Person talk:James Dennis (1)

Marriages need sources [3 January 2012]

I was editing this page for a minor spelling error. I find James Dennis is shown marrying three different women named Mary: Mary Charles 1647, Mary Coney 1652, and Mary Lathrop 1654. A situation suggesting confusion could be a factor, but no sources are given. This means I must guess what evidence each and all of those conclusions are based on, if I can find it. This could be a collection of all conceivable candidates for the wife by a researcher having no idea of what's right, or this could be good research supported by hard-to-find sources. Without sources, the first assumption gets presumed.

Mary Coney appears to be the right answer. The will of Thomas Makepeace about 1667 names her as wife of James Dennis of Boston (I added the citation to their joint Family page). Boston Births 1630-1699 give children of James and Mary Dennis: John (note: John is the name of father of Mary Coney) 1653-1654, John 1655-1655, Elizabeth (note: Elizabeth is the name of mother of Mary Coney) 1658-1658, Mary 1660, Mary 1661, James 1663, Mary 1666 and also found is the death of Mary, wife of James Dennis in 1696. No reason to believe there is more than one wife, or that a marriage occurred before 1652.

The name Mary Charles is probably based on the will of William Charles, dated 31 Dec 1672, which gives land to the children of William's "Cousin" James Dennis that he had by William's "Cousin Mary his present wife" when they come of age. He specifically names children Mary Jr., and James in additional bequests but there is no handy list to know if this is all or them or not. Cousin usually meant niece or nephew, it not even being apparent without more research whether James or Mary (or both) owns the relationship. If Mary Charles m. 1647, but Mary Coney was the wife by 1667 according to the will of Thomas Makepeach, this will does not make sense. So it seems unlikely Mary Charles was the name of James Dennis' wife. However, the phrase "his present wife" does suggest there was more than one wife.

I found no evidence for Mary Lathrop, so can't comment on its unlikeliness. A marriage in 1654 would imply she died before 1667 so that Mary Coney could be his wife when Thomas Makepeace wrote his will, but would also leave the first child b. 1653 unaccounted for, requiring three wives, none of them happening to have gotten their marriage recorded in the records? But I will leave it for someone familiar with this page to provide sources that give, either, the missing details, or justification to remove the mistakes.

By the way, the death date "6 May 1691" is probably wrong. No source is given. Probate Records of Essex County, Vol 2 (1665-1674), p. 373, mentions that on 20 Nov 1695 James Dennis, the surviving executor of William Charles, was cited to appear and render an account, so he appears to have been alive after 1691. --Jrich 14:15, 3 January 2012 (EST)