JONATHAN PHELPS AMES (1781-1863) OF OXFORD COUNTY, MAINE.

My 4x great grandfather  Jonathan Phelps  Ames was born on 20Apr 1781 in
Groton Ma., the second of the five children of John Ames and Lydia Phelps.
The family moved to Oxford County, Maine  between 1790 and 1810, where
John made his living as a farmer and blacksmith in several towns. It was inone
of those towns, Hartford, Maine, that Jonathan met and married his first wife,
my 4x great grandmother Mary "Polly" Griffith on 6Sep 1807. They were married
twenty seven years and produced ten children, seven boys and three girls.Polly
died in 1834. Three years later Jonathan married Polly's sister Sarah Griffith and
the couple had two more daughters. Jonathan died on 16Dec 1863 at Canton,
Oxford, Maine, at age 82.

I've been lucky with many of my New England lines; they lived in towns that have
had books written about their history and those books have provided me with a lot of information  and stories. But with a few like the Ames and Coburn lines the information
dries up after the families moved north to MaIne, so I piece together what I can with
whatever records and documents I can find online. Recently I found  the 1860 U.S. Federal Census Non-Population Agriculture Schedule for Canton Maine and Jonathan's farm was
one of those enumerated. It gave me a little insight into what his life was like as it was
drawing to a close. Here's a transcript:

Acres of land: Developed-75 acres
Undeveloped-25 acres
Cash value of Farm- 1500 (dollars)
Value of farming Implements and Machinery- 53 (dollars)
Livestock:
Horses-1
Mules and Asses-0
Milch Cows-3
Working Oxen-2
Other cattle-3
Sheep-15
Swine-0
Value of Livestock-280 (dollars)
Wheat, bushels of -0
Rye, bushels of- 5
Indian Corn, bushels of -5
Oats, bushels of-4
Rice, lbs of-0
Tobacco, lbs of-0
Ginned Cotton, bales of 400lbs ea-0
Wool,lbs of-65
Peas and Beans, bushels of-4
Irish Potatoes, bushels of-75
Sweet Potatoes, bushels of-0
Barley, bushels of-0
Buckwheat, bushels of-3
Value of Orchard Products, in dolls.-0
Butter, lbs. of-150
Cheese, lbs of-50
Hay, tons of-20
Clover Seed, bushels of-0
Grass seeds, bushels of-0
Hops, lbs. of-0
Hemp:
Dew Rotted, tons of-0
Water Rotted, tons of-0
Other prepared Hemp-0ItalicFlax, lbs of-0
Flaxseed, bush. of-0
Silk Cocoons, lbs, of-0
Maple Sugar, lbs of-0
Cane Sugar,hhds of 1000 lbs,-0
Molasses, gallons of and from what made-0
Beeswax, lbs. of-0
Honey, lbs.of-0
Value of Homemade Manufacture-0 (dollars)
Value of Slaughtered Animals-58 (dollars)

Looking at this, the first thought that struck me was the livestock. We tend to think
of a farmer using a horse to draw his wagon or plow, but nearly all the records I've
seen of ancestors from this period shows them owning at least two pair of oxen. I
think given the rocky New England terrain and the winter snows oxen did most of the
heavy farm work until modern machinery came along. The horse was probably more
for transportation than work. Also, the number of cows is lower than what we think of
when we think of New England farms, but remember, back then there was no milk
pasteurization yet, no refrigeration to transport large amounts of milk to city dwellers.
"Milch cows" were more valuable for the amount of cheese and butter that could be
made from their milk. So while Jonathan had a total of six cows, he had over twice that
amount, fifteen, in sheep. I checked the rest of the entries for Canton and there were
over 1200 sheep on the farms in town. In 1860 the New England textile mills were in
their heyday and wool would have been in demand to make into clothing.

Then I looked at the crops grown on Jonathan's farm and how much he harvested. For a
farm of its size the amounts are low. Jonathan's son -in-law, my 3x great grandfather
John Cutter West farmed fewer acres than Jonathan, forty acres, and had a harvest of
500 bushels of potatoes compared  to the 75 on Jonathan's farm. In every crop planted
on both farms, the yield at Jonathan's farm was smaller.

I don't think it was because Jonathan was a poor farmer. I think the answer is simply that
he was old, nearly 80! All his sons were gone from the farm: Jonathan Jr. had moved to
Illinois, Ezekiel was in Massachusetts. Generous, Hezekiah and Atwood were running
their own farms, and two sons, Ephraim and Americus, had already died. The regular
1860 Census shows Jonathan and Sarah living on the farm with a Henry and Emily Potter.
I believe Emily is their daughter, although I haven't found a record of her marriage yet.

So for the moment that's all I know about Jonathan Phelp Ames, my 4x great grandfather,
but I'm still hoping to find more!

RALPH EVERETT ELLINWOOD

The westward movement of some members of the Ellinwood?Ellenwood/Ellingwood
family began back in the early 18th century. While my 6x great grandfather Ebenezer
Ellinwood moved north to New Hampshire, his younger brother Thomas moved
westward to Brimfield, Massachusetts. Eventually,one of his descendants would
move even further west, first to Orange County, New York  and then to Rock Creek,
Ohio.

My 4th cousin 4x removed Ralph Everett Ellinwood was born in New York on 28Apr 1838
before his parents moved on to Ohio. He was the eighth out of ten children(seven of
his eight sisters died before age 21)and on 21Sep 1858 he enlisted in the U.S.Army. It
must have been exciting for a twenty year old son of a farmer to be in Company I of the
Eighth Regiment, stationed in the Southwest in New Mexico and Texas. Ralph must
have been a good soldier because he had been promoted to Sergeant by Sept 1860.
He was in Texas when the Civil War broke out and he was taken prisoner by Rebel
forces, then sent to a prison camp on the Saladas River near San Antonio. It
seemed Ralph was out of the War, but he was a very determined young man.

