Two men named Henry Gardiner

Question

I believe that we have conflated two men named Henry Gardiner in the tree.  Henry Gardiner of Narragansett, Rhode Island born 1645 and Henry Gardiner of Westchester, New York born about 1640.

I am a descendant of the "Westchester New York" Henry Gardiner.  There were some excellent comments with links to sources left on his profile regarding the conflation.  Here are the details of the sources:

1.  Gardiners of Narragansett  on page 5 it lists the following:

Henry Gardiner born 1645.  Married twice.  No children by first wife.  Second wife was Abigail Richmond.  They had children:

*Henry b. 1691

*Ephraim b. 1693

*William b. 1697

*Hannah b. 1703

2.   New York Genealogical and Biographical Society article by Theresa Hall Bristol.

Children of Henry Gardner and Elizabeth his wife born in Westchester:

*Bethiah b. 5 Jun 1665; 

*John upon new year's day 1670;

*Elizabeth 6 Jun 1673;

*Margaret and her sister Mary being twins born 16 Nov 1676;

*Hannah b. 26 Mar 1679;

*Benjamin born 8 Apr 1682.

3.  Early Wills of Westchester New York

Abstract of the will of Benjamin Gardner (son of Henry) of Westchester "If we leave no children then to go to my brother and sister John Hedger and Hannah his wife"   He mentions his four sisters Elizabeth Hunt, Margaret Hadden, Mercy Oakley and Hannah Hedger".  Proved 1711

These two Henry Gardiners are not the same person.  I would like to create a new profile for the "Westchester" Henry Gardiner/Gardner since one does not exist and separate his wife Elizabeth from the Rhode Island Henry Gardiner and attach her to new profile.  Then we can sort out the children.

[Edit]  In 1683 Henry Gardiner was the constable in Narragansett and in 1688 he served on a Grand Jury in Narragansett.  Meanwhile, in Westchester New York, Henry Gardner was recorded on a deed to John Hunt of Westchester in 1682.  https://books.google.com/books?id=3d4UAAAAYAAJ

Does anyone object?  Does anyone have any evidence to prove why these two Henry Gardiner's are the same person?

Answer 1

Back in that time, they didn't always call them Jr and Sr.  CHeck back with your research and see if they had a different middle name or a I or II behind it.  Due to having so many kids back then, lots of the children received similar names and the sons, got their father's names in theirs somewhere.  The mothers usually always names a daughter after themself.

Comments

Thanks for the reply Stormy.  If you have proof that Henry migrated from New York to Rhode Island and married again in 1688 please share.  He is listed in the court records of Rhode Island in 1665 when he should have been in New York as he had children born at that same time in Westchester county.

Answer 2

You may be right, some of the sources for the profile seem off. I’m a descendant of Henry Gardiner and Elizabeth Cromwell. The current profile is project protected, would that be PGM?  I’d like to see some of the members weigh in.  Thanks for bringing this up.

Comments

Thanks Ellen for your reply.  I don't see that he has a project.  Maybe a leader could help out with that?

I agree and I am interested in what the other descendants have to say.  I will see what other evidence I can find besides the links that were posted.

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I see the PP but no project box or sticker - was one removed (possibly as a fix for suggestions?)

New York at that time was New Netherland, so maybe that was the project that protected this profile, can you add that tag?

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I found an entry in the https://archive.org/details/newyorkgenealogiv54gree/page/394 (New York genealogical and biographical record)

In 1692 Henry Gardner and Elizabeth his wife of Westchester, to son John Gardner, land in the Long Reach patent on Sept. 13, 1692.

Henry Gardiner of Narganett had a child born in 1692 and 1693 in Rhode Island and his wife was named Abigail.

Just another example to me that doesn't make sense if they are the same person.

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Sure thing Navarro.  Thanks!

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Thank you for the information, yes that doesn’t make sense.  Re the project protect sticker, I’ll try to see if this is part of New Netherlands or PGM.

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Ellen, after we wait a couple of weeks and allow some time to everyone who cares a chance to chime in, we can both be PMs of the new Henry's profile if you are interested.  I would like to collaborate on straightening this out.  :)

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Ok, sounds good. Hopefully some leaders from the New Netherlands project and PGM project will reply.

Answer 3

This profile does appear to conflate pieces of the biographies of at least two different people.

It was project-protected by a former leader back in 2013 (before current PPP policies were in place), and there's no evidence that it was ever managed by a project. It's likely that it was protected due to the contentious genealogy described on the profile of the father https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Gardiner-38 .

Additional research may be needed to fully resolve this, but it looks like it makes sense to create a new profile for the Westchester County man, to include content in this profile that appears to belong to the Westchester man (and not the Narragansett man). The additional research (and a decision on which project(s) should deal with these profiles) can follow after each of these apparently separate men has his own profile. The PPP setting on the profile does not prevent the needed editing.

Comments

Thank you for the advice, Ellen. I’ll start looking for more information, hopefully there will be something about the Westchester Gardiner’s backstory.

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After more thought, I’m going to first first look at George Gardiner’s eventful life, and his children’s profiles. On his long profile there’s no listing of children’s birth dates.  I’d like to be sure that Henry is not somehow his son. And too, check the status of the others, if there is some kind of proof either way.

Answer 4

I just remembered this, posted it months ago on Henry Gardiner’s profile. 

In 1711, when her brother Benjamin, son of Henry Gardner dies, Benjamin's will appoints his "sister Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Hunt", as his executrix. ...Elizabeth Gardner Hunt died April 4, 1724 at the age of 57 years old.<ref>Jessup, Henry Griswsld, Rev. Edward Jessup of West Farm, Westchester Co., New York, and his descendants, Appendix II-THE FAMILY OF THOMAS HUNT JR OF HUNTS POINT. Pg. 380-381.</Ref>

There’s no son named Benjamin listed, and this is a reliable source.  I’ll try to find a son Benjamin. 

Answer 5

I’ve been researching this problem, along with Caryl R. The facts lead to there having been two Henry Gardiners, as Caryl explained in her post. But there’s no birth or parental information for the Westchester Henry.  Does anyone think we should NOT make a new profile for Henry from Westchester?

    Also, the existing profile is protected. We would have to remove Elizabeth Cromwell as one of his wives. Thank you.

Comments

I've removed the PPP for now, but after all is resolved, both profiles should probably be protected so they don't get re-merged. There is a Rhode Island project.

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Thank you Jillaine. I’ll detach Elizabeth Cromwell. Btw i looked at the history of Westchester, very few people lived there before 1650 so im ruling it out as Westchester Henry’s birthplace.