| Home | Heritage | Fam Histories - Mom's | Surnames | Other Stuff | What's New | E Mail |
Notes, Questions and Errata 
Knowlton
With contributions from the archives of the Knowlton Mail List

 

Charles Stocking's work, "The History and Genealogy of the Knowltons of England and America", contains more than a few errors, and should be used only as a guide; and, in connection with the Errata Corrections of his work, published in 1903, by E. H. Knowlton.
 



Captain William, our immigrant ancestor  is a son of Richard and Elizabeth (Cantize) Knowlton of Kent, England ??

This is the lineage stated in Stocking. Based on some research conducted in this century, this is now in question. Research in England has failed to turn up any tangible evidence of his relationship to the English lineage given by Stocking.



Captain William's wife might be Smith... or she might be Rice??

Charles Stocking, in the Knowltons of England and America, 1897, said that "the English tradition is that her name was Ann Elizabeth Smith". I guess he meant a verbal legend. Subsequent research in England by a professional research service hired by ______, has turned up a marriage for a person who could be our Captain William to an lady with the last name Rice, and none for Smith. So, the search goes on....



The Parentage of Hannah Green (Wife of Thomas, Sr: William > William > Thomas, Sr.)

Stocking, and other authorities, principally from the 19th century, agreed that William and Hannah (Green) Knowlton were the parents of the Hannah Green that married Thomas Knowlton, Sr. There is currently in the LDS ancestral file, a tree showing this Hannah Green married to Thomas Knowlton, Sr. and Joseph Richardson, at the same time, having babies with each, at the same time. It appears there was a second Hannah Green from Malden, who married Joseph Richardson, from Woburn, and some folks are getting them mixed up. As near as I've been able to determine, this started with the History of Woburn, by Sewall, towards the beginning of this century.

We now know, from documents in William Green's estate packet, that Stocking was right on this one, that the Hannah Green, daughter of William Green of Woburn, is the Hannah Green married to Thomas Knowlton. See details at the Green Research Notes Page.



When and Where Did Thomas Knowlton, Sr. Die?

Stocking shows the date/place of death of Thomas Knowlton, Sr. as February 28, 1717, in Ispwich, Mass. He shows Hannah died October 24, 1708.

The Vital Records of Norwich, Conn, show entries for a Thomas Knowlton (with a "jur" after the name, possibly Junior?), died November 2, 1711. Then, shows Hannah Knowlton, wife of Thomas, died Oct 24, 1708. Where does the Ipswich date come from? If that is him, who is the Thomas Knowlton shown as November 2, 1711 in Norwich, Conn? We already have Thomas, Jr. accounted for as having died Sep 25, 1730, in East Haddam, Conn.



The Hammatt Papers of Ispwich show an erroneous family structure for our family.

The family structure of the Hammatt Papers, by Abraham Hamatt, 1854, is generally not accepted now, in favor of the family struture that Stocking developed. The Hammatt Papers show a Thomas, son of Captain William, probably never married, date of death unknown. He then shows a Deacon Thomas Knowlton, "probably son of William", with a wife of Susannah, date of death of April 12, 1692. He then shows the Thomas Knowlton who married Margery Wilson, with Margery Wilson and some of the children, in a "laundry list" of Knowltons found in various records. He doesn't say how his third Thomas is tied into the scheme of things.

I think most researchers now accept Stockings theory that there were only two Thomas Knowltons here, not two. Deacon Thomas Knowlton is accepted as son of Captain William, and it was he who was married to a Susannah and died April 12, 1692. Then the Thomas Knowlton who married Margery Wilson is the Thomas Knowlton who was the son of William.
 



Elizabeth Balch as the Wife of William, Jr, one of the Knowlton Brothers has been disproved?
 
Stocking showed only a first name of Elizabeth for the wife of William Knowlton, son of the father immigrant, and one of the Knowlton brothers of Ipswich. Somewhere along the line, folks have started adding Elizabeth Balch as the wife of William Knowlton, including Torrey (New England Marriages Before 1700). I have been informed by knowledgeable researchers in the Knowlton newsgroup that this identity has been disproved, although I've not seen the research that led to her identity, or to the disproving of it.

For those descendants in that branch wanting to learn more, I suggest you seek out the microfilm with Torrey's sources listed and start from there.



Identity of Margaret, wife of John Knowlton - Wilson??

The Essex Antiquarian reports this will for Margery Knowlton:

Savage on Theophilus Wilson: The Will of Jane Kenning:

There are several ways the above combination of names could be applied, especially if one were to use the term "brother" or "sister" for "brother-in-law" or "sister-in-law". One of those possibilities is that Jane Kenning, Theophilus Wilson, and Margery Knowlton might be all Wilsons and siblings. But, that isn't the only possibility. It is also possible that Jane, Margery, and Theophilus' wife, Elizabeth were sisters, with a completely different name.

It's also interesting the Tredwells are witnesses to both wills, but named in either. Torrey says the wife of Thomas Treadwell was Mary Taylor.

I have presently entered the above set of names in my database as:
 

I'd be interested in knowing if anyone has any more definite information about the relationships of the people named in that will.



Note: These notes and comments have primarily been compiled and restated here from the Knowlton Mail List archives. Many thanks to contributing Knowlton researchers.

 

Related Links:
Return to the Index of Knowlton Pages at this site.
 


| Top of PageHome | Heritage | Fam Histories - Mom's | Surnames | Other Stuff | What's New | E Mail |

Copyright 1998 Norris Taylor