Grace (c. 1624-1703) was the wife of John Riley Sr. of Wethersfield (c.1620-1674).
Donald Lines Jacobus hypothesized that Grace was the sister of Emanuel alias Enoch Buck based on John Riley Sr.'s will (John had called Enoch Buck and John Belding brothers), and John Riley Jr's testimony. He further theorized that Lydia, the wife of John Belden (or Belding), was either a sister of Grace or John. He also noted that both John Riley and John Belden's first three sons were named John, Joseph, and Jonathan. You can read the short article here [TAG 10:51-52].
(There is also an unfounded (so far as I can tell) claim that she was an "O'Dea" or similar, but I really don't know why this was thought by some in the first place.)
The facts known which may relate to Grace's origin:
- John Riley Sr.'s will
- John Riley Jr.'s testimony
- His testimony in 1696 "wholly founded upon his Uncle Buck", presumably Enoch Buck [TAG 10:50 (archive.org)].
- The death record for Grace Riley
- (from the Barbour Collection): "Riley, Grace, wid., d. Nov 28, 1703, Æ about 79. "79 if she had lived until Christmas which was not a month"
- (my transcription from the original source): "Widdow Grace Rily Deceased Novembr 28th: 1703 Etatis Suai æ : 797[6 or 9 - they are written over each other] : or thereabouts: viz 79 if she had livd till Christmas which wants not a month"
I'm not sure how Michael Grisworld fits into this, and won't look into him here.
A way to sort this family out, which Jacobus didn't mention in his 1933 TAG article, would be if Grace was John Belden's sister. At that time (as far as I can tell), the genealogy of the Belden family was largely incomplete and fallacious. The origin of Richard Belden's family (father of John Belden) was published in TAG 76:20-28 (2001). It gave Richard's children as Susan (bp. 1623), Mary (bp. 1625), Grace (bp. 30 December 1627), Sara (bp. 1630), Samuel (bp. 1632), and John (bp. 1635).
If Richard Belden had a will, it has not survived. There are no extant estate papers for his probate.
Samuel and John have well developed profiles on WikiTree, but the sisters' profiles are largely bare. Notably both Grace and Sarah are a part of PGM, and interestingly the date data on their profiles suggests that they originally were supposed to represent Grace Riley and Sarah Buck.
Grace Belden, daughter of Richard Belden, was baptized 30 December 1627. The notable death record for Grace Riley gives her birth day between 28 November and 25 December, and probably closer to or on 25 December, in line with this 30 December baptism. In her death record, her age was probably first written as 76 (b. 1627), then "corrected" to 79 (b. 1624), which the clerk continued to use. Considering it's a death record, the reported age may have been off anyways. If it were supposed to be 76, not only would the time frame (late December) align with the Belden baptism, but the year would as well.
Enoch Buck's first wife Sarah died by 1658 (by his second marriage - I'm not sure the sources for the dates on her profile). Her first child was born about 1650, in line to have her be Sarah Belden (b. 1630).
Grace Riley and Sarah Buck being sisters of John Belden does not contradict the limited information known about them, and aligns with the dates (especially Grace's) of the Belden sisters. It also explains John Riley Sr.'s will. In this case, John Riley Sr.'s "brothers" were his brother-in-laws. One was the brother of his wife, and the other the husband of the sister of his wife. To my understanding, even though Sarah had died early, Enoch Buck would still be related via marriage to the Riley family, ie. "brothers".
Any thoughts on merging (Grace) Buck-166 into Belden-175, and perhaps also (Sarah) Unknown-475591 into Belding-161?
