"THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH" BY LONGFELLOW

As I've noted many times before here, I've a number of ancestors who
were blacksmiths.The list will probably have more names added later,
but at the moment this is where it stands:

Thomas Chandler (1628-1703) 9x great grandfather
John Prescott (1604-1681) 10x great grandfather
Jonas Prescott (1648-1723) 9x great grandfather
John Ames  (1756-1833) 5x great grandfather
Jonathan Phelps Ames (1781-1861) 4x great grandfather
John Cutter West (1802-1862)3x great grandfather

(And as far as I know, none of them ever made macaroni & cheese or
mistook it for "Liquid go-old".)

So, in honor of my smithy ancestors, here is one of
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's best know poems:

    The Village Blacksmith 

      Under a spreading chestnut-tree
           The village smithy stands;
     The smith, a mighty man is he,
           With large and sinewy hands;
     And the muscles of his brawny arms
           Are strong as iron bands.

     His hair is crisp, and black, and long,
           His face is like the tan;
     His brow is wet with honest sweat,
           He earns whate'er he can,
     And looks the whole world in the face,
           For he owes not any man.

     Week in, week out, from morn till night,
           You can hear his bellows blow;
     You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,
           With measured beat and slow,
     Like a sexton ringing the village bell,
           When the evening sun is low.

     And children coming home from school
           Look in at the open door;
     They love to see the flaming forge,
           And hear the bellows roar,
     And catch the burning sparks that fly
           Like chaff from a threshing-floor.


      He goes on Sunday to the church,
                And sits among his boys;
           He hears the parson pray and preach,
                He hears his daughter's voice,
           Singing in the village choir,
                And it makes his heart rejoice.

           It sounds to him like her mother's voice,
                Singing in Paradise!
           He needs must think of her once more,
                How in the grave she lies;
           And with his hard, rough hand he wipes
                A tear out of his eyes.

           Toiling, -- rejoicing -- sorrowing,
                Onward through life he goes;
           Each morning sees some task begin,
                Each evening sees it close;
           Something attempted, something done,
                Has earned a night's repose.

           Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
                For the lesson thou hast taught!
           Thus at the flaming forge of life
                Our fortunes must be wrought;
           Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
                Each burning deed and thought.

ANOTHER TANGLE ON MY TREE

Today I did one of my daily Facebook posts commemorating an anniversary
of a birth, death, or marriage of one of my ancestors. This one happened to
be for 6x great grandfather Moses Coburn's death on 5Jun 1742 in Dracut, Ma.
After I posted it, I went over to Ancestry.com to see if there were any new
hints for documents or records that might have turned up recently for Moses
or any of my other Coburn relations, and once again ran into an unexpected
tangle of my Dad's family lines.

I'd worked my way down to the family of 3x great grandparents Wesley
Coburn and Lucy Stow; I'm descended from their daughter Lucy E Coburn (who
married Nathaniel S Barker, my Dad's ancestor through his mother Cora Barker)
but I don't have have much information on the families of her siblings so I checked
them for hints.

And this is where that tangle I mentioned came in.

I found a marriage record for Lucy's brother Moses Roscoe Coburn and a
Mary S. Reynolds, married on 13Jan 1858 in Albany, Oxford, Me.  That sounded
familiar, but the only Reynolds on my family tree(sort of) was my 2x great
grandfather Jonathan Phelps West's first wife Orpha V. Reyolds who died of
diphtheria in 1861. Could Mary Reynolds somehow be related to Orpha?
Yes she was. She's listed on the 1850 Federal Census along with Orpha and
their parents Simeon and  Ruhama (Ames) Reynolds. Mary S.was Orpha's older
sister by five years.

Back when I did my post about Orpha, I learned from Christopher
Dunham   that Orpha was an Ames cousin . I wondered today about her
Reynolds lineage and after tracing it back discovered her father
Simeon was also my cousin through my Packard line. Orpha is my
4th cousin 3x removed, Simeon my 3rd cousin 4x removed.
 
As I said Orpha died in 1861 and Jonathan Phelps West married my 2x
great grandmother  Louisa Almata Richardson.

But even so, it still boils down to the fact that my 2x great grandfather
was married to my cousin!

"STEAL.TAKE & CARRY AWAY'

As I wrote in the last post, I've been going through the Oxford County
Court records over at FamilySearch.org looking for cases involving
my Dad's ancestors.(Dunhams and Coburns and Wests,oh my!) Most
of what I've found so far has been civil suits involving debts, such
as the one I posted last time about 3x great grandfather John
Cutter West. But yesterday I found a document that was a criminal
case, and it involves one of John's brothers-in-law.   


My 3x great grandmother Arvilla (Ames) West was one of ten children of
Jonathan Phelps Ames and Polly Griffeth. In 1823 her oldest brother,
15 year old brother Jonathan Phelps Ames Jr ran afoul of the law: 

August Term 1823
Criminal 2
State v Jon. P.Ames Jr

The Jurors for the State aforesaid, upon their oath present, that Jonathan
P. Ames Jr of Livermore in said County of Oxford, laborer, on the second
day of July now last past about the hour of eleven, in the night time of the
same day, with force & arms, at Livermore aforesaid, in the county aforesaid,
the shop of William H. Brinton, there situate, did enter with intent the goods
& chattels of the said  Brinton in the said shop then & there being, feloniously
to steal, take & carry away, and then & there  two dollars in silver change, in
quarters, tenths,  eighths & sixteenths of a dollar of the value of two dollars,
the goods, chattels property, and money of the said Brinton in the same shop
then & there being found, with force & arms, feloniously  steal, take and
carry away against the, law peace & dignity of said state & against the form
of the statute in such case made & provided. And now the said Jonathan P.
Ames Junr. is set to to the bar & has this indictment read to him & is asked
thereof if he is guilty or not guilty, who thereupon for plea says he is guilty.

