MT. PROSPECT CEMETERY, BRIDGEWATER, MA.

I have relatives buried in many of the cemeteries in the three Bridgewaters. I visited one of them, Mt. Prospect Cemetery in Bridgewater, seven years ago in April 2012. It's built on a hillside so I got a workout climbing up the hill but I found quite a few relatives, mostly from the Keith family but a few from the Fobes and Perkins families as well.

Here's a few of them:

MORE ABOUT THE REV. JAMES KEITH HOUSE PT. 2

  Along with the details of the construction of Rev. James Keith's house, Williams Latham also wrote about the history of its ownership:

In the case of the inhabitants of Bridgewater versus the inhabitants of West Bridgewater, reported in the seventh volume of Pickering Reports, page 191, and in the ninth volume of Pickering, page 55, in the years 1828 9, brought for the support of Daniel Keith, a pauper, then aged eighty.one years, a great.grandson of the Rev. James Keith. This pauper, with his father, Daniel Keith, and grandfather, John Keith, son of the Rev. James Keith, lived and died in the plaintiff , town. It became necessary to prove where, in old Bridgewater, minister Keith lived and died; and sundry old people were witnesses of, and sundry depositions of ancient people were then, 1828.9, taken for that purpose, as well as to prove the genealogy of the pauper; and some of said deponants and witnesses well remembered the house, then, 1828, owned and occupied by Aarrabella, daughter of said Amasa Howard, deceased,and widow of Benjamin Eaton, deceased, as far back as 1750, and said it was then, 1750. an ancient looking house, and had always appeared the same as it then, 1828.9, appeared. That case was tried, and before the whole court, twice; and the fact that the Rev. James Keith, lived and died in that house, was then well and satisfactorily established.

The homestead of Rev. James Keith consisted of two house.lots of six acres each, with a ten acre lot at the head of said house lots, and with a house thereon, built by the town, conditionally given by the town to him, in consideration of his future services as their minister, and remained entire until about 1800. And though this house and a portion of the homestead on which it stands, has been owned and occupied by many persons, as tenants in common and otherwise, yet the title to this house and portion of the homestead ns always remained in, and been confined to four persons and their families, to wit;

James Keith and his children, down to 1723,. . . 61 years;
Ephraim Fobes, brother and son, down to 1792, . 69 years;
Amasa Howard and daughters, down to 1834, . . 42 years;
Thomas Pratt and son, George M., down to 1882, . 48 years.
-pp239-240

Epitaphs in Old Bridgewater, Massachusetts: Illustrated with Plans and Views  Henry T.Pratt, Publisher, Bridgewater, Mass. 1882

 Ephraim Fobes is my 8x great granduncle, and Amasa Howard and Thomas Pratt are distant cousins. All are connected to Rev. James Keith by blood and marriage. So for two centuries the Keith House was in the family, albeit different branches,

MORE ABOUT THE REV. JAMES KEITH HOUSE PT.1

I did some more searching on the Keith House in West Bridgewater and hit the jackpot. I found information in of all things a book of epitaphs written by Williams  Latham, including illustrations
of the evolution of the house over its first200 years:

Here is some of what Mr. Latham wrote about the Keith House:


The house was built 1662. It fronted south, was two stories high in front, one story high back side, posts, sixteen feet high, fifteen feet wide in front, thirty.four feet deep, with front entry, five feet wide; chamber stairs and chimney back of front door, in the southeast corner of the house, one front room, about ten by twelve, with a bed-room back of that, and a kitchen, with pantry, back of bed.room and chimney. In the second story was an entry, a front room, and a bed-room corresponding to the rooms below. No cellar under this part of the house. 

In 1678, the house was enlarged by an addition of eighteen by thirty.four feet, to the east side of the house; two stories high in front one story high back side, making one large front room, eighteen by eighteen feet, with a bed.room, back stairs, and an enlargement of the kitchen, in the back part. The rooms in the second story corespond.ing to the front room and bed.room belov;. The back part of the second story of the old and new part of the house remaining unfinished. A cellar under a portion of this new part, with a stone drain across the road to the Town river.

