Boston Births, Baptisms, Marriages and Deaths, 1630-1699, Ninth Report of the Boston Record Commissioners (Boston 1883, rpt. Baltimore 1978), p. 153, indicates that John HARKER married Patience FOWLER rather than Patience FOLGER. This would, of course, remove the FOLGER family from the ancestry of Donald VanHoosier Lawson. However, there is a difference of opinion as to the suname of the wife of John HARKER: William Folger gives the surname of Patience FOLGER's husband as HARKER, Clarence Torrey indicates that John HARKER's wife was either a FOLGER or a FOWLER (and that she did not marry second James GARDNER), and Robert Anderson cites BVR in naming John HARKER's wife as Patience FOWLER.

It is possible that the published volume of BVR includes a transcription error, or that the original entry recorded the wrong surname - a reading of the original records is desired. The citations used by Clarence Torrey may be helpful in resolving the matter. It is noted that none of the FOWLER marriages listed by Torrey include subsequent residence in Boston or Nantucket. Both the FOLGER and the HARKER families are known to have resided in both Boston and Nantucket. Various undocumented compilations use either the FOLGER or FOWLER surname for Patience. Some compilations attempt to resolve the identification of Patience FOLGER's husband by giving him two given names (John Ebenezer HARKER) - highly unlikely for that era. No Ebenezer HARKER has been found in Boston prior to the birth of the son of John HARKER on 6 Feb 1688/9. As detailed in the HARKER narrative, Ebenezer HARKER (1688/9-1765), son of John and Patience, was born at Boston, MA, purchased Crany (now Harkers) Island, NC in 1730, and died there leaving wife Elizabeth and six children.

The HARKER-FOLGER marriage conclusion will be retained - at least until convincing evidence to the contrary is obtained. Contact regarding this matter will be appreciated!

• "The Folger Family," compiled by William Coleman Folger, NEHGR Vol. 16 (Boston 1862), p. 271:
  • The name of Patience Folger's 1st husband has been given by genealogists here both John and Ebenezer [HARKER]; whether either was right is doubtful.... Even the late B. Franklin Folger, so well versed as he was in the Nantucket genealogies, could not be certain of the given name of the first husband of Patience.
• New England Marriages Prior to 1700, by Clarence Almon Torrey (Baltimore 1985), p. 344:
  • HARKER, John and Patience FOLGER/FOWLER, m2 James GARDNER (wrong); 14 Dec 1680; Boston
• "Anthony Harker," The Great Migration Begins, by Robert Charles Anderson (Boston 1995), p. 863: 
• iii. JOHN, bp. 30 April 1643, "aged about 10 days" [BVR 16], on 29 April 1673 Thomas Owen, servant to John Cleare Jr., was committed for "wounding John Harker in the arm with a shoemaker's knife" [SCC 254]; m. Boston 14 December 1680 Patience Fowler [BVR 153].
• "The Children of Peter Folger and Mary Morill," by Harry P. Folger 3rd, The Mayflower Quarterly, Vol. 72, No. 3 (Sept. 2006), pp. 256-262.  Page 258:
• 6. Patience Folger, b. abt. 1653, Martha's Vineyard, MA -- d. abt. Mar 1718, Nantucket, MA (This line needs a lot of study.  Many dates, names, and places are missing and disputed by researchers.  All agree that Patience married Mr. Harker, but, Nantucket Vital Records say Ebenezer while Torrey's marriages states "Harker, John & Patience Folger/Fowler . . . 14 Dec 1680, Boston".) m. bef. 1694 (more than one good source states Ebenezer but no dates) Ebenezer Harker, of North Carolina. [Children: Ebenezer, Hepsabeth and Patience. Summary received via email - this compiler has not read the full article. - sml]
  

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