Mary* (born 1644. Died young.)
Mary* (born 7 November, 1649, Reading, Massachusetts. Died young.)
Lydia (born 12 October, 1650, Reading, Massachusetts.)
Mary* (born 16 February, 1652, Reading, Massachusetts.)
William* (born 6 May, 1655, Reading, Massachusetts.)
John (born 3 January, 1657 or 1658, Reading, Massachusetts.)
Jonathan (born 28 June, 1661, Reading, Massachusetts.)
Mary* (born 16 February, 1662, Groton, Massachusetts.)
Abraham (born 10 January, 1664, Groton, Massachusetts.)
William* (born May, 1665, Groton, Massachusetts.)
Abraham (born 11 September, 1667, Groton, Massachusetts.)
Elizabeth* (born 8 January, 1669, Groton, Massachusetts.)
Abigail (born 1670, Groton, Massachusetts.)
Father
Mother
There are a great many discrepancies about the birth dates, and
even the existence of some of these children. Of the several references to these children
in existence, I have not seen
one that agrees in its entirety with any other. The names particularly in question are those
shown with an asterisk.
Infant mortality was high in these times, and it was fairly common to give a later-born child the same name as one who had previously died. A probable example of this practice is the naming of the two Abrahams. That notwithstanding, the number of supposed Marys in this family seems excessive!
Other date problems are very possibly the result of trying to read old, handwritten records, some of which are virtually illegible, either through fading of the ink, or the style or quality of handwriting. For example, one can easily imagine that the two Williams are the same child, and the two dates just a difference in transcribers' interpretation of one digit as either a 5 or a 6. The same is probably true of the two Marys born in February.
Concerning Elizabeth; the original record notes this child as a "sonne" (sic). I have also seen her/him referred to as "Eliab, a boy child." Although the name Eliab does not seem to have been common, I have seen one other contemporaneous, although unrelated, person noted as having had this name.