PrenticeNet

We are helping Debra in her efforts to identify her Prentice roots. Here is what we have so far:

1. Abigail Prentice who was b. c. 1666 but where we are not sure. She is called "of Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts. Abigail died 25 Oct 1732 and is bur. in the Old Arlington Cemetery.

Abigail m. John Stratton Jr. c.1688 in MA. John was b. 24 Aug 1661 at Watertown, son of John Stratton Sr. and Elizabeth Traine. John Jr. d. 20 Feb 1718 at Watertown. He is also bur in the Old Arlington Cemetery, Watertown. Children (and their descendants, see Ancestry.com ):

1. John Stratton, b. 4 May 1689, Watertown and d. 27 Mar 1735. He m. Mercy Holden who was b. 1689 in Watertown.
2. Ebenezer Stratton, b. 12 Dec 1692, Watertown and d. 1735. He m. Lydia Fuller who was b. 14 Feb 1695, Newton, Middlesex Co., MA. This is Marcia Maloney's line per her email of 24 Feb 2008 which traces Ebenezer's roots down to Mary Abigail Walker, b. 1866 and d. 1962, her maternal great-grandmother.
3. Abigail Stratton, twin, b. 14 Sep 1698, Watertown, and d. 2 Mar 1788 in Newton, MA. She m. John Stone on 4 Nov 1719 in MA.
4. Mary Stratton, twin, b. 14 Sep 1698 and d. before 1741. She m. Samuel Myrick on 14 May 1718 in Watertown. He was b. 1 Mar 1690 in Newton, Middlesex Co., MA.
5. Jabez Stratton, b. 28 Mar 1701, Watertown, and d. 20 Feb 1730. He m. Tabitha Coolidge on 29 Apr 1725. Their children and descendants can be found at Ancestry.com .

The identify of her parents is a mystery. An exhaustive search of our database does not show any Abigail Prentice born in, or near, 1666. Neither does it show any Abigail with a different surname who might have married a Prentice, or first married a husband before John Stratton, in that early time frame. If she has Prentice roots, Abigail might be have been born in England, Ireland or Scotland and was herself an emigrant at that time.

By email of 14 Apr 2001, Debra has provided the following additional information which raises a question whether Abigail is even a Prentice:

"I checked back into my sources to see where [the name Abigail Prentice] comes from. The Prentice surname is listed in Harriet Stratton's Book of Strattons, Vol. 1 as (Prentice?). This lady's book is like a tome for the Stratton family. The other information for the family line, vital records, etc., are well-documented and I have double-checked most of it myself, so this note was included in my database.

The name Blanchard (listed by Debra as a possible prior marriage for Abigail) occurs in another researcher's FamilyTree Maker page and I added it to help in the search. I had to look for that note!

Bottom line, there is no direct evidence that she was a Prentice at any time, so that may be the problem..."

Compounding the problem is a posting on Ancestry.com which identifies Abigail Prentice's parents as Samuel Blanchard and Mary Sweetser, but with no cited source for such identification.

If you have any information about the folks mentioned in this article, please contact us at dewald@prenticenet.com and please include the title and date of this article.

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