I don't believe it has been proven that Edmund SHERMAN (b. abt 1572, Dedham, Essex, England; d. 1641, New Haven, Connecticut) married Joan MAKIN, daughter of Tobias MAKIN of Fingringhoe, England. In fact, Jacobus (HISTORY AND GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILIES OF OLD FAIRFIELD) writes: "He may have m. Joan Makin, dau. of Tobias of Fingringhoe, but the evidence seen does not seem conclusive." Unless new evidence has been found, Jacobus is difficult to dispute. While many early genealogies indicate Edmund SHERMAN m. Joan MAKIN, none, unfortunately, document their information. Some of the these genealogies reference the will of Tobias MAKIN. However, none of these contain transcriptions or quotations of the will. Since Jacobus would have had access to all of these writings, including Tobias Makin's will, one is left to question what the will actually says, or doesn't say. Reportedly, as I have not personally read the material, the July/Oct., 1985 issue of The American Genealogist contains an article by Myrtle S. Hyde entitled "Was Tobias Makin an Ancestor of the New England Shermans?" which, apparently, disproves the MAKIN connection to either Edmund SHERMAN or his brother John, to whom Joan Makin's sister Grace Makin supposedly married. On the MAKIN GenForum is a posting which, referencing The American Genealogist, Vol. 61, states: "I read the TAGs (The Americian Genelogist)1985, Vol 61 which proves by brother Tobias Makin Jr's 1621 will that Grace Makin bc 1585 married an 'unknown' Sherman,(not John who died bef. 1716) 'unlikely' to be Edmund and 'no supporting evidence found'. Her sister Joan Makin bc 1595 married bef. 1621 Richard Stone. John Sherman's wife was proven,(in 1986)to be Grace Ravens (my anc.) not Grace Makin. Tobias Makin Sr's wife was Elizabeth (Westbrome)Makin of Abberton, Essex. d 1596, dtr of Thomas." While none of the above, as presented, either proves or disproves the marriage of Edmund SHERMAN to Joan MAKIN, it certainly leads one to question the validity of the said marriage. Maybe another reader possesses copies of the TAG articles and will share with us their contents. --- Scott Foster In a message dated 5/30/01 2:51:55 PM Pacific Daylight Time, AnnieL2436@aol.com writes: > A couple additions/corrections to the recent postings on these lines. > > Gideon Allen & Sarah Prudden (dau. of Rev. Peter Prudden & Johanna Boyse) > also had a daughter Abigail (1680-1755), who married John Shephard. > > Quite a bit of research has been done on the Sherman family: > Edmund Sherman (1572 - ~ 1642) married Joan Makin and had 9 children > including: > Hester Sherman (1606-1666), m. Andrew Ward (11 children) > Rev. John Sherman (1613- ) > Hon. Samuel Sherman (1618-1700) m. Sarah Mitchell (9 children) >