Barking Up the Wrong Tree

Snapshot of the Greenwich Town Records from the Barbour Collection via Ancestry.  I was disappointed that the online version does not seem to contain an explanation for the source abbreviations (ex. LR1), which are supposed to exist at the beginning of each bound volume. This seems to be an example where the online version is not as informative as a book in the hand.

I originally titled this post as "Daniel Smith and Rebeckah Butler Were Married by Rev. Joseph Morgan in 1706, in Greenwich, Fairfield, Connecticut" but just realized I'm not descended through  this couple after all.

*** (see "Edited to add" below)  My 8th great grandparents (through my mother's father's Porter side) Daniel Smith (b circa 1680 - 1755) and Rebeckah Butler (b circa 1684 - 1751, daughter of Walter Butler/Rebecca Reynolds) were married by Reverend Joseph Morgan, who was apparently a Presbyterian by 1709 (and possibly when he married Daniel and Rebeckah 3 years earlier).  I was a little surprised by this, as I thought most of my ancestors in New England were typically Puritans, Congregationalists, Baptists, and the occasional Quaker.

from MapofUs, 1706.

Greenwich relative to Connecticut, Long Island, and New York.  From MapofUS.com "1776 Provinces of Connecticut, Connecticut and Rhode Island Atlas Map. (Southern section)," 70 years after the marriage ceremony.

When I map out where Greenwich, Fairfield, Connecticut, it becomes clear that New York practically surrounds most of the Greenwich area, which leads me to think I will need to eventually consult the surrounding New York counties (Westchester County, Putnam County, and Dutchess County), as well as the Connecticut counties Litchfield and New Haven, for hints on where Daniel Smith came from or who his parents were.

Westchester County, New York is adjacent to Greenwich, Fairfield, Connecticut, and the areas in New Jersey were about 75 miles away as the crow flies   From pages 34-35, "Morgan genealogy : A history of James Morgan, of New London, Conn., and his descendants; from 1607 to 1869 by Nathaniel Morgan" (available on the Internet Archive), by Nathaniel H Morgan.

A Yale man from its earliest years, no less!  But did he start as a Congregationalist?  The Yale founders were Congregationalists and were alumni of Harvard.  So did he marry my ancestors in the Congregationalist faith or as Presbyterians?  I don't know, although my assumption is Congregationalist.

At this point I know a lot more about him than the people he married, my ancestors Daniel and Rebeckah, although I have found Daniel's will (the link works for Ancestry users--I'll have to transcribe this at a later date).



***Edited to add:
These probably aren't my ancestors after all!  Their daughter Rebeckah Smith was born on 5 March 1706, while the FindAGrave dates for my Rebeckah Smith Carpenter (daughter of Philip Smith and Mary Bliss) indicate she was born on 17 April 1705.  This fact, coupled with comparing Greenwich to where I found my Rebeckah's marriage occurred (in Coventry, Tolland, Connecticut), which is at least 100 miles away, it just dawned on me that I am climbing up the wrong tree.  Duh!

I guess this is a good example of why it is important to analyze my collected facts and see if they actually make sense.




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