Does anyone have reliable proof of parentage for this Samuel Finch?

Question

The only sources I have found to connect this Samuel Finch to his purported parents (Jeremiah Finch, Finch-7611,  and Abigail Rundle, Rundle-1070) all lead back to the same FindAGrave page. This isn't normally considered to be a reliable source without more documentation, which I have been unable to find.

There appears to have been more than one Samuel Finch born near the same time in reasonably close proximity. (Hudson River valley/Connecticut area)

My question is then, does anyone have more documentation about this Samuel Finch's birth?

Answer 1

Hi there, 

I'm unable to answer your exact question, but I have noticed the Fitch and Finch name morphing back and forth throughout some generations.  In looking at the Mayflower Community Tree linked below,  I ultimately compared the quantity of results for two last names: Finch and Fitch, using simply Connecticut for the location and 1700 to 1823 for beginning and ending years.  The name Finch returned 33 results while the name Fitch returned hundreds.  I feel like the Mayflower Tree reflects a cross section of New Englanders at the time, so even though you know your family name is Finch, and you have FamilySearch records of John Finch as a passenger on the Winthrop Fleet, some clerks likely wrote "Fitch" for your ancestors' names sometimes just because "Fitch" was a more common variation of the two names. 

Then the second potentially helpful resource could be the Connecticut Ancestry Society. The name Finch appears in the index of many of their journals, including Samuel Finch.  Good luck!

https://www.connecticutancestry.org/journal-indexes---free

https://www.familysearch.org/en/collection/mayflower-descendants/