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Individual Record for: Elizabeth ALEXANDER (female)

Notes:

NOTES ON ELIZABETH ALEXANDER (rev. 16 Sep 2007).
The daughter of fisherman Samuel and Rosannah (Clark) Alexander of Bailey Island, ELIZABETH ALEXANDER was born 17 Nov 1778 in Harpswell, Cumberland Co., Maine [src: Harpswell VR (DAR) and Rev. Charles Nelson Sinnett , "Ancestor David Alexander of Topsham, Maine, and Descendants," ts. pub. by author (1st ed. 1922, 2d ed. 1929, both dates on spine at NEHGS ms G/Ale/820 & 830)].

She married in Harpswell on 15 Feb 1798 as his first wife Capt. Isaac Allen of Harpswell [VR Harpswell Marriage Records Book 1; VR Harpswell Marriage Intentions 25 Jan 1798; VR Harpswell Eaton Account Book; and see Harpswell gen. web site.]. She was ae 19y 3m at marriage. He later married 2nd Hannah Douglass of Freeport, Me.

Sinnett says Elizabeth died "at the birth of her [unnamed] first child. [She married] Feb 15, 1798, Isaac Allen b Harpswell, Me., Nov 2 1775. No further data found." The first edition of SInnett on p71 sets off this critical phrase about her death in first childbirth in internal quotes without citation, which signals to me that he was less sure about the reliability of the information. There is apparently no VR or gravestone or other record confirming her DOD.

Malcolm Allen in his "Descendants of Walter Allen of Kittery" reconstructs (from a muddled Freeport family record for Isaac Allen and Elizabeth __[last name not given]__) a date of birth of 2 Oct 1798 for their first child Isaac Allen Jr. For the reasons given in my discussion below of the family record), I agree that that 2 Oct 1798 is a likely reconstructed DOB for Isaac Jr.

The study "Descendants of Walter Allen of Kittery" concludes that the Isaac and Elizabeth (Alexander) Allen of Harpswell are the same as the Isaac and Elizabeth (_____) Allen shown in the Freeport family record. I agree that this is probable based on the following data:
(1.) The reconstructed DOB for the first child Isaac Jr. shown in family record, which is 8 mos. 1 week after Isaac Allen Sr.'s and Elizabeth Alexander's intentions to marry were filed in Jan 1798.
(2.) The 1850 USC Freeport census for Isaac Sr. gives an age of 75 years, corresponding to Isaac of Harpswell's VR DOB of 1775.
(3.) The death record of a later son of Isaac Sr.'s shown in this Freeport family record states that the father Isaac Sr. had been a sea captain who had been born in Harpswell, as was the husband of Elizabeth Alexander [d.r. of Amos C. Allen, Maine Index to Vital Records 1892-1907].

However, "Desc. of Walter Allen" also accepts the Sinnett remark about Elizabeth Alexander of Harpswell dying at the birth of her [unnamed] first child; thus, it makes Isaac Jr.'s DOB also Elizabeth's assumed DOD; and it assigns all post-1798 children of Isaac shown as Elizabeth's on the Freeport family record to the second wife Hannah Douglass. I disagree with these three conclusions, for they directly contradict the Freeport family record (quoted below), of which Sinnett was clearly unaware. I see no reason to value Sinnett's anecdotal quote (that Elizabeth died at the birth of an unnamed first child) over a VR to the contrary, once the connection between the two couples has been made.

Reading the Freeport family record VR on its face, it clearly states that Elizabeth survived long enough to bear at least one other child shown there, i. e., ELIZA, b Freeport 24 Aug 1800. Thus, mother Elizabeth (Alexander) Allen's first two children would have been named after her husband and herself, a believable outcome. (Eliza was later referred to as Elizabeth in other records. See later discussion under child ELIZA ALLEN.)

The Freeport VR family record [p60, from LDS film at NEHGS] for Isaac Allen and his two wives reads as follows, with my notes in brackets:

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<"Isaac Allen Sen. - Children by his wife Elizabeth (omitted)

ISAAC [Jr.] Oct. 2, 1797[*]

[* The entry originally read Oct. 2, 1897, ninety-nine years off. Perhaps the 8 and 7 had been reversed. Someone later changed in ink one digit so it now reads 2 Oct 1797, which is also prob. in error. It probably should be 2 Oct 1798 for the following reasons: This would be consistent with four US census (1850-1880, incl.), each of which gives Isaac Jr.'s date of birth as between 2 Jun 1798 and 1 Jun 1799. A DOB of 2 Oct 1798, however, is NOT consistent a DOB calc from Isaac Jr.'s gravestone: between 9 SEP 1799 and 8 OCT 1799; though 1799 is one year "late," it is close and 1799 does support an argument that 1797 is "too early." Finally, a DOB of 2 Oct 1798 is within 8+ mos. of Isaac & Elizabeth Alexander's marriage, and thus tends to support the identification of Elizabeth Alexander as Isaac Allen's first wife. For these reasons, I agree with Malcolm Allen that 2 Oct 1798 is a logical reconstructed DOB of Isaac Allen, Jr.

ELIZA Aug 24, 1800

CHARLES Oct 3, 1801

JOHN Aug 12, 1805

By his wife Hannah Douglass

ELIZABETH Sept 16, 1807

MARY June 9, 1810

HANNAH Sept 12, 1812

AMOS C. Nov. 18, 1818

MATHIAS { Sept 13, 1803 [*]

BETHIA { Dec 29, 1812 [*]

OLIVE June 10, 1822"

[* Brackets set off these two dates with faint note “probable error,” likely in same hand as record.]>
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Admittedly there are date problems with other portions of this family record, for there is a clear VR that Isaac filed intentions for a second marriage to Hannah Douglass on 19 Sep 1801 and was issued a marriage certificate on 24 Dec 1801. To varying degrees this conflicts with the family record's DOBs for Charles and John. But this second marriage occurs more than a year after and does not conflict with Eliza's birth (my principal interest). Following the approach of believing the family record unless inexplicable, Elizabeth (Alexander) Allen's DOD would have occurred between 24 Aug 1800 (Eliza's birth) and 19 Sep 1801 (2d marriage intentions).

(And it is still possible that new data will show that the family record is also correct in assigning Charles and John to the first wife, despite date discrepancies. Could, for example, some of these dates be christening dates, which might remove the apparent conflict with the second marriage? How bright was the line in the old records? I have portions (not Allen portions, unfortunately) of a printout from the Freeport Historical Society entitled "Vital Records, Freeport, Maine, Cumberland County, Births and _Christenings_, 1759-1875, Copied by Leroy Morse Bailey from the LDS Records, 3/29/93.")

Thanks for much data from Malcolm Allen, Paul Kinder, Jon Field, and Martha Croasmun's "Harpswell" web site.
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