Rachel Humphreys

***NOTE, that 2015, upon review, it now appears that the wife of William Hitch was indeed probably Rachel HUMPHREYS and not GILLIS. The records are not clear enough to state with certainty but evidence favors the fact that Rachel Humphreys, daughter of Thomas Humphreys, was wife of William Hitch.***

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 Whittington?

These "facts" have been based upon conjecture surrounding the will of John Gilliss the fact she named a son Gillis Hitch. He was born in Accomack circa 1662, and died before bef Aug 15 1720, the son of Thomas Gilliss and Mary Manlove. His will of 20 Aug 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. Additionally, 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 (c. 1719-1771) of William's wife may be nee Mary WHITTINGTON. The REAL fact is there is still a cloud over who was the wife of William Hitch (1687-1730). However, it seems very possible (odds about 70%) that she was a Gilliss and probable that her name was Rachel Gilliss.

Rachel married William Hitch, son of Adam Hitch and Ann (?), about 1715 in Somerset Co., MD. (William Hitch was born on 31 Oct 1687 in Somerset Co., MD ¹ and died in Apr 1730 in Somerset Co., MD.)