((I'm about to return to my Upton line for the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks meme,
beginning with my ancestor Samuel Upton. While writing about James Carringbone,
the "negro servant' of John Wyman, I remembered this post I wrote in December
2012 about the Uptons.))
A few weeks back was the anniversary of my 7x great grandparents Samuel
Upton and Abigail Frost of Salem Massachusetts. I sometimes use family
events as inspirations for blogposts, so I checked my digital edition of John
Adams Vinton's The Upton Memorial and found this:
"The father of William and Samuel Upton by will gave them his negro. This negro,
whose name was Thomas. was in 1699, the date of the inventory, about thirteen
years old, and was valued at thirty pounds or one hundred dollars. This sum may
have been equivalent to ten times its amount now. if we may judge from the
valuation of the oxen and other live stock in the same inventory. This negro slave
faithfully served William and Samuel Upton eighteen years; and they then gave
him his liberty. The deed of manumission is dated Dec. 21, 1717. At the same time,
they gave security to the town treasurer of Salem. that they would meet all charges
which might arise against the said black man."
-The Upton Memorial by John Adams
Vinton (E. Upton & Son, Bath Me. 1874)p32
As a historian I was already aware of the fact that there had been slavery in
Massachusetts in the colonial period, but this was the first time I'd seen details
about one of my ancestors having a slave. Ironically, John Upton had been an
indentured servant himself, having been one of many Scottish prisoners sent to
Massachusetts by Oilver Cromwell. I wondered what the "security" was that
Samuel and William had to give to the town for Thomas' freedom was all about,
and whether there was any record of what became of him. A Google search turned
up the following:
"1717, Dec. 21. William and Samuel Upton, of this town, liberate Thomas,
who had faithfully served their father, John Upton, of Reading. They give
security to the treasurer, that they will meet all charges, which may accrue
against the said black man." -Annals of Salem Vol 2 by Joseph Barlow Felt
(W.& S. B. Ives, Salem, Ma 1849) p415
I found further explanation of the security in a third book:
"Humane masters who desired to emancipate their slaves were embarrassed by a
statute unfriendly to manumission. The Act of 1703 deterred many persons from
emancipating their slaves on account of its unjust and hard requirements. And under
it quite a deal of litigation arose. It required every master who desired to liberate
his slave, before doing so, to furnish a bond to the treasurer of the town or place in
which he resided, in a sum not less than fifty pounds. This was to indemnify the town
or place in case the Negro slave thus emancipated should, through lameness or
sickness, become a charge. In case a master failed to furnish such security, his
emancipated slaves were still contemplated by the law as in bondage
notwithstanding any manumission or instrument of freedom to them made or
given."-History of the Negro race in America from 1619 to 1880: Vol2 George
Washington Williams (G.P Putnam & Sons 1882) pp206-207
I culdn't find any mention of the fate of Thomas the slave, so I went back to the Annals
of Salem to see what else I could find and got more, but not on the Uptons. Instead, it
was on another of my ancestral lines, the Mavericks:
"The first notice that we have of this disfranchised class, is in 1637, when Capt.
Wm.Peirce was employed to carry out, to the West Indies, some Pequods, lately
captured, and sell them there for slaves. On his return from Tortugas, Feb. 26,
1638, he had, as part of his cargo, a number of negroes. These appear to have
been purchased by Samuel Maverick, of Noddle's Island, and others. Whether
any of them were bought by inhabitants of Salem is not known."-Annals of
Salem Vol2 p414
Elias and Moses Maverick are my 9x great grandfathers and Samuel was their older
brother. Samuel was actually already livng on Nottle Island in Boston Harbor before
John Winthrop and the Puritans arrived to establish the Massachusetts Bay Colony in
1630. Some accounts have him living there as early as 1624. So not only had some of
my ancestors been slave owners, one of them had actually been the first to own slaves
in Massachusetts.
That wasn't the only information I found on Samuel Maverick and his slaves.
George Washington Williams cites an incident recorded by John Josselyn in his book
Two Voyages To New England which was first printed in 1674:
"The
Second of October,(1639) about 9 of the clock in the morning, Mr.
Mavericks Negro woman came to my chamber window, and in her own Countrey
language and tune sang very loud and shril, going out to her, she used a
great deal of respect towards me, and willingly would have expressed
her grief in English ; but I apprehended it by her countenance and
deportment, whereupon I repaired to my host, to learn of him the cause,
and resolved to intreat him in her behalf, for that I understood before,
that she had been a Queen in her own Countrey, and observed a very
humble and dutiful garb used towards her by another Negro who was her
maid. Mr. Maverick was desirous to have a breed of Negroes, and
therefore seeing she would not yield by perswasions to company with a
Negro young man he had in his house; he commanded him will'd she nill'd
she to go to bed to her, which was no sooner done but she kickt him out
again, this she took in high disdain beyond her slavery, and this was
the cause of her grief".
