Mary Magdalen Plaisted

Mary, daughter of Edward Rishworth Sr. and Susannah Wheelwright.

• [Wife of William White married May 1675 in Hampton, Essex, Massachusetts, United States. ?]
• Wife of John Sayward married April 6, 1680 in York, York, Maine, United States.
• [Wife of Phineas Hull married December 21, 1689 in ME. ?] ? Probably never married to Phineas Hull
• Wife of James Plaisted married about January 25, 1690 in York, York, Maine, United States.

Mother of

• Mary (Sister Marie Genevieve) Sayward
• Esther (Marie-Josephte Sayer) Sayward,
• Susannah Sayward,
• Hannah Sayward and
• John Sayward.
• Lydia Plaisted b. Jan. 4, 1696.
• Olive Plaisted b. May 1, 1698.
• Joseph Plaisted b. 1700.

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From page 666 of Old Kittery and Her Families By Everett Schermerhorn Stackpole

James Plaisted married Lydia, dau. of Richard and Lucretia (Williams) Hitchcock, (2) Mary, dau. of Edward and Susanna (Wheelwright) Rishworth and widow of John Sayward of York. She was born 8 Jan. 1660, was captured 25 Jan. 1692 and carried to Canada by Indians and there bapt. 8 Dec. 1693.

The record of Vital Records of York, Maine published in the Register contains the births of Mary, Susannah, Ester, Hannah and John Sayword, and Lydia and Olife Plaisteed, then further: "The following note had been added in the handwriting of the late Nathaniel G. Marshall:

• "Mary -- taken by Indians in 1692
• Esther -- carried to Canada ransomed
• & Mother -- the mother then m. James Plaisted
• [She was the dau of Edwd Rishworth --"][1]

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From page 35 of The Sayward Family: Being the History and Genealogy of Henry Sayward of York ... By Charles Augustus Sayward

The widow of John Sayward married James Plaisted of York, by whom she had several children. When the Indians made the attack on the town of York, Feb. 5, 1692, she had just been confined and was taken captive with her little babe and her children, Mary and Esther Sayward, and carried to Canada. Mather, in his Magnalia, gives the following account of that terrible journey:

"Mrs. James Plaisted, the wife of James Plaisted, was made a captive by the Indians about three weeks after delivery of a male child. They then took her with her infant off her bed and forced her to travel in her weakness the best part of a day without any respect of pity At night the cold ground in the open air her lodging, and for many a day she had no nourishment but a little water with a little bear's flesh, which rendered her so feeble, that_ she with her infant were not far from totally starved. Upon her cries to God there was at length some supply sent in by her master's taking a moose, the broth whereof recovered her. But she must now travel many days thro' woods, and swamps and rocks and over mountains, and frost and snow until she could stir no farther. Sitting down to rest, she was not able to rise, until her diabolical master helped her up, which, when he did, he took her child from her, and carried it unto a river, where, stripping it of the few rags it had, he took it by the heels and against a tree dashed out his brains and flung it into the river. So he returned unto the miserable mother, telling her she was now eased of her burden and must walk faster than she did before,"

She was carried to Montreal, where she remained until October, 1695, when she was ransomed by Matthew Cary.

Children of James and Mary (Sayward) Plaisted.

• 1. Lydia b. Jan. 4, 1696.
• 11. Olife b. May 1, 1698.
• 1n. Joseph b. 1700.

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http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mabgenealogy/genealogy/paf...

"Mary Plaisted, the wife of Mr. James Plaisted, was made a captive by the Indians about three weeks after her delivery of a male child.* They then took her with her infant off her bed and forced her to travel in this her weakness the best part of a day without any respect of pity. At night the cold ground in the open was her lodging, and for many a day she had no nourishment but a little water with a little bearflesh, which rendered her so feeble that she with her infant were not far from totally starved. Upon her cries to God there was at length some supply sent in by her master's taking a moose, the broth whereof recovered her. But she must now travel many days through woods and swamps and rocks, and over mountains and frost and snow, until she could stir no farther. Sitting down to rest, she was not able to rise until her diabolical master helped her up, which when he did, he took her child from her and carried it unto a river where, stripping it of the few rags it had, he took it by the heels and against a tree dashed out its brains and then flung it into the river. So he returned to the miserable mother, telling her she was now eased of her burden and must walk faster than she did before.

• Mary Rishworth Plaisted, daughter of Rev. John Plaisted of Wells, Maine. Although she was only thirty-two at the time of her capture, James Plaisted was her fourth husband; at least two of his predecessors had died quite young. In 1692 Mary Plaisted and two daughters by a previous marriage, eleven-year-old Mary Sayward and seven-year-old Esther Sayward, were captured at York, Maine, by Acadian Indians. Mary Plaisted was baptized by French Catholics at Montreal in 1693 but was redeemed in 1695; she returned to her family and the Congregational church. The two daughters, however, remained in Canada. The elder became a nun and was eventually the head of a mission school for girls; the younger married a Canadian merchant."
  

from "New Assaults from the Indians" and "The Condition of the Captives" by Cotton Mather in Puritans Among the Indians:Accounts of Captivity and Redemption, 1676 - 1724, edited Alden T. Vaughan and Edward W. Clark (Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1981), pp. 140 - 142

From Page 26 The Sayward Family: Being the History and Genealogy of Henry Sayward of York ...
By Charles Augustus Sayward

1. HENRY SAYWARD was born in England and came to America in 1637. He resided in Hampton and Portsmouth, N, H., and in York, Me., where he died 1679. His wife, Mary, died at York before Dec. 26,

2. JOHN, son of Henry (1) and Mary, was probably born about 1657 while his father was residing at Strawberry Bank, as Portsmouth was then called.

