From Mercy Bigelow (3): Duplicates? [2 January 2014]
Mercy Bigelow (3) and Mercy Bigelow (1) appear to be duplicates. Most sources point to Mercy Bigelow m. Thomas Garfield as the daughter of Samuel Bigelow / Mary Flagg.--Frank 12:43, 2 January 2014 (UTC)
- One of the major rules of writing about genealogy is "be specific". I.e., "most sources" is not a good argument. It makes it difficult for me or some other poster to address your concerns, and makes us guess what you are looking at - perhaps something unknown to us.
- This book on James Garfield does agree with you.
- Starting with the Bigelow Genealogy 27, it shows Martha/Mercy in Samuel's family, and his will mentions a daughter Mercy Garfield. However, it says she moved to Lunenburg and d. 23 Feb 1745. Looking at the family of Joshua also p. 27, there is no daughter Mercy listed.
- Comparing birth dates entered on the two pages we find 4 Apr 1686 and 14 Apr 1685, both Watertown. Very similar. Checking Watertown Records, scanning those years (p. 56 to p. 58, we find "Mathe Bigulah" on p. 57 on 4 Apr 1686, but not the other date.
- According to the index, the only mention of Thomas Garfield in The Records of Lunenburg is the marriage and intentions of their son Thomas. The deaths of Mercy and Thomas are actually found in Weston.
- So the Bigelow Genealogy was somewhat misleading, but more to the point, yes, it appears that Mercy Bigelow (1) is a mistake, and should be merged with Mercy Bigelow (3). There does not appear to have been a daughter Mercy of Joshua. So my suggestion is to edit Mercy Bigelow (1), remove her parents, and then merge the two pages (or vice versa), selecting the facts that match the primary records (b. Watertown 4 Apr 1686, d. Weston 28 Feb 1744/45). --Jrich 16:38, 2 January 2014 (UTC)
Appreciate your thoroughness, time and effort. I'll see if I can effect the changes.--Frank 17:06, 2 January 2014 (UTC)
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