"Researchers have blessed the Reverend Ware with an illustrious lineage--a descent from the noble Vassall family, through alleged parents Nicholas and Annette (Vassall) Ware of Massachusetts. That Vassall "line" is used now by the clergyman's descendants to gain membership in several ancient organizations and at least a couple of more modern ones. As in many genealogical cases, that "lineage" began with speculation. Once in print, even when clearly identified as a mere belief, such speculation can quickly metamorphose into "proof" for many genealogists.
"Further (and excellent) work on the Reverend Ware was conducted in English records during the 1980s by the genealogist Richard Price. Price began with the well-established premise that a full-fledged Anglican minister of the gospel in Tidewater Virginia would have studied at--and likely received a ministerial degree from--either Cambridge or Oxford. For both venerable institutions, directories of alumni and faculty exist. Price found one likely prospect in Foster's Oxford alumni directory: a James Ware who matriculated 1674/5 and graduated 1678/9, for whom the alumni directory gives the following biographical data: 'son of James of Menheniot, Cornwall, p. p. All Souls Coll, matric 12 March 1675/6, aged 18, B. A. 1678.'
"Price's report left family researchers with the challenge of proving whether the Reverend James Ware might or might not be one and the same as the Reverend Jacob Ware. That case can be made solidly. But it requires consideration of four documents and three interrelated genealogical factors: signatures, penmanship, and name variations.
DOCUMENT ONE
"In 1703, the clergy of Virginia dispatched a petition to the Bishop of London, in which they complained of the actions of the commissary, the Reverend Mr. James Blair, and they declared their support for Governor Francis Nicholson in his dispute with Blair. The seventeen signatures of that petition include the signature of Jacob Ware. [Item 1 below] This document has been cataloged and indexed by the Virginia Colonial Records Database, an adjunct to the Virginia Colonial Records Project. Compilers of the database have rendered the name as Jacob Ward. To the modern reader, the final letter of the name may well appear to be a d. In scribal hand of 1703, it was an e. The signer was indisputably the Reverend Jacob Ware, for whom three additional signed documents have been found.
DOCUMENT TWO
"On 11 November 1689, before his departure for the colonies, the Reverend Mr. Jacob Ware signed the following receipt: [Item 2 below] 'Recd then of William Jephson Esq By mee Jacob Ware Clerke the sume of Twenty Pounds as of his Majesty's free guift and royall bounty for & towards ye charges of my transportacion to Virginia whether I am going. Chaplaine I say recd by mee.' The signature on this document matches that on the 1703 petition of the Virginia clergyman. The Virginia Colonial Records Database catalogs and indexes the signer's name properly as 'Ware, Jacob--clergyman.'
DOCUMENTS THREE AND FOUR
"By long tradition, students who complete their studies at Oxford have signed two registers--one at matriculation [Item 3 below] and one at graduation [Item 4 below]. [This helpful information was supplied by Dr. Danny Knight, recent Oxford graduate.] These are the registers from which Foster gleaned names for his alumni directories. Oxford's Bodleian Library responded positively to a request for record copies--supplying photographs of both documents.
"This pair of documents raises yet another research consideration: name variations. The 1675 matriculation register identifies the newly enrolled student as Jacobus Ware, adding (in Latin) 'of All Souls College...' The 1679 graduate signs as 'Jacob Ware (of All Souls College).' The previously cited biographical note in Foster's alumni directory cites the 1675-79 student as James Ware. All three names were interchangeable in that era. Latin was the language of the scholar at Oxford in the 1600's. Students signed their names using the Latin form--in Jacob's case, Jacobus and Jacob. However, Jacobus was also used then as the Latin form of James. Foster, when he compiled his directory two centuries later, translated the student names back into English. During that process, he chose the wrong translation for Jacobus--rather than the less-common Jacob, he used the popular James for both the student and his father.
CONCLUSION
"Proof of identity for the Reverend Jacob Ware lies in his matching signatures--tempered by an understanding of penmanship and name usage. Contrary to John Franklin Rockette's speculation in 'Rockett and Allied Families', this prominent clergyman of St. Peter's Parish, VA, was not the son of Nicholas Annette (Vassall) Ware of Massachusetts. Rather, Jacob's student records at Oxford identify him as the son of James (Jacob) Ware of Menheniot, Cornwall, England. Registers of Menheniot parish record his christening there on 5 July 1655, as the son of Jacob Ware, Gentleman, and his wife Elizabeth Coode/Code. The Menheniot registers also record the christening of Jacob Sr. on 31 December 1626, as son of Anthony Ware, Gentleman, and his wife Jane [maiden name Stevens, discovered by Ware descendant Gerald Irion].
"Matching identities between immigrants to the New World and birth families of the Old World cannot be made solely on the basis of 'the name's the same.' As the example of the Reverend Jacob Ware demonstrates, the name may not always be the same. It may be misread by individuals unfamiliar with the handwriting of the era. It may be translated and retranslated between languages, taking on different identities in the process. But all these challenges and risks can often be surmounted if the researcher will persistently trace records--and rumors of records--back to their original source to determine whether the ancestor left signatures or distinctive marks that can be matched to prove identity."
The author confesses that she has shared the Rocketts'infatuation with the Vassalls and is one of those who naively used the "line" to join various societies. This article is an act of contrition that the Reverend Ware would probably expect of her!! :)
