Katherine Walker - The Hutchinson debate

Hello Robin, since Katherine and John Walker are my 10th great grandparents, and their daughter Sarah Walker Sands is my 9th great grandmother, I'm not sure why you say that Katherine is not the wife of John Walker? She most definitely was the wife of John Walker. What is not clear and can't be proven is Katherine's maiden name and who her parents were. I'm not alone in spending several years seeking answers and I"m batting zero. I think that Katherine' s parents were possibly named Hutchinson. But I can't find the proof needed---marriage record for John and Katherine. I expect their marriage took place in the Alford or London area around 1623 or 1624. I can't locate the birth record for Sarah but just suppose that she might have been born in 1625. Sarah would then have been 8 years old when Katherine, John and Sarah sailed on the Griffin in 1633. Source: The Great Migration Begins by Robert Charles Anderson.

Back to Katherine, according to the copy of her will, Katherine (Kathrin) died at Portsmouth, RI in 1654. Thus, she could not have been the same Katherine Hutchinson that was the daughter of Anne Marbury Hutchinson and William Hutchinson since my 10th great grandmother did not die in the Pelham Bay Massacre but died of old age in 1654 at Portsmouth. It would be excellent if anyone has any new information about Katherine.

I don't have anything that says John Walker was married to a Hutchinson sister. All I have found says "Katherine" Walker! There is nothing that gives a clue about her maiden name!!! As far as I can see, they were followers of Ann Hutchinson, but there was no marriage connection to that family!!! All we can do is document that there is NO marriage connection.

All of the info that I have is from the internet and I believe I have included it in the "About" sections for both John & Katherine Walker.

I haven't worked on this line for a while, so will have to look to see if anyone has added anything that still connects them to the Hutchinsons. I am convinced from all that I have read that the only connection is friendship & religious fellowship. It also looks like once John & his family moved to Rhode Island, I don't think there was any further connection to the Hutchinson family.

Pat

Susan, thank you for getting into the conversation. If you re-read my original post, I stated that Katherine HUTCHINSON is not his wife. This does not in any way disagree with the fact that his wife's name was Katherine, and her parents were unknown. My bigger point is that the wikitree profile that this Katherine is currently linked to, is not the right Katherine, and much of the information on this Katherine is incorrect due to the fact that the two Katherine's have been mixed up for so long! I would like to see that will, is it online somewhere?

Patricia, I have been working on a research project for Wikitree.com about the Antinomian Controversy and the Portsmouth Compact. I am only tenuously connected as Katherine Walker is my first cousin 9 times removed's husband's third great grandmother. I have found, however that all of the families who went to Portsmouth and stayed there past the first year all have common descendants; as you can see by my relative connections through Anne Marbury Marbury Hutchinson and Katherine Walker They remained a close community.

Robin, the wills for Katherine and John Walker are in the Portsmouth Land Evidence books. I went to the town clerk at Portsmouth, RI to obtain a copy. They didn't have them. Ultimately, I obtained a copy from the Rhode Island Historical Society in Newport, RI. In her will, Katherine refers to herself as Kathrin. She left everything to her daughters Sarah and Mary. She died in 1654 at Portsmouth, RI. The wills were not approved and recorded until December 16, 1671 by William Baulston. No one seems to know why the wills were so late in being approved. However, Sarah and Mary were still very much alive at this point in time so possibly it was their choice to wait. I have also been to New Shoreham, Block Island which is a treasure trove of information for my various great (etc.) grandparents. I have been to the Block Island cemetery and photographed the graves of my numerous grandparents, founders of Block Island.

Robin It would be helpful if you can include a typed copy of your reference where someone (who) stated that Katherine Walker was the sister of "a" Hutchinson. There are numerous statements made in books about the Walkers and Hutchinson's. One by Comfort Sands states that Katherine was the daughter of Captain Edward and Sarah Hutchinson. This can't be true since the Katherine they had did not marry John Walker and did not have daughters Sarah and Mary. So, I'm still back to my statement, the parents of Katherine Walker are unknown. Until someone can produce a marriage record for Katherine and John Walker with her birth name, this is the most up-to-date information that I have. And, I would challenge you or anyone else to find a genealogist that would dispute this. Feel free to check with the New England Historical Genealogical Society. And, as a proven descendant of Sarah Walker Sands and Capt. James Sands, the foregone conclusion is that Katherine Walker is my 10th great grandmother. One day, it would be lovely, if anyone could find out who the parents were for Katherine Walker.

Susan,
Have you attached the copy of Katherine's will to her profile??? Katherine is my 9th ggm.

Would it be possible to scan & send me a copy of it to my home email??? (pscoggin@cox.net) I am also descended from Sarah (Walker) & Capt James Sands. I agree, it would be wonderful if we could find out who Katherine Walker's parents were.
Pat

Have any of you considered this as her birth record???

England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
about Katherena Hutchinson

Name:
Katherena Hutchinson

Gender:
Female

Baptism Date:
7 Feb 1630

Baptism Place:
Alford,Lincoln,England

Father:
Gulielmi Hutchinson

FHL Film Number:
0599503 IT 3

Barbara,
I don't think the lady above fits the info we have on Katherine (???) Walker for several reason.

The first reason being when her children were born: Sarah (my 8th ggm) in 1625/6 or 1628 & Mary about 1634.

2nd from The Great Migration Begins by Anderson states that she & John Walker were married about 1628.

