How many wives did William Parsons have?

Question

This William Parsons has become a combination of several Williams that lived in the same time. So how many wives did William actually have? I truly don't know - but it wasn't four.

Can anyone shed light on this man's life?

Comments

Note the marriage date on the 'third wife'

Answer 1

Does this profile need input from the England Project to confirm whether the Essex born William actually left England?

Comments

I cannot find any record for a William Parsons born in Essex in 1707-1711.  Quite a lot born in England, but not in Essex.

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Thanks Stephen

I think this person needs a source confirming his emigration before any English birth is worth investigating further.

Currently not enough information about who exactly this person was from the later records.

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Looking at the data out there I have a feeling he may be more than one person.  It's not hard to imagine two William Parsons in the Virginia Pennsylvania Maryland area in that time frame.

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I'm not sure that 'this' William actually came from England. The member that created it has been inactive for years. I believe that Charles Parsons is the last 'proven' ancestor on that line and he was born in Maryland. That profile has issues also as he is married to Garturett (Lauray) Parsons and so is his father. 

WikiTree has a William Parsons b 1699 England and died there. Another William Parsons was born 1700 in England, death info unknown. A third William Parsons (aside from the one above) is William Parsons b 1698 unknown, married and died in England. I may need to create an additional William Parsons to cover the 'incorrect' William listed on the above profile. 

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The Parsons book listed in the sources is online.  It has William as the father of Charles and Thomas.  In one place it says he came from Prussia via Holland and in another it says he clearly has English roots. I'd say the latter was more likely.  But based on that book all of the wives are missattributed to him.  I would say there is a case for stripping this back to what can be proven, which is probably not too much.  

Like all of us with early American forebears we have to be really careful not to embellish.  Sometimes the gaps just have to remain as unknowns, frustrating though that is.

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I saw that. Most of the information on the (originally lengthy) profile was about 'Charles' but it seemed useless to move it as there was conflicting information on him as well. I agree, the wives still need to be disconnected. I'll do that now and link them in the biography.

I would rather have little information on William's profile than a lot of incorrect or dubious information.

Answer 2

I think the appropriate question might be: how many William Parsons were there in Virginia in the 18th Century?

Comments

You're right Stephen as there was definitely more than one. Unfortunately I don't know enough about this family line to determine which is which.

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This profile was discovered by a team member during the Clean-a-Thon. I'm hoping to clear some of the questions up. Any and all help is appreciated!