Whereupon the court having considered the offence whereof the said
Jonathan P. Ames Jr. stands convict, do order that he be punished by
solitary imprisonment for the term of ten days & by confinement afterwards
to hard labor for the term of six months, and that this sentence be executed
upon him withing the Gaol of the County of Oxford.

Sentenced the third day of the term being the 28th day of August A.D.
1823

I don't know how long it took for it to happen but apparently young Jonathan
Phelps Ames straightened his life out and married Rebecca Hutchinson in 1834
in Hartford Maine. Sometime afterwards they moved out to Isabel, Fulton,
Illinois and raised their family,including two sons named Atwood and Americus
after two of Jonathan's brothers.

The name Jonathan Phelps was passed on in the West family. My 2x times great
grandfather was named Jonathan Phelps West after Arvilla (Ames) West father.
When my great grandfather was born, he was given the name Philip Jonathan
West in honor of his maternal grandfather Philip Richardson and Jonathan after his
father. PJ died in 1954, and when my younger brother was born ten years later, he
was named Philip Jonathan after our great grandfather.

And he named his eldest son Philip Jonathan as well.

ADAMS Et Al. V West

Recently FamilySearch.org has been posting online  the Maine State
Archives Collections 1790-1966, including the  Court Records. So I
began searching them for any cases that might involve my ancestors,
which is how I found the following case involving my 3x great grandfather
John Cutter West:

Adams et al v West No.604

John M. Adams  George F .Shepley  and Asa W. F. Clap all of Portland in the
County of Cumberland gentleman doing business at said under the firm name
and style of Proprietors Eastern Argus Plaintiffs v. John West of Upton in the
County of Oxford Yeoman Defendant-In a plea of the case for that the said
Defendant at Letter B to wit at said Paris on the day of the purchase of this
writ being indebted to the Plantiffs in  the sum of Ten dollars and Sixty
three cents according to the account annexed in consideration thereof
there and then promised the Plaintiffs to pay them that sum on demand.~

And also for that the said Defendant at Letter B to wit at said Paris on the
twenty-seventh day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand eight-
hundred and fifty-seven by his promisery note of that date by him signed
for value received promised one John Appleton & Co. to pay them or bearer
the sum of Twenty-four dollars  on demand and interest, and the said John
Appleton and Company thereafterwards on the same day transferred and
delivered the said note then and still unpaid to the Plaintiff who thereby
became the lawful bearer thereof; by reason whereof the Defendant
became liable, and in consideration thereof, then and there, promised
the Plaintiff to pay him the contents of the said note according to the terms
thereof~

Yet the said Defendant, though requested, has not paid the same, but
neglects so to do, to the damage of the said Plaintiffs (as they say) the
sum of Seventy-five dollars. This action was entered at the present term
when the Plaintiffs appeared but the Defendant though called to come
into Court,does not appear, but makes default.

It is therefore considered by the court that the said Plaintiffs recover
against the said Defendant the sum of Forty-one dollars and eleven cents
debt or damage, and costs of suit, taxed at Ten dollars and Eighty-one
cents.

Execution issued, November 27, 1861~
Supreme Judicial Court records vol 09 Nov 1861-Nov 1862


So apparently my ancestor John Cutter West initially borrowed  $10.63
from John Appleton and agreed to pay him back $24 which seems steep
interest. Then Appleton sold my ancestor's  promisory note to the Eastern
Argus Company. (which seems sort of shady to me.) This took place on
May 27th, 1857 and the debt remained unpaid  by November of 1861
when the owners of the Eastern Argus Company brought the debt to
court. John West didn't appear to answer the suit against him so he lost
by default.

The Court Records aren't indexed yet so I browsed through Vol9 until
I found this and as I did I saw case after similar case. They were
so common that they are recorded on a form, the top being blank
where the particulars of the case are written and the judgement written
in the blanks of the preprinted section on the bottom.(I've used my
usual boldface font to denote the preprinted part.)

Oxford County Maine is in the western part of the state and the primary
industries there in the nineteenth century were farming and logging.
It was not uncommon in those days for farmers to borrow money to
buy seed or equipment and pay the money back after harvesting their
crops. But if the weather was bad or some other disaster befell them
they might not be able to pay off the debt right away. I believe that
must have been the case with my ancestor.

I don't know when or if John Cutter West paid off the note.The court
decision was handed down in November of 1861. Shortly after that
a diphtheria epidemic broke out and John would lose three children,
three grandchildren, and a daughter-in-law to the disease by the end
of February 1862. John himself died the following June.. If John
didn't pay off the debt himself, then my 2x great grandfather
Jonathan Phelps West probably did.

So the next time you are worrying abut how you are going to pay the
bills, look at it as something you probably have in common with your
ancestors.

THE 1940 U.S. CENSUS: THE WHITES2

In a previous post about finding my White family members in the 1940
census I told about finding my great grandmother Pauline (Offinger) White
living in the Mattapan section of Boston with the family of  my grandaunt
Elizabeth(White)Biaggi. I still haven't found my grandfather Edward F White
Sr on the 1940 Census, but I did find another one of his siblings, his older
brother Charles.

Charles William White was born 5Mar 1898.  He was living at home with his
parents and siblings up to the 1920 Census, but by 1930 he was married to
Katherine Goonan with two daughters, Virginia age 6 and Muriel age 4.
The family was living on Brookdale St not far away from his parents home
on Florence St., and working as a clerk at the railroad. He'd been employed
there since at least 1918 when he'd listed his job on the WWI draft registration
as clerk for the Boston Albany R.R. at South Station in Boston.

