All gedcoms in various internet databases seem to be in agreement that Samuel Abbott, son of Samuel and Joyce (Rice) Abbott, and husband of Abigail Mirick, was killed during the Ticonderoga campaign in the French and Indian War as a soldier in Captain Samuel Dakin's company. There are at least three secondary sources that give this information---Lemuel Abijah Abbott's, "Descendants of George Abbott of Rowley, Mass. ..." [1906], 1:171-173; D. Hamilton Hurd's History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts...[1890], 2:425; and Samuel Adams Drake's History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts" [1880], 2:469 with Drake going so far as to say that Samuel Abbott died on 2 Oct 1758, presumably of wounds received in the incident at Half Way Brook NY on 20 July.

I would like to submit that, based on an examination of some primary documents, that circumstantial evidence exists that suggests that Samuel Abbott was not killed in the French and Indian War, and that he may have died in Sudbury MA in 1771. The evidence is as follows:

1---According to Abbott, administration of Samuel's estate was granted to his son Ephraim in 1771, some 13 years after his alleged death. It seems to me that administration would have been granted sometime in 1759 or even 1760, if he had died in 1758.

2---In his Revolutionary War pension application [S5223], Amos Abbott, youngest son of Samuel and Abigail, stated on 12 Sep 1832 that he was 72 years old, which would put his birth between 13 Sep 1759 and 12 Sep 1760. In an affidavit that he filed, he stated that he was born on [illegible] May 1760, consistant with the time span above. This was 1 1/2-2 years after Samuel's alleged death. Thus, Samuel must have been alive in August 1759.

3---The news and casualty lists from the ambush at Half Way Brook on 20 Jul 1758 was published in three Boston newspapers---The Boston Post-Boy on August 7th, The Boston News Letter on August 10th, and The Boston Gazette on August 14th. All three lists are identical. All three lists report the deaths of Captain Samuel Dakin, Lieutenant Samuel Curtis, and [presumably privates] William Grout, Jonathan Patterson and Nathaniel Molton, all of Sudbury. Samuel Abbott's name is not listed as being killed, wounded or missing in the list of 30 men.

Comments welcomed.