Aner Sackett

Aner Sackett, daughter of Reuben Sackett and Mercy Finney, was born in Kent, Connecticut^G, on 10 April 1766.^1,2 She died after 1814. She married before 1804, Reuben Williams. He was born in about 1761.³ He died aged 51 in Warren, Litchfield County, Connecticut^G, on 11 March 1813^4,5 and was buried at the Old Cemetery, Warren, Connecticut^G.⁶
     Aner was named as a beneficiary in her father's will made in Warren, Connecticut, on 19 March 1800. She was to inherit a 26-acre woodland lot known as Johnson's Pitch.⁷
     Aner, listed as Anar Williams, was named as a beneficiary in her mother's will made in Warren, Connecticut^G, on 16 October 1804.
     Reuben made his will in Warren^G on 6 March 1813, appointing Homer Sacket (Aner's first cousin) as executor. Reuben's estate was valued at some $2,000, including his 32-acre farm with dwelling house and barn, valued at $700. Homer compiled a most thorough inventory of Reuben's assets and effects, including crops, livestock (gray mare $40), and personal clothing (1 yellow silk handkerchief 60 cents). Reuben was apparently a man of some means and his inventory included loans (with accumulated interest) made to various family members and others. There were outstanding loans of $12 to Benjamin Sacket and $5 to Alexander Sacket. The extent and complexity of the inventory are reflected in Homer's statement of expenses which included an item "to ten days taking inventory & examining accounts $17.00."
     Reuben left the use of all his real and personal estate to his wife Aner during her lifetime, after which his brothers Sturges and Jesse and sister Betty Arsbourn were to inherit.⁷
     Aner's brother Alexander, writing from Warren to their brother Samuel in Pennsylvania on 11 August 1814, reported that "Sister Aner lives in her house with only one little boy about 13 years old. her situation is rather lonely tho she has property so she can support her self comfortably. She keeps one horse and one cow and that is all she pretends to winter. She is not very healthy but has a feble Constitution."⁸
     It is clear from Reuben's will that he and Aner did not have children, and it would appear that the 13-year-old boy would have been a servant. In the 1810 census Reuben's household in Warren comprised one male aged 45+ and one female aged 26 to 44, with no children.