General Notes

Hannah (Potter) Beecher was the mother of the New Haven Potters, who appeared early in New Haven as a widow with sons:  i.  John  ii. William and iii. Isaac Beecher.  Her husband, Potter, died in England, where she married a Mr. Beecher.

It is generally supposed that her husband was John Beecher, one of the seven whom Eaton sent to New Haven in advance of the colony and who died before the colony arrived.  She has been considered to be the mother of Isaac Beecher, for she calls him her son in her will and gave him one-third of her property; but recent investigations, it is claimed, show conclusively that Isaac was only a stepson, the son of her second husband by a former wife.

There was in New Have, says G. F. Tuttle, as early as 1641, a widow Hannah Potter, known as the widow Potter the midwife.  In 1643 she had two persons in the family, thirty pounds estate and twenty and one quarter acres of land.  She is called "sister Potter the midwife," in seating the meeting house in 1646.  She is supposed to have been akin to the other Potters, but there is no record to show it.  She has often been confounded with the widow Hannah Beecher, but the records clearly show that they were two different persons.

The will of Hannah Beecher was proved April 15, 1659, and is recorded in first part, vol. I, p 80 if New Haven Probate Records, as follows:

"I Hannah Beecher of New Haven, expecting my great change do make this my last will and testament, I bequeath my soul unto the hands of my Lord Jesus Christ by whose merrit I hope to be saved and my body to be burried at the discretion of my Son William Potter my Executor.  And for my worldly goods I give unto John Potter by Grand child twenty shillings and to Hannah Blackly, my Grand child, wife to Samuel Blackly, twenty shillings.  And to Samuel Potter my Grand child twenty shillings to be paid to them within three months after my decease.  And for the rest of my estate I give one third to my son Isaac Beecher and two thirds to my eldest son William Potter, naming him my Executor, desiring him to be as a father to his younger brother and his children.  And in dividing my goods my will is that my son William should have my feather bed with that belongest to it, unto his part and that the rest be divided at the discretion of my Overseers with the assistance of Sister Wakeman and sister Rutherford and I desire my loving friends Mr. Mathew Gilbert and John Wakeman to be overseers of this my last will whereunto I have set my hand this 13th day of June, Anno 1657.
              The mark of Hannah Beecher
Witnesses:
Mathew Gilbert
John Wakeman
Sarah Rutherford"

Genealogies of Connecticut Families, Volume III; Genealogical Publishing Co, IN, 1983.  974.6 Dzg


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13 Alternatively, Hannah Hawes! http://www.my-ged.com/db/page/drowne/14258 <http://www.my-ge.com/db/page/drowne/14258>; both sources agree on the date of birth in Kent, England and on the date and location of death; this site provides the Spaldhurst birthplace


HANNAH, Mother of William Potter of New Haven
2.1
The mother of William Potter of New Haven may be nee Mead but if so, she is not to be confused with the wife of the John Mead who was the son-in-law of the William Potter of Stamford.
2.2
She may be nee Hawes.
2.3
She (probably) married first to John I. Potter in England who died in 1623 and then married second to John Beecher.


CROSSING from England to Boston and then to New Haven
3.1
William Potter (along with his wife Frances, and his son Joseph) emigrated to the United States in 1635 on the Abigail.
3.2
In 1637, aboard the Hector, William's brother, John, along with his mother Hannah and her husband John Beecher immigrated to Boston; their son Isaac Beecher may have been with them.
3.3
They removed to New Haven in 1638/9 to take possession of property "owned" by John Beecher (who had died in New Haven the previous winter).