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Mahala (Snow) Boydston (abt. 1720 - abt. 1755)

Mahala Boydston formerly Snow aka Boylston
Born about in Delawaremap [uncertain]
Daughter of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Wife of — married [date unknown] [location unknown]
Descendants descendants
Died about at about age 35 [location unknown]
Profile last modified | Created 24 Jul 2011
This page has been accessed 3,426 times.
US Southern Colonies.
Mahala (Snow) Boydston resided in the Southern Colonies in North America before 1776.
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Contents

Biography

Birth

1714, Somerset, Maryland
Alternate birth place: Eastern Shores, possibly Duck Creek.

Death

Alternate death date: 1751, Barren, Kentucky

Research Notes

  • Needs Biography: Self-explanatory. Spratlin-29 18:22, 29 August 2022 (UTC)
  • Needs Research: Needs primary sources for any factual claims in the biography. McClain-3310 13:46, 5 October 2022 (UTC)

Disputed Parents

Some genealogists state that Mahala Snow was born about 1718 to Jabez Snow and Elizabeth Paine in Somerset County, Maryland. This assertion has never been proven and is disputed by modern research.[1]

She married David Boydston and died about 1751 in what would become Barren County, Kentucky in 1798. It was part of the Colony of Virginia in 1751 and still a wilderness.[2]

Research Notes #1 by a Boydston Descendant, 2003

Marriage Notes for DAVID BOYDSTON and MEHITABLE SNOW:[3]

According to the lineage as outlined by Chuck Boydstun, who is a meticulous researcher (cbab[at]jps.net), the following is stated for the marriages of David Boydstun/Boylston: David Boylston was born 1710 in Prince William, VA and died before 1797 in Barren County, KY. He married (1) Mahala Snow in 1737 in Somerset County, MD, daughter of John Snow and Elizabeth Hudson.

8 Children:
  1. George Boydston b. 1737 Talbot, MD d. 18 Nov 1825, Wayne OH.
  2. James Boydstun Sr. b. 23 Sep 1738 Piney Ridge, Dorchester Co. MD, d. 6 Feb 1814 near Russellville, Logan County, KY
  3. David Boydston Jr. b. 1740 Piney Ridge, Dorchester Co, MD; d. 2 Feb 1826 Greene Co, PA
  4. Sabra Boydston b. 1742 Piney Ridge, Dorchester Co, MD
  5. Malinda Boydston b. 1744 Piney Ridge, Dorchester Co , MD
  6. Nancy Boydstun b. 1745 Piney Ridge, Dorchester Co, MD; d. 1824 KY; md. Joshua Yates.
  7. Mahulda Boydstun b. 1747.
  8. Cynthia Boydstun b. 1749 md. James Stewart Warren.

He [David Boydston/Boylston] married (2) Sarah Pruitt about 1768, daughter of Samuel Pruitt and Elizabeth Hawker.

5 Children:
  1. William Boydston b. 24 Mar 1753, Frederick, MD; d. Dec 1838, Clay County, MO. (**note that William is born 13 years before the marriage date to the mother, Sarah Pruitt)
  2. Jesse Boydston b. About 1755, d. 1780 Mansco Lick, VA.
  3. Priscilla Boydston b. abt 1756 md. John Box.
  4. Lesina Boydston b. abt 1757.
  5. Catherine Boylston b. 1775 VA; md. James Stewart Warren.

Another researcher divides the children thus, having only William as son of Sarah Pruit, but does not advance a marriage date, merely the birth in 1753 of child, William. - CHAN26 May 2003.

Research Notes #2

From Maggie N., 24 May 2021 written by Lynn Kurcina

The birthdate and date of death are estimated and unproved as where Mahala Snow was born. We have Dr. David Boydston’s (Jr.)original gravestone. It says he was abt 86 years old. That places his birth abt 1740. An estimate of his mother’s birthdate if she was 20, would be 1720.

Dr. David Jr was a minute man in the American Revolution. This has been proved and verified.

What Mrs. Weaver and others did do is give us the information that David Boydston Senior married Mahala Snow. That is valuable information. Two Bible entries with Mahala Snows marriage to David Boydston we’re submitted to the DAR and viewed years later as well.

I’ve been disappointed by the way a few people have talked about Mrs. Weaver. She wanted to prove our linage. There’s no good excuse for being disrespectful about this. Given the context of the time and the help she received from the Mayflower Society being faulty. I have a clipping from adds the Mayflower Society was running in the papers Mrs. Weaver didn’t have the information we have today and the Mayflower did not have it then either.

