52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2017 WEEK 45: EDWARD PHELPS OF ANDOVER, MA.

The subject for this entry in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is my 9x great grandfather
Edward Phelps. Once again, here's William Richard Cutter:


(II) Edward Phelps, son of Henry Phelps (1), was born in England and came over with his father and brothers, perhaps in the same ship. He settled in Newbury, Massachusetts, near the town of Salem. One account has it that he came from Bolton. England. He took the oath of allegiance and fidelity to the Crown in 1678. Eleanor Tresler, mentioned above, calls him her brother. He married Elizabeth Adams, widow of Robert Adams, of Newbury. His estate was administered by his sons Samuel and Edward, appointed March 31. 1690. He died suddenly October 3, 1689, and his estate was partitioned January 17, 1689-90. Children, born in Newbury: 1. Elizabeth, born 1646, married Joseph Ballard. 2. Samuel, born 1651, mentioned below. 3. John, born December 15.1657. unmarried;killed by the Indians at the survey of Scarborough, Maine, June 29, 1677. 4. Eleanor, born 1660, married William Chandler. 5. Edward, born 1663, married Ruth Andrews. pp887-888

Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts, Volume 2  Lewis historical Publishing Company, 1908, Boston, Ma.


I found Edward's probate file and will be transcribing it soon. 

Looking at the people Edward's children married there are  memebers of the Ballard, Chandler, and Andrews familes who are prominent in the founding of Andover, Ma. His son Samuel (my 8x great grandfather) also married a Chandler.

WHEN GOOD PURITANS GO BAD: HENRY PHELPS PT1

Over the years I've found some of the best stories about my ancestors in the free Googlebooks
editions of the colonial Essex County, Ma. court records. The other day I googled my Phelps
family and found this fascinating story. It's strange because it isn't part of a case, just a deposition
that doesn't match up with anything else on the page. It involves the two brothers of my 9x great grandfather Edward Phelps, and is from the Hampton Quarterly Court held on 28Sep 1652:

Deposition of Jane Johnson: "Saith yt: coming our in the ship with Henry Phelps & Hannah the now wife of Nich: Phelps: Henry Phelps going ashore the ship lying at the Downes: Hannah wept till shee made ||her|| selue sicke because mr Fackler would not suffer her to goe ashore with Henry Phelps : & Henry came aboard late in the night, the next morning mr Falckner Chid Henry Phelps & Hannah & said was it not enough for yw to let Hannah lay her head in yr lape but must shee ly in ye Cabbin to & called Hannah Strumpet & this deponent saith farther yet she saw Henry Phelps ly in his Cabbin & Hannah Baskel the now wife of Nick Phelps came & lay down her head by him & pull her head up again often as he lay in his Cabbin: & when he was smocking in the Cook roome tobaca Hannah tooke the pip out of his mouth" pp267-268

Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County ..., Volume 1 Essex Institute,  Salem, Ma 1911

"Chid" is a misspelling of chide, I believe.

So, Jane Johnson seems to be saying that my 9x great granduncle Henry Phelps was engaged with a
bit of "hanky-panky" with a woman named Hannah Baskel, who would eventually marry his brother
Nicholas. Jane doesn't say how long ago the incident occurred, but it could have happened as early as 1634 if the brothers came over from England with their father Henry Phelps Sr. Why was Jane
bringing up something that took place years ago?

There were no further details in Volume One of the Records and Files. I decided to search Volume
Two. 

To be continued

LOPPING A BRANCH OFF THE FAMILY TREE

Ouch!

It appears I have to do some tree pruning. Several of us
climbing our West Family tree have believed that Lydia
Phelps, mother of Arvilla Ames and the grandmother of
Jonathan Phelps West was the Lydia Phelps whose parents
were Jonathan Phelps and Beulah Parker. Last evening I
found fairly strong proof that is not the case.

You can view it here. The work is copyrighted and I won’t
say anything more while I try to contact the person to get
permission to blog here about it. I’m deleting my previous
Phelps ancestry post so as not to lead anyone else down
a wrong path.

On the good side, I am still descended from Edward Phelps
through Hannah Phelps, wife to Ephraim Abbott.

But I’ve lost the Andrews, Dickinson, and some of the Parker
lines. One of the hard parts of genealogy: removing ancestors
that are interesting when you find out they don't belong on the
tree!

Ah, the pain!