Elizabeth Williams

http://trees.wmgs.org/getperson.php?personID=I63537&tree=Schirado

Elizabeth SKERRY was christened 4 Mar 1638 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts. She died 17 Aug 1697 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts. Elizabeth married Deacon Benjamin FITCH on 27 Feb 1666 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hwbradley/aqwg2484.htm#51433

The information above confuses two different women named Elizabeth Skerry living about the same time. Below is a summary of the information that might help clear this up. In short, the Elizabeth Skerry born 4 Mar 1638 is the one that is the daughter of Henry Skerry and who married John Williams. The other Elizabeth Skerry, the one who married Benjamin Fitch, was born about 1641 and her parents are not known. The two Elizabeths are related to each other in some way -- perhaps cousins.

There has been considerable and understandable confusion of Elizabeth (Skerry) Fitch, wife of Benjamin Fitch of Reading, MA, with the related Elizabeth (Skerry) Williams, wife of John Williams, Sen., of Salem. Both are referred to (with their respective husbands) as "cousin" in the 1684 will of Francis Skerry, brother of Henry Skerry -- father of Elizabeth (Skerry) Williams. The 4 March 1638 birth date originally given in this profile is recorded as a baptismal date for Henry's daughter, although there is a further element of confusion because a 1663 multiple baptism shown in records of the First Church of Salem clearly identified "Eliz. Williams" as the daughter of "H. Skerry", and as one of those apparently being christened; what reason there might be for her to have a second baptism is not known. Elizabeth (Skerry) Fitch, on the other hand, has been reported by a descendant as age 25 at the time of her marriage in February of 1666; if this is correct, she appears to have been born about 1641. Her parentage remains, at this writing (March 2017) a mystery. From Francis Skerry's will, she was obviously a close relation of his -- and she and the other Elizabeth, and their husbands, were contemporaneous, and living at the time the will was drafted in 1684. One possibility may be that she was the daughter of the third Skerry brother, Robert, who is mentioned in Francis's will as being in England. There is also, one supposes, the extraordinary possibility that Henry Skerry had two daughters with the same given name; this is occasionally seen -- with sons, at least -- but usually when there is a wide age gap and usually where a second marriage is involved. Other than these hypotheses, we have at present little to go by. Elizabeth's marriage to Benjamin Fitch is shown in the NEHGR, Vol. 55, as having taken place on 27 February 1665-66. Identification of both Elizabeth Fitch and Elizabeth Williams as "cousin": will of Francis Skerry, as cited in Historical Collections of the Essex Institute, Vol. IV, 1862, p. 65 https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Skerry-17

---

There has been considerable and understandable confusion of Elizabeth (Skerry) Fitch, wife of Benjamin Fitch of Reading, MA, with the related Elizabeth (Skerry) Williams, wife of John Williams, Sen., of Salem. Both are referred to (with their respective husbands) as "cousin" in the 1684 will of Francis Skerry, brother of Henry Skerry -- father of Elizabeth (Skerry) Williams. The 4 March 1638 birth date originally given in this profile is recorded as a baptismal date for Henry's daughter, although there is a further element of confusion because a 1663 multiple baptism shown in records of the First Church of Salem clearly identified "Eliz. Williams" as the daughter of "H. Skerry", and as one of those apparently being christened; what reason there might be for her to have a second baptism is not known. Elizabeth (Skerry) Fitch, on the other hand, has been reported by a descendant as age 25 at the time of her marriage in February of 1666; if this is correct, she appears to have been born about 1641. Her parentage remains, at this writing (March 2017) a mystery. From Francis Skerry's will, she was obviously a close relation of his -- and she and the other Elizabeth, and their husbands, were contemporaneous, and living at the time the will was drafted in 1684. One possibility may be that she was the daughter of the third Skerry brother, Robert, who is mentioned in Francis's will as being in England. There is also, one supposes, the extraordinary possibility that Henry Skerry had two daughters with the same given name; this is occasionally seen -- with sons, at least -- but usually when there is a wide age gap and usually where a second marriage is involved. Other than these hypotheses, we have at present little to go by. Elizabeth's marriage to Benjamin Fitch is shown in the NEHGR, Vol. 55, as having taken place on 27 February 1665-66. Identification of both Elizabeth Fitch and Elizabeth Williams as "cousin": will of Francis Skerry, as cited in Historical Collections of the Essex Institute, Vol. IV, 1862, p. 65 https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Skerry-17

---

There has been considerable and understandable confusion of Elizabeth (Skerry) Fitch, wife of Benjamin Fitch of Reading, MA, with the related Elizabeth (Skerry) Williams, wife of John Williams, Sen., of Salem. Both are referred to (with their respective husbands) as "cousin" in the 1684 will of Francis Skerry, brother of Henry Skerry -- father of Elizabeth (Skerry) Williams. The 4 March 1638 birth date originally given in this profile is recorded as a baptismal date for Henry's daughter, although there is a further element of confusion because a 1663 multiple baptism shown in records of the First Church of Salem clearly identified "Eliz. Williams" as the daughter of "H. Skerry", and as one of those apparently being christened; what reason there might be for her to have a second baptism is not known. Elizabeth (Skerry) Fitch, on the other hand, has been reported by a descendant as age 25 at the time of her marriage in February of 1666; if this is correct, she appears to have been born about 1641. Her parentage remains, at this writing (March 2017) a mystery. From Francis Skerry's will, she was obviously a close relation of his -- and she and the other Elizabeth, and their husbands, were contemporaneous, and living at the time the will was drafted in 1684. One possibility may be that she was the daughter of the third Skerry brother, Robert, who is mentioned in Francis's will as being in England. There is also, one supposes, the extraordinary possibility that Henry Skerry had two daughters with the same given name; this is occasionally seen -- with sons, at least -- but usually when there is a wide age gap and usually where a second marriage is involved. Other than these hypotheses, we have at present little to go by. Elizabeth's marriage to Benjamin Fitch is shown in the NEHGR, Vol. 55, as having taken place on 27 February 1665-66. Identification of both Elizabeth Fitch and Elizabeth Williams as "cousin": will of Francis Skerry, as cited in Historical Collections of the Essex Institute, Vol. IV, 1862, p. 65 https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Skerry-17