Ebenezer Sears

Ebenezer Sears (1694–aft. 1775), son of Paul Sears and Mercy Freeman

Sarah Howes (b. 1699–aft. 1744), daughter of Ebenezer Howes and Sarah Gorham

Ebenezer, the son of Paul and Mercy Sears, was born on 15 August 1694 in Yarmouth.¹ He probably died in Chatham (now East Hampton), then in Hartford County, Connecticut, probably after 6 March 1775. He married Sarah Howes on 26 May 1720 in Yarmouth.¹

Sarah Howes, the daughter of Ebenezer and Sarah Howes, was born on 22 January 1699 in Yarmouth.¹ She died after 29 November 1744, when her last child was born.

Ebenezer Howes of Yarmouth mentioned his daughter Sarah Sears in his will of 3 December 1760.

Ebenezer Sears went to Chatham.³ He might be the Ebenezer who is mentioned in the church records on 28 November 1768 and 26 November 1773. His son Ebenezer is consistently referred to as "Jr." as late as 6 March 1775.² His wife is not mentioned in the church records and may have died before he moved to Chatham.

Children of Ebenezer Sears and Sarah Howes: Births and deaths of the children who died young recorded in Yarmouth.¹

i. Sarah Sears was born on 10 March 1720/1. She married James Higgens on 6 October 1742 in Yarmouth.³

ii. Desire Sears was born on 23 April 1722. She died on 6 July 1723.

iii. Ebenezer Sears was born on 13 June 1723. He died on 28 or 29 1814 in Chatham (now East Hampton), Connecticut. He married Elizabeth Cook.

iv. Desire Sears was born on 15 August 1725. She was baptized on 17 October 1725 in the parish of Brewster in Harwich.⁴ She died on 19 November 1786.³ She married John Markham on 3 November 1748.^3,5 John died on 3 or 30 March 1788, age 83.^3,5

John and Desire lived in Chatham.³ They are buried in the Lakeview Cemetery there.⁵

v. Hezekiah Sears was born in May 1727. He was baptized on 25 June 1727 in East Yarmough.⁶ He died the "December after."

vi. Hezekiah Sears was born on 30 December 1728. He was baptized on 26 January 1728/9 in East Yarmouth.⁶ He died in Haddam, then in Hartford County, Connecticut.³ He married Deborah Spencer on 25 December 1755 in Middletown, then in Hartford County, Connecticut.³ Deborah, the daughter of Nathaniel and Abigail (Hurlbut) Spencer, was born on 9 Aril 1736.³

Hezekiah and Deborah lived in East Haddam.³

vii. Thomas Sears was born on 22 September 1731. He was baptized on 2 October 1730 in East Yarmouth.⁶

viii. Betty Sears was born on 27 August 1733. She married William Norcutt on 5 October 1753 in Middletown.³

ix. Dinah Sears was born on 1 December 1735.

x. Mercy Sears was born on 11 February 1738. She married Thomas Shephard on 10 January 1760.³

xi. Hannah Sears was born on 23 November 1739. She died on 26 April 1742 "or thereabout."

xii. Ann Sears was born on 5 February 1741. She died about 18 April 1741.

xiii. Unnamed Son Sears was born in March 1742/3. He died the "April following."

xiv. Paul Searswas born on 29 November 1744. He died on 30 January 1810 in Winthrop, Kennebec County, Maine.³ He married an unknown first wife who died giving birth to twins, who also died.³ He married second Mercy Stevens on 27 January 1778 in Winthrop.³ Mercy the daughter of James Stevens of Winthrop, died on 27 January 1829, age 76.³

Paul is said to have been a cooper.³

Endnotes:

1. Robert M. Sherman and Ruth Wilder Sherman, Vital Records of Yarmouth, Massachusetts: To the Year 1850, vol. 1 (Warwick: Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of Rhode Island, 1975), 18 (birth of Ebenezer), 31 (birth of Sarah), 49 (births of the children, deaths of the children who died young), 142 (marriage of Ebenezer and Sarah).

2. "Connecticut, U.S., Church Record Abstracts, 1630–1920," Ancestry (2013: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3032) > vol. 26 East Hampton (East Hampton Congregational Church), 451–62 (Sears).

3. Samuel Pierce May, The Descendants of Richard Sares (Sears) of Yarmouth, Mass., 1638–1888 (Albany: J. Munsell, 1890), 80–81, 130–1.

4. "Records of the First Parish in Brewster, Formerly the First Parish in Harwich, Mass.," Mayflower Descendant 6 (1904): 152–6.

6. Find A Grave website (Findagrave (https://www.findagrave.com)

Name	Memorial Number	Inscription / Comments
Desire Sears Markham	52429879
John Markhaam	52429498

eyr. "East Yarmouth Church Records," Genealogical Advertiser, vol. 3: 20–21.

Last revised: 14-Jul-2023