3rd according to one site John Walker registers at the church in Roxbury in 1633 or 34 as being married to a Katherine.

The parents for Katherine Walker (wife of John Walker) are still a mystery.
Thanks for a possibility.

For more info on Katherine see: Katherine Walker
and John's @: John Walker (His profile has more about Katherine also)

Pat
ps: Are you related to John & Katherine Walker??? If so how?

Pat, thanks for posting your summary of the facts for Barbara Mills about our great grandmother, Katherine (unknown) Walker. When searching for clues, it is definitely important to factor in the approximate date of birth of Sarah Walker Sands, Katherine and John Walker's first born, daughter.

I keep looking for a marriage record for Katherine and John Walker and maybe one day, this will be found. With this marriage record, I would think that Katherine's surname would be identified. This won't solve the dilemma completely but it would give us one more piece of the puzzle.

Hi,

I stumbled across this on ancestry.com - it is a source record called the Millennium File:

Millennium File about John Walker
Name: John Walker
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 1596
Birth Place: England
Death Date: 1647
Death Place: Portsmouth, Nwprt, Rhode Island
Spouse: Catherine Hutchinson
Children: Sarah Walker
Spouse Father: Edward (Capt) Hutchinson
Spouse Mother: Sarah
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Source Information:
Heritage Consulting. Millennium File [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2003.
Original data: Heritage Consulting. The Millennium File. Salt Lake City, UT, USA: Heritage Consulting.

Description:
The Millennium File contains more than 880,000 linked family records, with lineages from throughout the world, including colonial America, the British Isles, Switzerland, and Germany. Learn more...

Hope this helps,

Anne

Anne,
Thanks for the above info, however, when I looked online for Capt Edward Hutchinson & Sarah (the above Catherine Hutchinson parents) I couldn't find anything on him that fit what we have for John Walker & Katherine (unknown) Walker.

I found one Capt Edward Hutchinson, but he was born in 1613 which is after the Katherine was born in 1609 & had married John Walker II in 1628 in Roxbury, Essex Co, Massachusetts. Also the Captain had married a Catherine Hamby! (Found a lot about him!!! Dates just don't agree!!!)

I found another Captain, but he was a Commander of the "Ancient & Honourable Artillery Company" in 1557, so he would have been an old man by the time Katherine was born on 7 Feb 1609 in Alford, Lincolnshire, England. He was also from Boston in 1557 & Katherine was born in England, so it couldn't be him.

Also the John Walker listed above was born in 1596--I have that John was born 15 May 1604 in Cowfold, Essex, England, so I am not even sure it is the same John Walker.

I thus doubt that the above info is about "my" John Walker II & his wife Katherine whose parents still remain a mystery. (He & Katherine are my 9th great grandparents.)

I am with Susan in that only a marriage certificate for John & Katherine that shows her maiden name/parents will do as "proof" or some other document of similar standing.

What is the source for the info found in the "Millennium Files"???

I believe we are still looking for Catherine's last name.

Again, thanks for your suggested info.
Pat

Katherine Walker
Here is the most concise study of this "problem" that I have ever found.
Notes supporting the fact that John Walker did not marry Katharine Hutchinson:

John Walker
By Marjorie W. Schunke
Rhode Island Roots, June 1985, pp. 21-22

John Walker was a freeman of Boston 14 May 1634. It has been widely claimed that he married Katherine Hutchinson, daughter of Edward Hutchinson, who was a brother of William Hutchinson who married Ann Marbury. Primary evidence supporting this claim has not been found, however, and the late Clarence Almon Torrey in his “Marriages before 1700” first entered the marriage and then crossed it out with “No.” Unfortunately his sources of information, though several are listed beside the entry in the manuscript at NEHGS, failed to definite evidence one way or the other.

The fact that this Edward Hutchinson was 20 years younger than his brother William, having been baptized at Alford, Lincolnshire, England, 20 December 1607, makes it unlikely that he would have been the father of a daughter old enough to be Katherine Walker (New York Genealogical and Biographical Record 45:[1914]: 166.) The idea of this Hutchinson – Walker marriage very probably arose in a misinterpretation of another marriage: Hannah Hutchinson, daughter of Edward3 Hutchinson and granddaughter of William and Anne, born 16 May 1658, married Peter Walker of Taunton. Hannah is named as sister in the will of Edward 3 Hutchinson, dated 21 May 1692, as “my beloved sister Hannah Walker wife of my Brother-in-law Mr. Peter Walker of Taunton in New England,” and he named eter Walker as one of the executors of the will (Suffolk Co. Probate File 1951).

Difficult though it may be for descendants to give up the idea of a relationship with the Hutchinson family, it remains true that John and Katharine Walker were associated with the Hutchinsons…

Further things to consider:
1) Only Sands articles/books purport the Katherine, wife of John Walker as being a Hutchinson.
2) No Hutchinson articles/books give a link to the Sands family other than the fact that James Sands did build the home on Long Island in which Anne Hutchinson died. This doesn’t prove they were related though.
3) Finally John Osborne Austin – in his “The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island” nowhere gives a surname for Katherine. If he had thought she was a Hutchinson he would have brought it up.
4) Katherine Hutchinson – daughter of Anne Hutchinson died at the age of 14 in the massacre of Anne’s family.
5) Katherine Hutchinson – daughter of Edward3 Hutchinson married Peter Walker not John Walker.