Being a railroad clerk seemed to have been a good job in the Great Depression
because from what I can tell from the 1940 Census great uncle Charles was
doing quite well by then. He was now a rate clerk for the railroad which meant
he was a 20+ year employee and the relatively young age of 42. He was making
$1750 a year which probably helped him purchase the home he now owned on
Brookdale St which was valued at $2000.The family had also grown by another
two children, a daughter Frances born in 1932 and son Charles Jr born in 1934.
Brother-in-law Patrick Goonan was also living with Charles and Kathryn, working
as a helper on a coal truck. So Charles had weathered the Depression in pretty
good shape for someone with only an eighth grade education.

I'm hoping to find entries on the 1940 Census for my grandfather's other
siblings, and when I do I'll post them here.

THE SECOND AMERICAN CIVIL WAR GENEALOGY BLOG CHALLENGE

Last year marked the 150 anniversary of the start of the American Civil War,
and to honor the occasion I held "The American Civil War Genealogy Blog
Challenge." At that time I intended to issue the challenge every April until
2015 since the Civil War lasted five years (1861-1865).  Then I realized that
this year the 1940 Federal Census was going to be released in April and
a lot of people, including myself, would be busy  indexing. I decided to
delay the announcement of the second installment of the Challenge.  But
we're nearing the end of the second month since the Census release, the
indexing is speeding along, and I've decided this is as good a time as any.

So.....

Did you have ancestors in America during the Civil War? If so, where were
they and what were their circumstances? How did the Civil War affect them
and their family? Did the men enlist and did they perish in battle or die of
illness? On which side did they fight, or did you have relatives fighting on
BOTH sides? How did the women left at home cope, or did any of them find
ways to help the war effort? Were your ancestors living as slaves on Southern
plantations and if so when were they freed, or were they freemen who
enlisted to fight? Did any ancestor take part in a battle that took place in
1862? 

Write a blogpost on these questions, or, if you think of another topic to do
with your family history and the Civil War, write about that. Send me the link
after you publish it on your blog by August, and on August 8th I'll publish all
the links here.

That gives everyone most of the summer to research and write(or maybe visit
a Civil War location connected somehow to the family). Have fun with it and
I look forward to reading what everyone writes! 

THE CANCELLATION OF "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?"

I'd been watching the declining ratings of Who Do You Think You Are? this
season with growing concern. I knew they were putting the future of the
series in doubt but I hoped that NBC would still renew it as a commitment
to better programming on their part. So I was dismayed to learn last
night that the network had cancelled it for the upcoming 2012-2o013.

Several opinions were offered as to why WDYTYA had not been renewed.
one was that the program failed to appeal to the coveted 18-49 years old
demographic. But if you look at the weekly ratings, it's CBS' shows'
that dominate the Top 20 and their demographics are considerably older.
If the 18-49's are more valued, why are ads on the CBS shows more
expensive and the network's income up?

Another theory is one that's been heard before, that perhaps the show
would do better if it had dealt with normal every day people instead of
celebrities. I don't know if the producers have that option. Remember,
it's based on the original BBC show and everyone of the other eleven
international versions(including NBC's) followed the same format as
the mother series, much in the same way programs such as "The Voice:
and "America's Got Talent" follow the same format as the original
British programs. I doubt that f they were allowed to change
who the show spotlighted that the show would have even lasted
a single season if it aired at all. Networks tend to like star power.

  Anyway, I emailed NBC to protest the cancellation.


"Dear NBC,
I am greatly disappointed in your decision to cancel Who Do You Think 
You Are? At a time when there are so many ridiculous so-called "reality 
shows",  you've chosen to drop the one show on your schedule that is 
not only educational but inspiring as well. The fact that such a quality 
program is to be replaced by the likes of Howie Mandel's "White Elephant" 
is especially disheartening.


There was a time when NBC was known for the quality of its prime time 
lineup. I'd hoped that "Who Do You Think You Are?" signaled a return to 
those days. Please reconsider this terrible decision and renew the program. 
If you do,  it would answer a question I now have about your network:


Who Do You Think Your Are, NBC: a quality network, or one now 
dedicated to  shows aimed at the lowest form of entertainment?


Bill West "

If you want to send your own comments to NBC about this, go to
http://www.nbc.com/contact/general/  . Be sure to select "Who Do
You Think You Are?" from the "Select Show" box in the middle of the
screen. Share that link with your friends who like the show as well
and encourage them to let NBC hear their opinion. It's a long
shot but maybe we can get them to bring it back.

Friday night for the past few years has been "Genealogy Night" for
many of us. I'm going to miss it.

THE SECOND NEW ENGLAND GENEABLOGGER BASH

I missed the first New England Geneablogger Bash last fall but thanks to
Erica and Mike Voolich I was able to ride down with them to the second
Bash.  This one was being hosted by Sara Campbell at her cottage in Eastham
on Cape Cod here in Massachusetts.

The day got off to a hectic start for me because of an alarm clock malfunction.
I'd set the alarm for 8am but I didn't wake up until 9:15 because the alarm
never went off.( Apparently there was a power outage sometime overnight
and I didn't have a fresh battery backup in the clock.). So I spent a half hour
rushing around getting washed and dressed and I was ready when Erica and
Mike arrived. The trip down was pleasant even with the hour long traffic
backup at the Sagamore Bridge.

It was a beautiful day with not a cloud in the sky and when we arrived
the other geneabloggers were already enjoying the sun and view of the
ocean from Sara's deck. 

