Mary Martha Gwaltney (Marriott) - Parentage issues

The information you referenced did not originate with me.
I am not actively researching any of my Atkinson and extended families.
I am a full time caregiver and have no time for researching.
Regards, Celeste Atkinson Bogosian

Private User she is my grandmother...Try adding to the Curator Discussion --I will tag a few for you. Thank you so much for your eyes

https://www.geni.com/search?search_type=people&names=erica+howton

Erin Ishimoticha

Private User

These three curators have worked on her profile.

There’s no evidence I can see supporting her as a Marriott. As far as I can tell, Maiden Name unknown. Disconnected as daughter of Robert Marriott & locked relationships with a curator note.

References at this site seem clear:

http://deuteronomyandmary.com/getperson.php?personID=I10702&tre...

Looks like the “Martha Marriott” Name comes from here:

http://mail.polishfamilytree.com/getperson.php?personID=I521800&amp...

Thank you Erica Howton. The link at http://mail.polishfamilytree.com/getperson.php?personID=I521800&amp... that you provided has a later birth year for Mary Martha (1618 instead of 1610). If that's correct then Mary would have been born when her mother was 15, which is reasonable for the time period. There's a lot on this page that doesn't make sense, however.... look at the birthdates for the children. There's a gap of about 20 years between the first three and the last five. This will become relevant soon. There's a gap of 15 years in the Geni profile too.

The link at http://deuteronomyandmary.com/getperson.php?personID=I10702&tre... also shows Thomas Atkinson Jr marrying his half-sister Mary Gwaltney. No one knows when Thomas Atkinson Sr died or when she married Gwaltney. If Thomas Sr. died around 1629-1630 and Mary remarried immediately, the timeline for the birth of the children works, but it doesn't solve the incest problem.

But look at the note at the bottom of the page where it talks about the conditions that she set when she married Thomas Pittman in 1666, where she gets some assets for her two youngest children including two years of schooling for the one. According to the timeline for the children on this link, William Gwaltney would have been 34 years old in 1666 and hardly in need of schooling at that age. According to the timeline on the Polish page, he would have been 11 which makes a lot more sense.

I've seen discussions of this in other places where they say that the terms of her agreement with Pittman indicate that she still had young children from her marriage to Gwaltney and was trying to provide for them since their father had died. The big gaps in the births of the children plus her efforts to get schooling for her youngest son in 1666 make me think that she married Gwaltney much later (like around 1650), and the older Gwaltney children were from a previous marriage. Their mother might have been married too, that's certainly a common enough name.

Another alternative is that Thomas Jr. married someone named Susannah, but it wasn't his half-sister Susannah Gwaltney.

"Their mother might have been married too" should have said "their mother might have been named Mary too"

- Birthdate for Mary should be say 1618 based on Ibid, page 56. "Book I, page 273. 30 June 1666. Marye Gualtney, aged 48 or thereabouts ...”

- Based in dates, Mary ‘Martha’ Pitman is another parent theory for Mary and should be merged.

The Liburne theory shown here

https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/g/w/a/Walter-W-Gwaltney/WEBSITE-0001/...

From the profile for Thomas Atkinson, Sr., of Surry

Children of Thomas Atkinson and Mary --- are:

32 i. Thomas AtkinsonI, born Abt. 1629 in James City Co., VA; married Susannah Gwaltney Abt. 1650 in James City Co., VA.
ii. James AtkinsonI, born Abt. 1628 in James City Co., VA; married --Gwaltney.
iii. John Atkinson, born Abt. 1627.

- Something wrong with those birthdates if Mary was born 1618
- or they’re not her children

So Susannah Atkinson could certainly have married a step brother.

Do we have to postulate a NN first wife for Thomas Atkinson ?

https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/g/w/a/Walter-W-Gwaltney/WEBSITE-0001/... Has much later dates for the Atkinson boys.

And / or a first Gwaltney wife?

