Chasing My Tail: My Tale of Chasing Abigail Wallis

Abigail Wallis is definitely my 7th-Great Grandmother on the Crosby side. Okay, she probably is. Well she possibly is. Oh hell, it’s not likely that Abigail Wallis is my 7th-great grandmother at all. At least not that I can prove! So why write about her? Well…

Recently, I spent several hours disproving that Abigail Wallis was the mother of the children born to Thomas Sallows. Oddly, there were two relatively reliable sources that named Abigail as the mother of Thomas’ children. But even a passing glance at the known facts of Abigail’s life revealed a glaring anachronism.

Proven:
Thomas Sallows³ (John², Michael¹) is my 7th-great grandfather. Actually, he is my 7th-great grandfather twice; I am descended from two of his children — Lydia⁴ and Thomas⁴. (Five generations later two 3rd-great grandchildren, one of Lydia’s and one of Thomas’, married and from that union was born Roy Crosby¹º.) Thomas³ was born 24 Oct 1665 to John² and Hannah (Woolfe) Sallows and died 28 Mar 1747. During his life Thomas fathered nine children, all of whom were born between 1693-1708.

Allegations:

1. Thomas³ married Abigail Wallis, daughter of Caleb, and had 9 children together. The names, birth dates and, in some instances, the names of their spouses have all been confirmed by me. Based on the corroboration of Thomas’ information, as well as his children, it would seem reasonable to accept Abigail Wallis, daughter of Caleb, as the mother of the children. This information was contained in Yarmouth Nova Scotia Genealogies, a secondary source accepted by the Mayflower Society. [1896-1910, pub. Yarmouth Herald, George Brown, p.389].However, the source listed no other information about Abigail. On Ancestry.com I was already receiving “hints” that supported Abigail Wallis’, daughter of Caleb, addition to my tree. Several Member Trees already had Abigail in their tree and moved well past her and her father (Caleb) to more distant ancestors, but (yes the ever present BUT!) Abigail’s birth date was purported to be 18 Nov 1702! That made her younger than half the children she was supposed to have birthed, and only 6 years older than her alleged youngest child. 

   Research ResultsA handwritten ledger of births, organized by family grouping, for the town of Beverly, MA revealed an entry for “Thomas Sallows and Abigail (Wallis dau of Caleb).” The image shows two marks, one after Wallis (which is faint) and one after Caleb, which could be question marks. Nowhere on the page could I find a mark similar to that which appears after Caleb. I also could not find any obvious question marks on the page for comparison.

   
   The ledger recorded all of Thomas’ children and their birth or baptism dates. This information did not conflict with the information contained in Yarmouth Nova Scotia Genealogies. However, because of the inclusion of baptism dates instead of birth dates and the fact the ledger was grouped by family (not chronologically), it is likely that these entries were made at a later date — probably by gathering church records to learn of the births of children; which would make this record a secondary source and not a primary source.

   There was one other entry which was telling. Immediately after the entry in the photo above appeared:

   In 1729. The wife of Thomas Sallows was Abigail dau Caleb Wallis.

   In my opinion this entry does not document the date of their marriage, it merely indicates that Thomas and Abigail were husband and wife in 1729. It is very likely that this ledger was completed in 1729 and the recorder added the information which was known to him/her at the time. This also adds credence to the possibility that question marks appear in the first part of the entry. The recorder may have thought Abigail to be too young to be the mother of the children. Lastly, I checked the same ledger for Beverly, MA and found several entries for Caleb Wallis, but only one who was born (1667) in the correct period. Caleb Wallis had eight children, one of who was Abigail, baptized 22 Nov 1702. Abigail married Thomas Ellinwood, 15 Sep 1726. In October 1729 a deed was recorded for the sale of land: “Thomas Ellinwood and wife Abigail, dau. Caleb Wallis” were parties in the sale. This makes it very unlikely that this Abigail Wallis was the wife of Thomas Sallows in 1729 (as the entry above says).

2. During the 1920’s the Yarmouth Herald, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, ran a series of genealogy articles called New Englanders in Nova Scotia by F.E. Crowell. (An image of the undated page can be found here Thomas Sallows.)
   In the article, Crowell said that Thomas Sallows³ married “Abigail Wallis, dau Nathaniel Wallis.” No birth date was provided for Abigail, but her mother was named Margaret. The remainder of the information regarding Thomas Sallows and his children was correct. Also, the information seemed reasonable, based on the age of Nathaniel. However, the sources for the information were not listed.

   Research Results

   I learned that Nathaniel, and his younger brother, John, were the first of the Wallis name to come to New England, from County Cornwall, England and they owned over 500 acres of land in the part of Massachusetts that later became Maine.
   The Beverly, MA ledger book listed the “Family of Nathaniel Wallis & Margaret.” Among the children listed is Caleb, but there is no daughter Abigail. One of Nathaniel’s sons, Joshua, married Abigail Conent. Could she be the Abigail Wallis who was wife to Thomas Sallows? In the 1600s it was common for widows, if they remarried, to carry their former married name (not their maiden name). However, Joshua and Abigail had a child in September 1694, meaning both were alive and prospering at the same time that Thomas Sallows was starting his family. (Note: This does not remove the possibility that this Abigail was widowed before 1729 and married Thomas Sallows. She would not have been the mother of his children, but it would make the entry depicted in photo #2, above, possible.)
   I was unable to find any vital records for John Wallis (Nathaniel’s brother). However, some sources show that he lost a daughter, daughter-in-law and five grandchildren to an Indian attack in what is now Maine. John moved his family to Gloucester, MA, but no vital records can be found there for an Abigail Wallis. As mentioned previously, a widow of one of John’s sons would retain her married name after his death. It would be possible that, if the widow’s name was Abigail, she could be both wife of Thomas Sallows and mother to his chidren.

Summary
Although I spent a fair amount of time chasing Abigail Wallis through history, the time was not wasted. I honed my research skills and even found a few new sources which will come in handy for other research. I also learned a lot about the earliest Wallises of New England. Reading of their hardships in Maine was quite interesting.

What is bothersome is the fact that so many Member Trees on Ancestry.com have accepted Abigail Wallis, daughter of Caleb, as the wife of Thomas Sallows and the mother of his children. Thomas’ wife, and mother to his children, may one day prove to be Abigail Wallis. But one thing is certain, the Abigail born to Caleb in 1702 is certainly not the mother of Thomas’ children.

As a very cool footnote, I must point out that all of this research was done from my home over the course of two nights. That is a testament to the amount of primary and secondary sources that are available on the Internet.

My lineage from Thomas Sallows³ (Two paths. Ancestors common to both paths are in red.)

Thomas Sallows > Lydia (Sallows) Elwell > Nathaniel Elwell > Rebecca (Elwell) Crosby > Edward Crosby > John Crosby > John Crosby > Roy Crosby > Maurice Crosby > Me

Thomas Sallows > Thomas Sallows > John Sallows > Lydia (Sallows) Landers > Thomas Landers > Eliza (Landers) Tinkham > Sarah (Tinkham) Crosby > Roy Crosby > Maurice Crosby > Me

(Sallows was also spelled Sallowes, Sollows, Sollace, Sallis & Sallos)