Friday, January 27, 2017

Mrs. James Wright X: Marrying contray to discipline

One of the records cited by Baldwin in 'proving' his case was an entry in the Philadelphia MM records of 26 Jan 1708/9 stating that Mary Wright condemned her marriage as contrary to discipline [marrying out of faith to a non-Quaker].

On its face, this would seem odd. Why would Mary condemn her marriage to a Quaker as contrary to discipline? This point was agued in the Ailes Find a Grave article. As well as the fact that Mary already had a daughter by James and was probably "with child" at the time of the record.

On page 519 in Hopewell Friends History, there are several entries for Quaker women condemning their marriages as contrary to discipline.
Mary Cloud [formerly Smith]
Lydia Brown [formerly Fawcett]
Hannah Kress [formerly Wright]
Atlantic Ocean Miller [formerly Walton]
Ann Clendenning [formerly Wright]

Note that in each case the maiden name of the woman was given. If the Mary Wright referenced in the 1708/9 record was Mary Bowater, then the record should have read Mary Wright [formerly Bowater].

I believe this record can be dropped from consideration for the following reasons:
1) There's a good chance the record is not about Mrs. James Wright.
2) Mary and James Wright remained married until James' death and had 11 children.
3) No maiden name is given for this woman. It is possible that she was a Wright.

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