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When climbing your family tree, do you ever run across conflicting information? More than one set of “facts” has been propagated through books or online references and you need to decide which is accurate.
How do you go about clearing things up?
Sumner Hunnewell encountered this problem in the case of Mary Cahoon, (#378 in the Wing Genealogy), wife of Bachelder Wing. In the Wing Genealogy she is called Mary Cahoon or Calhoun. In other places she is called Mary Tribou.
Which is right? Are all three right?
Sumner thought he’d hit a brick wall. But read on to discover how he solved this perplexing problem.
There is confusion from various sources about the wife of Batchelder Wing (Wing, p. 359). The Wing Genealogy has her as Mary Cahoon or Calhoun. However, as we will see, an alternate surname of Tribou is also found.
Mary and Batchelder Wing moved to Leeds, Maine, in the 1790’s. Leeds town records (p. 177) records the couple as:
Bachelder Wing born February 12th 176{3}
Mary Wing born August 25, 1764.
However, Stinchfield’s The History of the Town of Leeds (1901, p. 417), provides what is presumed to be Mary’s own surname:
Bachelder Wing February 12, 1763
Mary Tribou August 25, 1764
The Owl had something to say on the matter as well:
The first reference comes from Stephen A. Wing of Putnam, Ct. In The Owl (1902, p. 56), he states Mary’s surname as Tribou. It looks like Stephen had used Stinchfield’s The History of the Town of Leeds, published a year before his own note, as his source.
The next reference comes in that same year (pp. 119-120) which stated that in “The Hoxie records” Batchelder Wing married Mary Cahoon, moved to Leeds, Maine, and they had 12 children. A descendant of Bachelder and Mary Wing, George M. Sylvester, wrote, “I have received statements from several of my direct relatives to the effect that Bachelder Wing married Mary Cahoon or Calhoun.”
Years later in The Owl (1917, p. 2497), Mr. Sylvester once again reiterates that her name is Mary Cahoon.
Cahoon or Calhoun?
Both Cahoon and Calhoun are derivatives of the Scottish surname Colquohoun. However, a look at the 1790 federal census shows 14 Cahoon families living in Harwich and Wellfleet. No Calhoun families are listed. Thus, we can safely remove Calhoun from the list of potential surnames for Mary.
Cahoon or Tribou?
Only two names are left for consideration.
One explanation might be that Mary was widowed and remarried, giving her both her birth name, Tribou, and her first married name, Cahoon, before she wed Bachelder Wing. The Sandwich Town Records (p. 534) state “Bachelder Wing of Sandwich and Mary Cahoon of Wellfleet were married November 18th, 1780.” But Leeds town records state that Mary was born August 25, 1764, which would have made her just over 16 when she was married. It seems very unlikely that she was widowed and remarried at such an early age.
Clarification At Last
After the turn of the last century, Maine town clerks were requested to go through their town records and create birth, marriage, and death records. A review of these created marriage records of the children of Mary and Bachelder Wing, shows their mother’s birth name as Tribou (see at right). The record seems official.
This should clear up Mary’s last name, right? Not so fast.
The Leeds town clerk, Albert S. Bryant, “evidently dabbled in genealogy and regularly augmented delayed state return of vital records with data he had compiled in his research, often city ‘Clerks Records’ with no other clear source of the information” (Childs, p. 66n114). It seems likely with Stinchfield's history in hand, Bryant "augmented" the vital records and propagated Mary Tribou. He also typed the note above, which appears in the microfilmed vital records (Maine VR, image 671). Bryant also made the assumption that their first six children were born in Sandwich, Massachusetts, but they do not appear in the Sandwich town records.
But where did Tribou come from? The earliest Tribou (“a Frenchman”) arrived in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, “as early as 1745” (Mitchell, p. 333). Thomas Tribou’s children, born between 1747 and 1766, are recorded in Bridgewater but there is no Mary listed. (VR Bridgewater, p. 1:318-19)
We may never know how Stinchfield came to believe Mary’s last name was Tribou. However, since there is no record elsewhere that there was a Mary Tribou, we can say with relative certainty that Bachelder Wing’s wife was Mary Cahoon!
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Sumner was able to break through his wall. Do you have a genealogical brick wall you'd like help smashing? Read on to see how you can ask our members for their help.
References
Childs, Gregory S., "The Parentage of Louisa (Prescott) Wing, Wife of Stephen Landers Wing of Franklin Plantation, Maine, Maine Genealogist 43:2 (May 2021).
Leeds, Maine, town records.
"Maine Vital Records, 1670-1921," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L974-KNVK?cc=1803978&wc=71R8-FCG%3A1029440201%2C1029477101 : 20 May 2014), Vital records prior to 1892 > Wilson, 1881-Wood, 1850 > image 671 of 4282; multiple sources, Maine.
Mitchell, Nahum, History of the Early Settlement of Bridgewater, in Plymouth County, Massachusetts (Boston: the author, 1840).
The Owl 3:6 (June 1902)
The Owl 4:2 (December 1902).
The Owl 18:3 (June 1917).
Stinchfield, J. C., The History of the town of Leeds, Androscoggin County, Maine, from its settlement June 10, 1780 (Lewiston, ME: Lewiston Journal, 1901).
Vital Records of Bridgewater, Massachusetts (Boston: NEHGS, 1916).
Wing, Raymond T., comp., Wing Genealogy (n.p.: Penobscot Press, 2015).
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No matter how long you have been working on your family tree, at some point you
will hit a dead end or “brick wall”. It could be because you don’t know where else
to look for clues, or because the record you are
looking for was destroyed or never created. There are alternate research methods (like researching others in your ancestor’s family which can sometimes yield information about your ancestor), and sources that aren’t online or only are known by locals/families.
So instead of pounding your head against a brick wall, let us know about your Wing family brick walls and we will see if anyone in the Wing Family can help! Please note that “Wing Family” includes spouses of Wings.
Please submit your request to Cathy Kusnier at fifthdistrictrep@wingfamily.org describing your brick wall along with pertinent facts and sources. Also, don’t forget to include your email so Wing Family members can respond to your brick wall if they have information to share with you.
Editorial Note: Brick wall requests will be printed at the discretion of the
Communications Committee.
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