Menu
- Home
- Search▼
- List▼
- Add▼
- My Relate▼
- Admin▼
ViewsWatchers |
[edit] Source
[edit] Related
[edit] DiscussionRichard Adams died between February and March of 1747/48 in either Skippack or Perkiomen township in what was then Philadelphia County, now Montgomery County, PA. [1] Genealogists commonly identify his wife as either "Gertien op den Graeff" or "Alice Withers". One interpretation of this is that Richard's first wife died, and he remarried. His 1747 will gives the name of his wife as "Alse", which is presumably a variant spelling of "Alice". I give, Bequeath and Devise unto my well beloved wife Alse and youngest Daughter Hannah the other Moiety, or half [?] part, of my estate after the aforesaid Debts and Legacies is paid and Discharged as aforesaid to be equally Divided between my said Wife and Daughter Hannah's Husband Owen Evans to hold them their Heirs and Assigns for ever, each one quarter part. This would make Gertien op den Graeff his first wife. In an attempt to support this interpretation a Christ Church marriage record between Richard Adams and Alice Withers on 22 December 1726, is often cited. This would seem to confirm "Alse" being Richards second wife. This, however, may be questioned. There are two transcriptions available for these registers. The first are recent transcriptions by the Church of Christ, and the second are 1876 transcriptions by the Pennsylvania Archives. The first can be examined online at the Philadelphia CHurch of Christ web site, while the second can be examined in the 1876 publication by the PA Archives (available at Ancestry.com):
The transcription at the Philadelphia Christ Church web site shows (somewhat more completely)
The name of the groom and date of marriage is identical in both transcriptions, apart from the orthographic difference between "Richd." and "Richard". The name of the bride, however, is slightly different. In the one case her name is given as "E. Withers", in the other as "Elizabeth Weathers". The differences are presumably due to different readings of difficult-to-read handwriting. The difference between surname spellings ("Withers" vs "Weathers") is probably trivial. The difference in transcription of the given name, however, is substantive. Going from "E." to "Elizabeth" is a considerable difference. The designation "E." in the Pennsylvania Archives transcription could be interpreted as an abbreviation for "Elis" or some other variant of "Alice", but this would be a very forced interpretation. Nonetheless genealogists trying to substantiate the name of Richards wife, seizing upon this marriage record, may have attempted to reconcile the difference between the identification of Richards wife as "Alse" in his will, by assuming the "E. Withers" referred to "Alice Withers". The Church of Christ transcription, however, would render this to be in error. That is, if one wanted to use this DOM you'd also have to use the name of the wife as "Elizabeth Wethers", and reject the idea that this is the wife of the Richard Adams who died in 1747. |