There’s a man named Charles Ward that posted a version of events. Poorly researched. He said he was a descendant of David Boydston’s second wife’s line. Also he said he worked as a historian for the Mayflower. I never asked for his opinion in any way and yet he rudely gave it, in a very condescending way. He trolled me personally for decades. Because he was trolling, his information may or may not have been true.

Research Notes #3

From Lunn Kurcina, 2 Aug 2022.

We have the original grave stone of Mahala Snow-Boylston/Boydston's son David Boydston/ Boylston Jr. A photo is on his page. If Mahala was 18-22 when he was born we can estimate her birth between 1718-1722.

Her sons Dr. David Boydston/ Boylston Jr. (my ancestor) and his brother George Boydston/Boylston married sisters, Hester Ann and Eunice Burris/ Burroughs.

Also, the descendants of George Boydston found his gravestone. It’s recorded on his page. He was born in 1746.

In “The Boydston-Boydston’s Family” by Gladys Domonoke, Gladys states she viewed the original documents sent to DAR by Susan Boydstun Cody and Gustine Weaver. Gladys states the name the originally cited was Mehala or Mahala based on Bible records.

Mrs. Domonoke stated in ther book she found a marriage record of John Snow marrying Elizabeth Hudson in 1686/1687 in Old Somersett County. I searched the Elizabeth Hudson records and the Hudson family trees that were available 24 years ago. I saw no evidence of children. I always did/do the math when I’m researching. If we did a low estimate that Elizabeth Hudson was 16 when she married and a low estimate that Mahala was 18 when she had her second child, Elizabeth Hudson Snow would have been 48 at the time of Mahala’s birth. Where I did see the Hudson/ Snow lines come together was in the following record from the Maryland Calendar of Wills 1635-1685 Volumes 1-7 page 106: Richard Hudson 1709 Somersett County. The account of Richard Hudson the surviving administrator of the goods chattels and credits of John Snow late of our sad. County dead. The said accountant charges himself for all and singular the goods chattels and credits of the said deed as per inventory appears amounting to 03.01.6 and prays allowance for his payments hereafter mentioned Payments made: To the admiral. For funerals charges as per acct. and per trouble of his horse 1087….4.10.7 To Peter Dent dept comes for his fee 60……..0.4.2 To Adam Spence per judgement of court As needed per receipt appears 120…………..0.10.9 Total 5.1.9

Unfortunately I’ve seen this being used on the internet currently. There is zero evidence that this is correct

My research has led me to all of my ancestors rooted in Delaware. I will post the records but I have so many I need to hire a geologist which I plan to do. All of my lines are from Early Delaware. I went where the records led me plus information passed down from my great grandfather who tragically died in 1909 when my grandmother was 10. I plan to self publish because my values don’t align with the Mayflower Societies. My lines intermarried with the American Indians and I found some on the trail of tears with the few records still existing. Because we are rooted and established in Delaware, records showing 1686, if memory serves on the date, and I found records of ancestors of our line in Kent County and Duck Creek, Delaware, Kent County and Sussex County, Delaware, and I found no evidence to the contrary, my research opinion is we are descendent of Stephen Hopkins and Constance Hopkins. The information of the Delaware line wasn’t published until 1986.

Sources

  1. See this article for a discussion of her contested ancestry: http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/CECIL/2000-05/0958500430 - researched by Chet Snow, October 26, 2014.
  2. Barren County was formed in December 1798 from land formerly of Warren & Green counties. See: https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Barren_County,_Kentucky
  3. http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/w/e/a/Christopher-D-Weaver/GENE5-0001.html

See also:





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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Mahala by comparing test results with other carriers of her mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known mtDNA test-takers in her direct maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Mahala:

Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.

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Comments: 16

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I’m in the process of sending the records I photocopied through the years to a genealogy department and I will let you know where they’ll be after they’re fact checked. I will either post them and/or publish some because I would like to connect back with my Indian ancestors. I found a few existing records from the trail of tears that have my ancestors last names. My values don’t align with the Mayflower Society so I want to explain why. One thing is they believe your guilty unless you can prove you’re not and I believe the opposite, a value passed down that my ancestors fought so hard to protect. It is an honor to work on my tree and I have been in awe of how many people worked to preserve it. It has been one of the joys of my life to read our records.

I want to say also that certainly not all members think guilt unlit proven innocent but the organization itself does which conflicts with our values. I talked with a Hopkins historian and she was lovely.

posted by [Living Prill]
edited by Lynn Kurcina
Hi! I added location categories (for Somerset County in Maryland & Kentucky County in Virginia). However, Kentucky County was not established until December 1776. Before that it was Fincastle County (see the category page for Category:Kentucky_County, Virginia).

