17TH BLOGIVERSARY: LOOKING BACK

 I first posted this blog 17 years ago on 23Jan 2007. I'm surprised it's still here, especially after the last few years when my enegy lagged a bit due to health issues. But I seem to have gotten my second wind back and I've repurposed the blog a bit, and so I had a resurgence in 2023.

Anyway, I thought for this year's blogiversary I'd reprint that very first post:

BEGINNING

Well, this is a bit more serious minded a blog then I've done before.It will deal with my thoughts on researching my family lines, the Wests and Whites, and the times in which they lived. I hope also to comment on books that might be of use.

A bit of information at the start. I'm a late middle aged guy with a computer and time on my hands at night,and I've a limited income. I suppose I'm closer now to upper lowerclass than lower middleclass these days. I work in a book store and my salary is less than some teens working close shifts at McDonald's make per hour. On the other hand I like working the bookbiz, having worked in it now for close to 17 years. And working in a bookstore gives me access to a lot of books that provide at least background information on history and culture.

I have a B.A. in History and my interest in the field has never lagged,although until recently most of my reading has been mostly on ancient and medieval times.But over the past few years I've become more and more interested in early American history for reasons you'll see shortly.Some years back one of my father's sisters sent us pedigree charts that she'd made based on her own research into the family line. This was before the age of computers, mind you. We'd also bought a copy of Frances O'Connor'sbook on the Dunham and Ellingwood lines who we are related to through the marriage of Clara Ford Ellingwood to my great-grandfather. These were pored over when we first got them but eventually given over to me as the historian of our family and packed away in a desk drawer. Time, as they say,passed. My parents passed away, my younger brother and sister married and now have families of their own.


A few years back prompted by a conversation with an online friend who was talking about her own climb up her family tree, I dug out those pedigree charts and set about climbing up my own.Given my income I downloaded the Personal Ancestry File program from the Family Search site run by the Church of Latter Day Saints and filled in as much information as I could from what I already had and then went hunting on their site and elswhere for more. I found a lot, but so far I have not been able to verify anything beyond what my aunt had already sent us.


So to those looking at these pages, do NOT accept the information here as the last word on your search. Verify! I hope to be able to do it myself when time, money, and a car in need of repair allow.


And I think that's enough to begin with for now.

ON THIS DATE: JAN. 31st

 

Nathaniel Barker was born on Jan.31, married on Jan 31, and his son also married on Jan31. Coincidence? I think not.

On This Date:

BIRTHS:

31 Jan 1685 7x great grandfather John Walton was born at Reading, Ma.

31 Jan 1794 3x great grandfather Nathaniel Barker was born in Newry, Me.

 

MARRIAGES:

31 Jan 1681 8x great grandparents Joshua Lazell & Mary Trott were married at Hingham, Ma.

31 Jan 1819 3x great grandparents Nathaniel Barker & Huldah Hastings were married at Bethel, Me.

31 Jan 1858 2x great grandparents Nathaniel S. Barker and Lucy Coburn were married at Albany, Me.

31 Jan 1865 2x great grandparents Jonathan P West and Louisa Richardson were married at Upton, Me.

ON THIS DATE: JAN.30th

 

.One is the ancestor of all the Ellinwoods, Ellingwoods, and Ellenwoods in the USA, the Maritime Provinces and Quebec. The other was one of the founding fathers of Andover, Ma.

On This Date:

 

DEATHS:

30 Jan 1673 8x great grandfather Ralph Ellinwood died at Beverly, Ma.

30 Jan 1685 9x great grandfather Nicholas Holt died at Andover,Ma.

ON THIS DATE: JAN. 29th

 

Caleb Benson was a twin; his brother was Joshua Benson. There were a number of twins in several of Dad's ancestral families but not many since the 19th century.

