was the daughter of Paul Sears and Elizabeth Slawter. *She married Cyrenus Handy.
Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
Original data: Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook).
*Cyrenus Handy settled in Colebrook, Connecticut with his extended family circa 1781. Property records show the land they settled was about 8 miles (current roads) to where the approximate property of Paul Sears was in Sandisfield, Massachusetts. The Sears lived along the Clam River which drains into the Farmington River. The Handys lived near the Farmington River. It isn’t hard to imagine travel between the two locations may have been easier along the water route.
Nancy Handy was witness to two land transactions between her husband and (3) children in 1817. She was made administrator, along with son, Hiram, of Cyrenus’ estate in 1823. The 1880 census for son James Handy, indicates that his mother was born in Massachusetts. The information on the 1800 and 1810 censuses narrows her birth to between 1766 and 1774. Given this information, I did a broad search on FamilySearch.org starting with the Massachusetts counties that border Connecticut. Berkshire county gave two hits. Only one, Nancy Sears, was viable. The information from Samuel P May makes the connection more credible, although definitive proof (such as a marriage record) would be best.