Mary Shipley, {Fictional}

Not the wife of Captain Abraham Lincoln, I

Mary Shipley {Fictional}

Caution: No Abraham Lincoln Ancestry

James Hanks and his wife Lucy Shipley have in the past been believed to be the parents of Nancy Hanks, wife of Thomas Lincoln, and Abraham Lincoln's mother. DNA tests have now proven that such a relationship is impossible and Abraham Lincoln has no Shipley ancestry.

The Fall 2016 issue of American Ancestors confirms through mtDNA studies that Nancy Hanks' father remains unknown. The article specifically disproves the theory of Hanks' ancestry through the Shipley family, because Nancy's mtDNA carries the haplogroup X1c, while the sometimes-assumed Shipley ancestors carry an mtDNA haplogroup of H. Specifically, descendants of both Rachel Shipley, who married Richard Berry, and Naomi Shipley, who married Robert Mitchell, carry the H Haplogroup.

Disproved descent

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln_%28captain%29

10. The assertion that Abraham was first married to Mary Shipley was refuted by William E. Barton, The Lineage of Lincoln, 1929, pp. 71-73, 176, 178, 181-183.From pp. 71-72, regarding Robert and Mary Shipley of Lunenburg County, Virginia, and their alleged five daughters, "...these five daughters are not to be found in the Virginia records." Barton's final statement on the alleged Mary Shipley, page 182: "There is not a dot on an i nor the cross of a t in any contemporary record to show that Abraham Lincoln of Virginia had any other wife than Bathsheba. Mary Shipley Lincoln is a fictitious character."

Disproved

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Hanks_Lincoln_heritage#Mary_Shi...

There is also a theory that Captain Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Lincoln's father, was married first to Mary Shipley.[56][nb 6] Lea and Hutchinson said in 1909 that Mary Shipley was from Lunenburg County, Virginia. She was believed to be the daughter of Robert and Sarah Shipley. Having died by 1779, Mary is believed, under this theory, to be the mother of Captain Abraham Lincoln's oldest children. Bathsheba Lincoln appears on real estate documents by 1780 and is believed to be the mother of Thomas Lincoln.[58]

Author and historian William Barton said in 1927 that the following account was undisputed for 25 years: Mary Shipley was sister to women who married: Joseph Hanks, maternal grandfather of Nancy Hanks, Mr. Berry, Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Thompson, all from Lunenburg County, Virginia. All five Shipley sisters are said to have moved to Washington County, Kentucky. This would make the following connection for Abraham: "Thomas Lincoln, son of Abraham and Mary Shipley Lincoln, married Nancy daughter of Joseph and Mary Shipley Hanks; and their second child and first son was Abraham Lincoln."[59]

However, Barton was unable to find any documentation that showed that the Hanks and Shipleys lived near one another during the time periods in question. There were Hawks family members, though, who lived near Shipleys, Mitchells and Thompsons; previous writers assumed the Hawks family were later called the Hanks family. He did find, though, the birthplace of Nancy Hanks in Hampshire County, Virginia and the Joseph Hanks family on the 1782 census for that area.[60]

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References

• “Nancy Hanks Lincoln mtDNA Study: Unlocking the Secrets of Abraham Lincoln’s Maternal Ancestry” (2015)
• Christopher C. Child. "The Hanks DNA Study: I Was Wrong!", American Ancestors, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vol 17, no. 3, Fall 2016, pp. 55-57.
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/68957105/mary-lincoln has errors