CONTROVERSIES IN EARLY ALBRO FAMILY GENEALOGY
By Phillip W. Albro and Gloria Jean Albro Silverman, Aug 2000 - Dec 2001
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This collection of articles on disputed issues in early (17th and 18th century) Albro genealogy is an ongoing project that can be expected to grow with time. We want feedback, and welcome your suggestions for future articles!
Note: If you have already read this introduction, you may want to jump directly to the list of controversy articles: (click here to jump)
Introduction
This section of The Albro Journal is the reason it was created in the first place. Anyone who puts serious effort into researching his or her family tree and family history will quickly discover that nearly every linkage before states began recording official versions of vital records is associated with disagreements about dates, places and names in different source records. Rarely will you be able to prove that one side of the controversy is correct and the other(s) are wrong. The best you can usually hope for is to decide that one side has a stronger case than the others, that is, is supported by the preponderance of evidence. Unfortunately, there is a plethora of genealogical information available to the computer-equipped researcher today, and the majority of it is provided in the form of family tree files that lack source information. This leads to conclusions with no evidence, or, all too frequently, guesses reported as though they were established facts.
The articles here are not intended to resolve any of the disputes about early Albro genealogy. The intent is to provide a summary of what some of the main controversies are, a brief discussion of the available evidence on each side (to the extent we know about it), and to provide source references so that the interested reader can get off to a running start on checking the facts and deciding what to accept. A side purpose is to demonstrate the dangers of simply taking the first piece of information you encounter and including it in your family history as though it were a proven fact. We hope this second purpose will be useful to any family researcher, not only those researching Albros.
As an example of what we mean by "controversies" and to illustrate the format used here, consider John Albro who came to America in 1634. Since he emigrated when he was in his teens and apparently never discussed his family in England, it might not be surprising that his date of birth is uncertain. However, as one of the founders of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, a career officer in the Rhode Island militia active into his 80s, active in the politics of the times, and cited in a very large number of early records, one would expect his date of death to be a matter of public record. Instead, we find two dates being claimed. H.W. Beck 14 , Arnold 70 , Conder 6 and Benns 12 give Nov 1, 1712. In all cases the source can be traced back to Arnold's Vital Records of Rhode Island 70 . Savage 5 , Beaman 3 , James 15 , and Austin 2 give Dec 14, 1712. For these, the closest to an original source is Savage 5 , but he is not listed among Beaman's sources. Many on-line family trees use one or the other of these dates.
Does a difference of six weeks in a date almost 300 years old really matter? It matters less, perhaps, than the fact that none of the authorities cited above acknowledge that there is any disagreement. Their favored date is presented as the one, true and only date to be considered. Researchers who encounter one of these references and not the others will find themselves being refuted when they make their family trees available for other researchers to view.
We are not trying to resolve the issue in this document. We may have our own preferences, but do not consider them irrefutable. As stated previously, we are simply presenting the evidence and reasoning available to us, and it is up to the readers to make up their own minds. We would welcome any evidence not cited here, and ask the reader to feel free to email us whenever they know of something we have overlooked.
Before we start with the controversies, we should list a few disclaimers and conventions used in this article and indeed, throughout this web page.
Abbreviations and Acronyms:
B. or b. = born; M. or m. = married; D. or d. = died. Abt. = ca = about, and suggests + 1 year; br. = born roughly, and is of unknown accuracy. LDS = Latter Day Saints, an acronym for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Places in angle brackets <> are somebody's best guess as to where something occurred, generally taken from the reference cited.
IGI (International Genealogical Index), FGR (Family Group Record, Ancestral File), and PRF (Pedigree Resource File) are all acronyms for documents copyright © by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and no infringement is here intended.
References to "R.I. Genealogical Register" or to "R.I. Vital Records, New Series", are derived from CD #215, Family Archives: Vital Records: Rhode Island 1500s - 1900s, © The Learning Company, Inc. References to "Genealogies of Rhode Island Families" Vols. I and II are usually but not always from CD #180, Family History: Rhode Island Genealogies #1, © The Learning Company, Inc., 1989, and no infringement is here intended. In some cases the reference was from an earlier version of the book (prior to transfer of the copyright to The Learning Co., Inc.) in which case the publisher is specified.
All music (MIDI) files playing in the background for the different Controversies articles are from the following source:
Sequences © Pierre R. Schwob - by permission. Originals from the Classical Archives, LLC
The background music you are hearing right now (if your sound is turned on) is Hymn to Saint Cecilia, Opus 27, Seq.by David Siu, MIDI from classical.ndirect.co.uk.
1. What was the maiden name of Dorothy, the wife of John Albro
(first Albro in America)? Four different women have been
proposed.
2. Who was Dorothy Wilbur's mother? Dorothy Wilbur is one of the
candidates claimed to have been John Albro's wife in Controversy #1
above. Three women have been suggested to have been her mother.
3. Did John Albro II marry Mary Stokes or Mary Staples or both?
How many children did they really have?
4. Was the John Albro who married Lydia Spencer the son of the
John Albro who married Margaret Sweet, or the John Albro who
married Abigail Ballou? The tale of too many Johns!
5. Who were the parents of the Amey Hopkins who married Stephen
Albro, one of the first settlers of Ontario county, NY State?
"Amy/Amey/Amie" is to Hopkins as "John" is to Albro.
6. Did Rev. Samuel Albro (b.1716) marry Alice Waite or Alice
Rogers or both?
7. When did Job Albro, who fought in the Revolutionary War, really
die? Did his pension go to the right descendant?
8. What is the relationship between the Albro family and the Earl
of Pembroke?
9. Who was William Freeborn, the apparent guardian of John Albro?
10. Which Albros originally settled Newport, Nova Scotia?
11. Who was Ruth Lawton, wife of Samuel Albro?
12. Why are John Albro III and Abigail Ballou non-controversal?
13. Susanna Albro and John Anthony. Pick a date, any date!
14. Samuel Albro II and Patience Bull. Published is not a synonym for true!
15. Did Ruth Albro marry four times after her death?
Send Email to: .
References for the John Albro Example:
2 "Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island", by John Osborne Austin, Albany, NY, 1887, p.234.
3 "A Line of Descent from John Albro of Portsmouth" by Alden G. Beaman, Ph.D., R.I. Genealogical Register, Vol.1, No.1, p.30.
5 "A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England", James Savage, Boston, 1860.
6 "The Albro Family History: Information From Rhode Island, New York, Switzerland Co. Indiana, Gallatin & Grayson Counties Kentucky". researched and written by Mrs. Alice Simonton Seibenthal Pendry, Vevey, Indiana, 1943 and Darrell W. Conder, Pasadena, California, 1990
12 "Notes on the Albro Family of Rhode Island" by Martha A. Benns, made at the Rhode Island Historical Society, 1942, filmed at Providence, RI 17 July 1950 by the Genealogical Society of Salt Lake City Utah, roll # 22322.
14 "Our Line of Descent from John Albro of Portsmouth, Rhode Island", H.W. Beck, Manitou Beach, Michigan, 1965.
15 "Register Report of George Potter" in William James & Family (1625-2000) Newport, Rhode Island by Norman V. James, www.familytreemaker.com/users/j/a/m/Norman-V-James/Book-0001/bookindex.html.
70 "Vital Records of Rhode Island, 1636-1850: a family register for the people" by James Newell Arnold (1844-1927).
(This section last updated July 26, 2005.)
Copyright © 2000 Phil Albro. Commercial use prohibited.