Hannah Adams, lost and found

Information that was passed on in our family tree listed my 3rd great-grandmother as Hannah Hale Adams, wife of Levi and mother of Amos Hale Adams.  She married Levi in 1815, and her son Amos was born in 1824.  That was all we knew about Hannah, although we have an undated photo of her.

I've been looking, on and off, for her parents with no success.  Finally, I found a marriage record from Townsend, Middlesex County, MA.

It says "1814 Oct. 5th rec'd the Names of Mr. Levi Adams of Leominster and Miss Hannah Adams of this town with there (sic) intentions of marriage."  So, it looks like Hannah is a resident of Townsend, and her maiden name is Adams.  There's a Hannah Adams in Townsend of the right age, daughter of Archelaus and Hannah Farwell Adams. born in 1763--although that's pretty early, and would make Hannah 52 at the time of her marriage to Levi, and 61 when her son Amos was born.  Not very likely!  And there's still the problem of where the name Hale came from.

The next clue to pop up is the marriage record from Levi's home town of Leominster.  That one is a little different:  it lists Levi and Widow Hannah Adams.  That is a whole new ball of wax.

I went searching for a Hannah with the last name beginning with H in Massachusetts, born sometime between 1780 and 1790.  I found seven:

1. Hannah Heald of Carlisle, Middlesex County, daughter of Jonathan and Hannah, born 1789
2. Hannah Hale of Newburyport, Essex County, daughter of Paul and Hannah, born 1788
3. Hannah Hale of Newbury, Essex County, daughter of Isaac and Ruth, born 1790
4. Hannah Hale of Tyringham, Berkshire County, daughter of John and Abagail, born 1789
5. Hannah Heald of Pepperell, Middlesex County, daughter of Eleazar and Elizabeth, born 1789
6. Hannah Heald of Townsend, Middlesex County, daughter of Asa and Rebekah, born 1783
7. Hannah Woodwell Hale, of Newburyport, Essex County, daughter of Enoch and Mary, born 1789

Then I went looking for marriages in Massachusetts taking place between 1795 and 1815 for these Hannahs.  

1. Hannah Heald of Carlisle married Mr. Nutting in 1812.
2. Hannah Hale of Newburyport married Mr. Plummer in 1809.
3. Hannah Hale of Newbury married Mr. Richards in 1809.
4. Hannal Hale of Tyringham: nothing found
5. Hannah Heald of Pepperell: nothing found
6. Hannah Heald of Townsend married Abel Adams, son of Archelaus and Hannah Farwell Adams, in 1804.
7. Hannah Woodwell Hale of Newburyport never married.

Looks like Hannah #6 is the one I am searching for.  The question is, can I link this Hannah with my Hannah?  It turns out that in the probate records for Abel's estate, Levi shows up when Abel's sons are going into apprenticeships.  The evidence is overwhelming that Hannah Heald Adams is Levi's wife.

Levi moved to Pennsylvania sometime before 1840; we find him in the 1840 census living in Harford, PA.  Hannah is still living in Massachusetts.  She died there in 1842 of "miasma".   

So where did the name Hale come from?  According to a book about the genealogy of Northern New York (http://www.newyorkroots.org/bookarchive/northernnewyork/640-647.html), the names Hale, Heald, Haild, and Haile (as well as Held, Helde, and Halde) are all from the same family.  In one spot in Abel Adam's probate records, Hannah's brother Asa's name is spelled as Hale.

One more brick wall knocked down--and I am sure more interesting stories are to come from this family.