PGM: Proposal to sever attached daughter Abigail from Thomas Dewey (-1639), Windsor, CT [closed]

Question

Hi All,
There is a long-standing request to detach Abigail "Dewey" as a daughter of Thomas Dewey.  

What do we know about Abigail? There is a good summary of the evidence, or lack thereof, concerning Abigail's last name and parents on the profile.  (Summary: There doesn't seem to be a credible source for her name as Dewey, and not connection to Windsor where Thomas Dewey lived)

Is there the possibility of another daughter in Thomas Dewey's family? 

• Thomas's children are all accounted for by name and age in the probate records.  They were all minors, and the estate was administered by their mother, so there is no reason to think there would be an omission. 
• The spacing of the birth dates doesn't provide much room for another child.

There is a comment regarding a DNA match with a Dewey, and this could be speculatively interpreted as the result of an extramarital relationship, but that's not the only possibility.

Does anyone have any additional evidence that should be considered? Any concerns before we remove the connection?  Thanks for your input.

Comments

Reviewing the information on each profile and the DNA discussion, it seems reasonable to make the disconnection as there is nothing of substance indicating a father/daughter relationship and much to preclude it.

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Thanks T.  I appreciate your input.

Answer 1

I agree, Thomas Dewey  and Frances had no daughter named Abigail. The confusion may have come from the fact Thomas and Frances did have a daughter-in-law "Abigail Dewey", who was Abigail Windsor Drake, before marrying their son, Israel Dewey.

Comments

Thanks, Tom.  I'll give this about a week, and if nothing new comes up, I will make the disconnection.

I see that you are a profile manager.  It might be appropriate to change the LNAB to unknown.  That's outside of the scope of PGM, so I will leave that to you and the other PM's/WT contributors.

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Tom, I've removed the parents.  From comments below and on the profile, I think there is support to change her name from Dewey to Unknown.  But I will leave that to you as profile manager.

Answer 2

I support making the changes to align the profiles with the available evidence. When I looked at the information I also noted that the info on WT is being cited as evidence for these parents in online trees - which caused me some concern.  I think its best to be factual. Abigail (Unknown) Cutler's profile can always be adjusted and connected to parents later, if a source for any is identified.

Comments

Thanks, Laurie.  I'll give this proposal about a week to see if there are any additional comments and then if there is nothing new, I'll disconnect the parents.

Answer 3

In looking at Abigail's (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Dewey-88)  supposed spouse, Thomas Cutler (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Cutler-937)  - it appears from their profiles that Abigail  (  ) Cutler should be Abigial Unknown, not Abigail Dewey.  

Once she is severed from the current parents, will she also either be changed to Abigail Unk - mother of Thomas Cutler's children, or detached from Thomas Cutler and a new Abigial Unk created?

Comments

My personal thoughts are that the profile should be changed to Abigail Unknown...but that's outside the scope of PGM, so that should be discussed with the profile managers.  (Tom Wilde who answered above is one).