6x great grandfather Ephraim Houghton is one of the people who I now think of as a "Between Ancestor": someone who is overshadowed by his parents and his children. There is very little about him online and what there is are mostly mentions of his second marriage to the widow of a Harvard University graduate.
Poor Ephraim even gets short shrift in the Houghton Genealogy written by John W Houghton:
(136) Ch. of EPHRAIM' HOUGHTON and Hannah Sawyer (James^, Ralph^).
170 i Ephraim*, b. 12, 1, 1727.
171 ii Joseph, b. 10, 12, 1731.
172 iii * Elisha, b. 7, 20, 1746. Res., Fitchburg, Mass.
172a iv Eunice. -p100
Houghton family genealogy F.A. Hitchcock, Pub. New York, N.Y. 1912
And that's it! Not only that, the author gives Ephraim's wife's name as Hannah while Lancaster, Ma. town records say it was Sarah Sawyer, Ephraim's 1st cousin.She died on 28May 1761. Ephraim married his second wife, the widow Lois Rogers, five months later in December.
Ephraim died on 15May 1777 and left a will, in which he named my 5x great grandfather Elisha Houghton as executor of his estate which included acting as guardian for Ephraim's oldest son, William, who was mentally handicapped.
Elisha declined the executorship in favor of his stepmother Lois. At first I was puzzled why Elisha had done this. But then I realized he wasn't able to perform the duties his father had expected of him.
Ephraim had died on 15May 1777.
But Elisha had enlisted in the Continental Army on 1May 1777 for three years. He would not be home for awhile.
1 comment:
Timelines win again! I've seen this apparent conundrum in another one of my ancestor's life.
Post a Comment