52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2015 WEEK 46: JONATHAN BARRETT OF CHELMSFORD, MA.

I have had about the same amount of luck finding anything online for my 7x great grandfather
Jonathan Barrett as I did finding anything for his father John. Neither seems to have left a
will and there are no probate files for them on AmericanAncestors.org. Perhaps I'll find more
when I search for land records.

Meanwhile, here's William Richard Cutters brief biographical sletch of Jonathan Barrett:

(III) Jonathan, son of Lieutenant John Barrett, was born in Braintree, Massachusetts. He married (first) Sarah, born in Chelmsford, October 28, 1653, died January 11, 1695, daughter of Isaac and Mary (Stearns) Learned, as shown by a deed to J. Burge in 1686. He married (second) June 26, 1696, in Woburn, Massachusetts, Abigail Weston, who died October 19, 1706. He married (third) about 1708, Abigail (Wilson) Hildreth, widow of Joseph Hildreth. She was born in Woburn, August 8, 1666, daughter of John Wilson and sister of Lieutenant John Wilson, of Billerica. By her first husband she was ancestress of Richard Hildreth, the historian. Children by first wife: Hannah, married Jonathan Bowers; Mary, born November 20, 1684; Jonathan, October 28, 1687; Deliverance, February 24, 1690; Experience, January 3, 1695, died July 29, 1695. Children by second wife: Rachel, born August 9, 1699; Bridget, April 11, 1702, died September 7, 1702; Benjamin, February 14, 1705. Child by third wife: John, mentioned below.
-p924

New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation, Volume 2 Lewis historical publishing Company,  New York, New York 1913

I'll be discussing the family of Jonathan's first wife Mary Stearns next.

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2015 WEEK 45: JOHN BARRETT OF CHELMSFORD, MA.

My 8x great grandfather John Barrett is the subject of Week 45 in the 2015 52 Ancestors in 52
Weeks Challenge.  I haven't found much about him as yet. I know from what I've found about
his father that John was born in England before emigrating with his parents to Braintree, Ma.
The rest of what I know is from this brief sketch by William Richard Cutter:

(II) Lieutenant John Barrett, son of Thomas Barrett, was a comparatively large proprietor of lands. In 1659 he had a grant of land in Chelmsford, where he settled after his marriage, and he received several grants or divisions of common lands later. He served as tithingman and lieutenant. He was a mill owner. He and his wife Sarah deeded land in 1698 to their son-in-law, Nathaniel Collar. He died May 19, 1706. Children, first two born in Braintree, others in Chelmsford: John; Jonathan, mentioned below; Lydia, born September 22, 1659; Samuel, June 16, 1661; Mary, March 13, 1663; Margaret, November 10, 1667, died February, 1681; Joseph; Sarah, married Ambrose Swallow. p924

New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation, Volume 2 Lewis historical publishing Company,  New York, New York 1913


I haven't been able to find anything else except that some genealogies say his wife's maiden name was Bates.

MARTHA (BARRETT) SPARKS OF CHELMSFORD, MA. PT 3:"...THE SOME OF TWO HUNDRED POUNDS..."

To recap from my last post, Martha (Barrett)Sparks had been in jail in Boston for over a year
in 1692, having been accused of witchcraft. Her husband was off with the militia fighting
Indians, and her two young children were being cared for by her elderly parents. In November 1692
her father, Thomas Barrett Jr., petitioned for her release. A month later he appeared before the Suffolk County Court. Here is the record of what happened there, again from William Waters' History of Chelmsford: 

Thomas Barrett's Recognizance For Martha Sparks'Appearance At Middlesex Court.
Recognizance of Martha Sparks:
"Memorandum
That on the Sixth day of Decembr. 1692 in the ffowerth year of the Reign of our Souerain Lord & Lady William & Mary by the grace of God of England &c; King & Queen Defenders of ye ffaith; Personally Appeared before us James Russell & Samuell Heyman Esqs of their Maiesties Councill & Province of the Massachusets Bay in New England, & Justices of peace within ye Same; Thomas Barrat of Chelmsford in ye County of Middlesex; Mason & Acknowledged himself to be indebted unto our Sd: Lord &. Lady the King & Queen and the survivors of them, their Heires & Successors, in the Some of Two hundred pounds to be leavied on his Goods or Chattells Lands or Tennements for ye use of our said Lord &. Lady ye King &. Queen or Surviver of them if default be made in the performance of the Condition underwritten, viz

