Note: No burial record has been found for Mary, but the record of her death appears among the Friends' records of Portsmouth, Rhode Island. Since her death date is not double dated (as it should be), it likely should read 16 Jan 1729/30, so that at the age of 84 she was most likely born in 1645. Her birth date is important, because she would have been nearly 50 years old at the birth of her last child, which is beyond the normal child-bearing range of most women. My suspicion is that Mary's age at death is exaggerated, and that she was likely born closer to 1649, and married in 1669 just prior to signing a deed with her new husband. This arrangement is more consistent with the first child being born in 1671. Mary died at the home of her son-in-law, Job Shearman.
Mary was married by 22 March 1669 (when she witnessed a deed with her husband) to Benoni Gardner, the son of George Gardiner and Herodias Long.
Some researchers have suggested that Mary was the daughter of Samuel Eldred and Elizabeth Miller of Kingstowne. Caroline Robinson in her 1919 genealogy of the Gardner/Gardiner family finds the evidence to be strong, that Benoni's wife was a daughter of Samuel Eldred. This is because the given name Bridget is very uncommon. Mary Eldred's brother, Thomas, named a daughter Bridget, undoubtedly because his grandmother, Susanna (Hutchinson) Cole (daughter of the famed Anne Hutchinson) had a sister named Bridget who married John Sanford, a governor of the island towns of Newport and Portsmouth. Also, Anne Hutchinson's mother was named Bridget. It is not at all unlikely that after Thomas Eldred named one of his daughters Bridget, that his sister Mary (Eldred) Gardner liked the name, and gave the name to one of her daughters.
On the other hand, there is a high likelihood that Mary, the daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Eldred, was instead the wife of Rouse Helm. Overseers of Helm's 1711 will include two brothers of this Mary, and Mary and Rouse Helm named their oldest son Samuel, the father of Mary Eldred. The conclusion of all this is that we just don't know who the parents of Mary Gardner were.
Mary and Benoni had seven known children together, born 1671 to about 1695, all of them likely born in Kingstown, Rhode Island (which was split between North and South in 1722). See her husband's memorial for their particulars.
Mary was married by 22 March 1669 (when she witnessed a deed with her husband) to Benoni Gardner, the son of George Gardiner and Herodias Long.
Some researchers have suggested that Mary was the daughter of Samuel Eldred and Elizabeth Miller of Kingstowne. Caroline Robinson in her 1919 genealogy of the Gardner/Gardiner family finds the evidence to be strong, that Benoni's wife was a daughter of Samuel Eldred. This is because the given name Bridget is very uncommon. Mary Eldred's brother, Thomas, named a daughter Bridget, undoubtedly because his grandmother, Susanna (Hutchinson) Cole (daughter of the famed Anne Hutchinson) had a sister named Bridget who married John Sanford, a governor of the island towns of Newport and Portsmouth. Also, Anne Hutchinson's mother was named Bridget. It is not at all unlikely that after Thomas Eldred named one of his daughters Bridget, that his sister Mary (Eldred) Gardner liked the name, and gave the name to one of her daughters.
On the other hand, there is a high likelihood that Mary, the daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Eldred, was instead the wife of Rouse Helm. Overseers of Helm's 1711 will include two brothers of this Mary, and Mary and Rouse Helm named their oldest son Samuel, the father of Mary Eldred. The conclusion of all this is that we just don't know who the parents of Mary Gardner were.
Mary and Benoni had seven known children together, born 1671 to about 1695, all of them likely born in Kingstown, Rhode Island (which was split between North and South in 1722). See her husband's memorial for their particulars.
Note: No burial record has been found for Mary, but the record of her death appears among the Friends' records of Portsmouth, Rhode Island. Since her death date is not double dated (as it should be), it likely should read 16 Jan 1729/30, so that at the age of 84 she was most likely born in 1645. Her birth date is important, because she would have been nearly 50 years old at the birth of her last child, which is beyond the normal child-bearing range of most women. My suspicion is that Mary's age at death is exaggerated, and that she was likely born closer to 1649, and married in 1669 just prior to signing a deed with her new husband. This arrangement is more consistent with the first child being born in 1671. Mary died at the home of her son-in-law, Job Shearman.
Mary was married by 22 March 1669 (when she witnessed a deed with her husband) to Benoni Gardner, the son of George Gardiner and Herodias Long.
Some researchers have suggested that Mary was the daughter of Samuel Eldred and Elizabeth Miller of Kingstowne. Caroline Robinson in her 1919 genealogy of the Gardner/Gardiner family finds the evidence to be strong, that Benoni's wife was a daughter of Samuel Eldred. This is because the given name Bridget is very uncommon. Mary Eldred's brother, Thomas, named a daughter Bridget, undoubtedly because his grandmother, Susanna (Hutchinson) Cole (daughter of the famed Anne Hutchinson) had a sister named Bridget who married John Sanford, a governor of the island towns of Newport and Portsmouth. Also, Anne Hutchinson's mother was named Bridget. It is not at all unlikely that after Thomas Eldred named one of his daughters Bridget, that his sister Mary (Eldred) Gardner liked the name, and gave the name to one of her daughters.
On the other hand, there is a high likelihood that Mary, the daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Eldred, was instead the wife of Rouse Helm. Overseers of Helm's 1711 will include two brothers of this Mary, and Mary and Rouse Helm named their oldest son Samuel, the father of Mary Eldred. The conclusion of all this is that we just don't know who the parents of Mary Gardner were.
Mary and Benoni had seven known children together, born 1671 to about 1695, all of them likely born in Kingstown, Rhode Island (which was split between North and South in 1722). See her husband's memorial for their particulars.
Mary was married by 22 March 1669 (when she witnessed a deed with her husband) to Benoni Gardner, the son of George Gardiner and Herodias Long.
Some researchers have suggested that Mary was the daughter of Samuel Eldred and Elizabeth Miller of Kingstowne. Caroline Robinson in her 1919 genealogy of the Gardner/Gardiner family finds the evidence to be strong, that Benoni's wife was a daughter of Samuel Eldred. This is because the given name Bridget is very uncommon. Mary Eldred's brother, Thomas, named a daughter Bridget, undoubtedly because his grandmother, Susanna (Hutchinson) Cole (daughter of the famed Anne Hutchinson) had a sister named Bridget who married John Sanford, a governor of the island towns of Newport and Portsmouth. Also, Anne Hutchinson's mother was named Bridget. It is not at all unlikely that after Thomas Eldred named one of his daughters Bridget, that his sister Mary (Eldred) Gardner liked the name, and gave the name to one of her daughters.
On the other hand, there is a high likelihood that Mary, the daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Eldred, was instead the wife of Rouse Helm. Overseers of Helm's 1711 will include two brothers of this Mary, and Mary and Rouse Helm named their oldest son Samuel, the father of Mary Eldred. The conclusion of all this is that we just don't know who the parents of Mary Gardner were.
Mary and Benoni had seven known children together, born 1671 to about 1695, all of them likely born in Kingstown, Rhode Island (which was split between North and South in 1722). See her husband's memorial for their particulars.
Family Members
Advertisement
Advertisement
