Esther Viall Tiffany

Biography

Esther Viall and Ephraim Tiffany announced their intention to marry at Barrington, then in Massachusetts and now in Rhode Island, on November 3, 1744. The marriage followed on December 27, with the Reverend Solomon Townsend officiating. Their children included Elizabeth, Rachel, Molly and Ebenezer, born between 1745 and 1753. The town's records preserve Esther at both ends of her married life: first as a bride, and finally as Ephraim's widow, whose death was recorded on March 19, 1792.

A published account of Benjamin Viall's will adds a more troubling dimension to her household history. David Jillson's 1885 Viall genealogy identifies a daughter Esther as the wife of Ephraim Tiffany of Warren, Rhode Island. At the time of the will, the Barrington area was included within Warren. In the will, dated August 6, 1750 and proved that October, Benjamin made a conditional bequest to her of an enslaved boy named Scipio. The provision depended on Scipio surviving Benjamin's wife, Sarah.

That wording matters. It documents Benjamin's intention to pass control of a child to Esther through his estate; it does not establish that the condition was fulfilled or that the transfer occurred. The abstract nonetheless places Esther within a family whose property arrangements included an enslaved person.

Esther's memorial places her at Princes Hill Cemetery. The marriage register, the will abstract and the death entry reveal different parts of her life: the formation of her own household, an inheritance provision made by her father, and her later status as a widow.

Her memorial estimates Esther’s birth around 1716. The family account gives her son Ebenezer’s birth as June 10, 1753.