The Condition of the above Recognisance is Such yt wheare as Martha Sparks of Chelmsford in the County of Middlesex was committed to Boston Goall being accused & suspected of perpetrating or committing divers Acts of Wichcraft; If therefore ye aforesd. Martha Sparks Shall make her personal! Appearance before the Justices of our sd. Lord & Lady the King & Queen; at the next Court of Assizes Oyer & Terminer & Generall Goall deliuery to be holden for, or within ye County of Middlesex Abouesd. to Answer what Shall be Obiected against her in their Maities. behalfe refering to Witchcraft and to do &. Receiue yt.which by said Court Shall be then and there Inioined her, and not depart without Licence then the abouesaid Recognizance to be void or Elce to abide in ffull fforce &. virtue.
Capt. & Recognit die & diet. Coram.
Ja: Russell
Samuell Hayman"
[Suffolk Clerk of Courts—Early Files—No. 2696.]
-pp575-576
The History of Chelmsford,  printed for the town by Courier-Citizen Company, Lowell, Ma 1917
 
So Thomas Barrett pledged 200 pounds to obtain Martha Sparks' release, which would be forfeit
if she did not appear in court on her trial date. Luckily,it didn't come to that.

Governor Phips returned to England in 1693 and pardoned the remaining witchcraft prisoners before
he left.

As for Martha Sparks her husband Henry died in 1694; she followed him in 1697. I will have to see what
happened to their children.

And that's how, thanks to the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge, there's another "witch" on my family tree!

MARTHA (BARRETT) SPARKS OF CHELMSFORD, MA. PT 2 "...HATH LAYNE IN PRISON IN BOSTON..."

When my 8x great granduncle Thomas Barrett Jr's daughter was accused of witchcraft she
was imprisoned in Boston, it caused hardship for the entire family.  William Waters includes
two documents in his History of Chelmsford, the first of which is this petition Thomas submitted to Governor Phips and the colonial government, asking for Martha's release.       

PETITION OF THOMAS BARRETT.
To his Excy. Sr. William Phips, Knt. Capn Genll, and Governor.
in Cheife of their Majttes Province of the Massachusetts Bay in
New England and to the Honed. Council thereof.
The Humble Petition of Thomas Barrett of Chelmsford in New
England, in behalf of his Daughter Martha Sparkes, wife of
Henry Sparkes who is now a Souldier in their Majties Service att
the Easterne Parts, and soe hath beene for a Considerable Time,
Humbly Showeth

That yor Petitionrs Daughter hath Layne in Prison in Boston for the Space of Twelve months and Five days, being Committed by Thomas Danforth, Esq the Late Depty Governor. upon suspicion of Witchcraft, Since which noe Evidence hath appeared against her in any Such matter, neither hath any Given bond to prosecute her nor doth any one att this day accuse her of any such thing as yor Petitionr knows of. That Yor Petitionr hath ever since kept two of her children—the one of 5 years ye other of 2 years old, 'wch hath been a considerable Trouble and charge to him in his poore & meane Condition; besides yor Petitionr hath a Lame antient & sick wife, who for these 5 yeares & upwards past hath beene soe afflicted: as that shee is altogether rendred uncapable of affording her self any help, wch much augments his Trouble.

Yor Poore Petitionr Earnestly and humbly Intreates Yor E'cy & honrs. to take his distressed condition into yor consideracon, And that you will please to order ye releasemt. of his Daughtr. from her confinemt. Whereby shee may returne home to her poore children to look after them, haveing nothing to pay the charge of her Confinemt.
 And yor Petitionr as in duty bound shall ever pray,
Nov. 1, 1692. &c.
[Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 135, p. 62, doc. 64.]
-pp 574-575
The History of Chelmsford,  printed for the town by Courier-Citizen Company, Lowell, Ma 1917

How did the Governor and his Council respond? I'll discuss that next.

To be continued.

