Eleanor Pennoyer Redding notes

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]
Surname/tag: PGM

These are notes gathered while trying to determine who Pennoyer-21's children were, and whether she had a daughter who married John Taylor of Berwick.

Eleanor Pennoyer was born about 1623, based on a 1678 deposition where she stated that she was aged about 55 years.^[1] She was born in Bristol, Somerset, England, and her parents were Robert (Butler) and Alice (Unknown) Pennoyer. Eleanor's father was a glover, and her older brother Robert apprenticed as a glover. Robert Sr. died before 1629, when his son's apprenticeship report referred to Robert Sr. as deceased. Eleanor's mother is assumed to have died by 1634, in light of the emigration of her two youngest sons in 1635.^[2]

Eleanor's surviving siblings are confirmed in the 1670 will of William Pennoyer, Esq. of London, where Robert and "his sister Elianor Reading and her husband Thomas Reading" are bequeathed to.^[3] William was the older half-brother of Robert and Eleanor, by Robert's first wife Elizabeth Chambers. Eleanor is also mentioned in "The Great Migration" profile for Robert Pennoyer.^[4]

Eleanor's brother Robert came to New England in 1635 on the Hopewell with his younger brother Thomas.^[5]. Eleanor probably arrived later, as she was just 16 when she married in 1639.^[6]

Eleanor married Thomas Redding on 20 July 1639, in Plymouth, Plymouth Colony: "Thom Ridding (sic) and Ellene Pennye (sic) married at Plymouth Colony July 20, 1639".^[7] Torrey shows their names as Thomas Ridding and Eleanor Penny/Pennoyer, and gives the same marriage date. Torrey also shows Thomas' death date of 1673.^[8][9]

Eleanor and Thomas had a son born about 1640, per the court record cited below. In 1644 they arrived in Scituate, Plymouth Colony, and they departed from there, presumably for Maine, in 1645. They left their son, "a man child about fiv years of age", with Gawen White, promising to pay him a weekly amount for housing and feeding the child. When Gawen complained to the Court on 4 June 1645 that he had not been paid the Court ordered Gowan to care for the child until he was twenty-four years old. If his parents came to claim him, they would have to pay the accumulated charges.^[10] Eleanor and Thomas apparently never returned to claim their first-born child. Gawen's probate, administered by his two sons, does not mention any possibly adopted son.

Thomas Redding next appears in 1653, taking the oath of allegiance in Saco, Maine. The residences of Eleanor and Thomas between 1645 and 1653 are unknown. Likewise, the birth locations of their children born during these years are also not known.

Thomas died in 1673, leaving Eleanor in poor estate. On 10 March 1673/4 Eleanor mortgaged two-thirds of the lands of Thomas Redding to James Andrews of Falmouth, in order to pay off a 1672 mortgage of 20 pounds that Thomas had negotiated with John Sands of Boston. Eleanor also borrowed 5 pounds from James Andrews as part of the deal. If 25 pounds was not repaid at the end of a year, James was to have full ownership of the property.^[11]

In 1675, during King Phillip's War, Eleanor's house was burned down, her two sons were murdered, and her livestock was killed. It is assumed that she then went to Salem to live with her niece Martha, wife of Giles Corey.

On 12 April 1680 Eleanor quit-claimed over 200 acres of land "upon the Westgotoggoe river" to Mary Atwater alias Higginson, to repay her for forty pounds, four shillings and four pence that Eleanor had needed to pay the debts of Thomas' estate and for her own maintenance. John Redding of Weymouth, John Taylor of Boston, and Joseph Donnell and his wife Ruth (Redding) quit-claimed their rights to the property.^[11]

The estate of George Munjoy of Falmouth was inventoried on 24 September 1685. Among the debtors of the estate was "Elias" Redding, 12 pounds. This was possibly Eleanor.

On 20 May 1685 Elinor Reading, "widow of Casco Bay", applied for relief from the Boston authorities. Her relief claim asked for money that her half-brother William had bequeathed in his will to the "Corporation for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England", which was conceived to bring Christianity to Native Americans. Eleanor felt that the death and destruction wrought upon her and her family in 1675 justified the money going to her rather than the Corporation. Her last record of receiving aid is 1686, so she presumably died in that year, probably in Salem.^[2]

Children

1. Son, born ca 1640, abandoned 1645, no further records.

named in Eleanor's 1680 quit-claim deed:

1. Daughter, married John Taylor of Boston (but see below)
2. Ruth, married Joseph Donnell, fisherman
3. John, married Mary Bassett, then Jane Hawkins; fisherman in Weymouth and Gloucester

Additional children mentioned in the "Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire", Vol. 4^[12]

1. Joseph (-1673), inventory taken 30 June 1673
2. Rebecca (but see below)
3. Robert (-1675), likely one of the sons killed by Indians
4. Son (-1675), likely one of the sons killed by Indians
5. Eleanor (probable) (-1677), married John Lewis in 1674, killed by Indians in 1677

Research Notes

Torrey's references for 1639 marriage: "RIDDING, Thomas (-1673) & Eleanor PENNY/PENNOYER (1623-); 20 Jul 1639; Plymouth/Casco Bay/Scituate/Saco, ME/Weymouth {MD 13:85; Weymouth 567; Cole (ms) 4; Putnam's Mag. 4:128; GDMNH 578}"

