Mary Sawyer

Frank G. Lesure.
Mary Carter, First Wife of Nathaniel Sawyer of Lancaster, Massachusetts. The American Genealogist, January 2000, Vol. 75., pp. 51-54

The identity of Mary Sawyer, the first wife of Nathaniel Sawyer, has been the subject of uncertainty and speculation

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Carter-2787

Carter-2787 created 21 Jun 2011 | Last modified 25 Aug 2021

Mary (Carter) Sawyer (1673 - aft. 1721)

Mary Sawyer formerly Carter

Born 24 Jul 1673 in Woburn, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay

Daughter of Samuel Carter Sr. and Eunice (Brooks) Kendall

Sister of Samuel Carter, Samuel Carter Jr., John Carter, Thomas Carter Sr., Nathaniel Carter, Eunice Carter, Abigail (Carter) Jameson and Sarah Parker [half]

Wife of Nathaniel Sawyer — married about 1692 in Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts Bay

Mother of Amos Sawyer, Ephraim Sawyer, Samuel Sawyer, John Sawyer, Ezra Sawyer, Thomas Sawyer, Nathaniel Sawyer and Phinehas Sawyer

Died after 1721 [location unknown]

Biography

Mary Carter was born in Woburn (Worcester County), Massachusetts, on July 24, 1673.[1] She was the daughter of Samuel Carter and his wife Eunice Brooks Carter.

Mary married Nathaniel Sawyer of Lancaster, Massachusetts, in 1692 or earlier.[2]</ref> Eleven children of Nathaniel Sawyer were born between 1693 and 1721; not all of the birth and baptism records name the mother. Mary Sawyer was the mother of at least the first several children and possibly all of them. Claude Barlow (cited by Lundstedt[2]%29 states that Mary died after 23 September 1709. She may not have died until after 1721, when the youngest child was born. Lesure suggests that Nathaniel Sawyer might have married his second wife Elizabeth ________ in or before 1715 (indicating that Mary had died by then). He notes that an Elizabeth Sawyer owned the covenant and was baptized in the First Church in Lancaster on 26 June 1715, while Nathaniel Sawyer joined the same church on 25 March 1716 and six of his children were baptized there on 6 May 1716.[3] In any event, Mary died before before 1724, when Nathaniel Sawyer was recorded as being married to Elizabeth.[2]

Disputed Identity

The identity of Mary Sawyer, the first wife of Nathaniel Sawyer, has been the subject of uncertainty and speculation. Her name was Mary. Some sources don't give a last name at birth. Other researchers have identified her as Mary Houghton or Mary Wilder.[3] Based on the age of her children, it is reasonable to assume that she was born in the early 1670s. It is also reasonable to guess that she was born in or near Lancaster, Massachusetts, where her husband lived and where her children were born). Lancaster town records from the years 1674 to 1680 (a period that presumably includes her birth) and 1686 to 1726 (the period when she was married) were lost, but partial information for the missing years was preserved in church records and family memorials.[4] No records of the marriages of Nathaniel Sawyer are known.[3] There are no women named Mary Houghton and Mary Wilder known to have been born in Lancaster in the appropriate time period who are good candidates for being Mary, wife of Nathaniel Sawyer.

Analysis by Frank Lesure, published in 2000, strongly supports the hypothesis that she was Mary Carter, daughter of Samuel Carter and Eunice Brooks of Woburn, Massachusetts.[3] A 1719 deed from Thomas Carter of Lancaster (brother of Mary Carter) to Thomas Sawyer of Lancaster identifies Samuel Sawyer as the nephew of Thomas Carter. Lesure reviewed the possible ways that Thomas Carter might have been the uncle of Samuel Sawyer, and ruled out all explanations other than the possibility that Samuel's mother Mary was the sister of Thomas Carter.[3]

Sources

↑ Vital Records of Woburn, Massachusetts, p. 43
↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lundstedt
↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Lesure
↑ Nourse, pp. 3-4
Frank G. Lesure. Mary Carter, First Wife of Nathaniel Sawyer of Lancaster, Massachusetts. The American Genealogist, January 2000, Vol. 75., pp. 51-54. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .)
Lundstedt, Alan P. Descendants (1117 families/11 generations) of John and Agnes Sawyer. http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/l/u/n/Alan-P-Lundstedt-C... . Citing:
Cathryn A. Sawyer, Sawyer family, 1616 to 1980, (1980: private pub.)
Claude W. Barlow, The Children of Thomas Sawyer of Lancaster, The American Genealogist (TAG) 1954, Vol 30, pp 74-78.
Almira Larkin White. Genealogy of the desc. of John White of Wenham and Lancaster MA 1638-1900 (1900-1909: by Almira Larkin White).
Nourse, Henry S. The Birth, Marriage, and Death Register, Church Records and Epitaphs of Lancaster, Massachusetts: 1643-1850. Clinton, Massachusetts: W. J. Coulter, 1890.
Johnson, Edward. Woburn Records of Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Marriage Intentions, from 1640 to 1900 (Woburn, Mass., 1890) Part 1, Page 43
Carter, Mary, d. of Samuel, July 24, 1673