Joanna Westcott / Baldwin / Abbott

Her parents are unknown.

Married (1) Richard Westcott of Salem, MA and Wethersfield, and Fairfield, CT. Married (2) Nathaniel Baldwin of Cholesbury, Milford, and Fairfield, CT. Married (3) George Abbott.

Had a marriage contract with Thomas Skidmore, but did not end up marrying Thomas Skidmore.

"The will of Joanna Skidmore, wife of Thomas, in 1667, named children John, Daniel, Joanna and Abigail Westcott, and Sarah, Deborah and Samuel Baldwin."

• BIRTH: 1615 (general estimate from life events)
• MARRIAGE: 1649 (estimate from birth of first child)
• married third to George Abbott
• DEATH: 1682 (Charles Candee Baldwin; The Baldwin Genealogy from 1500-1881; 1881)
• Witness at slander trial after the witchcraft trial of Goody Knapp in 1654 (Town records of Fairfield)
• Sister of ROBERT SANDFORD'S wife ANNE. (Winthrop Notes)

Children with Richard Westcott:

1. John
2. Daniel
3. Joanna
4. Abigail

Children with Nathaniel Baldwin

1. Sarah
2. Deborah
3. Samuel

From CC Baldwin, the most authoritative source on Baldwin descendants (out of copyright)

• CC Baldwin has, on page 406...

Married Abigail Camp: Children were John (bpt 1644), Daniel (bpt 1644), Nathaniel (bpt 1645), and Abigail (bpt. 3/19/1648; d. in 1668 per Dr. Talcott.)
Married 2nd Joanna Westcoat, wifow of Richard Westcoat of Fairfiield, Conn. Children by her were: Sarah (b 1650), Deborah (b 1652), and Samuel (b 1655).
Thus had I written before the report of Mr. Chester, from England, which leaves no reasonable doubt that Nathaniel was the 2nd son of Richard, of Parish Cholesbury, Buckinghamshire, England and brother of Timothy and Joseph.
Mr. Savage, in his Genealogical Dictionary, makes his widow Joanna marry Thomas Skidmore; but Mr. Byron A. Baldwin, a careful genealogist, descended of this line, states that she made a contract with Skidmore in regard to marriage, which was recorded, but DID NOT MARRY HIM. She married 3rd. George Abbott, of Fairfield, and died in 1682. She was a witness in a 'witch's' trial which is recounted on pg 407.

There is further reference to a Byron A. Baldwin, Esq. of Chicago, who printed in the "New England Historical and Genealogical Register" for April 1873, a partial Genealogy entitled: "Nathaniel Baldwin and one line of his Descendants."

GEDCOM Note

Disputed Origin

Joanna was born c. 1620, probably at England. Her birth date is a guess, based on the guessed birth of her first child in c. 1641. She was the sister of the wife of Robert Sanford.<ref name="FOOF1.660">Jacobus, Donald L., 1930Families of Old Fairfield, Connecticut. AmericanAncestors.org. accessed 21 May 2016, Vol 1, Page 660.</ref>
Some of the sets of assumed parents of Joanna are Jeremy Adams and 'Rebecca (Taylor) Baseden Greenhill. However, Jeremy and Rebecca had no daughter named Joanna.<ref name="GMB">Anderson, Robert C., 1995 "Jeremy Adams," Featured name. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III. AmericanAncestors.org accessed 22 May 2016, (Vol I-III, Pages 6-11).</ref>

Biography

Joanna (unknown surname) was born about 1620 in England.

Marriages

Joanna married three times.

• She married before 1641, as her 1st, to Richard Westcott/Westcoat.<ref name="FOOF1.660"/>
• She married after March of 1648, and before 1650, as her 2nd, and ashis 2nd, to Nathaniel Baldwin.<ref name="FOOF1.660"/><ref name="Baldwin">Baldwin, Charles Candee, 1881 The Baldwin genealogy from 1500 to 1881. Cleveland, O, [Leader printing company], [https://archive.org/stream/baldwingenealogy00bald#page/406/mode/2up...] accessed 21 May 2016, Page 406.</ref>
• She married after 1658, as her 3rd, and as his 3rd, to Thomas Skidmore.<ref name="FOOF1.660"/> Note: this marriage did take place (please see Research Notes). Skidmore died in 1684at Fairfield, Connecticut.<ref name="Stratford CT - History">Wilcoxson, Wm. Howard, 1939 History of Stratford Connecticut 1639-1939. Stratford, CT: Stratford Tercentenary Commission, HathiTrust.org accessed 20 May 2016, Pages 77-79.</ref>

Children

Children of Joanna and Richard Westcott:<ref name="FOOF1.660"/>

1. John Westcott, b [say 1641]
2. Daniel Westcott, b say 1643# Joanna Westcott, b [say 1645]; m by 1665 John Weed,of Stamford<ref name="FOOF1.653">Jacobus, Donald L., 1930 Families of Old Fairfield, Connecticut. AmericanAncestors.org. accessed 21 May 2016, Vol 1, Page 653.</ref>
3. Abigail Westcott, b [say 1647]; m by 1669 Moses Knapp, of Stamford

