Maibe or Maybee Barnes - Verifying Maibe Barnes

I'm looking at his parents. Comment:

"The various Thomas Barnes and their families are quite confused among the sources and genealogies. Torrey lists nineteen Thomas Barnes marriages before 1700."

!!!!!

Reporting for discussion Caleb Clark's questions over here so they will show on Maibe's profile, on the discussion tab

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http://www.geni.com/discussions/125311?msg=898987

Caleb Benjamin Clark
Today at 3:15 PM
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Hello,

I’m new to this site, and just started a tree over on Ancestry.com. I am the great-great-grandson of Martha Jane Lewis, who was the great-great-granddaughter of Elizabeth Barnes. Elizabeth was the daughter of Nathaniel Barnes, who was the son of Maibe/Maybe/Maybee (I’ve found three different spellings) Barnes. Maybee was the son of Thomas Barnes (making Elizabeth the great-granddaughter of Thomas Barnes, (1623-1691) if the dates are correct). If I’m doing the math right, Maybee was my 8th great-grandfather. Also, most sources I’ve found (mainly other folks’ family trees) cannot agree on birth and death dates for many of these people.

I’m trying to determine a few things. First, which of Thomas Barnes’ wives was Maybee the son of? Also, Thomas Barnes of Hartford seems to be the fourth(?) Thomas Barnes in a row, but different trees over on ancestry.com seem to be confused about his father’s and grandfather’s birth/death dates. If anyone can shed any light on the mess that appears to be Thomas Barnes’s family, that would be great. :)

To answer a couple of those questions:

1) Thomas Barnes of Hartford (original proprietor) married Mary, maiden name unknown. She is the mother of all his children, who include Maibe.

2) It seems Elizabeth was his widow.

3) if there is proof of his English origins I have not seen it nor has anyone contributed any to the Geni Master Profile.

I've found a few things. I checked out some of the sources linked to my ancestry.com tree, and two are from the Barbour Collection (I'm not familiar with what this is - I must admit that I am but a novice when it comes to this stuff).

One lists "Nathaniell, s. Maybe & Elizabeth, b Dec. 5, 1691" followed by a second: "Nathaniell, of Middletown, m. Hannah GAININGS, of Windham, Oct. 29, 1712, by Sam[ue]ll Whiteing, of Windham.” If I understand how the source works, this tells me that Nathaniell was born to Maybe and Elizabeth on Dec. 5, 1691, and that he married Hannah Gainings (Samuell Whiteing being the pastor that married them?) Oct. 29, 1712.

I jumped down one generation to Nathaniell and Hannah’s daughter, Elizabeth. She looks to be born Sept 5, 1722.

Erica - Thank you for the answers, but I have follow-up questions. 1) Which Mary are you referring to, the first one who was supposedly hanged as a witch, or the second? 2) Elizabeth was whose widow? 3) A more foundational question: How do you know which sources to trust, particularly when you have a conflict (dates, who someone was married to, etc.)?

I have a two-generation gap between Elizabeth Barnes and Michael Lewis in my tree that I am trying to connect via Census information (I have viewed multiple family trees that connect the two, but further proof would be nice). This is fun, but sometimes frustrating, work.

To take it from the top.

There were TWO Thomas Barnes in the Hartford area. BOTH married 1st to a Mary. And have been confusing genealogists ever since, including two Connecticut giants in genealogy: Donald Lines Jacobus & Clarence A. Torrey.

This is the Geni tree for ‘Goodman’ Thomas Barnes

You will notice you in particular amongst all Barnes descendants and wanna be's are lucky, as you are tracking to the unusually named Maibe Barnes.

More next ...

And this is the Geni tree for Thomas Barnes, Sr.

This Wikitree file is very helpful to me as it includes his will data and a very nice compilation of the 19 Thomas Barnes marriages in early New England

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Barnes-2267

The Barbour Collection of Connecticut vital records is considered top notch. Unfortunately the 1st Thomas Barnes family was so early there are not a lot of vitals for the children's births, so we are reliant, to some extent, on the interpretations of scholars such as Jacobus (but there are others - it's a well studied area).

In Ancestry.com there is a good database for Anderson's Great Migration Project. I have not looked yet to see what they have to say about either Thomas Barnes line.

Thomas Barnes of Farmington/Hartford is a documented ancestor. my sister who was the state of Ct. Mayflower Society Historian has confirmed this lineage from me to T.Barnes of Hartford. check on the founders of Hartford and you can document this yourself.