The house remained in this condition, without material alteration for 159 years, from 1678 down to 1837, when Thomas Pratt, father of said George M. Pratt, cut off about fourteen feet of the north side of the house, so as to leave the north side of the same height as the front side of the house, thereby making the south. roof thirteen and one.half feet long, and the north roof only twelve feet long; building a new chimney in the place of the old one, then taken down, but much smaller; and leaving the rooms in the front and middle parts of the house as they were before this amputation. The brick in this old.chimney were much larger than modern brick, and were laid in clay. The shingles upon the walls were taken off, and clapbiards put on in place thereof. This house now (1882) being a two story house, thirty.two feet front, and twenty feet back„with a porch annexed to the back side. The windows upon the three sides of the house being the same ever since the memory of man, except such as were cut off as aforesaid, and except square glass in place of the old diamond glass and bull.s eyes.
The annex or addition of eighteen by thirty.four feet, made in 1678, was quite fully developed and apparent on a personal examination of the inside of the house, a few years ago, by the writer; and the frame.work, timber, doors, materials, and inside construction of lite house exhibit strong marks of antiquity. pp-239-240

Epitaphs in Old Bridgewater, Massachusetts: Illustrated with Plans and Views  Henry T.Pratt, Publisher, Bridgewater, Mass. 1882

There is more information about the court case involving Bridgewater and West Bridgewater, as well as about the ownership of the house. I'll discuss that in Part 2

To be continued...

BRIDGEWATER VS. WEST BRIDGEWATER: THE CASE OF DANIEL KEITH

While researching my ancestor the Reverend James Keith I discovered a courtcase from October 1828 involving a Keith cousin who was a paper and the towns of Bridgewater and West Bridgewater. This is from   Oliver Pickering's Massachusetts Reports: Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts:

The Inhabitants of Bridgewater versus The Inhabitants of West Bridgewater.

Before the town of West Bride water was formed out of a part of the town ol Bridgewater, the great-grandfather of a pauper gained a settlement in Bridgewater by a residence in that part of the town which is now West Bridgewater; the pauper, his father, and grandfather, resided in that part of the town which is now Bridgewater, and the pauper owned and was taxed for real estate in the part of the town which is now Bridgewater, so that he would have gained a settlement therein if il had been a separate town. By the Si. 1821, c. 82, creating the town of West Bridgewater, it is provided, that 11 all persons who may hereafter become chargeable as paupers to the said towns of Bridgewater and West Bridgewater, shall be considered as belonging to that town on the territory of which they had their settlement at the time of passing this act, and shall in future be chargeable to that town only." Held, that the pauper's settlement was in West Bridgewater.

This was assumpsit for the support of Daniel Keith, a pauper. At the trial of the case, before Morton J., the only question was, whether the settlement of the pauper was in West Bridgewater, all the other facts necessary to the maintaining of the action being admitted.

It appeared from the evidence, that the pauper, his father, and his grandfather, (so far as the memory of the witnesses extended,) always lived on the territory now included in the town of Bridgewater, and that the pauper, previous to the St. 1821, c. 82, establishing the town of West Bridgewater, and when of full age, owned real estate of sufficient value in the territory now Bridgewater, and was taxed for it sufficiently to have gained thereby a settlement therein, in his own right, had either territory been a separate town. But the plaintiffs offered evidence tending to show that the pauper's great-grandfather, James Keith, was settled as minister of Bridgewater in 1664 and resided on that part of the town now West Bridgewater until his death, which happened between 1718 and 1720. The plaintiffs contended, that if the jury were satisfied of these facts in relation to James Keith, he thereby acquired a settlement in that part of the town now West Bridgewater, and that consequently, by virtue of the above statute of 1821, c. 82, the pauper's settlement was in West Bridgewater. 

The defendants, on the other hand, contended that by the statute the legal settlement of the pauper was in what is now Bridgewater. They also contended that James Keith could not, by reason of his being minister of Bridgewater, and his The defendants, on the other hand, contended that by the statute the legal settlement of the pauper was in what is now Bridgewater. They also contended that James Keith could not, by reason of his being minister of Bridgewater, and his residence as above mentioned, have acquired a settlement in Bridgewater previous to 1692, and that even on the plaintiffs'' construction of the act of 1821, they were bound to prove that the pauper's grandfather was under twenty-one years of age at the time when James Keith could have acquired a settlement under the provincial act of 1692.

