The Family of Rebina Davis daughter of Azuba Griffin

In March of 2013 we posted the birth and baptismal records for the family of Azubah Griffin and Henry Davis. Those records document the birth of their daughter Rebina on June 14, 1796. We do not have a marriage record for Rebina but it is fairly easy to find evidence of her marriage to Joseph Porter Lane woven in the fabric of the Killingworth records. In the records of the Killingworth Congregational Second Society we find a record for Joseph Porter Lane and his wife Rebina as having been granted Full Communion. Joseph Porter was the son of Joseph Lane Jr. and Elizabeth Porter. He was named after both of his parents. His birth is part of the Barbour collection noted as February 7, 1787. Joseph’s baptism is noted in the Second Society records as well as the private records of the Deacon Abraham Pierson. Rebina and Joseph are buried in the Stone House Cemetery near her parents. Her headstone reads “Rebina Lane, wife of Joseph P., died December 31, 1875, age 79”. His reads “Joseph Porter Lane, died September 27, 1875 age 84.” They passed away 3 months apart. Their deaths are noted in the town records spread across two pages in the ledger the dates listed a few lines apart. For Joseph P. Lane the date and age are noted, as is his birthplace of Killingworth. The record notes that he was a farmer having died of old age. It also list his parents Joseph and Elizabeth. The record for Rebina notes that she was the daughter of Henry Davis and Azubah Griffin. It records that she was the widow of Joseph P. Lane she too having died of old age. Within the probate files there is found a will for both Rebina and Joseph. Rebina’s will starts, “In the name of God, Amen. I Rebina Lane of the town of Killingworth in the county of Middlesex and the State of Connecticut being of sound mind”. She then gives directions to settle her final affairs. Rebina then leaves most of her remaining property to Sherman Nettleton and his married daughter. I have been unable to discover the connection. Joseph, who died first, wills most of his estate to Rebina. He then leaves a bequest to five religious societies including the American Missionary Association and the American Bible Society. Conspicuous by their absence is any reference to children or heirs. None of the previous histories written for Rebina and Joseph list any children nor at first glance are there any buried in the family plot. But, as part of the treasure trove of family data that we found in the Episcopal records we find a baptismal record dated 17 August 1817, “Elizabeth daughter of Porter Lane”. Elizabeth was apparently named after her mother’s sister Elizabeth. It seems that Rebina and her husband had joined the Episcopal Society with her brother Leonard only to return to the Congregational Society later in life. We were left to wonder what had happen to Elizabeth Lane then we made a discovery in the Hull family history, which lists a marriage of Hamlet Hull to an Elizabeth Lane. Their history suggests that her parents were Joseph Porter Lane and Rebina Davis although they do not site any original sources. In the Second Society ledger we find a record of their marriage on June 30, 1839 Hamlet Hull to Elizabeth Lane. The marriage is also found in the town records. There is also a death record for Hamlet and Elizabeth in the Congregational ledgers, “Hamlet Hull October 15, 1842” and by a coincidence on the line next to her uncle Leonard Davis “Episcopalian” (see the story on Leonard Davis) dated August 28, 1840 “Elizabeth Lane Hull, church member, age 23 ½” (a match for the 1817 baptismal date). Following a familiar family pattern we find the couple buried in the Stone House Cemetery near her parents and grandparents. The cemetery is named after Azuba and Henry Davis’s stone house and probably served as a family “burying yard”. Their headstones read “In memory of Elizabeth Hull, wife of Hamlet Hull, who died August 28, 1840, aged 23”. Those dates again indicate a birth in 1817. There is also a headstone for Hamlet, “In memory of Hamlet Hull, who died October 16, 1842, ”. Elizabeth Lane Hull / Rebina Davis Lane / Azubah Griffin / Samuel-Marah / Samuel Griffin.