Mary Churchill

Thomas Doty was the son of Edward Doty and Faith Clarke. His wife was born as Mary Churchill (daughter of John Churchill and Hannah Potus) and died as Mary Churchill, widow of Henry Churchill.

Mary Churchill confessed to the court, 17 Jan 1671, that she had become pregnant by Thomas Dotey in July or August of that year. Source: Roser, Susan E., Mayflower Increasings, 1995.

Ca 1674 Thomas first married Mary Churchill, daughter of John Churchill (-1 Jan 1663) & Hannah Pontus, in Plymouth, MA.31 Born on 1 Aug 1654 in Plymouth, MA. Mary died after 1725. She married Henry Churchill 2nd.

Their children include:

1. Martha Doty (Illegitimate) (ca May 1672-)
2. Hannah Doty (Dec 1675-12 Apr 1764):
3. Thomas Doty (Posthumous) (22 Jul 1679-ca 1721)

Notes

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/LKKZ-RCC

TAG 71(1996): 114-120, article: "DOTY AND CHURCHILL OF PLYMOUTH COLONY; The Two Claimed Wives of Thomas2 Doty," by Barbara Lambert Merrick:

"Thomas2 Doty (Edward1) was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts about 1641- 42[1] and died there on 4 or 5 December 1678.[2] The question of whether he had one wife named Mary Churchill, or two wives, the second also named Mary, surname unknown, has been a matter of conjecture for many years.[3] An examination of all the many court documents proves that Thomas2 Doty had only one wife, Mary Churchill, and that she was the mother of all three of his known children. Mary (Churchill) Doty married second, Henry Churchill, whose parentage has not been ascertained.

Proof of Mary Churchill's parentage was found in the published Plymouth Col­ony Records, which state that "Mary, the daughter of John Churchill, [was] borne the first of August" in the year 1654 at Plymouth.[4] Her mother was Hannah Pontus, John Churchill's second wife, whom he had married on 18 December 1644.[5]

The nuncupative will of John Churchill Sr., dated Tuesday 24 December 1662 mentioned his wife; sons, Joseph, Eleazer, John and William; daughter Hannah; and stated "at his wifes Decease that then such of his children as have had noth­inge in particular as above given them, should have what is left in equal propor­tions to equalize what is given to them fornamed, as far as it will goe."[6]

This instrument does not mention his known daughter, Mary, or his reputed son, Henry Churchill, but it is agreed that it made provision for an unnamed child or children.

John Churchill's widow, Hannah (Pontus) Churchill, daughter of William and Wybra (Hanson) Pontus, married second at Plymouth 25 June 1669, as his third wife, Giles Rickard.[7] Hannah died in Plymouth on 22 December 1690,[8] and the "Inventory of the Estate of Hannah Rickard, Deceased," was taken on 17 March 1691 (probably 1690/1).[9] It mentioned state "now in the possession of her Children," listed no real estate, and accounted for personal property "At Joseph Churchels"; "At Eleazer Churchils"; "At John Churchels"; "At John Drews"; "At William Churchels"; "At Henry Churchels"; with "things Given to her Grand child Hannah Dotey" and "things given to Martha Dotey."

Birth records have been found for only three of John and Hannah (Pontus) Churchill's children. Hannah Churchill was born at Plymouth on 12 November 1649 and Eliezer was born there on 20 April 1652.[10] The record for their daughter Mary Churchill was cited earlier. The remainder of their children have been de­termined from the will of John Churchill and the inventory of Hannah (Pontus) (Churchill) Rickard, both of which name the same four sons, Joseph, Eleazer, John and William Churchill. John Drew's marriage record has not been found but he is accounted for, as a son-in-law, by the fact that the mother of his children was a woman named Hannah,[11] which provides good circumstantial evidence that the daughter Hannah, named in John Churchill's will, was the wife of John Drew, who was mentioned in Hannah (Pontus) (Churchill) Rickard's inventory. The grand-child Hannah Doty is identified in her birth record as the daughter of Thomas Doty and Mary his wife,[12] proving that her mother Mary's maiden name was Churchill and that she is Mary, the (known) daughter of John Churchill. Martha Doty is assumed to be, not a child of Hannah (Pontus) (Churchill) Rickard, but the illegitimate child born out of wedlock to daughter, Mary Churchill, prior to her marriage to Thomas2 Doty.[13] Of all of the individuals named in the above instru­ments, this leaves only Henry Churchill to be identified.