“The author assumes from this that she had at least 3 children, Susanah and William and an Unknown daughter who married an Atkinson”

I’m getting that Mary’s only children were Gwaltneys

Or it could be the other way around; The Gwaltney children her step children.

https://archive.org/details/AtkinsonFamilyInVirginia/page/n3

I like option 2) better based on this:

Thomas I gwaltney (gualmay, age 22 on the manifest) departed London on the ship "Falcon" bound for Barbados, VI april 3, 1635; therefore, would have been born about 1613. in 1650, he was listed as a headright of William Yarrett in Isle of Wight County, Virginia. Thomas married Mary ?, widow of Thomas Atkinson. After Thomas Gwaltneeys death, Mary married Capt. Thomas Pitman. Thomas Gwaltney and Mary had a son William. Thomas died in July, 1666j. In his will, dated 1666, he listed "William as a minor" and a son-in-law (apparently Mary had a daughter possibly by Atkinson)

It’s better but the timeline for Mary is still terrible.

Mary ‘Martha’ Pitman

From http://gwaltney.faithweb.com/beginnings.html

But by July, 1666, Thomas was dead at only about 53 years of age. He left behind a wife, a young son William who was only around 11 or so years old, and the Atkinson step-son. Thomas' will was probated in September of 1666, and his widow, Martha, wasted no time--for in 1667 she found another Thomas to marry (she must have liked Thomases)--this time a Captain Thomas Pittman, who already had two sons about the age of young William Gwaltney. Of course, Martha herself died within several years, for by 1672, Thomas Pittman had remarried another widow, Lidia Judkins.

And young William Gwaltney was apparently the sole Gwaltney in the colonies with his 200 acre inheritance.

——

BUT the Geni tree shows all kinds of Gwaltney children alive in 1666 - when there’s only one (William b abt 1655) listed in the will.

So here’s another Gwaltney

Katherine Clarke

And I’ve separated the extra children of Thomas Gwaltney, Jr. onto a placeholder profile Parent of extra Gwaltney children

I am now setting up a 1st wife of Thomas Atkinson, Sr., of Surry because I believe the 1618 Birth date, which means she couldn’t have been the mother of the 3 Atkinson boys. An Atkinson daughter born about 1640 works fine.

Any objections please speak up!

I have no firm evidence one way or another. The dates are a mess and I don't particularly count on these people to keep accurate track of their own age. It was a time when the calendar meant less and they weren't constantly confronted with paperwork asking for their age or their birthdate.

I think one of the men probably had children with a first wife who hasn't been recorded, but I don't know if it was Atkinson or Gwaltney. Or both of them even. It was the Gwaltney children who had the big gap in their ages so I assumed it was Gwaltney. But it's possible that somebody just simply screwed up the dates and there is no gap.

Here's something interesting: the Gwaltney family has a website about their family history. The page at http://gwaltney.faithweb.com/beginnings.html talks about the guy we're interested in. Thomas Gwaltney sails to America in 1635. Here's what happened next:

"Thomas Gwaltney ended up settling on the southside of the James River, and marrying a lady by the name of Martha Atkinson. Martha had previously been married to a Thomas Atkinson and had a son with him. So when Thomas married Martha, he also was bringing a step-son into his family. Around 1655, Thomas and Martha conceived a child, William, who was to carry on the Gwaltney name. Whether they had other children together is not for sure ( I have read where some thought he had a daughter named Nancy or Susannah). However, in his will, Thomas Gwaltney mentions no other children but William--perhaps because he had no other surviving children or perhaps because any daughters had been married off. By 1666, Thomas Gwaltney had died at the age of 53, and Martha Gwaltney ended up marrying a Thomas Pittman who now had the responsiblity of raising and educating young William Gwaltney."

