Grace (Wilson) Webb (1594 - 1679)

Born 1 Oct 1594 in Heyshott, Sussex, England

Died 24 Jan 1679 at age 84 in Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut Colony

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Leslie Walsh [send private message]

Questionable identity/vital data: According to the source that follows, "Grace Wilson" is the name given as the wife of Richard Webb of Norwalk in a faulty genealogy that further reported this "couple" to be the parents of Richard Webb of Stamford. See Harrison E. Webb, "Richard Webb of Stamford," The American Genealogist 25 (1948):194-197. (The earlier work is not identified by title or date, but the findings were said advanced by the "late Dr. George Francis Webb of Cleveland, Ohio," whose work was likewise not identified by title or date.)^[1]

Part of the flawed theory may have been published again after the 1948 article, as in his Great Migration report about the man who died Norwalk, Robert Charles Anderson included this bibliographic note^[2]:

"Richard Webb of New Haven and Stamford was not son of this Richard Webb [TAG 25:194-97]. (The entry in Colket for Richard Webb of Cambridge, Hartford and Norwalk is apparently based on the older literature making this claim.)"

Anderson identified the only known wife of Richard Webb of Norwalk as Elizabeth (____) (Grant) Webb.^[3] She was his widow at the time of his death; she died Norwalk, 24 January 1680[/1].^[4]

Was Grace Wilson a real person? In the alternative, is this just a personality otherwise an alias for the woman, Elizabeth _____ (sometimes called Elizabeth Gregory) known to have been the wife and widow of Richard Webb of Norwalk?

No basis is provided on Wilson-13560 for the report of her birth (said "1694, Doresetshire, England"); but the date of death reported is "24 January 1679"--almost certainly a variant of that reported for Elizabeth (____) (Grant) Webb.^[5]

Biography

Grace was born about 1594. Grace Wilson ... She passed away in 1679. ^[6]

Grace Webb (Wilson) Birthdate: October 01, 1594 Birthplace: Heyshott, Dorset, England, (Present UK) Death: January 24, 1629 (34) Norwalk, Fairfield County (Present Litchfield County), Connecticut Colony, (Present USA) Place of Burial: Litchfield Township, Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States Immediate Family: Daughter of John Wilson and NN Wife of Richard Webb, of Norwalk Mother of Richard Webb, Jr.; Elizabeth Stone; John Webb, Sr.; Joshua Webb; Samuel Webb; and UNKNOWN Webb

Sources

1. ↑ Notice of a similar or additional false lineage appears as early as 1917, see Encyclopedia of Connecticut Biography, multiple volumes, cited as 9 and/or 10:53-55 entry for Frank Conrad Craw; in particular part, "The Webb Line" pp. 54-55; digital images, _InternetArchive_ (accessed 2014)
2. ↑ Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III 3 vols. (1995), 3:1956, in entry for Richard Webb.
3. ↑ Citing "NEHGR 54:84," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III 3 vols. (1995), 3:1956, in entry for Richard Webb.
   for the underlying record, see Frank Farnsworth Starr, “Notes: Grant, Webb, Warner, Holmes,” The New England Historical and Genealogical Register 64 (1910): 83-84; digital images, Internet Archive (accessed 2014).
4. ↑ Citing "NEHGR 54:84, citing Norwalk LR 1:59," Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III 3 vols. (1995), 3:1956, in entry for Richard Webb.
   See also Edwin Hall, The ancient historical records of Norwalk, Conn. : with a plan of the ancient settlement, and of the town in 1847 (1847), 188, for entry “Elissabeth Webb"; digital images, Hathi Trust (accessed 2014). Entry reads, “Elissabeth Webb, the widow of Ritchard Webb, formerly of Norwalke, deceased the twenty fowreth of January 1680.” Note at p. 181 reports these entries “are taken almost entirely from the Town Records, and have been transcribed in the same form as they are recorded …”
5. ↑ Edwin Hall, The ancient historical records of Norwalk, Conn. : with a plan of the ancient settlement, and of the town in 1847 (1847), 188, for entry “Elissabeth Webb"; digital images, Hathi Trust (accessed 2014). Entry reads, “Elissabeth Webb, the widow of Ritchard Webb, formerly of Norwalke, deceased the twenty fowreth of January 1680.” Note at p. 181 reports these entries “are taken almost entirely from the Town Records, and have been transcribed in the same form as they are recorded …”
6. ↑ Entered by David McAvity, Jun 4, 2013

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No sources. The events of Grace's life were either witnessed by David McAvity or David plans to add sources here later.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to David McAvity for starting this profile. Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by David and others.