Monday Is for Mothers: Mercy Moone (1723 - 1805)

I've been waiting for the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) to add the genealogical sketch of Elder Peter Worden, Sr., my maternal sixth great grandfather, to their database Western Massachusetts Families in 1790. It finally happened just before Christmas and had information that's new to me, including some about his wife Mercy* Moone.

Mercy, the daughter of Ebenezer Moon(e) and his wife Elizabeth, was born in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, possibly on November 10, 1723 (apparently her birth record was partially destroyed in a fire in the 1890s so the year is uncertain).

[Detail from A map of the colonies in Connecticut and Rhode Island, divided by counties & townships, from best authorities. Thomas Kitchin, London, 1758. Source: Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington, D.C.]

She married Peter Worden on August 18, 1749, in Coventry, northwest of her home town. Since Peter was born in 1728, his new wife could have been as much as five years older than he.

Peter served as Elder of the Baptist Church in Coventry and part of Warwick but by the 1760s falling church attendance and their growing family put strains on Peter's resources so when the chance to relocate to western Massachusetts arose in about 1770, the couple readily agreed to the move. They settled in New Providence, now known as Cheshire, in Berkshire County.

[Detail from Massachusetts, D.F. Sotzmann, Carl Ernst. Bohn, Paulus Schmidt (Engraver), Hamburg, Germany, 1796.

Source: Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington, D.C.]

Other than two lists of church members, there is no mention of Mercy in public records but when Elder Peter made his will on April 18, 1804, in it he called on their son Peter, whom he named executor, to take care of Mercy because she "is reduced in her rational and animal powers." 

Elder Peter survived Mercy who died on December 6, 1805. Her age at death is given as 80 but that could be the result of rounding.

I descend from this couple through their son Richmond Worden and his wife Orinda Lippett whose son Lyman married Elizabeth Brown--and the next generation is represented by my three times great grandparents, Porter Worden and Hannah Leonard, the earliest of my ancestors that we have a photograph of.


*There is some confusion about what her given name was--both Mary and Mercy appear in records. The sketch considers Mercy to be "probably correct" and spells her surname with a final "e".

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