Elizabeth Wentworth

The identity of Elder William Wentworth's first wife is uncertain.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Kenney-156

Elizabeth (Kenney) Wentworth (abt. 1619 - abt. 1666)

Elizabeth Wentworth formerly Kenney

Born about 1619 in England [uncertain]

Daughter of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]

[sibling%28s%29 unknown]

Wife of William Wentworth — married about 1640 [location unknown]

Mother of Samuel Wentworth Sr., John Wentworth I, Gershom Wentworth I, Ezekiel Wentworth, Elizabeth (Wentworth) Tozer, Sylvanus Wentworth, Paul Wentworth and Timothy Wentworth I

Died about 1666 [location unknown]

Kenney-156 created 25 Jul 2011 | Last modified 25 Dec 2020

Biography

She was born about 1619 in England.

Elizabeth Kenney married about 1640 to William Wentworth.

She died about 1666. [1]

Research Notes

The identity of Elder William Wentworth's first wife is uncertain. In a list of English settlers captured by the Native Americans and carried to Canada, is an entry for William's daughter Elizabeth. [2] It was translated and published in the April 1874 issue of the New England Historical and Genealogical Register and read as follows ...

"Elizabeth Wintworth, daughter of William, elder in the anglo-calvinistic religion, and Elizabeth (Kenny), born in 1653 at Piscataoue; married, 1st, James Sharp, of Kent; 2d, Richard Toxer [Tozer]; taken in war, 18 March 1690, by Hertel; god-daughter of Claude Ramezay, governor of Trois Rivieres, and in the service of M. Pierre Boucher, Lord of Boucherville."
The author of the "Wentworth Genealogy" devotes several pages (v1 p103-109 copied below) of his three volume work to the discussion of William's two wives, both of whom were apparently named Elizabeth. There is no certainty about any of the information, only best estimates and family tradition passed down through a few of the earlier generations of the family. A more recent study of the family will soon be published in issues of The American Genealogist, but as of June 2020 that has not appeared in print yet. Once it comes out entries for William, his wives, and his children should all be updated.

An earlier version of this page said that Elizabeth was the daughter of William Quiney [Quiney-31] and Elizabeth Sutton [Sutton-802]. No evidence for these parents was offered so they have been removed pending some actual evidence. There was a Canney/Kenney family living in Dover at the time, but the author of the "Wentworth Genealogy" concluded that Elizabeth isn't of the correct age to be a daughter of the immigrant Thomas. He might be an unreported sister.

The "Wentworth Genealogy" is also uncertain as to which of William's children were from which wife, but his best guess is that the younger sons Ephraim and Benjamin were from the second wife Elizabeth Knight, and perhaps the daughter Sarah as well. All the others were likely from Elizabeth Kenney.

"Wentworth Genealogy" for Wives [3]

After the most thorough and exhaustive search, the only records found relating to the wife or wives of Elder William1 Wentworth are these ...

1. An entry in the Abbe C. Tanguny's "Dictionnaire Généalogique des Familles Canadiennes", 1871, in a list of Anglais taken captive by the French and Indians, translated and published in the N. E. Hist. and Gen. Register, April 1874, as follows: —Elizabeth Wintworth, daughter of William, elder in the anglo-calvinistic religion, and Elizabeth (Kenny), born in 1653 at Piscatoué, married, 1st, James Sharp, of Kent; 2d, Richard Toxer [Tozer]; taken in war, 18 March 1690, by Hertel; god-daughter of Claude Ramezay, governor of Trois Rivieres, and in the service of M. Pierre Boucher, Lord of Boucherville.

2. A deed from Elder William1 Wentworth to Peter Coffin, 18 November 1666-7, in which his wife Elizabeth makes her mark.

3. A deed from Elder William1 to his son Paul2, 16 April 1696, and one to son Timothy2 27 May following, in each of which his wife Elizabeth makes her mark.

In other conveyances so far found, viz. in 1674, 1677, and 1693, no wife signs.

4. His widow Elizabeth returned his inventory 4 April 1697, and is not again heard of.

To these may be added traditions from two independent sources, each of which maintain that Elder William1 was twice married; the second marriage being when he was somewhat advanced in years, and the second wife being very young, and that he had children by each wife, — children by the second wife being born after some of his grandchildren.

