Fortunately we have very good birth records from Newbury, Massachusetts from the mid 1700s which give us the names of five children of Paul and Rebecca (Hudson) Shackford. These siblings are:
Sarah Shackford (1728 – 1814) – married a Mr Pearson, mention the following people in her will: grandson William Smith, Mary Jane Brown, daughter of Else Smith, Amelia (Moore) Shackford, Mary Richards, James Prince, administrator of her estate. She was buried in the Old Hill Burying Ground in Newburyport, Massachusetts.
Deborah Shackford (Libbey) Currier (1731 – abt 1800 or 1801) – married first Mr Libbey, then Caleb Currier. Her will mentions William Currier, her husband’s son, Caleb Currier, her husband’s grandson, her son John Libbey, a daughter Mary Mushaway, Mary’s husband John Mushaway, granddaughters Catherine Currier, Rebecca M, Hannah Libbey, and Deborah Libbey
John Shackford (1735 – 1764) – married Deborah Seaward, mariner who died at sea, estate granted to his widow Deborah (Seaward) Shackford
Sumner Shackford (1737- ????) – Sumner was born Jan 29, 1737 and served as a Private in Captain Beniah Young’s Company on the late Crown Expedition from Feb 18, 1756 to December 20th. He also served in his Majesties Service in the Second Regiment of the Militia marching to Worchester. We find no further information about Sumner.
Rebecca Shackford (1743-????) – All we find for Rebecca is a birth record – December 2, 1743.
SOURCES:
Currier John J, History of Newbury, Mass. 1635-1902 (Boston: Damrell & Upham, 1902), page 563; digital images, HathiTrust (http://babel.hathitrust.org/ : accessed 6 January 2016
Historical Collections of the Essex Institute July 1899 (July 1899), page 219; digital images, HathiTrust (http://www.hathitrust.com : accessed 25 March 2014
Massachusetts “Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915,” database, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 29 March 2015), Sumner Shackford, b. 29 Jan 1737
Massachusetts, Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, , Rebeccah Shackford, 2 December 1743; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 January 2016); Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records
We can’t find a marriage record for Deborah Shackford but with the help of Bonnie, another Shackford researcher, we’ve both come to the belief that the Deborah Currier whose will dated 7 Sep 1799 and is found in probate records dated 23 April 1801 is most likely the same person. We believe she first married Theodore Libbey who died in 1759, then married Caleb Currier in 1768. She outlived her second husband and left this will leaving her estate to children of both husbands.
Deborah is listed in her father’s estate as Deborah Currier and this death notification was published in the United States Oracle of the Day on April 18, 1801: In this town, … Mrs. Deborah Currier, widow, aged 68.
Also this theory aligns with Samuel Burnham Shackford’s Shackford Genealogy.
From Deborah’s will we learn, that :
Deborah was married to Caleb Currier who is deceased (probably the same Caleb wrote a will dated March 22, 1784 and died on April 3, 1784 leaving his estate to his wife Deborah and mentions three sons William, Caleb, and Thomas, from a previous marriage).
Deborah’s husband Caleb Currier had a son named William and a grandson named Caleb.
Deborah was first married to a Mr Libbey and had a son named John Libbey who moved to Newburyport and a daughter Mary who married a John Mushaway. [he was her second husband as she had married Samuel Lamson in 1774]
Deborah had four grandchildren living at the time the will was written: Catherine [Lamson] Currier and Rebecca Mushaway daughters of her daughter Mary and Hannah Libbey, and Rebecca Libbey, daughters of John Libbey.
Deborah knew Nathaniel Folsom to whom she loaned money and Jeremiah Libbey, Margery, Ward, and William Walker who signed her will.
We’ll keep looking for source information that helps support this theory that Deborah Shackford first married Mr Libbey then Caleb Currier.