Skipping ahead:
"But by July, 1666, Thomas was dead at only about 53 years of age. He left behind a wife, a young son William who was only around 11 or so years old, and the Atkinson step-son. Thomas' will was probated in September of 1666, and his widow, Martha, wasted no time--for in 1667 she found another Thomas to marry (she must have liked Thomases)--this time a Captain Thomas Pittman, who already had two sons about the age of young William Gwaltney. Of course, Martha herself died within several years, for by 1672, Thomas Pittman had remarried another widow, Lidia Judkins.

And young William Gwaltney was apparently the sole Gwaltney in the colonies with his 200 acre inheritance."

That's a lot less children than any of us expected, and I don't know where all the others came from. Gwaltney is an unusual last name so there probably weren't too many of them floating around. The family website has a couple of other pages on it dealing with other early family members and time periods, but I don't see anyone who fits our time frame.

The website at http://www.irelanddavis.com/gwartney/default.aspx says there was a Thomas Gwaltney Sr. who was born in Ireland around 1590 and they don't know when or where he died. If he came to Virginia too then he might have been responsible for some of the children.

They say at http://www.irelanddavis.com/gwartney/atDNA/Default.aspx that there are a lot of alternate spellings, including Gwartney, Gualtney, and Gortney.

Whoops, I see that I've repeated some things that Erica already posted. I jumped the gun and started checking on things before I finished reading her posts.

This link says the Atkinson stepson was named James: https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jmljr&id=... It also says that Thomas Gwaltney had a cow named Coole Crapp. That's not relevant, I just think it's funny.

I still get the impression that there were more children. Her marriage contract with Pittman talks about her two youngest children, implying that she had more than two. The website above has a link to Mary herself. They go with the idea that her maiden name was Marriott, and they say she had two children with Atkinson, James and Thomas, born in 1636 and 1640. That works with a birthdate of 1618 for Mary. They only list one child with Gwaltney, William. https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jmljr&id=...

I’ve already figured out a lot of the extra Gwaltney children. They were internet-genealogy time travelers belonging to ONLY known surviving son William b 1655. Our only real question now is whether Mary was William’s mother and who her Atkinson children were.

NB: of course I realize Original Gwaltney, the immigrant ancestor, could have had daughters already married off & scads of non surviving children. But Geni is not set up for “could have.” We have a Will, we have a misnamed widow, and we have her deposition for her age (b about 1618). That makes her too young to have been the mother of the Atkinson boys If they are the ages suggested in the Atkinson book. William Gwaltheys step son John Atkinson seems to have been of age in 1665? Meaning born by 1644? But the “book” has him b 1627 ...

My thought on the Katherine Clarke was she could have been actually the Atkinson daughter mentioned. It’s Surry County, the source is reliable (Sally’s Place quotes from Boddie) and I often see kids with their stepfather’s name.

So we need to understand the Atkinson family better.

Back to merging Gwalthey’s. At least now we know they all come from William!

Notice John CLARKE is here !

Thomas Gwaltney died in July 1666, soon after the land grant was recorded.  In testimony in the County Court, "John Clarke, sworn on September 4, 1666, age 30 years of thereabouts, sayeth that about the latter part of July, being at the home of Thomas Gwaltney, two days before his death, and desiring said Gwaltney to make a will set all things in order, ....

Susannah Atkinson

https://sallysfamilyplace.com/robert-flake-katherine-moore/

From John Bennett Boddie in Vol 8 of HSF gives this list of children.

Katherine Moore was the mother of Susannah [Gwaltney]

Children of Katherine Moore and 1st husband: [some say George Wyatt]

2. Susannah ? ca 1631 – ca 1691 married 10 Sept 1669 Thomas Atkinson died 1688

Children of Thomas Atkinson and Susannah are:
*i. +James Atkinson, b. 1660, Surry Co, VA, d. December 23, 1723, Isle of Wight Co, VA.

So now we’re at Thomas Atkinson, Jr. needs to have been born as shown around 1629. Why? Because he married the grand daughter of the “wealthiest man in Isle of Wight” (not shabby for an indentured man’s step son).

