Family of Henry Jennings and Anne Godwin
Details
Son of Henry Jennings and Anne Godwin. No birth records, recognized in a will. Married a widow, Judith Marden Bates with one child, Rebecca.
Daughter of Henry Jennings and Anne Godwin. No birth records, recognized in a will. Married John Chew.
Controversies
Henry and Isaac
Question
Can we be sure that Isaac, the father of Jacob, is the son of Henry?
Answer
There are sufficient intersecting data to be persuasive.
- There is only one known Isaac Jennings in West Jersey.
- Isaac was of the same faith as Henry, the Religious Society of Friends. The other Jennings family in East Jersey were Presbyterians.
- Isaac purchased land from John Hugg, a friend of Margaret and Henry
- Isaac attended the same meetings as Henry
- Isaac is mentioned in the Earley family history of Isaac of Haddonfield, the brother of Sarah
- Isaac refers to hereditaments in his will “Item I give and Devise unto my son Jacob Jennings all my Lands Tenements & Heriditaments whatsoever & wheresoever with their appurtenances to hold to him his heirs & assigns for Ever.
The Feasibility of Isaac’s Age
Question
It does not seem feasible that Isaac migrated to West Jersey at the age 45, started a family, had a son at the age of 77 and passed away at 95 years.
Answer
Yes it is feasible.
Longevity
Halley’s 1693 Table indicates the potential to live to be 95 was about 2%.
Using Henry, Isaac’s father as an example, Henry Jennings immigrated at the age of 36 when his life expectancy at age 0 was 35. He farmed for 12 year, then declared in a letter to his brother Issac, ” We have 2 days before the date hereof lett our plantation & most of our stock for six yeares, & doth intend to live in Salem & doe something of my hans (hands), for my wife & I are grone (grown) very unabell to manidg (manage) a plantation. We have kept it som years ye longer expecting your coming, but now we are out of that hope,”
Henry would live another 16 years before passing away in a land that the average life expectancy at age 0 was 38 years. Margaret continued a few years without Henry and passed away at the age of 78 years.
Halley Actuary Table 1693
Patrilineal Age Analysis
The inclination for longevity appears in patrilineal descent which includes male siblings for individuals that died of accident or disease. If a Jennings male avoids infant mortality, accident or disease, he will typically outlive his peers.
Sources: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2885717/https://www.infoplease.com/us/health-statistics/life-expectancy-age-1850-2011
Paternity
Paternity
The question of paternity is less about Isaac’s capability to father a child in his 76th year and more about his wife’s ability to bear children later in life. Judith is a witness of her son’s wedding in 1761 and had written her will in 1782. The will mentions her earlier children, which dispels the idea that there may have been two wives named Judith. We have no information on the Judith’s age at marriage or her age at death.
Historical Context
Isaac and Sarah remained in London with family or joined Henry and Margaret in Ditton on the Thames. There are no records to indicate when they came to West Jersey or insight into their lives before the middle-aged siblings set sail for the colonies.
Their uncle, Isaac, evolved into a glover and underwriter in Lloyd’s Coffee house. Isaac’s investments included shipments to the English colonies. Passengers were rarely documented, and trade ships often sent prisoners to the British West Indies.
Family of Isaac Jennings and Mary Bucknall
Details
Mary
Daughter of Isaac Jennings and Mary Bucknall 1st Mary, Died at 10 days of age.
Mary
Daughter of Isaac Jennings and Mary Bucknall . 2nd Mary, Married Christopher Crowe
Alice
Daughter of Isaac Jennings and Mary Bucknall . Married Thomas Williamson and John Baker
Sarah
Daughter of Isaac Jennings and Mary Bucknall . Died at the age of 4
Margaret
Daughter of Isaac Jennings and Mary Bucknall . No birth record, recognized in a will. Married Ralph Hutchinson