He escaped.

I read about Ralph in Leonard Ellinwood's The Ellinwood (Ellenwood/Ellingwood)
Family 1635-1963 (1963) pp194-198. He simply says that Ralph made his escape
through West Texas to Mexico, then crossed over to Havana, Cuba where the U.S.Consul
arranged passage to New York City. Think about that: he'd just turned twenty-three
when he'd been imprisoned in April and then escaped. He'd already seen and done
more things than many men three times his age!

Ralph reached New York by  October 1861 and reported to Fort Columbus on New
York Harbor and commissioned a second lieutenant in the 2nd Infantry. He joined
the Union Army in Virginia. In letters to his brother ohn, Ralph talks about nearly
being shot by a Rebel sniper just outside of Yorktown in April of 1862, and of some
grueling conditions during a march on Richmond in May. The Union Army was within
25 miles of the capital of Confederacy and Ralph was confident that the war would soon
be over. He writes of going to Mexico with his wife Eugenia after the war's end. By
July he's recovered from dysentery and been promoted to first lieutenant of Company
C.

Then on 30Aug 1862 the 2nd Infantry took part at the Second Battle of Bull Run. Ralph
was wounded in the right ankle and evemually was taken to an hopital at Alexandria, Va.
Although the wound hadn't seemed serious at first, it soon worsened. He died on 25Sep
1862. The term used for the cause of death on the Union Army record I found on Ancestry
was "vulnus sclopet", a shortening of "vulnus slopeticum", a fancy Latin term for "gunshot
wound". But what really killed him was infection and Ralph's own fear of amputation. A
fellow officer wrote to Ralph's brother John and told him that Ralph "had a horror of being
a cripple and often in conversation had expressed himself to this extent, that if he was 
ever was wounded that death was preferable to being a cripple for life."

Ralph Everett Ellinwood died with the rank of Brevet Captain, a battlefield promotion
at Second Bull Run. He'd risen from the rank of private to captain in just four years from
his enlistment date.

He was just twenty four years old.

MY SNOWSHOE SOLDIER ANCESTORS PT5

This is the final part of Rev.Wilson Waters'  listing of men who served as "snowshoe soldiers"
under William Tyng. I found it in his History of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, pp139-143. Two
of the men in this part are related to me and their names are in boldfaced italics. My
comments explaining how we are related is in red italics.


45. Judge John Tyng, son of Major William and Lucy (Clarke) Tyng, born in Chelmsford, January 28, 1704-5, and graduated from Harvard University in 1725. He lived in Tyngsboro', where he died in 1797, aged ninety-two years. He was a colonel of the militia, a representative of Dunstable, Mass., which then included Tyngsboro', and speaker of the house. He was a delegate to the convention at Boston, in 1768, "for the preservation of the public peace and safety," and a delegate to the Provincial Congress, which assembled at Cambridge and Watertown in 1775, but he is best known as a judge of the courts of Middlesex county, which office he held many years.

46. Col. Eleazer Tyng, Dunstable, son of Col. Jonathan and Sarah (Usher) Tyng, was born in the part of Dunstable now called Tyngsboro', April 30,1690, and graduated at Harvard University in 1712. He was a magistrate and a colonel; an active and useful man. He was buried in the Tyng burial ground, about one mile below Tyngsboro' Village. Upon a broad, horizontal tablet is" inscribed, "Underneath are entombed the remains of Eleazer Tyng, Esq., who died May 21, 1782, aged 92; Mrs. Sarah Tyng, who died May 23, 1753, aged 59; John Alford Tyng, Esq., who died Sept. 4, 1775, aged 44." John Alford Tyng, Esq., was a son of Colonel Eleazer. Fox's Dunstable is in error in calling him Judge Tyng. The judge, John Tyng, is No. 45.

47. Thomas Colburn, son of Edward Colburn of Chelmsford, was born in 1674. He lived in Dunstable, where he died November 2, 1770. The committee of the General Court were instructed to admit six men who served under Capt. John Loveweil and were omitted in the grants of Pembroke, N. H., and Petersham, Mass. In the same connection there appears in the Massachusetts Archives the petition of Zaccheus Lovewell, Thomas Colburn, Peter Powers, Josiah Cummings, Henry Farwell, Jr., and Nicholas Crosby, alleging that they served against the Indian enemy under Captain Lovewell, either on his first or second march, and that all the other soldiers of Captain Lovewell's companies have been rewarded in grants of land. Thomas Colburn appears to have been the only one of the six petitioners who was made a grantee of Tyngstown.
((My 7x great granduncle))

48. John Colburn, Dunstable, son of John and grandson of Edward Colburn, was born in Dunstable. John, the father died December 1, 1700, and John, the son, was the representative of his grandfather, Edward Colburn of Chelmsford, who was killed in an ambuscade in King Philip's war.
((A cousin. His grandfather Edward was a brother to the above Thomas Colburn and to my 7x
great grandfather Joseph Colburn))
 
51. Jonas Clark, Esq., Chelmsford, son of Rev. Thomas Clark of Chelmsford, was born December 20, 1684. He was a colonel and a magistrate. Several meetings of the proprietors of Tyngstown were held at his house in Chelmsford. He died April 8, 1770. His sister, Lucy or Lucia, was the wife of Major William Tyng, and his sister Elizabeth married Rev. John Hancock of Lexington, and was grandmother of Gov. John Hancock, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

53. Thomas Parker and William Reed. In a description of lands belonging to this right, the first name is written "Rev. Mr. Thomas Parker." He was a son of Josiah Parker of Groton, Woburn and Cambridge, and he was born in Cambridge, December 7, 1700. He graduated from Harvard University in 1718. At nineteen years of age he was ordained and installed over the church in Dracut early in 1720, and there labored and preached until his death, March 18, 1765. He attended several of the meetings of the proprietors, and was moderator of one or more meetings.

