Jeannie --
Sorry for the delay in responding.
In the family group list above, we have discussed the
Barbados issue previously, and I think you will find
advocates on both sides. Although I have not seen the
original record showing the marriage of Mary Bulkeley
to Thomas Witter/Switter/Witten, I am told by those
who have the it is ambiguous. Considering by the
notorious errors by clerks in colonial times, as well
as the difficulty in reading old script, I believe it
still easily could be WITTEN.
What convinces me is that a search of both the Gendex
and Rootsweb databases turns up no early Thomas
Witters in colonial America or the West Indies. As
Witten, the name is fairly rare, but there are no
early occurrencess that I could find. So in the
absence of any early Thomas Witters, and since we know
the Cecils and Wittens were in the West Indies, I
believe the reference was far Witten.
The Guy White issue is more complicated. Some
genealogists question whether Benjamin White, who
married Ann Hillard, is the son of Guy White; these
researchers feel he married instead Elizabeth SMITH,
dau William SMITH & Jane EDMUNDSON, and that the
Benjamin WHITE who married Ann HILLIARD is a different
Benjamin who was not the son of Guy.
In THE ANCESTRY OF REBECCA WHITE, (WIFE OF SAMUEL W.
CECIL), by Elise Greenup Jourdan, 1994, she concludes:
Around 1745/50 Samuel W. Cecil, b. 23 Mar 1719 in
Maryland, married Rebecca White, born 20 Aug 1723
Queen Anne Parish, Prince George's Co., Maryland.
Rebecca was the daughter of Benjamin White and Ann
Hilliard who were married 1 Feb 1722/3 in Queen Anne
Parish. Most Cecil family histories state that Rebecca
was the daughter of Benjamin White who was the son of
Guy White (2). This is not correct. The confusion
arises from the fact that there were two Benjamin
Whites according to the 1733 list of taxables in
Patuxent Hundred, Prince George's County (Cal. of Md.
State Papers, The Black Books 266 II,114). Benjamin
White [b. ca 1702], son of Guy White (2), was the
grandson of Guy White (1), the immigrant, who settled
in Calvert County in 1648. Guy (1) is believed to have
married Sarah, the daughter of Ishmael Wright. Their
two known children were Guy White (2) and Elizabeth
White. The will of Guy (1) leaves all his real estate
to his son Guy (2) at 21 years of age. This will,
written 21 Nov 1676, indicates Guy (2) was born after
1655 (Md. Cal. of Wills, I.178). Guy (2), a carpenter,
bought hundreds of acres of Cold Spring Manor on the
Patuxent river from 1698 to 1701 (Land Records of Pr.
Geo.'s Co.) He married Elizabeth Griffith and had at
least six children including Benjamin, b. ca 1702. The
will of Guy (2), written and probated in 1712 leaves
his son Benjamin a portion of Cold Spring Manor at age
16 (Pr Geo.'s Co. Probate Records, 13.474). The will
of Elizabeth Miles, widow of Guy (2) who married next
to Thomas Miles, leaves her son Benjamin White one
slave (Across The Years in Prince George's Co.).
Benjamin married Elizabeth Smith and lived on Cold
Springs Manor. He had no daughter named Rebecca .
Benjamin White, Father of Rebecca White, may have been
descended from the James White (1) who died in Anne
Arundel Co. by 1684. James' will, written 29 Dec 1672
identifies his wife Susanna, daus. Margaret and
Elizabeth and son James (2). This will also mentions
Eglington plantation (Md. Cal. Wills, I.74). James
White, planter of St. Mary's Co., age ca 56 years gave
deposition 21 April 1737. James (2), the only son
identified in the will of his father, is found in land
records of Anne Arundel County and his son, James
White, Jr. (3), is found witnessing a will in 1760 in
Frederick County (Md. Cal. Wills, XII.24). Eglington
plantation was left to daughter Margaret in the will
of James (1). Daughter Elizabeth was the contingent
legatee if Margaret died without heirs. In 1685 John
Brown, husband of Elizabeth, sold Eglington, which
then lay in Calvert Co. in the portion which became
Prince George's County (Pr. Geo.'s Co. Land Records
F.113). In 1742 the Court of Prince George's County
was petitioned regarding the ancient boundaries of
Eglington. One of the deponents was Benjamin White,
age 47 [b. ca 1695]. Anyone called to identify old
boundaries would necessarily have been expected to
have some knowledge of them. This suggests that
Benjamin White, born ca 1695, had some connection to
the James White family which originally settled the
land. the most obvious conclusion is that Benjamin was
a younger son of James White (2). The children of
Benjamin White [b. ca 1695] and Ann Hilliard [b. 10
Oct 1701] from the records of Queen Anne Parish,
Prince George's County, Maryland.
On the other hand, Walt Marrow concludes that it is
however not altogether conclusive as it stands. The
statement that the Benjamin s/o Guy(2) and Ellizabeth
Griffith married Elizabeth Smith and "had no son
Benjamin" doesn't stand alone. This, apart from any
other, does not preclude the possibility of one
Benjamin who married twice Elizabeth Smith and Ann
Hilliard (your note/Question). The data also does not
address the possibility of kinship of James 1 & 2
with Guy 1 & 2. Are they strangers, brothers,
cousins?......that question in unanswered. The answer
to this could explain why Benjamin (whichever one)
was presumed knowlegable about the ancient boundaries
of Eglington Manor. The tax list entries of two
Benjamins may indeed mean two separate and individual
Benjamin's, but it does not preclude the possibility
of either a redundant (and erroneous) entry by the
recording clerk or the possibility that different
recording clerks recorded the same Benjamin in
relation to two different taxable holdings of land or
buildings. The apparent age difference ca1702 vice ca
1695 is not compelling or statistically different. By
this I mean that ca only needs to be interpreted as ca
= +/- 3 � yrs and they both become ca 1698 �. This
degree on uncertainty of a date is certainly not
unusual nor is it unusual to infer "same person" from
that range of dates. What I conclude from this is that
we are comfortable with Benjamin and Ann downward ...
Rebecca etc. and we now have a increased level of
uncertainty with regard to Benjamin's antecedents and
kinsmen and this discussion will take a prominent
place in my notes.
Takes your pick.
- Randy Jones
--- Jeannie Frazier <jeannie.frazier(a)worldnet.att.net>
wrote:
Hi Randy,
This is Jeannie Frazier. We haven't had any contact
for some time, in fact it seems like eons ago you
were kind enough to send me a GED of the Witten,
Cecil lines. I've been doing extensive work on the
immigration of these to lines, or at least trying
to.
I have run into some rather disheartening
information concerning our Thomas Witten, who
supposedly married Mary Buckeley in Barbados, BWI.
I've been in contact with people who have done
extensive Buckeley research. What I found was there
was a Mary Buckeley who did marry a Thomas, but it
seems that his name was Witter, not Witten. It's
actually signed Switter, which they think is a
misspelling of Witter. Do you know anything about
this? If true, it Throws all my research into a
tissy. Another confusion has come with our White
lineage. We are supposedly descended from Guy White
I, Guy White II, Benjamin White, who married Ann
Hillard. I've come across research stating that the
Benjamin White who married Ann Hillard was not the
same Benjamin descended from Guy White. Something
about the dates of marriage conflicting with his
subsequent marriage to Elizabeth Smith.
Can you help me with this information? Or direct me
to someone who can help ans. these questions???
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Jeannie Frazier
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