 

On This Date:

 

BIRTH:

29 Jan 1704 5x great grandfather Caleb Benson was born at Rochester, Ma.

 

DEATHS:

29 Jan 1662 10x great grandfather Thomas Dickinson died at Rowley, Ma.

29 Jan 1679 10x great grandmother Mary (Johnson) Mowrey died at Rehoboth, Ma.

29 Jan 1782 7x great grandfather Daniel Boyden died at Auburn, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: JAN. 28th

 

On This Date:

BAPTISM;

28 Jan 1620 8x great grandfather James Davis was baptized at Thornbury, Gloucester, England

 

BIRTH:

28 Jan 1765 4x great grandfather Paul West was born in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, Canada

 

MARRIAGE:

28 Jan 1689 7x great grandparents Eleazer Rogers & Ruhama Willis were married at Plymouth, Ma.

 

DEATHS:

28 Jan 1686 10x great grandfather Moses Maverick died at Marblehead, Ma.

28 Jan 1689 8x great grandfather John Crowe/Crowell died at Yarmouth, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: JAN. 26th

 

On This Day:

BIRTHS:

26 Jan 1708 7x great grandfather John Laughton Jr. was born at Reading , Ma.

26 Jan 1654 9x great grandmother Hannah Kendall was born at Woburn, Ma.

MARRIAGE:

26 Jan 1728 6x great grandparents Jonathan Barker & Mary Abbott were married in Andover, Ma.

26 Jan 1710 7x great grandparents Jeremiah Dean & Mary Fisher were married at Dedham, Ma.

DEATH:

26 Jan 1746 8x great grandfather Samuel Phelps died at Andover, Ma.

26 Jan 1709 8x great grandfather Joshua Fisher died at Dedham, Ma,

26 Jan 1680 10x great grandfather Nicholas Rockwood died at Medfield, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: JAN. 25th

 

Interesting date today: two ancestors born on the exact same day & year, and another who was killed by Indians in an attack near York, Maine.

On This Date:

BIRTHS:

25 Jan 1682 7x great grandmother Sarah Beaman was born at Lancaster, Ma.

25 Jan 1643 8x great grandmother Mary Barnes was born at Salisbury, Ma.

25 Jan 1682 7x great grandfather John Bancroft Jr was born at Lynn, Ma.

25 Jan 1810 3x great grandmother Arvilla Ames was born at Livermore, Me

 

MARRIAGE:

25 Jan 1662 8x great grandparents Stephen Tilden and Hannah Little were married at Marshfield, Ma.

 

DEATHS:

25 Jan 1692 11x great grandfather Peter Weare was killed by Indians at York, Me.

25 Jan 1787 7x great grandfather Mephisobeth Adams died at Pepperell, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: JAN. 23rd

 

0n This Day:

BIRTHS:

23 Jan 1717 5z great grandfather John Hastings was born at Haverhill, Ma.

23 Jan 1676 8x great grandmother Elizabeth Prescott was born at Lancaster, Ma.

23 Jan 1680 7x great grandfather Martin Herrick was born at Salem, Ma.

 

DEATH:

23 Jan 1780 6x great grandmother Hannah (Ayer) Mitchell died at Haverhill, Ma.

ON THIS DATE : JAN. 21st

 

On This Day:

MARRIAGE:

21 Jan 1709 7x great grandparents Mark Haskell & Martha Tuthill were married at Gloucester. Ma.

DEATHS:

21 Jan 1730 7x great grandmother Hannah (Jefes) Spaulding died at Chelmsford, Ma.

27 May 1833 5x great grandfather Samuel Stow died at Oxford, NY

ON THIS DATE: JAN. 17th

On This Date:

BIRTH:

17 Jan 1730 5x great grandfather Amassa Dow was born at Kingston, NH

MARRIAGE:

17 Jan 1725 6x great grandparents Thomas Stow & Ann Weatherbee were married at Stow, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: JAN. 16th

 

BIRTHS:

16 Jan 1640 8x great grandfather Henry Herrick was born at Salem, Ma.

16 Jan 1834 2x great grandfather Jonathan Phelps West was born at Letter B Plantation, Me.

 

 

 

 

Front L-R Leslie Fuller, P.J. West, Phonce West, Louisa + Jonathan

West, Winfield West

 

2nd row Mary Chase, Lettie Douglas, Mrs, Hall, Aunt Villa West, Lillian

Ripley, Ripley girl, Margery Abbott, Eva West, Lewellin Hall, Charles

Chase.

