John Spence - Two Sets of Parents

The only information I have was copied from others' trees, most with scant or no supporting documentation, a huge error on my part when I first started doing genealogy 5 years ago.

That said, I have been unable to find definitive documentation as to who was John's mother, Rebeckah or Phebe.

There is a documented marriage with a date of 1712 for Patrick and Phebe; however, I have been unable to find documentation supporting a marriage of Patrick and Rebeckah.

Given the dates of birth and death of Phebe (1680-1730) and Rebeckah (1680-1746), and the dates of birth of John Spence (1715-1730), Hannah Spence (1741-?), and Patrick Spence III (1746-1797), I would conclude that Phebe was Patrick's first wife and John's mother and Rebeckah the second wife and mother of Hannah and Patrick III. However, this is all predicated upon all dates being correct.

In short, I'm sorry to say that all I have is conjecture.

If existing records are accurate, John Spence was my 7th great-grandfather.

Regards,

Cathy

Thanks, Cathy. My relationship is not as close: John Spence is your third cousin 6 times removed, which is why I can't help resolve who his mother was.

In any case, it 'seems' that since there is evidence of Patrick's marriage Phebe and, as you pointed out, the dates work for her to be John's mother.

Based on that, I think Rebeckah should be removed as John's mother and the two profiles for Patrick merged so at least the pathways on Geni are more accurate. If someone comes forth with documentation that sheds new light, things can always be adjusted as needed, if Phebe isn't his mother.

Because others like myself depend on accurate pathways to be able to trace DNA matches, kinship connections, etc., I personally think when there is no documentation, connections shouldn't be made at all. But at least you came up with evidence of Phebe's marriage and the dates fit for her as John's mother. That's something at least.