Mercy (Parker) Grundy (1654 - bef. 1692)

Born 28 Oct 1654 in Lancaster, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Ancestors

Wife of Robert (Grandy) Grundy — married 1676 in Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died before Apr 1692 before age 37 in Province of Massachusetts Bay

Problems/Questions Profile managers: David Higgs [send private message] and Dennis Eickhoff [send private message]

Biography

According to Torrey's "New England Marriages", Mary Parker, daughter of Edward, married Robert Grundy by 1676 in Roxbury, Massachusetts.^[1] No marriage record for the couple was found in Roxbury Vital Records (searched Grundy and variants, Parker). Robert Grundy's children were found in Roxbury records as follows:

• Mercy Grundy, "d. Robert, bp. 23: 11m: 1675-6 c.r.1";^[2] [Grandy] married Job Sager in Newton^[3]
• Elizabeth Grundy, "d. Robert, bp. 27: 2m: 1679 c.r.1";^[2] [Grunday] married Daniel Woodward in Newton^[3]
• John "Grande", "s. Robert, bp. 13: 1m: 1680-1 c.r.1"^[2]
• Robert "Grandy", "s. Robert, July 12, 1683"^[2]
• Edmund Grundy, "s. Robert, bp. 21: 4m: 1685 c.r. 1."^[2]
• Rebecca Grundy, "d. Robert, bp. 30: 11m: 1686-7 c.r.1^[2]

Mary's date and place of death are unknown.

Research Notes

Possible Birth and Parents

No birth record is found for a Mary, daughter of Edward Parker.

However ... a birth record was found for Mercy, daughter of Edmund Parker, born in Lancaster, Massachusetts in 1654: "Mercy & Esther, daughters of Edmund Parker and Elizabeth his wife was borne 28 8 1654" [28 October 1654] at Lancaster, Massachusetts.^[4] A 31 May 1647 marriage record for the twins parents, Edmund Parker and Elizabeth Howe, was also found in Roxbury records.^[5] A daughter Mercy is not named in the 1692 will of her father Edmund Parker, so she was likely deceased by that year. The omission of Mercy from Edmund's will does not give us any clues as to the parentage of Robert Grundy's wife as it was written after all Robert's children were born.

It's possible Mary, daughter of Edward, and Mercy, daughter of Edmund, are the same person, however Lancaster is 50 miles west of Roxbury and there is no evidence of a Grundy family in Lancaster. More research is needed.

To avoid confusion, it might be a good idea to create a new profile for Mary, daughter of Edward. That profile could be attached as Robert Grundy's wife and mother of his children until the Mary/Mercy Edward/Edmund confusion is cleared up.

Lancaster, Massachusetts

The town of "Lanchaster" was incorporated in 1653 and included in Middlesex county at that time. In 1731 it was incorporated into the Massachusetts county of Worcester." At the time of King Phillip's War, an assault was made on the town on 22 August 1675, eight persons were killed in the hostilities. A second assault was made 10 February 1676 and the town destroyed with fifty or more towns persons killed or carried into captivity. In 1707 hostilities resumed and more were killed. There are obvious interruptions in town records from these events.

Conflation Warning

Mary (Ayers) Parker of Salem, Massachusetts, was hanged as a witch in 1692. She should not be confused with the Mary of this profile. Some online family trees have confused the two women.

From Torrey

GRUNDY, Robert & Mary [Parker], dau Edward; by 1676; Roxbury (will of Hester (Howe) (Mason) Sears); (Suffolk Co. Prob. 6 pt.2:527, mentions cousin Mary Grandy and her children, 2 Mar 1679/80) (Hartford Times 7 Mar 1942 A140 (Ans.); Newton VR; Sudbury VR; Boston Mar.: Reg 103:161}^[1] (Newton VR included above; no Grundy BMD found in Sudbury VR, NEHGR is about Sarah Grandy)

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} "U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700". Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co. Ancestry Sharing Link (free access) - Ancestry Record 3824 #51768 ($), Robert Grundy marriage to Mary Parker, d. Edward, in 1676 in Roxbury. Also at AmericanAncestors.org($)
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5} Vital Records of Roxbury, Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849, Vol. I: Births. Salem, MA: The Essex Institute, 1925, p. 153 (Grande, Grandy), 160 (Grundy). Google Books.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Vital Records of Newton, Massachusetts to the year 1850. Boston, MA: NEHGS, 1905, pp. 292 and 295. Archive.org
4. ↑ "Lancaster Records" in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: NEHGS, Vol. 16 (1862) p. 353. AmericanAncestors.org($).
5. ↑ Vital records of Roxbury, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1850, Vol. II: Marriages and Deaths. The Essex institute, 1926, p. 308. Archive.org.