M. about 1653 in Hartford, Connecticut2
Husband: Isaac Sheldon
D. 17 Apr 1684 in Northampton, Massachusetts3
Mary Woodford spent thirty years of her life, from age 18 to age 48, raising a large family in the early settlements of the Connecticut River valley. No record survives of her birth, but it’s believed that she started out in Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1636.1 Mary’s parents were Thomas Woodford and Mary Blott, and she was their oldest child; only two sisters are known to be her siblings. Her father was one of the founders of Hartford, Connecticut, and she was brought there as a baby.1
When Mary was about 17, she got married to a man named Isaac Sheldon.2 For the first couple of years of their marriage, they lived in the town of Windsor, Connecticut, and Mary gave birth to her first child there in September of 1654.3 Then the family joined a migration up the river to the new settlement of Northampton, Massachusetts.3 Mary’s father relocated there as well, and both of the men’s names can be found in many of the town’s early documents.
Mary and her husband lived next door to her father, and she seems to have maintained a close relationship with him. At his death in 1667, she was bequeathed many of his household possessions.4 Besides a cupboard, a large pewter platter, and his own bed, his will stated that she was to have his “great kettle,” but instructed that her younger sisters would be able to use it, too, until “they can provide one for themselves.” In a Puritan New England home, a large cooking pot would have been essential to a woman in her everyday life.
A "great kettle" in a colonial home
During Mary’s years in Northampton, she gave birth to twelve children, making for a total of thirteen. The older ones were all healthy, but child number ten died as an infant. At the time of her final pregnancy, she was in her late 40s, and that child died soon after it was born. Mary likely never recovered from the ordeal of childbirth at her age, and she passed away two months later on April 17, 1684.3
Mary was a direct ancestor of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Frances Cleveland, Nancy Reagan, Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn, J.P. Morgan, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Dr. Benjamin Spock, John Lithgow, Harry Chapin, Kate Upton, and Matt Damon.5
Children:
1. Mary Sheldon — B. 4 Sep 1654, Windsor, Connecticut;3 D. 20 Apr 1728, Northampton, Massachusetts;6 M. John Bridgman (1645-1712), 11 Dec 1670, Northampton, Massachusetts7
2. Isaac Sheldon — B. 4 Sep 1656, Northampton, Massachusetts;8 D. 29 Mar 1712, Northampton, Massachusetts;9 M. Sarah Warner (1667-1701), 25 Nov 1685, Northampton, Massachusetts10
3. John Sheldon — B. 5 Dec 1658, Northampton, Massachusetts;11 D. (possibly) 1733, Hartford, Connecticut; M. (1) Hannah Stebbins (1664-1704), 5 Nov 1679, Northampton, Massachusetts;12 (2) Elizabeth Lee (1669-1758), 20 Apr 1708, Hartford, Connecticut13
4. Thomas Sheldon — B. 6 Aug 1661, Northampton, Massachusetts;14 D. 7 Jun 1725, Northampton, Massachusetts;15 M. Mary Hinsdale (1665-1738), 25 Nov 1685, Northampton, Massachusetts16
5. Ruth Sheldon — B. 27 Aug 1663, Northampton, Massachusetts;17 D. 16 May 1728, Massachusetts;18 M. (1) Joseph Wright (1657-1697), 6 Nov 1679, Northampton, Massachusetts;19 (2) Samuel Strong (1652-1732), 28 Oct 1698, Northampton, Massachusetts20
6. Thankful Sheldon — B. 27 Aug 1663, Northampton, Massachusetts;21 D. 1741, Northampton, Massachusetts;22 M. Benjamin Edwards (1652-1724), 23 Feb 1680, Northampton, Massachusetts23
7. Mindwell Sheldon — B. 24 Feb 1666, Northampton, Massachusetts;24 D. 8 Apr 1735, Northampton, Massachusetts;25 M. (1) John Pomeroy (1662-1685), 30 Apr 1684, Northampton, Massachusetts;26 (2) John Lyman (1660-1740), 19 Apr 1687, Northampton, Massachusetts27
