Anthony Potter, born about 1627 in England, possible son of Robert, came to the Massachusetts Colony as one of the first settlers. I trace my line back to Anthony (as dubbed Branch 1 in Potter Profiles). Anthony married twice, both times to an Elizabeth, and these two women have been scrambled more than once.
Anthony did marry first to Elizabeth Whipple, daughter of John and Sarah Whipple. She died young (perhaps in childbirth??) and Anthony married second to Elizabeth Stone, daughter of Gregory and Lydia (Cooper) Stone of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Quoting from a letter to me from Barbee Hodgkins, 1986, as published in Vol. 7 of Potter Profiles, Barbee wrote: "About the wives of Anthony Potter. I fell into the same trap others have not been able to avoid in thinking that the mother of Anthony's children was Elizabeth Whipple. She died without producing any children. In re-reading the will of John Whipple carefully, that document offers the clue in one word. John Whipple describes Anthony Potter as "my sometime son-in-law." In the Deacon Stone Genealogy, both wives are mentioned, clearly stating that Elizabeth Whipple died in 1648 but left no children and that the mother of all Anthony's children was Elizabeth Stone."
I'm positive that a careful combing through the pages of Potter Profiles would find many submissions giving this same documenting information. Let's not any of us perpetuate this error!
Holman, Roberts, et all, weigh in. Elizabeth Stone is the mother.
ReplyDeleteSee NEXUS 6(1989):110, 205; 7(1990):157, 210 in this article.
http://www.americanancestors.org/errata-et-addenda-vol-8-no-5/
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DeleteThank you, AJS, for your update. Remember this was a page from my Potter Profiles in 1986. Donna
ReplyDeleteI understand. But, as a newbie running across this issue first in 2010, I was not sure which way to go until I stumbled upon the GBR correction.
DeleteThe correction disappeared with the recent americanancestor[dot]org changes. Thankfully, the NEHGS has added facilities for static content.
http://www.americanancestors.org/StaticContent/articles?searchby=author&subquery=Gary%20Boyd%20Roberts&id=1042
Unfortunately, on the web, things can linger, seemingly, forever, sometimes leaving quicksand for the unsuspecting.
The old link disappeared right before I published a paper in which Anthony Potter and Elizabeth Stone were in the ahnentafel. .
Deletehttp://thomasgardnerofsalem.blogspot.com/2015/02/gardner-research-and-discussion.html
What about the debate about Elizabeth Stone's mother. Here it says Lydia, but other sources claim Margaret. (Mr. Stone's first wife.) how can one or the other be confirmed?
ReplyDeleteXenolilly, I stuck with Potter-only research with my Potter Profiles so did not go into the ancestry of Elizabeth Stone. But since it is a New England "problem" I would think there are plenty of resources waiting to be checked. If you come up with a documentable answer, hope you'll share it here with other Potter researchers. And thanks!
ReplyDeleteI did a little research. Lydia is her Mother. Lydia was also married twice. Stone is her second husband. Simon Cooper being her first. Fiske was her maiden name. The confusion of her maternal heritage lies in the fact that Gregory had another daughter named Elizabeth, with Margaret. She died as a child prior to Elizabeth Stone/Potter.
ReplyDelete