The judge, in order to reserve the questions of law which had been raised, for the whole Court, instructed the jury, that if they were satisfied that James Keith was minister of Bridgewater, and resided in that part of the town which is now West Bridgewater, they should find a verdict for the plaintiffs. The jury accordingly found a verdict for the plaintiffs; which was to be set aside and a new trial granted, or judgment was to be entered thereon, according to the opinion of the Court. -pp55-56

Massachusetts Reports: Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Volume 26  Little, Brown and Company, Boston, Ma. 1864

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2019 WEEK 10: JOSEPH KEITH OF BRIDGEWATER, MA..

7x great grandfather James Keith was one of the leading citizens of Bridgewater, Ma. and judging by the value of his estate, a prosperous one.  Here's his brief biography in Nahum Mitchell's history of Bridgewater:  

3. Joseph (s. of James 1) m. Elizabeth, D. of Dea. Edward Fobes, and had Anna 1695, Susanna 1697, Joseph 1699, Jemima 1701, Eleazar 1703, Abigail 1705, Ephraim 1707, Ichabob 1709, Martha 1711, Mary 1713, Elizabeth 1715; his will 1730; her's 1757; she made Constant Southworth her ex'or. Anna m. Capt. Ebenezer Alden 1717.—Susanna m. Jonathan Cary 1717, and d. young.—Jemima m. Dea. James Packard 1722.— Eleazar m. Keziah, -D. of Henry Kingman, 1726, settled in Easton, and had Lemuel, Seth, and perhaps other children.— Abigail m. Robert Howard 1725.—Martha m. Constant Southworth 1734.—Ichabod left a wid. Lydia, but no children.—She m. a Dr. Jones of Abington for her 2d husband.—Mary m. Jonathan Kingman 1732.—Eliz. m. Samuel Lathrop 1731. He was ex'or. of his father's will, and had his homestead, and was Representative 1726.-p214


History of the Early Settlement of Bridgewater in Plymouth County, Massachusetts,  Henry T. Platt, Printer Bridgewater, Ma 1897


I have found his probate file and will transcribe it.

THE WILL OF REV. JAMES KEITH OF BRIDGEWATER, MA.

I've finally gotten around to transcribing the will of my 8x great grandfather the Reverend James Keith of Bridgewater, Ma. As I said in a previos post it is neatly written and this made transcribing it easier that has been the case with the wills of other ancestors. There are only two words I could not figure out at all and these are shown by (unknown word). A few others have (?) after them which means I guessed at the word.

The three witnesses are my 7x great grandfather Edward Fobes and his sons Ephraim and Benjamin.


I James Keith minister of the town of Bridgwarer in the County of Plimouth in New England being through gods goodness intire in my understanding & memory, but expecting my departure, and relying on the mercyof god in Christ for eternal life, do make my last will & testament with respect
to my outward estate, in manner &form as followeth.

Imprimis I appoint my executors mentioned upon this my will to receive all that may appear to be due to me & to pay all my just debts & to discharge my funeral expenses.

Besides what I have already given to my children, I do further give & bequeath to my five sons James Keith, Joseph Keith, Samuel Keith, Timothy Keith, John Keith, & my two daughters Margret Hunt & Mary Howard the produce (?) of my home being (?) housing and lands consisting of two & twenty acres, be it more or less, when said housing & lands are sold, & I do hereby appoint my executors, or such as they shall import(?) to make sale of said housing & lands in time convenient & the produce thereof to be equally divided among my said five sons and two daughters above mentioned to them, their heirs, or Asignes.

I give & bequeath to my son James Keith my best (nknown word) & (unknown word) my brown cloak, my boots, my best hat & best shirt to him, his heirs or Asignes. All the rest of my wearing apparelI give to my four sons Joseph Keith, Samuel Keith, Timothy Keith, John Keith to be equally among them, to them, their heirs or Asignes.

I give to my son Josiah Keith ten pounds to be paid to him his heirs or Asignes by my executors or such they shall appoint.

All the rest of my effects which shall be leftat my decease for that which is and by content to my loving wife Mary & what else(?) I am now posest of I may have occasion to dispose of before my departure & leave to my five sons James Keith, Joseph Keith, Samuel Keith, Timothy Keith, John Keith, & my two daughters Mqrgaret Hunt & Mary Haward to be equally divided among them, to them, their heirs or Asignes.

