JAMES BOYDSTON (d.1814):
A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF HIS ALLEGED "MAYFLOWER" CONNECTION
by Charles M. Ward, Jr. <CMW12635(a)aol.com>
A great deal of confusion exists regarding the ancestry of James Boydston
(d.1814), of Frederick Co., MD, Montgomery Co., VA, and Logan Co., KY (with
time spent in the part of NC that is now TN). Among many claims regarding
his background is one in which his mother is said to be a member of the Snow
family of Massachusetts which is descended from Mayflower passenger Stephen
Hopkins. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the quality of
surviving records which document James Boydston's ancestry and to gauge the
validity of a "Mayflower" descent.
The Boydstons have had the misfortune of having at least one false lineage
attributed to their family. Mrs. Gustine (Courson) Weaver's THE BOYDSTUN
FAMILY, for instance, has little basis in truth and has been discredited for
its numerous inaccuracies. It is more akin to fiction than genealogy. Mrs.
Gladys Domonoske has more recently attempted a more scholarly approach in
studying the ancestry of the Boydstons. However, Mrs. Domonoske largely
fails in this attempt and makes tenuous connections which have been
perpetuated as fact by other researchers. This has occurred even in
instances where Mrs. Domonoske clearly indicates only possible and
theoretical connections. Indeed, it would seem that many accept at face
value secondary sources which provide little if any documentation. For the
sake of accuracy and good genealogical scholarship, it is important that we
examine the available family and public records regarding the Boydstons and
understand what is provable, what is probable, what is possible, what is
unlikely, and what is not true.
Let us begin by looking at the earliest records which name the parents of
James Boydston (d.1814). The father of James Boydston is said to be
identified as David Boydston in a letter written by Benjamin Franklin
Boydstun (1811-1882), of Rockwall, Texas, dated 10 Jan 1868 (Benjamin F.
Boydstun was a grandson of James Boydston). I wish to state for the record
that I have only seen a partial transcript of this letter. A family record
maintained by a son of James Boydston, Samuel Boydston (1762-1847), of Perry
Co., AL, is said to identify the mother of James Boydston as being "Mahala
Snow." I have not seen this record nor have I seen a transcript of it. I
only know that its contents have been reported. If anyone has photocopies of
the Benjamin F. Boydston letter of 1868 and/or photocopies of the Samuel
Boydston family record, please contact the author of this article by e-mail.
Until copies of these records can be located, any claims regarding the
parentage of James Boydston remain theoretical. As both of the
abovementioned records would have been recorded well after the fact, they
cannot be considered primary sources, but they would be considered fairly
good secondary sources.
References to "D.A.R. records" which are often made regarding the Boydstons
are misleading as the contents of these records are never specified and must
be discounted unless the specific contents of these records can be discussed
and evaluated. Standards of documentation necessary for admission into
hereditary societies in the early part of the twentieth century were very lax
and therefore the quality of "D.A.R. records" cannot be deemed reliable
without specific citations of the contents of a particular application/file.
Mrs. Gustine (Courson) Weaver's previously mentioned account of the Boydston
and Snow families is largely a work of fiction. The lineages outlined by
Mrs. Weaver for David Boydston and Mahala Snow, rechristened as "David
Boylston" and "Mehitable Snow," are without any factual basis. How Mrs.
Weaver could have been so wrong in her outline of the Boydston and Snow
families is unknown. She may have been a victim of one of the scoundrels who
victimized people and produced fraudulent pedigrees for their clients in the
late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, such as the notorious Gustave
Anjou. In addition to her own published account of the Boydston family, a
sketch of Mrs. Weaver appeared in THE AMERICAN COMPENDIUM OF GENEALOGY,
volume 3, page 610 (ed. by Frederick A. Virkus, 1928) in which the largely
fictional account of her ancestry is outlined. The "Compendium" is often
cited as a source, but is recognized today as being totally unreliable.
Anyone willing to pay a fee could have their lineage included in this work
and no background checks for accuracy were made for lineages submitted.
Mrs. Gladys Domonoske has suggested in her published account of the Boydstons
that Mahala Snow was the daughter of John and Elizabeth (Hudson) Snow.
However, this was only a suggestion and no proof was offered by Mrs.
Domonoske or any corroborating evidence. In fact, nothing was offered as
evidence that would link Mahala Snow with this couple. However, other
researchers have taken her suggestion and reflected it as fact in their
records and it has subsequently been perpetuated as factual by many descendant
s.
