Abigail Packard

Citations

1. [S576] History of Weymouth Massachusetts (Weymouth, Mass.: Weymouth Historical Society, 1923), vol. 4, pp. 454.
2. [S578] Karle S. Packard, "Samuel Packard of Bridgewater, Massachusetts and His Family", Packard's Progress 17 (Feb. 1991): The birth order and birthdates for the children in these accounts are widely variant and often obviously incorrect. The first common error to be corrected is the identity of the first child, born in England, but whose baptism has not yet been found. The name of this child does not appear in any of the early records, but there has arisen an unfounded practice of using the name Elizabeth, presumably because that was the mother's name. This must be incorrect as it leads to obvious contradictions, and the only reasonable conclusion is that the first child was Mary. This is based on the following argument:
   1. The earliest baptism we have for this family is that of Elizabeth, Samuel, Hannah and Israel on 19 July 1646 in Hingham. ("The Hobart Journal", NEHGR, CXXI, 19)
   2. If Elizabeth were baptized in England it is unlikely that she would be baptized again, and even more unlikely that a baby would be brought on such a dangerous voyage without baptism.
   3. Mary was not among those being baptized on the above date, but she was there and probably about nine years old as she was married and a mother eleven years later. Therefore, she must have been baptized earlier and that in England.
   4. Mary was married about 1656, or nine years before Elizabeth, and therefore, probably the older of the two. In fact, she had five children by the time Elizabeth was married.
   
   Assuming that the order listed in the baptismal record is in order of age, and using the common two year birth interval, we can establish a probable birth order and approximate birth dates for the first five children as:
        1.      Mary      b. England, ca 1637
        2.      Elizabeth b. Hingham, Mass., ca 1639
        3.      Samuel      b. Hingham, Mass., ca 1641
        4.      Hannah      b. Hingham, Mass., ca 1643
        5.      Israel      b. Hingham, Mass., ca 1645
   
   The next baptisms we have are those of Zaccheus, Jane and Abigail on 20 April 1651 and that of Deliverance on 11 July 1652. 8 Jane and Abigail are always omitted from accounts of the family, suggesting that they died young. It is likely that they were twins and too weak to survive. Before listing these four children, however, we must consider the other children and what we know about them. In particular, Samuel Packard's will lists five (surviving) daughters as Mary, Hannah, Jael, Deborah and Deliverance, thus implying that Jael and Deborah were older than Deliverance. Furthermore, since Jael had her second marriage in 1672, and her first probably about 1665, she would have to be born before 1652. This leads to the following listing:
        6.      Jael      b. Hingham, Mass., ca 1647
        7.      Deborah      b. Hingham, Mass., ca 1648
        8.      Zaccheus b. Hingham, Mass., ca 1650
        9.      Jane      b. Hingham, Mass., ca 1651
        10.      Abigail      b. Hingham, Mass., ca 1651
        11.      Deliverance b. Hingham, Mass., ca 1652
   
   The remaining children are Thomas, John and Nathaniel, the latter two being named in that order in Samuel's will and Thomas not named. Of all the children, John is the only one whose recorded birthdate has been found, being 20 July 1655 (because July was the fifth month in the Julian calendar this has been given, mistakenly, as May). While the placement of Thomas is arbitrary, we can complete a logical listing of the children as:
        12.      Thomas      b. Hingham, Mass., ca 1653
        13.      John      b. Weymouth, Mass., 20 July 1655 (NEHGR, XII, 349)
        14.      Nathaniel b. Weymouth, Mass., ca 1657
   
   Some accounts place the births of some of these children in Bridgewater, which is clearly in error. The above birthdates are, with one exception, approximate and subject to future correction. They are, however, consistent with all known facts.