Bathsheba Gibbs

  General Notes:

Bathsheba, b. about 1763 (perhaps twin of the above [Deborah]); d. s. p., we think, soon after 1 Dec. 1793. There is no direct proof that this Bathsheba Gibbs should be placed here. But a Bathsheba Gibbs mar. 25 June 1787 George5 Crocker, son of Ebenezer4 & Zerviah (Winslow), b. Barnstable 18 Feb. 1760; d. 6 July 1793 (Sandwich Town Records). The Crocker family, although large, had very few members in Sandwich. Yet this George Crocker's father and Bathsheba's mother, Jerusha, daughter of Abigail (Crocker) Thacher, would have been second cousins. George & Bathsheba (?Gibbs) Crocker had two children baptized together 1 Dec. 1793 in the Sand­wich Church. One of these died 20 Aug. 1794, aged 2. We submit as probable that the other child and the mother both died before the date of Jerusha (Thacher) (Gibbs) Ellis' will, hence she would have no occasion to name the heirless deceased daughter (see be­low). [Thomas1 Gibbs of Sandwich, Mass. (ca. 1615-1693) by Lydia B. (Phinney) Brownson and Maclean W. McLean, NEHGR 123, 1969]

In The Register, vol. 123, p. 214-216, July 1969, the record of the family of John5 Gibbs (#30), by Lydia B. (Phinney) Brownson and Maclean W. McLean, is incomplete and includes assumptions that are not justified. Among the children of John5 and Jerusha (Thacher) Gibbs, the authors list a daughter Deborah and tentatively a daughter Bathsheba, both born about 1763. The authors state that the daughter Deborah married Henry Haskell, and express the belief that the daughter ? Bathsheba died without issue soon after 1 Dec. 1793.

John5 Gibbs died before 12 June 1787, the date on which his widow Jerusha received her allowance (Barnstable County Probates, 25:841). In the settlement of John Gibbs' estate in 1807, Bathsheba was mentioned as an heir; Deborah, or heirs of a Deborah, were not mentioned (ibid., 33:264).

Direct proof that John and Jerusha (Thacher) Gibbs did have a daughter Bathsheba is further established by a deed, dated 1 Feb. 1805, in which "Ebenezer Haskell and Bathsheba his wife of Roches­ter ... Lemuel Burgess and Elizabeth his wife of Wareham … Lucy Gibbs of Sandwich, spinster … William Bourne and Salome his wife of Sandwich … and John Gibbs of New Bedford ... for $225 to us paid by Henry Gibbs of Sandwich … [convey] real estate lying in Plymouth, viz., all our right and title … that we hold by heirship under our honoured father John Gibbs late of Sandwich, deceased … reserving the improvement to our honoured mother now Jerusha Ellis... I Patience Gibbs for part of the consideration made to my husband John Gibbs do release my right of dower" (Plymouth County Deeds, 103:58).

Bathsheba Gibbs mar. (1) George5 Crocker. He died in 1793, and Bathsheba was appointed administratrix of his estate 17 Oct. 1793 (Barnstable County Probates, 25:117). "Mrs. Bathsheba Crocker" mar. (2) in Sandwich 26 Nov. 1795 Ebenezer Haskell, Jr. (Vital Records of Rochester, vol. 2, p. 165). Bathsheba Haskell, wife of Ebenezer, d. in Rochester 3 June 1815 in 53d yr., and Ebenezer Has­kell d. there 23 May 1840, age 79 (ibid., p. 392, 393).

Consequently, when Jerusha (Thacher) (Gibbs) Ellis mentioned in her will, 25 Feb. 1817, "heirs of my daughter Haskell, deceased", she was referring to her daughter Bathsheba, not to a daughter Deborah. Jerusha's will was "lodged for probate" 25 Dec. 1818 (Barnstable County Probates, Z:237). As no evidence has been found to warrant placing a daughter Deborah in this family, it is believed that there was no daughter by that name. [Gibbs-Crocker-Haskell by Arthur H. Radasch & Katherine W. Radasch, NEHGR 124, 1970]

Bathsheba married George Crocker, son of Ebenezer Crocker and Zerviah Winslow, on 25 Jun 1787.³¹⁴ (George Crocker was born on 18 Feb 1760 in Barnstable, Barnstable, MA ³¹⁴ and died on 6 Jul 1793 in Sandwich, Barnstable, MA ³¹⁴.)

Bathsheba next married Ebenezer Haskell, Jr. on 26 Nov 1795 in Sandwich, Barnstable, MA.¹⁴⁶⁰ (Ebenezer Haskell, Jr. was born about 1761 ¹⁴⁶⁰ and died on 23 May 1840 in Rochester, Plymouth, MA ¹⁴⁶⁰.)