JOHN AMES(EAMES) AND LYDIA PHELPS

((Recent discoveries have cause me to reexamine the conclusion
of this post and I'll discuss that next. But I thought I'd reprint this 
for background. Originally posted 22April 2007))



I mentioned earlier that I’d recently found information that
disproves the belief that my ancestress Lydia Phelps was the
daughter of Jonathan Phelps and Beulah Parker. I’d googled
around with intentions of doing a post about ancestors who’d
been called to arms at Concord and Lexington when I found
this at “The Ancestry of Overmire, Tifft, Richardson, Bradford,
Reed,” by Larry Overmire, RootsWeb World Connect Project,
2000-2007 on John Ames, Lydia Phelp’s husband.


The line that caught my interest right away was one concerning
John teaching his stepson Sampson the blacksmith’s trade. This
was the first I’d ever heard of stepchildren, so I then read Larry’s
entry on Lydia Phelps:

“OF SCOTTISH ANCESTRY

GREAT GRANDMOTHER OF CIVIL WAR HERO AXEL HAYFORD
REED

Lydia was of Scottish descent, her parents born in Scotland. She
was known as a "remarkably vigorous woman." She and her
second husband John Ames migrated to the wilds of Maine about
1793-5.” -Larry Overmire, The Ancestry of Overmire, Tifft,
Richardson, Bradford, Reed.


There followed two quotes:

"My father was John Ames, who was born in Groton, Mass., and
mother was Lydia Phelps, who was born in Hollis, Mass... When
father married second wife, the widow of Sampson Read, she had
three children, Sampson, Lydia and Amy, then children by John
Ames were: John, Jonathan, Zekiel, Polly, Betsey, and Ralph;
all born in Groton, Mass., except Ralph, who was in Merrimac,
Mass., and myself in Hollis." --Aunt Betsey Putnam, as told to Axel
H. Reed, Genealogy, p. 17.

"Lydia Phelps, my mother, was of Scottish decent [sic], whose
parents were born in Scotland, and from whom the Reads got
their light eyes, so father Ames used to say."
--Aunt Betsey Putnam, as told to Axel H. Reed, Genealogy, p. 17.

((The source for the quotes is: "Genealogical Record of The Reads,
Reeds, the Bisbees, the Bradfords of the United States of America"
in the line of Esdras Read of Boston and England, 1635 to 1915.
Thomas Besbedge or Bisbee of Scituate, Mass. and England, 1634
to 1915. Governor William Bradford, of Plymouth, Mass., and
England, 1620 to 1915." By Axel Hayford Reed, Glencoe, MN,
1915))


The list of children given for John and Lydia by Betsey Putnam is
what I had already in my records but the information that Lydia’s
parents were Scottish-born was new and negates the supposed
descent from the Phelps of Andover. This is a personal account of
one of John and Lydia’s own children, after all.


And now I’m left with another question: if Lydia was the second
wife of John Ames, who was the first?

My thanks to Larry Overmire for permission to use his research!

AXEL REED, CHICKAMAUGA & CEMETERY RIDGE

I was contacted last week by a cousin about our mutual ancestor Lydia (Phelps)
Read West. While answering a question I was reminded of something I'd
discovered seven years ago when I first began this blog involving the Civil
War. I decided it was a better topic for the Civil War Challenge than the one
I'd originally intended, so I decided to write about it instead. And here we are.

My 5x great grandmother Lydia Phelps had married her first husband Sampson
Read on 18Mar 1773 in Westford, Ma. He joined the Continental Army in 1776
and died in 1777 at age 23. I haven't as yet been able to find out if he was killed
in battle or died of natural causes. He and Lydia had three children; a son, Sampson
Read, Jr. and two daughters, Lydia and Amy. Sometime between 1777 and 1779,
Lydia met and married my 5x great grandfather John Ames m a Revolutionary
War veteran and blacksmith. There would be seven Ames children, and the family
settled around Hartford, Oxford County, Me.

John Ames taught his step-son Sampson the blacksmith trade. Eventually the young
man  married Jane Ellis. (she maybe a cousin through my Ellis line which I'll
have to research.) They  had a large family of ten children, one of whom was Sampson
Read III. He in turn married Huldah Bisbee and had eight children. One of these
was Axel Hayford Reed. The youngest of the seven surviving children, he apparently
was not happy farming and when he reached adulthood he moved West, eventually
ending up in Glencoe, Minnesota where he was living when the Civil War broke out.

He enlisted in  the Second Regiment of the Minnesota and became Sergeant of Company
K. Then in 1863 Axel got himself into trouble. In September of 1863  Axel's regiment
was part of Union General George Thomas' in the campaign along the Tennessee-Georgia
border. On 19Sep 1863 Axel Reed was under arrest at the reat of the lines when the
Battle of Chickamauga broke out. It seems he had written a letter to a newspaper that
had been critical of the food shortage of the army and was confined for it. When the
battle broke out, he either escaped or persuaded his guards to let him return to Company
K to fight with his men. The Second Minnesota helped stop a Confederate advance and
charges were dropped against Axel for his conduct on the field during the fighting.

Two months later Axel Reed was part of  the Union advance up Missionary Ridge in
Tennessee on 25Nov 1863. During that he was wounded which caused his right arm to
be amputated. Despite losing his arm he stayed on with the 2nd Regiment and by the time
he was mustered out in July of 1865 he had risen to the rank of First Lieutenant.

After the war he returned home, raised a family, started a bank and farmed. A diary
he kept during the war is cited in several history books. He died in Glencoe, Minnesota
on 21January 1917.

For his actions at Chickamauga and at Missionary Ridge, my 2nd cousin 4x removed
Axel Hayford Reed was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. You can read the
official citation at the U.S. Army Center of Military History website, and more details
of the two battles where Axel distinguished himself at the website for the NationalMedal of Honor Museum of Military History, which includes his photograph. 

