Hi Tom,
I am not convinced that he is not related to the Eastham family. Here's another bit of data not on paper: I did my DNA and find that it links me up with multiple hits for the Snow family although the matches don't lead directly to Mercy, in part, because others don't have her in their lines or have not gone that far back. (One leads to one of her sisters.) Mercy Snow is the only Snow, to my knowledge, that linked up with the Witherells. If James is not related to the Rev. Witherell line, who do you think he is related to? If he is, which of John's brothers seems more likely? I explored some other possibilities but didn't get anywhere definite. By the way, what record do you have for Elizabeth (W) Baker. I find her marriage but no birth record?
Becky