r225 The will of Experience Mitchell of Bridgewater dated 5December 1684, proved 4 September 1689, names son EdwardMitchell; wife Mary Mitchell, son John; grandson ExperienceMitchell, son of John; daughters Mary Shaw, Sarah Haward andHannah Haward; grandson Thomas Mitchell; granddaughter MaryMitchell." Son Jacob is not named, so must have died beforethis date. It further says, Experience and Jane Mitchell hadchildren, 1. Elizabeth, b. 1628, and 2, Thomas, b. abt 1631.These two are accepted as Jane's children. Experience also hadchildren Mary, Sarah, Jacob, Edward, John and Hannah, but thereis no proof which wife was their mother. Hannah was born toolate to be Jane's child, so must be by Mary. As only Thomasshared in the Cooke land, doubt is cast on the rest of thechildren, except Elizabeth who must have been the oldest, as shemarried by 1645.Another article, in NEHG Register, V. 127, p. 94-95, Commentson the two wives of Experience Mitchell, of Plymouth, MA, takesa look at the birthdates for his children, and concludes thatonly Elizabeth and Thomas, and possibly Mary, are Janes. Theirbirths are between 1628 and 1634, then there is a gap of 6 to 10years between them and probable birth dates for the other 5children, who were born much later, leading to a conclusion thatthe last 5, including Jacob, were probably Mary's, not Jane's.They also looked at the fact that none of these children named achild of their own, by a Cooke name, i.e. Francis, Jane orHester. The article says further that there is no proof for theabove assumptions, since noone knows when Jane died, or when hismarriage to Mary took place. But it further states: "Althoughthe Society of Mayflower Descendants accepts descendants throughall of Experience Mitchell for membership, such an assumptionwould seem to be suspect. There is, of course, always thepossibility that second wife Mary was herself a Mayflowerdaughter."There is an article in NEHGR 127:94-95 (April 1973), by John B.Threlfall, "Comments On The Two Wives Of Experience Mitchell OfPlymouth, Mass. He suggests that only Elizabeth and Thomas arechildren of Experience and Jane. Quoting Trelfall, "Bowman andmost other writers have casually attributed all of thesechildren to Experience Mitchell's first wife, Jane Cooke. Thereseems to be no evidence to support such an assumption, except inthe case of Thomas, and therefore Elizabeth, who must have beenthe eldest in order to have married in 1645. Thomas andElizabeth were named, perhaps for Experience Mitchell's family,his father perhaps being Thomas Mitchel of Cambridge, Eng., andAmsterdam, Holland (Lora A. W. Underhill, Edward Small and hisDescendants, 1934, 1:510)."This article also has some approximate birth dates, but none foryour Hannah. It does include spouses, some marriage dates, andlists their children without birth dates.>From Pilgrim Notes and Querys, published by the MayflowerSociety, editedby George E. Bowman, Vol 4, Number 3, March 1916:Jane2 Cooke (Francis1), married Experience Mitchell.Children of Experience and Jane MitchellEdward Mitchell3, married, 1st Mary Hayward; married 2d, Alice4Bradford (John3, William2-1).Elizabeth Mitchell3, married John Washburn.Hannah Mitchell3, married Joseph Hayward.Jacob Mitchell3, married Sussana Pope.John Mitchell3, married, 1st, Mary Bonney; married, MaryLathrop; married 3d, Mary Prior.Mary Mitchell3, married James Shaw.Sarah Mitchell3, married John Hayward.Thomas Mitchell3.MFIP Cooke, 1996 compiled by Ralph Van Wood and Robert S.Wakefield lists Elizabeth, Thomas, and Mary as children ofExperience and Jane. Quoting MFIP Cooke, "Experience also hadchildren Sarah, Jacob, Edward, John, and Hannah, but there is noproof which wife was their mother. Hannah was born too late tobe Jane's child, so must be by Mary. As only Thomas shared inthe Cooke land, doubt is cast on the rest of the children,except Elizabeth who must have been the eldest child as shemarried in 1645 and Mary who was born so early she must beJane's dau. There appears to be a significant gap after Marysuggesting the rest are not Jane's children."MFIP Bradford, 1997 compiled by Robert S. Wakefield and Lee D.van Antwerp lists Edward as "son of Experience and prob. Mary(---) Mitchell."With guidance from the above and a few other sources, I have:Experience Mitchell; b. circa 1609 at probably, Amsterdam,Holland; m. Jane Cooke, daughter of Francis Cooke and HesterMayhieu, after 22 May 1627; m. Mary (--?--); d. between 2 Jun1685 and 11 May 1689; his estate was probated 4 Sep 1689 atPlymouth.Jane Cooke was born before 1613 at Leyden, Holland.Children of Experience Mitchell and Jane Cooke were as follows:i. Elizabeth; b. circa 1628 at Plymouth, Plymouth Colony; m.John Washburn, son of John Washburn and Margaret Moore, 6 Dec1645 at Plymouth, Plymouth Colony; d. before 5 Dec 1684.ii. Thomas; b. circa 1631 at Plymouth, Plymouth Colony.iii. Mary; b. circa 1632 at probably, Plymouth, Plymouth Colony;m. James Shaw, son of John Shaw, 24 Dec 1652 at Plymouth,Plymouth Colony; m. John Jenney, son of Samuel Jenney andSusanna Wood, between 5 Dec 1684 and 17 Nov 1699; d. after 17Nov 1699.Children of Experience Mitchell and Mary (--?--) were asfollows:i. Sarah; b. between 1641 and 1645; m. John Hayward, son ofThomas Hayward and Susannah (--?--); d. after 1731.ii. Ensign Jacob; m. Susannah Pope, daughter of Thomas Pope andSarah Jenney, 7 Nov 1666 at Plymouth, Plymouth Colony; d. Jul1675 at Dartmouth, Bristol Co., MA.iii. Edward; b. circa 1647 at Duxbury, Plymouth Colony; m. MaryHayward, daughter of Thomas Hayward and Susannah (--?--), circa1668 at Bridgewater; m. Alice Bradford, daughter of Major JohnBradford and Mercy Warren, 26 Aug 1708 at Plymouth, PlymouthCo., MA; d. 15 Mar 1716/17 at Bridgewater, Plymouth Co., MA. Heleft a will on 4 Feb 1716/17 at Bridgewater, Plymouth Co., MA.Inventory filed on 9 Apr 1717.iv. John; m. Mary Bonney, daughter of Thomas Bonney and MaryTerry, 14 Dec 1675 at Duxbury, Plymouth Colony; m. Mary Lothrop14 Jan 1679 at Duxbury, MA; m. Mary Prior 24 May 1682 atDuxbury, MA.v. Hannah; m. Joseph Hayward, son of Thomas Hayward and Susannah(--?--), circa 1682.