Person talk:Dorothy Unknown (195)

Source for Dorothy's Surname?

From the website The Smith Family in America - Rev. Henry and Dorothy Smith

Dorothy - b England; d 1694, Hadley, MA; will dated Feb 16, 1681/82. Married second in 1649 John Russell b Feb 26, 1597, Suffolk, England; d May 8, 1680, Hadley, MA....... Dorothy's surname is sometimes given as Cotton, without substantive evidence. It may be that the Cotton surname is based on a bequest in the 1652 will of Rev John Cotton to "my cousin, Henery Smith." However, Rev Henry Smith was deceased at the time of the will, and the bequest was for "diet, lodging and apparel so long as he serve my wife, and 20 pounds" - certainly not intended for Rev Henry Smith.

Any "proof" that Dorothy's maiden surname was Cotton/Cotten ?

I can't find any; page (and page title) edited to reflect this. jillaine 10:13, 11 August 2009 (EDT)

Thanks, Jillaine. I wasn't bold enough to eliminate "Cotton/Cotten" w/o consensus. --Neal Gardner 13:21, 11 August 2009 (EDT)

It should also be noted that Rev. Henry Smith and wife Dorothy are not mentioned as associated with Rev. John Cotton in Anderson's Great Migration sketch of Rev. Cotton. Surely Rev. Smith was prominent enough that a relationship would have been noticed. The discussion on this talk page is adequate guidance for anyone researching this family, so I'm going to go ahead and clean up her person page.--jaques1724 16:10, 7 July 2012 (EDT)