Henry’s Story
In Salem, West Jersey, a clerk recorded Henry Jennings’ introduction to the Quaker meeting. He began his story stating that he was the son of William and Mary Jennings, born on July 21, 1642, in the parish of St Clement Danes.
Henry shared that he married his wife, Margaret Busse, on March 18, 1666. Additionally, he introduced their servant, Martha Berkett, the young daughter of John Berkett, a mercer who lived near Kingston on Thames.
His last residence was in the hamlet, Ditton near Kingston on Thames, and that he took the four-month voyage aboard the Kent in 1677, seeking “another good life yea in America.”
Life and Death in America
Henry arrived at the age of thirty-six, labored for twenty-seven years before passing away at sixty-three. He lived his life in West Jersey and Pennsylvania as a yeoman, tailor, and devoted follower of George Fox. He acquired far more land than could be farmed, leaving it all to his wife Margaret except for a small legacy to his brother Isaac and niece, Margaret.
Margaret lived to be seventy-eight years old, surviving Henry by a few years. Margaret provided Priscilla Hugg a small legacy and gifted property for a Quaker meeting house in her will. She left the rest of the nearly two thousand acres to Henry’s reputed children, Sarah and Isaac.
The brother and sister migrated following the passing of their father and stepmother. Although middle-aged, both began families, lived long and fruitful lives, then passed into the eternities as notable footnotes in the family bible. All rested in peace until the expected death of a ninety-seven-year-old bachelor, William Jennens, in 1798
The Jennings Gold Rush
William Jennens died wealthy and intestate. Near relatives quickly claimed the inheritance then faced an unrelenting barrage of legal challenges for the next hundred and thirty years.
In 1849, fifty years following the distribution of the wealth, the American Jennings families combined forces with agents, solicitors, and dishonest men to acquire the phantom fortune.
Editing the Past
Most branches championed favorite ancestors in a bold attempt to establish connections to the bachelor William.
For example, despite implausible timelines, the Isaac Jennings family branch touted Henry’s father William as a near heir despite flimsy evidence. Or, in some cases, they replaced William with Humphrey, the grandfather of William Jennens.
Fearing that William’s connection may fail to hit the mark, agents and family members fabricated a cousin, Sarah as Henry’s first wife.
The back story about Sarah features her as a sister or cousin to the bachelor William. In the narrative, Henry and Sarah marry despite family disapproval. They produce two children, then Sarah tragically dies of the plague.
Much of the story borrows from the actual history of Henry’s first wife, Anne Godwin. Anne married Henry in 1662, bore Sarah and Isaac before passing away from the plague in 1665.
Despite the many branches pinning their hopes on selected champions and calculated emotional appeals, all the legal challenges failed.
Our Challenge
Over time, lingering false narratives took root in the collective family memory, growing more credible with each passing generation.
The only recourse for the American Jennings families is to seek out and search for the truth and employ the accepted genealogical standards of proof to restore integrity into the family tree.
Controversies
Ties to the Warwickshire Jennings
Current Jennings family histories continue to link William Jennings to the Jennings family of Warwickshire. Using the marriage of Mary Messenger and William Jennings on 06 October 1631. Some researchers identify William as the son of William II born at Erdington Hall At St. Martins, Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, who was the son of William Beard Jennings and Johanna Elliyot. We will demonstrate through a proof argument that William Jennings is probably from Stepney, and that he was married to Mary Arnold Woodley Jenings, a widow of Saint Clement Danes.
Sarah Jennings, Cousin, and Wife
A long held belief is that Sarah Jennings is both a cousin to and wife of Henry Jennings. We will establish through the evidence that Anne Godwin is certainly the first wife of Henry Jennings and the mother of Isaac and Sarah.
Sarah and Isaac Jennings
A lack of birth records, and immigration records challenge the research of Isaac and Sarah, nevertheless, sufficient evidence exists that they probably did immigrate to West Jersey, claim and live on their inheritance and started families late in life.
Isaac’s age at the time of Jacob’s birth
There is probable evidence that Isaac was a man of great age at the time of his son’s birth in 1741 and that he did live to be 96 years old. There is further evidence that the Jennings line features longevity.
In addition to addressing these stated controversies, proof arguments will be provided for the following problem statements.
Problem Statements to Address in the Revised Edition
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- Who are the most likely parents of Henry, Robert, and Isaac?
- Who are the sisters and cousins mentioned in Henry’s letter to Isaac
- Why is John not included as a brother to Henry, Robert, and Isaac?
- What happened to Robert?
- What happened to Isaac?
- Who were Henry’s two wives?
- How and when did Henry immigrate?
- Did Henry and Isaac Jennings live longer than most 17th Century men?
- Did Isaac and Sarah immigrate and start families following their father and stepmother’s deaths?
- Did any of Isaac’s children immigrate?
- Did Isaac have a son, Jacob, late in life or is there a missing generation
- Did Sarah marry John Chew and have four children?
- What is the difference between East Jersey and West Jersey Jennings families and the men named Jacob?
- Which Jennings men married their Hopkins stepsisters?
- Which Jennings and Hopkins migrated to Wayne County Ohio?
- What happened to the children and step-children of James?
- Who were the two wives of Henry Jennings?
- Who were the children of Henry Jennings
- Was Cyrus Morgan Jennings a polygamist?
- Was polygamy a problem for Hannah Hansen Jennings?
- What are the other confusions that resulted from the Jennings of Haddonfield?
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