Clocks
Willard Clock ca 1800
Lydia Ballard (1742-1813) and Dane Holt (1740-1818)
Generation Five Family 441
LYDIA BALLARD (Lydia Chandler Ballard4, John Chandler3, Hannah Abbott Chandler2, George1), b. at Andover, 30 Jul 1742 daughter of Hezekiah and Lydia (Chandler) Ballard; d. at Andover, 28 Nov 1813; m. 13 Dec 1763, her third cousin once removed, DANE HOLT, b. 1 Apr 1740 son of Timothy and Hannah (Dane) Holt; Dane d. 15 Dec 1818.
Dane Holt served in the Revolutionary War in Captain Henry Abbott’s Andover Company. This company “marched at the alarm” 19 April 1775. (1)
Dane Holt wrote his will 8 January 1806 and the estate entered probate 5 January 1819. "I give to Lydia my beloved wife all my household stuff and furniture proper for woman's use to be entirely at her own disposal excepting my clock which I give to my son Dane." Lydia also receives the use and improvement of the easterly end of the dwelling house and other specific provisions for her support. Beloved son Dane receives all the real estate and the personal estate that is not otherwise disposed of. Beloved daughter Lydia receives $105 and daughter Hannah receives $75. Beloved son Jacob receives $250. The wearing apparel to be equally divided between his two sons Dane and Jacob. Son Dane is named executor. Heirs signing in 1819 that they have received notification of the probate from executor Dane Holt are Lydia Cummings and Asa Cummings, Hannah Abbot and Noah Abbot, and Jacob Holt. Dane Holt’s wife Lydia died in 1813 and son Dane Holt assumed administration of the estate.
Dane Holt’s will made special mention of his clock and this is common in wills of this era. Clocks were a valued possession in colonial era and early nineteenth century homes and those who owned them gave them special consideration in wills. It is not known which type of clock Dane Holt owned: it may have been either a mantle clock or a grandfather clock. Perhaps he was lucky enough to own one of the Willard brothers clocks that were created in Groton in the late 18th and early 19th century. (2)
Dane Holt and Lydia Ballard had four children born at Andover.
1. LYDIA HOLT, b. 12 Aug 1765; d. at Albany, ME, 18 Mar 1853; m. at Andover, 25 May 1797, as his second wife, ASA CUMMINGS, b. at Ipswich, 18 Sep 1759 son of Thomas and Anne (Kittell) Cummings; Asa d. at Albany, ME, 22 May 1845. Asa was first married to Hannah Peabody. A daughter of Asa Cummings and Hannah Peabody, Susan Cummings, married George Abbott descendant Benjamin Mooar.
2. DANE HOLT, b. 11 Mar 1768; d. at Andover, 27 Nov 1839; m. 6 Dec 1798, MARY WARDWELL, b. at Andover, 28 Nov 1774 daughter of Daniel and Damaris (Faulkner) Wardwell; Mary d. at Andover, 6 Dec 1866.
3. HANNAH HOLT, b. 16 Apr 1771; d. at Andover, 14 Jun 1862; m. 18 Feb 1806, her second cousin, NOAH ABBOTT (Moses5, Barachias4, John3, John2, George1), b. at Andover, 11 May 1770 son of Moses and Elizabeth (Holt) Abbott; Noah d. at Andover, 13 Jul 1849.
4. JACOB HOLT, b. 7 Jun 1780; d. 30 Mar 1847 location variously reported as Ipswich, Andover, and Merrimack; m. 2 Apr 1807, MARY FRYE, b. at Andover, 12 Mar 1788 daughter of John and Betsy (Noyes) Frye; Mary d. at Merrimack, 19 Sep 1825. After Mary’s death, Jacob married LUCY KIMBALL, b. about 1791 (based on age 84 at death) daughter of Samuel Kimball; Lucy d. at Lowell, 11 Apr 1875 but is buried at Merrimack. Jacob graduated from Dartmouth College in 1803. He was a school teacher and later ordained as a minister. He was ordained in 1827 and was minister of the Congregational Church of Brookline from 1827 to 1832. (3)
Notes:
Photo credit: http://willardhouse.org/featured-object/
1) Bailey, Historical Sketches of Andover, p 302
2) Essex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1638-1881. Probate of Dane Holt, 5 Jan 1819, case number 13629.
3) Chapman, Sketches of the Alumni of Dartmouth College, p 111
