Mary (Lawrence) Covell (1708)

Born 6 Sep 1708 in Wrentham, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Wife of Stephen Covell — married after 1738 in North Killingly, Windham, Connecticut [uncertain]

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Biography

Mary Lawrence was born 6 Sep 1708 in Wrentham, Norfolk, Massachusetts.^[1][2] She was the daughter of Daniel and Mary (Wheelock) Lawrence. Note: There appears to be no instance of her being called Marcy or Mercy. Her birth record listed her given name as Mary. The Barbour Collection of CT Vital Records listed her given name as Mary when it listed the birth of her son, Peter Covell of Killingly, CT. Her father's will of 1747 listed her given name as Mary.

Note that the Barbour Collection of CT Vital Records does not mention any of her other alleged children.

Mary married Stephen Covell after 5 April 1729, when the birth of Stephen's child Stephen Jr, was recorded with his first wife Abigail. Some genealogies list Mary's marriage to Stephen as about 1721, before Stephen married Abigail. However, it is clear that Abigail was married to Stephen before Mary, since Abigail had Stephen Jr. in 1729 and Mary had Peter in 1742. Clear time precedence.

Marriage error

It has been incorrectly asserted that she was the wife of Thomas Fox (b. 1706), who moved from Boston, MA to Woodstock, CT. ^[3]

The error is made clear by examining the will of Mary's father, Daniel Lawrence: Will of 1747, Daniel Lawrence names children as follows; Daniel, Joseph, James, Samuel, Mary Covel, Esther Ballard, Marcy, John, Elihu and Asa.

Another book ^[4] states on page 63 that Thomas Fox (b. 1706) married a "Mercie (family name unknown)". It is left ambiguous as to whether he married in Boston, MA or Connecticut.

Another book ^[5]dealing with Fox genealogy but published later than the one mentioned above, claims that the above mentioned Thomas Fox came to Woodstock, CT and married Mary (or Mercy) Lawrence of Killingly [CT].

Sources

1. ↑ Wrentham Vital records to 1850, [1]
2. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4J9-JR8 : 6 November 2017), Mary Lawrance, 06 Sep 1708; citing Birth, Wrentham, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States, , town clerk offices, Massachusetts; FHL microfilm 886,859.
3. ↑ Bowen, Clarence Winthrop. The History of Woodstock Connecticut, Genealogies of Woodstock Families.. Norwood, Mass.: Priv. print. by the Plimpton Press, 1926-1943.
4. ↑ "A history of that part of the Fox family descended from Thomas Fox of Cambridge, Mass." Author: Fox, Nathaniel M.
5. ↑ "Thomas Fox of Concord and his descendants" Author: Fox, William F.