The claims of Mary Arden – Harding  (not Sarah Strawbridge) that her children were fathered by Thomas Felps

 This claim may one day become important relative to YDNA testing since any male descendants of her sons would have the YDNA of Thomas.  A reader of the official records may well misinterpret the name of the woman in Baltimore County Families 1659-1759 - and thus the names of the children mentioned in the claim.  Thanks to Brenda Emery who figured out the complex sentences from Baltimore Co. Familes 1659-1759, p10 

1714/15 & 1717  Thomas Felps named as father of children  Baltimore  County Families 1659-1759, p10

 

Brenda Emery concludes from the following sections of Baltimore CO Families 1659-1759:  This states that Mary daughter of John Arden and Sarah names Thomas Felps as father of her children in Mar 1714-15 and Nov 1717.   Sarah Strawbridge was the mother of this Mary. Sarah was married to Joseph Strawbridge (second husband, first husband was John Arden)) and Mary was named as Joseph Strawbridge's  heir in 1714 but she would have been his step-daughter, not his daughter. Mary appears to be the daughter of John Arden and was not a Strawbridge at all. The name is Mary not Sarah  She was not a Strawbridge, she was an Arden who later married a Pritchard
 

Text of the paragraph from the Baltimore Co Families which has been incorrectly interpreted in naming Sarah rather than Mary:

"ARDEN, JOHN (1), came to Baltimore Co 1676 and d. c.1694; m. Sarah (?) by April 1679; left a will, 21 Nov. 1692 - 20 April 1694 naming ch. John, Alice, Samuel, and Richard, tracts 220 a. Walton's Neck, 50 a. Ardington, and 300 a. Bachelor'.5 Delight;  wife Sarah to have dower rights;  estate. inv. on 17 Sept. 1696 and  val. at E 59.5.0 plus 3.0; admin. on 17 Sept. 1696 by extx.    Sarah now wife of Joseph Strawbridge; had iss.: poss. SUSANNA; JOHN; ALICE; RACHEL; SAMUEL; Mary  (in 1714 named as the heir of Joseph Strawbridge), in March 1714/5 and Nov. 1717 she named Thomas Felps as the father of her children."   The claim does not apply to Sarah, but instead to Mary. Note that the children of Strawbridge are in all caps as done by the abstractor, Mary is not in caps, confirming that she was not an issue of Strawbridge. This is substantiated by the Joseph Strawbridge record below naming daughter Mary Harding(Arden).

Source records for the above: Baltimore Co Families 1659-1759 with primary sources listed as:

1;                   Baltimore co Records, Admin Accounts, HR LIBER 1

21:602          Baltimore co Records, Admin Accounts, HR LIBER IS#B  p. 602;

22:204;         Baltimore co Records, Admin Accounts, HR LIBER IS#IA  p. 204

102;              Land records of BC 1679 and 1680 MHM 30 (1935), 271-272

121;              Maryland Calendar of WIlls  Vol II

206-13A:149  Maryland Inventories and Accounts, HR  Vol 13A; p149

 388; 507)      The Early Settlers of Maryland: An Index of Names of Immigrants Compiled from Records of Land Patents, 1633-1680, in the Hall of Records, Annapolis, MD  p507  Skordas, Gust 

Sarah Strawbridge died by about 1699 per her will of 30 March 1699  Baltimore Co Families 1659-1759   (L@L:178) named Mary...

STRAWBRIDGE, JOSEPH, was in  Baltimore Co. 1692 as :taxable in n. side Patapsco; m. by Aug. 1694 Sarah, admix. of John Arden of Balto. Co.; his est. was inv. 7 July 1699, with that of his w. Sarah, and val. at E 27.14.0, appraised by William Wilkinson and Robuck Lynch; Sarah Strawbridge d. leaving a will,30 March 1699 - 10 April 1699, naming daus. Susanna Strawbridge, Mary Harding (i.e., Arden), and Samuel Harding (Arden); also Ann Reeves and Sarah's former husb. John Arden, with Nicholas Haile as exec.; admin. bond was posted 7 July 1699 by said Haile with William Wilkinson and Robuck Lynch; estate was admin. 28 Sept. 1705 and again in 1714; dec. left dau.: SUSANNA Source: Baltimore Co Families 1659-1759  (1-7; 2:213; 13: 424; 20:285)- 48:134; 138)

Deed reported by Brenda Emery showing Mary's relationships:: 23 Jun 1721; Baltimore Co., Maryland Deed Records Vol. 1 by John Davis, pg. 279; Herbert & Mary Pritchard, of Baltimore Co., Maryland to Richard Gist, merchant, of same, L32, formerly belonging to John Arden, deceased father of said Mary Pritchard. Signed Herbert Pritchard and Mary (x) Pritchard. Wit: Jonathan Hanson, George Walker, Luke Raven and John Dorsey