Disconnecting parents of William Overton-29 of Virginia

Question

William Overton, immigrant to Virginia, is commonly found on the internet as a son of Maj Gen Robert Overton of Seaton. This would give him an extensive English ancestry including to Edward III.  It turns out there is no evidence as to William's parentage.  I intend to disconnect William Overton from his incorrect parents.  I am putting this here as a notice and a place for anyone wishing to discuss the parentage of William Overton since the identification is widely found on the internet.

The theory as to William's parents was first put forward in a newspaper article in 1915, without any evidence other than a family tradition. The reasons I am disconnecting him are:

• There is no actual evidence to connect William Overton and Robert Overton. This is the most important as in order to prove the English origins of an immigrant we need to have something in the way of wills, land records, correspondence, baptism records, court cases, etc. to show or even suggest that the immigrant could be the son of the proposed father. In this case, no such document exists. 

• The will of his grandfather John Overton in 1648 names many relatives including all of his grandchildren; however, he does not name a grandson William Overton. The will includes his son Col. Robert Overton and grandchildren Robert, Ebenezer, Anne, Alicia and Joane Overton - no William.

• The will of the proposed father Col. Robert Overton in 1678 does not name a son William. In fact, the will reads as if Col. Overton had exactly two living sons, Ebenezer and Fairfax, who shared equally in his estate.

• Robert Overton, while in captivity on the Isle of Jersey, wrote a 372 manuscript from 1665-1669 touching on a wide range of matters including his family, love for his wife, politics, poetry. This document was discovered 1992 and is written in his own hand. It is currently held in the Special Collections and Rare Books Department at Princeton University. Despite discussing his family in detail, he never names a son William.

• There is no evidence that Col. Robert Overton even had a son William. As noted, no William is named in any of the documents where he should occur. Robert Overton is frequently said to have had a son William born on 3 December 1638; no English record has been found to confirm this birth date. Also, there is no room for this supposed William if Robert Overton's son Jeremie was born on 29 September 1637 and son Robert on 2 May 1639.

Comments

His parents have been disconnected.

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Hi, I was reading William Overton's biography here on wikitree, and saw this discussion, however he is still attached to Robert Overton as his father, or has been reattached. Has something changed, is there now evidence that they are father and son that they would be reattched?

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It seems the parents were reattached in September.

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I have again removed his incorrect parents.  I will try to get the profile Project Protected.

Answer 1

I am very glad to see this! I am descended from William Overton, but I've never found a record for his father. I appreciate your work and letting everyone know your intention.

Answer 2

Tremendous job making your case.

Answer 3

he is my 9th great grandfather, thank you for working on keeping the accuracy of profiles ,

Answer 4

William Overton, 1638-1690, Excerpt from The Compendium of American Genealogy, Pg. 776 --image uploaded

Comments

Yes. I would say this is another example of how misinformation can spread, even in print. With no sources given and no explanation given  as to why William Overton is claimed to be a son of Robert Overton, this doesn't help determine his parentage.