MARTHA (BARRETT) SPARKS OF CHELMSFORD, MA. PT 1

I'm grateful to Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small for starting the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. Taking part in it has helped me find things I hadn't known about some of my ancestors.
Take for example what I found out about my 9x great grandfather Thomas Barrett's granddaughter
Martha (Barrett) Sparks who was among those accused of witchcraft in the "Great Hysteria"     

William Waters tells the story of Martha Sparks in his History of Chelmsford:

There was in Chelmsford one notable instance of accusation of witchcraft. Probably it may be safe to assume that the person referred to by Cotton Mather (see page 69), was Martha Sparks. How much Cotton Mather really knew of the case, it is impossible to say.

Martha was born at Braintree, Sept. 16, 1656, the daughter of Thomas Barrett, son of Thomas. Her father moved to Chelmsford, sometime prior to March, 1660. The two Thomases bought a house and fifty-two acres of land on the south side of Robin's Hill, April 10, 1663. These deaths are recorded: Thomas Barrett, Sr., Oct. 6, 1668. Margreatt, wife of Thomas Barrett, July 8, 1681. Thomas Barrett, Dec. 8, 1702. Fransis, wife of Thomas Barit, May 27, 1694. These were her grand-parents and parents. On July 10, 1676, Martha was married to Henry Sparks of Exeter, N. H. In February of that year he is credited to Chelmsford in the return of a Middlesex Regiment of Militia. He was granted land in Chelmsford. The births of two of their children, Abiell, a daughter, in 1686, and Deliverance, a son, March 8, 1690, are recorded in Chelmsford, as is the death of another son, not named in the record, July 6, 1683.

Henry Sparks died July 16, 1694, and Martha died Feb. 28, 1697. She was confined in Boston Gaol, October 28, 1691, on suspicion of witchcraft. November 1, 1692, her father petitioned the Governor and Council for her release, and on December 6 gave a recognisance for her appearance in Court, and two days afterwards she was set free, no doubt owing to the influential interposition of the Rev. Mr. Clarke, then minister of Chelmsford; that is, assuming this to be the case mentioned by Mather. The case was probably never called in Court. At that time, after the dissolution of the first charter, the Court of Assistants was superseded by the Superior Court of Judicature, and there is no record of such a case being tried by either of these Courts. The Records of the Middlesex County Court for the period when this case might have been called in that Court were burned some time since in a fire in Concord, where they were then kept, but no papers relating to the case are to be found in the Court files of 1692 and 1693.

In the early part of 1693, Governor Phips, being about to leave the country, pardoned all the condemned, and the jails were delivered.-pp573-574

The History of Chelmsford,  printed for the town by Courier-Citizen Company, Lowell, Ma 1917

So I' ve discovered  another relative involved in the witch trials!

I'll post the text of Thomas Barrett's petitions next. 

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2015 WEEK 44: THOMAS BARRETT OF CHELMSFORD, MA.

My 6x great grandfather John Spaulding married Mary Barrett on 6Feb 1705, and it's through
her that I am related to the Stearns and Learned families. Mary's immigrant ancestor was
Thomas Barrett, who William Richard Cutter profiled:

(I) Thomas Barrett, the immigrant ancestor, was made a freeman in 1645. He was one of the thirty-two inhabitants of Braintree, Massachusetts, who received from the general court in 1645 the grant of ten thousand acres of land in Warwick, Rhode Island, which had been confiscated by reason of Gorton's "heresy". This action of the general court was overruled in England, however, before the settlement could be begun, and the original settlers in Warwick retained their land. Thomas Barrett lived in Braintree several years, and purchased land there in 1651 of Michael Saunders and Francis Elliot. Later he settled in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, where he made his will in 1662, naming his wife, his sons John, Thomas and Joseph. He died October 6, 1668, and his widow Margaret died July 8, 1681. Children: John, mentioned below; Thomas, married, in 1665, in Braintree, Frances Woolderson; Mary, married, 1654, Shadrach Thayer; Joseph, married Martha Gould, 1672.-p924

New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation, Volume 2 Lewis historical publishing Company  New York, New York 1913

I was able to find Thomas' probate file at AmericanAncestors.org, and I still haven't deciphered it to attempt a transcription. One problem is it's written on a small piece of paper and the writing is cramped in several spots, but it does mention his son John, who is my 8x great grandfather.  

Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.)1270-2

But before I move onto John Barrett, I want to discuss something else I discovered about the Barrett
family in my next post.