"AN ILL DESIGN":THE DEATH OFJOHN AMES, 9JUL 1724

 ((Today is the 290th anniversary of the death of my ancestor John Ames. First
    posted 9Jul 2012))

During the period of the colonial New England Indian Wars, summer was the
season when raids and casualties increased on both sides. As a consequence,
I've several ancestors who died violently in the summer months. One such was
my 8x great grandfather John Ames of Groton, Ma. John was no stranger to
deaths caused by the wars: his wife was Priscilla Kimball whose father
been killed when she was a child and who had been taken captive. So John
probably took precautions but it didn't save him. The incident was described by
the historian Samuel Abbott Green in his book Groton in the Indian Wars.(He
quotes several sources which excerpts I've boldfaced since Green omits
the quotations marks for some of them):.
  

"It was on Thursday, July 9, 1724, that John Ames was shot by an Indian, one of
a small party that attacked his garrison in the northwesterly part of the town.
Ames lived on the north side of the Nashua River, a short distance below the
Hollingsworth paper-mills. He is said to be the last person killed by an Indian
within the township. The Indian himself was immediately afterward shot by
Jacob Ames, one of John's sons. "The Boston Gazette," July 13, 1724, thus refers
to the event: —

A Man was kill'd last Week at Groton, by the Indians, and 't is suppos'd one 
Indian was kill'd by one of our Men in the Garrison; the Indians left their 
Packs, 5 in number, which were taken and secur'd by the English.

In the Gazette of July 27, it is said that " An Indian Scalp was brought to Town 
last Week from Groton."

"The New England Courant," July 13, 1724, reports that "Last week the Indians
kill'd a Man at Groton, and had one of their own Men very much wounded."
The same newspaper, in its issue of July 27, says that "The Scalp of an Indian
lately kill'd at Groton is brought to Town."

"The Boston News Letter," July 16, 1724, gives the following version: —

From Groton we are inform'd, That 5 Indians came into that Place, and kill'd
one Man, upon which one of our Men shot out of the Garrison and kill'd an
Indian and got his Scalp in order to bring to Town, and have likewise taken
the Indian Packs.

The same paper, of July 30, says that "An Indian Scalp from Groton was brought
in here last Week."

These accounts, taken in connection with Jacob Ames's petition, found in the
printed Journal of the' House of Representatives for November 20, 1724, and
herewith given, show conclusively that they relate to the assault in which
John Ames was killed. It is equally certain that Penhallow, in his History, refers
to the same attack when he speaks of the damage done at Groton in the
summer of 1724.

A Petition of Jacob Ames, shewing that he was one of the Weekly Scouts near
the Garrisons on the Westerly part of the Town of Groton; and on the Ninth Day
of July last, when it was the Petitioners Week to be on Duty, a Number of 
Indians appeared at the Garrison of the Petitioners Father John Ames, and 
killed him at the Gate, and then rush'd violently into the Garrison to surprise 
the People there. And the Petitioner did with Courage and Resolution by 
himself defend the Garrison,  and beat off the Indians, Slew one of them and 
Scalp'd him; praying, That altho' it happened to be his Week to be on Duty, 
that this Court would take the Premises  into their wise and serious 
Consideration, and grant what other Allowance more than the Establishment 
by Law, shall to them seem meet, for his aforesaid Service.  Read, and in 
Answer to this Petition. Resolved, That over and above the Fifteen rounds 
due to the Petitioner by Law, for recovering the said Scalp, and the good
Services done this Province thereby, the Sum of Fifteen Pounds be allowed 
and Paid out of the Publick Treasury to the said Jacob Ames for his good 
Service as aforesaid.

Sent up for Concurrence.

Mr. Butler, in his History, gives the following version of this affair, which was
gathered largely from grandchildren of the Ezra Farnsworth mentioned in it. 
The account was taken down in writing more than a hundred years after the
occurrence of the event, which will explain any inaccuracies due to tradition.
Mr. Butler refers the assault to a period much later than the actual fact: —

`An Indian had been seen, for several days, lurking about the town, it was
conjectured, upon some ill design. Mr. Ames, who lived on the intervale, on 
the west side of Nashua river, now owned by John Boynton, Esq., went into
his pasture to catch his horse. Discovering the Indian, he ran for his house; 
the Indian pursued and shot him as he entered his gate. The dead body 
prevented the gate's closing, as it would otherwise have done of itself, and 
the Indian pressed in to enter the house, where Ames had a son and daughter. 
The son seized his gun, and shot at him, as he entered the gate. The ball, 
striking the latch of the door, split, and one part of it wounded the Indian, 
but not severely. As the son attempted to close the door against the enemy, 
after the shot, the Indian thrust his foot in, and prevented. The son called 
to his sister to bring his father's gun from the bedside, and at the same 
time striking the Indian's foot with the breach of his gun, compelled him 
to withdraw it, and closed the door. While the Indian was in the act of 
reloading his gun, the young man found means to shoot through a 
crevice and killed him. Two men, at work about a mile distant in a 
mill, Ezra and Benjamin Farnsworth, hearing the reports of the guns,
and suspecting the cause thereof, were soon at the place, and found 
the bodies of Ames and the Indian both weltering in their blood. This 
is the last man killed by an Indian within the bounds of Groton. 
(Pages no, 111.)'

Mr. Butler says, in his History (page 100), that "in the summer of 1723,
one man was killed at Groton." I am inclined to think that this allusion 
is to John Ames, as I can find no other authority for the statement.

(Groton During the Indian Wars Samuel Abbott Green pp131-133).


John was the son of accused witch Rebecca Blake Eames. The family didn't
seem to have much luck in those early days but fortunately it improved in
later generations.

THE AMES MURDER PT2

((Originally published in March 2007))


Jonathan Ames Jr. married Ruth Perley on Dec 19th, 1768 and
took his new bride home to live in his parents house which might
very well have been the same one built by Robert (E)Ames. The
story goes that, as often happens with newlyweds, the bride and
mother in law didn't seem to get along very well. The couple’s
first child was born in May in 1769 and there was no sign of
anything out of the ordinary until the morning of June 5th when
a neighbor, Mrs. Kimball, came to call on the young wife and was
informed by the elder Mrs. Ames that Ruth was ill.



