Time to disconnect PGMers Rebecca Sherwood and Angell Husted

Question

Angell Husted mentions wife Rebecca in his will. 

I'm not sure if he's the first to make the claim, but in 1953, McCracken speculated Angell's wife was in fact Rebecca Sherwood.  It was restated in
Torrey's New England Marriages, Doherty's Settlers of the Beekman Patent, and a zillion gedcoms.

In 1998, Gordon Remington advanced a convincing argument this could not possibly be true.  It was seconded by Mahler in her article on the Sherwoods, and referenced by Robert Anderson in PGM. 

We suggest removing Rebecca Sherwood as Angell's wife and mother of his children.  Instead, we'll recycle a profile for Rebecca Unknown, widow of Jonathan Reynolds.  Angel's first wife & mother of his children is unknown.  

Okay to move forward?  It's tough to lose an interesting ancestor (can you imagine her as an immigrant at 9 years old?), but it's no longer accepted as true.

Comments

So you will detach Sherwood-65 as wife of Angel Husted and as mother of his children but retain her as she did indeed exist. Yes?

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Yes exactly

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Looks like the correct thing to do.

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I agree with removing Rebecca Sherwood as Angell Husted's wife. Apparently the only record of the marriage of Angell to "Rebecca" has a blank line after her first name, and there are no other records. I researched Thomas Sherwood's will, and he makes a bequest to "my daughter Rebecca" but there is no last name to serve as a clue.

Answer 1

I would suggest adding a link in the bio to Rebecca Sherwood's profile before disconnecting. That way if information does surface to prove she is the mother, then the link is still there. You can put that in the area that is listed as "Second Wife Rebecca" where Rebecca Sherwood is mentioned. Just change that to a linked name instead.

Comments

Done.  Thanks!

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You're more than welcome. :)

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Perhaps you can also link to this discussion Angell's profile and/or add a short discussion on why the change so it does not get repeated in the future.

Answer 2

Hi Heather,

Thank you so much for writing this G2G question - much needed.  You are correct.  There were two different Rebeccas.

There was a Rebecca Sherwood, daughter of Thomas Sherwood, but we don't know who she married.

Also, there was a Rebecca Unknown, wife of 1) Jonathan Reynolds-243 and 2) Angell Husted-77.  Her maiden name and parents are unknown.

I worked a little tonight on the Reynolds profiles (they need more). Thanks!

Comments

Merci beaucoup for all the help, Cynthia.