ANDREW PIERCE REPORTS - OCTOBER 1999

Mr. Tim Farr
P.O. Box 449
Ferron, UT 84523

Dear Mr.Farr:

In accordance with our conversation of some weeks ago, I have conducted research in an attempt to answer several of your genealogical questions.

The recently published Vital Records of Sandwich, Massachusetts, which draws on several manuscript sources, shows no record of Edmond Freeman marrying Sarah Freeman there on 6 July 1682. Nor is this found in the published vital records of Harwich MA. Nor does Torrey*s New England Marriages to 1700, a standard source for most families in the region(and certainly the well-researched ones on Cape Cod), show any John & Sarah(-------)Freeman residing in Harwich or thereabouts in the 1650s. A John Freeman married Sarah Myrick at nearby Eastham MA in 1672, but this would be too late for them to be Sarah*s parents.

If you can send me a photocopy of the film reference you have, it would help in this regard, since I cannot find any corroboration of it. As you may be aware, all the Barnstable County deeds and court records were destroyed in an 1827, making it more difficult to establish connections there when vital records fail to. The standard source on this family is still the 1875 Freeman Genealogy, which did not know Sarah*s maiden name and surmised she was a Skiffe since a grandson was given this name. However, it is probable that Skeffe Freeman, born 1723, son of Edmund & Keziah(Skiffe, I think, not Presbury, see further), was most likely named after his mother*s family, not his paternal grandmother*s, so this erodes the 1875 theory).

Torrey*s New England Marriages adds nothing further, nor do two supplements to the latter. Also, your Edmond Freeman was born *Circa 1655*(obviously based on his age at death), not 5 October 1652; the latter is the birth date for a first cousin with the same name. The IGI states that your Edmund Freeman, son of Edmund & Margaret(Perry), was born at Sandwich 6 October 1655.

Robert S. Wakefield*s Mayflower Familes Through Five Generations: Family of Richard Warren(1999)offers the most up-to-date analysis of Keziah(Presbury?) Freeman, who was born in 1687/88(according to age on death record?), was named as a granddaughter of Stephen Skiffe of Sandwich in his will, dated 1701 (Wakefield*s sketch does not say whether a surname is given for her in the will). She married Edmond Freeman at Sandwich in 1706; a codicil to Stephen Skiffe*s will in 1708 noted that Keziah *was given her things upon marriage.*

It is apparent from the analysis that Keziah was not a daughter of Stephen Presbury, either by his wife Deborah Skiffe(daughter of Stephen)or by a theoretical first wife. Assuming that the age on his tombstone is correct(d.1730 at 58), he was born ca.1672, and was not necessarily the same Stephen Presbury who witnessed a deed at Kittery, Maine in 1686. We know that he married Deborah Skiffe by 1694, when their daughter Mary was born.

They had seven daughters and one son, all of whom(or whose issue)are mentioned in Stephen Presbury*s will, and they do not include Keziah.

Banks* only reason for giving Stephen Presbury of the Vineyard a birth date of *ca.1666* is the 1686 Maine deed, and I maintain there is no evidence that the two Stephens were identical. I have found old Yankee New England gravestone dates to be largely accurate, and there is no reason to believe that Stephen Presbury was not born ca.1672 and married a woman four years older. Banks* statement that he was *probably older than his wife* is, in this context, entirely without foundation.

My eight-year research into the Native American history of Martha*s Vineyard( to be published by GPC in about two years)noticed several flimsy conjectures, and some outright mistakes, made by Banks in sketching both white and Native families, and these have also been noticed by other Vineyard historians & genealogists such as Katherine(Kay)Mayhew of the Martha*s Vineyard Historical Society.

Unless there is something I missed, I do not think there is any evidence at all that Keziah WAS a Presbury. This is only stated, without any corroborating evidence, in the 1875 Freeman Genealogy, in which many other conjectures seem to be made based upon hearsay. There is no marriage for Edmund & Keziah in any VRs, and the marriage date of ca.1706 is apparently only based on the birth date of their eldest child, 1708 in Sandwich.