I do appoint my two sons James Keith & Joseph Keith to be joynt executors of this my will, which I declare to be last will & testament this thirteenth day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand  seven hundred & eighteen & in the fourth year of the reign of our gracious sovereign King George.
James Keith

Signed & sealed & declared
to be his last will & testament
in the presence of us
Edward Fobes
Ephraim Fobes
Benjamin Fobes

COTTON MATHER EULOGIZES MY ANCESTOR JAMES KEITH

((First posted in 2011))

I've written here before about my 8x great grandfather the Reverend
James Keith of Bridgewater, Plymouth, Ma. Apparently he was a
friend and colleague of the famous Cotton Mather, who gave this sermon
on the occasion of my ancestor's death. I found it in a free Google
edition of "New-England historical and genealogical register, Volume 
19, page 245:

EXTRACTS FROM SERMONS BY COTTON MATHER.

On The Death or Rev. James Keith, From The Text

"O Man GREATLY BELOVED."*

*' Alas, The Angel of the Church of BRIDGWATER has this Last Week

heard that Voice from Heaven unto him, Come up hither! And he's flown!

A Desirable Man, if any among us were worthy to be Esteemed so !

Yea, you now know, whom I had in my Eye, while I was describing, A

Man Greatly Beloved: It was HE who Satt, for my Pencil to take the

Features from him! The Desireable and very Venerable JAMES KEITH,

who Preached his First Sermon in the Place where I am now* Standing,

more then Fifty Years ago, and sweetly Entertained - us again a Few

Months ago, is this Last Week Expired: That Silver Trumpet has done

Sounding. And it were a Fault in me, if I should not in this Place take

Notice of a Man who had so much of GOD in Him, and who deserves

so much to be had in Everlasting Remembrance." .... "Discharging

both Publickly and Privately, the Work of his Ministry, even to the Last,

and for Seven Years after he had passed thro' a Jubilee." ....

"He was the First Pastor of Bridgwater;" .... "'Twas then a Sett of Pious

and Praying People: A Town that stood in a Land of Unwalled ' Villages,

when there were Armies of Bloody Indians, destroying round about them,

not very long after their KEITH was come to be, their Decus ae Tutamen;

a Glory and a Defence unto them. It was Remarkable that tho' the Town

was often Assaulted by formidable Troops of Salvages, yet in all the sharp

Assaults it never lost so much as one of its Inhabitants. They wanted not

for Solicitations to desert their Dwellings; But having a KEITH to animate

them, they Resolved, that they would keep their Stations; and Stand still

to see the Salvation of God. Once the Indians began to Fire the Town;

but, they had a KEITH, with his Faith, to Turn to Flight the Armies of the

Aliens. The People with a noble Courage issued forth from their Garrisons,

to Fight the Enemy. But God at the same time Fought for them, with a

Storm of Thunder and Lightning and Rain, whereby a considerable part

of their Houses were preserved. 0 Man Greatly Beloved! Of whom it

might be said Cui Militat Aether!—After that Memorable Time, the Town

went on, Prospering and Flourishing under the Care of their Faithful

Shepherd; until anon they became Two Bands; Their Pastor did

generously Approve and Assist, the Peaceable Swarming of a New

Assembly from him; and on the Day when they First Met in their New

Edifice, he preached unto them, that Savoury Sermon, which was

afterwards Published under the Title of, A Case of Prayer, handled

on a Day of Prayer. A Sermon worthy to be their Perpetual Monitor.

And, which Two Years before his Death, he Concludes with minding them,

This Exhortation is given you, by your Aged Pastor, who hath served

you in the Gospel now full Fifty-Four years, and I hope, by the Grace

of God in some measure of Sincerity, tho' attended with much Weakness,

great Infirmities, and manifold Temptations."

TRACKING DOWN JAMES KEITH

In 2012 on the 344th anniversary of my 8x great grandparents Rev,
James Keith and Susanna Edson of West Bridgewater, Ma,  I
decided to celebrate by finally tracking down the location of
their tomb. Imagine how chagrined I was to find I'd visited the
Old Burying Ground in West Bridgewater the previous year and hadn't
found it there back then!  So I was bound and determined to
locate iton this visit.

When I arrived at the cemetery on South St there was some
roadwork being done and I had to drive past it, then turn
around and drive back to find a safe parking spot on that side
of the street. Then I walked back to where there was an entrance
through the stone wall. From pictures I'd seen online I thought
the grave would be a large vault which is probably why I
missed it on my first visit.(That, and the fact that there is no
sign with the name "Old Burial Ground"  there which on my
first visit made me think I had gone to the wrong location. Duh!)
Since then I've seen many family tombs which are under small
mounds so I knew better what to look for this time around.
 
