Mercy Freeman

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Unknown-517787

Unknown-517787 created 2 Oct 2012 | Last modified 31 Mar 2022

Biography

Maiden Name Unproven

It has been suggested that Mercy's maiden name was Hedge and Bradford, although no evidence has yet been presented to verify either name. She was identified in Deane's 1864 "Watson Genealogy" as Mercy Hedge, daughter of William Hedge,[1] but no evidence or citation was given. In 1875, Frederick Freeman's Freeman Genealogy[2] claimed that Mercy was "a Bradford," again with no source attributed. It is true that William Hedge named a daughter Marcye in his Will, but he does not give a married name, if she was indeed married by the time he made his Will. In 1935, George Ernest Bowman agreed that Elkanah Watson's widow did marry John Freeman, but he could find no evidence of Mercy's maiden name.[3] New England Marriages to 1700 also does not confirm Mercy/s maiden name, only using "Hedge?".[4] The lack of evidence for Mercy's maiden name is emphasized by Robert Charles Anderson in The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633.[5] The latest research touching Mercy, Barbara Lambert Merrick's 2014 Mayflower Families through Five Generations, Vol 24 Part 1, "The Descendants of Elder William Brewster," found nothing new.[6] As there is no evidence to support any maiden name, it is shown on her profile as Unknown.

Marriages and Family

Elkanah Watson and Mercy (?Hedge) had four children:[7]

John Watson, b. Oct 1678
Phebe Watson, b. June 1681; married Edmund Freeman
Mercy Watson, b. Oct. 1683; married John Freeman
Mary Watson, b. Oct. 1688; married Nathaniel Freeman & Joseph Freeman
John Freeman married second Mercy (?Hedge) Watson between 21 April 1696 and 6 July 1698. Mercy, perhaps the daughter of Capt. William Hedge born between September 1658 and 4 July 1659, died in Harwich on 27 September 1721, and was buried with her husband. Mercy William Hedgemarried first Elkanah Watson before the beginning of October 1678. Elkanah, son of George and Phebe (Hicks) Watson, was born in Plymouth on 25 February 1655/6 and died in Plymouth on 8 February 1689/90 having drowned in Plymouth Harbor with Edward Doty Sr. and his son John Doty. [8] John Freeman and Mercy Hedge had just one child:

Elizabeth Freeman, b. 6 July 1698; married John Bacon[9]
Mrs. Marcy Freeman died in the 63rd year of her age on 27 Sep 1721 and is buried at the Old Burying Ground, Brewster, Barnstable, Massachusetts.[10]

Mercy (Unknown) Freeman (1658 - 1721)

Mercy Freeman formerly [surname unknown] aka Watson, Hedge, Bradford

Born 1658 [location unknown]

Daughter of William Hedge [uncertain] and [mother unknown]

[sibling%28s%29 unknown]

Wife of Elkanah Watson — married 26 Nov 1677 (to 8 Feb 1690) in Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusetts

Wife of John Freeman Jr — married 21 Apr 1696 [location unknown]

Mother of John Watson Esq., Phebe (Watson) Freeman, Mercy (Watson) Freeman, Mary (Watson) Freeman and Elizabeth (Freeman) Bacon

Died 27 Sep 1721 at about age 63 in Harwich, Barnstable, Massachusetts

Sources

↑ "Watson Genealogy", communicated by William Reed Deane; NEHGR 18 (Oct 1864):363 at 365. Accessed on 19 June 2020 at InternetArchive.org Page 365
↑ Freeman, Frederick; Freeman Genealogy, Boston, Franklin press, Rand, Avery, and company, 1875. Page 35. Accessed on 19 June 2020 at HathiTrust.org. Page 35
↑ Bowman, George Ernest "John Freeman of Eastham and Harwich, His Wives, His Children, His Will and His Widow's Estate," The Mayflower Descendant 33 (1935):100 at 101. Accessed on 19 June 2020 at AmericanAncestors.org. Page 100 AA, or at GoogleBooks: Page 100
↑ New England Marriages to 1700. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. Vol. 3, Page 1607. Page 1607 AA
WATSON, Elkanah (1659, 1655/6-1690) & Mercy/Mary [HEDGE?] (1659-1721), m/2 John FREEMAN ca 1697?, 1696+; by 1676?, by 1678; Plymouth {Reg. 18:365; MD 5:55, 16:62, 33:101; Briggs-DeGroff 374, 442; Cape Cod Lib. 44:2; Bassett-Preston 115; Gen. Adv. 1:113; Snow-Estes 1:166; Waterman (1939) 82; Plymouth (Davis) 277; Capen (31); Brewster (ms( 63; Freeman 39; Pilgrim Notes 5:109; Hedge 2 correction; Brewster 23; Lincoln 33; Farr Anc. 115; Watson (1864); Foster 565.
↑ Anderson, Robert Charles The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633. Volumes I-III. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010), (Originally Published as: New England Historic Genealogical Society. Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vols., 1995). Page 906. Page 906
↑ Barbara Lambert Merrick's Mayflower Families through Five Generations Vol 24 Part 1, "The Descendants of Elder William Brewster," General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 2014. "The Silver Book" Page 283-284.
On p. 283: “John married second Mercy (?Hedge) Watson between 21 April 1696 and 6 July 1698. Mercy, perhaps the daughter of Capt. William Hedge…” Footnote 1490: ”Named in father’s will as a minor, post vide; See GMB, 2:906, and MD, 33:100-114.”

On p. 284: “In his will dated 30 June 1670 and proved 11 August 1670, William Hedge Sr. of Yarmouth gave his daughter ‘Marcye’ Ł50…”
↑ Barbara Lambert Merrick, Mayflower Families through Five Generations, Vol 24 Part 1, The Descendants of Elder William Brewster, General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 2014. "The Silver Book" Page 288
↑ Barbara Lambert Merrick, Mayflower Families through Five Generations, Vol 24 Part 1, The Descendants of Elder William Brewster, General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 2014. "The Silver Book" Page 283-284
↑ Barbara Lambert Merrick, Mayflower Families through Five Generations, Vol 24 Part 1, The Descendants of Elder William Brewster, General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 2014. "The Silver Book" Page 288
↑ Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 19 June 2020), memorial page for Marcy Hedge Watson Freeman (1658–27 Sep 1721), Find A Grave: Memorial #35900289, citing Old Burying Ground, Brewster, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by Kevin Avery (contributor 47024642) .
Watson, John Lee. Memoirs of the Marstons of Salem (Watson, Boston, Massachusetts,1873) Page 39

• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Jan 20 2021, 21:23:10 UTC