[To the right honourable, the Earl of Shelbourne, His Majesty's principal Secretary of State for the Southern Department. This plan of the colony of Connecticut in North-America. 1766. Source: Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington, D.C. ]
[Ancestry.com. Connecticut Town Birth Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection) [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data: White, Lorraine Cook, ed. The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records. Vol. 1-55. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1994-2002.]
Her first husband was Jesse Seaton, a resident of Plainfield (in neighboring Windham County about 12 miles north of Preston), whom she married on November 15, 1769.
[Ancestry.com. Connecticut, Town Marriage Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection) [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data: White, Lorraine Cook, ed. The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records. Vol. 1-55. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1994-2002.]
Less than a year and half later, on March 23, 1771, Jesse Seaton died before he was able to sign his last will which one of his doctors had written at his direction and this noncupative will was admitted to probate. Except for a token sum "that he gave to his Brothers & Sisters to Prevent them from Braking his will in the disposing of his Estate," Jesse gave everything to his 28-year-old wife. There is no mention of any children.
[Notes : Probate Packets, Pope, Seth-Shepard, John, 1747-1880. Ancestry.com. Connecticut, Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Connecticut County, District and Probate Courts.]
Five years later Dorothy married her second cousin Joseph Gates,* a 54-year-old widower with six children (five daughters and one son). The couple had three sons, the oldest of which, also named Joseph (1776-1854), is my direct ancestor.
In 1795 when Joseph Sr. died at the age of 75, he had made provision in his will for his "loving wife Dorothy" including a life estate in his dwelling house, all his household furniture, and "one Good Riding Horse, Side Saddle & Bridle, & a Cow."
[Ancestry.com. Connecticut, Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Connecticut County, District and Probate Courts.]
Dorothy survived Joseph by ten years, dying on February 9, 1805, at the age of 62. The first entries in the inventory of her estate give us a view into her style of dress. She owned cotton dresses made of "callico" and chintz** for everyday wear but Dorothy could deck herself out in a black silk gown with a silk "cloke" and bonnet when she chose.
[Notes : Probate Packets, Gardner, David-Geer, H, 1748-1880. Ancestry.com. Connecticut, Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Connecticut County, District and Probate Courts.]
And among her household goods there was a mirror and a rocking chair with a cushion for comfort.
She and Joseph are buried in Hopeville Cemetery in Griswold, New London County, Connecticut.
My descent is through their granddaughter Mary "Polly" Gates whose daughter Mercy Ann Darling was the mother of Jesse David Webb, the father of my maternal grandmother Anna Delilah Webb.
*They shared great grandparents Stephen Gates (1634-1707) and Sarah Woodward (1642-1707).
**For an illustrated discussion of these fabrics look here and here.
© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.
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