Despite Mrs. Ames’ objections Mrs. Kimball insisted on seeing
Ruth and found the younger woman in agony and frothing at the
mouth. The illness has begun at 7 am in the morning and within
four or five hours Ruth Perley Ames was dead. The funeral and
burial was swift and the townsfolk of Boxford became highly
suspicious of the cause of the young bride’s death. They petitioned
for a coroner’s inquest and on July 10th the proceedings began
looking into whether Ruth had been poisoned.


It’s not my intention to recount the whole story. It can be read
here in the article from the Essex Antiquarian. But I did want to
point out some interesting aspects of the case. It’s probably the
last recorded instance of the medieval custom of “ordeal by
touch” in New England if not in America as a whole. Briefly, the
accused was made to touch the corpse’s neck with the index finger
of his left hand. If the touch caused the body to bleed at the point
of contact then the accused was guilty. There had been insufficient
evidence presented so far and apparently the townsfolk or one of
the jury proposed that Jonathan Ames and his mother be put to
the test with the exhumed body of Ruth Perley Ames.


Both Jonathan and his mother refused to take part in the ordeal
and so were taken off to jail in nearby Salem where a grand jury
indicted Mrs. Ames for murder and Jonathan as her accessory.
On November 9th Jonathan’s sister Elizabeth was also arrested
as an accessory and the trial began in Superior Court on November
14th.


The account of the trial reads almost like an episode of Law &
Order. The Crown was represented by Jonathan Sewall. The
accused was represented by Sewall’s old friend and fellow law
student, John Adams. By this time Jonathan had turned King's
Evidence against his mother and accused her of killing Ruth by
poisoning her with “rats bane”. There were four judges who
heard the case, three of whom seemed to feel the evidence was
sufficient for a guilty verdict. The fourth judge was unconvinced
due to the uncertainty of physicians as to whether it had indeed
been “rat’s bane“ (or arsenic as we now call it ) that had killed
the victim and also because it was not certain who administered
the poison in the first place.


The trial lasted late into the night and the jury got the case at 2am
on November 15th. At 9am, they came back with a verdict: Not
guilty. The Ames family was freed but would soon after leave town.


So, what relation is Jonathan Ames to me? What of the identity of
his mother, known only in the Antiquarian account as “Elizabeth
Ames”? Where did they all go to when they left Boxford in
shame? And what of Mrs. Kimball?

THE AMES MURDER PT1

((I originally posted this series back in March 2007. Since
there was an echo of  the witchcraft hysteria in it, I thought
I'd revisit it for Halloween)) 

I was surfing through the US GenWeb’s Essex County site
the other night and came across a reference to a murder
in Boxford Ma. It happened in 1769 and involved a Jonathan
Ames who was accused of murdering his wife Ruth(Perley)
and involved testimony by a neighbor, a Mrs. Kimball.



This got my attention quickly. My 3x great grandmother was
Arvilla Ames and she was a descendant of Priscilla Kimball.
The Ames or Eames line is one of my favorites because the
family has been part of interesting events in New England
Colonial history. Robert (E)Ames, whose ancestry is unknown,
married Rebecca Blake who was one of those convicted of
witchcraft in the Salem witch hysteria. She later was given a
reprieve and the couple lived out their lives in the town of
Boxford.


Their son John married Priscilla Kimball, the daughter of
Thomas Kimball and Mary Smith The Kimball family was
living in Rowley Ma. when they were attacked by Indians on
May 2nd ,1676. Thomas was killed and Mary and their five
children, including Priscilla, were taken captive for forty-one
days before the chief of the Pennacook tribe persuaded the
raiding Indians to release their captives.


Priscilla grew to adulthood and married John Ames. They
hada farm in Boxford but they sold it in March of 1715 or 1716
and moved to Groton, Ma. John was standing one day at the
front door of what is referred to as “his garrison” (Was this
simply a fortified farmhouse or a trading post sort of building?)
when he was shot by an Indian on July 9th, 1724. He is said to
have been the last man slain by an Indian in Groton although
there appears to be some debate over that.


The Indian who was presumed to be the murderer was killed
in turn by Jacob Ames, John and Priscilla’s second oldest son.

So as you see, the Ames and Kimballs had gone through some
trying times already. When I ran across the reference of an
article in the Essex Antiquarian on a murder involving Jonathan
Ames and someone named Kimball, I had to look into it to see
how it related to my family genealogy.


Which I’ll go into next time!

AN HOUR ON FOOTNOTE.COM

It's Thursday and after a short visit to the doctor for some tests the rest of
my day is free.I prefer to schedule the appointments as early as possible
in the day for just that reason.

I thought I'd revisit Footnote.com to see what databases were new or
updated and found one that was unfamiliar to me, the Final Payment
Vouchers Index for Military Pensions, 1818-1864. These records show
the date of the final payment to a Revolutionary War veteran or his
widow and many have the dates they died.

I found cards for the following ancestors:

John Ames
Asa Barrows
Jonathan Barker
Amos Upton

I also found the records for Jonathan Barker's brothers Benjamin and
Jesse. I didn't learn anything I didn't already know but I downloaded
the images to each of the files I have for them.

I also checked again for pension files for a few of the ancestors I hadn't
found one for as yet. One of these is John Griffith (4Jun 1763 Rochester,
Plymouth, Ma.-8Feb 1840, Livermore, Androscoggin, Me.). I knew that
he'd served as a matross in an artillery company under Captain William
Treadwell in the 3rd Artillery Regiment commanded by Col. John Crane.
And of course not all veterans applied for pensions. But this time around I
checked under the names of the widows and got a hit. On an image from
the pension file of James Rankin I found a letter concerning the cases of
several widows and on it was the following:

"In the case of Mary Griffith widow of John Griffith you inform me
that no papers can be found-it is stated in her application that her
late husband enlisted in Col Crane's Regiment of Artillery and served 
til the end of the war, the foregoing are all the particulars we can
furnish you."

