Grace (Saunders) Palmer (abt. 1633 - aft. 1680)

Born about 1633 in England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Wife of John Bush — married before 12 Feb 1661 in Cape Porpoise, York, Massachusetts Bay Colony [uncertain]

Wife of Richard Palmer — married before 7 Jul 1674 in Cape Porpoise, York, Massachusetts Bay Colony [uncertain]

Died after 20 May 1680 after about age 47 in Maine [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Toby Rockwell [send private message]

Biography

Grace (Saunders) Palmer immigrated to New England as a child during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640).

Birth

Grace Saunders was born about 1633 (estimated based on first marriage about 1652), likely born in England, daughter of John and Anne (___) Saunders who came to New England about 1634.^[1][2]

Marriage (both illegal and legal) & No Known Children

Grace supposedly married first, by about 1652, John Bush^[1][2] although the location is uncertain. This date seems to be based on nothing more than "birth plus 20 years". The first documented evidence of this marriage was a deed of 12 Feb 1660/61 where John Bush referred to Jon Saunders as "my father in law John Sanders".^[3] (part 1, Folio 107/108 of this source). The double year was not stated but the deed was attested by a participant in April 1661 and transcribed in May 1661 so 1660/61 seems more likely than 1659/60.

Torrey thought she likely married at Cape Porpus given where her father lived. She co-signed several deeds with her husband John including one on 11 May 1661 (later deeds had her father John signing as Commissioner.^[3] She was probably not his first wife, as she was described as "my wife that is now, viz. Grace" in a 18 Dec 1663 land deed (York Deeds Vol 1. cited here, Part 1, Folio 145,146).

She was thought to have married second by 4 Apr 1671, Richard Palmer.^[2] (Barbara Brett Sandsers said by July 4 1671)^[1] However, both Anderson and Sanders were wrong. Anderson's date of 4 April 1671 was actually a court appearance where Richard Palmer was "complained of joining himself in way of marriage as he pretends with Grace Bush contrary to the laws of this jurisdiction..." and fined (or optionally whipped). The court noted that Richard Palmer still had a wife in England and that the court has no reason to believe that she is not still his wife. On this earlier occasion, Grace was also either to be fined or whipped.

Ms. Sanders' 4 Jul 1671 date seems to be based on a court record of that date wherein the couple was again accused of this same infraction and fined. But now, the plot thickens...the court also issued a warrant to require Mr. Robert Jordan to appear before the next court to answer "why he presumed to marry Richard Palmer and Grace Bush contrary to the laws of this jursdiction". So were they ever legally married? Uncertain...but at any rate, it proves that they were NOT legally married by 4 July 1671.^[4] Despite Richard Palmer's possible attempted bigamy, we at least know that Grace was legitimately a widow as she had provided an inventory of her deceased husband John Bush's estate on 23 Aug 1670 (p. 418 of York County Records cited here). Interestingly, this was the same day on which her mother Ann presented the inventory of Grace's deceased father, John Saunders.

So how is this all resolved? On 7 Jul 1674 in court, John Barrett as plaintiff withdrew his complaint against "Richard and Grace Palmer, Defendants" (asking for 10 acres of land) thereby proving that by this date, the Province of Maine legally recognized their marriage.^[4] (p. 276 of the source).

Torrey in "New England Marriages to 1700" says this:

BUSH, John (-1670) & Grace [SANDERS], m/2 Richard PALMER 1670, 1671; by 1660; Cape Porpus?, ME^[5]

None of the sources cited here actually provides a list of children. The inventory presentation of Grace's first husband John Bush listed no children. Might John Bush have had a prior wife? Likely, since Grace was listed as his "now wife" on a deed. If so, she is completely unknown and there is no record that he had any children with any wife.

Death & Estate

This profile originally stated that Grace died at Newcastle, New Hampshire after May 20, 1680 and cited the Barbara Brett Sanders article^[1] which in turn cites "Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire" page 526 (volume 4).^[6] This book states that she and Richard sold half a house to Elias Stillman (likely commisioner Elias Stileman or Styleman) on 20 May 1680. The entry says they Richard was at Cape Porpoise but had moved to "Great Isle" and that they were "late of Cape Porpoise" at the time of sale. Ms. Sanders appears to have interpreted "Great Isle" as New Castle, New Hampshire which is certainly possible, about 30 miles from Cape Porpoise. However, at the time there was another "Great Island" about 50 miles up the coast in Maine (now called Sebascodegan Island). Settlers lived there and on neighboring Orr Island and were busy arguing about whether to build a bridge between them. In 1679/80, New Castle was still a parish of Portsmouth and it seems likely that their residence would have been described as Portsmouth, but this is speculative.

In any case, Grace does not appear in any of these later records, so it is impossible to say when and where she died, or which "Great Island" they lived at in 1680.

Richard appeared again in York County court records in 1685 and 1686 but with no indication of whether Grace was with him (detailed on his profile).

Research Note

Disputed Children

• Reynold Bush (abt.1600-abt.1686) had been shown as a son of Grace, but he is no longer shown as her son. He first appears on a deed dated 25 January 1641, when he calls himself, "Renold Bush of Cambridge, planter and sold for 40s to John Stow, Sr. of Roxbury, Massachusetts, "fower acres of Land lying and beinge within his howse lotte (adutting on ye Garden.)"^[7] He would have been at least 20 at this point.

• The following list of children were attached; all were completely unsourced gedcom imports and most are clearly impossible due to Grace's estimated birth year of 1633. There is also no proof that they were children of John Bush, her husband. They have been severed.

1. George Bush (this profile is an unsourced gedcom import supposedly born about 1642, clearly not her child
2. John Bush (this profile is an unsourced gedcom import supposedly born about 1655)
3. James Bush (this profile is an unsourced gedcom import supposedly born about 1646, clearly not her child)
4. John Bush (this profile is an unsourced gedcom import supposedly born about 1646, clearly not her child)
5. Samuel Bush (this profile is an unsourced gedcom import supposedly born about 1637, clearly not her child)
6. Deborah Bush born about 1636, married John MacCoone in 1656 at Cambridge, Mass. Clearly not Grace's daughter as Grace would have been about 3 and no reason to conflate her with a John Bush of Cape Porpoise, Maine with no recorded children.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Sanders, Barbara Brett. John (1) Sanders of Ipswich Massachusetts; Hampton and Exeter, New Hampshire; Wells and Cape Porpoise, Maine: Part 2 in: The Maine Genealogist, Volume 29, The Maine Genealogical Society, Farminton, Maine, 2007, p. 89 (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014.) AmericanAncestors.org (by subscription)
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Great Migration 1634-1635, R-S. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2012.) Originally published as: The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume VI, R-S, by Robert Charles Anderson. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009. Reference page 169, "John Saunders" via American Ancestors $Subscription
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} York Deeds, Volume 1 William Mitchell Sargent; Brown Thurston & Company, 1888Part 1 Folio 108
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Province and Court Records of Maine, Vol. 2 York County court records, 1653-1679 by Maine Historical Society (Portland, Maine)Vol 2. p. 218
5. ↑ New England Marriages to 1700. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. Vol 1. p. 269
6. ↑ Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, Vol. 4 by Libby, Charles T. (Charles Thornton), 1861-1948 p. 526
7. ↑ De Forest, Louis Effingham. James Cox Brady and His Ancestry page 100