HYANNO, Mary ^{1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8}

   Another name for Mary was "Little Dove."

  General Notes:

William Cornwell's wife is theorized to be Mary Hyanno, an Indian princess. Though no first hand evidence has yet been found to support this claim, there is circumstantial evidence that supports this theory. (F-634) 1) Hartford Puritans in that time period would not recognize or record a marriage between an Indian and themselves, but they did record the children's births. All other marriages for the town of Hartford are recorded except for William Cornwell and his wife, Mary even though William's children are recorded. 2) When the Puritan band led by Sgt. William Cornwell removed to establish Middletown, CT. in 1650, the maiden names of all of the Puritan Women were again recorded, but not William Cornwell's wife, Mary. 3) After the Pequot Indian War, Sgt. William Cornwell, was appointed by the Hartford Puritans to purchase Cummaquid/Narangasettt Indian lands which he negotiated with and through Mary Hyanno's father, Chief Hyanno. 4) William was the original owner of lands on Indian Hill in Middletown, Connecticut, a town he helped found. 5) Naragansset and Wampanoag tribe records supposedly include William Cornwell in their traced lineages, though they will not currently verify this lineage for their fears that persons seeking that information are simply trying to take advantage of their recent economic gains as a tribe. (BETTY SULLIVAN, bettysul@inw.net)

It should be noted that an entire Bearce line claims that this Mary Hyanno married an Augustine Bearce instead, but this is effectively put in question in the "American Genealogist", Vol. XV (1938-9). Catherine Judd and I have found further evidence that this Bearce line was first published by Franklin Bearse in the 1900's when he was trying to claim Indian ancestry during the depression to get help from the government. He added a middle Indian name which was not his name at birth or on his social security application and claimed to be descended from at least 3 Indian princesses, two of which Jacobus in the "American Genealogist" disproved. The third was Mary Hyanno but Jacobus considered it highly suspect because of all the falsehoods in the lineage. (F-642, 642a, 2376) Lastly, in Barnstable, Massachusetts, there is no Augustine Bearse listed in any of the vast records of that town in the 1600's on the N.E.H.G.S. CD "Barnstable Massachussetts". There is an Austin Bearse listed in deed records of 1686. There is no mention of Augustine Bearse and Mary Hyanno in the actual records for Barnstable. In conclusion, this is a completely falsified line. ^{11 12}

Mary married Seargent William CORNWELL, son of William CORNELL and Joan MARTYN, about 1639 in Hartford, Hartford, CT, USA. (Seargent William CORNWELL was born on Feb 21, 1608/09 in Terling, Essex, ENG ^{4 13 14}, christened on May 25, 1609 in Terling, Essex, ENG and died on Feb 21, 1677/78 in Middletown Twp, Middlesex, CT, USA ^{1 15}.)

  Marriage Notes:

This was probably an Indian Ceremony that joined them and would have been considered a common law marriage. It's why his wife was never listed in a couple different census records that included wives.