I have raised questions as to identity of Hannah, wife of William Gray. William was a son of James 1 Gray and his wife, Tamson ______ (sometimes seen as "Hillary" --not the one you think! -- but with no sources cited and seemingly without any justification). William's wife is often called Hannah Foss. I have to ask, again, for something to justify the "Foss". Some time ago I was told she was "Hannah Foss d/o Joshua, of Rye, N.H, c. 1749". There is no source cited. Joshua and Sara (Wallis) Foss had a daughter Hannah, of the age to have married William Gray, but that Hannah is recorded with marriage 21 August 1741, to Samuel Sanders of the Shoals. Gen. Dict. Maine & N.H., Libby, Noyes & Davis, page 240. All other Hannahs in the Foss Genealogy, and in Parsons' History of Rye, N.H., seem to have other spouses. There was also a reference to the typescript by Guy S. Rix, who shows Hannah Foss as a daughter of Samuel Foss and Mary Dowrst. Frankly I cannot even find a Samuel Foss who had a wife named Mary Dowrst. [Samuel Foss, son of John 1 Foss, had a grandson, Samuel, who married an Abigail Dowst in 1726] I saw that typescript at the NEHGS Library in Boston, and came away with the following comments -- [these notes pertain to John Foss, the immigrant Foss, but convey my thoughts on the Rix paper]. We have found three main "sources" for the Foss family. The most reliable is the Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire [Noyes-Libby-Davis] at page 240. Parsons also has a section on the Foss Family in his History of Rye, N.H., page 344+. The least reliable seems to be a typewritten copy of a manuscript in possession of the NEHGS, Boston, entitled "Genealogy Of The Foss Family Of America" compiled by Guy S. Rix, Concord, N.H. These three works have considerable differences, and we have included the Noyes-Libby-Davis conclusions, except where noted, being mainly where they do not cover the families involved. According to the Dix paper, John Foss was born in Rebe, Denmark, Jan. 3, 1638, and "it is said by tradition that he arrived in Boston, Mass., on a Brittish war vessel, on which he was employed as a calker. While the vessel was lying in Boston Harbar, he deserted by jumping overboard and swimming ashore, escaping further service." Dix also gives his first wife as Mary Chabourn, born in 1644, daughter of William and Mary Chadbourn, and granddaughter of William Chadbourn who came over in the employ of Capt. John Mason to build a mill at Newichwannock (South Berwick, Me.)." Dix goes on to state that he married, second, Jan 25, 1686, to Sarah Goss, widow of James Goss, as recorded in probate records of York County, Maine, page 103, book one and "He married third, Elizabeth Berry, daughter of William and Jane Berry,and widow of John Locke, who was killed by Indians on Dover Plains, June 26, 1696." [In addition to obvious errors, the Danish ancestry seems to be without foundation or documentation, and the Dix paper is not considered reliable]. Noyes-Libby-Davis, at page 240, has him as "+\- 30 in 1666, +\- 46 in 1680, first app. in division of 1661 as of 1657, likely in his wife's right. . . . He m. Mary Berry (12), grantor with him in 1673, liv. (or his son's w.) in 1700." They show Mary as the sister of Elizabeth Berry who married John Locke. This is consistent with the Locke Genealogy and other sources, and Dix is clearly in error. Parsons, in his History of Rye, page 345, simply states that John Foss "being pleased with the location, came to Rye, where he was admitted into the family of John Berry, and married his daughter." [Actually she was William Berry's daughter; John Berry was a son of William]. Anyone have anything to help on this? Harman Clark Sheffield, VT 05866 [email protected]