Our theory is that Stephen2 Wilcox did not have a son named Daniel — the only Daniel3 Wilcox in this family was a son of Daniel2 Wilcox and he was the man who left his wife Hannah and relocated to the west side of Narragansett Bay for the remainder of his life. Daniel died, probably in Stonington, CT., after January 1735/6.”[1]
“For history researchers, there is no such thing as proof that can never be rebutted. We were not there when history happened, and the eyewitness accounts of those who were—if and when those accounts exist—may not be reliable. Every conclusion we reach about circumstances, events, identities, or kinships is simply a decision we base upon the weight of the evidence we have assembled.”[2]
Circumstantial evidence was all that previous researchers had to base their decisions on when they established the identity of Daniel3 Wilcox, son of Stephen2 Wilcox. Now the science of Y-DNA testing disagrees with these previous findings and suggests that earlier genealogists “created a man who never existed.”
We are seeking male descendants of Daniel2 Wilcox who might be interested in being a part of this effort to establish the correct identity for Daniel3 Wilcox. If you would like to learn more about this research effort please contact Alan Wilcox here. Additional Y-DNA testing is needed to prove (or disprove) this theory. Funds are currently available to pay for testing costs.
[1] Stonington, Conn., Land Records, 5:38 [FHL 5595]. Daniel Wilcox died after 23 January 1735/6, the date he conveyed a thirty-acre parcel of land in Stonington to his son William Wilcox.
[2] Elizabeth Shown Mills, Evidence Explained, Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace, Third Edition, (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2015), 17.