Advice before editing this pre-1700 Baldwin profile?

Question

I have information to contribute to the profile of Sylvester Baldwin Jr.. This is what I can add:

• There are two Sarah Baldwins shown above as children of Sylvester (Baldwin-177 and Baldwin-10008). They have similar info, but linked over from two different Sarah Baldwin profiles. It would seem that these two profiles should be merged, but as a newbie, I'm not sure how to do it, nor am I certain that I am authorized to do it. So I'm hoping someone with that authority will investigate and merge if appropriate.

Answer 1

Hi Tim, I went and looked at both Sarahs, it turns out although they have same dates and names, these could be 2 sisters or even twins. Or could be one woman 2 marriages, or 2 entirely different Sarahs from 2 different families or same family and possibly one date is wrong.  they have research notes about these 2 so I assume what is going on is there is still ongoing research to determine if they should be merged, or if one may need to be date changed or disattached.  I would not do anything to this profile until some kind of definitive proof of these issues is found. 

when it comes to merges, always do what you did, if not sure ask before merging, they can be undone, but sometimes the undone ends up with missing original infos, so best to be on the side of caution.

Thanks for asking about this.  Now if you want to hunt down info to prove or disprove either or both, go for it, it can only help fix the profiles.

edited for spelling correction

Comments

Hello Arora Anonymous,

I have found a book (online, of course) which could be considered the definitive book on the Baldwin family from that era ("The Baldwin genealogy from 1500 to 1881" by Charles Candee Baldwin), which was already listed as a source in the existing Sylvester Baldwin record (Baldwin-129). The passage about Sylvester's family is as follows (copied and pasted):

50. Sarah, 22 Apl.. 1621, m. Benjamin Fenn, of Milford, Ct.+

51. Richard, 25 Aug., 1622, here in the 5th generation, but hereafter in this book as Richard, of Milford, in the first generation, ancestor of a numerous family, +

52. Mary, 28 Feb'y, 1624 ; buried 3 Nov., 1625.

53. Mary, 19 Feb'y. 1626, m. 1st, Robert Plum, of Milford, Connecticut, and 2nd, William East, of the same place. +

54. Martha, 20 April, 1628. Neither she nor her children appear in her mother's very full will. I conclude she died unmarried.

55. Samuel, 1 July, 1632; buried 4 Jan'y, 1633.

56. Elizabeth, 28 Jan'y., 1634, and buried three days after.

57. John, 28 October, 1635, appears hereafter in this volume as John, of Stonington, Connecticut. +

58. Ruth. Baptism not appearing, but her name in Sylvester's nuncupative will at Boston. She probably died young, as neither she nor representatives appear in her mother's very full will.

As you can see above, there is only one Sarah as daughter of Sylvester, and the information is very close to what was shown in both profiles of Sarah (Baldwin-177 and Baldwin-10008), but especially close to Baldwin-177. I suspect that the creator of the Baldwin-10008 profile failed to note the existence of Baldwin-177 as a possible match and created a duplicate. If it were up to me (and I know it's not), I would recommend merging the two Sarah profiles, and use the Baldwin-177 data as the master since has more complete and accurate info to begin with.

Tim Bishop

2nd Cousin, 8x removed from Baldwin-177, descended from a different Baldwin brother (My wife is 10th great granddaughter of Baldwin-177)