Hanna SAITH ¹

  General Notes:

Hannah's maiden name generally has been cited with the
'Saith' spelling, but
other references have used the much more common name of 'Smith' as the
spelling. However, all these citations for both spellings, such as the 'Saith'
reference in the Early Massachusetts Marriages, Vol. III, page 26, really represent second-hand references.
In the fall 1985 issue of "The Genealogist,
genealogy researchers Clayton R.
Adams and Francis James Dallet, F.A.S.G., discussed Hannah's last name in
the article Some Additons and Corrections to the Boude Pedigree, page 239,
note #9. This note argues that the 'Saith' spelling is morely likely in this case.
The note indicates that the marriage of Jeremiah Gatchell
to Hannah Saith
appears in Roger D. Joslyn, F.A.S.G., ed. and comp., Vital Records of
Charlestown, Massachusetts to the Year 1850, 1 (Boston, 1984), page 86. But
in the same note, Adams and Dallet state that Saith was read as Smith by Clarence Almon Torrey: Dallett, p. 105, n. 83.
While the 'Smith' name may in
fact be correct, Adams and Dallet point out that the Saith name, and variants
Says and Sayes, were found locally at the time. They wrote that Hannah may
have been a daughter of Christopher and Hannah Says. Or at least they said this was suggested by Thomas Bellows Wyman in his
compilation,
Genealogies and Estates of Charlestown in the County of Middlesex... 1629-
1818 (Boston, 1879), page 841. But then they also note a contradictory citation,
this one by Deloraine P. Corey in The History of Malden, Massachusetts,
1733-1875 (Malden, 1899), page 378, that claims
Hannah Says, daughter of
Christopher and Hannah Says, was actually the wife of James Millinor, rather
than Jeremiah Gatchell
It could be that the unusual spelling of 'Saith' was
an early researcher's
misinterpretation of the actual script as written in the early records recording this
marriage, or even a printer's error. Another citation, such as a birth record,
parental records or probate records could clear up the matter, but with all the research that's been done, it's unlikely there's anything
out there -- 300 years
after the fact -- that will definitely prove Hannah's birth surname. Currently,
though, it appears the 'Saith' spelling, rather than 'Smith', is favored as the more
likely of the two spellings

Hanna married Jeremiah GATCHELL, son of John GATCHELL and Wiberough WIBERA, on February 3, 1672 in Charleston, Massachusetts, United States.¹ (Jeremiah GATCHELL was born about 1648 in Marblehead, Essex County, Massachusettes, United States and died between August, 6 and October 22 1720 in East Nottingham, Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States ¹.)