Wives of William Hopkins-446 untangled (?)

Question

Having incorrectly removed Mary Andrews as a wife of William Hopkins which I believed correct at the time (Anne B restored it pending further research) I have researched existing records to sort this out. My early information was wrong.

1/ The Mary (Lewis) Hopkins listed as third wife of William Hopkins is in fact his daughter and the name should be Mary (Hopkins) Lewis. The profile Mary (Hopkins) Lewis as daughter is the correct entry and lineage. Profile Mary (Lewis) Hopkins (Lewis-1404) as it is does not represent a real person and should be merged into Mary (Hopkins) Lewis (Hopkins-405). William Hopkins did not have a third wife.

Error appears to spring from a reference listed as [Manwaring 1:215] in incomplete transcribed documents at Ancestry. A reversal of maiden and married name order in the information appears to have caused a chain reaction in many places.

2/ Mary Hopkins, daughter of William Hopkins was the eldest child b Hartford 6 May 1645 (HaVR 575]. Can someone let me know what that abbreviated citation represents? Thanks.

3/ 2 Sep 1670 a deposition was made regarding "Mary Whitehead the known mother of Mary the wife of Lt William Lewis of Farmington." [Manwaring 1:215]

This third point is followed by the notation, 'Mary, widow of William Hopkins, married as her second husband Richard Whitehead of Windsor.' However the source of this is unclear.

Torrey's New England Marriages Prior to 1700 Pg 808 contains the marriage of Richard Whitehead to Mary Hopkins in Windsor, CT c 1644-45. That date does represent a conflict with existing records of Wm Hopkins in government office capacity in 1647 (see Trumbull Complete History of CT citation in his profile). Some of the information seen various places on Richard Whitehead gives the appearance of possible conflation of two different individuals of the same name but that is not relevant to correcting the wives of William Hopkins-446.

If PGM coordinators are in agreement with these findings I can correct the relevant information on William Hopkins profile and propose the merge of Mary Lewis Hopkins into Mary Hopkins Lewis to correct that lineage error.

Comments

Lewis' entry for his 2nd wife Temperance mentions she had a son William and a da. Temperance by her 2nd husband William Hopkins, cited by Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd Edition, Vol. I, p. 8, Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Vol. I, p. 118 and Douglas Richardson, Plantagenet Ancestry, p. 36-37. 

There's no mention of her emigrating to New England but it does mention she was a legatee in 1644 and d. overseas. Her estate was granted to her husband William in 1648 by the Perogative Court of Canterbury (which implies he returned to England). His remarriage date and her death date are certainly guesses. Richardson doesn't mention she had any children with William Hopkins in MCA (I didn't check the other two). 

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HaVR = "Early Hartford Vital Records" in Collections of the Connecticut Historical Society, Volume l4, pp. 575-632 (Hartford 1912; rpt. Bowie, Maryland, 1989): page 575.

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Disconnected incorrect wife Temperance Gilbert.

Moved Mary (Lewis) Hopkins from wife to daughter.

Proposed merge of Mary (Lewis) Hopkins to Mary (Hopkins) Lewis to correct the LNAB.

Wife Mary Andrews probably needs to be changed to Mary Unknown.

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Joe, re: disconnecting Temperance: Kirk's find of a wife named Temperance suggests we should keep her, though, yes?

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Does this help? Temperance Gilbert arrival 1635. The index I am reading does not give place of arrival other than New England.

King, Carol Tyler, Our Second Boat Ship List. Downeast Ancestry, Machias, ME, Vol 16:4 (Fall 1996) pp 14-20.

This may not be the right Temperance but it may be the Temperance Gilbert that was originally on the profile. It appears she may be confused with a Temperance (Gilbert) Alsop in England in multiple places.

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Jillaine:  No, Temerance Gilbert did marry a William Hopkins, just not this William Hopkins.  This William Hopkins was certainly dead in 1643, while the husband of Temperance Gilbert was still alive (and probably living in England) when he was granted the administration of her estate in 1648.

Also, Temperance Gilbert and William Hopkins are known to have had only 2 children, William and Temperance (no Mary).  This William Hopkins had an only daughter Mary (from the will of Richard Whitehead), no William and Temperance.

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Thanks for the clarification. I was so focused on the wives of William Hopkins that i didn't realize we were talking about two different William Hopkins. Thanks for figuring it all out.