All we know for certain(and even that is not ironclad, looking at Wakefield*s sketch)is that Keziah(last name uncertain), born ca.1688, was a granddaughter of Stephen & Lydia(Snow)Skiffe of Sandwich. She may have been born out of wedlock to one of their daughters(so further records of those daughters might be searched down), and not necessarily by Deborah, or by any of the daughters known to exist, either; a daughter or even a son might have died before Stephen Skiffe made his will in 1701, leaving Keziah.

Scanning the long list of Edmond & Keziah*s children, I notice they named eldest daughter Lydia, a son Stephen, a son Skeffe, and a daughter Deborah, all names found in the Skiffe family. There are no children named Keturah, Dorcas, Drusilla or Content, all unusual names found among Stephen & Deborah (Skiffe) Presburys* children. It would seem that if Keziah had belonged to the Presburys and been raised by them on the Vineyard, she would have given some of her fourteen children the names of these putative half-sisters. This is obviously not hard evidence either way, but should be considered circumstantial. My opinion is that Keziah was born and raised in Sandwich, never left there and was possibly not even Deborah*s daughter, and certainly not Stephen Presbury*s.

The above is an example of connections based on flimsy or non-existent evidence, which compounds itself through numerous repetitions in the IGI, published genealogies, etc. The good news is that since Keziah was almost certainly a granddaughter of Stephen & Lydia(Snow)Skiffe, she would have a proven Mayflower descent through Lydia.

The sketches of the Skiffe & Presbury families in Banks* History of Martha*s Vineyard are duplicated below, for your analysis and comparison.

The History of Martha's Vineyard by Dr. Charles Banks: Volume III Family Genealogies:á pp. 432-440

THE SKIFF(E) FAMILY

Compiled by Dr. Charles Banks, c. 1925. Transcribed and prepared for the web by C. Baer 1999.

There was a James Skiffe, resident of Chelsea, near London, who was buried there 12 June 1609, evidently a Puritan from the language of his will. He left a widow Margery (who afterwards married William Sheppie) and seven children: Rebecca, who afterwards married Thomas Lovell; Susanna, William, Elizabeth, Obadiah, Anne and Joshua. Two others, John and Mary, had died young at Chelsea. The registers of old Chelsea church show that John was baptized there, but there is no baptismal entry for Rebecca the eldest child. John was baptized 1 May 1592 and William in 1599, but neither could have been father of the emigrant. It is possible that he was a nephew of the testator or a near relative. The name Obadiah is worthy of note as it appears in a descendant of the emigrant.

1. JAMES SKIFFE, b. abt. 1610, the ancestor of this family in America, of whom a biographical sketch may be read in Vol. II, Annals of W. T., pp. 71-2, has thus far escaped identification in his English home despite continued efforts in tracing every available clue. While the name is very rare in England, it is found quite numerous in a group of parishes near London, as Eltham 1559, Newenden 1578, Lewisham 1589, Mottingham 1603, Greenwich 1620, Charlton 1645, besides scattering occurrences of the name in various London parishes of that period. The name is found in variations of Skeffe, Skyffe, Skaffe and other intermediate spellings but the name of James is absent in all these quoted instances. His children were as follows:

2. JAMES, b. 12 Sept. 1638.

3. STEPHEN, b. 14 Apr. 1641.

4. NATHANIEL, b. 20 Mch 1645.

5. SARAH, b. 12 Oct. 1646; m. THOMAS MAYHEW (31).

6. BATHSHUA, b. 26 Apr. 1648; m. SHEARJASHUB BOURNE 1666

7. MARY, b. 24 Mch. 1650; m. MATTHEW MAYHEW (30)

8. PATIENCE,, b. 25 Mch. 1652; m. ELISHA BOURNE 26 Oct. 1675.

9. BENJAMIN, b. 15 Nov. 1655; a biographical sketch of him appears in Vol. II, Annals of C., pp. 36-9. He d. s. p. 17 Feb. 1717- 18. [He is buried at Chilmark Cemetery. His wife, Hannah Merry, is buried beside him.]

