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Lizzie Borden

Ancestry of
Lizzie Borden

Accused Murderess


    Susanna Tripp

    View famous kin of Susanna Tripp

    • 2nd Great-grandmother of Lizzie Borden — 5th Generation
    • Ahnentafel No:
    • 27 
    • Birth Date:
    • ABT 1750 
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    • Notes: 
    • In the book "The Luther Genealogy: A History of the Descendants of Captain John Luther" published by George A. Luther in 2001, there is a comment on page 124 under the listing for #89 Martha Luther, wife of Benjamin Tripp. That comment states "the infamous Lizzie Borden of Fall River is a direct descendant of Martha (Luther) Tripp, through the Tripp, Vinnicum, Morse, and Borden families. Also in her book "Finding Famous {and Infamous} Ancestors" and in various published articles by her, professional genealogist Rhonda McClure states that Lizzie Borden and actress Elizabeth Montgomery are 6th cousins 1 time removed via their common ancestors of Samuel Luther Jr. and his wife Sarah (----). In order for both of the above comments to be true, it would appear that Susanna Tripp would have to be the daughter of Benjamin and Martha (Luther) Tripp. Looking at a timeline would seem to support this as Susanna's son John Vinnicum Jr. was believed to be born in 1774, and Susanna's mother Martha (Luther) Tripp in 1725. This would place Susanna's birth about 1750, give or take a few years. In addition, a 1925 manuscript by genealogist George L. Randall states that Benjamin and Martha (Luther) Tripp had a daughter named Susanna. However, many online genealogies today show the mother of Susanna Tripp as a Sarah (Lawton) Tripp whose husband's first name is unknown. It appears that the source of this information for most of these online genealogies is George Luther's "The Luther Genealogy: A History of the Descendants of Captain John Luther" where on page 224 under the listing for Bethany Kennicutt, you will find the following comment: "... John and Susannah (Tripp) Vinnicum, Susannah the dau. of ________ and Sarah (Lawton) Tripp, Sarah the dau. of William Lawton [Thomas, Daniel, Thomas Lawton]." The original source of this Lawton Genealogy is apparently a "chart" in the possession of the Swansea MA Historical Society. So the statement on page 224 seems to contradict the earlier statement on page 124 of the same book stating Martha (Luther) Tripp as being a direct ancestor of Susanna. The problem is that a timeline shows that the two would be from the same generation and their lives would clearly overlap. If somehow there was room to fit another generation and Sarah Lawton could be said to be the daughter-in-law of Martha Luther, then Rhonda McClure would be wrong about Lizzie Borden and actress Elizabeth Montgomery being 6th cousins 1 time removed, the correct being 6th cousins 2 times removed. But the existing timeline doesn't allow for that scenario. So at this point it would seem the most likely scenario is that Benjamin and Martha (Luther) Tripp are Susanna's parents. However more research needs to be done to see how Sarah Lawton does fit into this family, especially if Susanna's daughter Sarah Vinnicum really has Lawton as her middle name as many online genealogies also claim. Perhaps either Sarah Lawton or Martha Luther is really a step-mother to Susanna. IF YOU HAVE INFORMATION THAT CAN HELP RESOLVE THIS ISSUE, PLEASE CONTACT US USING THE LINK AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS WEBPAGE.

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