Did Rebecca West marry? On WikiTree, 3 profiles, 3 husbands

Question

Rebecca West, daughter of William West and Rebecca Bracewell, was probably born about 1680 in Isle of Wight County, Virginia. Her father's will was written 2 October 1708 and probated 9 February 1708/9. In it he names daughter "Mary [West] Green" and daughter "Rebeckah West." In 1709 Rebecca was unmarried and there is no evidence she had ever been married. 

There are three duplicate profiles for Rebecca on WikiTree. One has no husband, one has husband Anthony Herring, and the third has her married to both Robert Jones and John Kendrick at the same time.

No documentation has been presented for any of these marriages and I suggest they should all be removed unless/until someone presents evidence supporting one of them.

Three profiles for which I will be proposing merges:

1. Rebecca West [West-1812]
2. Rebecca West [West-2125]
3. Rebecca West [West-842]

Edit for typo

Comments

Rebecca West, documented daughter of William West and Rebecca Bracewell, has been detached from any spouses and children; she is also now project-protected.

Answer 1

I had posted six months ago on the profile about the marriages asking for sources.  No response.  Thanks, Shirley, for getting this going again.  

Comments

You're welcome, Darlene. If we get no response, no sources, I think these marriages should all be removed.

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I agree.  I've looked this morning for sources for a wife for John Kendrick, but haven't found any . . .  You would need to delete Rebecca as the mother of all of his children.  Fun in the sun!  

Answer 2

William West is said to have had a daughter Rebecca (on his profile) who married Anthony Herring[1]

From William West's 2 Oct 1708 will probated 9 Feb 1708/9, re: daughter Rebecca[2]

# to daughter Rebecca West an Indian woman

# to wife and daughter Rebecca all rest of estate

It may be significant that this daughter Rebecca is referred to as Rebecca West - perhaps her marriage to Anthony Herring had already ended by the time of the will (children of the purported union were born between circa 1680-1707)?

[1] Mrs Eunice H Young, in "Notes on the Ancestry of The Rev. Robert Braswell of Isle of Wight County, Virginia," in _The Virginia Genealogist_, vol 43 (1999), p 140-141; citing Isle of Wight Co, VA, Wills & Deeds 2, p 52.

[2]  Will of William West

Thus, it would be a good idea to see if any of the Rebecca Wests that are attached to William West meet the criteria of a) an inheritance, b) a marriage to Herring that might have ended by the time that her father wrote his will (though this is from reference [1], which may be circular - needs to be reproduced), and, c) a means to reconcile the naming difference and date problems that have been noted on Rebecca Marjorie (West) Herring (abt. 1680 - bef. 1737), who obviously has some problems with children attributed to her or else the date that she was born.

Comments

Fann, I've never seen in these early wills references to married daughters, even previously married daughters, by their maiden name. Have you? 

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The statement that Rebecca married Anthony Herring was on the profile when I found it. It is alleged by nearly every family tree I have found online. I did not remove it pending the decision to remove Herring as spouse or not. There is no documentation to prove Rebecca was Anthony Herring's wife. She does not appear named with him in any land transaction. He left no will naming Rebecca as wife.

The only document I have seen used as a source was the sale of land from Rebecca's parents to Anthony Herring in 1694. This has been used, together with the assertion that Anthony Herring and the Wests were neighbors, to hypothesize a marriage. I'm sorry, but I don't think that is sufficient to prove a marriage.

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I am new to actively participating in a project, but from what I understand it looks like the profile and all of its associated issues would benefit from being managed by the Southern Colonies Project.  As a member of the project I have requested that it be managed by the project as a way to sort and resolve all the issues. Mary

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Appreciate your interest in working with this project. I am also a member of US So Colonies and have been coordinating with the project on several members of this family which have been picked up for management. We need to determine if Rebecca was married or not. And then she may also need project management.

Answer 3

As to the Rebecca Marjorie West who supposedly married Anthony Herring, I will reproduce here what a FamilySearch contributor found and noted: bottom line, this Rebecca (West) Herring is not proven as a daughter of William and Rebecca (Bracewell) West, and though she is attached as such on FamilySearch, they fudged everyone's dates a bit to try to make her fit:

Order of First Families of North Carolina - Registry of Ancestors Vol 1

Citation

Butler Center, Little Rock, Arkansas by John A. Brayton F253.B73 2011

Notes

Page 94-95 John Herring 79. John Herring, Sr., the son of Anthony Herring, was born ca. 1680, Isle of Wight Co., VA and died ca. 1754, Johnston Co., NC. Her married Catherine [_] .

