52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS #15: ANDREW MITCHELL PT2

I learned several new things from analyzing the will and probate record of my 7x
great grandfather Andrew Mitchell:

1. He mentions his wife Abiah in the will. Since I descend from his marriage to
Abigail Atwood I thought at first this was she, but then I realized she had died some
twenty years before Andrew's death. A search of the Early Vital Records of Massachusetts website turned up a marriage of an Andrew Mitchell to the widow Abiah(Norton) Haseltine on 12Apr 1714 in Bradford, Ma. Andrew had a second
wife I hadn't known about!

2. Andrew owned a saw mill, which he bequeathed to four of his sons in this part of his will:

Thirdly, I give and bequeath unto my four sons viz: Andrew & James, William and
John my Saw Mill together with the priviledge of the stream, & all other rights &
priviledges goes to the Same belonging to be equally divided between them. I
also give unto the said four sons the farm which I bought of Joatham Hendricks to
be owbed betwixt them in the following manner viz: Andrew to have Seventy
Acres, James fifty & William & John fortyacres each and if the said farm more then
two hundred acres then the remainder is to be divided in the same proportion &
if it is containing less it is also to be divided in the same proportion, the premises
above mentioned I give to my said four sons & to their heirs & assigns in fee
simple forever.

After Andrew's death the court appointed arbitrators who divided the land up. This
was the share allotted to my 6x great grandfather Andrew Mitchell Jr:

The Second Lot to Andrew Mitchell & His Heirs being about ninety eight acres
be the same more or less bounding as follows with/ viz: beginning at the black
oak tree aforesaid & thence easterly about ninety-six pols to a black oak tree
marked thence northerly across the farme to a Stake & Stone by land of Amos
Baily's thence westerly fower pols to a stump being a  bound of Baily's Land
thence northerly by Baily's Land to a Stump by Spiket Road thence Westerly
about forty eight pols to a Stake & Stone aforesd being a bound of Willm
Mitchels thence Southerly by William Mitchels Lot to the bound first mentioned.

3. I discovered two of Andrew's children I hadn't known about before, William
and Susannah, because of the Will.

Once again, proof of the value of wills and probate files in filling in missing
information about an ancestor!

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS #15: ANDREW MITCHELL PT1

Fellow geneablogger Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small has issued the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. Basically, we have to post something every week
on a different ancestor, whether a story, picture, or research problem. For this prompt
I've tried to concentrate on ancestors I haven't researched as much as I have others in
my family tree. So for Week 15 my subject is Andrew Mitchell. my 7x great grandfather.

What I already know about Andrew is that he was born in Charlestown, Ma. around
1662, the son of Thomas Mitchell and Mary Moulton. He married Abigail Atwood  in
Charlestown on 12 Nov 1686 and they proceeded to have a family of ten children, five
boys and five girls. Their fifth child and oldest son was my 6x great grandfather Andrew
Mitchell, Jr. At some point after the birth of their eighth child in September 1699 they
left Charlestown and moved to the town of Haverhill, Ma. Abigail died there on 12 Dec 1714. Andrew lived on until 25 Nov 1736.

My descent from Andrew Mitchell & Abigail Atwood  to my grandparents is as
follows:

Andrew Mitchell & Abigail Atwood
Andrew Mitchell Jr.& Hannah Ayer
Abigail Mitchell & Jonathan Barker Jr.
Jonathan Barker 3rd & Abigail Swan
Nathaniel Barker & Huldah Hastings
Amos Hasting Barker &  Betsey Jane Moore     Nathaniel Swan Barker & Lucy Coburn
Frank Wesley Barker & Charlotte Lovenia Barker
Cora Berthella Barker& Floyd E West Sr.  

Whenever I have relatives from colonial Charlestown, I look them up in Roger Thompson's excellent book From Deference to Defiance: Charlestown, Massachusetts, 1629-1692 (NEHGS , Boston, Ma. 2012). On p.399 I found a story about how an
Andrew Mitchell had badly beaten his servant Consider Sampson in 1690. The year would fall in the right time period before the Mitchell's left Charlestown so it's
probably my ancestor.

I also was able to find Andrew's Will & Probate file over on the FamilySearch. I'll discuss the provisions in the next post, but the file also contained an interesting

statement from Joshua Bayley, who was Andrew Mitchell's doctor in his final illness:

 
Honrd Sr I had the care of old Mr. Micthel the whole time of his last illness- at ye first
visit I judged his distemper would prove mortall & on ye Saturdy night when his will
was made I was sent for in haste & was informed by ye messenger yt it was believed
he would dy before morning, but it being verry stormy & late in ye night I could not
go, knowing yt I could do him no good-at all times when I was with him I tho't him in
his right mind-  I am (worthy sir) ye servt  to command-
Joshua Bayley
Haverll Novye 30th 1736

Dr. Bayley was, it seems, a very pragmatic physician.

To be continued.