Answer 1

I am not a PGM coordinator but I think you should proceed with your proposed merge of Mary Lewis Hopkins into Mary Hopkins Lewis and use the info you presented in that merge proposal. I also hope that you gave Anne B an Excellent Wikitree acknowledgement. I admire your acknowledgment of the past errors and even more your due diligence in finding and right answers. Finally, I can’t answer for the abbreviated citation but your unclear source should be noted on that profile.

Answer 2

Just to clarify this statement...

 "2/ Mary Hopkins, daughter of William Hopkins was the eldest child b Hartford 6 May 1645 (HaVR 575]. Can someone let me know what that abbreviated citation represents? Thanks."

• HaVR = "Early Hartford Vital Records" in Collections of the Connecticut Historical Society, Volume l4, pp. 575-632 (Hartford 1912; rpt. Bowie, Maryland, 1989): page 575

This is the record for the birth of Mary Lewis (called mara Lawes in this record), daughter of William Lewis Jr. and Mary Hopkins.  The reference "HaVr 575" is clearly taken directly from Anderson's Great Migration Begins profile of William Lewis Sr.  He was using the reference to establish the marriage date of William Lewis Jr. to Mary Hopkins as Mary was their first born child (married by 1645 as their 1st child was born 6 May 1645).  I would actually say married by 1644 though Anderson says by 1645.

Comments

[Mainwaring 1:215] = Charles William Manwaring. A Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records, Volume One, Hartford Probate District, 1635-1700, (Hartford, 1904): page 215.

To quote the probate court record in its entirety:

• "Lewis, Wm. Court Record, Page 101 — 2 September, 1670: Thomas Hancock of Farmington, aged 25 years, & James Bement of sd. Farmington, age 18 years, appeared in Court & upon their oath testified that Mary Whitehead, the known Mother of Mary the wife of Lt. William Lewis of Farmington, in Connecticut, in New England, was, the 2nd of September, 1670, alive, and they had discourse with her in her son William Lewis House."

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Thank you so much for tracking down the full citations. It is a huge help.

Answer 3

Next step in evaluating your sources is to look at Torrey.  He is only as good as his underlying sources (which vary from great to bad), but is often a great lead in finding sources.  I actually try not to use Torrey as a standalone source, as you will see, he is very non-critical in where he gathered his information from.  His sources are often just turn of the century, unsourced genealogies found on Google Books or archive.org.

• From Torrey:  WHITEHEAD, Richard & Mary (____) [HOPKINS] (-1670+), w William; ca 1644/5; Windsor, CT {Hartford Prob. 1:215; NYGBR 46:388; Morton (1947) 22; Reg. 44:386-7; Booth (1910) 49; Hadley Fam. 89; Bassett-Preston 147; Bennett etc. (1931) 29}

Comments

Hartford Prob. 1:215 – we already have this.  Tells us that Mary (Andrews) (Hopkins) Whitehead was definitely the mother of Mary (Hopkins) Lewis, and that she was still alive as of 2 September 1670.

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NYGBR 46:388  New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, vol. 46 (1915): 388. “Richard Higgins and Some of his Descendants”   A note on Richard Whitehead in relation to his kinswoman Hannah, Sarah, Rebecca and Abigail Higgins.  I don’t think this helps us the Hopkins or Lewis families.

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Reg. 44:386-7 New England Historical and Genealogical Register vol. 44 no. 4 (October 1890): 376-387.  Genealogical Gleanings in England: Will of Richard Whitehead of Windsor, Connecticut.  Made 26 April 1645 and proved 26 June 1645; refers to Wife Mary Whitehead; daughter in law Mary Lewes; brother in law Hugh Hopkins; and others. http://tinyurl.com/y8wqjekk

Gives us some information and causes some problems:

• - Mary Hopkins was married to William Lewis by 26 April 1645.
• - William Hopkins was dead and his wife remarried by 26 April 1645.  This does not match info on the profile of William Hopkins which says he died after 1647.
• - Who is brother in law Hugh Hopkins?  Clue as to the origins of the Hopkins.

• - He bequeathed to Mary Lewis land in Knoll, Warwickshire, England.  This is a funny thing to do unless he thought she might go there to enjoy the profits of the land.  Do the Hopkins or Lewis families have any connection to Warwickshire?

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Morton (1947) 22. Morton, John Nece, The Morton Family Tree. Chauncey Morton and Betsey Pike: Their Ancestry and Descent (Springfield, Mo., 1947) http://tinyurl.com/ybdk7c39 No useful information.  A poor secondary source with just a brief note.

