Person talk:Alice Paine (1)

will abstract [18 February 2011]

A slightly different abstract that sounds a little truer to the original will? In any event, some different emphasis is given by noting who the executor, overseers, etc., are. Taken from Source:Austin, John Osborne. Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island, p. 194.

1688, May 18. Will - proved 1690, Oct. 23. Widow Alice. Overseers, kinsmen John Albro and John Anthony and neighbor John Borden. Ex. kinsman John Keese. To kinsman John Keese, all my housing and lands. To cousin John Tripp, £35, and unto his son Lot, 10s. To cousin John Tripp's daughter Susanna Potter, my biggest silver cup. To cousin John Tripp's daughter Mary Tripp, a feather bead, &c. To cousin Peleg Tripp, £4, and a third of horsekind. To cousin Joseph Tripp, 40s., and a third of horsekind and to his daughter Alice Tripp, a silver cup. To cousin James Tripp, 40s, and a third of horsekind. To cousin Abiel Tripp's son Abiel, two ewe sheep and silver cup. To cousin Mary Gatchell, £3, and to three of her daughters, viz.: Sarah Wodell and Priscilla and Isabel Gatchell, each, 20s. To cousin Elizabeth Hall, £5, &c.: and to her daughter Joanna, two pewter platters. To cousin Alice Hall, £6, and to her daughter Abigail, best bed, silver porringer, gold ring, a cow, ten sheep, £5, &c. To cousin Alice Hall's daughter Alice, four ewe sheep and a silver spoon. To cousin Isabel Sherman, £5, and to her daughter Alice, a gold ring. To cousin Martha Sherman, £5, and to her daughter Sarah, my silver bodkin. To kinsman John Keese's daughter Alice Keese, my best gold ring, silver cup, £10, &c., at eighteen. To kinsman John Keese's son William, a piece of gold and £5. To John Keese's second daughter Elizabeth Keese, a silver spoon and £4, &c, at eighteen or marriage. To cousin Peleg Tripp's son Peleg, a silver cup. To cousin James Tripp's son John, a silver spoon. To cousin Alice Hall's daughter Mary Hall, a pair of sheets, and to her daughter Deliverance Hall, tankard, &c., and to her daughter Abigail Hall, a red purse and what is in it. To kisnwoman Frances Anthony, a lute string scarf. To uncle John Albro and his wife my aunt, silk cloth, for him a neck cloth and her a hood. To cousin John Tripp's wife Susanna, and to cousin Alice Hall and her daughter Abigail, all my wearing clothes. To overseers, 10s., each.--Jrich 10:38, 18 February 2011 (EST)

Some Analysis [19 February 2011]

At the risk of repeating the obvious, I decided to post this summary. I find that there are so many interconnected names that it is almost hard to remember them all from one day to the next, and also that I may need to be corrected. After some research of easily accessible sources, this problem seems unsolvable. There seems to be lots of genealogical information in this will, but at least one of several possible keys seems to be needed to unlock its meaning. Hopefully this summary may help someone else recognize that they have something they can offer towards this problem.

As was pointed out to me, "kinsman" is used in this will to mean cousin, and "cousin" is used to mean niece and nephew. The problem is that nothing is known about Alice's mother, including her name, and so there are almost no constraints when speculating of how each person below came to qualify in their identify relationships.

Albro [19 February 2011]

• Person:John Albro (2) mentioned as uncle.
• His wife Person:Dorothy Unknown (216) mentioned as aunt.
• Apparently, their son Person:John Albro (2) mentioned as kinsman (cousin).

It is suspected, but not known, that the relationship is to Dorothy. (John Albro came over as a servant of William Freeborn in 1634, age about 14, and so there seems little reason to suspect his siblings would also have ended up in New England.) One oddity here is that either way, Alice is nearly the same age as her aunt or uncle, and both John and Dorothy were born several years after Alice's parents were married. This means that Alice's parent, which ever one is pertinent, was probably about 25 years older than their sibling, either John or Dorothy, whichever one of those is pertinent.

The son John Albro got in some trouble with a woman prior to marriage, but on the other hand, held many town posts, as did his father, so apparently his reputation did not suffer. Since the overseer is labelled kinsman (cousin), it is probably the younger John.

Anthony

• The abstract on the person page mentions "kinsmen (cousin) John Anthony & Francis Anthony". The abstract cited above seems to clarify this as Family:John Anthony and Francis Wodell (1).
• A reference is made to cousin (nephew) John Tripp's wife Susanna: Person:Susanna Anthony (9).