And there it was, at the front of the cemetery behind the stone
wall, right next to the street. I'd have seen it earlier if the
view hadn't been blocked by the construction truck.

The inscriptions read:



Here lies the                                          Here lies the
body of the Rev.                                     body of Mrs          
Mr. James Keith                                    Susanna Keith
Died July 23, 1719                               Died Oct. 16 1705
Aged 76 years                                        Aged 65 years

                                  Mr. James Keith  
                       First Minister in Bridgewater
                    Educated in Aberdeen Scotland
                   and laboured in the Ministry in this
                                       town 56 years

Just to the left of the Keiths' tomb is the one belonging to Susanna's
parents(and my 9xgreat grandparents) Samuel Edson and  Susannah
Orcutt(?).

So, mission accomplished!

A GENEALOGY ROADTRIP FROM 2010

((This was first posted back in August 2010> I found the graves a bit later and will repost
that story next. I  also have found some new information about the house which I will write a 
new post about.))

Now that I'm in better shape and the same true for Ping the Wondercar,
I decided to try to get out of the apartment more on my days off and do
some genealogy legwork. Today's inaugural adventure was a trip down
to West Bridgewater to try to find some of my ancestors' final resting
places. I'd made a unsuccessful try at this last Thursday but had left the
Googlemaps I'd printed out at home but this week I brought them with
me and set out optimistically.

After a short stop at CVS in Whitman to get some prescriptions filled
I continued down Rte 18 to East Bridgewater and then cut across to Rte
106 in West Bridgewater. I turned left on Howard St, drove past the
West Bridgewater Historical Society building, and then turned right onto
River St. According to the directions, the parsonage of my ancestor
Reverend James Keith should have been a little ways down on the right
but I drove to the end of River St without spotting it. A quick turnaround
in a driveway and I went back down the way I'd come, and there now on
my left, was the building. 

 

I pulled over to the side of the road and took a picture with my digital
camera(which once more insists it's October). It was a beautiful, warm
afternoon. The parsonage seems to sit in the middle of farm property,
with a barn on the left and a field with cows seeking shade under some
trees to the right. Across the street, on the other side of my car, a flock
of Canadian geese were foraging along the banks of a small river. Except
for the occasional car passing by on the blacktop road, it could have been
a typical summer day from Rev. Keith's time in the 17th century.

The building was closed so I resolved to find out when it might be open
and come back to see the inside. Then I drove on down River St, crossed
the bridge by the Canoe Club and continued on until I came to the Alden
Cemetery on my left. I parked across the street on Cross St and walked
over to the graveyard.

I was dismayed by what I found. While most of the markers are upright
and intact, some of them are beginning to lean over or sink into the grass.
And with the exception of perhaps fifteen or twenty markers, most are
unreadable. Inscriptions have worn away from the weather or obscured
by fungus. The stonewall at the front is so close to the first row of
markers that it surely must run over the graves themselves.The grounds
were obviously cared for and the grass mowed, but I had to wonder how
long  it would be before all the gravemarkers were unreadable and Alden
Cemetery was no longer cared for.

I have no ancestors at Alden Cemetery(that I know of, anyway) and I'd
intended to try to find the graves of Reverend Keith and  Deacon Samuel
Edson but it was already late afternoon and I knew the traffic on Rte 18
would be getting heavy. So I decided to call it a day and return to find
them another day.

So ended my first genealogy daytrip of the year.

NEATNESS COUNTS

 ((This was originally written in February 2015, during the winter we called Snowmageddon))


It's been a somewhat exciting month of February here in New England  weatherwise
as we're setting all sorts of regional records for snowfall. Since road trips and Find A
Grave activities are not possible for awhile I've been keeping myself busy working on
my family tree and uploading photos I already had taken to Find A Grave.  I've also
been looking for more family documents  on Americanancestors.org and FamilySearch,
and last night I found a pair of wills belonging to my ancestors James and Joseph Keith.

James Keith is my 8x great grandfather, He was born in Scotland, attended the University
of Aberdeen, and came to Massachusetts around 1662, becoming the first minister at
Bridgewater, Ma.  He married Susannah Edson, the daughter of his deacon. I'm descended
from them through their son, Joseph. Last night I found the Probate Files for both James and
Joseph in the Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Estate Files, 1686-1915 collection on
FamilySearch I've got to say both wills are probably the most legibly written I've found so far
for my ancestors from that era of colonial history.

