Family talk:William Bradford and Sarah Unknown (1)

Wife Mary Fitch may be incorrect [24 April 2009]

I will leave it up to the originator of this page to decide whether or not to change the name of Mary Fitch to the widow Griswold. I suggest that you read the article Major William Bradford's Second Wife: Was she the Widow of Francis Griswold? by David Jay Webber. This article was published in the NEGHR, volume 155, July 2001, p. 244-250. Because of copyright limitations I cannot quote the entire article. Here are the facts stated:

Major Bradford's first wife, Alice (Richards) Bradford, died at Plymouth on 12 Dec 1671. Joseph, the only child of the second marriage, was born in 1675. The first child of Major Bradford's third marriage, to Mary (Wood) Holmes, was born about 1677.

Attempts to identify the widow Wiswall: John A. Goodwin identified her as the widow of "Parson Wiswall" of Duxbury, Massachusetts. The Rev. Ichabod Wiswall, pastor of the church at Duxbury, lived until 23 July 1700.

William T. Davis ^{Citation needed} suggested that she was "perhaps d, of Thomas Fitch of Norwalk, Conn. Thomas' Fitch's 3 daughters are maritally accounted for.

Ruth Gardiner Hall ^{Citation needed} specified that the widow Wiswall was Mary Fitch, born in 1643, but Thomas Fitch's daughter Mary, born in 1643, was married to Matthew Sherwood, and she died as his widow on 25 Dec 1730.

Facts alluded to in the will of Major William Bradford, dated 29 June 1703. ^{Citation needed}

He had given a portion in Lands in Norwich (which were the lands of my brother John Bradford) to his son Thomas. Major Bradford's older half-brother John had lived in Norwich and died without issue many years later.

Legacy to son Joseph, To my son Joseph Bradford a portion of Lands near Norwich aforesaid (which was his Mothers & part I purchased) . . .

According to Frances Manwaring Caulkins ^{Citation needed} there were probably only three males who had died from the time of the settlement:

William Backus,

Francis Griswold, and

Major John Mason.

Mason's wife died before he did, and Backus' widow died in Norwich not long after her husband. Francis Griswold died in October 1671. The given name of his wife who came with him was Sarah. Some of the Griswold children appear in the Plymouth vital records. Sources are listed and will scan this article and send this information to the researcher. --Beth 20:05, 23 April 2009 (EDT)