Benjamin Abbott (1661-1703)
Benjamin Abbott (or Abbot) is our 7th great grandfather with this path:
RWA → Fred Pemberton Abbott → Arthur Merrill Abbott → Justin Abbott → Benjamin Abbott → Benjamin Abbott → Jonathan Abbott → David Abbott → Benjamin Abbott
Benjamin was the subject of a previous ancestor story due to his involvement in the Salem Witch Trials as an accuser of Martha Carrier who was hung for witchcraft. Benjamin is receiving a short update related to his fathering an illegitimate daughter with Naomi Hoyt Lovejoy Stratton.
The Puritans were, of course, very much against sexual behavior outside of marriage and there were laws against fornication punishable by fines, whippings, and sitting in the stocks. Children born out of wedlock had a tough time. Under the law, neither parent had legal rights or obligations related to these children. These children did not inherit property and were generally outcasts. More than half of illegitimate births in colonial Massachusetts were to men of middle of higher social status. This was likely the case with Benjamin Abbott whose father George Abbot was a first settler of Andover and the family was prominent in the community.
The punishment for producing illegitimate children varied based on social status particularly in the latter part of the 17th century. Poor people could be severely punished and cast out due to this behavior. A man of higher status might pay two years of child support for his child and then go about his business.
In 1683, Benjamin was a single young man of about age 21. He became involved with Naomi Hoyt Lovejoy who was a young widow of age 28. Her husband died in 1680 and she had two young children from that marriage. In 1683, Naomi presented herself to the Essex County Court to acknowledge her relationship with Benjamin Abbott. She was fined for the offense of fornication. There is no record that anything happened to Benjamin. The daughter of this relationship is recorded in the Andover records as being born in 1684 with the name given on the record of Ben Naomie Abbott and is listed as illegitimate. It is unknown what happened to this infant daughter. She does not show up in any subsequent records and is not mentioned in the will of Benjamin Abbott. It is quite possible that she died in early childhood.
Benjamin went on to marry Sarah Farnum and had five children with Sarah. Naomi married Richard Stratton. Naomi died at age 32 following the birth of her only child from that second marriage.
Here is the family group sheet link for Benjamin Abbott and Naomi Hoyt: http://sites.rootsmagic.com/colonialgenealogy/family.php?f=4293
Here is the family group sheet for Benjamin Abbott and Sarah Farnum: http://sites.rootsmagic.com/colonialgenealogy/family.php?f=244
Sources:
Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts, volume 9, p. 59.
Watkins, John. (2003). Insolent and contemptuous carriages: Reconceptualizing illegitimacy in colonial British America. University of South Florida Master’s Thesis. Retrieved from http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/1502