10. NATHAN, b. 16 May 1658.

3. STEPHEN SKIFFE, (James1) b. 14 Apr. 1641; res. Sandwich, Mass. gentleman; m. LYDIA SNOW, dau. of Anthony and Abigail (Warren) Snow of Plymouth. Abigail Warren was the dau. of Richard Warren of the "Mayflower." ), who was b. abt. 1640 and d. 17 Mch. 1713. He d. 19 June 1710. He was Justice of the Peace and Rep. to General Court 1676 and after.

20. ABIGAIL, b. 2 May 1666; m. SHUBAEL SMITH (316).

21. DEBORAH, b. 14 July 1668; m. STEPHEN PRESBURY (22)

22. MERCY, b. 13 Nov. 1671; m. JOHN CHIPMAN.

23. LYDIA, b. (1676); m. JOHN BLACKWELL.

24. STEPHEN, b. 4 Feb. 1685; m. (l) SARAH LOTHROP; (2) Mrs. THANKFUL (Gorham) HAWES 27 July 1749 (wid. of Thomas).

The History of Martha's Vineyard by Dr. Charles Banks: Volume III Family Genealogies:á pp. 410-411

THE PRESBURY FAMILY

Compiled by Dr. Charles Banks, c. 1925. Transcribed and prepared for the web by C. Baer 1999. [Comments in brackets added by C. Baer, 1999. Sources upon request.]

The ancestor of the Vineyard family of this name was JOHN PRESBURY, an early settler of Sandwich (1643), who d. May 1648. His wid. CATHERINE m. (2) RICHARD CHADWELL 22 July 1649. They had issue:

10. JOHN, b. (1640).

11. MARY, b. 10 May 1644; m. LODOVIC HOXIE.

10. JOHN PRESBURY, (John1), b. abt. 1640; res. Sandwich, shoemaker; perh. rem. to Salisbury but certainly to Saco, Me. bef. 1665, where he purchased a considerable tract of land in 1670. (York Deeds III 42.) He m. DORCAS BESSEY, 1664, dau. of Anthony and Jane Bessey of Sandwich and d. bef. April 1679 when adm. of est. was granted to Major Bryan Pendleton of Saco. Two months later Major Francis Hooke of Kittery was substituted as adm. and made guardian of "the children" of John Presbury. Inventory of est. was returned 3 Nov. 1684 in amount ú37-3-2. They had the following named children:

20. WILLIAM, b. (1664); m. PRISCILLA RANDALL; res. Beverly, Mass.

21. NATHAN, b. (1665); in. ELIZABETH GANSON, 16 Feb. 1698; res. Boston.

22. STEPHEN, b. (1666).

22. STEPHEN PRESBURY*, (John 2-1), b. abt. 1666; res. E., of whom a biographical sketch may be found in Vol. II, Annals of T., pp. 24-5. He m. DEBORAH SKIFF (21) abt. 1693, who was b. 14 July 1668 and d. 11 Mch. 1743. [She is buried at Crossways Cemetery.] He d. 17 May 1730 and his will 5 Apr. 1730 was pro. 30 June 1730. [He is buried next to his wife.] (*The compiler found a family of this name living in the parish of St. Nicholas Cole Abbey, London, and among the children was a Stephen Presbury baptized 22 Nov. 1607.) They had the following named children:

