Person talk:Martha Metcalf (6)

Martha Metcalf's first husband William Bignall [10 February 2014]

Based on the limited documentation I could locate, his career is very poorly documented. Information in Wyman's Charlestown strongly implies that he had a wife prior to Martha M., and that there were at least two children by that wife. The birth of the son William, reported by Savage, was apparently not recorded anywhere and the only trace of him is in the will of her father Michael M. There were apparently descendants of W. B.'s elder sons Samuel and John, but none from the children of his marriage to Martha M.--jaques1724 19:01, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

Essex Genealogist, Vol. 23, bottom p. 51, top p. 52 (I assume you have access to americanancestors.org website? if not, I can abstract it for you). 3 children by first wife Sarah Ingalls, 3 by second, none named William. --Jrich 20:50, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

So after an interruption, reviewing the source on Michael Metcalf's page, NEHGR, Vol. 6, p. 172, the "abstract" of the will reads "To my Daughter Stowes Eldest sonne, which she had by her first husuband, W'm Brignall, ffour pounds, to bee paid him, when he shall attayne to Lawful age." This is a poorly constructed sentence leaving it ambiguous whether William is her first husband or her eldest son (obviously it would have been clear to the contemporaries), but given the evidence cited in the previous post, I think it is pretty clear, Savage made the wrong choice. --Jrich 21:42, 10 February 2014 (UTC)