Re: Ebenezer Allen 1649-1725 & wife/wives
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In reply to:
Re: Ebenezer Allen 1649-1725 & wife/wives
Leslie Ballou 5/16/02
Leslie:
I am going on gut feeling as much as anything.I do not think that Ebenezer married an 11 year old girl.
If Zebulon, Sr. was residing in Saybrook, Connecticut, Ebenezer would have had to have travelled from Dartmouth across Rhode Island and half of Connecticut to find her.I know of no information that suggests Ebenezer resided anywhere but Dartmouth.How would he have met Zebulon's daughter?Also, I believe the Abigail Allen that is mentioned in your e-mail was the daughter of Zebulon, Jr.Since he was probably born in about 1663, he most likely was not married until about 1683.As such, his daughter, Abigail would not have even been born when Ebenezer was married.There were quite a few Allens in Connecticut, so there is a good possibility that Zebulon, Jr.s daughter married some other Allen.
I would not totally rule out a second marriage for Ebenezer, but again, how would they have met, and was she even Quaker?The fact that everybody still states that our Abigail's birth date is the date that her parents, Zebulon and Elizabeth, were married indicates to me that someone tried very hard to make things fit, and the real Abigail Hill being born in 1670 does not fit.However, repeat a non-fact often enough and pretty soon it becomes fact.
I do not believe Ebenezer married an 11 year old girl (if we are dealing with Zebulon, Sr.'s daughter), nor do I believe he married a girl who had not even been born yet (if we are dealing with Zebulon, Jr's daughter).I still believe that someone many years ago saw that Ebenezer was married to a woman named Abigail and that they had a son named Zebulon.I also think they came across Zebulon Hill, Sr. and Jr., both of whom had daughters named Abigail, one specifically identified as Abigail Allen.And, even though neither was old enough, or residing anywhere close to Dartmouth, they simply took it upon themselves to claim that Jr.'s daughter was actually Sr.'s daughter, and to make it look legitimate they gave her an earlier birth date that was recorded in the Salem records, but was actually the date that Zebulon, Sr. and Elizabeth were married.Unfortunately, this stuff happens all to often.I remember years ago, my wife and I were in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and two ladies sitting next to us were looking at a census film.All of a sudden one of them said:"Here is a Thomas Brown who is in the right county and about the right age."The other lady looked at the film and said:"The wife's name and the children's names are wrong, but it must be the right family.Maybe they were using nicknames."They then proceeded to write down the census data and left.To this day my wife and I laugh about this incident.One look at the misinformation listed on the International Genealogical Index (IGI), however, and one would think that these two ladies submitted a large percentage of that data.Oh well, enough of that.
I had hoped to put more effort into the Abigail search last week, but just did not have the time.The answer is probably in the Saybrook records somewhere.
Jack
More Replies:
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Re: Ebenezer Allen 1649-1725 & wife/wives
Leslie Ballou 5/17/02
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Eben W. Allen , son of Job and Sarah
D Reid 7/23/03
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Re: Ebenezer Allen 1649-1725 & wife/wives: a mystery solved
Olive Hoffman 10/01/05
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Re: Ebenezer Allen 1649-1725 & wife/wives: a mystery solved
Claire McDonald 4/28/07
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Re: Ebenezer Allen 1649-1725 & wife/wives: a mystery solved
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Eben W. Allen , son of Job and Sarah