Hannah (Pontus) (Churchill) Rickard disposed of her real property in a series of deeds to her known (Churchill) sons, Joseph, Eleazer, John and William.[14] No Plymouth County deed has been found in which she gives land to Henry Churchill.

There is one additional piece of land evidence which is of great import to this family: On 30 June 1690, Hannah Rickard of Plimouth, widow, formerly wife of John Churchill, for "the love and natural affection and other valuable causes and considerations and hereunto especially moving have given granted ...unto "Mary Churchell "my true and natural daughter," one quarter part of a share of land belonging to Middleborough alias Namasket commonly called the sixteen shilling purchase..." (emphasis added).[15] This document proves that Mary (Churchill) (Doty) Churchill was Hannah (Pontus) (Churchill) Rickard's own birth daughter by calling her "natural daughter," a term reserved for a blood relationship. Therefore, Mary's second husband, Henry Churchill, was not a son of John and Hannah (Pontus) Churchill, as claimed by Mrs. Barclay,[16] for Mary could not have married her own brother.

The above instrument, combined with the knowledge that Henry Churchill did not receive any of the land holdings of Hannah (Pontus) (Churchill) Rickard, indicates that his name appeared in her inventory because he was the second husband of Mary (Churchill) (Doty) Churchill, daughter of the deceased and her first hus­band, John Churchill. He was listed there as a son-in-law, as was customary, just as John Drew was listed because he was the husband of Mary Churchill's sister, Hannah (Churchill) Drew. Daughters were not listed separately unless they were widows...

Footnotes:

• 1. Marion B. Cushman, et al., comps., Mayflower Families in Progress: Edward Doty... 2d ed. (Plymouth, 1993), 3; hereafter cited as MFIP: Doty.
• 2. Plymouth Colony Wills and Inventories 4:33, Plymouth Co. Commissioners' Office, Plymouth; George Ernest Bowman, "Thomas2 Doty's Will and Inventory," The Mayflower De­scendant [MD] 4(1902):233-34. His nuncupative will states that it was "Comitted to writing December the 5th within 24 houres after the Death of the said Thomas Dotey."
• 3. See Ethan Allan Doty, comp., The Doty-Doten Family in America, Descendants of Edward Doty, an Emigrant by the Mayflower, 1620 (Brooklyn, N.Y., 1897), 268-69 (hereafter cited as Doty-Doten Fam.); Gardner Asaph Churchill and Nathaniel Wiley Churchill, comps., The Churchill Family in America, ed. Rev. George M. Bodge (n.p., 1904), 5; Mrs. John E. Barclay, "Notes on the Doty and Churchill Families," TAG 36(1960): 1-9.
• 4. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff and David Pulsifer, eds., Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England, 12 vols. in 10 (Boston, 1855-61), 8: 16: hereafter cited as Plym. Col. Recs.
• 5. Plym. Col. Recs., 2:79.
• 6. [George Ernest Bowman} "John Churchill's Will and lnventory," MD 18(19l6):40-41.
• 7. Lee D. van Antwerp, comp., Vital Records of Plymouth, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850. ed. Ruth Wilder Sherman (Camden, Maine, 1993), 666; hereafter cited as Plymouth VR.
• 8. Plymouth VR, 135.
• 9. "Abstracts of the Plymouth County. Mass., Probate Records and Files": Estate of Hannah Rickard, MID 30(1932):142-43
• 10. Plym. Col. Recs., 8:7. 14.
• 11. Plymouth VR, 6.
• 12. Plymouth VR, 4.
• 13. Plym. Col. Recs., 5:83, 94.
• 14. Plymouth Colony Deeds 3:301; Plymouth Co., Mass., Deeds 1:3 15, 7:178, 9: 197, 9:314, 10:612, 12:178.
• 15. Plymouth Co. Deeds 3:157.
• 16. TAG 36(1960):5..."

References

• "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F457-LRQ : 9 February 2018), Mary in entry for Hannah Doty, Dec 1675; citing Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, p7; FHL microfilm 416,334. Notes Hannah Doty, dau. of Thomas Doty & Mary, birth record. Found on database page numbers, 13 & 203
• "Massachusetts Marriages, 1695-1910," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHL9-T3V : 9 February 2018), Henery Churchill and Mary Widow Doty, 08 Feb 1687; citing reference p154; FHL microfilm 416,334.