I'd been wound up for a few days over meeting people whose blogs and research
I'd admired for several years now, but everyone was so nice I was able to relax
and enjoy the conversation.  I got to meet Heather Wilkinson Rojo, Midge Frazel,
Mike Maglio, Russ Worthington, Tim Firkowski, Elizabeth Pyle Handler,
Diane MacLean Boumenot, Erica Voolich and Sara Campbell and their significant
others ! Everyone had brought along some food for the meal and there was all
sorts of genealogy stories and information traded back and forth all day. 

Russ Worthington & Tim Firkowski

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Midge & Steve Frazel

 

Mike Maglio

Patti Worthington & Heather Wilkerson Rojo

Tim Firkowski & Diane MacLean Boumenot

 

Sara Campbell & Elizabeth Pyle Handler

Elizabeth, Patti, and Erica Voolich

We even had an uninvited guest, a tenacious bee that hovered in place many times
over us, so Tim and I started taking pictures of it with our cameras:

We hadn't taken a group photo earlier so Midge and Mike had already left before
we did:

 
Finally it was time to say goodbye and head home. Mike and Erica took me to
a nearby place they knew about for a fish and chips dinner, and then we headed
back up Rte 6. There was another delay at the Sagamore Bridge but eventually
we made it off the Cape and I was home by around 9:30pm.

It was a great day and I want to thank Mike and Erica for letting me ride along
with them, and Sara for her hospitality. And thanks to all for making me feel
at ease.

I hope to see you all again at the next Bash!     

HUNTING ANCESTORS ALONG ROUTE 58

I'm really lucky: I have ancestors buried in cemeteries nearby here in
Plymouth County, Ma. Not only that, many of the cemeteries are beautiful
and I've gotten some great photographs. This past two weeks I've visited
eight local burial grounds; five of them were located on Rte58 in the
towns of Plympton and Carver. I was hoping to locate members of my
Dunham, Ellis, Griffith and Barrows families.

The first place I visited was Hillcrest Cemetery in Plympton:

Hillcrest Cemetery looking across Rte 58 to the First Congregational Church.

 

 

 

According to Find A Grave there are two Barrows buried there but I only found one,
George Barrows, died 31Dec 1862:

 Next I went across the street to the cemetery behind the First Congregational
Church where I found only one monument with a group of possible Ellis relatives
 listed on it:

The next day I drove back further down Rte 58 to the next town, Carver, and the
Lakenham Cemetery where I had my first big discovery of the week, the markers
for my 6x great grandparents George Barrows and Patience Simmons Barrows:

Patience Simmons Barrow 1676-1723

George Barrows 1670-1758

At the Center Cemetery there were several Barrows graves right by the entrance,
including this one:

Capt. Lothrop Barrows

The Union Cemetery in Carver was the highpoint of my explorations along Rte 58.
I found quite a few cousins interred there, and the cemetery is one of the prettiest
I've ever visited:

There are three family plots enclosed with wrought iron fences next to that
white wooden gazebo, and in one I found the headstone for my 6x great
grandparents Ephraim Griffith and Mary Ellis:

So it was a very productive week and I still have  many other cemeteries in the
area I've yet to visit!

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!

LINES OF DISTINCTION: ROB LOWE ON WDYTYA

Back in March I attended the 2012 New England Family History Conference,
and one of the sessions was one by Michael Potaski on "Finding Obscure
Family History Ancestors". Now I have many ancestors who fought in the
Revolutionary War but I have others from that period who I have not been
able to find any record that they served, so I was hoping to pick up some tips.
Then Mr Potaski mentioned something that surprised me. He mentioned that
there were other ways for a person to qualify for DAR or SAR membership
besides having an ancestor who fought in the war: ancestors who contributed
 money and supplies, or who served in some government capacity during
the Revolution, for example.

That night when I went back over the notes I'd taken that day I thought about what
Michael had said and as a historian realized it made sense. By supporting the
Revolution financially or by taking part in the new government, you were commiting
treason against the British Crown. You might not be facing the British army on the
field of battle, but you were still placing yourself in harm's way. In the early years
when things weren't going well for the Continental Army, there was always the
possibility that the crown would put down the rebellion, and then there would be a
reckoning. There were records with your name on them showing you had given
money to the King's  enemies, or had been part of the rebel government. Loyalists
would let the British troops know who the rebel sympathizers in town might be.
So for the first few years of the Revolution civilian supporters were in a different
sort of danger, but still in danger nevertheless.  So I could see why descendants
of such non combatants might qualify for membership in the Daughters of the
American Revolution or the Sons of the American Revolution.

Then this past Friday came the Rob Lowe episode of "Who Do You Think You Are".
Rob hoped to find that one of his ancestors had fought the British in the Revolution
but was shocked to find out an ancestor had actually been a Hessian soldier who
had been captured after the Battle of Trenton. Johan Christoph Oeste took
advantage of an amnesty offered by the Americans and left the British army to
settle in Pennsylvania. His descendants would know him as "Christopher East". 
Rob Lowe was thrilled at the end of the episode when he was invited to join
the SAR on the basis of Christoph's  payment of a "war tax".

Some viewers were upset by this, and I can understand that. I think somebody
either from the show or the SAR saw how badly Rob Lowe wanted to have an
Revolutionary War patriot for an ancestor and found a way to fulfill that wish.
I also think that desire colored Rob's interpretation of why his ancestor chose
to stay in America rather than return to Germany. The decision was probably
more for economic reasons rather than from a sudden conversion to the
colonists' cause. But I am concerned with how some have now leveled
criticism at the DAR and SAR for allowing membership for descendants
of noncombatants as if their ancestors were somehow less patriotic than
those who fought the British troops. After nearly 250 years, how can we
say whose ancestor was more patriotic? We weren't there. We can't know
what reasons someone might have had for not serving in the Continental
Army. Were my ancestors who went home after Lexington and Concord
less patriotic than my other ancestors who fought at Saratoga and spent
the winter at Valley Forge? Where do we draw the distinction? I don't think
the British would have made any. They would have all been either executed
or perhaps sent off in exile to another colony. Christoph Oeste would
have been executed as both a traitor and deserter.

