Birthdate computed from date of death results in 29 feb 1853, so some sort of error was made in preparing the tombstone. If the age at death, 28 years, 11 months, 16 days, was calculated by "inclusive counting", such that 14 feb 1882 was counted as a full day, the error is even worse, implying a birth date of 30 feb 1853.
still living - details excluded
Her will, dated 19 sep 1699, leaves her estate to her "five children, son-in-law John Muchemore to take care of Joseph Youring to bring him up in the faith of God and to such Larning as is conveneant for one of his degrees". The identity of this Joseph has not been established. One of the overseers of the will was Richard Gooss or Goss, her "kinsman". Might this word connote cousin or brother-in-law? Nothing has been learned about Eleanor's age,
either. The five children appear to be the three Urans and the two Muchemores, contrary to the speculations of Libbey (Geneal. Enc. of ME & NH) about Gertrude Toogood, wife of Edward Toogood, whose names appear on the back of a document relating to the estate of Eleanor. Aside from the fact that we have already identified five living children at the time of her death, Zachaeus Wilcome evidently dying shortly thereafter, the notation about Gertrude apparently contains the same names as the guardian's bond in the estate of Allen Lloyd, which was before the court in 1701. It seems likely that someone was jotting down notes on a handy piece of paper, and did not intend the two estates to appear related.
There are many references to Eleanor's activities on Star Island after the death of William Urin. She seems to have been quite enterprising. She is noted selling liquor at various times, perhaps in larger amounts than expected, and her will mentions a new boat that she then owned.
Probably the most interesting of these references is the following, 27 jun 1665, the New Hampshire Court meeting at Dover. "Upon a Complaint made by several masters of vinges [i.e., wines] on Star Iland against Widow Urin James Waymouth Roger Kelly John More & siprus [Onesiphorus] Clary [Harvey] for selling of beare & Liquors upon said Iland without Licence whereby theire men were hindered in following theire busines & was owned [i.e., admitted] by them all except John More who was not at Court to make his answer This Court sentence is That Widow Urin who having Libertie by the Comissoners there to sell in time of waying fish yet had exceeded ye time Limited that she have an admonition & pay Tho. Sevy 10 s & fies 2 s 6 d John More to pay fine ..." (etc. -- Thomas Seavy was the constable at that time, and widow Urin and Waymouth also had to pay him "for his panes to fetch them to this Court.") When James Waymouth, John More, and Richard Wilcom appear two years later charged with selling "by retaile" wine, beer, and cider without a license, Wilcom's wife answers for him in court, pleading "that it was but in waying time." The similarity of the charges, the parties involved, and the circumstances make us suspect that Wilcom's wife at that time was in fact Eleanor, the widow Urin. She did not go away empty-handed on this last occasion: The court also granted James Waymouth and Richard Wilcome license to open a "house of publick entertainment" during the time of weighing of fish, the license to be renewed annually.
In 1687, one William Button, evidently a Jersey trader, died at Isles of Shoals. The inventory notes debts owed to John Yousring and credits due from John Yousring and Ellenor Welcom (NH Probate Files, #117, not examined), thus providing yet another spelling. The document may have been prepared by someone with a French background, as the surname Diamond is here spelled "Disment", and a number of other names have an extra "s" at the end of the first syllable.
In 1668, her son Edward Urin sold his interest in William Urin's estate to James Blagdon. The same James Blagdon, with Richard Goss, signed the inventory of Eleanor Welcom's estate 12 oct 1699, and on 01 feb 1699/1700 was surety for the bond of John Muchemore, administrator for the estate. This suggests he may have retained an interest in the family's business. It is possible he was related in some way to one of Eleanor's families. Blagdon was born about 1638, according to Libbey's Geneal. Enc. of ME & NH, and his second wife was Joan, widow of William Diamond and Edward Carter (meaning, evidently, the Edward Cater who appears in NH probate and court records).
A number of researchers have tried to determine Eleanor's relationship to her "kinsman" Richard Goss. None of these has managed to advance even a reasonable explanation, and the detailed query that appeared in the Boston Evening Transcript 03 nov 1930 (#869) seems never to have been answered. There is one indirect relationship that might be considered, but it depends on Richard "Goss" or "Gooss" being the same person as Richard Joce of Portsmouth and Star Island. Without concluding that Goss and Joce are indeed the same name, it appears that Richard Joce was Eleanor's daughter-in-law's uncle. That is, Eleanor's son John Urin married first to Abigail Westbrook (her identity inferred from a statement about John Urin's relationship to John Westbrook), and Richard Joce was married to Jane Walford, sister of Abigail Westbrook's mother. Whether that was close enough to be considered "kinsman" at the time is uncertain, but we do know that the Joce and Uran families had lived on tiny Star Island for many years, and so it was not unreasonable for Richard to be asked as a disinterested friend of the family to assist in the settling of her estate. If this is the correct explanation, it fails to offer any clues about the origins of Eleanor.
Recently, we noticed that a number of genealogies published on the internet have made a leap of logic and assert that Eleanor's maiden name was Goss. Since the will of Christopher Joce (claimed by some as Goss) is very detailed, we might have expected some mention of Eleanor in it if she were indeed a Goss. Also, it would seem that Richard Goss would then have to be her nephew, and so it seems unlikely she would have called him simply "my kinsman". On the other hand, it is pointed out that Christopher Joce was selling liquor on Star Island as early as 1652 and had difficulties with his license similar to those experienced later by Eleanor.
[4]
Since she had 2 children after her marriage to Richard Wilcomb, it is unlikely she was born any earlier than 1625. Wilcomb was b. cir 1641, so it appears he was much younger than Eleanor.
[5]
Will dated 19 sep 1699, inventory filed 12 oct 1699.