The earliest record of him is to be found in the town records of York, Me., June 26, 1679, when the town granted him "a Lott of land near about the folly." May 1, 1685, the town granted him the "Remainder of the ox Pasture." He was a mill-wright and carpenter and owned one fourth part of the saw-mill at Cape Neddick. He took the oath of allegiance with Samuel Sayward (probably his cousin) at a town meeting in York, March 22, 1680.

He was a grand juryman in 1684 and one of the Selectmen of York 1685.

He married Mary, daughter of Edward Rishworth of York, about 1680. This has been disputed, but Rishworth, in a deed to Mary Sayward, Oct. 16, 1682, Vol. 3, p. 12 1, York Co. Deeds, conveys certain land in consideration of the "love & affection which I bear unto my beloved daughter, Mar)- Sayward, wife of John Sayward." John Sayward, in a deed dated Oct. 17, 1682, recorded Vol. 3, p. 122, conveys land, "by me purchased of my father-in-law, Edw: Rishworth." These two witnesses seem to settle the matter beyond controversy.

Edward Rishworth was a very prominent man in Maine. He married Susan, daughter of John Wheelwright and was at Exeter with Wheelwright for a time where he was clerk of the Courts.

He held many important offices in Maine. He was a magistrate, recorder and one of the assistants and also representative from York for thirteen years

He owned large tracts of real estate and was engaged in lumbering and milling.

Children:

• 8. 1. Mary, b. April 4, 16S1.
• 9. 11. Susannah, b. May 9, 1683.
• 10. 1n. Esther, b. March 7, 1685.
• 11. 1v. Hannah, b. June 21, m. Joseph Swett.
• 12. v. John, b. Jan. 2, 1690.

He died 1689.

Phineas Hull and Mary Rishworth?

Many have recorded that Phineas Hull was married twice, first to Jerusha Hitchcock, and second to Mary Rishworth. This seems unlikely. Not only does it appear that many have thought Mary Rishworth had married into their family, but some have suggested a marriage prior to her birth, and up to 4 other marriages by the time she was 36( including surnames Dummer, Sayward, White, Hull, Plaisted). However, there are records that clarify her relationships, and they make the timing for marriage to Phineas problematic.

The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 31, 1877, Pages 218-219 (https://books.google.com/books?id=4ZHHdjDYyyYC&pg=PA219&lpg=PA219&d...) offers some convincing documentation.

First, it appears that Mary Rishworth was born around 1660. She is named as the wife of John Sayard by her father, Edward Rishworth, when Edward gave Mary all his real estate in York, Maine, 1682. In about 1698, James Plaisted lists the birth of his children, the last two with his surname, and five children born earlier with the surname of Sayward. The children born as Saywards were born between 1681 and 1690. The last two children were born in 1696 and 1698. Two of the Sayward children have birth month and years that coincide with daughters who were captured with Mary by Native Americans in January of 1692. There is also a record showing Mary as the granddaughter of Rev. John Wheelwright and naming her as the daughter of Edward Rishworth, his son-in-law. However, she has a surname of White, suggesting she was briefly married prior to marrying John Sayward. This is in 1679 when she would still be a teenager.

Based on the above information, Mary was born in 1660, married a person named White prior to 1679, was married to John Sayward in 1681, had children with him through January of 1690, was captured by Native Americans in 1692, and had her first child with James Plaisted in 1696. An additional record lists Mary as the widow of John Sayward in December, 1689, just before the last child was born. Cotton Mather, in the book, Magnalia, mentioned above, said Mary was captured in 1692, just after having given birth to a son. The child was killed by her captors. In this account, Mather appears to suggest this is a child of James Plaisted. There is no mention in these records suggesting she was married to Phineas Hull, and there would have been a very small window of opportunity.

IF Mary was listed as the widow of James Plaisted in December , 1689, and gave birth to his last child a month later, she could not have been the Mrs. Hull who was captured in the 1689 incident. If she had given birth to a son of James Plaisted by the fall of 1692, they would have been married by early in 1692. If the wife of Phineas Hull was returned in the fall of 1691, then there was an extremely short window of opportunity for Jerusha to die after her return, and for Phineas to marry Mary and have that marriage end within weeks or months.

If the records are accurate, then a marriage between Phineas Hull and Mary Rishworth would have been very brief and of no real consequence. It is much more likely that it never happened.