 

3rd row Alice Marquis, Phila Marquis, Mabel Warren, Ethel Warren, Georgia

Pratt, Kate Coolidge, Carrie Lane, Ina Enman, Ida Warren, Mabel

Goodwin, Asa West.

ON THIS DATE: JAN. 14th

 

 Two ancestors named Sarah: one born and one died in the same year on this date:
On This Date:
BIRTHS:
14 Jan 1755 4x great grandmother Elizabeth Wiley was born in Andover, Ma.
14 Jan 1661 8x great grandmother Sarah Farnum was born at Andover, Ma.

MARRIAGE:
14 Jan 1702 7x great grandparents Samuel Upton & Abigail Frost were married in Salem, Ma.

 
DEATHS:
14 Jan 1719 8x great grandmother Deborah (Barnes) Davis died at Haverhill, Ma.
14 Jan 1733 7x great grandmother Hannah (Marston) Barker died at Andover, Ma.
14 Jan 1661 10x great grandmother Sarah (Parker) Converse died at Woburn, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: JAN. 13th

 

On This Date:

MARRIAGES:

13 Jan 1703 7x great grandparents Henry Haskell & Ruth York were married at Harvard, Ma

13 Jan 1731 6x great grandparents David Whitcomb & Elizabeth White were married at Lancaster. Ma.

 

DEATHS:

13 Jan 1719 8x great grandfather Henry Holt died at Andover, Ma.

13 Jan 1678 8x great grandfather John Benson died at Hull, Ma.

13 Jan 1834 4x great grandmother Polly (Griffith) Ames died at Hartford, Me

ON THIS DATE: JAN. 12th

 

ON THIS DATE:

 DEATHS:
12 Jan 1776 6x great grandmother Edna (Bailey) Hastings died at Bradford, Ma.
12 Jan 1777 6x great grandfather Joseph Herrick died at Gloucester, Ma.
12 Jan 1717 7x great grandfather Jonathan Hallett died at Yarmouth, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: JAN. 11th

On This Date:
BIRTHS:
11 Jan 1643 8x great grandfather Nathaniel Gay was born at Dedham, Ma
11 Jan 1642 9x great grandfather Seabred Taylor was born at Boston, Ma.

MARRIAGE:
11 Jan 1732 9x great grandparents Caleb Benson & Deborah Barrows were married at Rochester, Ma.
11 Jan 1764 5x great grandparents Abel Moore & Betty Whitcomb were married in Bolton, Ma.

DEATHS:
11 Jan 1695 7x great grandmother Sarah (Learned) Barrett died at Chelmsford, Ma.
11 Jan 1711 9x great grandmother Hannah (Chandler) Abbott died at Andover, Ma.
11 Jan 1686 9x great grandfather Thomas Farnham died at Andover, Ma

ON THIS DATE: JAN. 8th

 

On This Date:

MARRIAGE:

8 Jan 1696 8x great grandparents Thomas Stimson & Mary Taylor were married at Reading, Ma.

 

DEATHS:

8 Jan 1664 10x great grandfather Percival Lowell died at Newbury, Ma

8 Jan 1682 9x great grandmother Hannah (Silsbee) Laughton died at Lynn, Ma.

8 Jan 1744 7x great grandmother Mary (Harlow) Dunham died at Plymouth, Ma.

8 Jan 1692 9x great grandfather Ralph Farnham Sr. died at Andover, Ma

AFTER CHRISTMAS

 ((originally posted in December 2013))

When I was a kid the day after Christmas was a wonderful day: I knew I had a
week or so off from school and I had some new toys or games to play. If I
grew bored with them I'd just go to the library and take out some more books
to keep me occupied. If it had snowed, I'd go sledding over on Selden Street
with Barry Solomon and the other kids. 

The torn wrapping paper was stuffed into empty department store bags (
plastic trash bags didn't become popular until the 1960's) and the boxes that
toys and appliances came in were hauled out by the curb for the city
trash trucks. This was how we knew what  the other kids got for Christmas
or Hanukkah. Inside, gifts had to be removed from under the tree to our
rooms a day or so after Christmas so the pine needles under the Christmas
tree could be vacuumed up.  
  
