52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2016 WEEK 19: NATHANIEL DANA OF CAMBRIDGE, MA.

I'd fallen behind on my 52 Ancestors  during and after my recent trip which is the reason behind
the recent flurry of posts. With this one, which concudes the series on my Dana family ancestors,
I'm almost caught up.

Sadly, I haven't found much online as yet for my 6x great grandfather Nathaniel Dana. William Richard
Cutter has very little to say about him:

(IV) Nathaniel, son of Samuel Dana, was born in Cambridge, February 1, 1717, and is said to have died of small-pox. He married Abigail Dean, born June, 1722. Children: Nathaniel, born July 24, 1739, died December 9, 1739; Nathaniel, November 14, 1740; Mary, October 22, 1742, died June 6, 1749; Ephraim, September 26, 1744; Abigail, June 6, 1746; David, September 12, 1748, died December 30, 1754; Calvin, October 27, 1751, died 1776; Joanna, December 13, 1753; Rebecca, November 5, 1755; Samuel, July 5, 1757, died October 17, 1758; Sarah, August 25, 1759; Experience, May 24, 1761;-p1143

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 3 Lewis historical publishing Company, N.Y., N.Y., 1914

 
I hate the phrase "... is said to have (fill in the blank with "died" "married", etc)...". Nathaniel's death
isn't recorded in Cambridge so I haven't a date for it,


Nathaniel Dana had eleven children, four of whom died young. I'm descended from daughter Abigail 
who married Samuel Stowe.

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2016 WEEK 18: SAMUEL DANA OF CAMBRIDGE, MA. AND POMFRET CT.

I haven't had as much luck finding information online about my 7x great grandfather Samuel Dana.
Here's what William Richard Cutter wrote about him in his article about the Dana family:

(III) Samuel, son of Jacob Dana, was born in Cambridge, September 7, 1694, died August 22, 1770. In 1716 he received his father's real estate, under condition that he pay the other children certain sums of money. It consisted of a house and twenty-seven acres in Cambridge and some of the Mashamoquet purchase in Pomfret, Connecticut. He married (first) April 10, 1716, Abigail Gay, who died June 1, 1718. He married (second) January 6, 1719, Susanna Star, who died April 10, 1731. He married (third) December 30, 1731, Mary Sumner, who died April 28, 1770. Child by first wife: Nathaniel, mentioned below. Children by second wife: Susanna, born October 10, 1720; Abigail, July 23, 1722; Elizabeth, April 7, 1725; Eunice, April 16, 1727; Samuel, December 23, 1728; Penelope, March 30, 1731. Children by third wife: Mary, March 24, 1733-34; Hannah, May 28, 1736; Amariah, May 20, 1738; Elijah, September 4, 1740; Josiah, August 22, 1742; Sarah, August 30, 1745-p1143

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 3 Lewis historical publishing Company, N.Y., N.Y., 1914

Two items of significance in that:
-Samuel died in Pomfret, Ct. I've found nothing to tell me when he moved there from Cambridge, Ma. or why he did. But from this time on the Dana family was prominent in both places.

-Samuel's first wife, Abigail Gay, was the daughter of Nathaniel Gay and Lydia Starr. Samuel's second wife, Susanna Starr,  was Abigail's cousin.

I'd hoped to find Samuel's probate file on FamilySearch but there are no Connecticut probate files posted there as of yet.

Samuel's oldest son Nathaniel is my 6x great grandfather.

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2016 WEEK 17: JACOB DANA OF CAMBRIDGE, MA. PT2

8x great grandfather Jacob Dana's probate file is not as much as a "hot mess" as that of my other ancestor Nathaniel Stow Jr. But, as my mother might say sarcastically, it is "a thing of beauty and a joy forever."

First there is the handwriting on some of the court documents which, while not illegible, is a bit of a challenge to decipher.

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.)Case 5848 Image4

Then there are the images with multiple small sips of paper with records of debts on the estate being paid.

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.)Case 5848 Image15

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.)Case 5848 Image16

Finally there is the creative spelling used in the estate inventory:

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.)Case 5848 Image2

"sadel and pilyan" (saddle and pillion)
"brass and putter and iren weare" (brass and pewter and iron ware)
"one trundell beed and beeding" (one trundle bed and bedding)

Transcribing this one will be a piece of cake though, compared to Nathaniel Stow Jr.'s file!
  

   

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2016 WEEK 17: JACOB DANA OF CAMBRIDGE, MA. PT1

Continuing on with my Dana family ancestors...

