Mary Kent (mtDNA)

Status summary

As of August 30, 2018

Page created for Mary Kent, first wife of Stephen Hopkins
recruitment of individuals who are mtDNA descendants of Mary Kent Hopkins. Folks who are mtDNA descendants are encouraged to contact Raymond T. Wing (email: wing.genealogist AT gmail DOT com)

Background

Biography

The General Society of Mayflower Descendants (GSMD) has provisionally accepted the identity of Mary Kent, daughter of Robert Kent & Joan Machell of Hursley, Hants, as the first wife of Stephen Hopkins. This identification was first proposed by by Simon Neal in a couple of Mayflower Quarterly articles.^[1] Caleb Johnson also stated this identification was probable.^[2]

Stephen & Mary were married about 1603, likely at the parish church in Hursley. They had children baptized (at Hursley) 13 May 1604 (Elizabeth), 11 May 1606 (Constance), and 30 Jan 1607/8 (Giles).^[3] Mary was buried at Hursley on 9 May 1613.^[4]

↑ Simon Neal, "Investigation into the origins of Mary and Elizabeth, the wives of Stephen Hopkins". The Mayflower Quarterly (Plymouth, MA: The General Society of Mayflower Descendants), June 2012, vol. 78, No. 2 p. 137; Simon Neal, "Appendix - Investigation into the origins of Mary and Elizabeth, the wives of Stephen Hopkins". The Mayflower Quarterly (Plymouth, MA: The General Society of Mayflower Descendants), March 2013, vol. 79, no. 1. This identity is not 100% verified, but has much supporting evidence.
↑ Caleb Johnson's Mayflower History blog
↑ Ancestry.com tree created by Raymond T. Wing
↑ TAG 73:163 from Parish register

mtDNA Results

According to "The Mayflower Quarterly"^[1], three mtDNA descendants from three of the four known daughters of Constance (Hopkins) Snow: viz: Sarah (Snow) Walker, Ruth (Snow) Cole, and Mary (Snow) Paine, all were DNA tested and they all came up matching each other. The FamilyTreeDNA Mayflower Project currently has four individuals listed under Mary, wife of Stephen Hopkins.^[2] They all fell under the V Haplogroup with HVR1 mutations: A16129G, T16187C, C16189T, T16223C, G16230A, T16278C, T16298C, C16311T, C16519T and HVR2 mutations: T72C, G73A, C146T, C152T, C195T, A247G, 522.1A, 522.2C, 309.1C, 315.1C^[3]

mtDNA Descendants

FIRST GENERATION

Mary & Stephen had one son (Giles) and two daughters (Elizabeth & Constance). Elizabeth did not come to New Plimouth with her father, and is believed to have died before 1620.

SECOND GENERATION

Constance was baptized at Hursley, Hants 11 May 1606. She married Nicholas Snow^[4] sometime shortly before the 1627 Cattle Division. Bradford stated they had twelve children, but only the names of nine of them are currently known. Of these nine there were five sons and four daughters (Mary, Sarah, Elizabeth & Ruth)^[5]

THIRD GENERATION

Mary Snow was born about 1630 and married (Eastham Jul 1650) Thomas Paine. They had nine sons and two daughters (Mary c1651-1705 & Dorcas 1669-1707)

Sarah Snow was born about 1632 and married (Eastham 25 Jan 1654) William Walker. They had four sons and two daughters (Sarah 1662-1693 & Elizabeth 1664-1697 [never married])

Elizabeth Snow was born about 1640 and married (Eastham 13 Dec 1665) Thomas Rogers. They had five sons and two daughters (Elizabeth 1666-1704 & Hannah 1669-1733)

Ruth Snow was born about 1644 and married (Eastham 10 Dec 1666) Lieut. John Cole. They had three sons and five daughters (Ruth, Hepzibah^[6], Hannah [never married], Mary [never married], & Sarah [never married])

↑ Vol. 86 No. 3 (Fall 2019), p. 40
↑ Only one of the four lists Mary as their mtDNA ancestor.
↑ One of the three individuals only had the HVR I tested. It is unknown if any of the others had full mtDNA testing, or only HVR I&II testing. Coding region results are not listed on the FTDNA website for privacy reasons.
↑ The Nicholas Snow baptized at St. Leonard's, Shoreditch, London on 25 Jan 1599/1600 was buried there on 28 Jan. The birth/baptism and parentage for Nicholas Snow who emigrated to Massachusetts is currently unknown.
↑ More than a few sources state one of the other three children was a daughter Constance who married Deacon Daniel Doane, but mtDNA testing of two supposed "umbilical" descendants of this line did not match the known mtDNA of Constance and her mother (The Mayflower Quarterly Fall 2019, p. 40). Also private correspondence with Christopher Child, Genetices Editor for Newbury Street Press and Editor of Mayflower Descendant.
↑ She did NOT marry Daniel Doane in Jul 1696, as some sources claim.