Meribah Folger

Ben M. Angel notes: There are some chronological issues with this individual:

1. She is listed as having died on Martha's Vineyard in 1635. The first English colony on the island began after land for it was purchased from the local tribe in 1642.

2. Several online family trees suggest both Martha's Vineyard and Norwich as her death location (this despite the fact that she was supposedly a passenger, along with her husband John and son Peter, on the Abigail in 1635). None that I found provide sources suggesting either way, despite one suggestion that Benjamin Franklin, her great grandson, was perhaps her first "family researcher"

• ( http://okielegacy.org/journal/ezine/?ID=6049&iss=20&Vol=13 )

3. A user placed her burial location as Tower Hill at Great Harbor on Martha's Vineyard. I've found one online family tree that asserted this as well, but suggested that she died in Norwich, and was buried in the New World. Find A Grave doesn't list her. If she had been buried on Martha's Vineyard, she would have been one of the first to have been so buried, and likely this would have been a reburial if her death took place in 1635.

4. Supposedly the Folger family was either in Dedham or Watertown before John Folger moved to Martha's Vineyard as one of the first English settlers there in 1642. The source for this was apparently Coffin's description of some early American families:

• ( http://troutwind.tripod.com/folger.html )

4. One source online suggested instead of a 1635 death date, that she died much later, but this would not fit with John Folger being married to a Mayhew when he arrived on island. (Supposedly, his association with the Mayhew family was what led to his being one of the island's first settlers.)

For now: I'm leaving the death location blank. The four options are:

• 1. Death in Norwich (possibly on board the ship Abigail).
• 2. Death in Dedham after 1638.
• 3. Death in Watertown.
• 4. Death on Martha's Vineyard after 1642 (highly unlikely).

For now, I'm leaving the burial location as Tower Hill. This needs to be confirmed by a source, though. This seems highly likely to have been presumed by a researcher who asserted this without any confirmation of a gravestone.

Meribiah Gibbs, born 1595 in Norwich, Norfolk, England; died 1635 in Norwich, Norfolk, England, or Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of John Gibbs and Alice Elmy.

http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/p/o/h/Pamela-J-Pohly/GEN...

Children of John Folger and Meribiah Gibbs are:

• i. Eleazer Folger, born Bet. 1615 - 1635 in Norfolk, England.
• ii. Peter Folger, born Bet. 1617 - 1635 in England.
• iii. John Folger, born Bet. 1619 - 1635 in Norwich, Norfolkshire, England.
• iv. Sarah Folger, born Bet. 1620 - 1635 in Norwich, Norfolk, England; died Abt. 1685 in Piscataway, Middlesex, New Jersey; married Richard Smith Bet. 1640 - 1660 in Long Island, New York.
• v. Mary Folger, born Bet. 1622 - 1630 in Norwich, Norfolk, England; died Bet. 1667 - 1685 in Southold, Long Island, New York; married (1) Peter Paine Abt. 1641 in Southold, Long Island, New York; married (2) Jeremiah Vail May 24, 1660 in probably Southold, Long Island, New York.

ohn FOLGER - b. about 1593, Norwich, Norfolk, England; d. 1660, Martha's Vineyard, Dukes Co., MA. Son of John FOLGER (b. about 1569) and Elizabeth (b. about 1571). Peter immigrated with his parents from Norwich County, Norfolk, England in 1635 when he was about 18 years old. Just when they settled in Watertown, MA is not known, but John owned a homestead and 6 acres there in 1642. Married about 1615, Norwich, Norfolk, England.

http://kinnexions.com/smlawson/folger.htm

Meribah GIBBS - b. 1595, Frenze Hall, Diss, Norfolk, England; d. after 1664, Martha's Vineyard, Dukes Co., MA. Daughter of John GIBBS (b. about 1572; d. 1608) and Alice ELMY (b. about 1574). Meribah may not have been the first wife of John FOLGER, since a tradition says that he arrived in America as a widower.

Daughter of John and Alice (Elmy) Gibbs. Married John Folger in England in January 1616/17. Meribah died after 1664. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=141145774

GEDCOM Note

The she was daughter of John Folger of Freudes Hall, Norfolk, is proved by his 1609 will in which he mentioned his daughter, "Merraba Folger."<ref>G. Andrews Moriarty, "Miscellaneous Records of Various Families," in NEHGR, 86 (1932):86</ref> Per Southold Connections, she died in 1664 & was buried next to him onTower Hill in Martha's Vineyard.<ref>Southold Connections, by Judy Jacobson, publ. 2009</ref> 18 October 1664- The sale of her estate was on this date and handled by her son Peter. Her estate was purchased by Thomas Mayhew.

Sources

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See also:

• http://www.bakerancestry.org/public/pedigree/1594.htm
• https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=141145774