Deborah (Shackford) (Libbey) Currier’s Will
I Deborah Currier of Portsmouth in the County of Rockingham and State of New Hampshire, Widow Do make this my last Will & Testament viz I give unto William Currier (son of my late husband William Currier deceased) one feather bed – I also give unto Caleb Currier grandson of my said husband Caleb one Desk. The said bed & desk being formerly my said husband Caleb Currier’s Property. I give devise & bequeath unto my son Jno Libbey now of Newburyport two thirds of the Money due or which may be due to me from Mr Nathaniel Folsom on his note of hand or of any other money due to me or which may be due at the time of my decease. I also give unto my said son John Libbey one feather bed being the one I purchased anew tick or covering for; & also six birch Chairs I give devise & bequeath unto my Daughter Mary Massurey (wife of Mr John Massurey) [believe this is actually Mushaway based on a review of the rest of the probate records, jsp] of Portsmouth the other third part of the money due or which will be due me from Mr Nathl Folsom for the note aforesaid at the time of my decease I also give unto my said Daughter Mary one feather bed – I give devise & bequeath unto Hannah Libbey Daughter of my son John Libbey my silk gown – I also give devise & bequeath unto Deborah Libbey Daughter to my said John my gold necklace I also will & direct that all my wearing apparel not before disposed of be equally divided among or between or between my four granddaughtes viz Catherine Currier & Rebecca Massurey children of my before named daughter Mary Massurey and Hannah Libbey & Deborah Libbey children of my said son John Libbey & my said Daughter Mary Massurey & to their heirs & assigns they equally paying my funeral charges & expenses of setting the business of my estate And I hereby appoint my said son John Libbey sole Executor of this my last will & testament. I witness whereof I hereunto after my mark & seal the seventh day of September 1799 Deborah her mark Currier seal The Mark made & sealed & declared by Deborah Currier to be her will in presence of us who signed in each others presence Jeremiah Libbey Margery G Ward Wm Walker Recorded truly WW
All posts on this website are a work in progress. We’d love to learn of any corrections or additions to the information shared. Also we’d love it if you’d like the post here or at http://www.facebook.com/shackfordgenealogy) as that helps share the post with others. Thanks!
SOURCES:
“DIED,” The United States Oracle of the Day (Portsmouth, New Hampshire), 18 April 1801, Deborah Currier; digital images, America’s Historical Newspapers (infoweb.newsbank.com : accessed 6 April 2024), America’s Historical Newspapers.
Massachusetts “Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915,” database, FamilySearch(http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 8 July 2014), Deborah Shackford
New Hampshire, County Probate Estate Files, Deborah Currier Case 6812; “New Hampshire, County Probate Estate Files, 1769-1936,” digital images, Family Search(http://www.familysearch.org: accessed 20 January 2016); >Rockingham>Case no 6749-6845 1800-1801>Image 779-790 of 1230
“New Hampshire, Wills and Probate Records, 1643-1982,” digital images, Ancestry.com(http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 January 2016), Deborah Currier.
“Shackford Genealogy Manuscript,” 13 October 1925; SG SGA 5; Shackford collection by Samuel Burnham Shackford; New England Historical and Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts. (56) William Shackford, Shackford Genealogy Manuscript #44 Deborah Shackford.
Copyright 2024 Joanne Shackford Parkes (sharing a link to this post is appreciated but please do not just copy this material and paste it elsewhere)
Paul Shackford’s heirs are listed on a piece of paper in his probate records because the heirs asked the Probate Judge, Benjamin Greenleaf, to assign a committee to divide Paul’s real estate for them – we have added their birth dates and Paul’s other children based on the birth records listed in the Vital Records of Newbury Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849 Volume I.-Births.
His two children:
Sarah Pearson (born Feb 1, 1728)
Deborah Currier (born May 24, 1731)
and the
Heirs of his son John Shackford (born Sept 16, 1735)
John Shackford
Deborah Shackford
Child of Mary Shackford, deceased – Joshua Chace
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The book Vital Records of Newbury Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849 Volume I.-Births lists two other children who probably died before 1786 and left no heirs:
Vital Records of Newbury Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849 Volume I.-Births (Salem, Mass.: The Essex Institute, 1911), page 472; digital images, Essex County Ma (http://essexcountyma.net/ : accessed 12 July 2014
SHACKFORD Family History 