Hannah Pontus
Wife of John Churchill of Plymouth and, after his death in 1662/3, probably of Giles Rickard. A daughter of William Pontus, whose will of 1650 names her: about 1664, as "Hannah Churchill, widdow," she asked to have half of his land at Namassakett confirmed to her. Probably the mother of John and Eleazer Churchill.
Life
- c. 1624Born
- 1644Married John Churchill18 Dec 1644compiledprobable
- 1669Married Giles Rickard25 June 1669compiledprobable
- 1690Died
Family
- Father
- William Pontus
About 1664 "Hannah Churchill, widdow, desired that the one halfe of the land graunted to Wiliam Pontus ... att Namassakett" be confirmed to her (PCR 4:58). His will (1650) names "my other Daughter hannah."
- Mother
- Wybra Hanson
Mollie's typescript makes her the daughter of William Pontus and Wybra Hanson, and the review of the typescript accepts it as compiled. No record names her mother; she was born about 1624, during their marriage (1610), and Wybra was living in 1633.
compiledprobableSources
- Mollie Frances (Holbrook) Pfeiffer, Holbrook-Low family typescript, Books 1-9
- Reasoning:
research/holbrook/Mollie_Typescript_Review.md
- Spouse 1
- Giles Rickardcompiledprobable
- Spouse 2
- John Churchill
"Hannah Churchill, widdow" claimed William Pontus's land about 1664. In 1652/3 Samuel Dunham testified that Pontus had given land to "his soninlaw John Churchill and hannah his wife."
- Siblings
Pedigree
Notes
Wife of John Churchill of Plymouth (married 18 Dec 1644), and after his death in 1662/3 of Giles Rickard (25 June 1669), as his third wife. Mollie Pfeiffer’s typescript gives her parents as William Pontus and Wybra Hanson; she was born in the years of their marriage.
Her father had given her and John Churchill a third of his meadow at the Watering Place near Plymouth, on condition that John help fence it and “bee healpfull towards the maintainance of him whiles hee lived,” and his will (9 Sept 1650) left her only “twenty shillings sterling as an adition to her portion which in my life time I have allreddy given her” (MD 11:92-93). Under her first husband’s spoken will of 1662 she had the use of his whole estate for life; The Churchill Family in America (p. 2) reads it as meaning she lived with the children in the “new house” he intended for their son Joseph. About 1664, as “Hannah Churchill, widdow,” she asked that half the land granted to her father at Namassakett (Middleborough) be confirmed to her (PCR 4:58).
Open questions
- Was Wybra Hanson her mother? Probably (Mollie’s typescript and the colonial tree say so), but no record names her mother.
Mollie's typescript
Mollie's Pontus chart has her born at Leyden or in England, at Plymouth by 1633, married to John Churchill, and dying on 22 Dec 1690.
HANNAH PONTUS (2) William 1) Born in Leyden or England Died Dec 22, 1690 in Plymouth 1633 Married John Churchill
p. 65 →She married secondly Giles Rickard and died at Hobbs Hole on 22 Dec 1690, aged 67.
Hannah(Pontus)Churchill married 2nd. Mr. Giles Ricard and died at Hobesole Dec. 22 1690 aged 67
p. 66 →
Checked against the records
- PossibleWilliam Pontus married Wybra Hanson at Leiden, Brewster a witness
Probable. The Leiden record, as quoted in The Churchill Family in America (1904), has "William Pautes, fustian-worker, from near Dover" marrying "Wybra Hanson, maid" on 4 Dec 1610, William Brewster a witness. About 1664 the widow Hannah Churchill claimed half of Pontus's land (Plymouth Colony Records 4:58). That Wybra was Hannah's mother is likely but not shown.
Read it in the book, p. 66 →
Connections
- In her ancestry
- 1 notable connection →
Every notable ancestor and famous relative that Hannah's own ancestors lead to, with the lines drawn down to her.