They were all patriots.  The descendants of merchants and farmers who
gave money, or the officials of towns that supported the Revolution are
just as entitled to feel proud of  their ancestors as those of us whose
ancestors fought on the battlefield. The DAR and SAR are right to
recognize all their contributions to the Revolutionary War.

"CONCORD HYMN" BY RALPH WALDO EMERSON

We've all heard about the "shot heard round the world"
fired at Concord, but there's more to the poem. So, in honor of the
237th anniversary of the Battles of Concord and Lexington, here's
Ralph Waldo Emerson's  "Concord Hymn":


Concord Hymn
       by
Ralph Waldo Emerson

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.


The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.


On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set today a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.


Spirit, that made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.

PATRIOTS' DAY 2012

Tomorrow is the 237th anniversary of the Battles of Concord and
Lexington.and in commemoration of that event I'm once more
posting the names of my Revolutionary War ancestors.

The italicized names are those whose Pension Files I've found.
If any one reading this shares my descent from these men, I'll be
glad to share the files with you if you don't already have them.: 


 
Jonathan Barker Jr.
Was a Minuteman from Methuen Ma with the rank of Sergeant. He
was at Lexington and Concord with his sons Jonathan (see below)
and Samuel. Served in Captain Samuel Johnson's Company in
Colonel Titcomb's Regiment for 2 months in 1777 in Rhode Island
and then with Nathaniel Gage' Company in Colonel Jacob Gerrish's
guards from Dec 1777 until April 1778 guarding the captured
troops of General Burgoyne.


Jonathan Barker 3rd
Enlisted on 19 Apr 1775 in Continental Army, Capt. John Davis'
Company, Col. James Frye's Regiment, in the Massachusetts line
for 8 months in Cambridge, Ma. At the conclusion of the term, he
reenlisted for another 3 months in Capt John Allen's Company,
Colonel John Waldron's Regiment, General Sullivan's Brigade in
the New Hampshire Brigade at Charlestown, Ma. He then enlisted a
third time in June 1778 at Methuen, Ma., joining Captain Samuel
Carr's Company, Col. James Weston's Regiment, in General Lerned's
Brigade at White Plains, N.Y. and serving for another 9 months.


John Ames
Was a Minuteman under Capt. Asa Parker on April 19th, 1775. He
subsequently enlisted in the Continental Army under Captain Oliver
Parker, Col. William Prescott's Regiment and in the Brigade that
was commanded in turn by Generals Putnam, Lee, and Washington.
and served for 8 1/2 months.


Asa Barrows
 A member of the militia from Middleborough , Ma. (south of
Boston) in the Company of Captain Joshua Benson, in Colonel
Cotton's Regiment, and General William Heath's Brigade for
8 months during the siege of  Boston.  In December 1776 he
joined a militia Company  commanded by Captain Joshua
Perkins and marched to Barrington, R.I. and was stationed there
for 6 weeks. In July 1780 he again enlisted, this time in a militia
company commanded by Captain Perez Churchill that marched
to Tiverton, R.I.


Moses Coburn
 Moses Coburn got into the War late and by reason of being
"hired by a certain class of men in the then town of Dunstable
to go into the Continental Army in the summer of  1781." When
he reached Phillipsburgh in New York he was placed in Captain
Benjamin Pike's Company, in the Regiment of the Massachusetts
line commanded by Lt. Colonel Calvin Smith in which he served
for nearly two years until it was broken up. He then transferred to
the Company of Judah Alden in the Regiment commanded by
Colonel Sprouts until his discharge in 1783.


Samuel Haskell
Samuel served in Captain Joseph Elliott's Company in Colonel
William Turner's Regiment and then under Captain Hezekiah
Whitney in Colonel Josiah Whitney's Regiment.


Amos Hastings
Amos  responded to the Lexington Alarm as part of Captain
Richard Ayer's Company and Colonel William Johnson's Regiment.
He later served in Captain Timothy Eaton's Company in Colonel
Edward Wigglesworth's Regiment and was at the taking of  the
British General Burgoyne at Ticonderoga.



Elisha Houghton
Enlisted at Harvard Ma as a Private in May of 1777in the
Massachusetts militia and was at the Battles of Bunker Hill
and Stillwater. He then enlisted for three years in the infantry
company commanded by Captain  Joshua Brown in Colonel
Timothy Bigelow's 15th Regiment of the Massachusetts line.
and took part in the Battles of Monmouth and Newport and was
at Valley Forge. He twice was promoted to Sergeant and  twice
was busted down to the ranks.


Amos Upton
Responded to the Lexington Alarm and marched there from his
home in Reading. He later joined the militia company commanded
by Captain Asa Prince as an orderly sergeant and then enlisted
for eight months in the Continental Army under Colonel Mansfield
He was at the Battle of Bunker Hill and was discharged in October
of 1775.


John Griffith
Enlisted in 1781 as a Matross (he swabbed out the barrel of the
cannons after they fired, or so I've been told) in Captain William
Treadwell's Company  in Colonel John Crane's Artillery Regiment.



Reuben Packard
A Sergeant in Captain Josiah Hayden's Company in Colonel Bailey's
militia. They marched to Lexington at news of the Alarm. He also
responded several more times as a Minuteman for a total of nearly
8 months duty.


Jonathan Abbot
Served as a Sergeant in the Militia under Captain Henry Abbott
and responded to the Lexington Alarm

Besides those direct ancestors, these other relatives fought
in the Revolution:

Moses Barrows, brother to Asa Barrows.