If Christmas fell on a Friday or Monday that year there'd be a round of visits
to our McFarland and McCue relatives or they'd visit us. So Christmas decorations
stayed up for several weeks, sometimes to the end of January. When we were
living on Capen St. my Mom used Glass Wax stencils to decorate our apartment
windows but she stopped after one year when cleaning the windows off was
harder than usual. Besides, nobody could see them anyway since the apartment
was on the third floor! We also only used "angel hair" to decorate the tree
once.

But eventually we'd take off the decorations, lights, and garlands from the tree
and pack them away, and the tree would be hauled out to the curbside. If it
snowed before trash pickup it might be out there an extra week or two. In time,
as we grew older, the artificial tree would be disassembled and taken down to
the cellar.

Christmas was  over.

2014 Update
Since I'm a single "senior citizen" the after Christmas cleanup is minimal. After New
Years I'll put away the six inch tabletop Christmas tree and it's decorations away. Easy
peasy!

ON THIS DATE: JAN 6th

 On This Date:

 MARRIAGE:
6 Jan 1701  6x ggp Joshua Swain & Sara Ingalls were married at Andover, Ma

ON THIS DATE: JAN. 5th

 

On This Date:

MARRIAGE:

5 Jan 1696 7x great grandparents Abiel Kelley & Rebecca Davis were married at Newbury, Ma.

DEATH:

5 Jan 1666 10x great grandfather Roger Mowrey died at Salem, Ma.

ON THIS DATE : JAN.3rd

On This Date:
BIRTH:
3 Jan 1682 8x great grandfather John Laughton Sr. was born in Lynn, Ma.

 
MARRIAGE:
3 Jan 1692 7x great grandparents James Thomas & Mary Tilden were married at Duxbury, Ma.

 
DEATHS:
3 Jan 1698 8x great grandfather Peter Ayer died at Haverhill, Ma
3 Jan 1737 8x great grandfather Ralph Farnham III died at Andover, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: JAN. 2nd

On This Date:
BAPTISM:
2 Jan 1574 10x great grandfather Edmund Greenleaf was baptized at St. Mary's-la-Tour at Ipswich, England.

BIRTH:
2 Jan 1651 7x great grandmother Mary Sawyer was born at Lancaster, Ma.
2 Jan 1627 7x great grandfather Henry Ingalls was born at Skirbeck, England.

MARRIAGES:
2 Jan 1688 7x great grandparents Benjamin Barker & Hannah Marston were married at Andover, Ma.
2 Jan 1738 6x great grandparents Nathaniel Dana & Abigail Dean were married at Boston, Ma.

DEATHS:
2 Jan 1743 7x great grandfather Samuel Ayer died at Haverhill, Ma
2 Jan 1754 7x great grandmother Martha (Conant) Perkins died at Plympton, Ma.
2 Jan 1692 8x great grandfather Francis West died at Duxbury, Ma.
2 Jan 1682 8x great grandmother Sarah (Pitney)Thomas died at Marshfield, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: JAN. 1ST

 Today's List has three New Year's babies and a birth and marriage on the same day.

On This Date:
BIRTHS:
1 Jan 1643 9x great grandfather Jeremiah Swain was born in Charlestown, Ma.
1 Jan 1707 7x great grandmother Hepzibah Stimson was born at Reading, Ma.
1 Jan 1702 6x great grandfather Moses Coburn was born at Dracut, Ma.

MARRIAGES:
1 Jan 1651 9x great grandparents John Lovejoy & Mary Osgood were married at Andover, Ma.
1 Jan 1643 10x great grandparents Henry Rice & Elizabeth Moore were married at Sudbury, Ma.
1 Jan 1698 7x great grandparents John Moore & Hazadiah Fairbanks were married at Concord, Ma.

DEATH:
1 Jan 1669 8X great grandfather William Barstow died at Scituate, Ma.
1 Jan 1777 5x great grandmother Mehitabel (Abbott) Abbott died at Andover, Ma.