When Isaiah1 Harrison, Sr. took over the blacksmith shop at Oyster Bay in 1687, Joseph2 Ludlam’s cooper shop was next door. Nearby was the home and shop where the shoemaker, Gideon2 Wright (Peter1) had lived before he died in 1685, leaving his widow Elizabeth2 (Townsend) Wright with eight minor children to raise.
While doing a deep dive to learn the New York background of Samuel2 and Lydia2 (Harrison) Stewart, I discovered that if one were to ignore the history of Isaiah1 Harrison, Sr.’s mother-in-law, Mrs. Elizabeth2 (Townsend) (Wright) Ludlam of Oyster Bay, Isaiah1, Sr.’s history would be sorely deficient.
In his book, Settlers by the Long Grey Trail, J. Houston Harrison must not have been fully satisfied with his speculation that Isaiah1 Harrison, Sr.’s second wife Abigail was a Smith, for he made an extensive search of various genealogies that included thirteen families: the “Carpenters, Davises, Hallocks, Lawrences, Loyds, Smiths, Townsends, Underhills, Warrens, Weekes, Whiteheads, Willets and Wrights”
This investigation of Long Island records that pertains to Lydia2 (Harrison) Stewart’s Long Island roots and relationships confirms there are errors in some speculative relationships proposed in Setters by the Long Grey Trail, a comprehensive history of the Isaiah1 Harrison, Sr. family that was published in 1935 by author J. Houston Harrison,
In exploring motives for their move, since finding Isaiah1, Sr.’s earliest record at Long Island, there are new possibilities to consider in the hunt for Mrs. Abigail Harrison’s identity. See Chapter One, page 2, especially since this record includes persons from Isaiah1’s soon to be in-laws’ relatives. These were DAVID3 SCUDDER, David3’s stepbrother JOHN2 JONES, and ROBERT ARTHUR, Thomas2 Scudder, Jr. and Mary (Ludlam) Scudder’s son-in-law