This concludes my series of posts about the "snowshoes soldiers". I'm glad that I was able to find
relatives among them thanks to Google Books, and I hope that by posting all the names here someone else will discover their "snowshoe soldiers" ancestors as well.

MY SNOWSHOE SOLDIER ANCESTORS PT4

This is the second part of Rev. Wilson Waters' partial list of the men who served as
"snowshoe soldiers" under the command of William Tyng. Again, the names of
those I am related to are highlighted in boldface italics and my comments in red
italics. I had originally intended to post this in two parts, but because of the length
of the list there will be a third: 


27. Peter Talbot [or Talbird], Chelmsford, was an emigrant from England. He lived several years in Dorchester, but at the time of his service in the snow-shoe company, under Capt. William Tyng, he was a resident of Chelmsford. At that time he must have been fully fifty years of age. His right in the township was given to his son, George Talbot, who lived several years in Stoughton.

28. Stephen Keyes, Chelmsford. There is no record of his birth and it has been thought that he probably was a son of Elias Keyes of Sudbury. He received land in Chelmsford in the right of Solomon Keyes, and it is possible he was a son of Solomon and Frances (Grant) Keyes. He was married March 7, 1706, by Jonathan Tyng, Esq., to Anna Robbins. He died in Chelmsford, February 6, 1714.

29. Benoni Perham, Chelmsford, lived in Chelmsford. He was living in 1722 and died a short time after that date [1723]. His son, Samuel, represented his interest in the grant of Tyngstown.

32. Josiah Richardson, Chelmsford, son of Capt. Josiah and Remembrance (Underwood) Richardson, was born in Chelmsford May 18,1665. He was a town clerk and selectman of Chelmsford, where he died October 17, 1711. His wife was a daughter of Deacon John Blanchard.

36. Henry Farwell, son of Henry Farwell of Chelmsford. Mass., was born about 1665. He was one of the early settlers of Dunstable. In the later years of Queen Anne's war his house was one of the seven garrisons in Dunstable. His son, Oliver was one of the victims of the Indian ambush at Naticook, September 5, 1724. His son, Josiah, was a lieutenant in Captain Lovewell's Company, and was killed by the Indians in the fight at Pigwacket, May 8, 1725.

38. John Richardson, Chelmsford, son of Capt. Josiah and Remembrance (Underwood) Richardson, was a brother of No. 32. Josiah Richardson was born in Chelmsford, February 14, 1669-70, where he died September 13, 1746.

40. Ephraim Hildreth, Chelmsford, removed from Chelmsford to Dracut in 1712, and there died September 26, 1740. He was town clerk of Dracut, a major of the militia, and an active man in town and business affairs. He was one of the proprietors of Concord and an influential factor among the proprietors of Tyngstown. At one time he was the owner of the saw-mill.
((My 8x great granduncle. His sister Elizabeth (Hildreth) Stevens is my  ancestor))

41. Samuel Chamberlain, Chelmsford, son of Thomas and Sarah (Proctor) Chamberlain, was born in Chelmsford, January 11, 1679. He was a prominent citizen and styled Capt. Samuel Chamberlain in Chelmsford records. He died April 12, 1767. There was a Samuel Chamberlain of about the same age, a son of Samuel and Elizabeth Chamberlain, who was styled in Chelmsford records Lieut. Samuel Chamberlain. The Tyngstown proprietors' records call the grantee Capt. Samuel Chamberlain, which makes it reasonably certain that the Samuel first named was the soldier and grantee.
((My 7x great granduncle. His sister Elizabeth is my ancestor)) 


42. Stephen Pierce, Chelmsford, son of Stephen and Tabitha (Parker) Pierce and grandson of Thomas Pierce of Woburn, was born in Chelmsford in 1678. He lived in Chelmsford and was the owner of many acres of land. He died September 9, 1749This Stephen Pierce was the grandfather of Gov. Benjamin Pierce of Hillsborough, who was the father of President Franklin Pierce.
((A cousin))

43. Timothy Spalding, Chelmsford, son of John and Hanna (Hale) Spalding, was born about 1676. He lived in the part of Chelmsford now Westford, where he died April 14, 1763. He was a brother of No. 13.
((A cousin.His father is my 7x great granduncle))

44. Paul Fletcher, Chelmsford, was the son of Joshua. His father was twice married: First, in 1668, to Gussies Jewell; second, in 1682, to Sarah Willey. I cannot state which of the wives was the mother of Paul. The Fletcher genealogy states that Paul Fletcher was a snow-shoe man in 1724. The date is an error.

MY SNOWSHOE SOLDIER ANCESTORS PT3

My task of identifying possible relatives among William Tyng's "snowshoe soldiers"
was helped a bit by Rev.Wilson Waters section on them in his History of Chelmsford,
Massachusetts, in which he gives a bit of family background of some of the soldiers.
I'm posting his list in its entirety in two parts. Those soldiers I believe am related are
in boldface and I've put my comments in red. Here's part 1 of Waters' list:    

1. John Shepley, son of John, was born in Chelmsford, Mass., in 1677. A few years
later the family removed to Groton, Mass., where the father, mother and all the
children except John were killed by the Indians, July 27, 1694. John, then seventeen
years of age, was carried into captivity where he remained three and one-half years,
when he returned to Groton. In memory of the massacre of his kindred, undoubtedly
he was a willing recruit in Captain Tyng's company. Subsequently he was prominent
in the town and church affairs of Groton. He was a representative nine years. He died
September 14, 1736. Among his descendants is the late Ether Shepley, a former
United States Senator and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Maine.

