Giles Corey, Salem Witch - Giles Corey and family

Am tagging Michael Sortomme because she wrote a book on
Giles Corey. Michael, I'd appreciate so much it if you'd review the work I just did on his profile. Thank you for any help you can give!

Michael passed away a few weeks ago. Very sad. She was a very interesting person.

I am so sorry, I had no idea. I meant no disrespect!

Re William Clare

It is impossible for this Virginia immigrant to have been married to a Salem witch. I am creating an "unknown wife" profile and moving the children over. Anyone researching that family will be able to modify and correct.

From http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/people?group.num=all&mbio.num=mb35

The accusation of Martha Corey marked a turning point in the Salem witch trials crisis of 1692 in Massachusetts. Corey was a newly accepted member of the village church and broke the established mold of only social pariahs being accused of practicing witchcraft. Major contributing factors to the case being brought against her were an illegitimate son born to Corey in the 1670s ...

=========

Who was the illegitimate son born in the 1670s?

"Martha Corey's active church participation and religious faith were genuine, but her history was not as pure. Over twenty years earlier, Corey had given birth to an illegitimate son whom she named Benoni. Benoni was thought to be mulatto and was living proof of Corey's indiscriminate past. "

What was his surname?

Very interesting stuff! I was sure William Clare could not have been Martha's husband but felt as though it might be presumptuous of me to just axe him. The unknown wife option didn't occur to me, thanks!

Really fascinating discussion of Martha Corey, her "mulatto" son, and her alleged prior marriage to Henry Rich, here: http://boards.ancestry.com/topics.salem-20-witch-20-trials/117/mb.ashx

I think we need to set Henry Rich free, as well! ;-)

Tagging other profiles in this family group so that this discussion will appear on their profiles for future reference:

Margaret Corey
Martha Corey
Mary Corey
Thomas Corey, I

I think it unlikely Martha Corey was Pennoyer by birth; the detective work above is good. I do think she had been married to a Henry Rich of Salem, not to be confused with Henry Rich of Stamford.

Did you want to add profiles for her unknown partner & their son Benoni? He was living with the Coreys when they were legally murdered.

More corrections to Martha Corey. Her birth date could "not" have been 1615 if she is known to have had a child who was born in the 1660s.

She was supposed to have been "about 70" at her death in 1692. If Benoni was about 25 years old then (born 1667), then the age 70 is off a bit. I would think of "say 45" in 1667 which would make her birth 1622 at earliest.

Is the 1642 birth in England of son Thomas firm? Thomas Rich

1. Will add Benoni & father. Have been looking for something I think I saw about a "swarthy" sea captain of similar name who was puttering around town at one point - wondering if he could have been Benoni's father. Can't seem to find it again, though.
2. Agree about her age.
3. 1642 DOB for Thomas Rich is firm. I saw evidence, locate again.

3. was supposed to read WILL locate again

I'm working on the sisters Mary / Margaret married to Clements / Cleaves issue.

This database I've used frequently & found accurate notes:

http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi...

In NEHGR Vol. 155, p. 226, Donald S. Kenney shows that William Cleaves married Margaret Correy, daughter of convicted "witch" Giles Corey, in Marblehead, MA on 18 May 1683. His name was recorded as William "Clements" in both the Beverly, MA and Marblehead, MA vital records.

So the daughters of Giles Corey included:

Margaret Married: 18 MAY 1683 in Marblehead, Essex to William Cleaves AKA Clements. He married 1) Martha Edwards. She married 2) Jonathan Byles.

Ref from Torrey:

CLEAVES, William & 2/wf Margaret [COREY], m/2 Jonathan BYLES; by 1686; Beverly {Beverly Ch. Rec.; Salem 2:193; Sv. 1:409; EIHC 51:192; Reg. 10:32}

Ref from The History of Salem", Vol. II in a footnote at the bottom of page 193:

2. Margaret; married William Cleaves (Spelled Clements in the Vital Statics of both Marblehead and Beverly) of Beverly;

Ref from "Progeny of William Cleaves of Beverly, Mass, Genealogy," p. 96, by Eleanor V. Spiller and Emery N. Cleaves, Warren, New Hampshire. 1987.

Quoted in http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=simpl...

