Person:Hopestill Leland (5)

Disputed Existence

There is no evidence that Hopestill Leland ever existed according to The Ancestry of Eva Belle Kempton p 453 published by New England Historical and Genealogical Society in 2000 stating that it was a generational error made by Savage. Savage invented a father of Henry Leland by conflating him with the son of Henry. Also there is no evidence of the existence of daughters Experience and Lydia. Alexander Lovell married Lydia (Unknown). Thomas Holbrook of Medfield and Sherborn married Hannah Shepard and Margaret. Thomas Holbrook of Weymouth married Jane. Experience Leland simply did not exist as a wife of either.^[3]

Various trees incorrectly show Henry Leland's mother as Elgin or Eglin Hatherly. Pillsbury Ancestry (see below) and Anderson's Great Migrion Begins (p 880) show that Elgin or Eglin Hatherly m/1 Downe, m/2 Jeffrey Hanford and m/3 Richard Sealis. She has no relationship at all to the Leland family. Some trees on the Internet show this but it is pure fantasy.^[4][5]

Biography

Internet trees state that Hopestill Leland was born in 1580 in Yorkshire, England. He died in 1655 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts. His parents were John Leland 1548 – 1652 and Agnes Rolleston 1549 – 1616. He married Elgin Hatherly 1586 – 1666 in 1620. He married in England, since his son, Henry only came from England in 1652 - 1653, possibly in Weymouth. This is all incorrect. The original source for Hopestill Leland was Savage 2:443 who conflated his existence with the son of Henry Leland with the same name. But even Savage never gave a birth date, death date, origin, parents or wife. These facts seemed to have been conjured up without any evidence. There are no records of a Hopestill Leland in court records, town records, Massachusetts Bay Colony Records, Church Records, Vital Records. There isn't even a family tradition of this man existing. The Leland Genealogy starts with Henry1 Leland. Unfortunately the citation from Savage above was copied to other sources without verification such as History of Medfield and History Of Weymouth and has taken on a life of its own. Find A Grave sadly has an entry for this man. Do your own due diligence and you will find there is no record of this person.

Children (claimed on the Internet but only son Henry existed):

1. Experience 1623 – 1647 (Did not exist) Thomas Holbrook of Medfield and Sherborn married Hannah Shepard and Margaret. Thomas Holbrook of Weymouth married Jane. Experience Leland simply did not exist as a wife of either
2. Henry 1625 – 1680 (Did exist)
3. Lydia 1640 - 1700 (Did not exist) Note Alexander Lovell married Lydia (Unknown).

1. ↑ Smith, Dean Crawford, and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. The Ancestry of Eva Belle Kempton 1878-1908. (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1996-2008)
   Part IV 452 f Leland, 2000.

   There is no evidence that Hopestill Leland ever existed according to The Ancestry of Eva Belle Kempton p 453 published by New England Historical and Genealogical Society in 2000 stating that it was a generational error made by Savage. Savage invented a father of Henry Leland by conflating him with the son of Henry. Also there is no evidence of the existence of daughters Experience and Lydia. Alexander Lovell married Lydia (Unknown). Thomas Holbrook of Medfield and Sherborn married Hannah Shepard and Margaret. Thomas Holbrook of Weymouth married Jane. Experience Leland simply did not exist as a wife of either.

2.   Holman, Mary Lovering; Winifred Lovering Holman; and Helen Pendleton Winston Pillsbury. Ancestry of Colonel John Harrington Stevens and his wife, Frances Helen Miller: Compiled for Helen Pendleton (Winston) Pillsbury. (Concord, New Hampshire: Rumford Press, 1948, 1952)
   485-91.

   Various trees incorrectly show Henry Leland's mother as Elgin or Eglin Hatherly. This source and Anderson's Great Migrion Begins (p 880) show that Elgin or Eglin Hatherly m/1 Downe, m/2 Jeffrey Hanford and m/3 Richard Sealis. She has no relationship at all to the Leland family. Some trees on the Internet show this but it is pure fantasy.

3. ↑ Smith, Dean Crawford, and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. The Ancestry of Eva Belle Kempton 1878-1908. (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1996-2008), Part IV 452 f Leland, 2000.
4. ↑ Holman, Mary Lovering; Winifred Lovering Holman; and Helen Pendleton Winston Pillsbury. Ancestry of Colonel John Harrington Stevens and his wife, Frances Helen Miller: Compiled for Helen Pendleton (Winston) Pillsbury. (Concord, New Hampshire: Rumford Press, 1948), 485-91.
5. ↑ Robert Charles Anderson, Great Migration Begins p 880