Individual Details
Elizabeth Skerry
(Abt 1641 - 17 Aug 1697)
There has been considerable and understandable confusion of Elizabeth (Skerry) Fitch, wife of Benjamin Fitch of Reading, MA, with the related Elizabeth (Skerry) Williams, wife of John Williams, Sen., of Salem. Both are referred to (with their respective husbands) as "cousin" in the 1684 will of Francis Skerry, brother of Henry Skerry -- father of Elizabeth (Skerry) Williams.
The 4 March 1638 birth date originally given in this profile is recorded as a baptismal date for Henry's daughter, although there is a further element of confusion because a 1663 multiple baptism shown in records of the First Church of Salem clearly identified "Eliz. Williams" as the daughter of "H. Skerry", and as one of those apparently being christened; what reason there might be for her to have a second baptism is not known. Elizabeth (Skerry) Fitch, on the other hand, has been reported by a descendant as age 25 at the time of her marriage in February of 1666; if this is correct, she appears to have been born about 1641.
Her parentage remains, at this writing (March 2017) a mystery. From Francis Skerry's will, she was obviously a close relation of his -- and she and the other Elizabeth, and their husbands, were contemporaneous, and living at the time the will was drafted in 1684. One possibility may be that she was the daughter of the third Skerry brother, Robert, who is mentioned in Francis's will as being in England. There is also, one supposes, the extraordinary possibility that Henry Skerry had two daughters with the same given name; this is occasionally seen -- with sons, at least -- but usually when there is a wide age gap and usually where a second marriage is involved. Other than these hypotheses, we have at present little to go by.
Elizabeth's marriage to Benjamin Fitch is shown in the NEHGR, Vol. 55, as having taken place on 27 February 1665-66.
Identification of both Elizabeth Fitch and Elizabeth Williams as "cousin": will of Francis Skerry, as cited in Historical Collections of the Essex Institute, Vol. IV, 1862, p. 65
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Skerry-17
The 4 March 1638 birth date originally given in this profile is recorded as a baptismal date for Henry's daughter, although there is a further element of confusion because a 1663 multiple baptism shown in records of the First Church of Salem clearly identified "Eliz. Williams" as the daughter of "H. Skerry", and as one of those apparently being christened; what reason there might be for her to have a second baptism is not known. Elizabeth (Skerry) Fitch, on the other hand, has been reported by a descendant as age 25 at the time of her marriage in February of 1666; if this is correct, she appears to have been born about 1641.
Her parentage remains, at this writing (March 2017) a mystery. From Francis Skerry's will, she was obviously a close relation of his -- and she and the other Elizabeth, and their husbands, were contemporaneous, and living at the time the will was drafted in 1684. One possibility may be that she was the daughter of the third Skerry brother, Robert, who is mentioned in Francis's will as being in England. There is also, one supposes, the extraordinary possibility that Henry Skerry had two daughters with the same given name; this is occasionally seen -- with sons, at least -- but usually when there is a wide age gap and usually where a second marriage is involved. Other than these hypotheses, we have at present little to go by.
Elizabeth's marriage to Benjamin Fitch is shown in the NEHGR, Vol. 55, as having taken place on 27 February 1665-66.
Identification of both Elizabeth Fitch and Elizabeth Williams as "cousin": will of Francis Skerry, as cited in Historical Collections of the Essex Institute, Vol. IV, 1862, p. 65
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Skerry-17
Events
| Birth | Abt 1641 | ||||
| Marriage | 27 Feb 1665/66 | Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts - Benjamin Fitch |  | ||
| Death | 17 Aug 1697 | Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts |
Families
| Spouse | Benjamin Fitch (1641 - 1713) |
| Child | Zachariah Fitch (1666 - 1684) |
| Child | Bridgett Fitch (1669 - 1723) |
| Child | Elizabeth Fitch (1671 - ) |
| Child | Mary Fitch (1678 - ) |
Endnotes
1. , , "," New England Historic Genealogical Register . (N.p.: n.p., n.d.), 1901-1902 issues.