Finley and Harris Connections Need Examination

As I was running down the Athey line, I was lead back to Charles Fenaly (Finley) who in 1711 married to Elizabeth Harris in St. John's Parish, Prince Georges County, MD. These two were supposedly the parents of ten, including an Elizabeth Finley (b 26 May 1720) who married Thomas Athey (b ca 1695 MD). At this point I have no cause to doubt Elizabeth Finley's parentage, but would love to see a parish register entry of her birth if anyone has such a thing.

I am concerned about this Finley/Athey connection because according to other researchers, Thomas Athey (s/o Capt. George & Sarah Marsh) begins having children in 1719. Obviously these cannot be with Elizabeth Finley, not yet born. Later children of Thomas Athey, born in the late 1730's to mid 1740's could possibly be Elizabeth's, but Thomas Athey produced children at a regular rate from 1719 to 1746 with only a break of about 7 years: in 1725 he began exercising restraint, but took up his procreation efforts again around 1732 - still too early to be working with Elizabeth - and continued on until 1746, when his last known daughter was born.

And yet, there does seem to be a Finley connection. Thomas named his 10th child Mary Fenley Athey (according to researcher Christopher Athey) and his eleventh Elizabeth.

Was Elizabeth Fenley Thomas's second, much younger wife? If so, who was his first? Am I missing something that is generally known by other researchers? If so, please use the comments area below to add to my information.

(Line Ascending: Claude T. Brooks > Ibbia Kennedy [Brooks] > Mary Elizabeth "Bettie" Talbert [Kennedy] > Thomas S. Talbert > Thomas Athey Talbot > Sarah Athey [Talbert] > Elizabeth Fenley [Athey] > Charles Fenaly & Elizabeth Harris)

A Correction on the Talbert Family Line

The Year of the Great Finishing (in which I attempted to finish all of those little niggling 'round-tuits) was hijacked by The Year of the Never-Ending Condo Move, so I have done very little with my genealogy in quite some time. As a result of this neglect, a new connection on the Kennedy and Talbert lines has languished in my Genealogy Inbox.

This past week after going to see my favorite Irish band, I was suddenly seized with a powerful curiosity about the Irish lines of my ancestry, and I decided to poke around a little tonight on Ancestry.com in an attempt to see if I could confirm existing information or learn anything new. I was immediately sidetracked (as so often happens) from the Kennedys and ended up tinkering with the Talberts, where I realized that most researchers had a different set of parents for my Thomas S. Talbert who married Rebecca Gobble (or more correctly, Gabel). After some review of my notes, I decided to leave my info as it was, since our Thomas had two cousins of an age who were also named Thomas, which potentially could have created confusion. I didn't want to go to the effort of making corrections if it were all for naught. Then I remembered those Talbert emails still waiting in my Inbox and had another look.

After reviewing the information of researcher Charles E. Talbert of California, PA, I am convinced enough now to go ahead and change my data. I agree with him that it is indeed more likely that Thomas S. Talbert (not "L" as sometimes stated) was the son of Thomas Athey Talbert and his wife Agatha. I have asked Charles if I can post his message to me online to help other researchers confirm or correct their information if they have listed Basil Talbert Jr. (brother of Thomas Athey Talbert) and Polly Logan as the parents of the Thomas S. Talbert who married Rebecca Gobble. If he agrees, I will amend this post.