The Mayflower lineage attributed to Mahala Snow is still perpetuated to this
day. As proof, some have cited "family tradition" as the only basis for
their claim. Yet, any alleged claim of Mayflower ancestry or "family
tradition" likely stems from the dissemination of the Weaver pedigree which
outlined a descent for the Boydstons from the Snow family, including a
descent from Mayflower passenger Stephen Hopkins. So, rather than the
Mayflower connection being an actual "family tradition," it very likely
originates with the Weaver pedigree which is entirely without merit.
Oral family tradition is not acceptable as a valid factor in proving a
lineage for membership in the General Society of Mayflower Descendants or any
other reputable hereditary society for that matter. As exemplified by the
Boydstons, the origins of such "family traditions" often are shown to be
questionable.
It is difficult to judge whether the "tradition" of Mahala Snow's New
England
origin had any basis in truth. The claim has been tainted by the fictional
pedigree assigned to the family. Nevertheless, let us examine the
possibility of a New England connection for Mahala Snow.
As no public records are known to identify her by name, the only record we
have to confirm Mahala (Snow) Boydston's existence is the previously
mentioned Bible record of Samuel Boydston. It is the earliest family record
which would mention Mahala Snow as the wife of David Boydston and the mother
of James Boydston.
First, we should establish the fact that her name is said to be recorded as
"Mahala Snow," not Mehitable Snow. In an effort to try and connect her with
the New England family, it would appear that Mahala was transformed into
"Mehitable." This transformation of her name was without any factual basis
or justification.
Attempts have been made to place Mahala, often rechristened as "Mehitable,"
as a member of an established Snow family in Massachusetts and place her
birth there. One online source even states that she died in MA! This
ignores the fact that her husband and all her children spent their entire
lives in VA and other parts of the South, with the exception of two sons who
are said to have settled in PA.
As a state historian of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, I have
had a unique opportunity to examine the Boydston claim of Mayflower descent
for Mahala Snow.
The Weaver pedigree outlines a lineage for Mahala Snow, rechristened
Mehitable Snow. It describes Mehitable Snow as being born 22 Apr 1731 in
Harwick (sic), MA the daughter of Jabez and Elizabeth (Paine) Snow. This
claim is triply flawed.
Firstly, Jabez and Elizabeth (Paine) Snow did NOT have a daughter named
Mehitable or Mahala. Jabez Snow died in Eastham, MA on 6 Jul 1772 and left a
will naming his children. Neither his will nor the vital records reflect a
daughter, Mehitable or Mahala.
Secondly, a Mehitable Snow was born in Harwich, MA on 22 Apr 1731, the
daughter of Jabez and Elizabeth (Lewis) Snow. However, this Mehitable Snow
married her cousin, Samuel Hopkins, in Harwich, MA on 23 Aug 1753. Following
Samuel Hopkins' death, she was to marry Reuben Rider and still later,
following Rider's death, was to marry Paul Crowell, whose will (dated 26 Feb
1801; proven 13 Dec 1808) mentioned his wife, Mehitable.
Finally, claiming that Mahala/Mehitable Snow was born in 1731 ignores the
fact that this would place her as a near contemporary of her own children,
her son James being born about 1737 based on what we know about his life!
I have undertaken an examination of all Snow descendants of Pilgrim Stephen
Hopkins and any and all claims regarding Mahala Snow's alleged link to this
family are groundless. However, there is one possible exception. I
emphasize *possible.*
The author of the fraudulent Boydston pedigree attempted to place the
Boydston family in MA in order to more easily connect the Boydstons to the
Snow family of New England. It can easily be shown that Mahala Snow is not
the Mehitable Snow born in Harwich, MA in 1731. However, a branch of the New
England Snow family, which descends from Pilgrim Stephen Hopkins, settled in
present-day Smyrna, Kent Co., Delaware. One descendant, Isaac Snow (b.1683),
and his wife, Alice, had several children, the names of some of their
children being lost to posterity. Isaac Snow's estate administration refers
to children who are not specifically named. I would suggest the possibility
that Mahala Snow *might* have been a daugther of this couple. James
Boydston was a resident of Frederick Co., MD in the 1750s and may have been
born in Maryland about 1737. Smyrna, Delaware is close to the border with
Maryland and it is possible that David Boydston could have married a daughter
of Isaac Snow. However, a preliminary search of the abstracted deed records
for Kent Co., DE shows an absence of any member of the Boydston family or any
other variant of that surname. Also, no records have been found that would
place David Boydston in the part of Maryland near Smyrna, Delaware. A record
connecting the Isaac Snow family with the Boydstons would bolster any claim
that Mahala was a daughter of Isaac Snow. As it stands, it can only be
viewed as a possibility. Additional records would be necessary to assert a
claim with any degree of authority and at present it would be inaccurate to
assign Mahala as being the daughter of anyone as no records have been found
which would convincingly suggest the identity of her parents.
Copyright @2000 Charles M. Ward, Jr.
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