Mary Whittington? ¹

It must be noted here that, for years, Hitch genealogies have assumed as "fact" the following:

·William Hitch (1687-1731), son of Adam, married Rachel Humphreys (of Thomas) and, ·William Hitch (c.1719-1771), son of William above (and who was thought to be son of Solomon - see later details for that one, under Solomon Hitch [1694-1748]), married Mary Gilliss

These "facts" have been based upon conjecture surrounding the will of John Gilliss and the fact that this family named a son Gillis Hitch. John Gillis was born in Accomack Co., VA c1662, and died before bef Aug 15 1720, the son of Thomas Gilliss and Mary Manlove. His will of Aug 20 1720 mentions four daughters: Rebecca, Sarah, Betty and Bridget; and four sons-in-law: Thomas Humphreys, William Hitch, Abraham Taylor and Solomon Wright. Note that John Gilliss' daughter who married a William Hitch was a married woman in 1720. You would need a later generation for the wife of William Hitch of William. Now the only William Hitch old enough to have married a John Gilliss daughter is William (1687-1730) of Adam. The problem with this is that William's wife is confirmed as named Rachel in his probate of 1730/1732 so we are left with:

(a) the hypothesis is wrong, or (b) Rachel is a Gilliss, or (c) the wife Gilliss died between 1720 and 1730 and William remarried to a Rachel _____.

A possible answer is that we should not assume that John Gilliss listed all his daughters in his will - four. Maybe there were possibly eight (8) daughters; the four mentioned (Rebecca, Sarah, Betty and Bridget) being single and four (4) more that were married to the four (4) sons-in-law (Thomas Humphreys, William Hitch, Abraham Taylor and Solomon Wright). As for William (of William) naming a son Gillis Hitch, it was simply because he named him after his grandmother's maiden name - not at all uncommon at the time. BTW, he also named a son Whittington Hitch - this may clue as to the real surname of Mary, w/o William of William. That is why I now surmise that William Hitch (c1719-1771) of William's wife may be nee Mary WHITTINGTON. This is uncertain though and requires more research.

Mary Hitch was listed on Jul 19 1776 as owner of land in Sussex County, Northwest Fork Hundred, near the bridge on Bridge Branch, 12½ acres called "Hitch's Lott". (Miscellaneous Land Records of Delaware; H2, #63/63a; H3, #59) (Rounds Warrants, C322/313, resp.)

She was also listed in the 1782 and 1785 Tax Assessment lists for Sussex County, Delaware, again in Northwest Fork Hundred. She is listed as Mary Hitch, "widow", in Sussex County as one of nine Hitch households in the county in the Federal Census of 1790.

Mary Hitch is listed as a widow in the Federal Census of 1790 in Northwest Fork Hundred, Sussex County, Delaware.

Mary married William Hitch, son of William Hitch and Rachel Humphreys, about 1740. (William Hitch was born about 1719 in Somerset Co., MD and died 17 Nov 1771-27 Dec 1771 in Dorchester Co., MD (Now Sussex Co., DE).)