M. before 3 Mar 1797 in (probably) Charlotte, Vermont1
Husband: Medad Lyman
D. 13 Dec 1802 in Charlotte, Vermont1
Before modern medicine, childbirth often produced complications which would lead to a woman’s death. This seemed to be the fate of Anne (Clapp) Lyman of Vermont.
Anne was born November 21, 1773 in Easthampton, Massachusetts to Benjamin Clapp and Phebe Boynton.1 She was the 4th of 15 children; two of her younger siblings died as infants. Anne’s childhood was during the American Revolution, and her father served in the army for a time as a quartermaster.4 When Anne was three-years-old, the events of history came right into her home when her parents housed two British officers who were prisoners during 1777.5 The officers had been captured in a battle and were being transported to Boston to be shipped back home; their stay with the Clapp family was likely very brief.
Sometime before 1797, Anne married Medad Lyman,2 and the couple moved to Charlotte, Vermont.4 The town of Charlotte was located far to the north on the shore of Lake Champlain, and while a very beautiful place, it was also quite remote, and medical care was extremely limited. It was said that part of the town was “very unwholesome, fever and ague and bilious fever being common.”6 The climate was severe in the winter, and this added to the health risks of those who lived there.
Sometime before 1797, Anne married Medad Lyman,2 and the couple moved to Charlotte, Vermont.4 The town of Charlotte was located far to the north on the shore of Lake Champlain, and while a very beautiful place, it was also quite remote, and medical care was extremely limited. It was said that part of the town was “very unwholesome, fever and ague and bilious fever being common.”6 The climate was severe in the winter, and this added to the health risks of those who lived there.
Charlotte Congregational Church. (Source: Niranjan Arminius, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
Anne had two daughters born between 1797 and 1800; it’s believed there were two other infants that died or were stillborn, and they were unnamed.2 In 1802, she was pregnant again, delivering the child, another daughter, on December 5th.2 Anne never recovered from the birth, and died just eight days later on December 13th.3 A likely cause of death was a postpartum infection which was commonly fatal in mothers about a week after birth, but there’s no record if this was the case for Anne.
The baby passed away the following May.2 Anne’s husband Medad remarried,2 but died in a typhus epidemic in 1813.7,8 Of the two surviving daughters, the older one, Minerva, never married, but her sister Sophia did, and also had medical problems from childbirth, dying at a young age.9
Chidren:
1. Minerva Lyman — B. 3 Mar 1797, (probably) Charlotte, Vermont;2 D. 29 May 1877, Easthampton, Massachusetts10
2. Sophia Lyman — B. 21 Sep 1800, Charlotte, Vermont;2 D. 2 May 1838, Nelson, New Hampshire;9 M. Abel Kittredge (1798-1882), 28 Jan 1824, Nelson, New Hampshire11
3. Anne Lyman — B. 5 Dec 1802, Charlotte, Vermont;2 D. 18 May 1803, (probably) Charlotte, Vermont2
Sources:
1 Birth record of Anne Clapp, Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915, FamilySearch.org
2 The Lyman Family in America, Lyman Coleman, 1872
3 Death record of Anne Lyman, Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954, FamilySearch.org
4 The History of Easthampton: its settlement and growth, Payson W. Lyman, 1866
5 Obituary of Phebe Clapp, Northampton Courier, 1847
6 History of Chittenden County, Vermont, William S. Rann, 1886, p. 545
7 Death record of Medad Lyman, V.V.R.
8 Spotted Fever Epidemic in New England, VermontGenealogy.com
9 Death record of Sophia L. Kittredge, New Hampshire U.S., Death Records, 1650-1969, Ancestry.com
10 Death record of Minerva Lyman, Massachusetts Deaths and Burials, 1795-1910, FamilySearch.org
11 Marriage record of Abel Kittredge and Sophia Lyman, New Hampshire Marriages, 1720-1920, FamilySearch.org