William Cleaves was born about 1650. He owned land in Lyman, York County Maine, and may well have been a kinsman of the well know George Cleaves. William Cleaves lived and died in Beverly Massachusetts. He married first Martha daughter of Giles Corey and second her sister Margaret. Margaret survivied her husband and married second husband, May 3, 1716 Jonathan Byles. William Cleaves died Jan 27, 1714-15

National Genealogical Society Quarterly Vol. 11, p. 2

Note

Note that Donald S. Kenney in NEHGR Vol. 155, p. 226 has shown that William Cleaves's first wife was actually Martha Edwards.

========

So

1. Who was Mary Corey?
2. It sounds like Martha Corey had been confabulated with Martha Edwards.
3. Can we migrate to Enfield Connecticut yet? (grin)

NB the name Cleaves of course being a great interest to me, as I am very proud of this controversial ancestor

Deputy Pres. George Cleeve

He had no known sons. But is it coincidence there's a Cleave of Maine?

Enfield, ha! /lol

That is absolutely fascinating! I would never have believed that they married the same man, no wonder there's so much confusion in the records.

The only two children of Giles Corey that are FIRMLY attributable to him are Martha and Deliverance. Both are well-documented. The others have been inferred and deduced. That's one of the reasons there's so much argument about the issue of sons - once historians started attributing daughters that were not firmly documented, it sort of opened the door to male heirs as well. And where does it stop? Apparently not early enough in the case of Mary! ;-)

There appear to be Cleave/Cleeves sprinkled all through the area. Wanna take them on next? /grin

OK - so who did Martha Corey marry? Because William Cleave AKA Clements married 1) Martha Edwards 2) MARGARET Corey ... Unless Torrey is lying to me, would he do that?

I don't know that he'd actually LIE to you. He might have gotten as confused as the rest of us, though. I still think it's highly unlikely that the one dude married both sisters. Unless they were proto-Mormons? It was just pretty rare til about 1840-ish, you know? Except for those times and places following Levitical law and that pretty much wasn't here.

I could be totally wrong, but in the 17th century colonies I think that there was no distinction made between your birth siblings and the siblings of your spouse - what we now call your in-laws. I've been reading a lot about Colonial relationships, and they looked at in-law relationships very differently than we do. Your wife's sister was your SISTER. You didn't marry her as soon as your wife died.

Of course, that's just my humble opinion. I've been wrong before and will be wildly totally absolutely wrong again. If you have to choose between Torrey and me, you should probably go with Torrey! /lol

Torrey agrees with you, thank goodness. He says William Cleave married 1) Martha Edwards 2) Margaret Corey (m 2 Byles)

NEHGR says William Clements & William Cleaves were the same person.

Therefore - who did Martha Corey marry? Anyone?

Thank goodness. I'd hate to make you choose. /grin

Well, we can be sure that if she lived long enough, she married SOMEONE, right? Women didn't stay single then. Just checked her profile and it appears she died at age 33, so yes, she married someone and probably died in childbirth. Unless she was kicked by a horse or something equally stupid and unlikely.

Evidently this has been confusing a lot of people for a long time. http://genforum.genealogy.com/cleaves/messages/21.html says "What I have found is primarily from Savages Gen. Dict. and from The Conant Family 1887, Frederick O. Conant, which I got from Higginson Books. I have also found some info relating to this line online, which can be taken with grains of salt, to taste."

"What has come to light is that William Cleaves m. Martha Corey (that IS her maiden name). Martha Corey was the daughter of Giles Corey and either a first or second wife Mary, maiden name in question. Martha Corey's mother was NOT the Martha Corey who was hung as a witch (she was either his second or third wife, and they had no children together). According to the Conant genealogy, Corey's first wife was Margaret UNK., 2nd wife Mary Britz (I have read convincing evidence that this was not her surname, as well as evidence that she was the first wife, not second) and 3rd wife Martha UNK, this last being the one who was hung."

"I have read in some info that William Cleaves, who is a beneficiary of Giles Corey's will, made while he was in prison, married 2 of Giles Corey's daughters, Mary AND Martha. I'm not clear on whether this is true, but what DOES seem to be agreed on is that the mother of all of William Cleaves' children would have been a daughter of Giles Corey. Benjamin Cleaves m. Rebecca Conant and Martha Cleaves m. Lot Conant (my line). Benjamin and Martha are either brother and sister or half-siblings/cousins (their mothers being sisters), depending on which source you are looking at."

