Chat
|
Daily Search
|
My GenForum
|
Community Standards
|
Terms of Service
|
|
|
The Priscilla Leonard mentioned in the Bertie County records is the daughter of John and Martha (Godwin) Cotten. I have seen it said that her husband's name was Francis Leonard but have not come across any original records to confirm that. Thomas Bryant and William Bennett were the executors of John Cotten's will and I assume were holding her legacy in trust until she reached 21 which would not be until three months later. Why she wanted her brother Alexander to have control of the inheritance instead of Bryant and Bennett, I don't know.
The Priscilla Cotten who married Richard Wills was the daughter of William Cotten and Sarah Dew and was therefore the niece of the above mentioned Priscilla (Cotten) Leonard. I have serious doubts that she was the mother of Mary Wills Tart Cotten. Sarah Dew was married twice, first to William Bridger and then to William Cotten. William Bridger wrote his will in 1729 and named four children. Sarah named five children by William Bridger in her 1753 will so the youngest, Patience, was evidently born after William's death or at least after he wrote the will. If you assume that Patience Bridger was born in 1730, that Sarah remarried shortly thereafter and that Priscilla Cotten was the first born child by William Cotten, she still couldn't have been born much before 1732. Since Mary (Wills) Tart had her first child in 1764, that would mean that Priscilla would have had to give birth to Mary when she was 16 and then Mary would have given birth to her first child also at 16. So you would have a 15 year old girl who married a man in his fifties (James Tart) and then immediately deserted him and took up with her second cousin who was in his fourties (John Cotten III). It seems unlikely.
Another problem is that in the will of Willie Cotten (son of John III and Mary and brother of your ancestor John IV), he leaves a legacy to his aunt Elizabeth Cotten and her three daughters. Elizabeth was not the sister of John Cotten so I assume she was Mary's sister. The problem is that Elizabeth was the widow of William Cotten Jr., brother of Priscilla Cotten who married Richard Wills. That would mean William married his own niece. Now first cousin marriages were perfectly acceptable in those days and not uncommon but marrying a niece was definitely taboo. I guess he might have been using a broader definition of "aunt" as she would have been his great aunt by marriage (Willie's grandmother's brother's widow).
Mary Cotten does mention her mother Priscilla Wills in her will but as far as I know, people are only assuming that this is Priscilla Cotten. Priscilla was not that unusual of a name and certainly some other Wills male might have married another Priscilla. In view of the dates involved, I think that is more likely. I guess it could also be that Mary was Richard Wills' daughter by a previous marriage and that Priscilla was actually her stepmother. Unfortunately I don't know a lot about the genealogy of the Wills family and I suppose that would have to be investigated to get the answers you are looking for.
Notify Administrator about this message?
Followups:
|
| http://genforum.genealogy.com/cotton/messages/2449.html | ||
 |
Link to GenForum Add Forum |
|