Mehitable Hawkins Garfield

Biography

Life summary. Mehitable Hawkins inherited an interest in her father’s estate while young and later chose John Hammond as her guardian. The inheritance followed her into marriage with Benjamin Garfield. She had two sons and died in December 1675, five days after the birth of the younger, Benoni.

Mehitable Hawkins’s inheritance began with the loss of her father, Timothy, in 1651. Her mother, Ann or Hannah, administered his estate and later married Ellis Barron. In April 1654 Barron entered a bond as Mehitable’s guardian, taking formal responsibility for an interest that belonged to her from the earlier Hawkins household. ^604-1

In April 1665 Mehitable chose a different guardian: John Hammond, identified in the family reconstruction as her maternal uncle. The following month he acknowledged a legacy received on her behalf from Barron. Her choice had a practical consequence. Responsibility for the inheritance passed to Hammond, while its origin in her father’s estate remained distinct from the property of the relatives handling it. ^604-1604-2

By April 1, 1673 she had married Benjamin Garfield. A receipt dated that day identifies Benjamin receiving the legacy due to his wife from Timothy’s estate. The inheritance had survived more than twenty years of family change—from her father’s death, through her mother’s remarriage and her own choice of guardian, into the Garfield household. ^604-1

Mehitable and Benjamin lived in Watertown, west of Boston in present-day Massachusetts, and had sons Benjamin and Benoni. Benoni was born on December 4, 1675. Mehitable died on 9 December, only five days later. The timing makes a connection with childbirth plausible, although the death entry gives no medical cause. Benjamin was left with their sons, the younger still a newborn. ^604-3