"The daughter of William Cleaves, Martha Cleaves, who m. Lot Conant 16 May 1698 died 15 Feb 1725 at Concord, age 44, according to the Conant book."

Okay, I think at this point I don't want to pay any attention to what anyone says about this family group unless it's been published in NEGHR! sheesh.

Yah, it's garbled. Torrey is perfectly clear & 1985 was the last update, so more current.

I think Martha Cleaves needs to become Martha Edwards. That "should" keep the children with the right mother.

Use this as your guide

http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi...

Strike 1 against Savage
Strike 2 against Conant book

Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine, Volume 1 (Google eBook). Henry Sweetser Burrage, Albert Roscoe Stubbs. Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1909 - Maine. http://books.google.com/books?id=LDryyTRj8tgC&pg=PA95&lpg=P... has the temerity to disagree with Torrey and me, saying Cleaves married both sisters. Hmph.

K, will do. Am going to bed now, will make this Job 1 tomorrow. Thanks for everything!

http://genforum.genealogy.com/cleaves/messages/42.html says, "In 1997 D. S. Kennedy, writing in The Essex Genealogist (May 1997) shows that Martha Cleaves was most likely the daughter of Rice Edwards of Wenham, not of Giles Cory."

Yay!

http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/th/read/MAESSEX/2001-06/0993762575 : "I regret to announce that I lost Giles yesterday - after about 25 years of claiming him as an ancestor and a visit to the Witch Museum in Salem. The sad news was in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 155, Apr 2001. In "Martha Edwards, First Wife of William Cleaves of Beverly, Massachusetts: A Correction To Torrey's New England Marriages," Donald S. Kenney presents evidence to show that Martha, the first wife of William Cleaves (my ancestors), was a daughter of Rice Edwards of Wenham and not Giles Corey."

Cool, you found her parents, sweet.

I think we have William Cleaves, of Beverly family sorted.

Now where I'm stuck is the will of Giles Corey, 1692. He died to save his family and the bit of property he had for them, so I think he was as explicit and careful as the absolutely horrible circumstances of this travesty of civilization could allow him to be.

And he named only 2 sons in law - William Cleaves of Beverly (married Margaret) and John Moulton (married Elizabeth) of Salem.

We know from the article Progeny of William Cleaves of Beverly, Mass, by Eleanor V. Spiller and Emery N. Cleaves, Warren, NH, 1987 that he had 5 children, and Mary married John Parker

http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/GenMassachusetts/2003...

We have Deliverance, born in Salem Aug. 5, 1658; married Henry Crosby June 5, 1683;

And that date is the same wedding date as Margaret ... ??

So ... Where's Martha, who did not marry William Cleave, whose husband was not named by Giles Corey in 1692, and who needs a new Geni profile?

From http://coryfamsoc.com/genealogies/harpole/giles/giles/b70.htm

About 1670, his son John or Jonathan was born.

NB: this would have been by 2nd wife Mary Bright, who

Salem December Ye 10th 1678. -Caleb More aged thirty yeares: or thare about testifieth that he being with his father in Virginia: When his father bought Mary which in now Ye wife of Gyels Cory; out of a London ship: and douth testify that Ye hole ships company gau har the caretar of onest Seuel woman: and douth further testify thatt wither in the the time of couming home in Ye ketch or while she liued with my father or senc she has ben Cory's Wife. that hee did neuer hare har Sware: or See har ouer taken in drinck: or Spake Ryproch fuly of har naibors: or of any body else: nitha did I euer hare any body else Saye any such things of har.

He deposed June 17, 1672, [17 (4" 1672] age about 55 years.

Lots of sources mention alleged sons. There are no vital records to tie them to Corey and they're not mentioned in the will. If Jonathan was Giles' son, he must've been dead without issue by 1692.

I totally agree that the will trumps everything in this case due to his circumstances. Which leaves me completely skeptical about sons. I just don't think there were any. In fact, I don't think any of the men attributed to him as sons were even nephews, or they would have been mentioned.