8. Joseph Sheldon — B. 1 Feb 1668, Northampton, Massachusetts;28 D. 2 Jul 1708, Suffield, Connecticut;29 M. Mary Whiting, 8 Sep 1695, Westfield, Massachusetts30
9. Hannah Sheldon — B. 29 Jun 1670, Northampton, Massachusetts;31 D. 27 Jan 1742, Springfield, Massachusetts;32 M. (1) Samuel Chapin (1665-1729), 24 Dec 1690, Springfield, Massachusetts;33 (2) Thomas Terry (1665-1760), 22 Mar 1735, Springfield, Massachusetts34
10. Eleazar Sheldon — B. 4 Aug 1672, Northampton, Massachusetts;35 D. before 26 Jan 1701, (probably) Northampton, Massachusetts36
11. Samuel Sheldon — B. 9 Nov 1675, Northampton, Massachusetts;37 D. 31 Mar 1745, Boston, Massachusetts;38 M. Mary Warner (~1677-?), 1695, Hadley, Massachusetts39
12. Ebenezer Sheldon — B. 1 Mar 1678, Northampton, Massachusetts;40 D. 18 Mar 1755, Northampton, Massachusetts;41 M. Mary Hunt (1680-1767), 16 Dec 1701, Northampton, Massachusetts42
13. Mercy Sheldon — B. 4 Feb 1684, Northampton, Massachusetts;43 D. 4 Feb 1684, Northampton, Massachusetts44
Sources:
1 The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Robert Charles Anderson, pages 2057-2060, 1995
2 “Isaac Sheldon of Windsor, Conn.,” NEHGR, V. 117, Charlotte Alling Hunt, Apr 1963
3 Sheldons in America (website)
4 Our Woodford (website)
5 FamousKin.com
6 Death record of Mary (Sheldon) Bridgman, Massachusetts Deaths and Burials, FamilySearch.org
7 Marriage record of John Bridgman and Mary Sheldon, Massachusetts Marriages, FamilySearch.org
8 Birth record of Isaack Shelding, Massachusetts Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, FamilySearch.org
9 Death record of Isaac Sheldon (younger), Mass. D.&B.
10 Marriage of Isaac Sheldon and Sarah Warner, Mass. Marriages
11 Birth record of John Sheldon, Mass. T.C.V.&T.R.
12 Marriage record of John Sheldon and Hannah Stebbins, Mass. T.C.V.&T.R.
13 Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850, Northampton, Vol. 1, AmericanAncestors.org
14 Birth record of Thomas Sheldon, Massachusetts Births and Christenings, FamilySearch.org
15 Find-a-Grave listing for Thomas Shelden
16 Marriage record of John Sheldon and Mary Hinsdale, Mass. Marriages
17 Birth record of Ruth Sheldon, Mass. B. & C.
18 Find-a-Grave listing for Ruth Sheldon Wright Strong
19 Marriage record of Joseph Wright and Ruth Sheldon, Mass. T.C.V.&T.R.
20 Marriage record of Samuel Strong and Ruth Sheldon, Mass. Marriages
21 Birth record of Thankful Sheldon, Mass. B. & C.
22 Death record of Thankful Edwards, Mass. D.&B.
23 Marriage record of Benjamin Edwards and Thankful Sheldon, Mass. T.C.V.&T.R.
24 Birth record of Mindwell Sheldon, Mass. T.C.V.&T.R.
25 Death record of Mindwell Lyman, Mass. D.&B.
26 Marriage record of John Pomeroy and Mindwell Sheldon, Mass. T.C.V.&T.R.
27 Marriage record of John Lyman and Mindwell Pomery, Mass. T.C.V.&T.R.
28 Birth record of Joseph Sheldon, Mass. B. & C.
29 Death record of Joseph Sheldon, Connecticut Vital Records Prior to 1850, FamilySearch.org
30 Wikitree listing for Joseph Sheldon https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Sheldon-153
31 Birth record of Hannah Sheldon, Mass. T.C.V.&T.R.
32 Find-a-Grave listing for Hannah Sheldon
33 Marriage record of Samuel Chapin and Hanah Shelden, Massachusetts, Springfield Vital Records, FamilySearch.org
34 Marriage record of Thomas Terry and Hannah Chapin, Mass. S.V.R.
35 Birth record of Eleazar Sheldon, Mass. B. & C.
36 Death record of Eleazar Sheldon, Mass. D.&B.
37 Birth record of Samuel Sheldon, Mass. T.C.V.&T.R.
38 Death record of Samuel Sheldon, Mass. D.&B.
39 Christening record of Sam Sheldon (younger), Mass. B.&C.
40 Birth record of Ebenezer Sheldon, Mass. B.&C.
41 Find-a-Grave listing for Ebenezer Sheldon
42 Marriage of Ebenezer Sheldon and Mary Hunt, Mass. Marriages
43 Birth record of Mercy Sheldon, Mass. B. & C.
44 Death record of Mercy Sheldon, Mass. D.&B.
