I am sending this to three RootsWeb surname mailing lists. I apologize if you see it more than once. I am trying to find out if the Mehitable (Goodspeed) Howes who was widow of Samuel Howes of Barnstable is the same as the Mehitable who married in 1720, as his third wife, Joseph Blossom of Barnstable. I need to prove that Mehitable Howes couldn't possibly have been Joseph's wife - or suggest in my notes that it is possible that she could have been - or - most convincing of all - to prove that Samuel Howes had a widow who did, indeed, marry Joseph Blossom. Deacon Thomas Blossom set out for Plymouth on the Speedwell alongside Mayflower. The Speedwell was not seaworthy and the Mayflower took on as many of its passengers as they could squeeze in, but Thomas Blossom did not make the cut. He and some others went back to Leiden and he emigrated to Plymouth Colony in 1629 along with his wife (Ann Helsden) and three children (Elizabeth, Thomas and Peter). Thomas died in 1633 and his widow Ann married Henry Rowley. The Rowleys, presumably including the Blossom children, moved to Barnstable abt 1640. Peter Blossom married Sarah Bodfish and they had 8 children, 3 of whom died young. The youngest, Jabez, married Mary Goodspeed. His brother Joseph is my ancestor and his 3rd wife was Mehitable(). Mehitable (Goodspeed) (Howes) Blossom, maybe? Ancestry's little green leaves gave me a surprise last week. For Joseph Blossom was a link labeled "U S Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications 1889-1970 for Mehitable Hires". When I looked at the image of the document it was clear that "Hires" was a misreading of "Howes". The document, filed Feb 12, 1926, is a supplemental application for Henry Proctor Burt, descendant of Benjamin Blossom. He had SAR National number 38448 and MA State number 4428 and was applying based on the Revolutionary War service of Joseph's son, Benjamin Blossom. The image of the actual document says 6) Great-Great-Great Grandson of Benjamin Blossom b Mar 1721 d Oct 25 1797 / wife Bathsheba Percival b Dec 21 1725 7) Great-Great-Great-Great Grandson of Joseph Blossom d Nov 3 1749 and Mehitable (Goodspeed) Howes his wife b Sep 1687 d Mar 16 1771 m abt 1720 First - I suspect that even in 1926 the SAR would have checked the information on an application for correctness. As this is the father of the soldier, it might not have been checked as closely, however, though I'd have thought the SAR would challenge something not documented. Still - it is the ONLY time I have found anything that states that Mehitable Howes is the unknown Mehitable who was Joseph Blossom's 3rd wife. I decided to do further online searches last week to see if this information was anywhere else in documents - not "trees". It isn't - or I haven't found it. It doesn't seem to be in any of the "trees", either. I've been looking at documents on ancestry.com and on americanancestors.org and can find only that one document which makes that connection. Observations: Mehitable Goodspeed: daughter of Ebenezer Goodspeed and Lydia Crowell b 4 Sep 1681 I found online an ebook of the "History of the Goodspeed Family". Ebenezer's family is covered on p 104 ff. On p 115 it says (3c) "Mehitable married Dec. 18 1705, Samuel Howes (or House as the name was also written). No further information." Samuel Howes: He was b abt 1677 and I don't know when he died. Does anyone know? (If Mehitable Howes married Joseph Blossom in 1720 it presumably is before 1720). Mehitable had a sister, Mary Goodspeed, who married Joseph's brother Jabez. These families knew each other. Blossom: "The American Genealogist" published in April 1988 (continued in Oct and in January 1989) had an article on "The Blossom Family of Cambridgeshire, England and New England. It was written by John Insley Coddington and Maclean W McLean (both F.A.S.G.) I trust what they wrote to be accurate. In the October 1988 issue (pp 242-3) is the entry for Joseph and his 3 families. It states "when he died he was married to Mehitable ----, born about 1682, died on 16 March 1771. Her gravestone in the old Colonial Cemetery at Acushnet shows: ae 89 yrs, 6 mo, 12 days, widow of Joseph Blossom" (and references Dartmouth VR 3:20). TAG is available at americanancestors.org for members of NEHGS. Joseph Blossom (1673-1749) married first Mary Pinchon. They had 4 sons before she died in 1706. Joseph probably married another Mary as he had daughters in 1709 and 1711. Joseph then married Mehitable () and had 5 more children. Benjamin was the 10th of the 11 children of Joseph and the 3 wives. One other thing I should check out is that another little green leaf mentions that there was a "Boston Transcript" column which mentioned Mehitable Blossom. To my knowledge none of the actual columns is online and I'll need a library search probably far from home to look at this one. American Genealogical-Biographical Index (AGBI) about Mehitable Blossom Name: Mehitable Blossom Birth Date: 1682 Birthplace: Massachusetts Volume: 15 Page Number: 239 Reference: Gen. Column of the " Boston Transcript". 1906-1941. ( The greatest single source of material for gen. Data for the N.E. area and for the period 1600-1800. Completely indexed in the Index.): 11 Feb 1903, 4737; 25 Sep 1905, 8200 Thanks for reading all the way to the end of this. Margaret Olson olson@shout.net