Family talk:Abraham Taylor and Mary Whitaker (1)

Torrey [12 July 2011]

I removed the editorial comment from this page: "Torrey's thoroughly researched compendium confirms their specific marriage date, that Concord was their only known residence, and their birth and death years." I didn't think it was necessary, nor correct. In particular, it says nothing about where they were born or died, only about where they were married. Regarding Torrey, he makes plenty of mistakes, but is a good reference work whose value lies in the fact that he cites his sources, not because he is thoroughly researched. Actually, in my opinion, he relies too much on secondary sources, and you really need to track down the cited sources to see if there is really evidence, or if Torrey is just presenting the common thinking, which he does for many of his entries. For example, in this entry, one source that he cites is TAG 24:58. That is just an article on their son David, and while it mentions Abraham and Mary as his parents, it does not even give a marriage date. At the same time, Torrey never cites the Concord VRs? --Jrich 13:41, 12 July 2011 (EDT)