Samuel Weed
of Derby and Hartford,
Connecticut.
On the fourth Tuesday of April [28 April] 1747, Samuel Weed of Derby, with two others, was indicted for counterfeiting before a special superior court held at New Haven, Connecticut, and was found guilty, he having confessed to the crime. It was ordered that he forfeit all of his estate to the government [Pub. Rec. CT 1744-50, 302-3]. In December 1748, he escaped from jail in New Haven, but was seized in Symsbury in Hartford county [ibid., 442]. In October 1749, Samuel Weed was in the common jail at Hartford, and, upon his plea to be released, the Assembly resolved that he be released subject to the condition that he not be allowed to leave the township of Hartford [ibid., 489].
Date of birth: 18 July 1704.
Place of
birth: Recorded at Derby.
Date of death: after 1759.
Place of
death: Hartford?
If his second marriage has been
correctly assigned, then he had a son born in August 1760, and he
was therefore still alive late in 1759. It is difficult to be
certain, but the terms of his release suggest that he stayed in
Hartford for the remainder of his life.
Father: John Weed, b.
say 1672, d. ca. 2 May 1739, rec. at Derby.
Mother: Mary Beaman,
d. 27 October 1743, rec. at Derby.
Spouse:
(1) Sarah Richardson, b. 20 April 1710, rec. at Waterbury.
See her page for a discussion of the
evidence.
Probable second spouse:
(2) Mrs. Ruth Simons.
On 10 May 1753, John Simons, son of the
wife of Samuel Weed, died, recorded at the First Church of
Hartford [First Ch. Hartford Rec., 262]. The same records show
the baptisms of three children of Samuel and Ruth Weed [ibid.,
215, 217, 222, details below]. Since the divorce record of Abel
Weed indicates that his father had married a second wife named
Ruth [Hartford co., CT Superior Court Divorces, FHL film
#1,637,918, see below], it seems likely that the Samuel Weed who
married Ruth Simons should be identified with the counterfeiter,
who we know to have been residing at Hartford during this period.
Children by Sarah
Richardson:
The births of the children are
recorded in vital records appended to Derby Deeds [all but Abel:
Derby, CT Deeds 4: A2, FHK film #4,059; Abel: ibid., 5: 2]. The
distribution of the estate of Sarah Weed (date uncertain, but
after 16 May 1748) names the same seven sons, namely Samuel Weed,
David Weed, Nathll Weed, Dan Weed, Reuben Weed, John
Weed, and Abel Weed, of whom it is noted (in an addition also
made at an uncertain date) that the two eldest sons, Samuel Weed
and David Weed, died in their minority [Woodbury, CT Probate
Register 2: 280 (47), FHL film #6,171]. The estate of Samuel Weed
Jr. (below) names his five surviving brothers.
Samuel Weed, of Waterbury, CT,
b. 4 March 1731/2, rec. at Derby, d.s.p. shortly bef. 10 April
1750.
On 10 April 1750, Andrew Weed, chief
creditor of Samuel Weed Jr., late of Waterbury, deceased, was
granted the administration of Samuel Weed Jr. An inventory is
dated only by the year 1750. On 5 December 1754, the estate was
distributed to the five surviving brothers, all of the whole
blood, namely Nathanael Weed, Dan Weed, Reuben Weed, John Weed,
and Abel Weed. [Woodbury, CT Probate Register 3: 50, FHL film
#6,172]
David Weed, b. 16 January
1733/4, rec. at Derby, d.s.p 1748×54.
David Weed was apparently still alive on 16
May 1748, as he was mentioned in the initial distribution of the
estate of his mother, but he died not long after that, and
certainly before 5 December 1754, when he does not appear in the
distribution of the estate of his brother Samuel.
Nathaniel Weed, b. 3 June
1736, rec. at Derby, d. SC, 18 December 1797 × 27 March 1798;
m. Mrs. Margaret (McCurdy) Young.
Nathaniel Weed moved from Derby to
Newburgh, Ulster (now Orange) co., NY, where he appears (signing
next to his brother John) in 1775 in a pledge of loyalty to the
Continental Congress in their fight against the British
Parliament [Hist. Orange co., NY, 99]. He is almost certainly the
Nathaniel Weed Sr. who appears in Abbeville co., SC at about the
same time as his brother Reuben Weed, whose move to South
Carolina is well documented. Nathaniel Weed was in John Bowie's
Independent company of militia after the fall of Charleston in
the American Revolution [SC AA8317, FHL film #2,411,015]. On 7
and 16 July 1784, he had a grant in South Carolina for 440 acres
on branches of the Golden Grove, a branch of the Saludy River [SC
Land Grants, Class 1, 1: 535, FHL film #22,532; Class 2, 1: 51,
FHL film #22,544]. On 4 July 1785, Nathaniel Weed had another
grant for 192 acres on the branches of Long Cane Creek in
Ninety-Six district [SC Land Grants, Class 1, 4: 205, FHL film
#22,534; Class 2, 6: 43, FHL film #22,546]. On 25 and 26 January
1787, Nathaniel Weed, planter, and his wife Margret of Abbeville
co., SC sold the 440 acre grant (located in Greenville co., SC)
to John Bowie [Greenville co., SC Deed Book A: 298, FHL film
#24,013]. The will of Nathaniel Weed reads in its entirety (with
"/" indicating a new line): "December the 18th
1797 / one half to my wife During / life or Widdowhood the other
/ Half to my Daughter margret weed Robert / Crawford Senr.