The letter's signature is faded but looks like it could be a Levi Bailey. It's
addressed to "J.S. Edwards Commissioner of Pensions, Washington DC"
and was written on 16 Apr 1845 from the Bangor Land Office so Mary
Boyden Griffith might have been applying for a land grant. I've found no
record online that she succeeded so she may have failed. She died in
Livermore, Oxford, Me in 1846. Her granddaughter Arvilla Ames is my
3x great-grandmother Arvilla Ames West.

But not bad for an hour's search on Footnote.com, I think!

BEDTIME GENEALOGY 39

I've been fighting a head-cold this week and so have gotten nothing
that I'd planned to do accomplished as far as research and writing are
concerned . But before I head off to bed in abject failure for tonight,
a few notes:

*Sheri Bush, author of the Twig Talk blog took a bad fall and broke
her left arm and her left ankle. She'll be away from her keyboard
while she heals. Please send Sheri some words of encouragement
by posting them to her blog comments and her daughter will see
that she gets them!

*I was contacted by Michael, who is a distant cousin through
our common descent from Revolutionary War veteran John
Ames. It turns out John is buried in Canton, Me., not Upton
as I had written previously. Michael sent me a link to a picture of
the gravestone that is posted here on the Find A Grave site. I'm
always happy when I'm contacted by unknown cousins who have
found this blog!

*Finally, Cheri Hopkins, aka You Go Girl#2, has awarded me
another Kreativ Blogger Award over at her Those Old Memories
blog (you should check it out folks if you haven't already!). Thank
you for the honor,Cheri, and once more to the others who've
presented me with the Award recently. I really appreciate that
you all think so well of my blog!

INDEPENDENCE DAY

We're coming up on the 4th of July on this coming Saturday. As you might expect here in
New England, it's a pretty special time. After all, this is where the American Revolution
began, isn't it? The celebrations are steeped in tradition, from the oldest 4th of July
Parade down in Rhode Island to the Boston Pops concert and fireworks on the banks of
the Charles River in Boston on Saturday night.

I've come to have a greater appreciation of the 4th and of our colonial ancestors in general
since I began researching the family tree. I'm not sure exactly how many of my ancestors
were Revolutionary War veterans since I'm still discovering new information almost every
day but I do know it's over ten. The documentation for eight of them is by means of their
Pension Request files, and in that my fortune was in their misfortune because they had
fallen on hard times. I had the chance to read their statements regarding their service in
the Army, and to read inventories of their personal possessions. I found out that my 4x
great grandfather Moses Coburn's list of possessions included a table, a chair, 4 "dung hill
fowls" and other livestock but apparently did not include beds for himself, his wife and
three children. My 5x great grandfather John Ames often saw Washington, Putnam, and
Lee while he took part in the siege of Boston. Several ancestors were present at the
surrender of the British General Burgoyne and others served at Valley Forge.

(You can read my transcriptions of the pension files of John Ames and Jonathan Barker
by clicking their names on my label list on the right of your screen. You can see a list of
my Revolutionary War veteran ancestors here.)

Despite all that they endured and survived in the Revolution, they found themselves
at the start of the 19th century in need of financial help. The young men of Lexington and
Concord were now in their late middle ages. Some of them were able to pick themselves
up and start over, or their widows and children were able to do so, with the help of the
pension. Others, like my 4th great-grandfather Jonathan Barker, were not so successful;
he rests in an unmarked grave in Newry, Oxford, Me.

In other words, they were real people, facing everyday life and trying to get by the
best they could, much like their descendants do to this very day.


It wasn't just political independence they were fighting for back then, it was also for an
independence of thought and speech. Even after they'd won it from the British they
continued on with the struggle in taking stands and voicing opinions that sometimes weren't
popular with the majority. It's a New England tradition!

Many of us grew up being taught history in the old "names and dates" method. Certain
figures (Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, etc) are given a bit more time, as are the major
conflicts. But it's not until college that we are able to study American history in more
depth. Even then, the everyday lives of people who lived in a certain period, who fought
the Great Wars or who survived the economic crises get less attention or perhaps a passing
mention. There's only so much time in a school year or a semester. Lesson plans must
be met.

That's why I think those of us who are genealogists and family historians are lucky. We
take the time to study not just the where and when of our ancestor's lives, but also other
aspects. How did they fight for independence, what effect did that fight have on them and
their family, why did they migrate to a certain part of the country? And then we share that
information with others. Studying our family histories gives us a greater appreciation and
pride of our country's history as well.

So I'll be watching the Boston Pops concert and fireworks display this Saturday night and
wonder once more, as I have the past few years, what those Revolutionary War veterans
would make of it all if they could there to take it in!

Written for the 75th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy

JOHN AMES HEIRS

((Some of the following information was found on the IGI and at
the Rootsweb Peru, Oxford, Maine and Canton, Oxford, Maine
Genealogy Projects of Craig Bryant and as I say in my blog
header, is not entirely set in stone until its been verified.)



Between them John Ames and Lydia Phelps had ten children;
Lydia’s three children by her first husband, Sampson Read
(Sampson, Lydia and Amy) were not included on John Ames’
petition possibly because as stepchildren their claims were
superseded by his own children. Also, one, Sampson Read Jr.,
was already dead so his sisters might have also passed away
already.



Of the seven Ames children, one, Ezekiel (or Ezekial) is missing
from the list of John’s heirs. Ezekiel died in Hartford Maine on 12
November 1806 at age 23 and may have been the husband of
Lydia Chickering but I’ve not yet found convincing evidence of
that.


John and Lydia’s remaining six children were already middle
aged themselves at the time the petition was filed in 1832.

The eldest, John Ames(another one!), was 53 years old and
married to Grace(last name unknown). They had seven children,
four girls and three boys.


The next son, Jonathan Phelps Ames, married Polly Griffith and
had ten children. Polly died in 1834 and Jonathan married her
sister Sarah with whom he had three more children. (Jonathan
and Polly’s daughter Arvilla is my ancestor through her marriage
to John Cutter West.) He was 51 years old at the time of the
petition.