Katherine Flake had three daughters by a first husband, that, some trees for some reason unknown to me, decided was a somewhat mythical looking person - Thomas Gualmay Gwaltney, Sr.

Katherine Moore married 2nd to another very wealthy man: “Robert Flake of Isle of Wight Co, VA was born in 1621 and died aft 2 April 1697, ca 1698. He held large grants of land in Isle of Wight and Surry Counties and is said to have been one of the richest men in Isle of Wight County. (Hayes, A E: Hayes in Va & NC)”

Hmm, younger. :)

Anyway - her 3 daughters from her first marriage were born before 1632. We already know Thomas Atkinson’s Estate was a cow from his generous step father in 1665. He & Susannah were probably already married by then and in need of fresh milk.

I also realized “our” Mary didn’t necessarily have an Atkinson daughter, that’s a miss reading of the Gwaltney Will, when he names his Atkinson son in law. It meant step son at the time, not daughter’s husband.

There’s a good / recent Pitman report recommended by the Surry County Historic Society, hallelujah for a real source.

Only has one line about “our” Mary, but let’s take it to the bank:

“Thomas married (3) MARTHA (---), the relict of Thomas Atkinson and Thomas Gwaltney, in Surry County before 7 Nov 1667.[] Martha was born about 1618[] and had children by her marriage to Thomas Atkinson but none by her marriage to Thomas Gwaltney. There is no record of Martha’s death.”

http://sites.rootsweb.com/~vaschsm/PitmanT.rtf

Recommended from: http://sites.rootsweb.com/~vaschsm/PitmanT.rtf updated Sept 2017

And the Pitman study has the “next” generation of Atkinson’s as her children

Stepchildren of Thomas Pitman, born of his third wife, Martha (---), by her first husband Thomas Atkinson were:
4. THOMAS1 ATKINSON, b. about 1648, m. SUSANNAH (---) in Surry County, and d. in Isle of Wight County after 19 Jan 1687/8.
5. JOHN ATKINSON, b. about 1652, m. ANN HOLLEMAN in Surry County, and d. in Isle of Wight County after 17 Apr 1717.
6. JAMES ATKINSON, b. about 1656, m. MARY HOLLEMAN in Surry County, and d. in Isle of Wight County after 28 Jul 1723..

Diana Collins What do you think about this Pitman study that would eliminate the “first” generation of Atkinson boys?

Frankly I like the timeline better. But it makes me wonder if Thomas was the b 1608 emigrant in 1635.

And I just realized - if this is the right Thomas Atkinson:

“Immigrant 1635 "13 July 1635, These underwritten names are to be transported to Virginia, embarked in ALICE, Richard Orchard, Mr. the men have taken oaths of allegiance and supremacies. includes. THO. ATKINSON, age 27." Hotten, op. cit., p. 109.

He could not be having children in Virginia in the 1620s.

Here’s Mary Martha’s timeline now:

Mary Martha (unknown) Pittman's Timeline
showing 1-8 of 8 events | reverse order
1618
1618
Birth of Mary Martha
England
1648
1648
Age 30
Birth of Thomas Atkinson, Jr.
Surry County , Virginia
1648
Age 30
Marriage of Mary Martha Pittman to Thomas Atkinson
Surry County , Virginia, United States
1652
1652
Age 34
Birth of John Atkinson, Sr.
Surry County, Virginia, United States
1656
1656
Age 38
Birth of James Atkinson, Sr.
Surry County, Virginia
1656
Age 38
Marriage of Mary Martha Pittman to Thomas Gwaltney
Surry County, Virginia, United States
1666
October 4, 1666
Age 48
Marriage of Mary Martha to Thomas Pittman
Surry, Virginia, USA
1679
March 4, 1679
Age 61
Death of Mary Martha
Surry County, Virginia Colony

I don’t hate it anymore.