Mary (Whitmore) Brewer (abt. 1626 - 1684)

Born about 1626 in England

Wife of John Brewer — married 23 Oct 1647 in Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died 10 Dec 1684 at about age 58 in Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Biography

This is the profile for Mary Whitmore who married John Brewer in Ipswich on October 23, 1647.

Probable Sister

There was an Ann Whitmore who married George Farough/Farrow at Ipswich on January 16, 1643/4.^[1][2] Since Ann and Mary were both married in Ipswich within a few years of each other and were the only known Whitmores in the area at the time, they were very probably sisters.

Parentage

Mary's parentage has not yet been determined.

William H. Whitmore, in his 1855 Descendants of Francis Whitmore of Cambridge, Mass., stated that he had some "reason to believe" that John Whitmore of Stamford was the father of Thomas Whitmore of Middletown, Ann and Mary Whitmore of Ipswich, Francis Whitmore of Cambridge, and John Whitmore Jr of Stamford, but he did not explain his reason for that belief.^[3] James Savage appears to have adopted W.H. Whitmore's assertions in preparing the entries for the Whitmores in his 1860-1862 Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England. In his entry for John Whitmore of Stamford, Savage listed Thomas, Ann, Mary, Francis and John Jr as John's children and gave the same estimated dates of birth as W.H. Whitmore had suggested.^[4] Although Savage did not indicate any doubt as to parentage in John Whitmore of Stamford's entry,^[4] in his entries for Thomas Whitmore,^[4] Francis Whitmore^[4] and John Brewer,^[5] he stated that Thomas, Francis and Mary were just "probably" children of John Whitmore of Stamford and, in the entry for George Farrow, stated that Ann was "perhaps" the daughter of John Whitmore of Stamford.^[6]

Contrary to the parentage claimed by W.H. Whitmore in his 1855 book and adopted by Savage, James Carnahan Wetmore in his well-researched 1861 The Wetmore Family of America, stated that it is " highly improbable that [Ann and Mary Whitmore of Ipswich] were in any near degree of relationship with Thomas [Whitmore of Middletown] or John Whitmore [of Stamford]."^[7] Based on Ann Whitmore's marriage to George Farough/Farrow and the 1645 will of Francis Whitmore of Laxton, Nottinghamshire which mentions a nephew George Farrar, Wetmore believed instead that it was possible that Ann and Mary Whitmore of Ipswich, and possibly Francis Whitmore of Cambridge, were related to Francis Whitmore of Laxton.^[7] Wetmore's research apparently got W.H. Whitmore to revisit his prior beliefs on parentage. In his similarly well-researched 1875 Whitmore Tracts, in contradition to his prior assertion regarding parentage in his 1855 book, W.H. Whitmore stated that (1) he was of the opinion that Francis Whitmore of Cambridge and Ann and Mary Whitmore of Ipswich were all three the children of Francis Whitmore of Laxton (based on the same evidence mentioned by Wetmore, plus the fact that an old family bible connected to Francis Whitmore of Laxton was discovered in the early 1800s in a store in Ipswich, Massachusetts) and (2) suggested that, since their presumptive father remained in England, Ann and Mary Whitmore probably came over with relatives, quite possibly with their cousins the Farrars.^[8]

Jessie Whitmore Patten Purdy, in her 1906 Whitmore Genealogy, without providing any evidence or rationale, reverted to the older W.H. Whitmore and Savage position and stated that Thomas, Francis, John, Ann and Mary were all children of John Whitmore of Ipswich.^[9] Purdy further suggested that W.H. Whitman had accepted that theory of parentage in his later years.^[9] However, based on his 1855 and 1875 books, it appears that she got the order reversed and that W.H. Whitman had rejected that theory in his later years.

Based on all existing evidence, it appears, in fact, fairly probable that John Whitmore of Stamford was not the father of Ann and Mary Whitmore of Ipswich.

• Purdy's claim that John was (or was probably) the father of all of Thomas, Francis, John, Ann and Mary has now been definitively disproven by Y-DNA testing on the descendants of Thomas and Francis, which shows that Thomas and Francis did not have a common male ancestor.^[10]
• No evidence has ever been found that connects Ann and Mary Whitmore of Ipswich to John Whitmore of Stamford.
• Since John Whitmore was in the Connecticut Colony from 1639 to 1648,^[11] while Ann and Mary Whitmore were in Ipswich by 1644 and 1647, respectively, it seems geographically improbable that they were his daughters.

Far more probable, based on the evidence, is the proposition suggested by James Carnahan Wetmore and W.H Whitmore in his later book that Ann and Mary Whitmore of Ipswich were related to (and possible daughters of) Francis Whitmore of Lexton, Nottinghamshire and had emigrated New England with a relative with whom they lived in Ipswich prior to their marriages. Since this no evidence of Whitmore men living in Ipswich at the time, that relative was probably not named Whitmore, but was instead perhaps a step-father or a cousin (perhaps the Farrars/Farrows, as William H. Whitmore suggested).

Date and Place of Birth

No evidence has been found that firmly establishes Mary's date of birth. Based on her date of marriage (October 1647), it would be expected that Mary was probably born sometime 1621-1630, with about 1626 being a reasonable midpoint estimate. Savage^[4] and Purdy^[9] adopted the estimated dates of birth first proposed in W.H. Whitmore's 1855 book and stated that Mary was born about 1623.^[3] That date was no doubt selected in order to fit Mary's birth in the gap between the estimated birth dates for Ann (1621) and Francis (1625) in the proposed birth order for John Whitmore of Stamford's children. However, since Mary's husband is estimated to have been born about 1626, based on a deposition he made in 1678 in which he stated that the was 52 years old,^[12] a date of birth in or slightly after 1626 seems more probable. Based on that estimated date of birth and the absence of evidence suggesting that she was born in New England, it is most likely that Mary was born somewher in England.

