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From: "Sharilyn Whitaker" <>
Subject: Re: [NJHUNTER] Robert Esmay re John Holcombe of Amwell
Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005 08:16:52 -0700
References: <09b901c59e2e$9e8cf7d0$640fd1d1@computername> <002001c59e7c$c3e9f430$f123bb46@traveling>


Hello,

Thanks so much for this suggestion.

I am trying to disprove, once and for all, that Robert Esmay married the
widow of John Holcombe, and had children by her.

I think I have proved the no children part, simply because she was in her
sixties when her husband died. To say that she had children my a subsequent
marriage is patently ridiculous.

I'm confident she didn't remarry anyone after her husband died, because she
was a devoted and active Quaker, who had belonged to the same MM for
decades, and would not have married anywhere else than through her own
church, and had she, inconceivably, married out elsewhere, there would have
been a record of that in her NJ MM and there isn't.

There is no record of a remarriage for her in any Holcombe genealogical
source, and they quote every extant Quaker and other record. They say she
died in Amwell in 1761, mentioning nothing about any other marriage.

I think this purported remarriage to Robert Esmay was dreamed up by then 80
year old Samuel Willett Comstock, based totally on the fact that a man named
Esmay (Esmays are scarce as hen's teeth) old enough to be the father of his
mysterious Nancy, and equally mysterious Lt. Thomas Esmay, turns up being
paid someting in the probate distribution of John Holcombe's assets. There
is not one shred of evidence to support this idea Robert Esmay married John
Holcombe's widow, but Comstock put it into the LDS system, and people have
been copying it ever since.

I appreciate knowing about the repository for the Quaker records.

Sharilyn Whitaker
----- Original Message -----
From: "Eva W Myer" <>
To: <>
Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2005 6:58 AM
Subject: Re: [NJHUNTER] Robert Esmay re John Holcombe of Amwell


> Sharilyn,
> You might find additional information on your Quaker family at Haverford
> College Quaker Collection in Haverford, PA (suburb of Philadelphia). They
> hold the Orthodox Quaker records for that area. One unique holding of
> theirs is the "Dictionary of Quaker Biography," which is a typescript on
> individual Quakers. Many people do not know about it. Good luck
> Eva Walker Myer
>
>
>
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>


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