Identification of wife of John West Sr (1658-1737)?

Question

On 14 May 2023 T Stanton wrote on West-747:

It seems that the real question is the identification of John West's wife. The profile states her maiden name is unknown but is connected to Mehitable Bullock. It seems undocumented to me and I asked Anne B to have a look and she replied, "Clearly Mehitable was a daughter of Richard and Elizabeth (Ingraham) Bullock. I think the question is : Did this Mehitable marry John West? I don't have access to Robert's "Ancestors of American Presidents" so can't be sure but reading John's profile, it seems to indicate that John's wife's surname is unknown. The Mayflower Families sketch mentions that no further records were found for Mehitable. The various probate documents don't seem to ever list the children, just calls them children. Torrey's NE Marriages list's John West wife as Mehitable ______."

Is there a primary source which identifies John West's wife as Mehitable Bullock? If Roberts makes this assertion, what is the documentation?

Can we move the DNA discussion to an appropriate = DNA = section as it isn't part of = Biography = where we usually see life events with primary sources.

Answer 1

I think what you are looking for is a Marriage Citation that give Mehitable’s last name? Seeing as how these folks are in my tree, I will see what I can dig up.

These are my Primary sources for that part of the Tree

Rehoboth

Vital record of Rehoboth, 1642-1896 : marriages, intentions, births, deaths : with supplement containing the record of 1896, colonial returns, lists of the early settlers, purchasers, freemen, inhabitants, the soldiers serving in Philip's war and the revolution By Arnold, James N. (James Newell), 1844-1927

https://archive.org/details/vitalrecordofreh00arno/page/n4/mode/1up

Ingalls family

The genealogy and history of the Ingalls family in America by Burleigh, Charles, 1855. Pub. Malden, Mass., G. E. 1903 Dunbar 

https://archive.org/details/genealogyhistory00lcburlb/page/n5/mode/2up

Comments

Thanks, Jeff. Richard Bullock appears in Arnold but I don't find John West in either volume. Did I miss something in these?

---

No, I went through both of them and I did not find anything.

Any Idea of what ship John West came over on? If he married Mehitable in 1679 the there might be a record in one of the original Plymoth Colony Records??? and he would have had to have been on passanger list for one of the early ships.

I am looking through the Plymoth Colony Records,

---

OK I got a hit on a John West in Court orders Vol-6 1678-1691 Page 111

Court order, Looks like it is assigning him as one of the agents for a Corn Mill in Swansy

That Dates him there in 1683

:Records of the Colony of New Plymouth of New England. Printed by order of the legislature of the commonwealth of Massachusetts. Court orders Vol-6                           1678-1691 Edited by Nathaniel B Shurtleff. MD From the Press of William White, Printer to the Commonwealth, 1856

https://archive.org/details/recordscolonyne01courgoog/page/n8/mode/2up

---

I got another hit in Miscellaneous records Vol 8. 1633-1689 page 85

Birth of Son William

Then on page 256 is a William getting Married to Sarah Wheaton/Weaton/Wheaten on 11 Sept. 1863 but that is his Birthdate???

:Records of the Colony of New Plymouth of New England. Printed by order of the legislature of the commonwealth of Massachusetts. Miscellaneous records Vol 8.       1633-1689 Edited by Nathaniel B Shurtleff. MD From the Press of William White, Printer to the Commonwealth, 1857

https://archive.org/details/recordsofcolonyo08newp/page/n8/mode/2up

---

No, it is not marriages list on page 256 because on pages 255 and 256, they are births list for "W" surnames. It says, "West, William, son of John and Mehitabel, Swansey, 11 September, 1683, ... 85." You can go back to look at page 85 to see what it says. Also, on page 256, it says, "West, John, child of... 85." It refers to John West who married Mehitabel on page 85, but his parents are unknown because this book does not have information on his parentage on page 85.

---

"Court Orders, Vol. 6, 1678-1691", on page 111, says, "Sawnsey, ... {John Wheaton, John West, Gorg Webb" on 9 June 1683. We need to look at the context of this statement by going back to page 110, and it says, "Surveyors of the Highwayes." It is interesting that John West was one of the surveyors to create a new highway for Swansea. It seems that he was exposed to school exercises that taught the basics of surveying and land measuring during his early teenage years. He must have gotten the educational training for the job. He probably was 25 years old to do the surveying.

Answer 2

Yes, Mehitabel married John West, and they had a son named William who born in Swansea. The source is Plymouth Colony: Miscellaneous records, Vol 8. 1633-1689, page 85.

Robert's Ancestors of American Presidents on page 39 says, "John West of Swansea and Rehoboth, Mass." and "Mehitabel ---, d. post 1694." He does not know her last name at birth.

I suggest we need to search the probate records or deed records. We need to find "Mehitabel West" or "John West" in the deed records by looking for Bullock or West grantors or grantees on the list in both Plymoth County and Bristol County deed records index.

Comments

So looking at ansestry.com they have following citation on him which list Father and Mother

Name	John West
Gender	Male
Birth Date	1653
Birth Place	Swansea, Bristol, Massachusetts, USA
Father	Turyford West
Mother	Mary Cross
Spouse	Mehitable
Children	Elizabeth West

---

John West (1661 - abt. 1733) [West-4463] of Ipswich, the son of Twyford West, is not identical to John West of Swansea and Rehoboth who married Mehitabel. Wiktree has more information on both Twyford West and John West of Ipswich there.

Ancestry.com citation is not reliable.