Re: Tombstone: Mrs. Elizabeth Skillen, 1772
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In reply to:
Re: Tombstone: Mrs. Elizabeth Skillen, 1772
Bruce Douglass 8/13/07
I have Benjamin, the son of Thomas and Mary Lewis Skillings and grandson of Thomas and Deborah as marrying an Elizabeth.
According to T.S. Henley, as quoted from an Internet site, "[Mary Lewis's] son Benjamin Skillin ... with wife Deliverance, in a deed dated 17 Sep 1717, conveying 23-2/4 acres of land..." while in NH. I don't have the text, but have read that this is supported by a later deposition given in Falmouth that identifies Deliverance as wife of Benjamin.
I have seen references to Benjamin marrying an Elizabeth. Of course, this is muddled by the general confusion between the two Benjamins. However, in any event, the only source for this that I can find is the Marblehead, Mass, tombstone of Mrs. Elizabeth Skillen mentioned in my earlier posting which does not identify the husband. If this tombstone instead belongs to Mrs. Elizabeth (Foster) Skillins, who married Joseph Skillins, that would leave no facts supporting a marriage of either Benjmain to an Elizabeth. Do you know of something else to suggest such a union?
have a son Isaac who married Mary Brackett
Agree entirely on this coupling. NEGHR 17:150 lists this marriage amongst the "Early Records of Falmouth." Given that Isaac is about 40, it is possible this is a second marriage, though I have found no evidence of an earlier one. However, the presence of Isaac, son of the Benjamin above, in Maine is part of the series of facts that makes me believe that it was the grandson Benjamin that returned to Maine, resettling on a farm that belonged to his father Thomas Jr., as opposed to being the son Benjamin resettling on a farm that belonged to the immigrant Thomas, Sr. (Willis' History of Portland ambiguously says only that "Benjamin Skillings and Zachariah Brackett occupied the farms at Back Cove that had belonged to their fathers...")
I don't have any information on Benjamin's (son of Thomas & deborah) wife
Vital records of Ipswich, Mass show "Benja. Skillion" and "Mary Jewett", apparently daughter of Nehemiah Jewett, registering intentions to marry on April 24, 1708. This appears to be his second wife, as prior to this, the same source also shows birth records for Benjamin and Susanna Skillion of 2 children, Elizabeth and John. I believe this is the son of the original immigrant Thomas. Since he was about 4 at time of father's death, it is highly likely he would have relocated to Ipswich with his mother Deborah, the widow of the immigrant, who married a George Hadley in Ipswich in 1668.