Centuries Old Shoes Worn Christmas Day
Bride Wears 567 Year Old Shoes for Her Dec. 25 Wedding
Dec 8, 2008
Now the shoes are 591 years old.
Questioning began in 1975 when Valerie Shouldis of Hillsboro, New Hampshire received a newspaper clipping from another genealogist, Elwood Willey of Sharon, Massachusetts. The clipping is datelined Dec. 10, Worcester, Massachusetts.
Geraldine Stickney’s Historic Wedding Shoes
The article started like this: “When L. Geraldine Stickney, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Myron Stickney of this city, is married Christmas afternoon she will be wearing a pair of 518-year-old shoes.”
It continued: “The shoes of green brocade with white leather piping were made in 1417 in England and were a gift from William Brewster, Mayflower passenger, to Sarah J. Willey, from whom Mr. Stickney is descended. It is a tradition with the Stickney family that the oldest daughter wear the shoes on her wedding day.”
Historic Shoes Made in England in 1417
That 1935 newspaper story also said the shoes were made in Chatham, England in 1417 by John Hose, whose stamp was still discernible on the cork-heeled shoes. The age of the shoes is probably the only evidence-backed ingredient of this story.
It probably would be nearly impossible to find out if, as claimed, William Brewster brought these shoes with him on the Mayflower on its 1620 voyage and gave them to Sarah Willey. Even if Brewster actually had them at one time, they could have arrived from England later (as did three of Brewster’s older children).
William Brewster left no will, but a look at the appraisal of his estate lists no green shoes.
Historical and Genealogical Puzzle
This historical and genealogical conundrum was dumped on Valerie’s lap because she was researching the Willey Family.
The first unanswered question is: Who were the parents and husband of Sarah J. Willey?
She could be the Sarah Willey born to Allen and Alice (Mason) Willey, who were wed in 1628 at Alford in Lincolnshire, England. They came to Massachusetts, where Allen Willey died in 1634. Their daughter Sarah married James Pemberton before 1647. We know that a Lucy Jameson Pemberton was the third wife of Erastus Bradbury Stickney and they had a son, Moses Warren Stickney, born in 1841 at Groveland, MA. No proof of these connections has been seen.
Was She Related to William Brewster?
Could Sarah Willey have been related to William Brewster?
There are possibilities here. William Brewster’s son Love Brewster married Sarah Collier and their son Nathaniel married Sarah _(?)_. A sister, Sarah, wed Benjamin Bartlett, whose mother was from Mayflower passenger Richard Warren’s family. The middle name “Warren” is often found in the Stickney family. It should also be noted that Myron Stickney’s family has been researched (male line only) and reveals no connections to the Willey or Brewster families.
The questions continue. In these days of internet genealogy readers may have answers. Please do share them with us!
SOURCES: Records in custody of Pilgrim Hall Museum, Plymouth, MA; the Five Generations Project of the Mayflower Society; research by Rosemary E. Bachelor in the 1990s
