Giving a Pass to the Jepson Family

Yesterday I gave a presentation about how the Revolutionary War disrupted the lives of women in and around Boston.

Among the documents I used was this item from the Massachusetts Historical Society’s collections—a pass authorizing “Margarett Jepson” and her family to leave Boston in May 1775.

On the back of that pass is a list of names, evidently the family members it covers, as shown in the detail here. Those names are:

Mary Jepson
Margt. Jepson her Mother
Mary Jepson her Aunt
Margt. Jepson Junr.
Benja. Jepson
Mary Jepson her Sister
Mary Jepson Junr.
Mary Jepson her Daugr.

Thus of seven or eight names in this family group, five were named Mary Jepson. How was that possible?

A History & Genealogy of the Descendents [sic] of John Jepson, published by Dr. Norton W. Jipson in 1917, offers the answer.

In 1726 William Jepson (1702–1745) married Margaret Sumner, making her Margaret Jepson. William had a sister named Mary, born in 1710. He also had a brother, Benjamin, who fathered a girl named Mary (c. 1735–1790).

William and Margaret Jepson had ten chldren, including another William, another Margaret, another Mary, and another Benjamin.

In 1761 that second Benjamin Jepson (1734–1811) married Mary Sigourney (1736–1818), making her another Mary Jepson. They had two children, whom they named, of course, Benjamin and Mary.

Thus, the list on the back of the pass appears to start with Mary (Sigourney) Jepson and then adds:

• her husband’s mother, Margaret (Sumner) Jepson
• her husband’s unmarried paternal aunt, Mary Jepson (b. 1710)
• her husband’s unmarried sister, Margaret Jepson (b. 1730)—crossed off, so she may not have made the trip
• her husband, Benjamin Jepson (unless this was her husband’s uncle, born in 1750, or her husband’s nephew, born in 1766)
• her husband’s unmarried sister, Mary Jepson (b. 1745) 
• her husband’s unmarried first cousin, Mary Jepson (c. 1735–1790)
• her daughter Mary Jepson (1763–1797)

I’m pleased to report that although Benjamin Jepson had four brothers who married, none of their wives was named Mary. Because that could have been confusing.