Harriet married Christopher N. Dunham on October 25, 1846.  Marriage License

Christopher was not counted in the 1850 Federal Census of Hancock County.  Nor was he listed in the Mortality Schedule prepared at the time of the census; this document was supposed to include all deaths in the county in the calendar year prior to June 1, 1850.  If he did die prior to that census, using his daughter's date of birth we can estimate that he died between the very end of 1848 and May 1849.  We have found but one document referring to his death, an essay by Irene Hobart (Harriet's great-granddaughter), published in The Carthage Republican in 1933.  She stated, "After the death of Mr. Dunham, Harriet married Watson Fabun."

We have no hard evidence, however, and we note the absence of a tombstone for Christopher at Webster Cemetery.  This was a time when many men headed off for the gold fields in California; some were never heard from again.  Creative history was sometimes employed when abandonment or divorce was part of the real story.  (There is one reference to Jonas Hobart "roaming California looking for gold.")

Harriet and Christopher's daughter was:

i.	Lydia Jane Dunham, born August 21, 1849, in Hancock County.  She died July 3, 1913, at Webster, Fountain Green Township, Hancock County, and was buried at Webster Cemetery.

Most widows of that era found themselves in the position of having to remarry immediately.  If Christopher Dunham died, Harriet's buffer may have been the large family from whom she could draw support.  If Christopher did not die, perhaps Harriet had to wait until sufficient time had passed.  We make this suggestion only because of the interval: it was not quite 7 years after Lydia was born that Harriet became the second wife of Watson Fabun.  They were married on March 30, 1856.  Watson, born in Vermont in 1805, was a carpenter and wagon maker.  His first wife had passed away in 1851.  He died August 16, 1879, and was buried next to her at Fountain Green Cemetery in Fountain Green Township.

In 1900 Harriet reported that she was the mother of two children, one living.  It is unclear whether or not the second child, who apparently died in infancy, was born to Harriet and Christopher, or Harriet and Watson.

Twice widowed, Harriet did not marry again.  She died on November 25, 1907, probably in Hancock County, just three and a half months after her mother's passing.

Household of Jonas Hobart
Males 30 thru 39 - 1   [born abt 1801-1810, Jonas]
Females 0 thru 4 - 2   [born abt 1836-1840, Emiline, Anna]
Females 5 thru 9 - 2   [born abt 1831-1835, Eliza, Caroline]
Females 10 thru 14 - 1   [born abt 1826-1830, Harriet]
Females 30 thru 39 - 1   [born abt 1801-1810, Polly]
Total - 7
Persons employed in manufacture and trade - 1

Jonas Hobart, 45, male, wool carder, born in NH
Mary M, 41, female, born VT
Eliza, 19, female, born VT, attended school within the year
Caroline, 15, female, born VT, attended school within the year
Emeline, 12, female, born IL, attended school within the year
Ann, 11, female, born IL, attended school within the year
Maria A, 9, female, born IL, attended school within the year
William W, 6, male, born IL, attended school within the year
Bub, 10/12, male, born IL
Harriet Dunham, 21, female, born VT
Lydia, 1, born IL

Watson Claiborne, 56, male, wagon maker, value of real estate 1000, value of personal estate 300, born VT
Harriet, 30, female, born VT
Liddy, 7, female, born IL, attended school within the year
Beaty, 18, male, day laborer, born NY

Family #25
Thompson, Harvy, 33, male, white, farmer, value of real estate 9000, value of personal estate 2500, born IL, male citizen of the U.S. aged 21 or more
Mary E, 3, female, white, born IL
Faburn, Watson, 65, male, white, retired carpenter, value of real estate 2600, value of personal estate 800, born VT, male citizen of the U.S. aged 21 or more
Harriett, 41, female, white, keeping house, born VT

Family #26
Hasting [Hasten], Jack, 28, male, white, farmer, value of personal estate 200, born TN
Lettie, 21, female, white, keeping house, born IL
Nettie, 3, female, white, born IL
William, 1,male, white, born IL
Moses, 1/12, male, white, born IL, born May
Keeler, Martin, 23, male, white, farm laborer, born Prussia, both parents foreign born, could not read or write

Faburne, Harriet, white, female, 57, widow, keeping house, born VT, father born NY, mother born VT