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Booth (1910) 49. Booth, Charles Edwin, One Branch of the Booth Family, Showing the Lines of Connection with One Hundred Massachusetts Bay Colonists (New York: privately printed, 1910). http://tinyurl.com/ycmqf4fd  No additional useful information; appears to be using same information from the will of Richard Whitehead.

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Hadley Fam. 89. Boltwood, Lucius Manlius, Genealogies of Hadley Families: Embracing the Early Settlers of the Towns of Hatfield, South Hadley, Amherst and Granby (Northampton, Mass.: Metcalf, 1862). https://archive.org/stream/genealogiesofhad00bolt#page/90 A very old source which is clearly very flawed - do not use.

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Bassett-Preston 147.  Preston, Mary Isabella, Bassett-Preston Ancestors: A History of the Ancestors in America of Marion Bassett Luitweiler, Howard Murray Bassett, Preston Rogers Bassett, Isabel Bassett Wasson, and Helen Bassett Hauser, Children of Edward M. and Annie (Preston) (New Haven: Tuttle Morehouse & Taylor, 1930). http://tinyurl.com/y7h2wypn  No primary sources or additional information.  States William Hopkins died “about 1643 as his widow had married , before 1644 (2) Richard Whitehead of Windsor.”

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Bennett etc. (1931) 29.  Bullard, Edgar John, Bennett and Allied Families, Addenda to Bullard and Allied Families (Detroit, 1931).  http://tinyurl.com/y7bzz7lp  No primary sources.  States that Mary had married Richard Whitehead by 1644 and refers to a marriage contract of that year.

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The 'after 1647' was a misread of Trumbull using 'Mr. Hopkins' when he meant Edward rather than William. Trumbull can be confusing on this as when the two are mentioned together it will be Gov. Hopkins (or other titles he held, meaning Edward) followed by Mr. Hopkins meaning William Hopkins.

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Joe, a quick search at FreeReg Warwickshire 1585-1610. Nothing specifically linked to Knoll (which I cannot find as a place name c 1600 although there seems to be a knoll referenced as a specific place which today may be Knoll Drive). Appear to be 2, perhaps 3, families named Hopkins in this area/this time. Some listed just Birmingham (St Martin's) other more specifically as Aston (mostly at Ss Peter and Paul).

Wm Hopkins bap 29 Feb 1589 Birmingham, St Martin's, Warwickshire. Probable sibling Elin bap 28 Oct 1591. Father of both William. There is a 1605 marriage same church Wm Hopkins to an Alice Smythe.

The clerk for Ss Peter and Paul family is spelling the surname Hopkyns and the father appears as Will. So close together it could be the same family both locations.

Also William Hopkins bap May 1601 Fillongley, St Mary & All Saints, Father listed as "Michael ?" Fillongley is east of Birmingham, north of Coventry (about same distance from each).

No sign of a Hugh Hopkins.

Have not checked parish records directly.

Let me know if you think is worth more search in this area.

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I bet it was Knowle which was in Warwickshire at the time:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowle,_West_Midlands

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Joe, went (electronically) to Warwickshire records office and pulled all property records with Hopkins/Hopkyns in the document/title/parties/witnesses. About 300 in total. Examined the abstracts for those c 1580-1640 and did not find anything that appeared to be this particular family of Hopkins and there was no Hugh (or Huw) seen. This was not a thoroughly exhaustive search. I did not search National Archive where it seems some Warwickshire records have been transferred.

The baptismal records at the Warwickshire site seem thin. Perhaps those are now mostly at National Archive or not yet digitized. What they sent to Ancestry.co.uk does not appear to contain any relevant Hopkins family.

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Should have added this above:

Warwickshire Records Office

Answer 4

"Torrey's New England Marriages Prior to 1700 Pg 808 contains the marriage of Richard Whitehead to Mary Hopkins in Windsor, CT c 1644-45. That date does represent a conflict with existing records of Wm Hopkins in government office capacity in 1647 (see Trumbull Complete History of CT citation in his profile)."

The 1647 record in Trumbull is for Edward Hopkins, Governor of Connecticut, not this William Hopkins.  William Hopkins died c1643 (1642-1644) based on his last known record in Hartford and the remarriage of his wife to Richard Whitehead.

Comments

I had initially misread the Trumbull reference pg 125 with election of "Mr Hopkins" as Dep Gov, a post he never held. Edward Hopkins and John Haynes then rotated Gov and Dep Gov positions for over a decade.