Person:Jane Mackall (1)

Notes on the current status of the research to identify Jane, the wife of Jonathan Prather

On FamilySearch, 17 Dec 2023, Elizabethjones426 wrote,

"Please consult Wikitree profile Mackall-174 for sources and an extensive biography before making any changes to this profile. In recent years, Beth Golden has done excellent research to identify Jane, the wife of Jonathan Prater. She has determined that Jane was a Mackall, either the sister or first cousin of George Mackall, and therefore the daughter of either John Mackall or Thomas Mackall, both sons of Robert Mackall of Edinburgh and Pencaitland in Scotland.

Of course, this is in conflict with long accepted family legends. Please understand that the old theories were theories only, supported by the scantest documentary evidence, if any at all, and we now know the McKay and Gouldsmith theories of her origins to be wrong. Please join the rest of the family in celebrating this new knowledge of our common ancestress, and refrain from reverting her profile to the old, incorrect data.

No primary source has yet been found where Jane used "Lyle Jane," but many family histories give her this name. Similarly, the primary sources are unclear, but the family histories have long written her maiden name as "Mackay." The most recent research holds that she was more likely a Mackall.

Some family historians have theorized that Jane was a Gouldsmith, or adopted into that family. This theory has been confidently disproven.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 LYFC-J8Q (FamilySearch Family Tree), in FamilySearch Family Tree
   includes sources, last accessed Jun 2024.
2. ↑ .

   Jane's will was written December 1713 and is on file in the Hall of Records, Annapolis, Maryland. It was proved December 7, 1713. In it she left the remainder of her land in England to her 14 grandchildren.