My 6th Great-Grandfather's Signature

I recently added a new signature to the My Ancestors' Signatures page on this blog.

I was able to add this new signature because I found the probate packet of my maternal 6th great-grandfather, John Waterman.1

Within this probate packet were several documents including John's Last Will and Testament.2

Here's the last page of John's will. The red arrow is pointing to John's signature. 

Here's a close-up view of John's signature.

John Waterman signed his will on 3 January 1742/3. It's incredible to see the signature of one of my ancestors from so long ago. This was before the American Revolutionary War. John's grandson, Dr. Luther L. Waterman, served as a Surgeon in that war. Luther was my 3rd great-grandfather.

John Waterman was born March 1672 in Norwich, Connecticut and died in 1744 in Norwich, Connecticut. John was married three times. I am descended from his third wife, Elizabeth Bassett.

John and Elizabeth were the parents of three children:

1. Mary Waterman (1722-1736)
2. David Bassett Waterman (1725-1809) [my 5th great-grandfather]
3. Elizabeth Waterman (1730-1765)

Probate records are fascinating and valuable genealogical sources. My 6th great-grandfather's signature is an amazing genealogical discovery.

What genealogical discoveries have you found in probate records?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2020 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

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[1] Connecticut. Hartford, City of. Wills and Probate Records. Connecticut State Library (Hartford, Connecticut); Probate Place: Hartford, Connecticut, Digital images. Ancestry.com. Connecticut, Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999 [database on-line]. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/9049/images/007628900_00696 : accessed 12 July 2020) Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. John Waterman. Images 696-705 of 1417.

[2] Connecticut. Hartford, City of. Wills and Probate Records. Connecticut State Library (Hartford, Connecticut); Probate Place: Hartford, Connecticut, Digital images. Ancestry.com. Connecticut, Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999 [database on-line]. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/9049/images/007628900_00703 : accessed 12 July 2020) Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. John Waterman. Image 703 of 1417.

52 Ancestors: #38 ~ David Bassett Waterman, My 5th Great-Grandfather

This is part of the "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" Challenge begun by Amy Johnson Crow, author of the blog No Story Too Small.

In last week's 52 Ancestors post, I introduced you to Phebe Barker, who was the wife of Dr. Luther L. Waterman. Luther and Phebe are my maternal 4th great-grandparents.

Today I'd like to introduce you to Luther's father, David Bassett Waterman, my maternal 5th great-grandfather.

David Bassett Waterman was born on 9 September 1725 in Norwich, Connecticut to his parents John Waterman and Elizabeth Bassett. He was baptized on 22 September 1725 in Norwich, Connecticut.

The image below shows David Bassett Waterman listed as the son of John with his baptism date of September 22, 1725. The red arrow is pointing to David's name.¹

Connecticut Church Record Abstracts - Norwich

David married Anne Bartlett. They were the parents of six sons.

1. John Waterman (baptized 6 November 1748 – 1818)
2. David Waterman (baptized 26 February 1749 – ?)
3. Samuel Waterman (baptized 24 March 1751 – ?)
4. Dr. Luther L. Waterman (baptized 25 March 1753 – 9 September 1807) [My 4th great-grandfather]
5. Asher Waterman (31 July 1755 – 2 May 1827)
6. Frederick Waterman

At least two of David and Anne's sons served in the American Revolutionary War, one of whom was my 4th great-grandfather, Dr. Luther L. Waterman.

I found the following information about David Bassett Waterman in the book Waterman Family, Descendants of Robert Waterman, Volume 1: ²

The Hartford Courant, issue of 4 Oct. 1809: "Died, at Salisbury, Mr. David Waterman, formerly of Norwich, aged 84 years." Salisbury church records: "Mr. Waterman" died of consumption, 26 Sept. 1809, aged 85. These records, with the disappearance of David from Norwich and the reappearance of his family in Salisbury, and family records and traditions, make the identification reasonably certain.

I'm really grateful to own the Waterman Family, Descendants of Robert Waterman books by Donald Lines Jacobus. It's a three-volume book series. The family history information in the books is wonderfully sourced by Mr. Jacobus. I'm so glad Mr. Jacobus decided to research and write about my Waterman family.

From the information found in Volume 1 of this book, it appears that David Bassett Waterman passed away on 26 September 1809 at Salisbury, Connecticut due to consumption. Unfortunately, I don't know where David was buried.

I will be sharing more about my Waterman ancestors in future posts.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

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1 Ancestry.com. Connecticut, Church Record Abstracts, 1630-1920[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: 2013.Original data: Connecticut. Church Records Index. Volume 84 Norwich. Connecticut State Library, Hartford, Connecticut. Pg. 365.^↩
2 Jacobus, Donald Lines, and Edgar Francis Waterman. The Waterman Family. Vol. 1. New Haven, CT: E.F. Waterman, 1939. 129. Print.^↩