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Where to look? [11 November 2013]
Are there sources that might shed some light on Mary's death, and the birth of some of those later children? -- Jdfoote1 15:44, 11 November 2013 (UTC)
- If I knew of a source I would have listed it. There very well could be, this is a little outside my normal area of research, and hopefully if so, somebody might cite it. If not, it is going to take a dedicated researcher to find something.
- The first step would probably be to see if the Family History Library has a film of the original handwritten records, and see what they say. My strong suspicion is that Mary's death was in Jun and was misread as Jan. This would probably be clear from looking at the original because it would probably say June or Jan'y and not simply the abbreviations Jun or Jan which is a more modern usage (but if a researcher used the modern abbreviations in their notes, maybe they misread their own notes?) It may also be possible to get hints from the order of records surrounding it, and other contextual clues, especially in regards to double-dating. There are a surprising number of ways that sloppy colonial writing can look like something else. Seeing 1740 as 1741 or vice versa is also a possibility.
- Sometimes the FHL films are actually images of copies of the original records. They may be sufficient to clear things up, but obviously there is always the possibility that the copy and originals differ, and if so, that is probably the exact source of the problem. Therefore, the most ideal situation, though perhaps not doable, is to use the originals.
- Alternately if you live close to Branford, you may be able to track down where the records are stored and view them in person?
- It is always possible that the records are wrong, meaning they say something that is physically impossible, such as Mary dying in Jan and having a child in May. They were written wrong by the clerk and will always say the wrong thing. Then it takes independent evidence to show what is really true. For example, records of independent entities, such as the church, could shed some light on the situation. Perhaps a person in the area kept a diary and mentions these events (obviously being aware of this requires a certain familiarity with the history of the area, which I don't have, so I don't know if such a thing exists). Or look for side-effects that might arise from Mary dying: did her father re-write a will naming her heirs instead of her, etc.? Though explicit evidence would be better.
- So, hopefully this turns out to merely be a case of not having found the essential source yet, but if this is as difficult as possible, this could be a lifelong research project for some descendant. --Jrich 16:37, 11 November 2013 (UTC)
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