Did Joanna (Kerrich) Whitmore marry Henry Ackerly?

Question

Joanna Kerrich married, first, John Jessup. After his death, Joanna married, second, John Whitmore about 1640 in Stamford, Connecticut. John Whitmore was killed while tending his cattle in 1648. It was suspected that he was murdered by Indians, which led to a war against the Indians. See find-a-grave page for John Whitmore. The find-a-grave site for Joanna (Kerrich) Whitmore (and wikitree page which relies on it) states that Whitmore Family Records say that Joanna continued to live on the Whitmore farm until here death in her 48th year.

HOWEVER, in 1662, Taphanse, the Indian suspected as having killed Whitmore, was brought to trial. In the trial, Anne Akerly, widow (widely assumed to be then the widow of Henry Ackerly) gave a deposition in which she stated that she was about 75 years old and that on the afternoon that goodman Whitmore was killed, "shee did see the Indian called Taphanse at goodman Whitmores house with other Indians, & ye sd Taphanse shooke her (the wife of goodm Whitmore) by ye hand . . ."  Link to deposition

Doesn't this seem to mean that, after John Whitmore died, Joanna (Kerrich) Whitmore married Henry Ackerly and was the Anne Akerly who testified? I am not aware of any contrary evidence except the reference to "Whitmore Family Records" on the find-a-grave cite, which I find less persuasive than the deposition.

Comments

If she died in 1648 how did she remarry in 1666?

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Her husband died in 1648, not her. There is no reliable evidence when she died. The theory is that she married Henry Ackerly sometime in 1648-1652, before Henry Ackerly moved to Greenwich. Henry Ackerly died in 1658. Anne Akerly (the deponent) was his widow in 1662.

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I corrected an error in my posts above. I had said that the trial and deposition were in 1666. There were actually in 1662.

Answer 1

Okay. I've spent more time researching this and I think that it is most likely that, notwithstanding the way the deposition was written, when Anne Akerly's deposition says "Taphanse shooke her (the wife of goodm Whitmore) by ye hand," the "her" did not refer to the deponent and that Anne was merely observing Taphanse shake Joanna Whitmore's hand. For a discussion of the evidence that supports this position, see Anne Ackerley's profile

Comments

Just reading the deposition. I would not have assumed that Widow Ackerly was also the wife/widow of Whitmore, but they were two separate people. so your conclusion in the end seems correct to me