Sally Ames married Isaac Fuller with whom she had at least one
child that I’ve been able to find and was 48 years old when the
petition was filed.



Polly Ames was 47 at the filing and was married to Sylvanus
Poland.They had nine children. Two of her sons had “Ames” as
their middle name


Finally, Betsey (or Betsy) was married to James Putnam and had
two children. She was 42 years old in 1832. Like her sister Polly's,
several of her children and grandchildren had the middle name
“Ames”.


Some of the grandchildren married each other. John Phelps
Ames’ son Generous married his cousin Grace Ames, daughter
of his Uncle John Ames.(They had a son with the unique name of
Generous Fernando Ames!) Sally Ames’ son Ezekiel married his
cousin Asenath, daughter of his uncle Ralph Ames. And overall,
John Ames’ tribe increased, with nearly thirty grandchildren at
the time of his death.


I’m sure there are posts in the future about these cousins of
mine, but for now, this concludes my series on John Ames and
his Revolutionary War pension file.

JOHN AMES: NAMES

I’m nearly done with my exploration of the John Ames pension
request file. But I thought it might be interesting to flesh out
some of the different names that appear on it.

So, for this post let’s look at some of the witnesses and
officials:

William Allen Jr. to whom John Ames’ Certificate of Pension was
sent was a surveyor, clerk and writer. Among his works are
histories of the towns of Industry and Norridgewock, Maine, and
a journal of his and his family’s experiences as earlier settlers in
the area.


Nathan Weston Jr, Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court before
whom John appeared to make his declaration of service went on
to serve as Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Court for seven
years. (1834-1841). Among his descendants was his grandson,
Chief Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court Melville Weston Fuller.

Cornelius Holland the member of Congress cited as a character
witness for John was a practicing physician from Canton, Maine
who had been a Maine State Representaive and State Senator.
He was a member of the Democratic Party and after being
appointed to serve out the term of a congressman, he won
re-election for the seat and served in Congress from 1830-
1833.


Charles Fuller, the other character witness from Canton, might
have been a relative of Isaac Fuller, husband of John Ames’
daughter Sally.



William Spaulding, John Ames’ childhood schoolmate, may be
the same William Spaulding who held the position of Postmaster
for Norridgewock in 1816. He also quite possibly was a cousin of
John’s through a common descent from William Green and Mary
Crispe.

JOHN AMES, SCHOOLMASTER?

Way back here in my series of posts about John Ames’
Revolutionary War pension file, I listed several questions I had.
One of them was this: One of the witnesses, William Spaulding,
testifies that he knewJohn Ames from childhood and that when
he “was a boy I went to school with him at his fathers house in
Groton.” If John’s father,who was also named John Ames, was
a school master, this is the first I’d seen mention of that. Was
this true?

I have known the answer for a few weeks now but pushed the
topic to a back burner while transcribing my Aunt Dot’s
memories.

A search at Google Books brought me to “History of the Town of
Groton: Including Pepperell and Shirley, from the First Grant
of Groton Plantation in 1655” by Caleb Butler. It seems that the
town hadn’t a school house but instead held classes in several
different locations. In 1741 it was voted to hold school “in five
places, six weeks a place.” In 1742 seven places were chosen, and
in 1745 only four. Eventually there was a school house built in
the middle of the town but those living more than two miles away
could have classes held closer to their homes.


As I said, I’d not seen any records to indicate any of the Ames of
colonial Groton were schoolmasters or teachers. But in 1717 the
town was charged as being in violation of the law by the General
Court of Massachusetts for not having a school master. A petition
was sent to the General Court which pointed out that Groton was
at that time a small town with fewer than a hundred families and
many were not able to contribute funds for a school. But it also
explained that the town had hired a school master the previous
December. In light of that fact the town hoped that the charge
against it would be dropped, and it was.


The petition was presented to the General Court for Groton by
John Ames. Given the year was 1717/8 that would have to be
either the first John Ames, son of Robert Ames and Rebecca
Blake, or his son John Ames, Jr. John Ames 3rd would have
owned the house where William Spaulding went to school with
the fourth John Ames.


Too many Johns there! Almost the genealogy equivalent of
"Who's on First?"


So, while there were no schoolteachers in the Ames of Groton of
that period, they seem to have been one of the families active in
seeing the town’s children were getting an education.

BEDTIME GENEALOGY 15

I spent part of the afternoon on the Great July Organize Your
Genealogy Files project. I’d been so wrapped up first in the John
Ames file and then Aunt Dot’s Memories transcriptions that I
hadn’t made very much headway. But I had bought a denim sort
of material expandable file case a week ago to move some of my
files into and today was the day I got that done. These are the
original family sheets Aunt Dot sent us years ago that have been
kept in several manila file folders for years now. While they were
in order most of the time, they frequently would get shuffled
around when I was going through them looking for something.
They certainly look better in the case filed alphabetically by
family name.


I was also looking for some links to some of the places Dot
mentioned in her memories and found one for Gould Academy. I
glanced at the history page and I think either Mr. Hanscom or
Mr. Ireland was the headmaster who finally asked her about my
Dad. I couldn’t find any suitable sites for Wilson’s Mills or the
Azicohos(or Aziscoos) Dam so I’ll have to wait until later for that.


I’ll get back to the John Ames files again in the next few posts.

JOHN AMES IN CAMBRIDGE

So far, I’ve had no success in discovering the identity of Andrew
Bowman or the location of his house where John Ames and other
colonial soldiers were quartered in Cambridge during the siege of
Boston. But as to the claim of frequently seeing Generals Lee,
Putnam and Washington during the period, it’s more than likely
John did. Both Israel Putnam and George Washington frequently
rode about the different positions of the colonial forces to inspect
the troops and defenses, Putnam especially being know for his
speaking to and exhorting the troops. And the fact that Obadiah
Wetherell who testified in John’s behalf was an Orderly Sergeant
in Captain Lawrence’s company leads to the intriguing idea that
they knew each other because John Ames was an orderly,
although again there is no proof so far and in all likelihood John
was just a private and regular soldier.



