Hannah Wood Peck

1701 – 1730

In 1712 an epidemic swept through Little Compton killing approximately 23 people. Hannah Wood witnessed the epidemic’s impact firsthand as the “putrid sore throat” (possibly diphtheria) sickened and killed six of her siblings between March 8 and 16. Now at age 11, and as one of her parent’s five surviving children, Hannah would have been expected to contribute even more to the household, cooking, sewing, spinning, and caring for her younger siblings, all in preparation for running her own household someday.

In 1721, at age 19, Hannah married John Peck and left her parents’ farm on the south side of Taylor’s Lane to live in Bristol. They had six children in quick succession. Her fifth child, Hannah, born in February 1729, died as an infant, and a new baby born a little over a year later was named Hannah as well. It is likely that Hannah, the mother, never recovered from that birth. She died in June 1730.

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