History of the Negro race in America from 1619 to 1880: Vol2 pp174-175
In other words, in the interests of breeding her Samuel Maverick had ordered his male
slave to force himself on the female slave.
We often remind each other that when researching our family tree, we have to
expect to find the bad along with the good. The Maverick story is one of the bad.
I still haven't found any more mention of Thomas who had been the slave of John Upton.
I've no way of knowing how old he was when he first came into the Upton household.
I do know that John Upton was 77 years old when he died so perhaps serving an
elderly man wasn't too harsh a life for young Thomas. Slavery in Massachusetts wasn't
abolished until 1783 so the Upton brothers didn't have to free him and pay the
equivalent of about $150 to the town to support him if he couldn't care for himself.
I hope they did so out of the conviction that slavery was wrong.
Showing posts with label Upton John. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Upton John. Show all posts
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Thursday, June 12, 2014
52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS#23: JOHN UPTON
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. For this post, I'm writing about my 8x great
John Upton and one of those "family traditions" common in some genealogies.
I recently found this in an edition of the Historical Collections of the Essex Institute:
UPTON FAMILY.
COMMUNICATED BY MATTHEW A. STICKNEY
The following traditions relating to the Upton* family of Danvers and Reading, were obtained by me, Jan. 18, 1849, from Eli Upton, who was born Oct. 7, 1759, and died Feb. 24, 1849; and, as some of the items here given are not recorded anywhere to my knowledge, they are offered for publication in the Collections.
"John Upton was born in Scotland, and, it is supposed, was one of the prisoners taken by Oliver Cromwell at the battle of Dunbar, in 1651, and sent by him to New England, as he was sold on his arrival here. He was bought by a woman, whose name is not remembered, but who lived in that part of Salem now called Danvers. She came from England. Some of the fruit trees on the place were brought out by her. She had been living there some time.
The place above mentioned has been in the hands of the Uptons from the death of John to the present time (1849); and it is now owned by Mr. Eli Upton. Two houses have been built there.
John Upton aforesaid bought a large lot of land in Reading for a "piece-of eight" and a colt. On this land one of his sons settled, and there John himself died in 1699. P247
Historical Collections of the Essex Institute (Google eBook) Vol7 Number 6 Essex Institute., Salem Ma 1865
A nice story there about how John came to Massachusetts, but probably untrue. There's no
mention of a John Upton on the list of names of the Scottish prisoners sent to the colony. In
his Upton Memorial, John Adams Vinton discredits that story and another that claims the
lady was Upton's wife who somehow got to Massachusetts before the prison ship had
arrived so she could purchase her husband. He also questions the tradition that the wife
was named Elenor Stuart.
There's also this, which concerns some land purchased by John Upton:
1668. Feb. 1.—Jeremiah Swain of Reading, for 22s. 6d.. sells to John Upton half an acre and seven poles of meadow, lying on the north side of Ipseage River, also a quarter of an acre and twenty-eight poles of meadow on the north side of said river, all in Reading -p13
The Upton Memorial: A Genealogical Record of the Descendants of John Upton, of North Reading, Mass. ... Together with Short Genealogies of the Putnam, Stone and Bruce Families (Google eBook) private use at the office of E. Upton & son, Bath, Me 1874
It's significant to me because Jeremiah Swain is my 9x great grandfather and John Upton my 8x great grandfather. I always get a kick out of finding these sort of things involving ancestors from two different branches of my family tree!
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. For this post, I'm writing about my 8x great
John Upton and one of those "family traditions" common in some genealogies.
I recently found this in an edition of the Historical Collections of the Essex Institute:
UPTON FAMILY.
COMMUNICATED BY MATTHEW A. STICKNEY
The following traditions relating to the Upton* family of Danvers and Reading, were obtained by me, Jan. 18, 1849, from Eli Upton, who was born Oct. 7, 1759, and died Feb. 24, 1849; and, as some of the items here given are not recorded anywhere to my knowledge, they are offered for publication in the Collections.
"John Upton was born in Scotland, and, it is supposed, was one of the prisoners taken by Oliver Cromwell at the battle of Dunbar, in 1651, and sent by him to New England, as he was sold on his arrival here. He was bought by a woman, whose name is not remembered, but who lived in that part of Salem now called Danvers. She came from England. Some of the fruit trees on the place were brought out by her. She had been living there some time.
