New discoveries

Again it has been just over the month since I last posted to my blog. In the past month we have been really busy with a trip down to New York State to do a dry run of the trip we are doing in the Fall with a busload of people wanting to look at the Palatine and Scot sites in the Mohawk/Schorarie Valleys. This requires a fair amount of preparation as well as a dry run to look at the highways and make sure there aren't any major changes. As well we check out the restaurants that we are going to use and I always end up wasting half of my dinner as each of us tries the different ones we are going to order. It is just too much food in one day!

As well we attended the 300th anniversary of Palatines to America celebrated at the Palatine Conference which was held at Fishkill this year. I decided not to attend as a participant since I do not have any Palatine/American ancestry.

I haven't done a lot of genealogy in the last few months; time just hasn't been available as I have been nursing my strained knee and keeping it active which isn't compatible with sitting at a computer for the most part.

However, an email yesterday brought me back to look at a few items. It was a copy of a will by Dorothy Hinxman dated 1677. Late last year I had started the transcription but ran out of time. Seeing the transcription was most interesting as she mentions the many families that married into the Hinxman and Blake families. It was possible using the will and the Visitations to find the ancestry of this young woman. She was only 22 years old when she was buried and her husband had been buried a year earlier they had been married just two years when he died. They had one young son Thomas born in 1765.

She mentions her parents and their names were [John] Popinioy and Ann . Her brothers William and Joseph. She referred to her husbands' siblings as brothers and sisters as well (including their wives/husbands). I found a likely baptism for Dorothy at Andover in 1655 (buried in 1677 at 22 years of age). Her eldest sister baptized at Andover was in 1643 (Amy) and her brothers William and Jacob (?) were baptized in 1664 and 1665 with George being baptized in 1663 but not mentioned. Possibly John married twice although it was not unusual to have children over a 20 years + period. These records from the IGI.

Interestingly there was a John Povensay buried near Dorothy in 1678 of 54 years. This transcription from the Visitations. Popinioy brings up 10 records on the IGI and Povensay does not reveal any records on the IGI.

Other surnames in the will include: Thomas Hinxman (husband now deceased), Thomas Hinxman (son), Richard Miles (Bishops Waltham - cousin), Mary Myles (servant to Uncle Noice of Totnam), Joseph Portsmoth (Husborne - cousin), John Portsmoth (Husborne - cousin), Anne Beale (cousin), John Beale (St Mary Bourne - cousin), Mary Beale and Alice Beale (both cousins), Christian Noice (Totnam - cousin), Walter Button (uncle), Mr. Samuel Sprint (Upper Clatford), Mr. Prikie (sp) (Longstock), (father) Poppiniay), (mother) Hinxman, Mr. Isaac Chansey (Easten Farm), Joseph Hinxman (brother), Martha Hinxman (sister (wife to Joseph)), Bette Hinxman (sister), Wimbleton (sister), Brice (sister), Sara Hill (sister), Maere Blake (sister), Stoniforde (sister), Whaley (sister), Joseph Poppiniay (brother), William Poppiniay (brother), Anne Poppiniay (mother), Mr. Joseph Hinxman (father and overseer), William Hinxman (uncle), Walter Hinxman (uncle), Nathaniel Brice (brother).

The Hinxman members are all inlaws. Nathaniel Brice is an inlaw and her sister is Popiniay (married to Nathaniel), The Beale family is interesting as they are related to the Blake family earlier, Mary Blake is certainly a mystery - is she Mary Popiniay married to a Blake? An interesting puzzle to solve.