2. Joseph Parker, Groton, son of Capt. Joseph and Margaret Parker, was born in
Chelmsford, March 30, 1653. The family removed to Dunstable in 1675, where Joseph, Sr.,
was a constable seven years. Joseph, Jr., had considerable experience in Indian warfare.
He removed from Dunstable to Groton and there died about 1725, leaving a large estate.
((Related by marriage, I think.))

10. Joseph Perham, Groton, son of John and Lydia (Shepley) Perham, was born in Chelmsford, December 22, 1669. He lived in Dunstable and, by revision of town lines, in Nottingham
West, now Hudson. At the time of his service in Captain Tyng's company he was a resident
of Groton.

11. Joseph Butterfield, Dunstable, son of Joseph and Lydia (Ballard) Butterfield, was born in Chelmsford, June 6, 1680. He removed early in life to Dunstable, living in the section of the town now Tyngsborough, where he died in 1757. His daughter, Deborah, was the wife of Col. Samuel Moor of Litchfield.
((Both a Ballard & Butterfield cousin. His parents are my 8x great granduncle & grandaunt.))

12. John Spalding, Chelmsford, son of Andrew and Hannah (Jefts) Spalding, was born August 20, 1682. He lived through life in Chelmsford. He died March 7, 1760.
((My 6x great grandfather))

13. John Spalding, Jr., Chelmsford, son of John and Hannah (Hale) Spalding, was born in Chelmsford, February 15, 1659. Late in life he removed to Plainfield, Conn. His son, Samuel, born August 5, 1686, represented his father's interests in Tyngstown.
((I have my ancestor John Spaulding married to a Mary Barrett. This is probably a cousin.))

14. Henry Spalding, Chelmsford, son of Andrew and Hannah (Jefts) Spalding, was born November 2, 1680. He was a brother of No. 12. He married a daughter of Thomas Lund, Sr.
((My 6x great granduncle))

16. Ebenezer Spalding, Chelmsford, son of Lieut. Edward and Margaret (Barrett) Spalding, was born January 13, 1683. He lived in Chelmsford and later in Nottingham West, now Hudson.
((A cousin))

17. Samuel Davis, Groton, son of Samuel and Mary Davis, was born in Groton, January 8, 1669-70. He removed from Groton to Chelmsford in 1707. Many of his descendants have resided in New Hampshire.
((Possibly a cousin))

22. Nathaniel Butterfield, Chelmsford, son of Nathaniel and Deborah (Underwood) Butterfield, was born about 1676 [1673]. He lived in Chelmsford, where he died in 1749.
((A cousin. His father is my 8x  great great granduncle))

23. Jonathan Butterfield, Chelmsford, was probably a son of Nathaniel and Deborah (Underwood) Butterfield, and a brother of No. 22.
((Same as above))

26. Jonathan Parker, Chelmsford, son of John and Mary Parker, was born in Chelmsford, January 2, 1683. His right appears to have been improved by Thomas Parker. I do not find that he had a son Thomas but he had a brother of that name.
((Another possible cousin by marriage,))

To be continued.

MY SNOWSHOE SOLDIER ANCESTORS PT2

It took me a few days to find the roster of men who served under  William
Tyng. I started a Google search for the Granite State Magazine Vol 1 mentioned
by Wilson Waters but couldn't  find it at first, and when I did, it didn't have the
list. Finally I changed the Google Search to "Granite State Magazine" + "William
Tyng"  and found it. It was in Volume 5, not 1, and  it was part of a text of a speech
entitled "The Snow-Shoe Scouts" given by George Waldo Browne before the
Manchester Historic Association. (Browne was a historian and novelist whose
novels were based in New England history and melodramatic in the style of the
ate 19th and early 20th century.) I immediately recognized some of the last names
as names on my family tree. First, here's the list, with the name of the towns where
the soldiers lived in boldface, and men who I thought could be my relatives in boldface
italics:

Chelmsford
John Shepley
Peter Talbird
Josiah Richardson
Saml. Chamberlain
Ebner. Spaulding
Henry Farwell
John Spaulding
Jona. Butterfield
Stephen Keyes
Timothy Spaulding
John Spaulding, Jr.
Benony Perham
John Richardson
Paul Fletcher
Nathaniel Butterfield
Stephen Pierce
Henry Spaulding
Jonathan Parker
Ephraim Hildreth Groton
Nathaniel Woods
William Longley
Jonathan Page
Joseph Parker
Nathl. Blood
Thos. Tarble.
Richard Warner
Saml. Davis
Joseph Guilson
Joseph Perham
Joseph Lakin
James Blanchard
William Whitney
Eleazer Parker
Saml. Woods
John Longley
John Holden Dunstable
Thomas Lund
Joseph Blanchard
Joseph Butterfield
John Cumings
Thomas Cumings Billerica
John Hunt
Jonathan Hill
Jonathan Richards
- Granite State Magazine Vol5 p14-15



Out of forty four men under the command of William Tyng, there were eighteen
with last names on my family tree.

Now the question was how might these men be related to me?

To be continued.

MY SNOWSHOE SOLDIER ANCESTORS PT1

I've been lucky finding information about a good number of my colonial
New England citizens but there are a few family lines where I haven't been
as fortunate. One of those are my Butterfield ancestors who lived in the
Middlesex County, Massachusetts  towns of Chelmsford and Dunstable. So
last week I was Googling the Butterfield name in conjunction with the town
Chelmsford and came across a surprising bit of information: some of my Butterfield
and Spalding relatives had been "snowshoe soldiers".

I'd run across references to the snowshoe soldiers before; they were militiamen
who'd adopted Native American methods in their fighting with the local tribes.
Benjamin Church had set the precedent back during King Philip's War. Historian
Wilson Waters gives this account of their creation in his History of Chelmsford :

"QUEEN ANNE'S WAR.
This war began in 1702 when England declared war against France and Spain. The
French had the sympathy of the New England Indians, who made constant vigilence 
necessary in the frontier settlements to guard against raids and massacres. "For
the first time the Indians were well armed and guided by a superior intelligence."
The war ended in 1713 by the treaty of Utrecht. Newfoundland and Acadia came
into the possession of England, whose prestige was strengthened in North America.

