| Notes |
- RESEARCH_NOTES:
1. "The Mangum-Mangham-Mangrum Journal," Issue No. 43, Jan. 2001, (formerly "Mangum Family Bulletin"), James L. Parham, editor, p. 29: The John Mangum - Frances Bennett Controversy Although not directly stated, John Mangum's wife was apparently named Frances, an "assumption" based on the "fact" that Frances Mangum was the administrator of his estate in 1737. A Frances Mangum was also called "granddaughter" in the will of Richard Bennett Jr. dated 1720. These two are the only known records of Frances Mangum. The problem is that, given just these two records, there are several situations that potentially fit those records. Was Frances (granddaughter of Richard Bennett Jr.) the Frances who married John Mangum [Theory 1], or was she possibly a daughter of John and Frances, named after her mother [Theory 2]? [Theory 1] If we assume that there was only one Frances who was both wife of John Mangum and granddaughter of Richard Bennett Jr., we cannot unequivocally state that her maiden name was Bennett. If she was a daughter of one of the Bennett sons, her maiden name was truly Bennett. Also, if her mother were unmarried she would again have the maiden name "Bennett" from her mother. However, if she was a child of a married daughter of Richard Bennett Jr., then her maiden name would be her father's surname and her father's surname was likely not Bennett. Admittedly, most Mangum researchers now believe, or have at least accepted, that there were indeed two different individuals named Frances [Theory 2], one the mother and the other the daughter.1 The former would be Frances Bennett, "supposed" (but unnamed in his will) daughter of Richard Bennett Jr. who married John Mangum and the latter would be the child (of John Mangum and Frances Bennett Mangum), named as granddaughter in Richard Bennett Jr.'s will. Researchers justify this theory by pointing out that "apparent" ages of the various individuals concerned infer that the granddaughter of Richard Bennett Jr. was too young to be wife of John Mangum just after 1700. Therefore she must be John & Frances's daughter. A cursory examination of the available records is not definitive but there is some justification for researchers feeling that Richard Bennett Jr.'s grandchildren were very young to be marrying before 1710.2 But, considering the "very young" marriageable age of females in the colonies, and the present uncertainties of ages and marriage dates of the individuals involved, it is difficult to totally eliminate the possibility that John Mangum married Frances, granddaughter of Richard Bennett Jr. Also, it seems significant that Richard Bennett Jr. did not mention a daughter named Frances in his will. It is not unheard of for that to occur, especially when a child has already received their inheritance. In fact, Richard Jr.'s daughter Ann (who married John Bell) received her portion by deed on 30 August, 1694 from her grandfather Richard Bennett Sr. She was therefore not mentioned in the will of her father Richard Bennett Jr. However, there is no known record indicating that a daughter Frances also received an earlier inheritance. A Mrs. Muriel Bennett Minium published a book in 1990 on this particular Bennett line titled "Bennetts on the Bias." In the book she skillfully weaves Bennett history with royal history in England, tracing the ancient English Bennett lineages on into the American Colonies. In private communications to the editor, and in her post-book newsletter, she suggested another possible solution to the John Mangum-Frances issue. She has proposed that Richard Bennett Jr.'s daughter Silvester, who was mentioned in his will, might actually have been named Silvester Frances Bennett or maybe Frances Silvester Bennett [Theory 2A]. This theory would explain why Richard Bennett Jr. did not mention a daughter Frances in his will. According to this theory he actually did, but he called her by her other name, that is, Silvester. Unfortunately, this quite reasonable (and possibly true) theory remains only a theory. No actual direct evidence has been found to substantiate it. Some researchers apparently believe that the preponderance of evidence points either to the theory that there were two Frances Mangums, one the mother and one the daughter [Theory 2] or more likely the modified theory that Silvester was actually Silvester Frances [Theory 2A]. A few others, including this editor, do not actually disagree but are uncomfortable with the "loose end" of a competing theory [Theory 1] that has not been fully eliminated. We have not seen enough evidence, direct or indirect, to pronounce the issue resolved beyond a reasonable doubt. Each individual researcher must use his/her own judgment on how to deal with this issue. This editor has decided that he will continue to consider the issue of Frances' true identity unresolved, while at the same time concurring that Theory 2A [John's wife as Silvester Frances Bennett] is presently the most likely one. It would not seem prudent to consider the issue totally resolved until more definitive evidence is found. - Lynn Parham
[Notes:]
1. John Bennett Boddie, in his book "17th Century Isle of Wight," page 302, published in 1938 apparently originated the theory that John Mangum married a daughter of Richard Bennett Jr. He appears to base this on the fact that Richard Bennett Sr. deeds land to and mentions a John Mangum in his will and the fact that Richard Jr. mentioned a granddaughter Frances Mangum in his will. He gave no name to that "daughter" of Richard Bennett Jr., wife of John Mangum, because he probably had not seen John Mangum's estate record in 1737 that listed Frances Mangum as administrator. We wonder if he would have altered his theory in any way had he known that this second record of a Frances Mangum existed?
