Mary Greene

Not the same as Mary Green

Biography

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Greene-7808

Thomas Green had a first wife Mary as shown by the christening of their daughter Mary at Toppesfield on 8 Sep 1625 where both parents' names were listed.[1] Smith & Sanford in "Kempton"[2] speculate that the marriage was that of Thomas Green and Mary Smith (daughter of John) at St. Nicholas Colchester on 28 Jun 1624[3] and that Mary was perhaps the child baptized at Toppesfield 17 Jan 1606/07.[4] While this is certainly possible, why a couple both of Toppesfield would get married 20 miles away at Colchester is uncertain. Still, no other Thomas Greens are found having children at Toppesfield at this time so it seems this girl Mary was his.

Mary, wife of Thomas Greene was buried at Toppesfield on 8 Sep 1625[5] . "Kempton" speculates that the daughter Mary who was listed in Thomas' will of 22 Nov 1667 was his second daughter Mary so the first one likely died young. While that is possible, there is no proof of the death of the first Mary or the birth of the second (estimated at c. 1647 in Massachusetts). It may be that there was only one daughter Mary of Thomas Green.

The main argument for the death of the first Mary and birth c. 1647 of the second is the order of daughters listed in Thomas' will. Mary was listed second, after Elizabeth implying that she was younger and therefore born in Massachusetts and likely around 1647.

Samuel Stillman Greene asserted (without source) that Thomas' daughter Mary was born "about 1633" in England and that she then married Captain Thomas Waite of Malden before 1656.[6] While this age would work, that marriage according to Torrey in "New England Marriages to 1700" was not to Mary GREEN but to Mary HILLS, daughter of Joseph and that she died in 1674.[7] (citing Warner-Harrington 642; Reg. 24:103, 26:82, 28:89, 31:161, 32:189, 51:299, 301, 57:196, 94:221; Snow-Estes 1:216, 217, 238, 273, 2:235 among others). Torrey's sources and Samuel Stillman Greene clarify that when Thomas Green referred to John Waite as his "brother" in his (John Green's) will, it was the common usage meaning "brother-in-law". Thomas Green "jr" married Rebecca Hills, daughter of Joseph and Rose. Rebecca Hills seems to have been sister or half-sister of Mary Hills. Mary Hills was wife of John Waite, thus Thomas Green "jr" and John Waite were brothers-in-law (at a remove).

Clearly more research is needed to determine the fate of this Mary.

Sources

1. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Greene-7808
   1. Essex : Toppesfield : St Margaret of Antioch : Register of unspecified type : "Parish Register" database, FreeREG (https://www.freereg.org.uk/search_records/581826e8e93790ec8bd1fe9a : viewed 19 Nov 2021) baptism Mary Greene 08 Sep 1625
   2. The ancestry of Eva Belle Kempton, 1878-1908 by Smith, Dean Crawford; Sanborn, Melinde Lutz Publication date 1996 Boston : New England Historic Genealogical Society pp. 293-304
   3. "England Marriages, 1538–1973 ", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N26N-CJX : 12 March 2020), Thomas Greene, 1624.
   4. Essex : Toppesfield : St Margaret of Antioch : Parish Register : "Parish Register" database, FreeREG (https://www.freereg.org.uk/search_records/581826e5e93790ec8bd1f998 : viewed 19 Nov 2021) baptism Mary Smith 05 Jan 1606/7
   5. Essex : Toppesfield : St Margaret of Antioch : Register of unspecified type : "Parish Register" database, FreeREG (https://www.freereg.org.uk/search_records/5817edd2e93790ec75902aab : viewed 19 Nov 2021) burial Mary Greene 08 Sep 1625
   6. A genealogical sketch of the descendants of Thomas Green<e> of Malden, Mass by Greene, Samuel Stillman, 1810-1883. Publication date 1858 p. 8
   7. New England Marriages to 1700. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. Vol 3. p. 1577