Person talk:Mary Unknown (4449)

From Mary Nash (43): Using Ancestral Files [22 June 2009]

Since Ancestral File 11V9-T45 is cited, I assume this page is simply a dump of the information there.

This is a good example of where a little due diligence is needed when using Ancestral Files.

If we take the Ancestral File at face value, this Mary m. Joseph Nash about 1693 and d. about 1735. But Joseph married at least two other women in that time frame when he was supposedly married to Mary: Phebe (Marsh) and Hannah (Sturges), not counting a third marriage in December of 1735. Something is clearly wrong with this data because back then, people simply did not remarry unless their previous wives had died, since it was nearly impossible to get a divorce.

A very basic search of Vital Records of Weymouth which is available to anybody having an Internet connection, shows the source of confusion that created this Ancestral File on p. 2:128.

Nash, Joseph, Lt., and Mary Holbrook, wid., of Braintree [int. Brantree] Dec. 4, 1735 [sic].
Nash, Joseph, Lt., and Mrs. Hannah Vinson [int. wid., omits Mrs.], Dec. 4, 1735 [sic].

In births, there are children listed for Joseph and his wife Phebe, but none for Joseph and Mary. In deaths there a death for wife Phebe, for next wife Hannah (Sturges), and none for his third wife whom he married in 1735, whether named Mary or Hannah.

So the town clerk probably recorded two marriages that occurred on the same date, and wrote in the same groom's name for both. An understandable error back when the town clerk probably knew everybody in town and was distracted while recording the marriage because he was gossiping with the person who reported the marriage.

However, this error was then compounded by the Ancestral File submitter who listed all four women as separate marriages, and then apparently decided the marriage occurred in 1693 to make it fit in the only available gap in the sequence of wives, and then to preserve the marriage date, used it as the death date. Or something like that? Because there doesn't seem to be any other evidence of Joseph marrying a Mary than the record above, and they did not accurately preserve what that record said.

When you use Ancestral Files, you don't know what you're going to get. Some submitters do high quality work (though most of their quality is lost because no sources are preserved). Other submitters simply match up the first name that works and call the task done. It is unfortunate that the good ones end up being tarred with the same reputation that the bad ones get, and deserve. If only there was some way to tell them apart without having to do your own research. Gee, here's a thought: what if they were required to document their sources? --Jrich 10:45, 20 June 2009 (EDT)

The Mary on this page sounds an awful lot like the Mary who married not Joseph, but Joseph's brother John "abt. 1693", and d. 10 Dec 1739. See Family:John Nash and Mary Unknown (1). --Jrich 01:11, 22 June 2009 (EDT)

This Mary who is shown marrying Joseph has been merged with the Mary who did marry his brother John. Since the dates line up exactly, it is assumed the mismatching of Joseph with Mary was a clerical error by some genealogist that simply propagated to the Ancestral Files. --Jrich 10:25, 22 June 2009 (EDT)