Immigration; Initial Residency in New England

Mary's date of immigration is uncertain. It is probable that she immigrated with her older sister, Ann. Since Ann was married in Ipswich in January 1643/4, Ann (and presumably Mary) immigrated in 1643 or earlier.

There is no evidence of Ann's or Mary's place of residency prior to Ann's marriage in Ipswich. It is most likely that Mary was living in Ipswich from at least 1643.

Marriage and Children

Mary married John Brewer in Ipswich on October 23, 1647.^{[1][2][13][14]}

Mary and John had the following children, all born in Ipswich:

1. Mary, b. September 23, 1648^[1][15][2]
2. John, b. October 6, 1653, m. 1st January 1674 Susanna Warner in Ipswich, m. 2d June 3, 1689 Martha Perkins in Ipswich. (See discussion and sources in John's profile.)
3. Sara, b. March 27, 1655^[1][15][2]

Mary's husband, John, died on either June 22 or 23, 1684.^[12]

Death

Mary died in Ipswich on December 10, 1684.^[16]

Research Notes

• A marriage record suggests she may have been daughter of John Whitmore and Goodwife, on 23 Aug 1647.^[17] - [What does the marriage record say that suggests that? None of versions reviewed provide any indication as to who her parents were.]
• Baptismal record: 12 May 1624, Hatchin, Hertford, England^[18] - [What evidence connects that baptismal record to this profile's Mary Whitmore?]

^{[3] [10] [11] [9] [6] [5] [4] [7] [8] [12] [16] [1] [15] [13] [14] [2]}

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts. Volume II 1656-1662. The Essex Institute, 1912. p. 346. Link to page at hathitrust.org.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4} Whitmore, William H. "Gleanings." The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Vol. 30 (1876). pp. 422-426. Link to pages at archive.org.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Whitmore, W.H. Record of the Descendants of Francis Whitmore, of Cambridge, Mass. 1855. p. 2. Link to page at archive.org.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5} Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. Vol. IV. Little, Brown and Company, 1862. pp. 526-7. Link to page at hathitrust.org.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. Vol. I. Little, Brown and Company, 1860. pp. 243-4. Link to page at hathitrust.org.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692, on the Basis of Farmer's Register. Vol. I. Little, Brown and Company, 1860. p. 146. Link to page at hathitrust.org.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2} Wetmore, James Carnahan. The Wetmore Family of America, and Its Collateral Branches: with Genealogical, Biographical, and Historical Notices. 1861. Link to book at archive.org.
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} Whitmore, WIlliam H. Whitmore Tracts. A Collection of Essays on Matters of Interest to Persons Bearing the Name. 1875. pp. 16 an 38. Link to book at archive.org.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3} Purdy, Jessie Whitmore Patten. The Whitmore Genealogy. A Record of the Descendants of Francis Whitmore of Cambridge, Massachusetts (1625-1685). 1907. pp. viii-ix. Link to pages at hathitrust.org.
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} Whitmore, Harold. "Y-DNA Tests of Descendants of Three New England Patriarchs: Thomas Whittemore of Malden, Mass., Thomas Wetmore of Middletown, Conn., and Francis Whitmore of Cambridge, Mass." New England Ancestors. Vol. 10, No. 4 (Fall 2009). pp. 47-9. Link to pages at americanancestors.org.
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} See the profile for John Whitmore of Stamford.
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1 12.2} See the profile for John Brewer.
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1} "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FH8W-KQH : 6 November 2017), John Brewer and Mary Whitmore, 23 Aug 1647; citing Marriage, Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts, United States, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007010724. (Incorrectly indexed as August 23, 1647.)
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1} Torrey, Clarence Almon. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Volume 1. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. p. 198. Link to page at americanancestors.org.
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1 15.2} Vital Records of Ipswich, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849. Volume I. Births. The Essex Institute, 1910. p. 45. Link to page at hathitrust.org.
16. ↑ ^{16.0 16.1} Vital Records of Ipswich, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849. Volume II. Marriages and Deaths. The Essex Institute, 1910. p. 496. Link to page at hathitrust.org.
17. ↑ Kathryn Lee Wetmore Stadel, "Wetmore History, and some Maternal Lines," compiled 1970, p ??
18. ↑ Data: Text: Christening: 12 MAY 1624 CONT Christening: 12 MAY 1624 Hatchin, , Hertford, England Note: Film Number: 184642 CONT Page Number: CONT Reference number: 3323

See also:

• American Marriages Before 1699; Author Ancestry.com Publisher Ancestry.com Operations Inc Publisher Date 1997 Publisher Location Provo, UT, USA Repository Information Name Ancestry.com, page #?
• North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000, entry for her daughter-in-law Martha Perkins.
• US and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
• Colonial Families of the USA, 1607-1775
• FamilySearch Person: MK4Q-P1M
• Memorial: "Find a Grave", database, Find A Grave: Memorial #157796530 (accessed 22 April 2023), Memorial page for Mary Whitmore Brewer (1623-10 Dec 1684), citing Old Burying Ground, Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA; Maintained by Mookie (contributor 47515129) (has erroneous connection to father).