Note to Maryland and Virginia Teams of the US Southern Colonies Project: I did not add a colonists category, since Mahala was born in Maryland, the profiles attached as children show birth in PA, VA, and MD (if correct, there's a story there!) & she died in Virginia. So either Category: Maryland Colonists or Category: Virginia Colonists would be appropriate (or both, if both teams would like to include her).

posted by Liz (Noland) Shifflett
Snow-2146 and Snow-967 appear to represent the same person because: Dates and places are the same or similar.
posted by Susan (Emens) Hughes
Virginia land patents and grants, 1623-1800

Patent Book No. 18 ELIZBETH HUDSON , Widow 400 acs. St. Anne's Par. Essex Co. adj John Smith, Pane & Cornwall; 1 Feb 1738/39 p. 198

Elizabeth Hudson doesn't match up to our time line. She did acquired a land grant in her name-- to be admired! Not our ancestor-- from my research --though.

posted by [Living Prill]
Mahala Snow wasn't the daughter of John Snow and Elizabeth Hudson. I researched the marriage and Elizabeth Hudson didn't have children. -- I retired and when I find the record I'll post it. I think Mahala Snow was probably the daughter of Elisha or Isaac Snow. I'm starting to put the records together and will keep you posted! Sorry I don't have them together yet.
posted by [Living Prill]
As far as Charles Ward's "research" he comments on other peoples research but if he had researched the tree himself he would have easily found the Boydston's using both names Boydston/Boylston. Mahala Snow was not the daughter of Jabez Snow. All sides of David Boydston/Boylston Jr. family originate in Delaware (early Pennsylvania). Because both Isacc Snow and Elisha Snow match up with our time line, it is very possible Mahala Snow was a descendent of Constance Hopkins which was told verbally to many of her descendents, definitely predating Mrs. Weavers book. As I told Charles years ago, truth is truth with or without a record. Hopefully, someday soon, DNA will be able to trace back more than 5 generation M/F and we will be able to "prove" or disprove our verbal family history.
posted by [Living Prill]
David Boydston Jr's son Boaz Burris Boydston married Mary Wiley/Willey
posted by [Living Prill]
David Boydston Jr son

"The History of Monongolia County" by Wiley, in the book "The Monongalia Story" by Earl L. Core: = Settlement by the Willey Family In 1781, according to Wiley, William Willey came from Delaware to settle near Collins Ferry, on the east side of the Monongahela. The Willeys had emigrated from England prior to the Revolutionary War. The family soon moved across the river to the site of Cassville and lat r to Buffalo Creek, near the site of Farmington. 'His children, who were all born in Delaware,' say Wiley, 'Waitman, a farmer; John, a farmer and local preacher; Betsey who intermarried with Nathan Johnson; Bridget, who in termarried with Booz Burrows, and Wm. Willey. Waitman and John went to Ohio . William Willey was born in 1766; came with his father in 1781

posted by [Living Prill]
http://books.google.com/books?idtv47AAAAIAAJ&lpgPA252&otsvIEcEYyuV4&dqesther%20burroughs%20biography&pgPA251#vonepage&qburroughs&ftrue

Elizabeth Burroughs wife of John Burroughs died Jan 13, 1801 aged 80 yrs---mother of Esther Burroughs -- gravestone--Cedar Grove Cemetery, Mt Morris, PA.


David Boydston Junior--- He also used the names Boylston and Boilstone

In Memory of David Boydston He departed this life Feb 2, 1826 Aged about 86 — at Cedar Grove Cemetery, Mt Morris, PA.

posted by [Living Prill]
I found census records Duck Creek, Delaware for the Burris, Boaz, Burroughs families. My research indicates they were from that area. Hampshire County wasn't settled until 1730.

http://www.historichampshire.org/hamphist.htm

posted by [Living Prill]
David Boydston Jr. died Feb 02, 1826 Green Co. Pa about 80 years old

born abt 1746

Married to Esther Ann Burris Burroughs b abt 1744

His brother George was married to Eunice Burris Burroughs

Esther Ann Burris Burrooughs About 1744 Hampshire Co west Virginia

Her father John Burris b 1714 Mother Elizbeth Boaz b 1718 “””

I have photos of graves for David Jr. George, Elizabeth and others.

from The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Volume 31

posted by [Living Prill]
I was able to disprove Elizabeth Hudson with my research. I was also able to find records connecting David Boydston/Boylston JR. to Duck Creek, Delaware as well as his wife's family the Burris/Burroughs . I think there is a strong possibility that Mahala's parents were Elisha and Elizabeth Snow of Duck Creek, Delaware.
posted by [Living Prill]