapel Burying Ground at Boston with the following inscription:

• Here lyeth interred ye body of Mrs. Margaret Thacher, formerly wife of Mr. Jacob Sheafe, and lately wife of the Rev. Thomas Thatcher, Æ 68, obit 23d February 1693 [i 1693/4.]

Repeated independent attempts to find any portion of the foregoing inscription at King's Chapel have failed.

These are the children of Margaret, all with her first husband, Jacob Sheafe:

• Elizabeth, b. 1 Oct 1644, d. 29 Aug 1718, m. (1) 7 Sep 1660 Robert GIBBS; m. (2) 20 March 1675 Jonathan CORWIN
• Samuel, b. 4 April, bapt. 9 April 1648
• Mary, bapt. 19 May 1650
• Sarah, b. 14 Sep, bapt. 23 Sep 1652
• Ebenezer, b. 4 Feb, bapt. 5 Feb 1653/4
• Marcy, b. 25 July, bapt. 29 July 1655
• Mehitable, b. 28 May, bapt. 30 May 1658, m. c. 1676 Sampson SHEAFE, b. St. Faith's Parish 26 Dec 1646, d. 1726, son of Edmund Sheafe (of Rev. Thomas Sheafe and Mary Wilson) and Elizabeth Juxon of St. Michael Pater Noster in the Royal, London. By 1671 Sampson had moved to Boston from London. He held some offices in Boston, but after 1693 had moved to Newcastle, NH. Sampson was still living on 6 Dec 1725 "when Judge Sewall found him sick abed at three in the afternoon." Mehitable and Sampson had five children born from 1677 to 1684/5.:
• Jacob, b. 23 July, bapt. 24 July 1659; d. 4 Aug 1659

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Family Members Parents Henry Webb 1600–1660

Spouses Jacob Sheafe 1616–1658 (m. 1642)

Photo Thomas Thacher 1620–1678 (m. 1664)

Children Elizabeth Sheafe Corwin 1644–1718

References

• https://gw.geneanet.org/tdowling?lang=en&pz=timothy+michael&nz=dowl...
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/48078398?memorialUpdated=Yes