Asenath King

Asenath the quilter was born circa 1764 and died 11 January 1851; she is buried in the Hastings Hill Cemetery in Suffield, Conecticut. In the biography of her grandson Hon. James Rising of Suffield (1827-1899), published in the Commemorative Biographical Record of Hartford County, Connecticut, she is identified as Asenath King, but no further information regarding her identity is given. In a more recent publication entitled the Descendants of Elder Joseph Hastings, Founder of the First Baptist Church of Suffield, Connecticut, compiled by Hawley E. Rising, West Suffield, Connecticut, 1991, the family is identified as Baptist.

One record might lend some authority for Asenath's identity, and that is a West Springfield marriage intention entered and published for James Rising, Jr. (ca. 1758-16 November 1842), of West Suffield, Connecticut, and Sena or Lena King of West Springfield, Massachusetts, on 13 September 1787. The published version of the West Springfield records indexes the bride under both given names, but implies that Sena is the more valid interpretation. If this is true, and if "Sena" is short for "Asenath" (which appears to be logical), then this couple married sometime after 13 September 1787. This would make Asenath about 23 at marriage. The record supplies no information on her parents.