The place above mentioned has been in the hands of the Uptons from the death of John to the present time (1849); and it is now owned by Mr. Eli Upton. Two houses have been built there.
John Upton aforesaid bought a large lot of land in Reading for a "piece-of eight" and a colt. On this land one of his sons settled, and there John himself died in 1699. P247
Historical Collections of the Essex Institute (Google eBook) Vol7 Number 6 Essex Institute., Salem Ma 1865
A nice story there about how John came to Massachusetts, but probably untrue. There's no
mention of a John Upton on the list of names of the Scottish prisoners sent to the colony. In
his Upton Memorial, John Adams Vinton discredits that story and another that claims the
lady was Upton's wife who somehow got to Massachusetts before the prison ship had
arrived so she could purchase her husband. He also questions the tradition that the wife
was named Elenor Stuart.
There's also this, which concerns some land purchased by John Upton:
1668. Feb. 1.—Jeremiah Swain of Reading, for 22s. 6d.. sells to John Upton half an acre and seven poles of meadow, lying on the north side of Ipseage River, also a quarter of an acre and twenty-eight poles of meadow on the north side of said river, all in Reading -p13
The Upton Memorial: A Genealogical Record of the Descendants of John Upton, of North Reading, Mass. ... Together with Short Genealogies of the Putnam, Stone and Bruce Families (Google eBook) private use at the office of E. Upton & son, Bath, Me 1874
It's significant to me because Jeremiah Swain is my 9x great grandfather and John Upton my 8x great grandfather. I always get a kick out of finding these sort of things involving ancestors from two different branches of my family tree!
Monday, January 13, 2014
52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS #2: JOHN UPTON:
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. This week's
subject is my 8x great grandfather John Upton.
Most of what I know about John comes from The Upton Memorial, a family genealogy
and this from the (exceedingly long titled) Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts: With a History of Worcester Society of Antiquity, Volume 4 (Google eBook) by Ellery Bicknell Crane:
"(I) John Upton, who came to New England about 1652, was the pioneer ancestor in this country. He is the progenitor of the late John Upton, Colonel Edwin Upton and Joseph Upton, of Fitchburg. Massachusetts. He settled in Salem village, in what is now Danvers. Massachusetts. There is a tradition that he came from Scotland. He may have been one of the Scotch prisoners taken by Cromwell at Dunbarton, September 3, 1650, or at Worcester, 1651. The last named battle was fought near the town of Upton, England, the seat of the ancient family. Cromwell took seventeen thousand Englishmen and Scotchmen prisoners in these two battles and many of them were sent to the American colonies. There is a tradition that the name of his wife was Eleanor Stuart and that she too was Scotch. He seems to have refused to join the Puritan Church and that may indicate that he was Scotch and a Presbyterian. He did not take the freeman oath until it had been modified. He was admitted April 18, 169t. a freeman. The first record is of date December 26, 1658, when he bought land of Henry Bullock, some time of Hammersmith (the Lynn Iron Works at Saugus). He paid four pounds for fortv acres in Salem. He bought land of Daniel Rumboll. of Salem. April 6, 1662, adjoining his farm. His homestead was near the line of the present town of Danvers. half a mile from the present line of Lynnfield, one mile south of the Ipswich river and two miles west of the Newburyport turnpike. It is two miles and a half from the site of his later residence in North Reading. His neighbors were the Popes. Gardners. Flints. Walcotts and Smiths. He bought and sold considerable land in the vicinity. Active, energetic and successful, he began with no capital and accumulated a handsome estate. He died July 11. 1699. aged about seventy-seven. The will was dated November 16. 1697, and proved July 31, 160Q. He used a fleur de lis for a seal and in his will tried to entail his estate, but the laws of the colony effectually prevented him.
The children of John and Eleanor Upton were: John, born 1654: Eleanor. 1656: William. 1658: James. September, 1660; Mary, 1661, died 1663; Samuel, October, 1664: Ann: Isabel, January 3, 1666-7, died 1680: Ezekiel. September, 1668: Joseph, April 0, 1670: Francis July 1. 1671; Mary." -p31.
Now in The Upton Memorial there is a discussion about the tradition that John Upton
was one of the Scottish prisoners of war sent to Massachusetts. The problem is, there
is no John Upton on the list of prisoners. I suspect that perhaps John's family name was something else and he took the name Upton to conceal his last name for some reason.
His wife Eleanor's name was indeed Stuart, although I've also seen it spelled Stewart.
