| Mary (Unknown) Beckwith migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm |
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Her parents are unknown, It has been suggested they were Enoch Lynde and Elizabeth Digby, but this apparently is a fictional relationship propagated by various internet genealogy sites.
None of the sources listed mentions a surname for Mary. Torreys New England Marriages lists her as ?Mary/?Elizabeth [?LYNDE]. One of the sources on his list calls her Elizabeth [Lynde?]. Since we know, positively (see below), that she was not Elizabeth, that should eliminated Lynde.[1]
The Lynde ancestry is another assumption based on "the Beckwiths" So far I am not aware of a resolution. Additionally the date of her death is given as 1692 but Elizabeth Griswold is supposed to have married Matthew in 1688. These are both undoubtedly considerable errors. More work to be done. I think the Beckwith Notes may have corrected information but as I had to use a digital copy, I have not yet made a satisfactory study of that material. At this point what genealogists seem to have concluded is that Matthew came from England by 1635, he had a wife in Connecticut by whom he had several children including John and after that she died and he married Elizabeth Griswold.[2]
Paul Beckwith in "The Beckwiths" (1891) stated that Matthew Beckwith died leaving a wife Elizabeth.[3] Frances Caulkins repeated this information in the History of New London (1895)[4]
Gen. Simeon M. Fox, in 1945 and 1946 wrote several articles showing that Paul Beckwith made several errors in his genealogy and unfortunately Caulkins repeated them. Among these errors, is calling her Elizabeth. His widow filed an inventory 6 Jun 1682 and was made executrix. Soon she filed suit for a debt due the estate as Mary Beckwith. And then filed an amended inventory 13 Dec 1682. There was also a 1665 deposition by Mary Beckwith, age about 40.[5]
Her oldest child, daughter Mary, was age 14, Dec.1657, so born about 1643.[7]
It was mentioned as early as 1895 by Caulkins that Samuel Buckland or Bucknall (cattle mark listed in 1674) married (1) the widow of Matthew Beckwith) and (2) the widow of Philip Bill Sen.,[4][8] but no one has located confirming evidence.
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[Do you know Mary's family name?] | B > Beckwith > Mary (Unknown) Beckwith
Categories: Lyme, Connecticut | Paul Edmond Beckwith Fabrications | Puritan Great Migration
Different genealogy societies have (or have had) varying requirements for sourcing. If this is the society I'm thinking of, I completed an application for a client several years ago; they were pretty strict in their requirements for documentation then. That said, without the documentation that was used to support this application, we're still in the realm of speculation.
Mary's name may have been Mary Elizabeth Gerard.
In our family papers, I have an copy of an application, submitted by Everett Kenneth Beckwith, "...for membership in The Order of The Founders and Patriots of America, and in the New York Society thereof." He (EKB) list Mary Elizabeth Gerard as the wife of Matthew Beckwith. "Born at [blank] on 1612. Died at [blank] before 6/30/1694." There is a married date of 1641 but the location is blank.
I just have one page of the document, so I have no date reference on when it was submitted. EKB was born in 1944, if it matters....