Mary wife of William Preston, Seabrook or Unknown?

Question

Mary, wife of William Preston, because of one interpretation of Fairfield deeds has been believed to be a daughter of Robert Seabrook. D L Jacobus has thrown some serious doubt on this interpretation, but listed her as a ? child with Seabrook's other children. Do we want to leave her surname as Seabrook or do we want to rename her Unknown.?

Among the Stratford deeds "land was entered to the following persons, which they had by gift from their grandfather Robert Seabrook: Samuel Fairchild, Thomas Fairchild, Jehiel Preston, John Wheeler's wife, Samuel Stiles's wife, and perhaps others not noted."[Fairfield]

• Robert Seabrook's daughter married Thomas Fairchild and had sons Samuel and Thomas
• Daughter Sarah Seabrook married Thomas Sherwood and had Sara m. John Wheeler and Elizabeth m. Samuel Stiles
• Jehiel Preston was son of William Preston and also husband of Sara Fairchild (grand-daughter of Robert Preston)

• Because Jehiel Preston, son of William Preston is on this list, "It has been stated in many accounts that William Preston's second wife Mary was a daughter of Robert Seabrook, but the compiler doubts that this was so and believes that identification to have been based on a misinterpretation of a deed in Stratford.[Kimberly]
• 8 Oct 1670 Jehiel Preston entered his land. He was at the time married to Sara Fairchild, daughter of Thomas Fairchild and sister of the first mentioned Samuel and Thomas. Jehiel could just as easily been entering the land his wife Sara inherited from her grandfather.
• Jehiel's marriage to Sara "suffices to explain the term used in the deed. Mary's identity remains unknown." [Parke]
• "The evidence is insufficient for certainty."[Fairfield]

Sources are on Seabrook-6

Answer 1

Mary Seabrook was the 2nd wife of William Preston.

Answer 2

Anne, I'm just now working with the information in Anderson's Great Migration for William Preston. In Volume V, M-P, page 522, Anderson states that in 1960 Jacobus provided more detail in The Ancestry of Lorenzo Ackley & His Wife Emma Arabella Bosworth, noting that the "evidence for this claim [that William Preston's 2nd wife Mary was a daughter of Robert Seabrook] was a deed in which her son Jehiel Preston mentioned land that came from his grandfather Robert Seabrook. However, it is known that Jehiel's wife was a granddaughter of Robert Seabrook, and that suffices to explain the term used in the deed. Mary's identity remains unknown".  ( I added the bold for emphasis.) I recommend that her Last Name at Birth be changed to Unknown. 

Answer 3

I see that Seabooke is still the LNAB for the wife of William Preston.

I agree that her surname should be unknown, as recommended by Anderson in "Great Migration."

The profile needs to be unlocked, and updates made accordingly.

Comments

Cheryl, I intentionally left it Seabrook, but will rethink it.

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Ok, Anne.