Did Mary Hinckley (b. 1631) marry Daniel Stewart?

Question

(1) The problem of who married Mary Hinckley (b. 1631, Tenterden, Kent, England) of Barnstable, Mass., daughter of Samuel Hinckley, has not been solved.  Since doubt has been cast on previous suggestions over the years concerning who she married, I am here and now proposing that she may have very well been the Mary who married Daniel Stewart of Barnstable (and later of Edgartown).   
 
(2) Daniel Stewart died at Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard, Mass., in 1703, his will of 06 January 1701/02 being probated on 04 August 1703, with Benjamin Smith named as executor.  Benjamin Smith was also originally from Barnstable, and his mother was Susannah (Hinckley) Smith, sister of Mary Hinckley.   

(3) Therefore, it is very possible that John Stewart had married Mary Hinckley (Susannah's sister) at Barnstable. That would make Benjamin Smith (the executor) their nephew. It is also interesting to note that Benjamin Smith had a sister named Dorcas (as well as a daughter), which could explain why Daniel and Mary also named a daughter Dorcas.     

(4) Daniel Stewart ( https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Stewart-373 ) is currently shown as marrying a Mary Vincent, but I have found no supporting evidence.  It seems likely that someone confused this Daniel with his grandson Daniel (Stewart-16788) who did marry a Vincent.

Comments

Daniel's will calls Benjamin Smith "my loving friend." If he was a nephew, would not Daniel have called him nephew or perhaps kinsman? I know not necessarily but possibly.

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That's a good question.  Benjamin would have been a nephew by marriage, not a blood relative (if that made any difference to some people back then). Perhaps he thought just calling him nephew or kinsman would sound too cold or formal, and "my loving friend" would better reflect their close relationship. I'll have to give this some more thought.

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Hi Kenneth, 

I have updated the profile of Daniel Stewart, creating a Research Notes section, into which have included the brief (but I hope more accurate) quote from 1938 magazine. This is the material that seems to gives rise to a Chuat-Vincent union. Further, at that time (1938), the union was interpreted to be a "Stewart-Vincent" union.   

Answer 1

More evidence:

Daniel Stewart was deeded land on Martha's Vineyard in 1680 from Thomas Mayhew III (brother of the Jedidah Mayhew who married Benjamin Smith, the executor and apparent nephew of Daniel Stewart):

From "The History of Martha's Vineyard", C.E. Banks:
CHILMARK.
This name is first given to the Manor of Tisbury in a deed from Thomas Mayhew to Daniel STEWART, March 26, 1680, where Mayhew calls himself "of the town of Chilmark in the Manor of Tysbery."

Answer 2

(1) I was just adding a listing of the births of the children of Charles Stewart (Daniel's youngest child).  And I noticed that Charles named his eldest child Jedidah, presumably named after Benjamin Smith's wife Jedidah.

(2) Furthermore, Banks says that Charles was born in 1672.  Not sure what he based that date on, but if Mary Hinckley (b. 1631) was the mother of Charles, she would have been 41 years old that year, and her age could explain why Daniel Stewart and Mary had no further children after that.

Answer 3

An indirect Hinckley connection:

On March 4, 1673/74, "Daniel Stewart, then living at Barnstable, sued Nathaniel Fitzrandall for assault and was awarded 20 shillings."

Nathaniel FitzRandolph was the brother of Mary (FitzRandolph) Hinckley the wife of Samuel Hinckley Jr. (Mary Hinckley's brother).

So perhaps Daniel Stewart and Nathaniel FitzRandolph were both attending a Hinckley family gathering of some kind, and they got into a fight.