BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION:
Mary
NANCE 1 was born the
23rd of September 1795 to Joseph Nance and Mary Henley and was
baptised in the First Congregational Church when just four days
old. (This was a common practice). A Although she came into a
family with two older siblings, named Joseph and Margaret, Mary
spent most of her life in Marblehead without a family. By
January 1st of 1798, when Mary was just two years old, papers
were filed in the Essex County Probate Court for both of her
parents, who had recently died. Because Mary's brother
and sister were from her father's first marriage to Grace Bessom,
their guardianship was granted to their maternal grandmother,
Sarah Bessom, widow of Captain Phillip Bessom. (See Joseph Nance
Documents) Mrs. Bessom was the administrator of the Estate
of Joseph Nance as well. Guardianship for Mary was given
to Nathaniel Lindsay D, who was also the administrator of the estate of
her mother, Mary (Henley) Nance. Captain Lindsey had also been
the guardian for Mary 's mother, Mary Henley when she was orphaned
at age 19, possibly because he was her uncle (her mother, Sarah
Lindsey's, brother) but more likely because he was a well-to-do
sea captain and could afford to accept such a duty.
Unfortunately
for two-year-old Mary, Captain Lindsey died in July of that same
year. Because of the death of Captain Lindsey, the
guardianship of Mary was then passed to one of the men who provided
the preformance bond for Captain Lindsey at the time he filed
guardianship papers for Mary. The purpose of the performance
bond is to guarantee the proper performance of the duties of
a guardian. Two men put up the bond to back up the person acting
as guardian. At the death of Captain Lindsey, guardianship legally
passed to the first of these two men, Nathan Bowen E. (This
does not mean that she lived with him.)
Mr. Bowen
was required by the court to handle the money, both income and
expenses of Mary until she reached the age of 21. He was also
accountable to the Probate Court for this. On April 20th 1814,
when Mary was 18, Mr. Bowen filed papers in the probate court
F with
an account of his guardianship and the use of Mary's money. Mary
had inherited the only two things listed in her mother's estate;
One was a chamber in a dwelling house 2, the other was a four acre
parcel of "mowing" land near the ropewalk at Newton
3.
(Her mother had inherited both of these from her father, Benjamin
Hendley, at his death.) From the estate of Joseph Nance, Mary
received $21.56 and a silk cloak. 4
Mr. Bowen
sold the cloak for $18 and the land for $140 to help defray the
cost of Mary's care. Mary received rent for the chamber, and
had many expenses associated with its upkeep, including floor
oil, paint, masonry repairs and roofing.
Another expense
listed for Mary's care is to Mrs. Mary Vinning 5 for "boarding said minor
for 270 weeks (Just over 5 years) at $1 per week. Since Mary
owned the chamber, it is possible that Mrs. Vinning was a widow
hired as a companion to live with Mary and provide for her care. There
were also expenses for schooling and sundries during that same
time period.
In March of the
following year, in a ceremony at Marblehead, nineteen-year-old
Mary Nance became the bride of Richard Preston of Salem.B They
made their home first in Salem where they had five of their six
children, from 1816 to 1824. After moving to the town of
Beverly, just north of Salem, Mary had another son, William,
who died shortly after his birth in 1830. Mary also died in Beverly
in October of 1834 Cat the age of 39. At the time of her death her
children were, Richard, age 18, Mary Ann, age 16, Sarah,
age 14, James, age 12, and Ebenezer, age 10.
Footnotes
1 When James Whitmore Preston had LDS temple work performed
for his mother in the Logan Temple, 31 May 1887, the information
he gave for her was: Mary Rand, b. 23 Sep 1797 d.
2 Oct 1834. Although on the 1887 record he lists her maiden
name as Rand, both on his patriarchal blessing record (10 April
1854) and his endowment record (26 Jan 1861) he does not state
a maiden name for his mother. Since his mother died when
he was twelve years old, and she herself an orphan at age 2,
it is quite possible that he did not know her maiden name.
From 28 October
1876 to 26 May 1877, James W. Preston served in the Northeastern
States Mission, which included his native Massachusetts. I believe
at this time he looked in the records from Salem and Beverly
townships and recorded the names and dates of his family. There
is further evidence of this, in that he did temple work for cousins
who died before he was born. He could not have known them, nor
would their information likely be written in a family bible,
as they were not immediate family. I believe it is quite possible
that in looking at his mother's death record, James mistook the
handwritten name "Nance" for "Rand". There
were many Rand families in the area, so it was a name he was
familiar with. Although it is difficult to see how the two names
could be mistaken in print, if handwritten one could be mistaken
for the other. For instance, "N" could be mistaken
for "R"and "ce" for "d," especially
if the "e" has a large loop. The birth James lists
for his mother (23 Sep 1797) in the Logan Temple record is very
close to the christening date of Mary Nance (27 Sep 1795).
Further, the
family records of Isaac Preston (son of James W. Preston) state
that his grandmother, Mary Rand, was born in Marblehead, Massachusetts.
There is no record of a Mary Rand in Marblehead. There is, however,
a marriage record in 1816 for Richard Preston and Mary Nance
which is the same year the first child of Richard and Mary Preston
was born.
In addition, Richard
and Mary Preston named one of their daughters "Sarah Hindley
Preston". The maternal grandmother of Mary Nance is
named Sarah Hendley.
2 When
this chamber was originally inherited by Mary's mother it was
one half of a house. The entire house was described as a "Mansion"
but was described in Benjamin Hendley's will (see Benjamin Hendley
Documents) in two parts, the east and the west, suggesting it
was rented out in parts. Mary Henley inherited only part of the
house, called a chamber, which she in turn passed on to her daughter.
(See Marblhead
Images for an example of a possible divided house on Orne
Street, Marblehead)
3 From Marblehead, pg. 301 "By
1724 the Commoners had divided the land of Marblehead into three
divisions: Upper (near Salem), Middle and Lower (toward Little
Harbor). As it grew more crowded in Barnegat and the older section,
the people moved to Mid-town, calling it Newtown."
A ropewalk is a long building, sometimes up to 300 feet long,
where a ropemaker walks backwards with the rope as it is twisted.
4 There are no articles of clothing listed
in Mary Nance's will. There are, however, 10 items of women's
clothing listed among Joseph Nance's possessions, among them
is this silk cloak. It is also the most expensive piece of clothing.
It is possible that the cloak belonged to Mary's mother and Mrs.
Bessom gave it to Mary when she settled Joseph Nance's estate.
Footnote 1-4 NHC,
9/2001 |
REFERENCES:
See DOCUMENTS
for full references
A Vital
Records of Marblehead, Massachusetts Vol. I - Births
Essex Institute [Salem, Ma] 1916
US/Can 974.45/S1 V2e v.4
B Vital Records of Marblehead, Massachusetts
Vol. II- Marriages and Deaths
Essex Institute [Salem, Ma] 1916
US/Can 974.45/S1 V2e v.4
C Vital
Records of Beverly, Mass. Vol. II- Marriages and Deaths
Essex Institute [Salem, Ma] 1916
US/Can 974.45/B2 V2b v.2
D Essex
County Probate
Book page 225/508
FHL film # 861,445
E Essex
County Probate
Book page 152/301
FHL film # 861,445
F Essex
County Probate
Book page 313/343
FHL film # 861,445
Marblehead by Priscilla S.Lord and Virginia C.
Gamage
[Chilton Book Company: 1972]
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