Hannah Elizabeth Williams was born November 16, 1817 in Stonington to Ephraim Williams and Hannah Eliza Denison. She married Courtland Palmer Dixon on September 9, 1841. In 1833 he went to New York City and took a job at his uncle’s hardware store on Pearl Street. In the spring of 1846, the family moved to Brooklyn for Courtland’s position at the Dix Island Granite Company. In the 1860 federal census, Hannah’s brother lived with the family but stayed for a short time. Five years later, Hannah had her hands full, caring for seven children aged 18 to 3 years old amid riots in the city and the pressure of the Civil War. By 1870, Hannah’s eldest daughter, Elizabeth, and her husband, Henry Barnes, lived with the family. Elizabeth and Henry had their own two small children, so Hannah lived closely with her grandchildren. George, Courtland and Hannah’s 18-year-old son, was enrolled in college as a medical student. At this time, Courtland and Hannah had seven servants working in the home, all of them Irish: Patrick Halpin (49), the coachman; Michael Halpin (27), the groom; Maria Gannon (23), the nurse; Catherine Lynch (44), the cook; Catherine McGovern (25) and Maggie McCort (30), waitresses; and Annie Clavin (32), the laundress. Around 1880, Hannah and Courtland built a house on Omega Street. Courtland died after battling an illness of several months over the winter of 1882-83. Hannah sold the property in Stonington and remained in Brooklyn until she died on October 30, 1888. Hannah and her husband are buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Stonington. #localhistory #womenshistory #stoningtonct #community #history #family