My 8x great grandfather Jacob Dana was the eldest living son of Richard and Ann (Bullard) Dana. Here's what William Richard Cutter wrote about him:

(II) Jacob, son of Richard Dana, was born in Cambridge, December 2, 1654. died December, 1698. In the division of his father's estate, he received "the dwelling house and half the barn, with all the appurtenances, as one single share, or half his double portion"; "one-third of all the land near the house," consisting of about five acres; "4 acres on the south pitch of the hill bounded by John McKeen north and west, Thomas Chaney south, and Daniel Dana east, and the remainder of his third part of the upland lying by the roadway, etc., subject to rights of his mother and the payment of three pounds annually to her." He married, probably in 1678, Patience ____, who was buried June 3, 1712. He died in 1698, and his widow was appointed administratrix, January 23, 1698-99, the inventory being dated December, 1698-99. Children: Jacob, born October 12, 1679, died young; Elizabeth; Hannah, October 25, 1685; Experience, November 1, 1687; Patience, Samuel, mentioned below; Abigail; Jacob, 1698. p1143


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 3 Lewis historical publishing Company, N.Y., N.Y., 1914

Some family genealogies say that Jacob's wife was Patience Sabin of Rehoboth, Ma. but I haven't found any marriage record either in Rehoboth or Cambridge. Given that the two towns are in different counties and regions of Massachusetts, (Rehoboth is in Bristol County, southwest of Boston near the Rhode Island border.) I don't think it's likely she was a Sabin.

I'll discuss Jacob's probate file in Part 2.

To be continued.

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2016 WEEK 16:RICHARD DANA OF CAMBRIDGE, MA. PT2

My 9x great grandfather Richard Dana died intestate but his surviving children reached an amiable agreement among themselves as to how the estate should be divided. While it's quite legible the document presents me with a challenge of a different sort.
Here's the backside of the agreement:

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.)Case 5859-3

 As you can see, it appears that someone taped two pages into one long piece. But since tape of this sort didn't exist in the 17th century, it's more likely it was one long piece to begin with and at some point had to be repaired with tape to hold it together. There's also some water damage.

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.)Case 5859-4

This is a problem (albeit a minor one) for three reasons. The first is in the middle where the two pages aren't quite lined up properly so some letters in words along that vertical crease are harder to make out.

Secondly, most of the words in the horizontal crease are obscured by the tape and a few have been damaged by the water.

Thirdly, the document is so large whoever scanned it couldn't get it all in one image so the top part of the second image is the bottom part of the first. It took me a few minutes to realize that when I first read the agreement.

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.)Case 5859-5

So I haven't finished transcribing this yet.

But at least there isn't any superscript!

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2016 WEEK 16:RICHARD DANA OF CAMBRIDGE, MA.

My 5x great grandfather Samuel Stow's wife was Abigail Dana, a member of  a distinguished Middlesex County, Ma. family. Her immigrant ancestor was Richard Dana, my 9x great grandfather. William Richard Cutter wrote this short biography:

(I) Richard Dana, the immigrant ancestor, is thought to be the ancestor of all the Dana families in this country. He came to Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1640, from England, according to tradition, which also says his father was a native of France who went to England because of religious persecutions. In some records the date of Richard Dana's birth is given as 1620. In 1652, in the division of Shawsheen, he received twenty acres, and in November, 1661, he was constable. In 1665 he was surveyor of highways, and the same years he was allotted ten acres. In April, 1668, he was tythingman; he also was selectman and grand juror. In December, 1683, he had fifteen acres for services to the town. Most of his land was south of the Charles river, if not all of it, in the part now called Brighton. On April 20, 1656, he deeded fifty-eight acres of land to Edward Jackson. He died April 2, 1690, of injuries received from falling from a scaffold in his barn, and an inquest was called by Lieutenant Governor Thomas Dantorth. The inventory of his estate was dated August 2, 1690, and the estate settled April 16, 1691. He married, probably in 1648, Anne Bullard, of Cambridge, and she died July 15, 1711. He and his wife were members in full communion of the church. Children, born in Cambridge: John, December 15, 1649, died August 12, 1650; Hannah, May 8, 1651; Samuel, August 13, 1653, died 1653; Jacob, mentioned below; Joseph, March 21, 1656; Abiah, March 21, 1656, died October 10, 1668; Benjamin, February 20, 1660; Elizabeth, February 20, 1662; Daniel, March 20, 1663; Deliverance, May 8, 1667; Sarah, January 1, 1669, died January 11, 1669.-p1143

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 3  Lewis historical publishing Company,  N.Y., N.Y., 1914



Richard Dana died intestate but I found his probate file online and I'll discuss that next.

To be continued...

THE DANA DESCENT

Before moving onto the ancestors of my 5x great grandmother Abigail (Dana) Stow, here's a
look at how my family connects back to immigrant ancestor Richard Dana through my grandmother
Cora Berthella Barker. While my line is by way of Richard Dana's son Jacob, another son, Daniel
Dana, is the ancestor of author Richard Henry Dana of Two Years Before The Mast fame.