Person talk:Sarah Odding (1)

wrong parents [20 October 2011]

Source:TAG, "Reconstructing Sarah (Odding) Sherman Wife of Philip Sherman of Portsmouth, Rhode Island", Vol. 73 (July 1998), p. 176-8.

"The parish registers for Madron, Cornwall, have been published. ... In fact, there is no Odding family (in any variant spelling) in Madron. There is a 1610 marriage for a John Porteere to Margaret (no surnames are given for any brides) ... date seems far too early."

"Roy V. Sherman's family history names Sarah's father, without documentation, as George Odding."

"The will of William Oddyn of Braintree provided the solution..."

Will of "William Oddyn of Braintree in the Countye of Essex webster", dated 21 Oct 1612, proved 3 Dec 1612, mentions "Sarahe my daughter shall come to the full age of one and twentie yeeres", "Margaret my wief whome I make and ordeyne my sole excutrix", William Barnard and James Wiseman supervisors.

Classic case of hunches and estimates being carelessly turned into "facts", creating the illusion of knowledge when there was none. Which is why it is so important, not just to provide the raw facts, but to describe how it is that they are known.

--Jrich 14:26, 20 October 2011 (EDT)

I removed the birth "5 Feb 1610 Madron, Cornwall, England". The place removed for the reasons above. The date removed because, as the article surmises, it probably started life as an estimate based on her husband's baptism which is 5 Feb 1610/11, and was converted into a "fact" by a careless copier. All that is known is that she was alive by 21 Oct 1612 when her father wrote his will.

I removed the alternate death date "Mar 1680/1681 in Quidnessett, Washington, Rhode Island, United States|Kingstown, Washington, Rhode Island, United States" because her husband's will dated 31 Jul 1681 makes bequests to "Sarah my loving wife" showing she lived past this date. Given the confusion about Sarah, and the lack of sources, I am tempted to remove the death date of Mar 1687 on the grounds that somebody just used her husbands death date, but have no alternative evidence to provide, so won't. --Jrich 17:39, 20 October 2011 (EDT)