Okay, officially confused. Doing research I have come up with three surnames for Sarah prior to her marriage to Benjamin in Tring, Hertfordshire, England. I have Savage and Tremaine as does this readerboard but others indicate Colton as her maiden name in England. Any clarity on this? Anyone out there?!!
Thank you, Gayle
Benjamin Cooley's wife was named Sarah (according to James Savage's A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England). In the book http://hausegenealogy.com/source/cooley.pdf The Cooley Genealogy: The Descendants of Ensign Benjamin Cooley, my parenthetical comment above was shortened to (Savage), which was a citation, not a maiden name - at least that's how I interpret it. So, I believe that eliminates Savage as a likely candidate for her surname. There is another immigrant Cooley/Coley named Samuel Coley (immigrant) whose daughter Abilenah Chapin married Japhet Chapin who was the brother of the Capt. Henry Chapin who married Benjamin and Sarah Cooley's daughter Bethia Chapin The above Samuel Coley's mother is listed as being Sarah Coley
The bottom line for me is that I think that between http://hausegenealogy.com/source/cooley.pdf and http://cooleyfamilyassociation.com/benjamin_cooley_position.html I think if Sarah's last name were known it would have been indicated.
http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.tremaine/87.1.1/mb.ashx
From p. 43 of the Cooley Genealogy, Mortimer Cooley, 1940:
"...research undertaken has been to establish, so far to
no avail, the parentage and ancestry, and the date
and place of birth and marriage, of Benjamin Cooley of
Springfield, Mass., together with like facts for his
wife, now known only as Sarah.
To secure information prior to the first records of
Benjamin and Sarah Cooley in 1642 in Springfield,
Mass., seems to members of the family to be of primary
importance. In order to avoid duplication of material
already accumulated, and in order to clarify that
information, as much as possible, this chapter has been
prepared.
Lyman Weeks gives Sarah's maiden surname as Tremaine. A
thorough search of the Tremaine genealogy, and for
Tremaine data in contemporary records, has yielded no proof
of this statement. Another suggestion is that she may have
been Sarah Colton. " New bottom line: the possibilities Tremaine, Colton and the likely incorrect reading of Savage have all been around for more than 70 years. I've yet to see any evidence/proof beyond suggestions for either Colton or Tremaine.
Erica Howton or I should MP this profile with a curator's note. Can one of you add sources and work on the About Me to include what is and is not known?
We need to make sure that Savage was parenthetical before cutting that set of parents. I have however seen exactly this before :)