Five children, as shown above, are mentioned in Abraham's will.

We know that Sarah was born about 1641. We also know she had five children, from the will. Working with four years as the absolute minimum period in which one could have five children, and knowing that she was alive to be mentioned in a will that was signed in 1683, we know she lived, at least, from 1641 to 1683, and that she married a man named Orchard during this period. All five children are recorded as being born within this time period;

Also, Sarah's age would have been about 27 to 39, a somewhat late but not unbelievable age range for bearing children at this point in history.

There are no particular records of anyone named "Orchyard", but there are records of considerable interest that are designated "Orchard", and that is a very likely difference in spelling. Thusly:

In BOSTON BIRTHS, BAPTISMS, MARRIAGES, AND DEATHS, 1630-1699, for the year 1668, on page 108, the following entry appears:

Mary of Robert & Sarah Orchard born Mar. 26.

This would have made her about 27 years old at the time of this birth, a reasonable number.

It is based upon this information that I arrived at the name of her husband, Robert. Please be aware that this is far from certain, but I deem it very likely.

Likewise, the name of a child was assigned as Mary and the sex as female, using this record as a basis for that assumption. If the former is correct, then most likely so is the latter. Otherwise, I apologize!

In addition to the mention of Mary, Mehetabel is mentioned as being baptized, then later married. Hence the assignment of another child as female and named:

In BOSTON BIRTHS, BAPTISMS, MARRIAGES, AND DEATHS, 1630-1699. for the year 1673. on page 130 appears:

Mehetabel of Sarah Orchard 17 day 6 mo.

...and then:

In BOSTON BIRTHS, BAPTISMS, MARRIAGES, AND DEATHS, 1630-1699, for the year 1680, on page 150 appears:

Joseph Orchard Aug.

...and then:

In BOSTON BIRTHS, BAPTISMS, MARRIAGES, AND DEATHS, 1630-1699, for the year 1675, on page 136 appears:

sister Orchard 26 day 7 mo.

You will note in this case there is no given name, but the reference to "sister Orchard" determines the sex.

...and then:

In BOSTON BIRTHS, BAPTISMS, MARRIAGES, AND DEATHS, 1630-1699, for the year 1680, on page 156 appears:

Vertue Orchard Sept.

These are all the mentions of Orchard for birth or (presumably) baptism, and another confirming notion is that there are indeed five of them, as mentioned in the will of Abraham's in 1683.

Vertue and Joseph are both mentioned for 1680, probably for Baptism (I have not had the books in hand, so I have been unable to verify as yet, though I hope to at some point.) This would make sense, and I think that the order of Baptism is probably also the order of birth - hence I've used these dates to create guesses at birth dates as they are uncertain at this point, and because they order the two offspring. Although it is possible that they were born the same year, this seems not highly likely to me.

Mary's marriage is documented in the same book, for 1690, on page 192.

Mehetabel's marriage is documented in the same book, for 1694, on page 218.

Boston is about 50 miles from Barnstable, so this is also reasonable for the times. It would also tend to support that there is little mention of Sarah other than in the will — 50 miles was far enough to make contact between persons infrequent at best unless they travelled in the course of making a living.

Charles Benjamin Blish
3rd Compiler,
April 1st, 2000