From https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Mead-96
The names, Martha Davis, (Mary Barker, Martha Barker Davis), are prevalent on the internet. Eva Mead Firestone, in Mead-Clark Genealogy, reports her as "Martha," but without evidence or source.[7] Possibly she follows Mr C. E. Parker. According to James S. Elston in Descent from seventy-nine early immigrant heads ... v. 2, "Mr. C. E. Parker who has done considerable research toward a new Mead genealogy thinks his wife was Martha Davis, daughter of Elijah Davis [now disproven]."[8] According to Paul Prindle, "clearly, this tentative identification is without merit."[2] Possibly these names just fill the void left by the 1901 book by Spencer P. Mead. The WikiTree profile for Martha Davis has been disconnected from this profile.
The geni profile for William Mead (father of John Mead who married Hannah Mead) is rather different from what’s at https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Mead-96, but I think the children mostly match. Since there are some 70 managers, I think “prune and revise” is the better strategy.
I’ll start with uploading the 1998 study.
The corrected family should result in:
William "Wilyam" Mead
- aka Meade, Mayd, Mad, Meads
- Born before 27 Dec 1592 in Watford, Hertfordshire, England
- Died after 1657 after age 64 in Stamford, Fairfield County, Connecticut Colony
- Son of Priscilla Mead and Dorothy Grey
- Brother of John Mead, Priscilla Mead and Rebecca Mead
- Husband of Philip (Unknown, perhaps Kilvy) Mead — married 1620 in Watford, Hertfordshire, England
Children:[2][1]
- (poss.) Mary Mead, born to William and Philippe Mead, baptized 17 March 1621, possibly died young.
- Joseph Mead born 25 April 1624
- Martha (Mead) Richardson Williams b 1632
- John Mead b ca 1634
- Child Mead b ca 1638, d 1658
Comments:
- Wife Philip is female. “Maybe Mead omitted her name, because he did not understand that "Philip" was used for both males and females in the seventeenth century, or the record may have been difficult to read.[1]”
- Father Priscilla was male. “Gordon L. Remington states that one of the peculiarities of this family is the use of the name Priscilla as a male name from 1545 until as late as the 1680s.[1]”
1. Remington, Gordon L., (1998) "The English Origin of William 1 Mead of Stamford, Connecticut." The American Genealogist, NEHGS American Ancestors accessed 16 June 2016 (Vol 73, Pages 1-10).
