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Monday, December 08, 2014

"WILL, I WILL SHOOT YOUR HORSE..." PT 2


Just a few thoughts about the case and the people in it:

Whenever I find one of these cases the first thing I do is to see if the ages
of the people involved in the case are mentioned. Then I check them against
what I know about the family to see if they match up with the information
I have. For example, here's the family of Thomas and Hannah Chandler from
a Chandler family genealogy:

The children of Thomas and Hannah (Brewer) Chandler were:

i. Thomas, b. 2 Oct. 1652; d. 6 June, 1659, a. 7 years.
Salem Ilecords.

ii. John, b. 14 March, 1655 ; Andover ; m. 20 Dec. O. S. 1670,
Hannah Abbot.

iii. Hannah, m. 2 Dec. 1674, Daniel Bixby, of Andover.

iv. William, b. 28 May. O. S. 1659; m. 21 April, 1687,
Eleanor Phelps, by Rev. Francis Dane, of S. Andover.

v. Sarah, b. 20 Dec. 1661 ; m. 29 May, 1682, Samuel Phelps.

vi. Thomas, b. 9 Oct. 1664; m. 22 .May, 1686, Mary Peters,
by Major Saltonstall.

vii. Henrv, b. 28 May, 1667; in. 28 Nov. 1695, Lydia Abbot,
of Andover.

viii. Joseph.. b. 3 Aug. 1669; m. 20 Nov. 1691, Sarah Abbot.

-p11
Chandler, George The Chandler Family: The Descendants of William and AnnisChandler who Settled in Roxbury, Mass., 1637 (Google eBook)
Press of C. Hamilton,  Worcester, Ma. 1883

The case happened in 1678, and the ages given for the Chandlers are:
William, around 19 years old. (I have his birth year in my database as 1659)
Thomas, around 51 years old. (I have his birth year in my database as 1628)
Hannah, around  49 years old  (I have her birth year in my database as 1630)

That, plus the fact that William in my database is married to Elinor Phelps
makes me certain that this isn't another Chandler family.

Two of the witnesses in the case are also my relatives:
William Lovejoy is my 8x great grandfather,
John Ballard is my 8x great granduncle

-I am wondering how much Walter Wright was fined, No amount was given in
case file. And why was he let off so lightly? Were the knife wounds not as
serious as William Chandler testifies? Was there a sense that he had somehow
provoked Wright into the attack? Part of it might also be because Thomas Chandler
didn't seem to want to pursue the matter since he and Wright were neighbors.

-It seems our ancestors had a higher tolerance of pain than we do nowadays.
Even if the knife wounds were not serious ones, being slashed across your face
and in your hands and stomach must have really hurt. But the wounds were
"cured" (stitched?) by Return Johnson and everyone went back about their business. 

-Though the case was brought to court in Ipswich, the actual events took place in
Andover, Ma. where many of my paternal ancestors lived.

Finally, I think Walter Wright didn't follow through on his threat to shoot William
Chandler's horse.

If he had, I'm sure they would have ended up in court over it.

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