Samuel, Jesse, and Benjamin Barker, sons of Jonathan Barker,
Jr. and brothers to Jonathan Barker 3rd.

James Swan, brother in law to Jonathan Barker 3rd.

THE 1940 U.S. CENSUS: THE WHITES

I'd been looking forward to the release of the 1940 Federal Census for
some time now because I had some questions that needed answers on
my Mom's side of the family. As I've written here before, her parents had
divorced when she was quite young and there pretty much was no contact
with her father or his family afterward. I've since made contact with my
half-uncle, his son by his second marriage, but knew very little about the
lives of my grandfather's siblings. I didn't even know the dates of his
parents' deaths. So I hoped the 1940 Census would fill in some blanks on
the family tree.

According to the 1930 Census, my great grandparents Edward J White and
Pauline(Offinger)White were living at 172 Florence St  in Boston, Ma. Living
with them were their youngest daughter Esther, 16years old, and their 20
year old daughter Ruth (White) Fitzgerald with her husband Albert and their
daughter Ruth. My great grandfather was  56 and working as a teamster for
the city of Boston. Alfred was a housepainter by trade.

I used the ED number from 1930 to find Florence St on the 1940 Census but
when I did, there had been changes. My great grandparents were no longer
living there, and my grandaunt's family(now with four children) were
living at a different building on Florence St. So I turned to  the Boston City
Directories. I tried the one for 1940 first and couldn't find my greatgrandfather.
But I did find Pauline listed as a widow renting on Wood Avenue in the
Mattapan neighborhood of Boston. Using that information I was able to
locate her on the 1940 Census. She was listed as "mother-in-law" living
with another daughter, Elizabeth, who had married a Boston policeman
named Guido Biaggi. There were three granddaughters, Elizabeth, Doris,
and Paula, ages 16, 14, and 6 respectively. I hadn't known about the Biaggi
family at all before now. Pauline was now widowed, but I couldn't find any
record of my great grandfather's death.

Ironically, when I did find it, I was trying to locate my grandfather in the 1940
directory. My grandfather was Edward F. White; my great grandfather was
Edward J. White. I found them both on page 2270. My grandfather was living
at 51 Burrell St in the Roxbury neighborhood, but the entry for Edward J White
said he'd died on 2Sep 1939.

So I've found more White family relations. I still haven't found my grandfather
on the new Census and there are more siblings to track down, but it's a start!

"IN SUNSHINE OR IN SHADOW" 7

I've had no success finding anything online on the accidental death of the other
John McFarland  on May 24th 1888. I'll try to get into Boston sometime in the
next few weeks to check the newspaper archives at the main branch Boston
Public Library for other newspapers other than the Boston Globe. There were
around six newspapers in Boston at the time and  one of them must have carried
the story even if the Globe hadn't.

The account of great granduncle Frank McFarland's death in the trench cave-in
posed a few questions for me. The story mentions his two brothers arrival at the
scene. Was it actually  the two John McFarlands or did my great grandfather John
have another brother here in Boston I didn't know about? Were the two elderly
parents who Frank supported here as well or still back home in Ireland?

I can make what I think is a valid assumption as to one effect of Frank McFarland's
death: my great grandparents had to move. From a street directory I know that
great grandfather John and family lived in a house at 37 Coventry Street in Boston.
Frank's address on his death record was the same. A few months after his death,
my granduncle Frank(who taught me how to make tomato and mayonaise
sandwiches when I was a kid)was born at home on 24Nov, 1886. I'm pretty
sure he was named after his deceased uncle.More important is the fact
that the family was now living at  171 Vernon Street. I think Frank had
been contributing to the rent of the house on Coventry Street and with
his death the family could no longer afford to live there so they had
moved.

This made me wonder.....

So I went looking at earier Boston City Directories to see if Frank had been living
with my great grandparents at the first address I knew about, 44 Berlin St in 1883.
I found them, along with the "other John" and then a surprise, a fourth McFarland,
Terrance McFarland. Could this be the other brother mentioned in the newspaper
article? It looks like he moved out on his own when my great grandparents moved
to 171 Vernon St  but in 1894 he was back with them at 9 Albert St in 1894. In
1895 he had moved out on his own again and lived on Burke St.

Next I tried searching FamilySearch and ran into a bit of frustration. I found a listing
for Terrence in the Massachusetts, Deaths 1841-1915 file that said his parents'
names were Michael and Dorothy which matched my great grandfather's parents
as Frank's had. But when I looked a the image, half the record was missing! I
checked the previous image and the next image and it looks like the odd
numbered page images are missing for that year! At any rate, it told me
Terrence was a widower who'd died  on 1Sep 1915 and that he'd lived at
938 Parker St. That pretty much clinched it for me that Terrence was the
older brother of my great grandfather  John since John lived on Parker St
from at least 1910 until his own death  in 1923.

A death notice in the Boston Globe for 2Sept 1915 told me Terrence had a
wife named Ann (Gerone) McFarland. A look at the 1900 Census for their
household at 938 Parker St revealed they'd been married 33 years in 1900
so the marriage had taken place in 1866 or 1867. In the 1910 Census it
indicates Ann had four children all of whom had survived to adulthood.
Two daughters lived with them, Kate and Mary, and Mary had been born in
Scotland. That ties in again with my great grandparents who had met and
married in Scotland. There was a Michael McFarland living in the same
house on Parker St who was also born in Scotland. He probably is the
son who reported Terrence's death.

Cousin Chris Markunas had told me there was a listing of Boston City
Employees on the Boston Public Library website. I checked there and
found my great grandfather as a laborer for the Sewer Department in
1905 and paid $2.25 a day. Terrence was also a Sewer Dept. employee,
a pipe layer paid the same amount.