Here's James' will. Looking at the signature and comparing it to the body of the document
it is obviously the same handwriting. it's very neat, and the lines across the page mostly straight. 

Joseph married Elizabeth Forbes and had a very large family. One of their children was
Jemima Keith, my 6x great grandmother, who married James Packard. Joseph Keith was a
farmer, soldier, and a town Representative to the colonial government. The signature to
his will is different handwriting from the will itself so someone else wrote it for him.
Still, it's neat and readable, and on the second page Joseph leaves Jemima one sixth
of the fifty acres he was dividing up among his children.   

I'm very grateful to grandfather James and to whoever wrote Joseph's will because when
trying to read the writing on colonial documents a legible hand makes my life easier.

In handwriting, neatness counts!

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2019 WEEK 9: REV. JAMES KEITH OF BRIDGEWATER, MA..

My 8x great grandfather the Reverend James Keith is one of my ancestors who, while not a major figure in New England history in general, is of some note in history of this part of Massschusetts. He was a protege of Increase Mather who recommended him for the first church position in Bridgewater, Ma.

Here's what Nahum Mitchell wrote about him in History of the Early Settlement of Bridgewater in Plymouth County, Massachusetts:

KEITH.—Rev. James Keith, a Scotchman, was the first Minister of Bridgewater; was educated at Aberdeen, in Scotland; came over 1662, at about 18 years of age; ordained Feb. 1664; m. Susanna, D. of his deacon, Samuel Edson, and had James, Joseph, Samuel, Timothy, John, Josiah, Margaret, Mary, Susanna. He m. a 2d wife, Mary, wid. of Thomas Williams of Taunton, 1707; d. July 23, 1719, as. 76.—Margaret m. a Hunt. —Mary m. Ephraim Howard.—Susanna m. Maj. Jonathan Howard, and d. young without children. It is said that his first sermon was delivered from a rock in Mill Pasture, so called, near the river.-p214

History of the Early Settlement of Bridgewater in Plymouth County, Massachusetts,  Henry T. Platt, Printer Bridgewater, Ma 1897


I'm descended from James' son Joseph Keith.

I've written earlier postd about Reverend Keith and will now be reposting them.

MY PACKARD LINE

Starting next week in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks series I'll be writing about  the family of my 4x great grandmother Cynthia (Packard)Dunham, wife of James Thomas Dunham. Cynthia is one of my ancestors who has relatives from both Plymouth and Essex Counties. On her father Reuben Packard's side she is descended from some of the founders of all three Bridgewater towns:Bridgewater, East Bridgewater, and West Bridgewater. These are towns only about ten miles away from where I live. In fact, I graduated from Bridgewater State College nearly fifty years ago.

On her mother Anne Perkins' side she is descended from prominent citizens of Ipswich, Beverley, and Salem.

Here's Cynthia's Packard line

The associated families are Edson, Fobes, Hayward, Howard,  and Keith who arrived in Massachusetts after the Great Migration so the line isn't as long as some of my other families.















I'll discuss the Perkins line in the next post.

NEATNESS COUNTS

It's been a somewhat exciting month of February here in New England  weatherwise
as we're setting all sorts of regional records for snowfall. Since road trips and Find A
Grave activities are not possible for awhile I've been keeping myself busy working on
my family tree and uploading photos I already had taken to Find A Grave.  I've also
been looking for more family documents  on Americanancestors.org and FamilySearch,
and last night I found a pair of wills belonging to my ancestors James and Joseph Keith.

James Keith is my 8x great grandfather, He was born in Scotland, attended the University
of Aberdeen, and came to Massachusetts around 1662, becoming the first minister at
Bridgewater, Ma.  He married Susannah Edson, the daughter of his deacon. I'm descended
from them through their son, Joseph. Last night I found the Probate Files for both James and
Joseph in the Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Estate Files, 1686-1915 collection on
FamilySearch I've got to say both wills are probably the most legibly written I've found so far
for my ancestors from that era of colonial history.

Here's James' will. Looking at the signature and comparing it to the body of the document
it is obviously the same handwriting. it's very neat, and the lines across the page mostly straight. 