1702. November 19. A bill was passed providing snowshoes for the men of the frontier
towns at the charge of the Province. The Indians were more active and troublesome
in the winter, and companies were organized for service upon the snow. William Tyng 
commanded the first Massachusetts company, and received for services from December
28 to January 25, 1703-4, £71. 11.0, 25 shillings of which was paid to a "chyrugion." The 
company brought back five scalps and received as bounty £200. In the Granite State  
Magazine, Vol. I, is a list, with personal sketches, of forty-four men in this company,
who, in 1735, with sixteen others named, were the grantees of Tyngstown, which 
included the greater part of the present Manchester, N. H. The adjustment of the 
province line in 1741 voided this charter, and Massachusetts gave the grantees the 
township now Wilton, Maine." (p138-139)History of Chelmsford, Massachusetts 
(Google eBook)  Wilson Waters, Courier-Citizen Company, Lowell, Ma. 1917

Another well known New England historian, Samuel Adams Drake, gave more details of
some of the combat. The "Old Harry" he mentions was the name the colonists gave an
enemy whose Indian name actually was "Black Plume":

"In the winter of 1703 Captain William Tyng, commanding a company of "snow-shoe men," 
made a successful expedition to the headquarters of "Old Harry," near Lake Winnipiseogee.
They succeeded in killing six of the enemy, among whom was the traitor, " Old Harry himself," 
who had led the assaults on Dunstable. For this act of bravery the General Court subsequently 
granted to the heirs of those composing this company a tract of land, at first called "Old Harry's 
Town," then Tyngstown, and afterwards Manchester.

In the winter following, Captain John Tyng, with another company, made an expedition to 
Pequawkett, or Pigwacket, and took five Indian scalps, for which they received £200. In 1710 
the gallant commander of this company was mortally wounded by the Indians between Concord 
and Groton, and was buried, August 18, at the former place. The celebrated Joe English, 
grandson of Masconomo, sagamore of Ipswich, was shot by the Indians, near Holden's Brook, 
in what is now Tyngsborough, on the 27th of July, 1706. He was acting as a guard to Captain Butterfield and wife, who were travelling on horseback. Killing the horse and taking Mrs. 
Butterfield captive, the Indians then pursued Joe English, firing at him and wounding him 
while attempting to shelter  himself behind a clump of trees. To escape the torture of the 
savages, he insulted them with taunting words, when they at once despatched him with their tomahawks. His widow "and his two children received a grant of money from the government, because "he died in the service of his country." "
History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts: Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of
Every City and Town in the County, Volume 2 (Google eBook), Samuel Adams Drake 
Estes and Lauriat, Boston Ma. 1880 p393




I'll discuss what I've been able to discover so far about my snowshoe soldier ancestors.

To be continued  

A REMINDER ABOUT THE THIRD AMERICAN CIVIL WAR CHALLENGE DEADLINE.

Just a reminder, there's only a week left to the deadline for submissions
to the Third American Civil War Challenge.
  
This is how you can participate:



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 of color who enlisted
to fight?

If your ancestors had not emigrated to America as yet, what was their life
like around the time of the Civil War?

The 150 year celebration of the Civil War is a great source for those of us
blogging about our family history. So, let's do a little research over the coming
weeks between now and April 30th . Find out the answers to the questions
I asked and write about them. Or if you think of another topic to do with your
family history and the Civil War, write about that. Send me the link when you
publish it on your blog, and on May 6th I'll publish all the links here.

I'm looking forward to some interesting blogposts!

AMOS UPTON OF NORWAY MAINE PT4

My 5x  great grandfather Amos Upton had a good memory for a 90 year old
man when he applied for his Revolutionary War Veteran's Pension in August
of 1832 but unfortunately that was all he had with which to make his case. His
friends who had witnessed his service were all dead so they could not testify
in his behalf, nor did he have any documents he could produce as proof, either.
His statement was termed   "traditionary evidence" on the brief filed with his
application. Now according to Black's Law Dictionary, traditionary evidence is
"Evidence derived from tradition or reputation or the statements formerly
made by persons since deceased." Amos was not dead, but the term was the
closest to his defining statement. The next step was an inquiry into the
military records of Massachusetts where Amos had been living during the
Revolution. The answer came back in  April 1833 and it was not good news:



 "Boston Sec. Office, April 24, 1833
 Thomas Clark, Esq.
Sir-
I send you a certificate of all that can be found as (pertains?) the service of
John Lombard. Amos Upton I do not find at all. There is one Roll of Capt.
Asa Prince's company, but Upton's name is not on it.
Yours,
Edward S (Bangsby?)"

But Amos didn't give up. The rely had been written on April 24th and most have
taken two or three days to get from Boston up to Norway in Western Maine. A
few days after that, Amos reapplied for hs pension:

"State of Maine, Oxford SS May 1, 1833. Personally appeared before me, the
undersigned, a Justice of the Peace, in and for the county of Oxford, Amos
Upton who, being duly sworn, deposeth and saith, that by reason of old age,
and the consequent  loss of memory, he cannot swear positively as to the
precise length of his service , but according to the best of his recollection
he served not less than the period mentioned below, and in the following
grade: viz. For six months I served as a sergeant and for such service I
claim a pension.
Amos Upton."