Mary5, daughter of Samuel4 and Lois (Jones) Wentworth, was brought up in the family of her grandparents Samuel3 and Joanna (Roberts) Wentworth, both of whom lived to great age, and their funeral was at the same time in 1780. This Samuel3 was son of Elder William's son Timothy2. Mary5, born in May 1763, lived until 24 January 1853, and retained her memory until the last. The author of this work caused her to be consulted at different periods and by different persons, and never found her contradicted by official records, nor inconsistent in her statements at different times. She remembered that her grandfather Samuel3 often spoke of his aunt Elizabeth Tozer, and that he often told anecdotes of Elder William's1 second wife; that she was very young to be married, and that the reason that Elder William1 gave for marrying so young a wife was that "women were scarce." She remembered seeing the widow of Timothy3, her grandfather's brother. She was certain of hearing the family talk over about the second wife's youth, her inexperience, and her making no preparation for the birth of her first child, and that her own ancestor Timothy2 was a child of the first wife. She thought Mrs. Elizabeth Tozer was one of the children of the last wife. This Mary5 married Samuel Brackett, of Limington, Me., and had a daughter Phebe6 Brackett, who assured the author, during the lifetime of her mother, as follows ...

From the first time I consulted mother about the daughter of Ezekiel Knight, of Wells, she thought she was the second wife of Elder William1, and the more she has thought of it the more she has thought that she was a Knight; but she will not allow me to say for a certainty. Yet she is certain that Elder William had a second wife.
Robert6 Wentworth, a nephew of this Mary5 who married Samuel Brackett, a gentleman of intelligence and a member of the Maine Legislature, was well acquainted with her, and he said he "had full confidence in what his aunt Brackett stated from her own knowledge, and she was certainly told by her grandparents what she states about the second wife."

Rebecca5 Ricker, daughter of Moses4 and Sobriety (Knox) Ricker, and granddaughter of Ephraim Ricker by his second wife, Sarah3 Wentworth, is still living (1876) in Lebanon, Me., at the age of ninety-three, but with memory perfectly retained. She says: —

Elder William1 had a second wife who was a mere child. A man called at the house on one occasion, and a child was crying inside with no one in attendance. He saw some children playing in the dirt, and he went to them and mentioned about the crying child, whereupon the largest girl ran towards the house, and he found she was Elder William's1 second wife, and had been playing with the first wife's children.

Miss Rebecca5 Ricker derived her information from her mother Sobriety (Knox), who was left an orphan and made her home with her father's sister, Sarah Knox, who married Ezekiel3 Wentworth, and who was the mother of Dorothy4 Wentworth, who married Evans4 Wentworth. Evans4 and Dorothy4 were grandparents of Tappan6 and George T.6 (2349) Wentworth before mentioned.

Ezekiel3 Wentworth was son of Ephraim2, and lived upon a portion of the old Wentworth estate, as also did Evans4; and thus Sobriety (Knox) lived upon the identical place described by Tappan6 and George T.6, as see ante. Miss Ricker confirmed their statement as to the old papers believed to be Elder William's1. She has also given the writer a vast amount of information as to the Wentworths, and the Ricker, Knox, and other connected families, the comparison of which with records (where such exist) has shown her knowledge to be remarkably reliable.

Concerning these traditions it should be noted ...

1. They came from entirety independent sources. One of the persons was descended from one son of Elder William1, viz. Timothy2; the other from another son, viz. Gershom2; and her mother, the source of her knowledge, lived with descendants of Ephraim2. One was descended from the Elder's first wife; Sobriety Knox lived with, and had her information from, descendants of the second wife, if there was one. The person still living was entirely ignorant of the existence of the other, and neither had ever seen or heard of the writer's genealogical publications.

2. The information of Mrs. Mary5 (Wentworth) Brackett was from her grandparents, Deacon Samuel3 and Joanna (Roberts) Wentworth, in whose family she was brought up. The accounts she heard from her grandfather were about his grandfather, Elder William1, and certainly near enough to be reliable; while her grandmother, with whom she lived, was brought up in the immediate neighborhood of the Wentworth homestead, and must personally have known the Elder's second wife, if that wife lived even to less than middle age.

