Lydia Archer 10th great grandma on RootsMagic tree.

This person’s name may or may not be Lydia Archer, all that is really known is that she was a wife of Francis Sprague and mom of Mercy Sprague. Francis Sprague was a Pilgrim in Plymouth colony. He sailed with Mercy Sprague and Ann Sprague in 1623. It’s proven that Mercy Sprague was his daughter. Ann Sprague could have been a daughter or could have been a wife, could have been the mom of Mercy or not. There’s nothing to show who ‘Lydia Archer’ was. 

A great source, New England marriages prior to 1700 by Clarence Torrey, has Lydia as a wife, with questions. “SPRAGUE, Francis & [?Lydia]/?Anna ____; by 1621 in Eng; Plymouth/Duxbury/Dartmouth “

The Great Migration, another solid source, shows no info on Francis’s spouse(s) and a note, ‘there are very few dates for this family and many unanswered questions’.

In the ‘cattle division’ of 1627 Francis, Anna and Mercy Sprague are listed, same 3 from the passenger list of 1623. It doesn’t seem possible that Francis was a widow caring for 2 daughters on his own, for 4 years.

So it’s possible Lydia died in England then Francis with 2 daughters sailed to America and married a 2nd wife in Plymouth. Or it’s possible Lydia sailed with her husband and 2 daughters, made it to Plymouth Colony and died shortly after. Then Francis married a woman, probably recently widowed, whose name was never recorded. Lydia Archer’s story is speculative, hypothetical, ’thrown together’ or made up with no proof for names, dates, relationships.

Sources

• Volume 2 page 1425, New England marriages to 1700 database at American Ancestors
• Volume 3 P-W, page 1725-1728, Great Migration Begins at Ancestry
• Page 95. History of Plymouth County, Massachusetts: with biographical sketches at HathiTrust