According to Anderson’s GMB,430 “There is no direct evidence for the conclusion that the widow of Edward Bates was the Lydia Bates who married William Fletcher at Concord in 1645, but the circumstances make it a high probability: the last record of Edward Bates is in 1644, and the marriage of Lydia Bates takes place in 1645; and John Bates, presented to the Chelmsford church on 1 February 1656/7 as a child of William Fletcher, was said to be about fifteen at that time [Fiske Notebook 113], which is exactly what the John Bates baptized in Boston as son of Edward Bates would be. Lydia had several additional children by William Fletcher. (See Bates Bulletin, Series 3, p. 39, and Series 5, pp. 58-59; Snow-Estes 1:278-80, 296; Winifred L. Holman, MS Robert Fletcher genealogy, SG FLE 7, NEHGS Library.)

“Some secondary sources suggest that Lydia (_____) (Bates) Fletcher may have been daughter of RICHARD FAIRBANKS of Boston [Snow-Estes 1:296; Farwell Gen 1:45]. The latter source, for instance, says ‘there is evidence of some association between the two families’ (Richard Fairbanks and Henry Farwell), but does not produce the evidence. Nothing in the career of Richard Fairbanks suggests he had a daughter Lydia.”