This post will cover the possibility of a prior wife for Edward Jr., named Rebecca Jamison along with two possible sons born to this couple.
The Marden Genealogy refers to the Rix Manuscript History of Lisbon, NH as her source on this matter of a first wife and family for Junior.
According to Ms. Getchell, “Rix says Edward [she is referring to junior]had a son Hamilton, b. Lisbon, N.H., July 18, 1804 … by Rebecca Belding Jameson”. This source suggests the child was born “out of wedlock” but offers no reasoning for the statement aside from the fact a marriage record was not located. Rebecca is said to be the daughter of Samuel Jameson. Hamilton was also known as Duke Hamilton Marden.
FamilySearch has a card file birth record for “Hambleton Mardean” b. 17-July-1802 in “(Concord) Lisbon” with no parents names listed. The card states the information was from “Vol 2, Lisbon Records” and was transcribed onto the card in 1905. The original record should be located if possible. I find it very odd no mother is listed, really, a mother had to be resent at the birth of a child!
The Marden Genealogy refers to another statement by Rix claiming Hamilton had a son named Jesse. Ms. Getchell points out the two are nearly the same age and could not be father and son, but more likely brothers. So I need to see if Hamilton and Jesse fit into what I know about the Marden family from my research so far.
The Marden Genealogy also tells us “Dow’s Hist. of Lyman says Hamilton resided on the Phineas Ash farm”. Now that is a name I recognize. I found him in deeds associated with Edward Senior’s land in Lyman. Ash took care of Edward Sr. in his last years and took over his property. Could Edward Sr. be the father? This statement certainly does create a connection between Edward Senior and Hamilton Marden, but exactly what relationship is yet to be determined. Maybe I need to revisit Grafton County deeds to see if the land of Phineas Ash was transferred back to the Marden family at some point.
I still have the index pages from the Grafton County Deeds that cover the Marden surname. I do see Hamilton Marden filed some paperwork (unspecified type of document and unnamed town) with the County Clerk in September of 1829. Hamilton is named in the Grantor column of the index and the Grantee is listed as James H. Johnson & Co.. This is anther name I remember seeing. In July of 1830 James H. Johnson & Ira Goodhall, merchants, purchased a section of Edward Sr’s land in Lyman. So here I have another possible link between Hamilton and Edward Senior.
The Marden Genealogy refers to another statement by Rix and Dow that Hamilton had a son named Jesse. Ms. Getchell points out the two are nearly the same age and could not be father and son, but more likely brothers. Jesse shows up in the Grafton County Deeds index a number of times in Littleton from 1830 to 1841. In 1841 Jesse’s wife is referred to as Lucinda. I found Jesse in census records in Dalton NH indicating a birth year about 1805 in New Hampshire. Dalton is where Edward Junior was in 1824 and Jesse would have been about 19 at that time. So, I seem to have another link between the possible brothers and a possible Marden parent.
There is only one Marden household in Lyman in 1800 and two (Sr. & Jr.) in 1810. There are no Marden households in Lisbon (Concord) in the 1800 or 1810 census, but there are other Marden families in Grafton County at this time. I do know that Edward Sr. came from Lisbon to Lyman sometime between 1790 and 1800.
In the 1800 Census, Edward Sr. had additional unidentified people in his household. Is it possible the other adult male fathered Hamilton? Just something to keep in mind.
Edward Jr. was about 17 in 1802 when Hamilton was born and didn’t marry Elizabeth until 1808, so he certainly could be the father of Hamilton & Jesse.
There is always the possibility Hamilton was orphaned by an unknown single mother who died in childbirth or abandoned at or soon after birth. If the child was taken into the Marden household, it could have been given their last name in the town record. But that theory doesn’t hold up well if I add Jesse to the equation. I need to try to confirm that Jesse is indeed related to Hamilton.
According to the card file found at FamilySearch “Rebekah Belding Jameson” was born 26-Feb-1785 in Concord to Samuel Jameson, farmer of Lisbon & wife, Rozanna. This card was created in 1905 by a town clerk in Lisbon, but there is no mention of the original source.
I found Samuel Jameson in Concord (Lisbon) in the 1790 and 1800 Census, but nothing after that. I found a birth record for one other child of this couple but census suggest there could be at least 3 more that should have been found. The appearance of a John and Jeremiah Jameson in Lisbon in the 1850 census born in the 1780s suggests they may have stayed in the area or returned to the area, but from where or why don’t they show up in census between 1810 thru 1840?
I found no other trace of Rebecca Jameson, so I must assume at this point she died very young or remarried. Divorce is very unusually at this time in history and we know both Edward Sr. & Jr. where alive, so she was not a widow. I tend to believe she died and someone else (but who?) raised the two boys. There is no evidence they were ever in either Edward’s households when census takers visited.
I actually found no record to tie Rebbecca to any one except her parents so before spending too much effort researching her I would like to find some reason to believe “Rix” knew what he was talking about when he named her as the mother of the motherless child, Hamilton.
I will briefly discuss both Hamilton and Jesse in my never post. I hope someone in the family reads this and is able to fill in some of the blanks for me.
Does anyone know more about this Jameson family?
The Ne-Do-Ba Research Journal 