Margaret Wells

A Margaret Luce is sometimes said to have been a daughter of Abraham Luce and Cycely Darke, who were marreid in 1604 in Horton, Gloiucestershire. However, she is not among their recorded children.

The identification is complicated because some genealogists identify Margaret as the wife of John Harris, married 15 February 1620 at Sandon, Essex. Other genealogists identify her as the wife of Isaac Wells, of Barnstable, Massachusetts.

Sources

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/177779117/margaret-wells

• Justin Swanstrom, A Phantom Margaret Luce, Jan. 10, 2019.

The introductory problem is that some researchers attribute Abraham Luce and Cycely (Darke) Luce with a daughter Margaret.

Parish records for Horton, the home of this family, show Abraham and Cycely were married in 1604 and had children Abraham (1605), Israel (1605), and John (1608).

Many Luce researchers will recognize this Israel instantly. He’s often claimed as the father of Henry Luce, immigrant to colonial Massachusetts. There’s no direct evidence but some researchers believe the circumstantial evidence makes the relationship probable.

Anyway, no Margaret.

Yet a Margaret, supposed daughter of this couple, is claimed as an ancestor by two different families in conflicting scenarios. That in itself seems quite a feat for someone for whom there is no evidence anyway.

Margaret is claimed as:

• Wife of Isaac Wells, the immigrant to Barnstable, Massachusetts
• Wife of John Harris, of Sandon, Essex

She can’t be both. There’s no evidence she was either. But here she is spread across our Internet world:

• Margaret (Luce) Harris on FamilySearch, with husband and parents
• Margaret (Luce) Wells on Geni, with husband and parents
• Margaret (Luce) Wells on Wikitree, with husband but no parents

Margaret and John Harris were (supposedly) married 15 February 1620 in Sandon, Essex. That’s 160 miles from Horton. If John Harris’ wife was really a Luce it is far more likely she belonged to a Luce family in or near Sandon.

Margaret and Isaac Wells were married, say about 1620, probably near his home at Welches Dam, Cambridgeshire. That’s 170 miles from Horton. Here again, if Isaac’s wife was really a Luce it is far more likely she belonged to a Luce family in or near Welches Dam.

And this doesn’t begin to deal the problems of estimated ages in these different versions.

Someone will have to get serious about this problem and do some comprehensive clean up across the Internet. In the meantime, these lines should be treated with extraordinary caution.

GEDCOM Note

Category: England, Luce Name Study Category: Massachusetts, Luce Name Study
name=Luce

Biography

... Margaret ---, who d. bef 24 Aug 1675 when her inventory was taken.Administration granted 27 Oct 1675 to Mr. John Miller and Isaac Chapman (son of Margaret's dau Lydia), said to be "nearly related to her and entitled to her property", indicating no (living?) children of her own. <ref> Hawes, James W. "Nicholas Snow of Eastham", in Smith, Leonard H,comp. Cape Cod library of local history and genealogy: a facsimilie edition of 108 pamphlets published in the early 20th centur y. (Baltimore [Maryland]: Genealogical Pub. Co., c1992), p. 23. digital at https://familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.a...</ref>

Name

: Name: Margaret /Luce/
:: Source: #S404 ::: Page: Database online. :::: Text: Record for Abigail Welles : Name: Margaret /Luce/<ref>Source: #S1726303613 Page: Place: Maryland; Year: 1662; Page Number: 494. Note: http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=sse&db=pili354&h=1365875&ti=0&indiv=... Note: Data: Text: Arrival date: 1662Arrival place: Maryland APID: 1,7486::1365875</ref>

Birth

: Birth: :: Date: 1600 :: Place: ,,,England :: Source: #S404 ::: Page: Database online. :::: Text: Record for Abigail Welles

: Birth: :: Date: ABT 1600 :: Place: , , , England

Marriage

: Husband: Isaac Willis Wells : Wife: Margaret Luce : Child: Lydia Willis : Marriage: :: Date: ABT 1620 :: Place: , , England

Event

:: Type: Arrival :: Date: 1662:: Place: Maryland<ref>Source: #S1726303613 Page: Place: Maryland; Year: 1662; Page Number: 494. Note: http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=sse&db=pili354&h=1365875&ti=0&indiv=... Note: Data: Text:Arrival date: 1662Arrival place: Maryland APID: 1,7486::1365875</ref>

Death

:: Date: 1675 :: Place: Barnstable,Barnstable,Massachusetts,USA :: Source: #S404 ::: Page: Database online. :::: Text: Record for Abigail Welles

Ancestral File Number

: Ancestral File Number: G48F-RB

Sources

• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Unknown-621460 cites

<references />* Source: S1711808296 Ancestry Family Tree: http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=14996197&pid... * Source: S1726303613 Title: Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s Author: Gale Research Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009.Original data - Filby, P. William, ed.. Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s. Farmington Hills, MI, USA: Gale Research, 2009.Original data: Filby, P. William, ed.. Passeng Note: APID: 1,7486::0

• Source S32 : Type: Ancestral File : Title: Ancestral File (TM) : Author: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints :: Abbreviation: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints : Publication: June 1998 (c), data as of 5 JAN 1998 : Abbreviation: Church Resources - Ancestral File (TM) : Master Listing Source: Y : Name: Family History Library : Address: 35 N West Temple Street :: Salt Lake City, UT 84150 USA
• Source S404 : Author: Ancestry.com : Title: Public Member Trees: Publication: Name: The Generations Network, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2006;