Mary (Unknown) Worden (abt. 1610 - 1687)

Born about 1610 in England

Descendants

Died 25 Mar 1687 at about age 77 in Yarmouth, Barnstable, Plymouth Colony

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Mary (Unknown) Worden migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

The will of Mary Worden was dated 6 March 1686.^[1] Mary left a female Native American slave to her son Samuel, and her clothing to be divided among her three daughters Mary Burge, Mercy Winslow and Martha Seaverns. The balance of the estate went to her son-in-law John Burge who was her executor. The will was probated 31 May 1687 and witnessed by Samuel Sears, Silas Sears. and Gov. Thomas Hinckley.^[2] Her inventory heading records her death as 25 March 1687 and was taken on 29 April 1687 in Yarmouth.^[3]

Mary died on 25 March 1687 in Yarmouth,^[4] and is thought to be buried with her husband in the Worden-Winslow Cemetery, East Dennis, Massachusetts (formerly the east end of Old Yarmouth).

Children:

1. Mary Worden Burgess 1639–1724
2. Marcy/Marcy Worden Winslow 1641–1688
3. Martha Worden Severance 1643–1725
4. Samuel Worden 1645–1716

Research Notes

Disputed Parents/Surname:

Some Records of Persons by the Name of Worden by Oliver N. Worden published in 1868 states that Mary's maiden name was Sears (perhaps because her will lists several 'Sears' witnesses) or Winslow, but this has never been proven.^[5]

The Worden Family Association has engaged numerous and thorough researchers in the US and England to uncover her birth name and parentage, thus far without success.^[6]

She also was NOT born Winslow.

Sources

1. ↑ Bowman, George Ernest, "Abstracts of the Barnstable Co., Mass. Probate Records," Mayflower Descendant Volume 3, Page 201.
2. ↑ Barnstable County Probate Records, Vol. 1:12
3. ↑ "Probate records v. 1-2 1674-1742," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9YB-5378  : 8 April 2023), Film# 007705950, Barnstable, Massachusetts, 1685-1695 vol 1 > image 21.
4. ↑ “Barnstable, MA: Probate Records, 1685-1789.” Records of Barnstable, Massachusetts. CD-ROM. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2002. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) https://www.americanancestors.org/DB19/i/7363/16/5762750
5. ↑ Genealogical Advertiser, a Quarterly Magazine of Family History, Volume 3, 1900, p 64: "Mary, not Mercy, wife of Peter Worden, died at Yarmouth, May, 1687. Worden Family Record by O.N. Worden, 1868, thinks she was a Sears or Winslow. She certainly was not a Sears. Freeman's Hist. Cape Cod, II 764, says 'Kenelm Winslow, Jr., married first his cousin, Mercy Worden,' and this indicates a previous Winslow and Worden marriage [disproven later]. Mary Worden's will is recorded at Barnstable. A search of Winslow records might settle the connection." [It did; there wasn't one.]
6. ↑ If you have additional evidence please contact the Worden Family Association, which maintains the definitive genealogy reference for this family (unpublished). See Wordens Past, Newsletters of Worden Family Association for much information on the English ancestry of this line of Wordens (available by subscription only).

See also:

• The primary source for the Peter Worden family is The Worden Family Association

• Find A Grave Memorial# 13347248 Worden Cemetery, East Dennis, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, USA. Contains an image of a memorial plaque

• Winslow, His Family, Servants, and Notable Descendants (author & publication information needed)

• Cape Cod Genealogical Society Bulletin, Spring 2002

• Nancy Thacher Reid, Dennis, Cape Cod from Firstcomers to Newcomers, 1639 – 1993, 1996

• Charles Francis Swift, "History of Old Yarmouth, Comprising the Present Towns of Yarmouth and Dennis..." (Yarmouthport, MA: Swift,1884), p. 64.

• Ancestry Trees

• "The Expanded Carpenter Winslow Genealogy Supporting “The Pennsylvania Winslows” book by Robert Winslow Nay" on Mt. Zion Historical Society website.