Was Mercy Ellis born a Nye?
The question
Mercy, wife of Lt. Matthias Ellis of Sandwich (1657-1748) and mother of Capt. Joel Ellis, is known in the records found so far only by her first name. Published genealogies make her Mercy Nye, born at Sandwich in 1652 to Benjamin Nye and Katherine Tupper. If they are right, the Nye and Tupper families join the Freeman-Ellis line, and with them Benjamin Nye and Thomas Tupper, who probably came on the Abigail in 1635 with Edmund Freeman. Every Nye and Tupper page in the archive depends on the answer. No primary record yet gives her maiden name.
Trail
- 30 Sep 2026Her name was Mercy
The Sandwich register records nine children “of Matthias Ellis and Mercy Ellis his wife,” born 1679/80 to 1699, beginning with Joel on 17 Jan 1679/80 (Kardell 1:33-34; McLean, NEHGR 119:265-266; Vital Records of Sandwich, Massachusetts, ed. Kardell and Lovell (1996)). Several first names are worn and restored from a later copy. So the “Mary Burgess” of the Freeman Genealogy (1875) and Davis (1899) is wrong. The research infers that the name drifted over from his brother Manoah’s wife Mary.
- 1 Oct 2026A Mercy Nye of the right age
“Benjamin Nye and Katherne Tupper marryed the xixth october 1640” (Sandwich VR; PCR 1:153), and “Mercy Nie the daughter of Beniamen Nie was borne the 8th of Aprill” 1652 (Vital Records of Sandwich, Massachusetts, ed. Kardell and Lovell (1996), Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England, ed. Shurtleff and Pulsifer, vols 1-12 (1855-61)). A Mercy Nye was born in Sandwich at the right time to marry Matthias about 1678/9. The daughter Benjamin Nye reportedly threatened to withhold from Jacob Burgis in 1660 appears to be his daughter Mary, who married Jacob Burge, not Mercy.
- 1 Oct 2026The published identification
Brownson and McLean, in their article on Lt. John and Elizabeth (Freeman) Ellis (NEHGR 119, 1965: 262, 265-266), identify Matthias’s wife as Mercy Nye, daughter of Benjamin and Katherine. The article has not been read directly; it is known through the Pane-Joyce summaries and other pages that quote it (Brownson and McLean, "Lt. John and Elizabeth (Freeman) Ellis of Sandwich," NEHGR 119-120 (1965-66)). The earlier Genealogy of the Nye Family (1907), p. 30, says the same without a source, and its list of her children has several errors (G. H. Nye and F. E. Best, A Genealogy of the Nye Family (1907)). The identification rests mainly on the article.
- 1 Oct 2026Weak supporting links
Matthias Ellis Jr. witnessed the will of John Nye, Mercy’s putative brother, proved 1722, and a later Nye will mentions woodland bought “of Mathias Ellis and William Bassett.” The families dealt with each other, which fits a family tie but does not prove one. (The same pass found Matthias Sr. witnessing the will of Capt. Thomas Tupper, proved 1706, and two Tuppers witnessing his own will; the research records these without weighing them for the Nye question.)
- 1 Oct 2026A deed that may point the other way
WikiTree’s summary of a deed of 9 June 1704 has Benjamin Nye giving his lands to his son Jonathan “in exchange for keeping himself, his wife Katherine and daughter Mercy in their infirmity” (WikiTree: Freeman, Ellis, Nye, Warren, Walker, Bartlett, Churchill and Bryant profiles). A daughter Mercy still dependent on her parents in 1704 fits badly with a wife whose husband lived until 1748, unless the deed reads “daughter Mercy Ellis.” The deed itself has not been seen; the Barnstable County deed books burned in 1827.
- 1 Oct 2026Matthias’s will
His will of 30 Nov 1744, proved 4 Oct 1748, leaves “my Loveing wife Mercy” the use of the west end of the house and “my orchard Called the Little Orchard,” and names as executors “my said wife Mercy and my said son Malachi.” Administration was committed to “Mercy Ellis & Mallack Ellis Executors” on 4 Oct 1748 (Will, probate, inventory and receipts of Lt. Matthias Ellis of Sandwich, read from the image). Mercy was living then. The will does not give her maiden name.
- 1 Oct 2026Other Mercys
Three other Sandwich girls named Mercy were born in 1650-52 (Mercy Wing, Mercy Wright, Mercy Lander). Matthias’s brother Freeman Ellis also married a Mercy, so later “Mercy Ellis” entries are ambiguous. None of Matthias and Mercy’s nine children was given a Nye family name. Mercy Nye is not the only candidate.
- 2 Oct 2026Filed as probable, left as a research task
The archive filed her as Mercy Ellis, with Benjamin Nye and Katherine Tupper as parents on compiled evidence, confidence probable, and her 1652 birth recorded as hers only if she was Mercy Nye. On review of the open conflicts, the ruling was that her maiden name is unknown: she stays as recorded, and the question is a research task, not a decision (
research/decisions.md, 2 October 2026, later).
Where it stands
Her first name, her marriage to Matthias and her being alive on 4 Oct 1748 are documented. That she was Mercy Nye, daughter of Benjamin Nye and Katherine Tupper, is compiled and probable, not proven; the research gives no percentage. The case rests on Brownson and McLean, not yet read directly, and the unsourced 1907 Nye genealogy. The reported wording of the 1704 deed and the other Sandwich Mercys are the reasons for doubt.
Next
- Brownson and McLean, “Lt. John and Elizabeth (Freeman) Ellis of Sandwich,” NEHGR 119-120 (1965-66), read directly (AmericanAncestors.org; subscription). The main source for the Nye identification; it should show what evidence they used. Take the article’s full citation at the same time.
- The wording of Benjamin Nye’s deed to his son Jonathan, 9 June 1704 (a later recorded copy, or the Nye Family Association’s transcript; WikiTree’s Benjamin Nye profile, Nye-6, may say where its summary came from; cost unknown until a copy is found). If it reads “daughter Mercy Ellis,” it supports the Nye identification; if it describes a daughter living at home, it argues against it.