Is there a Maupin connection with the Presnell family? NO
Unfortunately many people had accepted the Maupin-Presnell connection as fact, and it has proliferated around the internet and is now in hundreds of individual’s genealogies.
The claim is that Marie Maupin, daughter of Gabriel Maupin married “Jacques” Presnell. The story further states that Gabriel’s wife was Marie “Spencer” daughter of the Earl of Spencer. Additionally the story has stated that Gabriel was the son of a famous General Amos de Maupin. This story is very flamboyant and naturally anyone, (myself included) was happy to add this wonderful story to our family’s history. Unfortunately, almost of all this is false!
Short Summary:
Gabriel Maupin (1655 – 1720) married his wife, Marie in 1691. Their daughter Marie Maupin is born in 1696, baptized on 16 April 1696. They came to America 1699/1700 on the Ship leNassau (no Presnells on ship list). They are in Williamsburg VA almost the entire time until the death of Gabriel in 1720.
It is now found, that Gabriel’s wife, Marie was Marie Ersant, and not a Spencer. Spencer genealogies also to NOT agree that there was this supposed Maupin-Spencer connection.
Presnell Connection?
Our Jacob, born about 1684, and his wife “Mary” had their first known child in 1702 in Middlesex County, Virginia. Mary in 1705, James in 1708, (perhaps a Robert in 1709), Daniel in 1710, Jacob in 1714, and some claim a Gabriel in 1715. One can look at the Christ Church Registry of Middlesex County Virginia to see these names/dates.
Could our “Mary” have been Marie Maupin, and had a child, Mary Presell in 1705 when she herself was only 9 years old? NO. There is plenty of documented evidence that Marie Maupin was born in 1696, and that she was still NOT married at the time of the death of her father, Gabriel in 1720. One such document is Gabriel Maupin’s Last Will and Testament.
Are there any Presnells on the ship manifest le Nassau with the Maupins as many genealogies claim? NO.
The Maupins were in Williamsburg almost all the time since their arrival in 1700 till Gabriel’s death in 1720. The Presnells are well-documented in Christ Church, Middlesex County during this entire time. Where is the connection???? Some genealogies claim they were neighbors and close families. False.
I lived in Europe for about ten years, and have travelled and researched there. Are there Presnells in France? NO. Are there Presnells in England – Of Course! Nobody has ever discovered a single shred of evidence that there was ever truly a “Jacques” Presnell let alone a Presnell in France in the late 1600s. All this story is pure fabrication.
Most researchers now agree that our Mary is Mary Hedgecock, the daughter of Thomas Hedgecock and Margery Simmons. This family is clearly documented living near the Presnell family in Middelsex County Virginia in the late 1600s.
If this information here is not enough to convince you that there is NOT a Maupin- Presnell connection, feel free to contact me, and I would be happy to offer you even more proof.