Mary Folger

Mary Morrill (b. circa 1620 – d. 1704) came to the New World as an indentured servant, probably belonging to Hugh Peters. Her surname is alternately spelled as Morrel, Morrills, or Morill. She is best remembered as the grandmother of Benjamin Franklin.

Marriage & Family Life

Mary married Peter Folger in 1644. He had been one of the few white men in Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, Massachusetts (as a successor of Thomas Mayhew), and was a teacher and translator for the Wampanoag Indians. Peter Folger paid Hugh Peters the sum of 20 shillings to pay off Mary's servitude, which he declared was the best appropriation of money he had ever made. Their daughter, Abiah Folger (Benjamin Franklin's mother), was born on August 15, 1667 in Nantucket.

Cultural References

Mary was mentioned by name as a historical figure in Herman Melville's fictional Moby-Dick in chapter 24 which is entitled "The Advocate." This chapter is a defense of Nantucket's whaling industry. In it, Melville sets up a series of objections to that industry, one of which is "No good blood in their veins?" His response to this objection is:

"They have something better than royal blood there. The grandmother of Benjamin Franklin was Mary Morrel; afterwards, by marriage, Mary Folger, one of the old settlers of Nantucket, and the ancestress to a long line of Folgers and harpooneers--all kith and kin to noble Benjamin--this day darting the barbed iron from one side of the world to the other."

Notable Descendants

In addition to Benjamin Franklin, her notable descendants include:

• Ezra Cornell -- co-founder of Cornell University
• James Athearn Folger -- founder of Folger's Coffee
• Henry Clay Folger -- co-founder of Folger Shakespeare Library
• Mayhew Folger -- captain of the sealing ship Topaz that rediscovered the Pitcairn Islands in 1808
• Rev. Phebe Ann Coffin Hanaford -- author, poet, suffragist, editor, and first female minister in New England
• Rachel Miner -- actress
• Maria Mitchell -- astronomer
• Lucretia Coffin Mott -- feminist

Sources

• RootsWeb - Relatives of Ralph and Pat Roberts - Benjamin Franklin (his pedigree)
• RootsWeb - The Ancestry of Overmire Tifft Richardson Bradford Reed - Peter Folger (descendancy chart of Peter Folger (and Mary Morrill))
• RootsWeb - Dowling Family Tree - Peter Folger (another descendancy chart of Peter Folger (and Mary Morrill))
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Morrill
• http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=63676434&PIpi...
• http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=63676434

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Origins

Unknown.

Birth seen as 1617 Fowey, Cornwall, England without supporting evidence. Removed October 2019.

Mary (Morrill) Folger

• Birth: 1620 Norfolk, England
• Death: 1704, Nantucket County Massachusetts, USA

She is the grandmother of Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), Founding Father and signator of the Declaration of Independence.

She is also the 5th great grandmother of James A. Folger(1835-1889), the founder of Folgers Coffee in San Francisco California.

She is the third great grandmother of Capt Mayhew Folger (1774-1828) who was the captain the ship Topaz when he rediscovered the Pitcairn Islands in 1808.

She is mentioned by name in Chapter 24 of Herman Melville's "Moby Dick":

"No good blood in their veins? They have something better than royal blood there. The grandmother of Benjamin Franklin was Mary Morrel; afterwards, by marriage, Mary Folger, one of the old settlers of Nantucket, and the ancestress to a long line of Folgers and harpooneers-all kith and kin to noble Benjamin-this day darting the barbed iron from one side of the world to the other."

The DAR chapter on Nantucket Island is named after her daughter Abiah Folger who was the mother Benjamin Franklin.

Mary married Peter Folger in 1643 in Nantucket MA.

GEDCOM Note

Category:MtDNA Haplogroup_V

Category:Founders Burial Ground, Nantucket, Massachusetts

Biography

From https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Morrill-135

Unknown Origins

Mary's parents were shown on a merged profile as Abraham Morrill (Morrill-485) and Abigail Powell (Powell-5782). These parents are impossible, as they were born after Mary. Her parents are unknown. According toThe Genealogy of the Gardner Family, by Benjamin Hard Gardner, publ. 1953, she was an indentured servant to Mrs. Peters, wife of the Rev. Hugh Peters, and on the same ship as Peter (Ship Abigail, arrived MA in 1635).
For these reasons, Abraham Morrill and Abigail Powell have been removed as her parents. Please do not add parents to Mary without discussingit first on G2G.

Birth

:: 1617/8, Fowey, Cromwell, England

Immigration

1635, Ship 'Defence', Salem, Massachusetts Her name is not found on the manifest for the 'Defence,' but as an indentured servant, it is possible that it wouldn't be there.:: 1638 Norwich, Norfolk, England Vital Records of Nantucket: William C. Folger genealogical records.

Marriage

1644 Nantucket to Peter Folger. Vital Records of Nantucket: Vol. 4, Page 215. They had the following children: Vital Records of Nantucket: Vol. 1, Pages 465-496

1. Joanna Folger
2. Bethia Folger
3. Doras Folger
4. Eleazer Folger
5. Bathsheba Folger
6. John Folger
7. Experience Folger
8. Patience Folger
9. Abiah Lee Folger

Marriage:

• 23 June 1642
• 23 JUN 1642/3
• Martha's Vineyard, Dukes Co., Massachusetts

Death

:: 1704 Nantucket, Nantucket, Massachusetts. Vital Recordsof Nantucket: Vol. 5, Page 271

Sources

• Vital Records of Nantucket, Massachusetts to the Year 1850 (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., 1925-1928) P.R. 38: citing "William C. Folger genealogical records in possession of the Nantucket Historical Association." Peter Folger, s. John, "came from the city of Norwich in England in 1638", "Came to Nant. in 1663."
• Vol. 1: Births A-F, Page 465-496: birth of children.::* Vol. 4: Marriages H-Z, Page 215: "Morrell (Morrel, Morril), Mary and Peter Folger, s. John: married ___, 1644.
• Vol. 5: Deaths, Page 271: "Mary Morrell, w. Peter (s. John of England), ——, 1704, P.R.38"
• Ancestry Family Trees (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com) Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/20194044/family , https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/20194044/family , https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/35570778/family , https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/58044861/family
• http://www.bakerancestry.org/public/pedigree/801.htm
• https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=63676434
• Updated from MyHeritage Family Trees via mother Joan Morrill (born Childe) by SmartCopy: Jun 5 2015, 2:03:52 UTC
• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Mar 1 2018, 1:47:35 UTC