Children of Joanna and Nathaniel Baldwin:<ref name="Baldwin"/>

1. Sarah Baldwin, b 1650
2. Deborah Baldwin, b 1652
3. Samuel Baldwin, b 1655+

Death and Legacy

Joanna Skidmore, wife of Thomas, made her will in 1667. She named children John, Daniel, Joanna and Abigail Westcott, and Sarah, Deborah andSamuel Baldwin.<ref>Jacobus, Donald Lines, MA (compiler, editor.) History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield. (Fairfield, Conn.: The Eunice Dennie Burr Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution, 1930.) Vol 1 p. 23 Nathaniel Baldwin</ref>
Joanna must have died before 1672, when Thomas Skidmore married to histhird wife, Sarah (Howes) (Whelpley) (Treadwell) (Keeler).<ref name="NGSQ68">Coldham, Peter Wilson, 1980 "Genealogical Gleanings in England." National Genealogical Society Quarterly. 68: 115-22, at 117 Sarah Howes' maiden name resolved.</ref> They were probably living at Huntington, Long Island, New York when she died.<ref name="Stratford CT - History"/> Some report that Joanna died on August 11, 1683, at age 58, at Hartford, Connecticut (without evidence or citation).

Research Notes

Book: Thomas Skidmore (Scudamore), 1605-1684, of Westerleigh, Gloucestershire, and Fairfield, Connecticut; his ancestors, and descendants to the ninth generation, Revised Date: 4 August 2010 by Warren Skidmore, p.7 ". . .It was here that he (Thomas Skidmore) married his second wife Joanna, the daughter of Thomas Paine, who came from Devon to Milford, Connecticut. Joanna was previously the widow of Nathaniel Baldwin who had died in 1658. She had married her first husband Richard Westacot in 1639 back in England at Brownston, Devon. She had four children by Westcott, and then three more by Baldwin who had been her second husband. Thomas Skidmore, herthird husband, seems to have been given the administration of the estates of both of her previous husbands. . ." PDF Book Website: http://www.skidmorefamilyhistory.com/Westerleigh%20book,%20revised%... originally believed that Joanna made a marriage contract withThomas Skidmore, but did not marry him (p 407).<ref name="Baldwin"/> He was following Mr. Byron A Baldwin, "a careful genealogist." In Charles Baldwin's ...Supplement, he corrects this statement by saying "the Skidmore marriage came off after all" and cites the Judd Papers, which state that in 1677, Nathaniel's son Samuel had of his father-n-law (step-father), two pieces of land. <ref name="Baldwin Supplement">Baldwin, Charles Candee, 1889 The Baldwin genealogy supplement. Cleveland, O, [Cleveland leader. print], Archive.org accessed 20 May 2016, Page 1082.</ref>*Some report that Joanna and Richard Westcoat divorced (without evidence or citation).*It is possible that Joanna was the same "Goody Baldwin" that was a witness in the Connecticut Witch Trial of Goody Knapp. See below reference.*The will of Joanna Skidmore was not found at Ancestry.com, which has Connecticut probate. Not there or perhaps not indexed? Ancestry's indexing is not perfect.

Sources

See also:

• http://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/joanna-adams_25900805 (Note: See spouse Thomas Skidmore's profile for more info)
• dnjprod@ comcast.net, (July 1998) "Skidmore:Scudamore, Skeydemore, Skidmore, Scudamore." from Windows Into OurPast, A Genealogy of the Parsons, Smith and Associated Families, Vol.1. 1996, by Judy Parsons Smith.
• Snow, Gail M., (Nov 17, 2006) Richard Skidmore Descendants of Jesse Thomas.
• Complete bio on Thomas Skidmore (Scudamore), 1605-1684, of Westerleigh, Gloucestershire, and Fairfield, Connecticut: his ancestors and hisdescendants to the ninth generation Skidmore history at this site below:
• http://johnsonfamily.talldude.net/gensource/view_source/1744/thomas...
• https://www.myheritage.com/names/joanna_westcoat, site of marriage to Richard, Joanna was 15 years old; possible age difference.
• Thomas Skidmore (Scudamore), 1605-1685, of Westerleigh, Glouchestershire, and Fairfield, Connecticut, 2nd Edition, by Warren Skidmore, 1985, pages 412-414.
• http://books.google.com/books?id=nJFRAAAAMAAJ&focus=searchwithinvol...
• R. G. Tomlinson's "Witch Trials of Connecticut; First Comprehensive Documented History" specifically page 7 which discusses the Goody Knappcase. As well as "The Baldwin Genealogy, from 1500 to 1881", pages 406 and 407
• Genealogies of Connecticut Families (Genealogical Pub. Co., 1983) Vol.1, Page 71