John Tripp is definitely a nephew and no further relationship is necessary to explain the mention of his wife Susanna. There are several Anthony siblings that are not mentioned, so it seems probable that Alice's relationship is not to the Anthony family. This would imply, if correct, that the cousin is Frances (Wodell) Anthony. She is the real legatee according to the abstract above, whereas her husband is just asked to be an overseer.

Gatchell

• Mary Gatchell is named as a cousin (niece)
• Her daughter Sarah Wodell from her first marriage to Gershom Wodell (but not other children from this marriage)
• Her daughters Person:Priscilla Gatchell (1) and Person:Isabel Gatchell (1) from her second marriage to Jonathan Gatchell

Mary Tripp, the daughter of Alice's sister Mary, and hence niece, married first Gershom Wodell, and then Jonathan Gatchell, which explains all of this. See Tripp.

Hall

• Cousin (niece) Person:Elizabeth Tripp (4) is mentioned as Elizabeth Hall, along with daughter Joanna.
• Cousin (niece) Person:Alice Tripp (5) is mentioned as Alice Hall, along with daughters Alice, Abigail, Mary and Deliverance.
• Deliverance Hall m. cousin (nephew) Person:Abiel Tripp (2), but she is not explicitly mentioned.

Elizabeth Tripp m. Zuriel Hall and Alice Tripp m. William Hall. All these relationships appear to fall under the umbrella of the Tripp family.

Keese [19 February 2011]

• Person:John Keese (2) is named as kinsman (cousin), executor, given "all my housing and lands".
• The three of John's children that were alive when the will was written are given legacies, namely, Person:Alice Keese (1), Person:William Keese (1), and Person:Elizabeth Keese (1).

The relative value of land and money has changed over the years, so it is hard to assess the magnitude of this bequest. But it sounds like John is the primary legatee, indicating that his relationship might be a close one. There is nothing to indicate that his connection to Alice is through his wife Ann (Manton) Keese as she is not even mentioned by Alice. Presumably one of his parents is a sibling of one of the parents of Alice. I have found nothing about his origins prior to his being accepted as a freeman in Portsmouth in 1672. This suggests a birth around 1650 and therefore suggests his parents were closer in age to Dorothy (---) Albro than to Alice's parents.

Paine [19 February 2011]

Alice's father was Anothony Paine, who was in Portsmouth by 1638. A pre-nuptial agreement with second wife Rose (--) Grinnell mentioned three children, of which only two are known, Alice and Mary. Mary married very soon after arriving in New England, and Alice certainly by 1649, if not earlier. So both must have been born in England. Nothing is known about the third child, and as they are not mentioned in the father's will and as Alice's will has no unattributable cousins (nieces and nephews), it is presumed the third child died before marrying, or at least without any heirs.

Source:Sumner, Edith Bartlett. Ancestry and Descendants of Amaziah Hall and Betsey Baldwin, p. 143, says Anthony Paine was from "Nowton, Lincolnshire" (Place:Nocton, Lincolnshire, England or Place:Newton, Lincolnshire, England?) based on an article in the Hartford Times of 25 Jul 1948 (i.e., 300 years after the fact), and says his unknown wife was "sister of Robert Potter, then of Lynn, Mass., but later of Portsmouth" unsupported by any explanation or evidence. Until some evidence can be found, this seems completely discountable, but naturally gets circulated around the Internet.

Potter [19 February 2011]

• Dorothy (--) Albro had as a first husband Person:Nathaniel Potter (2), not mentioned.
• The mother of the John Anthony was Person:Susanna Potter (1), not mentioned.
• The child of John Tripp, Person:Susanna Tripp (2), who married Thomas Potter, is named in the will as Susanna Potter.

It appears that all connections to the Potters are coincidental.

Nathaniel appears to be the son of Robert b. 1616 (not 1622 as the WeRelate page says, which would make him too young to be a father in 1637). But Dorothy's relationship appears to be either in her own right, or that of her second husband, since their son John Albro is called a kinsman (cousin).

If Susanna (Potter) Anthony, who has three sets of parents claimed for her, is the daughter of Robert Potter whose baptism is found in IGI from a film of parish records, she would be Nathaniel's sister. If she has one of the other parents, their relationship is unknown. Either way, as there appears to be no relationship of Alice to the Anthony's, this does not appear to be pertinent.

