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The following persons are sometimes confused:
Nothing is known of Susannah's early background, birth year or parents. When her husband Richard died in 1724, she was the mother of six children, all of them minors. [2]
Birth Year Estimation
If her oldest child was under 21 -- say age 20 in 1724, that child would have been born in 1704, and younger children born later. This would place Susannah's marriage no later than 1703. If she were age 18 at her marriage, Susannah's birth year would have been no later than, say, 1685. If any of her children were in fact adults in 1724, Susannah's own birth year would have been earlier.
Mike Marshall shows Susannah Stevens born about 1681. [2]
As estimated above, Susannah married Richard Shipley no later than 1703.
Mike Marshall estimates the marriage earlier, in about 1697 in St. Anne's Parish, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, but there is no evidence to support this.
An Ancestry.com database shows Susannah's marriage occurring in 1703. [3] No evidence is provided for this, and this may also be an estimate based on the number of children and their minority evidenced in Richard's will.
Richard Shipley and his wife Susannah appear briefly in the records of St. Anne's (or Middle River) Parish, Anne Arundel County. The parish roughly covered the area between the South and Severn Rivers, and the parish church was St. Anne's Church at the center of Annapolis, Maryland. [4]
Richard Shipley and Susannah appear as the parents of John Shipley, son, born 25 March, 1717. [5] Two months later, "John Shipley of Richard and Susannah, baptized 29 July 1717. [6] John apparently died early, however, not being named iln Richard's 1724 will. [1]
Barnes reports that Richard Shipley was in Baltimore County by March 1716.[7]
In 1724 when Richard Shipley wrote his will, his wife Susannah was executrix -- along with Benjamin Stevens. The will does not identify the relationship of Benjamin Stevens to Richard or his wife Susannah. Clearly Benjamin Stevens was a trusted friend, but there is no indication that he was a relative of either Richard or Susannah. [1]
Shipley, Richard., planter, Baltimore Co., 5th Oct., 1724; 24th Aug., 1725. [1]
A review of the original will in the Maryland Records [8] reveals the following additional details:
*Richard appoints "my Loveing wife Susannah Shipley and my friend Benjamin Stevens Executors of my personal estate." Once again, the relationship with Benjamin Stevens is described as "friend."
Estate
Administrative bond was posted 24 August 1725 by Susanna Shipley with Robert Shipley; the estate was inventoried on 30 November 1725 by Jos'h Dorsey and john Dorsey and valued at L147..3.6 and signed by Susanna Shipley, extx, with Peter and Robert Shipley, brothers of the deceased. [7]
There are no records of Susannah's own death. She was living, and named as executrix when her husband died, and signed the inventory of Richard's estate on 30 November 1725, so it may be assumed she died after that date. [7]
An Ancestry.com database shows Susannah's death occurring on 5 January 1727/28 in Anne Arundel County,Maryland[3], having survived her husband by three years. No evidence has been found, however, for this.
Richard Shipley identifies five children in his 1724 will. The sons are named in order Adam, Richard, Samuel, Peter, which may well be their birth order. To this list is added John, who is presumed to have died before 1724. All of the children of Richard Shipley and his wife Susanna were minors at his death in 1724. Birth years estimated by Mike Marshall. [2]
Many popular genealogies show Susannah as Susannah Stevens. This appears to reflect an assumption that Benjamin Stevens, named in Richard's will, was her father or brother. Wills naming a relative often identify the relationship, but no relationship with Benjamin Stevens is shown in the will. [1]
There has been discussion that her "Last Name at Birth" in WikiTree should actually be "Unknown."
A Benjamin Stevens who lived in St. Mary's County had a daughter named Susannah, which has prompted the assumption that the Susannah named in Richard Shipley's will was the daughter of Benjamin.
A reference in the 2002 and earlier editions of "The Shipleys of Maryland" states, speaking of Richard Shipley, that "about 1703, he married Susannah Stevens, daughter of Benjamin Stevens, a relative of the wife of his brother Robert. Her name is verified from the Will of John Stevens, her grandfather (MD) Will 20-663: 28 May 1733." [9]
There are, however, a number of difficulties with this statement.
Benjamin Stevens' will was written in 1737. It is possible that Susannah was first married to Shipley and after his death in 1724 married Lock, but there is no indication this was the case, and it contradicts the undocumented report of her death in 1727.
Susannah is often treated as a daughter of Charles Stevens, Jr, of Anne Arundel County. There are many reasons for doing this:
However, Susannah Stephens is not listed by Rutherford as a child of Charles Stevens.
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Susannah is 25 degrees from Herbert Adair, 20 degrees from Richard Adams, 19 degrees from Mel Blanc, 23 degrees from Dick Bruna, 18 degrees from Bunny DeBarge, 34 degrees from Peter Dinklage, 19 degrees from Sam Edwards, 16 degrees from Ginnifer Goodwin, 17 degrees from Marty Krofft, 15 degrees from Junius Matthews, 14 degrees from Rachel Mellon and 19 degrees from Harold Warstler on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
I reread the Shipleys of Maryland & it DOES NOT say this. It says "Susannah Stevens, a relative of the wife of his brother Robert(Shipley) whose name is verified from the Will of John Stevens. her grandfather."
https://archive.org/details/shipleysofmaryla00ship/page/n49/mode/2up
So she could still be a Stevens but not the daughter of Benjamin of St. Mary's Co.
edited by Jack Day
deleted by Nancy Yeager
For the moment I'm leaving Susannah's LNAB as Stevens, but am inclined to agree that when the dust settles (which it really has not, yet), it will need to be changed to Unknown.
edited by Jack Day