Family:John Baker and Joan Swift (1)

When Did This Marriage Really Occur

Boston Vital Records say 5 November 1657. Robert Charles Anderson presents a lengthy discussion of why that date must be incorrect. The date comes from a copy of a certificate, which appears to say the marriage was performed by John Winthrop, but 1657 was 8 years after he had died. The fact that the first child was probably born in 1652 (see comment on son John's page) and that the wife was only 16 in 1647 makes Savage's simple assumption that the correct year was 1647 unlikely. Anderson's more reasonable assumption is that the marriage was performed by John Endicott, the name miscopied, so presumably the correct date is 5 November of 1651, 1652 or 1653, of which 1651 is the most reasonable given the estimated birth of John. The interested reader is referred to the last two pages of the Thomas Swift Sketch in The Great Migration.^[1]

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Thomas Swift, in Anderson, Robert Charles; George F. Sanborn; and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635. (Boston, Massachusetts: NEHGS, 1999-2011)
   VI:623, 625-626.
2.   Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States. Births, Baptisms, Marriages, and Deaths, 1630-1699 (A Report of the Record Commissioners): Document 130. (Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States: Rockwell and Churchill, City Printers, 1883)
   p. 62.

   1657. Town.
   John Baker & Joan Swift daughter of Thomas Swift of Dorchester were married 5th - 9th month by John Winthrop Govr.
   [Note: this date is thought impossible. See discussion]