52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS #8: EDMUND GREENLEAF PT3

The most interesting part of Edmond Greenleaf's will is that codicil:
"The following paper is also recorded in the "Probate Records," appended to the
will, as, probably, assigning the reason why the name of his second wife, who
appears to have outlived him, was not mentioned:—

"When I married my wife, I kept her grandchild, as I best remember, three years to
schooling, diet and apparel; and William Hill, her son, had a bond of six pounds a year, whereof I received no more than a barrel of pork of £3-0-0 of that £6-0-0 a year he was
to pay me, and sent to her son Ignatius Hill, to the Barbadoes, in mackerel, cider, and
bread and pease, as much as come to twenty pounds, and never received one penny of
it. His aunt gave to the three brothers £50 apiece. I know not whether they received it
or no; but I have not received any part of it.

"Witness my hand. (Signed) Edmund Greenleaf."

"Besides, when I married my wife, she brought me a silver bowl, a silver porringer,
and a silver spoon. She lent or gave them to her son, James Hill, without my consent."
So apparently Edmund felt his stepsons and step grandson were slackers who hadn't
paid the debts they owed him, and that his second wife Sara was what we would
call today an enabler. The silver set incident seems to have particularly angered
Edmund since he makes special mention of it, since it was part of the dowry she
brought him when they married.  It seems rather harsh by my modern view (although
not in the same class as my other ancestor William Hedge's dismissal of his wife
Blanche in his will).

I hope the second Sarah's three sons provided for their mother afterwards.

I learned two new things about Edmund Greenleaf working on this series. The first
was that he'd had a second wife. The second thing is a result of two readers generously sharing their research with me. One person is someone who I'll call D.P. since I
don't have permission as yet to use her name here; the other is fellow New England geneablogger Sara Campbell What I learned from what they both sent me is that
Edmund's first wife Sarah was not Sarah Dole, but rather Sarah Moore.

When I first started researching my family tree everything I could find on Edmund  Greenleaf said it was Sarah Dole, but most of that research was from the 19th and early 20th centuries.  Research in England in the late 20th century discovered documents that showed that my ancestress was actually Sarah Moore. This proves that while the old genealogy books on Google are great sources they are not always accurate and the information in them should be confirmed.

Thanks to D.P. and Sara Campbell for the information, and I am adjusting my database
and family tree to reflect it. 

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS #8: EDMUND GREENLEAF

Fellow geneablogger Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small has issued the 52
Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. Basically, we have to post something every week
on a different ancestor, whether a story, picture, or research problem. This week my
subject is 10x great grandfather Edmund Greenleaf.

I found the following in  the Google ebook edition of James Edward Greenleaf's Genealogy of the Greenleaf Family (F. Wood, printer, Boston, Ma. 1896).
There's an interesting bit of information at the end of the excerpt:

On the parish records of St. Mary's la Tour in Ipswich, County Suffolk, England, is recorded: "Edmund Greenleaf, son of John and Margaret, was baptized Jan. 2, 1574."
Among the family relics still preserved is the cane brought to this country by Edmund Greenleaf; it bears the initials "J. G." on a silver band near the handle.

Edmund Greenleaf married Sarah Dole, and by her had nine children, whose names appear on the records of the parish of St. Mary's la Tour above mentioned. It is supposed there were two others,—John, born about 1632, and who died in Boston, Dec. 16, 1712; and Mary,— referred to in "Savage's Dictionary," Vol. IV. p. 476: "John Wells, of Newbury, took the oath of allegiance, May, 1669, and was made a freeman the same month, a carpenter, married March 5, 1669, Mary, probably daughter of Edmund Greenleaf, and had, December 16th, Mary, who died the year following. Mary, again, born Feb. 16, 1673. William, born Jan. IS. 1675."

All of the nine children named in the chart, and whose baptismal records and deaths appear on the parish records of St. Mary's before mentioned, were born in England. Mr. Greenleaf lived near the old town bridge in Newbury, where for some years he kept a tavern. He was admitted a freeman on March 13, 1639,* and on May 22d of the same year was "permitted to keep a house of entertainment."

The name of Edmund Greenleaf appears :—
June 1, 1642.—" On a commission of Newbury."
Sept. 8, 1642.—" Ordered to send home an Indian woman."
Sept. 27, 1642.—" On a committee to take charge of certain orders by the council."
Nov. 11, 1647.—Requests his " discharge from military service."
May 2, 1649.—On appraisement of real estate. (" Massachusetts Bay Records," Vol. I. page 258; Vol. II. pages 16, 23, 30, 215, and 276).

Capt. Edmund Greenleaf moved to Boston with his wife Sarah about 1650 (New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. VI. page 102), where he buried his wife, and afterwards married Mrs. Sarah Hill, widow of Wilson, 2d, of William Hill, of Fairfield, Conn., who had several children by her former marriage. This marriage was rather an unhappy one.
-pp71-72

The answer as to why the second marriage was unhappy lies in Edmund Greenleaf's
will and I'll discuss that in Part 2.

To be continued.