Given all this, I'm convinced that Terrence McFarland is another great
granduncle and the other brother who broke down and wept with my
great grandfather John at the death of their brother Frank.

To be continued 

"IN SUNSHINE OR IN SHADOW" 6

I wanted to see if I could find a newspaper account of the death of either
my great granduncle Frank McFarland or the other John McFarland
buried with my great grandfather John. I checked the local libraries 
websites to see how far back their newspaper archives went but
neither had Boston newspapers from the 1880s. Then I tried the
largest nearby city library in Quincy but had no luck there either.
I resigned myself to a trip into the Main Branch Public Library
in Boston, then realized tomorrow was Good Friday and they
might be closed early. I didn't want to wait until next week for
the trip.

Then I asked my Facebook genealogy friends which website
might have late 19th century Boston newspapers available
online and got some great suggestions. Among them was
one from Marian Pierre-Louis that I apply for an E-Card
from the Boston Public Library which would give me
access to their online link to archives of the Boston  Daily
Globe from the period. I followed her advice and ten minutes
after submitting my application I was online and found what
I'd hoped to find.

Thanks Marian!


So, here is my transcription of the story in the Boston Daily
Globe on Saturday, August 14th, 1886 with the details of the
terrible accident that took my great granduncle Frank
McFarland's life on the day before which, I just now realized,
was Friday the 13th!  One of his two brothers mentioned
in the report was probably my great grandfather:   

"Dead Under Tons of Land
Frank McFarlane's Living Burial
The Caving Ditch at Brighton And The Struggle for Life
The Successful Search For The Body
-Cunningham's Escape"

The body of Frank McFarlane, who yesterday morning at 10.30 was buried by
the accidental caving in of the sides of a ditch in which he was working, was
discovered last evening at 5.26. He was sent about nine days ago to brace the
sewer ditch on Waverley street, Brighton. On account of the treacherous
character of the soil, which is of a sandy, gravelly nature, a skilful man was
required. Yesterday morning Mr. Grace, who is superintending the construction
of the sewer, spoke to McFarlane about polling braces at the bottom of the
ditch, which was about fifteen feet deep. At first McFarlane thought such
precaution  unnecessary, but finally decided to act upon the suggestion,
and, taking Thomas Cunningham, had begun strengthening the bottom of
the ditch when one of the men above cried:

"Come out, both of you, as quick as you can; the ditch is caving!"

Cunningham immediately ran towards the nearest exit, which was at the
westerly end, and McFarlane, after a moment, started for the opening in the
opposite direction. Cunningham succeeded in making his escape while, as
the result showed, McFarlane was overtaken about half way between the
point from which he started and the exit, and was buried alive beneath
tons of sand and gravel.

All the afternoon a gang of about sixty men, many of them without dinner,
labored hard and earnestly with the faint hope that the braces might have fallen
from both sides and prevented him from being crushed. As the afternoon
wore on and the loose soil continued caving and preventing rapid headway
this hope began to vanish, and at about 5.26, when John Coughlin cried,
"Here he is!" scarcely one of the immense crowd that had gathered expected
to see anything but a lifeless corpse.

At the moment the body was found two men rushed in from the crowd which
had been roped off by the officers, and, in spite of the detaining cries of those
in charge, made straight for the edge of the ditch, crying: "Is his name Mcfarlane?
Is he dead?" They were the two brothers of the victim, and had spent the
afternoon in a wild search among the hospitals and police stations of the city
for their brother, whom they had heard was killed.The grief of these two
strong men, both of whom sat around on the ground and wept like children,
was heartrending.
 
It was almost an hour after the body was discovered that it could be extricated
from the earth and timbers. When this was at length accomplished, and the
body of the unfortunate man was borne in the rough and brawny arms of his
comrades carefully and gently to the ambulance which was in waiting, sobs
and exclamations of pity arose from all sides. The hands were found to be
open with the fingers close together, like those of a man swimming, while
upon the face was a calm look, as if the victim, after a brief struggle with his
hands, had desisted and become resigned to his fate.

The body was conveyed to Station 14, whence it will be removed to 13 Coventry
street, where the unfortunate man lived, Although McFarlane was unmarried
and had no family of his own, he leaves an aged father and mother, to whose
support he was the principal contributor. "


To be continued.

"IN SUNSHINE OR IN SHADOW" 5

Before I conclude this series, I wanted to use GoogleMaps to see if I
could get some pictures of the places the McFarland Family lived in the
late 19th-early 20th century. But that area of Boston has undergone
extensive reclamation over the last 100 years. Berlin Street no longer
exists.

Coventry Street is still there but number 37 is gone:

  
171 Vernon St is now an empty stretch of grass across the street from the
Madison Park Technical High School  Tremont St where the McFarlands
lived for about a year still exists but is gentrified:

Most of the McFarland children were born on Albert St. That area has been
torn down and replaced by a housing development and a recreation park:

Finally, Parker Avenue was where the family finally settled down and owned
several houses. It's been replaced by the Bromley Heath Housing Complex:

So the houses where my great grandparents lived and raised their family are gone.
But it's not the buildings that are important in a family's history.

It's the people who lived inside them.

To be continued.

"IN SUNSHINE OR IN SHADOW" 4

It's been years, decades actually, since the last time I'd been to the McFarland
grave at Mt Benedict. I couldn't remember exactly how many names there
were on the gravestone. I knew my great grandparents' names were on it, along
with my grandaunt Winnie who'd never married and my grandmother Agnes
under her married name Agnes White. Other than that, I didn't know if the
names of the children who'd died in infancy were on the stone nor if they
were even buried there. As you could see from the my cousin Chris Markunas
sent, it was only the four names I remembered.

