Is there anything better than getting well-researched ancestry simply handed to you for free? Not in my book. In the latest issue of the New England Historical & Genealogical Register (April 2010), the birth record, parents, and grandparents of my ancestress Bennet Hodsoll is given. Bennet was the first wife of Edmund Freeman and she died before her husband and children went to New England in 1635. Their daughter Elizabeth was the wife of John Ellis.
A few comments. First, this is a classic example of watching out for secondary sources. John Hodsoll, the father of Bennett, had been already known and his will was known as well, in which he names his wife Faith. So, most Internet searches and online trees will show (and probably will show forever) that Bennett's parents are John Hodsoll and Faith Moorer. However, that is John's second wife and not the mother of his children. It should be basic genealogy by now that 15th-17th century wills that name a wife are almost 90% a later wife (or husband). It should never be assumed that the woman is the mother of some or all the children.
Also, the name Bennett (the female equivalent of Benedict) was used for generations to come. Edmund Freeman and Bennett (Hodsoll) had a daughter Bennett Freeman who didn't live to adulthood. My ancestress Elizabeth (Freeman) Ellis named a daughter Bennett Ellis who married Obadiah Eddy. They in turn named a daughter Bennett Eddy who married Israel Woodward. Bennett Ellis's sister, my ancestress Elizabeth Ellis married Samuel Briggs and named a daughter Bennett Briggs. Continuing down my line, their daughter Hannah Briggs married John Barrows and again, named a daughter Bennett Barrows. Elizabeth (Ellis) Briggs died young after the birth of Hannah, and there is some confusion as to Hannah's maternity. However, the continued naming of a daughter Bennett, strongly points to her being Elizabeth Ellis's daughter.
I haven't continued the tracing of the name Bennett thereafter. However, the name showed at least 150 years of use in several lines.
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