Herring witnessed deeds in Chowan as early as Jul 1718, according to Chowan Co., NC, Deed Book B#1, p. 601.

. . .[discussion of John Herring Sr's wife is omitted in the interest of brevity]... There is neither proof that (John’s father) Anthony married Rebecca West as stated in James Maurice Grimwood, Herring Highlights (1642-1998 p. 9 and p. 21) although that Herring genealogy is invaluable in many ways...

The above was attached in the Sources for John Herring Sr on FamilySearch, should anyone want to see the rest of the context. I find it useful to go to a later generation with any sourcing attached and then attempt to work back up to the earlier generations. In this case, we find that a researcher documented the mythic origins of Rebecca West. It doesn't make sense to leave her as a daughter when another daughter is present with the name Rebecca West who "fits" the unmarried daughter narrative.

I do disagree that we are to accept that the "real" Rebecca West never married: we only know to a certainty (and that's not 100% guaranteed) that she was apparently described as unmarried when her father died; and, it is noted that her presumed sister (Mary Green) was named by her married name. On that note, though, do we know that "Isle of Wight-Southampton County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Wills.....West, William, 1708" is a bona fide transcript of the father's will?...

Comments

The comment you referenced " There is neither proof that (John’s father) Anthony married Rebecca West" is what I have maintained in my query.

And I am not sure if you meant what you typed following or if it was a typo "we only know to a certainty (and that's not 100% guaranteed) that she was married when her father died;" Did you mean to say "was not married?" Because there is no proof that she was married at the time of her father's death.

I also see no reason to doubt the accuracy of the will transcript posted on the Virginia USGenWeb site. I would prefer to have access to the original recorded will, but since I do not I will rely on the research of others who do have such access.

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Correct: the Rebecca West who married Anthony Herring should be detached as a West-Braswell daughter, with a note on her disputed origins added to her profile, including the mythic origins source (I will check to see if that can be reproduced).

Once complete, then her profile can be nominated for USSoCol project protection.

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What is the status of this profile now, please? Have all the needed changes been made? If not, what yet remains to be done?

Thanks!

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There are currently three profiles for Rebecca. Merges have been proposed to merge all into West-842; or alternatively to merge West-2125 into West-1812. West-2125 is currently linked as wife to Anthony Herring. West-1812 has no husband linked. West-842 has two husbands that have been proven false and who need to be removed. She is not linked as wife to Herring.

Perhaps the easiest way forward is to merge West-2125 into West-1812, including the link to Herring as wife, and remove the resultant profile as daughter from William West and Rebecca Bracewell. Her parents would be unknown.

West-842 can then be left as daughter of William West and reference to possible husband Herring can be removed.

Thoughts?

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Based on the Rebecca (West) and Anthony Herring documented children, I think they should be preserved as a couple, but she has no proven parents. So that part of removing her parents sounds great.

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Her parents that had been attached need removal and a disputed origins section added. Her maiden name can be marked uncertain. The additive citation contributes to Disputed Origins.

Given the documented children, this Rebecca (West) and Anthony Herring should remain a couple.

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So will one of you take this on?

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I was planning on working on it today, unless someone else wants to do it. The merge needed has already been proposed and just needs to be completed, so shouldn't take too long to finish up, remove parents, etc.

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Didn't take long. Parents removed from merged Rebecca (West-1812) married to Anthony Herring. She still needs some research and sourcing.

Noted on Rebecca West (West-842) that she is not the same as the Rebecca married to Anthony Herring. She could also use some additional sourcing and removal of disputed husbands. You might want to check all related profiles to see what else needs to be done.

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I will take a look in a bit.

Answer 4

I have completed the necessary biography and other updates that were available for the person "Rebecca (West) Herring." Ideally, she should be changed to Rebecca (Unknown) Herring, which may be recommended, especially if her husband, Anthony Herring, mentions her mythological origins.

I also went ahead and updated her formerly attached father's profile [William West (abt.1642-abt.1709)] so that the discussion of his daughter Rebecca West is now concordant. 

Some of these profiles probably need PPP by US Southern Colonist project to prevent re-attachment by well-meaning folks who see Rebecca West mentioned in relationship to Herring (among others), without noticing that no proofs are given and the relationship is thus contrived.

Comments

Thanks for making these necessary updates. It may be advisable to add PPP. US So Colonies Project will need to decide how many related profiles they want to add. They could also change Rebecca's name to Unknown.