Joseph married Elizabeth Forbes and had a very large family. One of their children was
Jemima Keith, my 6x great grandmother, who married James Packard. Joseph Keith was a
farmer, soldier, and a town Representative to the colonial government. The signature to
his will is different handwriting from the will itself so someone else wrote it for him.
Still, it's neat and readable, and on the second page Joseph leaves Jemima one sixth
of the fifty acres he was dividing up among his children.   

I'm very grateful to grandfather James and to whoever wrote Joseph's will because when
trying to read the writing on colonial documents a legible hand makes my life easier.
In handwriting, neatness counts!

HAPPY 344TH ANNIVERSARY JAMES KEITH AND SUSANNA EDSON

 
Today is the 344th anniversary of my 8x great grandparents Rev,
James Keith and  Susanna Edson  of West Bridgewater, Ma.  I
decided to celebrate by finally tracking down the location of
their tomb. Imagine how chagrined I was to find I'd visited the
Old Burying Ground in West Bridgewater last year and hadn't
found it there back then!  So I was bound and determined to
locate it today.

When I arrived at the cemetery on South St there was some
roadwork being done and I had to drive past it, then turn
around and drive back to find a safe parking spot on that side
of the street. Then I walked back to where there was an entrance
through the stone wall. From pictures I'd seen online I thought
the grave would be a large vault which is probably why I
missed it on my first visit.(That, and the fact that there is no
sign with the name "Old Burial Ground"  there which on my
first visit made me think I had gone to the wrong location. Duh!)
Since then I've seen many family tombs which are under small
mounds so I knew better what to look for this time around.
 
And there it was, at the front of the cemetery behind the stone
wall, right next to the street. I'd have seen it earlier if the
view hadn't been blocked by the construction truck.

The inscriptions read:



Here lies the                                          Here lies the
body of the Rev.                                     body of Mrs          
Mr. James Keith                                    Susanna Keith
Died July 23, 1719                               Died Oct. 16 1705
Aged 76 years                                        Aged 65 years

                                  Mr. James Keith  
                       First Minister in Bridgewater
                    Educated in Aberdeen Scotland
                   and laboured in the Ministry in this
                                       town 56 years

Just to the left of the Keiths' tomb is the one belonging to Susanna's
parents(and my 9xgreat grandparents) Samuel Edson and  Susannah
Orcutt(?).

So, mission accomplished!
Happy Anniversary, James and Susanna!

I know I wouldn't be here without you!

EDSONS AND PACKARDS AND KEITHS, OH MY!

Deacon Samuel Edson is one of my ancestors from Plymouth County south of
Boston whose descendants emigrated to what was the Maine territory of Massachusetts.
My line goes like this::

Deacon Samuel Edson m.Susan (?)
Susannah Edson m, James Keith
Joseph Keith m Elizabeth Forbes/Fobes
Jemima Keith m. James Packard
Reuben Packard m Anne Perkins
Cynthia Packard m. James T. Dunham/Donham
James T, Dunham m Sally Houghton
Florilla Dunham m, Asa Freeman Ellingwood
Clara Ellingwood m. Philip J West 
Floyd E West Sr m. Cora Berthella Barker
Floyd E West Jr m. Anne M White
Me.

The  Keiths, Edsons, and Forbes families were brought into contact with each
other through Clerical connections. James Keith was the first minister in Bridgewater
and Samuel Edson Was a deacon as was Elizabeth Forbee’ father Edward., His
father ,like Keith, was from Scotland  so It would be an additional bond between
the families. But it turms out that there is a connection between the Fobes/Forbes
family and another of my ancestors, Isaac Allerton..


From the book The Fobes Memorial Library, Oakham, Massachusetts, with 
the addresses at the laying of the corner-stone and at the dedication: by Henry
Parks Wright, (Oakham Memorial Library, Oakham Ma, 1909)  p 95:

"In the Records of the Colony of Plymouth there are two entries regarding John 
Fobes: (1) Vol. Ill, p. 200, June 13, 1660. "In answare unto a request made to 
the Court by the Widdow Vobes requesting some supply of land in respect unto
the conditions of an indenture made betwixt Mr. Isacke Allerton and her husband, 
John Vobes lately deseased, the Court gives liberty that any for her may looke out
some land for her supply and a competency wilbee granted and confirmed unto her."

