The only information I can find on Anne Cassaway Jones is that her father was Nicholas and her mother Anne Besson. But Anne Besson was only 12 when Anne Gassaway was born in 1670. Does anyone have alternative parent(s)? According to the records, Nicholas did not marry until 1672 at the age of 38. Could there have been a previous wife?

In the book,*Genealogical History of the Gassaway Family* by William Rutherford and Anna Clay (Zimmerman) Rutherford, the authors say, "Anne Gassaway was named the daughter of Col. Nicholas Gassaway and Hester Besson, daughter of Capt. Thomas Besson. The name of the first wife of Col. Gassaway has not been proved by the compilers. If correct, Col. Gassaway married sisters." (p. 107). They gave no source for who "named" Anne the daughter of Hester. I got the book through an ILL from a local university library: it's not for sale anywhere I could find. Google it on Google books. Or check WorldCat to see if it is in a library near you, and check with your local library to see if you can get an ILL.

According to what I have learned, Hester was Anne Hester and her sister was Jane, who was younger. That still doesn't solve the problem of the 12-year-old mother. I wonder if she just 'fudged' her age.

I have the Gassaway book and also a section from a book "Anne Arundel Gentry" by Harry Wright Newman. In the Gassaway Family Section for Col. Nicholas Gassaway he writes: "Extant records so far have failed to prove the identity of his first wife who became the mother of his two oldest children. Before October 19, 1672, he married Anne, duaghter of Captain Thomas Besson. At that time Anne was not more than 14 years of age." pg. 149

If you would like copies of anything, can e-mail them to you.

Sorry, hit the button too soon.
Article also says Anne Gassaway married John Watkins, William Burgess and Richard Jones.
She is also refered to in Nicholas' will as Anne Watkins.

Sorry to be so late getting back to you. I would dearly love to get copies of anything you can send.

Up to now, I believed that Anne Besson was the first wife of Nicholas and her sister Jane was the second. If there was an earlier wife, it would explain why Anne was so young. That also means that I have the wrong wife in my family tree. I wonder who was the mother of Anne Gassaway, born 1670.

I did know about the 3 marriages of Anne Gassaway. I am descended from Richard Jones.

Please send anything you can to formerfarmer@comcast.net. I just wish I could do something for you in return. Thanking you in advance,

Jo Parrish

Yes, her mother was Ann Besson. The mistake by Newman is thinking that Ann Besson was born in 1658. She was actually born before 1649 when she was transported into Maryland by her father Thomas Besson.

Read the explanation on my page:
http://home.netcom.com/~fzsaund/besson.html
where Newman apparently thought that Thomas Besson's only wife was Hester, the widow of Henry Caplin. Hester married Thomas Besson after 1658.

Thomas Besson's first wife was named Ann, and she was the mother of Ann who married Nicholas Gassaway. There is no evidence that Nicholas had a first marriage. That all came about because of the flawed thinking that Ann had to have been born after 1658.

Newman's information is in error. Ann was not born about 1658. She was born before 1649 when her father transported her into Maryland. See the explanation on my page:
http://home.netcom.com/~fzsaund/besson.html

Nicholas Gassaway had only one wife, that being Ann Besson. That he had a first marriage was based on the flawed thinking that Ann had to have been born after 1658.