Susanna (Tripp) Potter is mentioned because of her father's relationship to Alice, as a cousin (nephew), and this appears to be sufficient to explain Susanna's mention without postulating any Potter relationship.

Sherman

• Cousin (niece) Person:Isabel Tripp (4) is mentioned as Isabel Sherman, along with her daughter Alice.
• Cousin (niece) Person:Martha Tripp (4) is mentioned as Martha Sherman, along with her daughter Sarah.

Isabel Tripp m. Samson Sherman, while Martha Tripp m. Samson's brother Samuel. These relationships appear to be connected to the Tripp family.

Strange

Alice's husband Lot Strange died a few years before Alice. There were no children from their marriage. It does not appear than any of the relationships in the will are based on Alice's husband's relations. Lot's brother John Strange died in 1687, before the will was written, but had children that were not mentioned, even though would also be kinsmen (nephews, though by marriage, not by blood).

Tripp

• Cousin (nephew) Person:John Tripp (1) is named along with wife Susanna [Anthony], son Lot, daughter Susanna Potter and son John.
• Cousin (nephew) Person:Peleg Tripp (3) is named along with son Peleg.
• Cousin (nephew) Person:Joseph Tripp (2) is named along with daughter Alice.
• Cousin (niece) Person:Mary Tripp (1) is named as Mary Gatchell, along with daughters Sarah Worden, Isabel Gatchell and Priscilla Gatchell.
• Cousin (niece) Person:Elizabeth Tripp (4) is named as Elizabeth Hall, along with daughter Joanna.
• Cousin (niece) Person:Alice Tripp (5) is named as Alice Hall, along with daughters Abigail, Alice, Mary and Deliverance.
• Cousin (niece) Person:Isabel Tripp (4) is named as Isabel Sherman, along with daughter Alice.
• Cousin (nephew) Person:Abiel Tripp (2) is named, along with son Abiel.
• Cousin (nephew) Person:James Tripp (5) is named along with son John.
• Cousin (niece) Person:Martha Tripp (4) is named as Martha Sherman, along with daughter Sarah.

The connection to the Tripp family is obviously a significant one, and is the one that may be explained the easiest. Alice's sister Mary Paine married John Tripp. Both died before the will was written, and all their children, and many of their grandchildren were named as legatees.

Wodell [19 February 2011]

• Person:Francis Wodell (1) is mentioned as kinswoman (cousin) Frances Anthony.
• A daughter, Sarah Wodell, of Person:Mary Tripp (1), is mentioned.

The mention of Sarah, a daughter of cousin (niece) Mary Tripp, by her first husband Gershom Wodell, could be explained by Mary's relationship as a Tripp. Gershom was a brother of Frances Wodell, though he is not explicitly mentioned.

Cousin Frances Wodell was John Anthony's wife at the time the will was written. After she died, he married Susanna Albro, who was apparently also a cousin of Alice's, but this happened after the will was written, is not pertinent. Frances was the daughter of William Wodell and his wife Mary ---. Presumably one or the other of these two parents was a brother or sister to one of Alice's parents.

Also alive at the time Alice's will was written, Frances had a sister Alice, wife of Abraham Anthony (brother of Frances' husband John), and as well as sister Mary, wife of Daniel Grinnell. Other siblings Sarah (Wodell) Sanford, and Gershom Wodell had died by then. It is a little surprising that Alice (Wodell) Anthony and Mary (Wodell) Grinnell are not mentioned. Some of the Albro cousins are not named either, but this may be explained by the Albro parents being legatees.

Conclusion (or lack thereof) [19 February 2011]

The relationships that seem most likely to yield results are kinsman (cousin) John Keese, kinswoman (cousin) Frances (Wodell) Anthony, and aunt Dorothy (---) (Potter) Albro. This is based, though, on several assumptions ruling out lesser possibilities (i.e., Potter, Strange, and other in-law relationships) that could still turn out to be true. Many possible arrangements may be postulated connecting these, including one where John Keese's unknown mother, William Wodell's wife Mary ---, Anthony Paine's unknown wife, and John Albro's wife Dorothy --- are all sisters with a surname not yet mentioned. Or three of these woman could be sisters having the surname of one of the mentioned men: Keese, Wodell, or Paine. Given the age differences within persons of the same generation, alluded to in a couple of places above, it is even moderately possible that some of these siblings had half-relationships. Practically, this usually means they shared a father, so have the same surname, but if they shared a mother, they could even have different surnames. Sigh. --Jrich 12:24, 19 February 2011 (EST)