Abigail Fitch

6th great-grandparent – 1 of 256 254 in this generation

(1745-1785)

Abigail was born on 23 June 1745 in Canterbury, Connecticut, to William Fitch, 24, and Mary Paine, 22. Her mother was a descendant of Mayflower passengers Constance Hopkins and her father, Stephen Hopkins; Abigail’s father was a descendant of Mayflower passengers and Plymouth Colony Governor, William Bradford.

When Abigail was 16, her mother died on 4 February 1762 at the age of 38, soon after giving birth to a son, Daniel Fitch.

Two years later, her father died in Oneida, New York.

At the age of 21, Abigail married Deacon Joseph Moore in Hampton, Connecticut, on 25 September 1766, and they had 10 children:

1. Mary Moore, b. 18 Oct 1767 Sag Harbor (Southampton), Suffolk, NY, d. 27 Nov 1770
2. Elizabeth “Betsey”, born on 20 February 1769 in Sag Harbor
3. Anna, b.27 Apr 1770 Sag Harbor
4. Clarissa, b. 21 Dec 1771 Sag Harbor
5. Daniel, b. 4 Dec 1773 Sag Harbor
6. Lucy, b. 25 Apr 1775 Sag Harbor, d. 28 April 1775
7. William Fitch Moore, b. 30 Apr 1776 Sag Harbor
8. Joseph Moore, Jr., b. 24 Jan 1778 Canterbury, Windham, Connecticut, d. 30 Jan 1779
9. Lucy Moore (2), b. 22 Apr 1780 Canterbury
10. Joseph Moore, Jr. (2), b. 18 January 1783 Canterbury

Abigail and her family were refugees from Long Island during the American Revolutionary War. They left a “considerable estate” in Bridgehampton (part of Southampton), but were fortunate to escape the British occupation in 1776. They resettled in Abigail’s home town, near some of her family members. They had left nearly everything behind and were initially destitute.

Abigail died at the age of 39, on 5 April 1785, in Canterbury. It seems she died during childbirth like her mother before her – she was buried with an infant in Cleaveland Cemetery, Canterbury. She left behind seven surviving children for her husband to care for.