Abigail Barton

In the year following the marriage of Joseph and Abigail, their first child, Thomas, was born; he was baptized, together with his half-brother John and half-sister Mary, children of Rachel, at Grace Church on 19 Oct. 1718. Be cause only two children are in this entry credited to Rachel, it has generally been assumed that that is all Rachel had, but the assumption is not valid. How many of the thirteen childrenof Joseph were by each wife cannot now be determined, since we do not know what position was held by the son Thomas who was Abigail's eldest. Only one other child was baptized at Grace Church, according to the record there, namely, Lewis, who was christened on 8 May 1726. Thus, only four of the children were recorded in baptismal registers now extant. Perhaps some were baptized at Scarsdale, the registers of which have perished.