The Interment Record showed that some but not all of the children were
indeed buried there:

Great Grandfather John McFarland purchased the plot on 23 Aug 1886. At
that time the bodies of children Catherine and John must have been brought
from wherever they'd been previously buried since they had died before the
purchase of the plot. Over the years children Annie, Edward, Sarah and George
joined them in grave #1120. Great grandfather John died in 1923 and great
grandmother Annie in 1945. They are buried in grave 1122. Adult daughters
Winifred and Agnes(my grandmother) lie in grave 1123.

But there are two other adults named on the Interment Record, and while
names themselves were family names, I had no idea who these two men
were. The first was Frank McFarland who was interred on the date the
lot was purchased, 23Aug 1886 at age 31. The second was another John
McFarland  age 26, interred on 24May 1888. Obviously they were related
to my great grandfather but the question was how?

Using the ages and interment dates I searched both Ancestry and FamilySearch
and found the death records for both. These images are from FamilySearch's
Massachusetts Deaths 1841-1915 Collection:

Frank's parents' names are listed as Michael and Dorothy, the same as my great
grandfather. More importantly, his place of residence is given as 37 Coventry
St.. That is where my great grandparents were living when their children Catharine
and John died. I think it's safe to believe that this Frank McFarland was my great
grandfather's brother.

John's parents are Michael and Mary. He was nearly ten years younger than my
great grandfather and not living with him, but he is buried in the family plot, so
I'm guessing he's a nephew or cousin.

Both men died suddenly. John died at Boston City Hospital as the result of an
accident. Frank was killed by the "caving in of an embankment " on Western Ave.
in Boston. I'll have to see if I can find a newspaper account of their deaths.

To be continued....

"IN SUNSHINE OR IN SHADOW" 3

I've had a public family tree on Ancestry.com for eight years now.(I just
looked up when I started there. I can't believe it's been that long!) It's still
very much  a work in progress. There are some folks who don't believe
in sharing their research with others online either on Ancestry or in a
blog. But as I've said many times before here, I'm a big believer in sharing.
After all, what good does it do me to keep all that I've found to myself?
Better to put it out there and share it! By doing it, I've been more than
repaid by the information distant cousins have shared with me after
they've discovered my Ancestry tree or this blog. It's happened
again in the case of my McFarland research.

I was recently contacted on Ancestry by Chris Markunas. Chris is
descended from John and Annie(Kelley)McFarland and is their
great great grandson, His great grandfather was their oldest son
Michael Edward McFarland so we're 2nd cousins 1x removed.
As it happened we finally made contact by phone on Sunday and
talked for over an hour as we discussed what we knew about the
family. Afterward we exchanged documents and pictures via
email and what Chris sent me answered some questions and
raised a few more. Chris has given me permission to post the
 images here.

First, there were copies of the death certificates of John McFarland
and Annie (Kelley) McFarland:

John McFarland's Death Certificate

There is also a picture of the headstone at at their grave at Mt Benedict Cemetery
in Boston:

 
Finally(and here's where the new questions came from) the McFarland Internment
Record card from Mt Benedict Cemetery:

Can you see the items in that last image that raised the new questions?

"IN SUNSHINE OR IN SHADOW" 2

As I said, I'd discovered names of children I hadn't known about
in the family of my maternal great grandparents John and Annie (Kelley)
McFarland. Let's look again at the birth or death records I found at
FamilySearch. The new discoveries are in red:

2Aug 1882 Michael McFarland 44 Berlin St
7May 1884 Mary McFarland 44 Berlin St
Nov 1885 Catharine McFarland 37 Coventry St 
10Dec 1885 Catharine McFarland 37 Coventry St (d. meningitis)
30Jul 1886 John McFarland 37 Coventry St (d Indigestion w/Convulsions)
24Nov 1886 Francis McFarland 171 Vernon St
 6Mar 1888 John McFarland  171 Vernon St
19dec 1889 Robert McFarland 171 Vernon St
17Oct 1891 Joseph McFarland 6 Tremont St
8Sep 1892 Joseph McFarland 5 Albert St (d. marasmus  )
12Jun 1893 Thomas McFarland 5 Albert St
24Mar 1895 Annie McFarland 9 Albert St
18Oct 1896  Annie McFarland 9 Albert St
7Oct 1898   Agnes McFarland 9 Albert St
5Jul 1900 Sara McFarland (no address) (d  diphteria)
20Oct 1900 Winnie McFarland 9 Albert St
8Jun 1903 Margaret McFarland  9 Albert St

But there were other children I knew of that I couldn't find
records for on FamilySearch and I had learned about from 
my cousin John V McFarland.:
Annie McFarland  Mar 1885-7Jun 1887
George McFarland 1Jan 1919-13Jan 1919

Looking over the new list I was struck by how close the  births
were to each other(except for George) and by the recurrence
of some names like John (twice) and Annie(three times). I also
realized that all the new births and dates had fallen between
the U.S.Censuses. The only reason I knew about the first Annie
and George was because of the information my cousin John had
provided to us in a letter years ago.

I'd found birth and death records for some but for others there
were only one or the other. Given the sad condition of the page
with Catherine McFarland's birth record on it, those missing
records may no longer exist:

 

As I said, I was working on this last week. On Saturday I went to the New England
Family History Conference where I heard Michael Brophy's talk on "Genealogical
Materials at the Boston Catholic Diocese". Inspired by that, and by what I had
found at FamilySearch, Saturday night I decided I'd visit the Archdiocese Record
Center. I would also finally send away for the birth certificates of my great
grandparents .

Then Sunday I made contact with another McFarland descendent who would
help provide some answers.

  (to be continued)