50. MARY, b. 28 Aug. 1694; m. THOMAS WEST (14) 29 Jan. 1712-13.

51. KETURAH, b. 28 Apr. 1696.

52. DORCAS, b. (1698); m. ELISHA WOLLEN.

53. JOHN, b. 1700.

54. ABIGAIL, b. (1708); m. EBENEZER PERRY of Sandwich, Mass.

55. DRUSILLA, b. 1708; m. THOMAS WEST (20).

56. CONTENT, b. 1711; m. STEPHEN LUCE (140) 5 Sept. 1735.

57. SARAH, b. 1713; m. TIMOTHY LUCE (32) 18 Feb. 1731.

I should also call your attention to an NEHGS Register article on the Perry family of Sandwich, reprinted in Genealogies of Mayflower Families. It notes that there is no evidence, other than(again)the hearsay of the 1875 Freeman Genealogy, that Edmund Freeman*s wife Margaret Perry was a sister of Ezra Perry of Sandwich, and thus a daughter of Edmund & Sarah Perry. I can explore this further if you wish, to determine if anything has been unearthed & published more recently.

On to the Middlesex County MA problems. Ruth H. Bubul*s recent George Hayward: A Line From Concord, Massachusetts, 1635 states that William Taylor(born ca.1618)married by 1649(when he was a proprietor in Concord), Mary Meriam, daughter of Joseph & Sarah (Goldstone)Merriam. After her death, in 1677 he married (2)Hannah Merriam, a cousin of his first wife. The Merriam family is also sketched, with sources such as Lemuel Shattuck*s notes, and there seems no reason to doubt that Mary Merriam was not William Taylor*s wife. I do not see in your notes the source which supposedly identifies Mary was a Coltham, daughteer of William Coltham of Wethersfield CT, but the latter place is quite far from Concord MA, where William Taylor lived.

The IGI(apparently based on vital records)gives the marriage date of William Taylor to Mary Merriam as 19 October 1650, which seems to clash with the birth of their oldest daughter Mary on 12 September 1649/50; but since transcriptions of calendar dates of that period sometimes don*t take into account the *double years* given between fall and spring, it would be worth another look at the VRs for Concord. Also, the new publication of Middlesex County probate records(to 1660)might be checked, as well as Middlesex County deeds through 1700 to see if William & Mary Taylor, or their children, deeded out land in her right; and a probate for Mary*s presumed mother Sarah(Goldstone)Merriam, who married (2)Joseph Wheeler of Concord and died there in 1671, to see if she mentioned Mary or her children. Wheeler*s probate might be checked too, since he may have remembered stepdaughter Mary or her children.

I searched down the best sources given in Torrey*s New England Marriages to 1700 for the marriage of William Johnson to Hannah Davis, although references had to be followed up for their parents, not for them.History of Billerica, Massachusetts(1883)shows that Joseph Davis, from Reading MA, married Rebecca Patten in Billerica in 1691; their second daughter Hannah was born in 1694 but it is not stated who she married. Joseph Davis died in 1747 and his Middlesex County probate file(#6045)should certainly be checked, unless you already have this as your source. Middlesex County deeds might also be checked for William & Hannah Johnson deeding out land in her right.

Newhall Ancestry (1899)states that William Johnson(born 1686 in Woburn)married firstly in 1708, Sarah Dole, secondly, after his first wife died in 1710, Hannah -------. Obviously, the marriage had to occur between 1710 and 1718, when their first child was born in Woburn, and obviously it occurred in or near Woburn, not Mansfield CT since the couple did not remove there until the 1730s, after all their children were born in Woburn and registered in the VRs there. There is no record of William*s marriage to Hannah in any Massachusetts vital records, and the actual date might never be known. If you do need confirmation that she was a Davis, however, I can check the above probate and land records at the Middlesex County registry, to which I travel about twice a week. This concludes my report; I trust that the new information and extracts will be of some help to you. The above searches entailed eight hours at $30 per hour, and expenses charges of $10(phone, photocopies & postage), for total charges of $250.00. Minus your $210 advance retainer, this leaves $40 in outstanding charges. Please advise as to your wishes for any continued research; it has been a pleasure to work on these New England problems for you, and I shall look forward to corresponding again in the near future.

Sincerely,

R. Andrew Pierce