Lawrence’s company was involved in two notable engagements
during the siege of Boston. One was the “Battle of Bunker
(Breed’s)Hill" in which some of Lawrence’s men fought, and the
other the raid on Noddle’s Island. If John had been present at
Bunker Hill I’m convinced he or his heirs would have made
mention of it the pension request. Bunker Hill was even more
famous than Concord or Lexington.


Noddle’s Island, however, was one of two islands(Hogg Island
was the other) raided to drive off livestock and deny the British
hay for their horses. The raid turned into a small battle. So it’s
possible John might have participated in the fight ….if he’d been
in Asa Lawrence’s Company.


But he wasn’t. He was in Oliver Parker’s and John missed being
part of those actions.



By this time John had briefly returned home and then enlisted in
the new Continental Army. Apparently the militia companies
enlisted together as units and Col. Parker’s nine companies
comprised the 10th Massachusetts Regiment.

The petition about the issue of wishing to serve under Capt
Lawrence instead (as the militamen claimed had been promised)
of under Oliver Parker might have been more of a testimony of
Lawrence’s popularity with his men than a rejection of Parker. It
seems there were other incidents similar to this, even ones where
groups of soldiers and officers sent statements to the new colonial
government expressing their satisfaction with their present
commanders or requests to be returned to serving a previous one.
I suspect Washington’s comment about letting the men choose
their own captains reflects his disenchantment with the
minutemen that David McCullough detailed in his book 1776.


It wasn’t until August of 1775 that John rejoined Asa Lawrence’s
Company. He served out his enlistment time until the “six weeks
men" arrived. Tim Abbott’s earlier comment about what the term
“six weeks men” meant is on the mark. While I haven’t found
anything specific about them in regards to Groton, other sources
do speak of how towns would call up their militias as needed
before the Revolution to serve for designated periods including
six weeks and were compensated by the Town Councils for their
service.


In January,1776, John Ames left the Continental Army and went
home as many other minutemen had or would do, much to
General Washington’s chagrin.

And so ended John Ames’ brief career in the American Revolution!

JOHN AMES & LEXINGTON

I hit pay dirt at Googlebooks.


I used the keywords: Groton+history+Revolution and came
up with :

Groton During the Revolution: With an Appendix
by Samuel Abbott Green (1900)

I then ran a search in the book for “John Ames” and found
four references. The first was a practice of the times that I’d not
heard of before. It concerned something called Coat Rolls

As part of their service, many Massachusetts militiamen were
issued coats, preferably ones that had been made in their own
towns. Asa Lawrence’s men were among those entitled to such
coats and if they had died their family and heirs could claim the
coat in their place.

Samuel Abbot Green transcribed from the Massachusetts
Archives of his times the requests sent by the various units or
heirs in regards to their coats:

Cambridge October 30 ye 1775
To the Comity of Soplys Beples to Diluer to Asa Lawrence Capt
in Colonel Wm Prescuts Rigement Each a fusane [fustian] Coat
to which our names are under Subcribe. (p209)

John Ames is among those listed along with David Hason, a
Solomon Gilson, Obadiah Wetherell, & Eleazer Parker. Based on
this I assumed that I read “Saml Gibson’ for “Sol Gilson” among
the list of fellow soldiers given in his petition.

Fusane or fustian refers to the material used to make the coats.
The Wikipedia defines it as a general term for several heavy
woven cloths, made from different materials over the ages but
from what I can tell whatever the material, the common thread,
so to speak, was the durability and practicality of it.


No frippery for the Yankee militiamen but a practical, durable
coat!


Green drolly notes that ‘fortunately the men could fight better
than they spelled; and their personal prowess outweighed any
deficiencyin their early education” (p207)


On page 21 I found a "muster roll of Asa Lawrence’s Company
to the first of August, 1775" which includes John Ames, a
Solomon AND a Samuel Gilson, Jonathan Lewis, John Hason and
the others already named on the Coat Rolls. Under “Towns
whence they came” Groton is listed for John, his time of
enlistment April 25, and 98 days listed under “Time of Service”



On page 23 is A return of Capt Asa Lawrences Company in Wm
Prescott Regiment. John Ames is listed as a private


On page 118 is a list of supplies issued to the militiamen gathered
at the Groton Meeting House on the morning of April 19th ,1775.
On the list is John Ames Jr given 20 bullets and 6 flints, and a
John Ames given 30 bullets and 2 flints.



And so armed and equipped Asa Lawrence and his men, including
John Ames, set off to Lexington. The trouble is, by the time they
got there the British were gone. John and his friends may have
been among those who harassed the Redcoats all the way back to
Boston from Concord and Lexington but they didn’t fight at the
Battle of Lexington as far as I can tell. The accounts I have found
had them getting there too late.


John Ames was 18 years old in 1775 and was nearly 75 in 1832.
Looking back, perhaps that pursuit of the British from Lexington
expanded into being there in the larger engagement.


Either way what I found was further evidence that he had indeed
been a militiaman from Groton.

But could he really have seen Lee, Putnam and Washington “many
times?”

ABOUT JOHN AMES

I've learned that genealogy is a process of searching for facts and
once they are found establishing the veracity of what you've
found.


So what have I learned so far from John Ames’s pension file?


Well, while I’d already known he was said to have been a veteran
of the Revolution I hadn’t known any details nor had any actual
proof that he was indeed a veteran. Now I did.


He claims to have been at Lexington and then Cambridge and to
have often seen legendary figures of the Revolution, namely
Generals Lee, Putnam and even George Washington himself. The
details of the file in that regard raised intriguing questions for me:

Was John Ames actually at Lexington as he claimed?


Did he participate in any other actions during the siege
of Boston?


Why did John and his comrades prefer to serve under
Asa Lawrence and not Oliver Parker?


What were “six weeks men?”


