Proposed re-write of Churchill-466

Profile managers: Bobbie Hall [send private message] and Karen St. Jean [send private message]

The proposed revised profile for Mary Churchill follows:

Parents: John Churchill & Hannah Pontus

Born: 01 Aug 1654, Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts [change location to: Plymouth, Plymouth Colony]

Marriage: Thomas Doty, m. Dec 1672, Plymouth, Plymouth Colony

Died: 07 Mar 1722, age 67, Truro, Barnstable, Massachusetts [change location to Truro, Barnstable, Province of Massachusetts Bay]

Children: Martha (Doty) White; Hannah (Doty) Delano; Thomas Doty

Biography

Mary Churchill was born on 1 August 1654 in Plymouth Colony. Her parents were John Churchill and Hannah Pontus.^[1][2]

On 17 January 1671-72, Mary appears before the Plymouth Colony Court to answer to the accusation of fornication. She is unmarried and pregnant. Mary confesses that the unborn child's father is Thomas Doty, with whom she later marries. She admits to fornication with Thomas Doty at least three times. One of those times, Sargeant Ephraim Tinkham testified that he was looking for Thomas Doty, and went to Joseph Churchill's house to find him, and Mary Churchill answered the door. He asked if Thomas was there and Mary answered yes. Tinkham testified that he warned Doty that "evil might come of such carriages". John Drew and Joseph Churchill paid 10 pounds to be bound to the court.^[3][4] She had her daughter, Martha sometime around May 1672.

In June of 1672, Mary was ordered by the Plymouth court to pay "a fine of six pounds for committing fornication".^[5]

She married Thomas Doty, sometime after her court appearance in October of 1672 and before her second daughter Hannah was born in 1675.

Together they had 3 children:

1. Martha Doty, b. 1672
2. Hannah Doty, b. 1675
3. Thomas Doty, b. 1679

Mary married her second husband, Henry Churchill on 8 February 1687/88 in Plymouth.^[6]

On 22 December 1690, Mary's mother, Hannah, had married a second time to Giles Rickard after the death of Mary's father, John Churchill, passed away. Her mother did not leave a will however in the probate proceedings, her sons (Joseph Churchill, Eleazer Churchill, John Churchill, and William Churchill) and sons-in-law, (John Drew and Henry Churchill) were mentioned. It also mentions her granddaughters, Hannah Doten, and Martha Doten.^[7] In June of 1690, Hannah Rickard recorded three deeds, one to Mary Churchill, as her "true and natural daughter".^[8]

Mary and Henry had no children. Henry left no will and there is no administration of his estate, but Plymouth Deeds, 11:160, show that "for the love and goodwill I bear unto my dutiful son-in-law [stepson] Thomas Dotey," he gives, grants, etc. unto him all "my several parcels of lands in Plimpton and also Plymouth and Sipican (Rochester) after the decease of my wife Mary," dated 8 July 1714, recorded 3 March 1714/15."^[9]

She died on March 06, 1722 in Truro, Barnstable, Massachusetts^{[citation needed]}

Research Notes

1. Many online trees and genealogies (The American Genealogists, 1960, The Great Migration Begins, and The Churchill Family in America)suggest that Thomas Doty had two wives named Mary. However, Hannah Rickard’s probate suggests otherwise. Her two granddaughters by her daughter Mary are mentioned as having something of hers in her inventory. Hannah also mentions her “true and natural daughter,” Mary in the deed of land.
2. No birth record has been found for Henry Churchill. There is nothing to indicate Hannah Churchill was pregnant at the time of her husband’s death.
3. The newest article, “Mary Churchill of Plymouth colony: Hiding in Plain Sight” by Peggy M. Bakes published in The Mayflower Quarterly Magazine, Summer 2023, gives a detailed look at her life.

Sources

1. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-9979-7FMD : 19 April 2021), Plymouth > Plymouth Colony > Births, marriages, deaths 1636-1686 > image 177 of 211; citing Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston. Left hand page, half way down in image.
2. ↑ Shurtleff, Nathaniel B., "Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England, Vol VIII., 1633-1689, Boston, 1856, Page 16 (https://dartmouthhas.org/uploads/1/0/0/2/100287044/records_new_plymouth_vol_8.pdf : 27 May 2023)
3. ↑ Shurtleff, Nathaniel B., "Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England, Court Orders, Vol V., 1668-1678, Boston, 1856, Page 83-84 (https://dartmouthhas.org/uploads/1/0/0/2/100287044/new_plymouth_vol_5_record.pdf : 27 May 2023)
4. ↑ "Plymouth Colony records, court orders, Vol. 4-6, 1633-1690," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSV5-PYX : 27 May 2023), Film# 008130593, Plymouth, Massachusetts, image 179, Vol 5., Page 60.
5. ↑ Shurtleff, Vol V, Page 94
6. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L979-7X8Q : 20 May 2014), Plymouth > Plymouth Colony > Births, marriages, deaths 1636-1686 > image 68 of 211; citing Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston.
7. ↑ "Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Records, 1633-1967," images, FamilySearch : 20 May 2014, Probate records 1686-1702 and 1849-1867 vol 1-1F > image 51 of 490; State Archives, Boston. Plymouth County Probate Records, Vol 1:89, Inventory of Hannah Rickard 1:89 1690/1
8. ↑ "Massachusetts Land Records, 1620-1986," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89Z7-PH95 : 22 May 2014), Plymouth > Deeds 1664-1711 vol 1-5 > image 355 of 652; county courthouses and offices, Massachusetts.
9. ↑ "Massachusetts Land Records, 1620-1986," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9Z7-V9SD : 22 May 2014), Plymouth > Deeds 1714-1717 vol 11-12 > image 176 of 539; county courthouses and offices, Massachusetts.