Torrey's references for John Redding's first marriage: "REDDING, John (-1716, ae 62) & Mary BASSETT (1654-); 22 Oct 1676; Sandwich/Wells, ME {Reg. 9:315; Cape Cod Lib. 85:1; MD 14:173, 21:39; Weymouth 567; Gen. Adv. 3:36, 4:12; Bassett Reunion 1:6, 2:13; Bassett-Preston 26}"

Torrey's references for Ruth Redding's first marriage: "DONELL, Joseph & Ruth [REDDING], m/2 Thomas FAVOR 1697; by 1680, after Apr 1675; Casco Bay, ME {Weymouth 4:567; York Hist. 1:144; GDMNH 199, 228, 579; Putnam's Mag. 4:128; McIntire Anc. 104}"

John Redding appears to have owned property adjoining Eleanor's, which he sold in 1678. v.3 p. 131 https://www.americanancestors.org/DB84/i/7516/131/22206076 ]

An Eleanor Redding married John Lewis in 1674, in Casco, Maine. She is a probable daughter of Eleanor and Thomas, born ca 1650. "LEWIS, John (-1677) & Eleanor [?REDDING]; by 20 Mar 1674; Casco Bay, ME {Lewis (,4) 7:13-14, 60, 79; Tingley-Meyers 201; GDMNH 429, 579}"

GDMNH V.5: John Taylor and Martha had been servants of Richard Leader (deposition of daughter Deliverance). [1]

Finally: Did a daughter of Eleanor marry John Taylor of Berwick?

Torrey's references for John Taylor marriages: "TAYLOR, John & Martha ____; ca 1666?; Berwick, ME {GDMNH 674; Goodwin (1898) 47; Utah Gen. Mag. Chart 19; Kittery 320, 455}"

"TAYLOR, John & Rebecca [?REDDING]; by 1680, by 1681; Boston/Weymouth {Weymouth 567; Putnam's Mag. 4:128; GDMNH 579}"

Regarding whether there was a Martha, daughter of Eleanor, who married John Taylor: The John Taylor indentured to Richard Leader spent his entire Colonial time in Berwick. He would not have signed the quit-claim as "of Boston". This rules out his wife Martha as a daughter of Eleanor.

Regarding whether there was a Rebecca, daughter of Eleanor, who married John Taylor: No Rebecca is listed on the 1680 quit-claim, implying that Eleanor did not have a surviving unmarried daughter Rebecca as of that year. The 1680 or 1681 marriage of John Taylor to Rebecca ?Redding most likely occurred after the date of the quit-claim. If there was in fact a marriage prior to the quit-claim, it is odd that Rebecca is not listed as the wife of John Taylor, as Ruth is listed as the wife of Joseph Donnell.

Conclusions are:

1. There is no basis for assigning Eleanor a daughter Martha or Rebecca
2. The name of the daughter of Eleanor who married John Taylor of Boston is not known
3. A marriage record for John Taylor and the unknown daughter of Eleanor has not been found
4. The unknown daughter of Eleanor who married John Taylor of Boston likely died prior to 1680

Sources

1. ↑ Maine: Early Wills and Deeds, 1640-1760. v.3 p.195 CD-ROM. Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2006. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009.), by subscription, AmericanAncestors
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Pennoyer, Robert D., Descendants & allied families of Robert Pennoyre, immigrant to Boston in l635, 1981, v.1, pp.65, p.65;
3. ↑ Waters, Henry F. Genealogical gleanings in England, v.1 p.505, will recorded in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, England, 25 Duke InternetArchive
4. ↑ Great Migration 1634-1635, M-P. , pp. 432-434 (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010.) Originally published as: The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume V, M-P, by Robert Charles Anderson. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2007, by subscription, AmericanAncestors
5. ↑ Anderson, Robert Charles, The Great Migration Directory, “Pennoyer, Robert: Bristol; 1635 on Hopewell; Medford, New Amsterdam, Gravesend, Stamford, Mamaroneck [GM 2:5:429-37].” and "“Pennoyer, Thomas: Unknown; 1635 on Hopewell; passenger list only [GM 2:5:437].”
6. ↑ Anderson, Robert Charles, The Great Migration Directory, “Penny, Elinor: Unknown; 1639; Plymouth [PCR 1:129]. (She married Thomas Redding.)”
7. ↑ "Plymouth Colony Vital Records" Mayflower Descendant: A Magazine of Pilgrim Genealogy and History. Boston, MA: Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1899- . (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010) Reference Volume 13 (1911), page 85. $Subscription
8. ↑ 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. Reference Volume 2, page 1258. $Subscription
9. ↑ Spencer, Wilbur D., Pioneers on Maine Rivers, published 1930. Reference page 158
10. ↑ Records of the colony of New Plymouth in New England : printed by order of the legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, InternetArchive
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Maine: Early Wills and Deeds, 1640-1760. v.3 pp. 215-217 CD-ROM. Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2006. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009.), by subscription, AmericanAncestors
12. ↑ Sybil Noyes, Charles Thornton Libby and Walter Goodwin Davis, Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire (Portland, Maine, 1928-1939; rpt. Balti­more 1972), FamilySearch