M. about 1656 in Sandwich, Massachusetts2
Husband: Nathaniel Fish
D. after 14 Mar 1694 in (probably) Sandwich, Massachusetts3
Lydia Miller was very young when she got married in the mid-17th century, but she had a pre-nuptial agreement, and this may have been because her father was the town minister.
Lydia was born on February 2, 1640 to John Miller and his wife Lydia,1 the third of eight children. Her father was a preacher who was sought after by many towns in early Massachusetts, and he had settled for a time in Rowley, where Lydia was born. Within a couple of years, Reverend Miller was recruited by the new settlement of Sandwich, located on Cape Cod in the Plymouth Colony, and the family relocated there.4
A house in Sandwich that dates back to 1675.
Sometime during the mid-1650s, Lydia got married to a man named Nathaniel Fish;2 this happened no doubt when she was in her mid-teens. He was about 20 years older than she was, and he had a need for Lydia after the death of his first wife left him to raise three young boys. These children now became her charge; she added to the family with about six children of her own, the youngest born in August 1668.
Part of the marriage arrangement was that if Nathaniel died, Lydia would receive a minimum of £66 from the estate.3 It’s easy to imagine that the difference in age between bride and groom caused a need for this protection, but perhaps the status of Lydia’s father being the town minister played into this as well. Their marriage seemed to have some challenges — in 1677, their daughter Lydia was raped by one of Nathaniel’s sons from his first marriage.5 The son was found guilty and was publicly whipped, but he was set free after that. Young Lydia went to live in another town where she eventually got married.6
Nathaniel passed away, and on March 14, 1694, the pre-nuptial agreement was implemented.2 Unfortunately, Lydia only got £31 because that was all the money in his estate. Her brother John joined her in administering the probate. Lydia’s situation was described as, “He had left only a two-room house, five acres of upland, three acres of meadow, an ox, a cow, an old sword, a few books, and a few household items.” Because the cash fell short of the money that was promised, Lydia got everything in the inventory.
Nothing more is known of Lydia as to when and where she died. Some have said she was alive until about 1729, but there is no original source cited for this.3
Children:
1. Lydia Fish — B. about 1657, (probably) Sandwich, Plymouth Colony;7 D. 8 Sep 1712, Billerica, Massachusetts;7 M. John Jefts (1651-1712), 6 Apr 1688, Billerica, Massachusetts6
2. (probably) Mercy Fish — B. (probably) during 1660s, Sandwich, Plymouth Colony;8 D. 29 Mar 1734, Sandwich, Massachusetts;9 M. Joshua Blackwell (1653-1737), about 1681, Sandwich, Massachusetts8
3. Nathan Fish — B. (probably) during the 1660s in Sandwich, Plymouth Colony;10 M. Deborah Barrows (~1668-?), 20 Dec 1687, Plymouth, Plymouth Colony11
4. Jonathan Fish — B. about 1662, Sandwich, Plymouth Colony12
5. Thomas Fish — B. about 1665, Sandwich, Plymouth Colony;13 D. 1736, Duxbury, Massachusetts;14 M. Margaret Woodworth (1673-1723), 10 Jan 1697, Marshfield, Massachusetts15
6. Samuel Fish — B. 10 Aug 1668, Sandwich, Plymouth Colony16
Sources:
1 Birth record of Lydia Miller, Vital Records of Rowley, Massachusetts to the year 1849, 1928
2 Marriage year is based on the idea she wasn’t married before age 16, but daughter Lydia wasn’t named as a minor in 1677 court case, so probably was born no later than 1657.
3 WikiTree listing for Lydia (Miller) Fish (1640 - abt. 1729)
4 WikiTree listing for John Miller (1604-1663)
5 Plymouth Colony: Its History and People, 1620-1691, Eugene Aubrey Stratton, 1986, pp. 198-199
6 Marriage record of John Jefts and Lydia Fish, Massachusetts Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001, FamilySearch.org
7 WikiTree listing for Lydia Fish
8 WikiTree listing for Mercy Fish
9 Death record of Mercy Blackwell, Vital Records of Sandwich, MA to 1885, 1996
10 WikiTree listing for Nathan Fish
11 “Nathan and Deborah (Barrows) Fish of Falmouth, Massachusetts,” Robert E. Bowman, The American Genealogist, V. 80, 2005
12 WikiTree listing for Jonathan Fish
13 WikiTree listing for Thomas Fish
14 Index of Obituaries in Boston Newspapers 1704-1795, Ogden Codman, 1968
15 Marriage record of Thomas Fish and Margaret Woodworth, “Marriages from the Early Records of Marshfield, MA,” The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, V. 6
16 The Fish Family in England and America, Lester Warren Fish, 1948
