52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2016 WEEK 33: ABEL MOORE OF BOLTON, MA.

My 5x  great grandfather Abel Moore is one of my "mystery man" ancestors.  He's not listed in Ethel Stanwood Bolton's article SOME DESCENDANTS OF JOHN MOORE OF SUDBURY, MASS, as one of John Moore IV and Susannah (Willard) Moore's children. Luckily there is a record of his birth to them in the Bolton, Ma. vital records on the Early Vital Records of Massachusetts website,

So what I do know is this:Abel Moore was born in Bolton, Ma. on 17 Feb 1743 and was the youngest child in his family. He married Betty Whitcomb, likewise in Bolton, on 11 Jan 1764. I found records for three children all born in Bolton:
Abel 11Jan 1768.
Eunice 6Apr 1772
Stephen 11Mar 1777

Stephen, the youngest, is my 4x great grandfather.

Abel Moore died on 1 Apr 1777, which prompted me to check to see if he had died during the Revolutionary War.I found this entry in the ebook edition of Massachusetts soldiers and sailors of the revolutionary war. A compilation from the archives (Volume 10) online:

Moor, Abel, Bolton (also given Lancaster). Private, Capt. Benjamin Hastings's co.,
Col. Asa Whitcomb's regt.; muster roll dated Aug. 1, 1775; enlisted April 27,
1775; service, 3 mos. 12 days; also, company return dated Oct. 6, 1775; also,
return of men raised to serve in the Continental Army from Capt. Jonathan
Houghton's CO., as returned to Col. Josiah Whetney ; residence, Bolton; engaged
for town of Bolton; joined Capt. King's co.. Col. Marshal's regt.; term, 3 years;
also. Private, 1st co.. Col. Thomas Marshall's regt. ; Continental Army pay
accounts for service from Jan. 1, 1777, to April 1, 1777; residence, Lancaster;
reported died April 1, 1777; also, Capt. Samuel King's (2d) co.. Col. Marshall's
regt. ; subsistence allowed from date of enlistment, Dec. 26, 1776, to Feb. 21,
1777 ; credited with 57 days allowance ; subsistence also allowed for 11 days travel
on march from Boston to Bennington.-p140


He left no probate file. I'd thought there would at least be a document regarding guardianship of his three young children but I haven't found one as yet.

MORE ABOUT THE MOORES, PT2: THE WHITCOMBS

Continuing a look at the newly discovered branches on my maternal grandmother's family tree...

Last post I talked about the ancestors Stephen Moore's father Abel Moore. I was also able to trace
the ancestors of his father Betty Whitcomb. Here's a relationship chart from the earliest Whitcomb
immigrant, who died in Lancaster, Ma. on 24Sep 1662:

New families added to my tree include Hayward from Concord, and Waters and White from the
Lancaster/Bolton Ma. area. All of them have connections to the ancestors I already had from
Lancaster on my grandfather's side of the family.

There's some interesting family stories that I'll be talking about in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
blogposts.

To be continued...

LOOKING FOR MORE ABOUT MOORE PT3

Here's a quick update on where the Moore research is leading me at the moment:

-As I said in the last post, Abel Moor/Moore's parents were John and Susannah Moore/Moor. I've
since discovered that Susannah's maiden name was Willard, and that she was the daughter of my 8x
great grandfather Henry Willard by his second wife Dorcas (Cutler?). Henry's son Joseph Willard (whose mother was Mary Larkin) is my Dad's paternal ancestor, while Susannah is on the maternal
side.

-Abel Moor/Moore died a month after Stephen's birth.

- Abel's wife Betty Whetcomb/Whitcomb is decended from immigrant ancestor John Whitcomb and is also descended from Peregine White of the Mayflower.

-There's also probably another cousin connection between Dad's parents in the Moore family. On his paternal side he has Meriah (Moore) Houghton who was born in Lancaster to Jonathan Moore
and Hannah Sawyer. I'm trying to determine if she was an aunt or cousin of Abel Moore.

There will be more Moore blogposts to follow as I discover more.

To be continued...

LOOKING FOR MORE ABOUT MOORE PT2

Another example why it pays to have a geneablog:

Thursday night I blogged about my Stephan Moore and Millie Davis brickwall. Friday morning
when I checked my email I found this comment from Elizabeth Handler about my post:

Bill, Look closely at all the birthplaces on this 1850 census page. Me is for Maine and MaSs is for Massachusetts. Stephen and Millie were born in MaSs. (I've had the same question about an ancestral line which is why I'm attuned to this Maine-Mass handwriting issue.)

There is a Stephen Moor born 11 March 1777 in Bolton, Mass. to Abel and Betty Moor (Ancestry.com Mass Town & Vital Records), and Bolton is next to Stow. I look forward to seeing if this helps you break down this brick wall.

I took another look at the 1850 Census image I'd posted. Sure enough, I misread the image. I should have had my reading glasses on.

Elizabeth's information that the parents of the Stephen Moor she'd found on Ancestry were named
Abel and Betty Moor was exciting because of the list of Stephen and Millie(Davis)Moor's
children in the History of Waterford:

Children:

Abel, m. Sophia Brigham.

Davis, drowned when young; 1817.

Hilton, married in Massachusetts, name not known to us.

Luke, m. Polly Atherton.

Cyrus, m. Hannah Upton.

Rufus, m. Eunice Barker.

Betsey.

Jane.

-P274
-The History of Waterford: Oxford County, Maine   Hoyt, Fogg & Donham, Portland, Me 1879

Two of Stephen's children were named Abel and Betsey (close enough to Betty) who were probably
named after his parents. I believe this is borne out by another son who was named Davis after Millie's
maiden name.

I looked at FamilySearch to see what records I might find.


I searched for Abel Moor and first found a record of the birth of an "Abell Moor" to John and
Susannah Moor on 17 February 1743 in Bolton, Ma. ( Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915). I was unable to find a death record. But there was also a link to a Find A Grave 
memorial by a Diane D. which showed a gravestone in the Old South Burial Ground in Bolton for Abel with a death date of 1 April 1777 and which listed him as a Private in the Continental Line. It also gave his wife's name as Betty Whetcomb, a misspelling of Whitcomb.

And that's as far as I've gotten tonight. Thanks, Elizabeth Pyle Handler for that tip!

To be continued.