Margret Weed Jas. Young senr. / Test / John Young / Mary her O
mark Hhill [sic] / John Huston" with the signature
of Nathaniel Weed to the right of the last three signatures
[Abbeville co., SC Probate Records, Box 99, Pack 2432, FHL film
#181,726]. On 27 March 1798, Margaret Weed (called
"widow" in the version in the Will Book), Robt.
Crawford, and James Young were granted letters of administration
(with the will annexed) for the estate of Nathaniel Weed Sr.
[ibid; Abbeville co., SC Will Book 1: 204, FHL film #22,825]. His
wife was apparently the Margerat Weed who was named as a daughter
in the will of John McCurdy Sr. of Long Cane, Ninety-Six dist.,
SC, dated 28 April 1784, which also named her son John Young,
presumably a son by a previous marriage ["I give to my
Daughter Margerat Weed one shilling sterling, and to her son John
Young one guinea." Abbeville co., SC Probate Records, Box
65, Pack 1582, FHL film #181,709; also mentioned was a "cows
prise sold to Nathl. Weed"].
Dan Weed, b. 10 March 1738/9,
rec. at Derby, living 5 December 1754.
Dan Weed was still alive when the estate of
his brother Samuel was distributed on 5 December 1754. I have not
found him in any later record. Since he appears simply as
"Dan" in the three known records which name him (birth,
mother's estate, brother's estate), that may have been his full
name.
Reuben Weed, b. 16 October 1740, rec. at Derby, d. Abbeville co.,
SC, 11 November 1791 × 28 March 1792;
m. Martha
_____, d. Abbeville co., SC,
22 September × 2 October 1809.
John Weed, b. 9 May 1742, rec.
at Derby; living 1790, Orangeburgh dist., SC?;
m. _____.
John Weed moved from Derby to Newburgh,
Ulster (now Orange) co., NY, where he appears (signing next to
his brother Nathaniel) in 1775 in a pledge of loyalty to the
Continental Congress in their fight against the British
Parliament [Hist. Orange co., NY, 99]. Since his brother Reuben
certainly went from New York to South Carolina, and his brother
Nathaniel probably did also, it is conjectured that he was the
same person as the John Weed who later appears in Orangeburgh
district, SC. This John Weed received a land grant for 144 acres
in Orangeburgh district on the waters of the Saludy River on 5
November 1787 [SC Land Grants, Class 1, 21: 10, FHL film # 22542;
ibid., Class 2, 22: 154, FHL film #22,551], and appears in the
1790 census with two males 16 and over, 2 males under 16, and two
females [1790 cen., SC, 95]. His widow may have been the Margaret
Weed(?) of Pendleton dist., SC, whose will, dated 10 March 1807,
proved 15 June 1807, mentioned her daughter Sarah, her daughter
Mary, her son James, her son John, and her daughter Peggy
[however, the reading of the surname, which appears only once in
the record, is very uncertain, so this record might be a red
herring: Pendleton dist., SC Will Book A: 84, FHL film #22,860;
the abstract in Virginia Alexander, Colleen Morse Elliott, and
Betty Willie, Pendleton District and Anderson County, S.C.
Wills, Estates, Inventories, Tax Returns and Census Records,
36, reads the surname as Weed].
Abel Weed, of Little Britain,
Ulster (now Orange) co., NY, b. 5 November 1744, rec. at Derby;
m. 6 February 1766, Dorcas Weed, of Symsbury,
CT, petition for div., 1 January 1773.
Divorce records from the Superior Court of
Hartford, CT give the date of marriage, and show that on 1
January 1773, Dorcas Weed of Symsbury filed a petition for
divorce from Abel Weed, formerly of Little Britain, Ulster co.,
NY, stating that she lived with him until May 1767, when he
deserted her, and that he was then in parts unknown in the
company of Ruth Weed, his father's wife, with whom he was
presumed to be living in adultery [Hartford co., CT, Superior
Court Divorces, FHL film #1,637,918 (warning: the records on this
film do not seem to be arranged in any order), also abstracted in
Barbara B. Ferris & Grace Louise Knox, Connecticut
Divorces - Superior Court Records for the Counties of Lichfield
1752-1922 and Hartford 1740-1849 (Heritage Books, 1989), 9].
Probable children by
Ruth:
As indicated above under Samuel
Weed's probable second marriage, the following three individuals
were children of a Samuel and Ruth Weed, all baptized at the
First Church of Hartford, with their father probably to be
identified with the man who heads this page.
Sarah Weed, bp. 2 September
1753.
[First Ch. Hartford Rec., 215]
Jerusha Weed (daughter), bp.
30 November 1755, d. 20 May 1756.
[First Ch. Hartford Rec., 217, 264]
David Weed, bp. 10 August
1760.
[First Ch. Hartford Rec., 222]
Reference abbreviations
First Ch. Hartford Rec. = Historical Catalogue of the First Church in Hartford 1633-1885 (1885).
Hist. Orange co., NY = Sam'l W. Eager, An outline History of Orange County (Newburgh, 1846-7).
Pub. Rec. CT 1744-50 = Charles J. Hoadly, The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, from May, 1744, to November, 1750, inclusive (Hartford, 1876).
Compiled by Stewart Baldwin
First uploaded 14 August 2011.