(2) Vol. IV, p. 18, June 3, 1662. "Captaine Willett is appointed by the Court to 
purchase lands of the Indians, which is granted unto such that were servants and 
others that are ancient freemen," etc. "Their names are as followeth:" (Here are 
given twenty-four names, among which is "John Vobes.")

Mr. Fobes was evidently an "indented servant" to Isacke Allerton; that is, he had 
bound himself to him, in England, as a servant, in order to secure passage for
himself and family to America. Having rendered the service required, he was now 
one of those "that were servants," and to whom land was to be granted. His name 
might still stand in 1662 as  representing the family to which the obligation was still 
due, though he himself had died  in 1660”

Back when I first started genealogy and was still in that dumb name grabbing stage
I became fond of the Forbes line because of  two of John Fobes’ supposed ancestors:
David”Trail The Axe” Forbes and John “With the Black Lip” Forbes. One day I hope
to find out exactly where those nicknames came from, Did David have an exceptionally
heavy axe that he dragged along the ground, and was John someone who didn’t wash
his face as often as he should have?

When I find out, I’ll let you know!.
 ((513 words for The Famiy History Writing Challenge))

COTTON MATHER EULOGIZES MY ANCESTOR JAMES KEITH

I've written here before about my 8x great grandfather the Reverend
James Keith of Bridgewater, Plymouth, Ma. Apparently he was a
friend and colleague of the famous Cotton Mather, who gave this sermon
on the occasion of my ancestor's death. I found it in a free Google
edition of "New-England historical and genealogical register, Volume 
19, page 245:

EXTRACTS FROM SERMONS BY COTTON MATHER.

On The Death or Rev. James Keith, From The Text

"O Man GREATLY BELOVED."*

*' Alas, The Angel of the Church of BRIDGWATER has this Last Week

heard that Voice from Heaven unto him, Come up hither! And he's flown!

A Desirable Man, if any among us were worthy to be Esteemed so !

Yea, you now know, whom I had in my Eye, while I was describing, A

Man Greatly Beloved: It was HE who Satt, for my Pencil to take the

Features from him! The Desireable and very Venerable JAMES KEITH,

who Preached his First Sermon in the Place where I am now* Standing,

more then Fifty Years ago, and sweetly Entertained - us again a Few

Months ago, is this Last Week Expired: That Silver Trumpet has done

Sounding. And it were a Fault in me, if I should not in this Place take

Notice of a Man who had so much of GOD in Him, and who deserves

so much to be had in Everlasting Remembrance." .... "Discharging

both Publickly and Privately, the Work of his Ministry, even to the Last,

and for Seven Years after he had passed thro' a Jubilee." ....

"He was the First Pastor of Bridgwater;" .... "'Twas then a Sett of Pious

and Praying People: A Town that stood in a Land of Unwalled ' Villages,

when there were Armies of Bloody Indians, destroying round about them,

not very long after their KEITH was come to be, their Decus ae Tutamen;

a Glory and a Defence unto them. It was Remarkable that tho' the Town

was often Assaulted by formidable Troops of Salvages, yet in all the sharp

Assaults it never lost so much as one of its Inhabitants. They wanted not

for Solicitations to desert their Dwellings; But having a KEITH to animate

them, they Resolved, that they would keep their Stations; and Stand still

to see the Salvation of God. Once the Indians began to Fire the Town;

but, they had a KEITH, with his Faith, to Turn to Flight the Armies of the

Aliens. The People with a noble Courage issued forth from their Garrisons,

to Fight the Enemy. But God at the same time Fought for them, with a

Storm of Thunder and Lightning and Rain, whereby a considerable part

of their Houses were preserved. 0 Man Greatly Beloved! Of whom it

might be said Cui Militat Aether!—After that Memorable Time, the Town

went on, Prospering and Flourishing under the Care of their Faithful

Shepherd; until anon they became Two Bands; Their Pastor did

generously Approve and Assist, the Peaceable Swarming of a New

Assembly from him; and on the Day when they First Met in their New

Edifice, he preached unto them, that Savoury Sermon, which was

afterwards Published under the Title of, A Case of Prayer, handled

on a Day of Prayer. A Sermon worthy to be their Perpetual Monitor.

And, which Two Years before his Death, he Concludes with minding them,

This Exhortation is given you, by your Aged Pastor, who hath served

you in the Gospel now full Fifty-Four years, and I hope, by the Grace

of God in some measure of Sincerity, tho' attended with much Weakness,

great Infirmities, and manifold Temptations."