One of the witnesses, William Spaulding, testifies that he knew
John Ames from childhood and that when he “was a boy I went to
school with him at his fathers house in Groton.” If John’s father,
who was also named John Ames, was a school master, this is the
first I’d seen mention of that. Was this true?



Who were these people who’d given testimony? What happened to
John’s sons and daughters, other than my ancestor Jonathan
Phelps Ames?



Lastly, was there any other proof to back up John’s claim that
he’d fought in the Revolution other than statements given by two
friends? Yes, he’d been given a pension (posthumously) but
there’s that little skeptic in me.


So even as I was transcribing the file I was googling for answers.

JOHN AMES' PENSION PART6

Image 8 is a page handwritten in a firm bold hand. The
penmanship is excellent and a bit ornate. I have a suspicion
that this might have been actually an earlier page in the file
and that in my haste to mine all I could I may have dl it out
of order but then I realized this pertains to his heirs after
John's death:


" N 11.634
Application of heirs of
John Ames
for pension.

In: Ames served as a private
from Apl 1775 to Jan 10, 1776
at least 8 mps &10 days

in Parker and Lawrence’s
companies Prescotts Regt
Mass. Troops


Washington
O. Witherell his orderly Sgt.
and
Wm. Spaulding Esq. a pensioner
who served in same Regt.

Also Deps.(?)of
C. Holland Member of congress
&
Chs. Fuller Esq on file in
War Department No.11.634
Case prepared by Wm Allen Jr
Norridgewock
me”



Image 9 is the other side of the page and the
handwriting in image show through. The document
is entirely handwritten by a different clerk:


“State of Maine
Kennebec County, Js:
Supreme Judicial Court
October term A.D. 1833
Be it known that on this twelfth day of October
1833, it has been satisfactorily proved in open Court
before the Supreme Judicial Court of said State
holden(?) at Augusta, within & for said County,
that John Ames late of Canton in said State
was an applicant for a pension under the Act of
Congress of June 7th. 1832 and that he died at
Canton aforesaid on the Seventh day of April,
1833, that Lydia Ames, his widow, also died on the
fifteenth day of the same month of April and
that his only children & lawful heirs are
John Ames, Jonathan P. Ames, Ralph Ames his sons;
and Sally Fuller wife of Isaac Fuller; Betsey
Putnam wife of James Putnam & Polly Poland
wife of Sylvanus Poland, his daughters.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto
subscribed my name & affixed the
seal of said Court, this 12th day of
October, 1833
J.A. Chandler, Clerk of the Judicial
Courts, Kennebec
County “



Image 10 is the last image and shows two pages of a
notebook.

The left-hand page is another preprinted form with
handwritten entries. The preprinted parts are shown here
in boldface:
“31518
Revy INVALID
__________
File No. 31.518
John Ames
Pri Rev War
Act: June 7th 32
Index:-Vol. 2, Page 8
[Arrangement of 1870]

The next page is all handwritten.
“Mas 1796 sold pensioned
Azel Ames
161 Shawmut St
Chelsea Mass. “

I’m assuming that last translates out to “Massachusetts
1776 soldier pensioned”

But who was Azel Ames? A descendant who requested a
copy of the pension file?

JOHN AMES' PENSION PART5

A reminder that all spelling, abbreviations and punctuation is as
found on the document.

In that regard, it seems poor General Putnam 's name is written
as Putman for the second time in the file!


There are parts of the document that are preprinted forms. I've
put those parts in boldface.


Image 6 appears to be handwritten on the back of the next
page as the printing of a form is visible from the other side.

Center top is written: 11.634

The following is handwritten below:

“John Ames

April 20th 1833

Obj(?) 2(?). 3.5(?)

R(?)348
died 7 April 1833
Private 8 mos 10days

Letter 30 Sept 1833

John Ames, Jonathan P. Ames,
Ralph Ames, Sally
Fuller, Betsey Putnam &
Polly Poland, children of
the deceased.

William Allen Jr.
Norridgewock, Maine.”


Image 7 is the other side of the page from the one on
Image 6. It’s a preprinted form. At the top the figures
11.634 are once more handwritten in:

Brief in the case of John Ames
County of Oxford in the State of Maine
(Act 7th June, 1832)

1. Was the declaration made before a Court or Judge?
Court

2. If before a Judge, does it appear that the applicant
is disabled by bodily infirmity? (illegible two lines that might
be a y and s)

3. How old is he? 76.

4. State his service as directed in the form annexed.

At this point the form is divided into four columns
across the page. I can’t reproduce it in that form here
but here is the information under each heading as written in:

Period: In 1775

Years, Months, Days,: about 8 1/2 months
(having enlisted for 8 months.)

Rank As a: Private

Names of General and Field Officers under whom he
served.
Capt. Parker, Col. Prescott
Genls. Putman, Lee, and Washington.


5. In what battles was he engaged? Lexington

6. Where did he reside when he entered the service?
Groton, Massa.

7. Is his statement supported by living witnesses, by
documentary evidence, by incidental evidence, or by
the rolls? A Credible Witness who proves 8 months service.

8. Are the papers defective as to form or authentication?
and if so, in what respect? Correct

I certify that the foregoing statement and the answers agree
with the evidence in the case above.

F. Waugh examining clerk
March 12.1833

JOHN AMES' PENSION PART4

Image 5 of John Ames’ Revolutionary War Pension file is a
collection of various statements fit around the page any way they
could be written in. It appears as though it might have been the
original cover sheet for the witness statements and is once again a
preprinted statement. What is interesting is that the form was
intended for use in Kennebec County but the word Kennebec is
crossed out in the first line and Somerset is hand written above the
crossed out word in a large hand. The name of the clerk John A.
Chandler has also been crossed out and that of James Dinsmore
written in :


STATE OF MAINE
___________________________________
___________________________________
Somerset, ss.> I, James Dinsmore, Clerk of all the Judicial
Courts held within and for the County of Somerset, hereby
certify that the Honorable Nathan Weston Jr. before whom
the within proceedings was had, is a Justice of the
Supreme Judicial Court of said State; I also certify that
the within contains the original proceedings of the said
Court in the matter of the application of John Ames for a
pension.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand
and the seal of the said Court, this
twenty seventh day of September,
A.D. 1832
James Dinsmore Clerk.

