Re: possible Skipwith maternity of Elizabeth (Dale) Rogers

In article
<b427ebef-e8c8-452a-8691-dd1a703e184d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
"Peter W. Pesterhaus III" <binky9@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

In his will made Aug. 24, 1694, Edward Dale inserted the following
language:

³Item I give unto my daughter Elizabeth now wife of William Rogers
twelve pence in full of all claimes whatsoever.²

You¹ll note that the qualifying language ³against my estate² is
absent. In fact, it¹s the only non-specific clause in Edward Dale¹s
will.

As it turns out, this clause is what¹s known as ³promissory
estoppel.² It stops, or terminates, a legal claim. The claim doesn¹t
roll over to someone else.

It¹s for personal property only. Real estate requires a quitclaim
deed, and is termed ³proprietary estoppel.²

What makes ³promissory estoppel² legally binding is the acceptance of
money by the person waiving the claim, no matter how small the sum.
It¹s voluntary?when Edward Dale¹s will went to probate, and his
daughter Elizabeth accepted the twelve pence, the bargain was sealed
and her claim terminated. Had she refused the twelve pence, she would
have retained her claim.

The law is quite clear that the only legal claim a child had was
against an intestate estate of a parent. Since Edward Dale left a
will, it¹s obvious this claim referred to an intestate estate of Diana
Dale, and this proves that Elizabeth (Dale) Rogers was the daughter of
Diana (Skipwith) Dale.

Interesting.

However, I am not sure that the estoppel in the will must only have
referred to an outstanding claim on the personal estate of a mother who
died intestate, predeceasing Edward Dale. This presupposes both that
the claim must be a preexisting one (rather than something arising out
of Dale's probate itself, which seems an obvious possible meaning of
such language), and also that the only posssible property claims any
person could have were against the personal estate of an intestate
parent (as opposed to any other relative to whom someone might be an
heir-at-law). This seems self-evidently too restrictive and I would like
to see it discussed by someone without an axe to grind.

Furthermore, even accepting for a moment the suggestion that this phrase
must refer to an outstanding claim against Elizabeth's mother who
predeceased Dale and died intestate, there is another weakness in the
argument. If, as seems may have been the case, Dale had a previous
wife before Diana Skipwith, then that wife also may have died intestate,
and there is nothing in the will to specify that the estoppel referred
to a claim against Diana (Skipwith) Dale's personal estate rather than
that of the possible previous wife.

Therefore since this argument doesn't explicitly tie Elizabeth to Diana
it doesn't contribute anything to a preponderance of evidence case in
favor of Diana's maternity of the Dale children.

Remember, many of us think that Elizabeth may have been Diana's
daughter--or even that Katherine may also have been her daughter.
Someone with a level head and without an axe to grind should still write
a concise review of the evidence for and against the identification.
You just don't seem to be that person.

If anyone else cares, here's my sketch of the question from back in
2006, focusing on the chronology of evidence around Diana and the Dale
children:

http://groups.google.com/group/soc.genealogy.medieval/msg/9ce384c9abbd30b
f?dmode=source

That summary doesn't address the fascinating Carter prayer book, which
provides the onomastic evidence suggesting Katherine Dale may indeed
have been daughter of Diana Skipwith, and which, to my mind, has to be
weighed strongly against the use of Diana's maiden name in 1655.

Nat Taylor
a genealogist's sketchbook:
http://www.nltaylor.net/sketchbook/
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Maternity of Elizabeth Dale revisited
    ... The will and the epitaph of Edward Dale have been posted, ... where Diana Skipwith and her brother Sir Grey Skipwith were born and ... but since Diana Skipwith could only ever be someone's "daughter" ...
    (soc.genealogy.medieval)
  • Re: Maternity of Elizabeth Dale ...
    ... Mary (Dale) Harrison was not the daughter of Diana Skipwith. ...
    (soc.genealogy.medieval)
  • Re: Standards of Evidence
    ... In fact the will of Edward Dale seems to ... Diana Dale and Elizabeth Rogers was left only a small sum of money. ... including care of her stepmother while a biological daughter would be left ... very little and no responsibility for her mother's care. ...
    (soc.genealogy.medieval)
  • Re: Maternity of Elizabeth Dale, wife of William Rogers of Lancaster Co., VA ...
    ... with a clear case that my ancestor was the daughter of Diana Skipwith, ... Unless Elizabeth Dale was still having ... Elizabeth was born two years later, ... When Joan Burdyck questioned Preston Haynie, an expert on genealogy in ...
    (soc.genealogy.medieval)
  • Re: Standards of Evidence
    ... In fact the will of Edward Dale seems to ... Diana Dale and Elizabeth Rogers was left only a small sum of money. ... including care of her stepmother while a biological daughter would be left ... very little and no responsibility for her mother's care. ...
    (soc.genealogy.medieval)