There's none of the names of officers Amos mentioned in his first application.
His signature looks shaky and the "t" in Upton looks as if he forgot it and had
to add it after the original signature. Looking at this statement, with even less
information than on his already rejected first application, it's hard to think that
Amos would have any success this time around. But he did. I believe that someone
in  the Massachusetts state government finally found the records for this entry in
Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution:

"Volume 16  
page 226
Upton, Amos, Reading.List dated Reading, 2d Parish, May 15, 1775, of men who 
enlisted under Capt. Asa Prince, of Danvers, as returned by Capt. John Flint to Col. 
David Green; also, Sergeant, Capt. Prince's co., Col. Mansfield's regt.; order for 
advance pay, signed by said Upton and others, dated Cambridge, June 8, 1775; also, 
Capt. Prince's co., Col. John Mansfield's (19th) regt. commanded by Lieut. Col. 
Israel Hutchinson; company return dated Oct. 6, 1775."

A certificate of pension was issued on August 2 1833.  Amos Upton was to receive $30
a year, a good amount of money in those days, beginning the following year of 1834. But
he also received $75  immediately, $60 of which was in arrears.

Amos lived for another five years, finally passing away at the age of  95 on 3Apr 1838.
He had been probably the last surviving Revolutionary War veteran in Norway, Maine.

PATRIOTS DAY, 2013

Today Massachusetts celebrates  the Battles of Concord and
Lexington.and in remembrance of that event I'm once more
posting the names of my Revolutionary War ancestors.Some of
them were Minute Men who responded to the alarm that day. 

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.

AMOS UPTON OF NORWAY MAINE PT3

When my 5x great grandfather Amos Upton appeared in court in August 1832
to make application for his veteran benefits, he was two months short of his
90th birthday.His contemporaries, the men he had served with and those with
whom he had helped build the town of Norway, Maine were all dead. Despite
whatever physical weaknesses old age might have given him, it doesn't seem
to have lessened his memory as his statement shows:


STATE OF MAINE
County of Oxford SS.
ON this 25th day of August A.D. 1832, personally appeared in open
Court, before the Court of Probate, now sitting, Amos
Upton a resident of Norway, in the county of Oxford
and State of Maine, aged 90 years, who being first duly sworn according to law,
doth, on his oath, make the following declaration, in order to obtain the benefit of the
act of Congress, passed June 7, 1832. That he entered the service of the United States
under the following named officers, and served as herein stated.

On the 19th day of April 1775, on the alarm given of the enemie's being at Lexington,
he marched from his then residence, in Reading in Massachusetts, as a volunteer
with others to Lexington, and soon after joined a company of Massachusetts Militia,
commanded by Captain Asa Prince, was appointed an orderly sargeant, and
enlisted into the service of the U.S. in said company in the regiment commanded by
Col.Mansfield, for the term of eight months, with orders to enlist others- and he
accordingly enlisted Stephen Curtis, late of said Norway, a pensioner now deceased-
& Job Bancroft likewise deceased- he marched to cambridege near Boston, where he
was stationed, he was at the battle of Bunker hill on the 17th day of June 1775, he
well recollects  among many other officers at Cambridge, Gen Heath, Col.Ward, &
Gen. Putnam.  He served till about the last of October following, at which  time he
was under the necessity of returning to Reading, and with the consent of his officer,
he gave a young man whose name he does not now recollect, his gun and equipments
to take his place as a substitute, and was thereupon verbally discharged from the
service. He has no documentary evidence to prove his service, & and he knows of no
person whose testimony he can procure, who can testify to his service.  He was born in
the North parish in said Reading on the 30th day of October in the year 1742 and has
a record of his age in his family bible, made by his father. He resided at said Reading
when he entered the service, and removed from thence to Norway aforesaid his
present residence forty one years ago. He is the oldest inhabitant of the town in
which he resides and is personally known by the principal inhabitants- and here
names the Rev. Henry A.  Merrill and David Noyes, Esquire, likewise the selectmen
of said town of Norway all of whom can testify to his character for veracity and their
belief of his services as a soldier of the revolution.
He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the
present and declares that his name is not on the pension roll of the agency of any
State.
Sworn to, and subscribed, the day and year aforesaid.
Amos Upton
Before Stephen Emory, Judge

So Amos didn't have anyone nearby who could testify for the veracity of his statement
of service and looking through the rest of the file there is no collaborating documents,
either. Would he be awarded his pension?

To be continued.

AMOS UPTON OF NORWAY MAINE PT2

More stories about my 5x great grandfather Amos Upton from the book
The History of Norway [Me.]: Comprising a Minute Account of Its First Settlement,
Town Officers, Interspersed with Historical Sketches, Narrative and Anecdote
(Google eBook) by David Noyes.

I think this is my favorite story about Amos: his cure for being struck unconscious
by lightning:

"Previous to 1800, Amos Upton had built a large one-story house, and in January
of that year Ward Noyes moved from Andover, Mass., into Mr. Upton's house,
and lived there until the next fall. In July there was a terrific tempest of lightning,
thunder, rain and wind. The house was struck by lightning at the easterly end of
the ridge-pole; the electric fluid ran down the rafter and other timbers, and went
almost over the whole house. Seven persons were knocked down by the shock,
and Ward Noyes was insensible for a long time; probably he never would have
recovered had it not been for the application of cold water, which by Mr. Upton's
direction was poured upon him by pail full—he having, a short time previous,
seen in a newspaper an account of its efficacy. Large spaces of thick forest were
prostrated by this wind, and considerable damage done otherwise."-p41

Our pioneer ancestors often worked at various professions to earn a living. Besides
being a blacksmith and carpenter, Amos was a miller. His carpentry skills  came in
handy here as well:

"In 1801, Amos Upton built a grist-mill on a brook .about three-fourths of a mile
westerly of Fuller's Corner. It was rather a rudely constructed thing, as he did almost
all the work himself, even to the making of the mill-stones. His oldest son, Francis
Upton, afterwards owned said mill, and tended it for many years. In the drought of
summer there was not sufficient water to grind; but at other times it did considerable
business, and was a great convenience to the settlers in the northwest part of the town. 
Amos Upton, Jr., another son of Amos Upton, succeeded his brother Francis; he built
a new mill on the same stream, a little above the old one; and did considerable business
in grinding. Jonathan Swift, some twenty-five years age, succeeded Amos Upton, Jr.,
and afterwards built a new mill, which is still in operation."-p44

