Vital Records (VR) of Ipswich, MA, Vol. II., p. 265, states that Deacon Thomas Knowlton married one Mary Kimball, 17 May 1682. In Stocking's History, this Mary Kimball is identified as daughter of Richard and Mary (Scott) Kimball, born 1625. NOTE: Richard Kimball's first wife and mother of all his children was URSULA Scott. Turns out that this Mary Kimball married Robert Dutch of Gloucester and Ipswich. In Knowlton's Errata, this Mary Kimball is identified as the daughter of John and Mary (Bradstreet) Kimball, born 1658, which makes her a grandaughter of Richard and Ursula. NOTE: There was a thirty plus year difference in age between Deacon Thomas and this Mary Kimball; also, the 1988 revised version of the History of the Kimball Family only says that she _might_ have been the second wife of Deacon Thomas. In doing some unrelated research, I stumbled upon an article in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register (NEHGR), Vol. 142, pp. 51-55 (1988) which states that Mary Smith, wife of the first Thomas Kimball, son of Richard, the emigrant, married, second, Deacon Thomas Knowlton of Ipswich, 17 May 1682. This Mary was daughter of Thomas and Joanna (-----) Smith and was born about 1634. In the article (p. 54), there is a discussion of agreements between the Selectmen of Ipswich and two of Thomas Kimball's brothers re: the maintenance of Thomas and Joanna Smith. Those agreements are also discussed in the Kimball History. There is one key difference. Where the "History" says that the agreements were dated 18 November 1686 and 8 December 1687, the NEHGR article gives dates of 18 December 1680 and 8 December 1681. If 1686 and 1687 are correct, it works against the assertion that Mary Smith Kimball married Thomas Knowlton in 1682 because the agreements specifically identify Mary Kimball, widow of Thomas (note that Deacon Thomas died 03 April 1692, three and a half years after the death of his wife, Mary, which occurred 20 November 1688, both according to Ipswich VR). Had she been married to Deacon Thomas at the time of the agreements, it should have somehow been reflected in the language of those agreements. If the correct dates are 1680 and 1681, the agreements, as well as the death of her parents, predate Deacon Thomas's marriage to Mary Kimball, whoever she was. The NEHGR article states that Thomas Smith probably died during the winter of 1681-1682, his wife having died earlier, and references Essex County Probate File 25781. I tend to think that the NEHGR dates are correct, the Kimball "History" dates are incorrect, and that Thomas Kimball's widow did marry Deacon Thomas Knowlton. A couple of entries in The Hammatt Papers support the 1680-81 dates. Anyone having ready access to Essex County Probate could verify Thomas Smith's death date (probate would also indicate whether or not his wife, Joanna, was still living at that time). The Ipswich town records (which must have survived into the 19th century as originals or copies) could also be revisited to verify the dates of the agreements between the Kimballs and the town of Ipswich (1680-1 or 1686-7). I'm in upstate NY, and don't have that kind of access. Of course, there's no genealogical significance to any of this since Deacon Thomas had no issue from either marriage. -- Bill Carr Town of Malta Saratoga County, NY Lossing's Field Books of the Revolution and War of 1812; http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~wcarr1/ List Administrator for RootsWeb's DUSTIN mailing list. Coordinator for Haddam, Middlesex County, Connecticut page; http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~wcarr1/