3. Sobriety (Knox), the mother of the other informant, in early life lived with her aunt, whose husband, Ezekiel3 was grandson of Elder William1 by the second wife, if there was such a wife. What family traditions she heard from Ezekiel3 were regarding his own grandmother, the youthful second wife of Elder William2.

Such circumstances certainty go far to sustain the testimony of witnesses, all of whom were intelligent and honest.

The nearest approach we can make to the date of Elder William's1 first marriage is from the birth of his son Samuel2, believed to be his eldest child. According to his tombstone, he "died March ye 25th, 1690, in the 50th year of his age." The year was 1690-1, as the date of his Will proves; and he must therefore have been born in the year 1641. At that time Elder William was twenty-four tears of age. If he came to this country in 1637, it is hardly probable that he had married in England, as he would have been but twenty years old when he left England. But there is nothing whatever to show when or where he married his first wife, except that it must have been as early as 1640.

It is also difficult even to conjecture when the first wife died, and when he married his second wife. There is no record of the births of his children; but if we suppose that each son was put upon the tax-list as he came of age, then John2 (the second) was born about 1647; Gershom2, 1649; Ezekiel2, 1651 ; and Elizabeth, by record, 1653. Paul2, Sylvanus2, and Timothy2, according to tradition, were also children of the first wife; and while neither name is on the tax-lists, there is nothing in dates which prove them to have come of age to oppose this tradition. The place of Sarah2 (whom we consider his daughter) is uncertain; but Ephraim2 and Benjamin2 must both be regarded, from tradition and age, as children of the second wife. The dates agree with this, and the tradition thatthese children were born after some of the Elder's grandchildren (the first of whom, Samuel3, son of Samuel2, was born 9 April 1668) place their birth after that date. The second marriage can easily be supposed to be anywhere from 1665 to 1670, or even later, his later children being born thirty years after he was first a father.

There can be no question that one wife of Elder William2 was Elizabeth Kenny. The Canadian record already quoted is exact. It is also clear that she was the mother of Elizabeth2, who was born in 1653, If this date is correct, it seems clear that Elizabeth Kenny must have been the first wife. The Elder was not "advanced in years" if he married her in 1652, being only thirty-five years old; and other children, who have always been regarded as children of the first wife, must of necessity have been born later than 1653.

Who was she? A family of that name, called variously on the records Kenny, Kenney, Canning, Cannie, Canne, Canney, was of Dover at that period. Thomas Canning or Cannie, the first one found, was of the company sent over by Capt. Mason as early as 1631. In 1634 he was of Dover, and took a lot from Capt. Wiggin, agent of the proprietors. In 1640 he was a signer of the Dover combination for government. He was taxed to 1668, was made freeman in 1653, and seems to have been living in 1677. He was twice married, his second wife named Jane. Of his family, were two sons and two daughters, known from deeds, viz. Thomas Canney, born before 1645, who died about 1674-5, leaving six children, of which the eldest was eleven years of age; Joseph Canney, who married, in 1670, Mary, daughter of Counsellor Job Clements; Mary Canney, who married Jeremy Tebbetts before 1655, and must have been born as early as 1635 ; and a daughter, who married Henry Hobbs. Thomas Canney may have had other daughters, but it is of course impossible, by reason of age, that Elizabeth Kenny, if Elder William's1 first wife, and mother of Samuel2, born in 1641, could have been his daughter. A careful and protracted reinvestigation of county and other records has failed to find the least trace of connection of the families. The only occasion which unites Elder William1 and Thomas Canney is that in 1652 and onward they were (with others) joint proprietors of the Fresh Creek saw-mill and timber lands. It is of course possible that Elder William's1 first wife, if Elizabeth Kenny, was a sister of Thomas Canney, but no American record affords any light upon this question, and the English records upon this name have not been searched.