Finally, in 1802 the citizens of Norway organized a Congregational Church and Amos was
involved in that as well:

"It appears that the church records were to be kept in the house of Amos Upton, who had 
previous to this time built himself a large house for that day, and for many years it was used 
as a place for religious meetings. He was a zealous professor, and spent much time in fitting 
his house with seats to accommodate those who attended meeting on the Sabbath. On Saturday 
afternoon he would bring in blocks and planks, or boards, and arrange seats in his long kitchen, 
in preparation for meeting the next day. Mr. Joseph Martin was a good singer, and understood 
the rules of church psalmody well for that early day. Occasionally a missionary would come 
along, and stop and preach a few Sabbaths with the church and people; and sometimes a 
minister was hired to preach a Sabbath or two, or a month, and once or twice for three months...

...Thus it appears that we were not entirely destitute of the preached word; and when there was 
no minister, the people assembled in Mr. Upton's house, and held what used to be called a 
Deacon's meeting; there would be a sermon read, (the writer has read many in our Sabbath 
meetings,) and prayers offered up by some of the more gifted members of the church, and 
singing, good enough. There were many good singers of the old school method of singing, and 
uncle Jo Martin (as we used to call him) would give us the pitch of the tune with his pitch-pipe, 
and we could make first-rate church melody of such tunes as Old Hundred, St. Martins, Wells, 
&c."- pp75-76

By 1802 Amos was 60 years old, an age far past the average lifespan in that era, but only
two-thirds of the way through his life. Thirty years later, at age 90, he would apply for his
Revolutionary War Veteran Pension.

I'll discuss that next.
  

AMOS UPTON OF NORWAY, MAINE PT1

My 5x great grandfather Amos Upton died on this date at Norway, Maine in 1838
and I wanted to do a blogpost about him. I already have his Revolutionary War
Pension file (which has the best handwriting I've seen so far on a document)
but I also did a Google search to see what else I could find online about him.

There's something about my ancestors named Amos on the Barker side of
my Dad's family. I've done posts about Amos Hastings, Amos Hastings Barker,
and now I've found some interesting stories about Amos Upton. I found them
in the book David Noyes wrote and self-published in 1852, The History of 
Norway [Me.]: Comprising a Minute Account of Its First Settlement, 
Town Officers, Interspersed with Historical Sketches, Narrative and 
Anecdote (Google eBook).

It starts with Amos' arrival in the Norway area from North Reading Massachusetts
where he was born:

"This year Amos Upton came down from Reading, Mass., and felled trees on the
lot south of Fuller's Corner, and moved his family in Sept., 1790." p16


Within a few years Amos was well established there and helping newcomers
as these next two excerpts about the year 1793 show:

"Fuller agreed with Amos Upton, (who was a kind of carpenter, and also partly a
blacksmith) to erect a house and barn for him, early in the spring and summer of
1794, with the intention of moving his family to his new home."  p23


 Apparently there was some delay in the house construction:

"I said that Mr. Fuller moved his- family to his house; but Mr. Upton had not yet
erected the house as Fuller expected; therefore he went into- Mr. Upton's house,
and there remained till late in the fall. After Fuller's arrival, Mr. Upton commenced
in good earnest about the buildings. They went into the woods and cut timber, and
erected a barn in season to put in his grain, and a house as fast as they could. Fuller
procured boards at Rust's mill, and rafted them up to the head of the pond, and then
hauled them up to where they were to be used. The barn was thirty-two feet by fifty,
and the house twenty feet by thirty-eight, and a story and a half high—the largest 
establishment in the Cummings Gore; they got the house so as to move into it, in 
November." p24




In the early days of the settlement,  Amos had another important distinction: he owned
the only horse in the community. This story included his son Francis, who is my 4x
great grandfather : 

"Previous to this time there was but one horse in the Cummings Gore, and that an old
white-faced mare, owned by Amos Upton; and she was used by all the neighbors to
go to mill. They used to lash the bags on to the saddle, a huge, coarse thing made for
that purpose, and let the old mare plod her way along the little pathway. Aaron Wilkins
says (and he knew all about it) she would crook around the trees and rocks very carefully,
so as to avoid hitting the bags against them. Before they had any other practicable
conveyance to Portland, Francis Upton, the oldest son of Amos Upton, went to Portland
with the old mare, and carried a small hog to market, having it laid across the pack saddle,
and strongly lashed on with cords; he went on foot himself, leading or driving the old mare,
and only reached Dudley Pike's the. first day, and put up there that night". p31

LOUISA

My paternal 2x great grandmother Louisa Amata Richardson was born  on 23Jan1837 to Phillip and Esther(Laughton) Richardson at Wilton, Me.  She was one of 16 children, nine of them from Phillip's  marriage to his deceased first wife Eunice Richards. He must have moved from Wilton to Letter B Plantation(later Upton)Maine sometime before 1850 when he is listed on the 1850 Census there as a farmer. It was a small town, and one of the other families there was that of my 3x great grandparents John C and Arvilla (Ames) West and their son Jonathan P. West.

I've written before about how Jonathan's first wife Orpha V. Reynolds died a few months after their marriage during a diphtheria outbreak in 1862 which also took his  brother, two sisters, a nephew and three nieces. all children. I don't know when or how he met Louisa, but I do know they were married on 31Jan 1865. It may have been a difficult situation for Louisa, succeeding a wife who had died so young and suddenly. The marriage seems though to have been a good one and a prosperous one as well. According to material sent me by Norman Mitchell, Jonathan owned two lots of land, and a tract of 37 acres, while Louisa herself  owned land. Jonathan was pretty well off for a farmer, although probably not as wealthy as his brothers Asa and Hiram.