2. According to researchers the first children of John & Frances Mangum were probably born about 1703-1705. Unfortunately, neither the parentage nor the birthdates of these early Virginia Mangums can be directly established.
2. Per website http://home.inu.net/sadie/index.htm for father John Magnum. See his notes for full and lengthy text of wills, deeds, bio. info, and misc. info which includes mention of this individual. "Frances, Born Alb Par, Surry, Va CA 1710 (Named in will of gr/father Richard Bennet, Jr.1720 I-O-W Co, Va)." References: 17th Century Isle of Wight, (Boddie); Virginia Historical Families (Boddie); Southside Virginia Families (Boddie); Isle of Wight Co.,Va Deeds (Hopkins); Surry Co., Va Deeds & Crt. Orders (Hopkins); Isle of Wight Deeds (Eliza T. Davis); Surry Co. Deeds & Wills, (Davis); Wills & Adms. IOW Co. (Chapman); Cavaliers & Pioneers, Vols I & II (Nugent); LDS Records. Some citations:
a. "Will of Richard Bennett, Jr. of Isle of Wight Co., Va. 1720. Named: Sons: Richard Bennett & James Bennett. Also named: Jane Cofer & her children, Robert, John, Magdalen & Richard Cofer (relationship not stated), Granddaughter Frances Mangum. Exrs.: Jane Cofer, William Allen. Overseers: "Friends" John Carter & James Carter. Wts: John Carter, James Carter, William Allen, Sr. Estate appr'd. by Arthur Jones, Thomas Ward, William Bell."
BIRTH:
1. Caution should be used in accepting exact birth dates on any second generation Mangums. There are no records of any of the births of any of the Mangums of the second generation (after the first generation of John Mangum, the immigrant, and his wife Frances Bennett). Any dates given here and with all other genealogies that I have seen by other family researchers are conjecture. Most records we have of this generation are by association of later wills and other transactions and by association of time and locality. As quoted from the book "Pleasant Mangum and All His Kin," comp. by James Lynn Parham, longtime editor of the Mangum Family Bulletin and the premier researcher on early Mangums, 1997, pp. 41-45: "The determination of the children of the immigrant John Mangum has been mostly a matter of edutated guesswork. We know that Mary and Sarah Mangum, mentioned in Sarah Lancaster's will of 1722, were daughters of John Mangum. Both were apparently minors at that time. Frances, mentioned in the will of Richard Bennett, Jr., may have been a daughter of John, but that theory is controversial [kp: based on the interpretation of Robert Bennett's will where it says my granddaughter Frances Mangum]. John who married Olive Savidge, was most likely the eldest son of John and Frances. Two other probably sons, James and William, both married Marys and recorded some of their children's births in the Albemarle Parish [kp: which began in 1739, but has many missing pages in the extant copy]... For various other reasons, some researchers have assigned other children to John and Frances. Among those is Henry Mangum who recorded his children's births in the Mill Swamp Baptist Church records of Isle of Wight County, beginning in 1746. His tie to John the immigrant lies in the fact that he was in the same general area and his age was approximately the ages of John's other children."
Many researchers also include Nicholas, Joseph, and Samuel as children merely on possible association by time and locality. Others consider Nicholas as a possible separate immigrant, Samuel as a son of second generation William Mangum, Sr., and Joseph as a son of second generation Nicolas (or possible first generation) Mangum. Unfortunately there is no proof on the these latter three one way of the other.
Most birthdates assigned to the spouses of these individuals are also conjecture based on arbitrary dates given to the Mangum family births.
MARRIAGE:
1. "George Addison Mangum Collection," FHL film 2056024 with copy of a family group sheet of John and Frances Bennett Mangum on file, theorizes that Frances may have married William Rogers, but he does not give any reasons why for this thinking. He does have two question marks next to the entry.
SOURCES_MISC:
1. FHL Film 1697868 and book "The Mangums of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, Utah, and Adjoining States," by John T. Palmer, Ph.D. Santa Rosa, CA 95409, 1993, 3rd ed.,
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Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy
Bef 1720 - 