I'm a double descendant of John and Eleanor (Stuart) Upton through their sons William and Samuel who lived together with their families in the same house. William had
married Mary Maber and Samuel's wife was Abigail Frost. In his will, John Upton
left them his "Negro", who was named Thomas and who served them for eighteen
years before he was freed. I wrote about Thomas in a post nearly two years ago in
January 2012.
My descent from John Upton:
John Upton & Eleanor Stuart
William Upton & Mary Maber Samuel Upton & Abigail Frost
Francis Upton & Edith Herrick Amos Upton & Sarah Bickford
Edith Upton & Amos Upton Jr.
Francis Uptn & Sarah Bancroft
Cyrus Moore & Hanna Upton
Betsey Jane Moore & Amos Hastings Barker
Charlotte Lovenia Barker & Frank Wesley Barker (cousins)
Cora Bertha Barker & Floyd Earl West Sr.(my grandparents)
Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. Basically, we have to post something every week
on a different ancestor, whether a story, picture, or research problem. This week's
subject is my 8x great grandfather John Upton.
Most of what I know about John comes from The Upton Memorial, a family genealogy
and this from the (exceedingly long titled) Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts: With a History of Worcester Society of Antiquity, Volume 4 (Google eBook) by Ellery Bicknell Crane:
"(I) John Upton, who came to New England about 1652, was the pioneer ancestor in this country. He is the progenitor of the late John Upton, Colonel Edwin Upton and Joseph Upton, of Fitchburg. Massachusetts. He settled in Salem village, in what is now Danvers. Massachusetts. There is a tradition that he came from Scotland. He may have been one of the Scotch prisoners taken by Cromwell at Dunbarton, September 3, 1650, or at Worcester, 1651. The last named battle was fought near the town of Upton, England, the seat of the ancient family. Cromwell took seventeen thousand Englishmen and Scotchmen prisoners in these two battles and many of them were sent to the American colonies. There is a tradition that the name of his wife was Eleanor Stuart and that she too was Scotch. He seems to have refused to join the Puritan Church and that may indicate that he was Scotch and a Presbyterian. He did not take the freeman oath until it had been modified. He was admitted April 18, 169t. a freeman. The first record is of date December 26, 1658, when he bought land of Henry Bullock, some time of Hammersmith (the Lynn Iron Works at Saugus). He paid four pounds for fortv acres in Salem. He bought land of Daniel Rumboll. of Salem. April 6, 1662, adjoining his farm. His homestead was near the line of the present town of Danvers. half a mile from the present line of Lynnfield, one mile south of the Ipswich river and two miles west of the Newburyport turnpike. It is two miles and a half from the site of his later residence in North Reading. His neighbors were the Popes. Gardners. Flints. Walcotts and Smiths. He bought and sold considerable land in the vicinity. Active, energetic and successful, he began with no capital and accumulated a handsome estate. He died July 11. 1699. aged about seventy-seven. The will was dated November 16. 1697, and proved July 31, 160Q. He used a fleur de lis for a seal and in his will tried to entail his estate, but the laws of the colony effectually prevented him.
The children of John and Eleanor Upton were: John, born 1654: Eleanor. 1656: William. 1658: James. September, 1660; Mary, 1661, died 1663; Samuel, October, 1664: Ann: Isabel, January 3, 1666-7, died 1680: Ezekiel. September, 1668: Joseph, April 0, 1670: Francis July 1. 1671; Mary." -p31.
Now in The Upton Memorial there is a discussion about the tradition that John Upton
was one of the Scottish prisoners of war sent to Massachusetts. The problem is, there
is no John Upton on the list of prisoners. I suspect that perhaps John's family name was something else and he took the name Upton to conceal his last name for some reason.
His wife Eleanor's name was indeed Stuart, although I've also seen it spelled Stewart.
I'm a double descendant of John and Eleanor (Stuart) Upton through their sons William and Samuel who lived together with their families in the same house. William had
married Mary Maber and Samuel's wife was Abigail Frost. In his will, John Upton
left them his "Negro", who was named Thomas and who served them for eighteen
years before he was freed. I wrote about Thomas in a post nearly two years ago in
January 2012.
My descent from John Upton:
John Upton & Eleanor Stuart
William Upton & Mary Maber Samuel Upton & Abigail Frost
Francis Upton & Edith Herrick Amos Upton & Sarah Bickford
Edith Upton & Amos Upton Jr.
Francis Uptn & Sarah Bancroft
Cyrus Moore & Hanna Upton
Betsey Jane Moore & Amos Hastings Barker
Charlotte Lovenia Barker & Frank Wesley Barker (cousins)
Cora Bertha Barker & Floyd Earl West Sr.(my grandparents)
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