The top center of the page contains the last two paragraphs of the
statement of Obadiah Wetherell from the previous page which
must have been folded over when the image was scanned. But
now there is an addition enclosed in large parentheses:


“I (unreadable) Obadiah Wetherell, (farmer?) depose on oath and
say that the within named(?) John Ames served the within dates
(?)of eight months as a private in the summer and fall of 1775. I
knew him well before he entered the service time(?) of eight
months he was a faithful soldier; I understand that he is now dead;
that he died in April 1833.

Obadiah Wetherell."


"State of Maine Somerset County } ss. Subscribed and sworn to
this fourth day of September 1833 before me by above deformant
(?) who is an intelligent, credible witness.
William Allen Jr.
Justice Peace. "


Rotating the image clockwise, we next see a statement from a
William Spaulding. There was a Spaulding mentioned on image 3
but the first name was not given. This must be he:

“I William Spaulding of Norridgewock Maine age seventy three
depose and say that I well knew the within named John Ames;
when I was a boy I went to school with him at his fathers house in
Groton. I know that he entered into the army in the year 1775 I
saw him in the army at the Bowman house in the summer of 1775
and I have no doubt that he served the full term as he has stated
within as a private. I am also a Revolutionary pensioner.
William Spaulding"

Beneath that going across the center of the page just above the
printed State of Maine is the following, As it goes along, it’s
bordered by Obadiah’s statement on right and James Dinsmore’s
on the left and becomes narrower as space becomes taken up by
a large seal:

"State of Maine.
Somerset County }ss
sworn & subscribed the
ninth day of Sept 1833
by the above mentioned
William Spaulding Esq
a person by me well
known as a credible
witness before me
William Allen Jr
Justice of Peace"


On the left hand side of the page another statement runs across
the page and nearly meets William Allen’s at the center:

"State of Maine
Somerset County }ss
I Elias Cobb Clerk of all the
Judicial Courts in the county of
Somerset and State aforesaid do
hereby certify that William Allen Jr
is a Justice of the Peace in and
for said county duly commissioned
and qualified, that his commission
was dated the ninth day of March
A.D. 1832 and will expire on the ninth
day of March 1839 and that his signature
above written is genuine.
Given under my
hand and seal of
said county this
sixth day of
September, 1833
E. Cobb, Clerk"

Apparently John’s death made it necessary to repeat the
statements by the witnesses. Perhaps because his children were
now the petitioners?

Also this is the first mention I’ve seen of a school in the Ames
house.

Something else to look for after!

JOHN AMES' PENSION PART3

Image 4 is a handwritten statement from witness
Obadiah Wetherell. All punctuation and abbreviations
are as written in the original:


"I Obadiah Wetherell aged Eighty five years a Revolutionary
pensioner depose and say that I was born and brought up within
about five miles of the witness(?) named John Ames knew him
well when a boy and I know that he enlisted under Capt Parker
in the spring of 1775 and that he served under said Parker and
under Capt Lawrence in Col. Prescotts Regiment the full
term of eight months. I was the orderly Sergeant in Capt
Lawrences’ company and distinctly recollect said Ames and
the circumstances of his enlisting under Capt Parker and that
he and several others were at their request transferred to Capt
Lawrences’ company as within stated; at the expiration of the
eight months I was appointed Ensign and marched with
the army to New York. I was afterwards appointed Lieutenant;
I have no particular knowledge of said Ames remaining
in the service after the expiration of the eight months as
I have no distinct recollection of him after I was appointed
Ensign and entered the years service for 1776-- But I have no
doubt of the truth of his statement that he remained in
the service as he has stated. Obadiah Wetherell

subscribed and sworn to in open court , Sept27, 1832
the (illegible) being a credible witness, Before
Nathan Weston,Jr
Just. S. J. C. "

BLOGGING BRUNCH2

Another midmorning at the keyboard with toast and coffee.


Transcribing John Ames’ Pension File has been fun although I
once again wish I could type faster. But it’s gone faster than I
thought it would. One reason is I am using the split screen method
Randy Seaver talked about over on Genea-Musings. The other
reason is that Nathaniel Weston had good penmanship.Believe me,
that’s a BIG help.


You know all those documents we see with the graceful writing?
Well, they most likely were copied from drafts by clerks and
secretaries who had a “good hand”. Some of the records I dl from
Footnotes take a bit to decipher, and one for a Benjamin Abbott is
well…it’s impossible to read. The writing looks like some child had
drawn waves across the page. It took me several times before I
realized that it’s not about Benjamin Abbott but about a Joshua
Sargent of Lyndsborough,N.H. I can make out John Abbott’s
name and references to the Battle of White Plains and then a Lt.
Benjamin Abbott. I’ve tabled that one for now until I finish with
John Ames and Asa Barrows.


Another thing that I’ve noticed is how much they tried to cram
onto one page. Yankee frugality, perhaps? Waste not, want not!
At any rate the writing gets smaller and the lines closer together
as the end of the pages draw near. The next image I’m working on
is from Obadiah Wetherell, and it appears the image after that is
of the backside of his statement, where the various entries go all
about the middle of the page picture frame style. That’s going to
be fun to transcribe!


I find myself stopping to check out the names mentioned in
John’s statement, first over at J.L. Bell’s Boston 1775, then at
Chris Dunham’s Maine Genealogy and Oxford County Genealogy
Notebook sites, and finally by Googling the names. John’s
statement and what I’ve found will give me more to post about
after I’m done with the transcriptions. I’d like to finish these
before my nephew’s wedding a week from this Saturday where
I’ll have a chance to talk with my Aunt Dorothy.


Good thing I’m on vacation this week. It’s hard to stop working
on this.


Guess I am a genea-holic!