There is also a question whether Elizabeth Knight, of Wells, Me., was one of the wives of Elder William1 Wentworth. When Ezekiel Knight, of Wells, died in 1687, he willed, date 18 April 1687, property to his son Ezekiel Knight, jr., and to his daughter Elizabeth Wentworth, of Coehecho; and in case the son die issueless, his share was to be equally divided among the children of his daughter Elizabeth.

At the time of making this Will, there were two, and but two, Elizabeths who were wives of Wentworths, and there were no Elizabeths who were widows. One of these was the wife of Elder William1, and the other was the wife of his son Ezekiel2, and both had children at that date. Ezekiel Knight could not have had a daughter old enough to be the mother of Samuel2 in 1640. She must have been a second wife, or else the wife of his son Ezekiel2; but the information given under the head of Ezekiel2 does not render it certain whether his wife was the daughter of Ezekiel Knight or not, but the probabilities are altogether in that direction.

Elder William1 Wentworth and Ezekiel Knight were both living at Wells at or about the time of birth of Elder William's1 son Ezekiel2 Wentworth, and of Ezekiel Knight's daughter Elizabeth. Elder William2 may have named his son Ezekiel2 for his friend Ezekiel Knight, and Ezekiel Knight may have named his daughter Elizabeth for the Elder's wife ; and the greater probability is that these two children married.

But the subject of Elder William's1 marriages must evidently still be left greatly in obscurity. The difficulty as to the second wife, if one was married in Dover, is due to the fact that there are no extant lists of marriages either on the town or church records prior to 1700, and the list in the Secretary of State's office at Concord unfortunately ends in the letter W, the original last leaves being gone. The same defect explains why the dates of births of Elder William's1 children cannot be ascertained.

Sources

↑ Wikidata Q96354675
↑ Dictionnaire Genealogique des Families Canadiennes by Cyprien Tanguay in 1871
↑ "The Wentworth Genealogy: English and American" by John Wentworth & Little, Brown & Co. of Boston, MA in 1878 p103-109

William Wentworth married twice. His first wife is reputed to be Elizabeth Kenny, the daughter of William Quiney and Elizabeth Quiney of Stratford-Upon-Avon, England, but no reference has been provided.This wife was the mother of many of Wentworth's older children.

William Wentworth and his first and/or second wife had eleven children, birth dates of the children not known, but estimated by assuming they were at least 21 years old when recorded as taxed:

• Samuel, b. 1641/2; m. Mary Benning.
• John, b. ca. 1647; m. Martha Stewart.
• Gershom, b. ca. 1649; m. Hannah French.
• Ezekiel, b. ca. 1651; m. Elizabeth Knight.
• Elizabeth, b. ca. 1653; m. (1) James Sharpe, m. (2) Richard Tozier, Jr.
• Paul, b. ca. 1659; m. Catherine Stewart.
• Sylvanus, m. Elizabeth Stewart.
• Timothy, m. Sarah

  ---

  .
• Sarah, m. (1) Benjamin Barnard; m. (2) Samuel Winch.
• Ephraim, m. (1) Mary Miller; m. (2) Elizabeth (Waldron) Beard.
• Benjamin, b. ca. 1670; m. Sarah Allen.

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Added by E. Nickerson about this Gr. Grandparent- William Wentworth (1616-1697) at the time of his death was survived by his wife, Elizabeth, nine sons and one daughter. He may have married more than once. It is probably that he arrived in Boston with Rev. John Wheelwright on May 26, 1636

There is question about whether Elizabeth was truly born in Rowley, Essex, Massachusetts in the United States. Both of her parents are listed as having been born and died in only England. Logic states that it is most likely that Elizabeth Wentworth (Quiney) was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England. More research is needed regarding this inquiry. (5/14)

Another account of Elizabeth Kenny / Quiney states that she was "born in England in 1625. Elizabeth married William Wentworth and had 9 children. She passed away on 1689 in Rowley, Essex, Massachusetts, USA."

• http://kielle.ancestryregister.com/00005Kielley_web/KIELLE00005Bio3...
• http://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Elizabeth_Kenny_%286%29

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GEDCOM Source

@R300859407@ Ancestry Family Trees Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.

GEDCOM Source

Ancestry Family Tree http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=4611052&pid=...