Louisa and Jonathan had three sons, John, Paul, and Philip(my great grandfather).
John became a civil engineer, and Paul and Philip worked in various jobs in the
lumber trade.  They also gave Louisa and Jonathan  twelve grandchildren.
They had been married 52 years when Jonathan died in 1917. Louisa followed
him in 1925.

John & Philip West

Louisa & her son Paul West

Louisa & Jonathan with family & friends.

I believe a marriage that lasted that long has to have been a happy one.

 
.
   

SHARING STORIES

I wasn't able to physically attend  Roots Tech last week, but like many others I
was able to see some of it thanks to the livestream webcasts. (And thank you
to the corporate sponsors and the Roots Tech organizers for making it possible!)
These included the excellent keynote speakers each morning. On the first day,
the three speakers really touched me. They were Dennis Newhall, Syd Liberman,
and D.Joshua Tyalor.  I'm sort of paraphrasing and summarizing here: Genealogy is
more than just  names and dates, it's the stories behind them; that we should
find those stories and once we do, we should share them. That really resonated
with me.

I was lucky when I first started getting serious about climbing my family tree because
I already had some stories. I had my Aunt Dorothy West Bargar's research and her
handwritten account of growing up in Maine during the Depression. I also had
my distant Ellingwood cousin Florence O' Connor's book The Ancestors and
Descendants of Asa Freeman Ellingwood and Florilla (Dunham)Ellingwood which
has all sorts of information and stories on our branch of the Ellingwoods. And
finally there was another book The History of Wilsons Mills and the Magalloway
Settlements which has some pictures of my West relatives and my Granduncle
Clarence's memories of his career as the manager of the Azicoos Dam.

So I already knew that I had Salem Witch ancestors and that 2x great grandfather
Asa Ellingwood was a Civil War veteran and I had some Mayflower ancestors as
well.  As time went on I made more and more use of the internet and made
contact with Barker family cousin Howard Kaepplein who shared his knowledge
of the Barkers'  history with me and West cousin Lewis Wuori who sent me a
treasure trove of West and Richardson family pictures. By now I had discovered
genealogy blogs and had started my own here so I could share with others the
stories and pictures I'd found or that had been given to me. I found out that there
were other bloggers out there who were related to me and again stories and
information were shared. Meanwhile, I posted my research(warts and all) as a
public tree on Ancestry.com. Doing that, and writing this blog, put me in contact
with distant cousins I might not have ever found. More stories and information
were shared.

You know that Ancestry.com tagline that annoyed some of us when they first
started using it, about not needing to know what you are looking for when you
first visit that site? It's true in a way, You do need to know who you are looking
for at the start, along with some essential information like where and when,
but the what is information you find on the censuses and military records and
other documents you discover there and elsewhere. Armed with that and with
effort, patience,and luck you can find the stories behind the information.

Once you find those stories, don't keep them to yourself like some treasure.
Share them, because if you do, you may encounter a few people who will just
take them, but you'll also find others who will share back and become your
friends. That is how the geneablogging community began.

So, to all those who have shared with me, thank you!

ADAM HAWKES AND THE SAUGUS IRON WORKS PT3

Despite the testimony given about the damage done farmland and the bridge
by the overflow from the dam, the jury found in favor of the Iron Works. There
are two reasons why the jurors might have made this decision. The first and
less sinister reason could have been that they felt the company had been fair
with my ancestor Adam Hawkes in their previous settlements and that Adam
was too eager to go to court every time the dam overflowed. The other, less
honorable reason was that the Iron Works was a power and  had made Lynn
an important town in the still young Massachusetts colony, even if it had not
been very profitable as yet. 

By now, Adam Hawkes was in his sixties and the struggle with the Iron Works
passed on into the hands of the next generation, to my 9x great grandfather
John Hawkes. John was more inclined to taking direct action rather than
going through the judicial system. Ironically, he ended up there anyway in 1663.
I ran into a bit of a roadblock here, because the volume of Essex County Court
Records his case appears in was only available as a snippet view on Google Books:

"John Hawkes, sr., and Moses Hawkes; trespass, for that John Hawkes, sr., was
the only plotter, contriver and secret manager of the cutting or breaking of the
great dam at Hamersmith or the Iron works in Lin"-Records and Files of the
Quarterly Courts of EssexCounty, Massachusetts , Volume 9 p12

Luckily I was able to find more details in a genealogy of a related family:

"Evidently there no attempt was made to draw off the water, and in the face of
tardy justice the Hawkes family probably had taken down a part of the dam, since,
in 1663, suit was brought against John Hawkes, Sr., and his brother Moses, by
Samuel Appleton and his son Samuel, in an action of appeal from the County Court
at Salem to the Court of Assistants in Boston. Judgment was given in favor of the
plaintiffs for .£30 damages, and "the defendants shall make vp the great dam as Good
as before in twelue months time next ensuing or pay £250 "and costs. John Hawkes
appealed ; and on March 4, 1663, "the Jury brought in their verdict they found for
the plaintiff [Hawkes] Reuersion of the former Judgment & costs of Court nine pounds."

-Lora Altine Woodbury Underhill Descendants of Edward Small of New England, and the
Allied Families, with Tracings of English Ancestry , Volume 2 (Google eBook)Priv. print.
at the Riverside Press, 1910 p570

This was a reversal of more than just a court case. The Iron Works had not proven
profitable and in fact the company wasn't paying its debts. Some of the company officers
were even jailed or fugitives. Apparently things really reached a head in 1671:

"The Iron Works for several years were carried on with vigor, and furnished most of the
iron used in the colony. But the want of ready money on the part of the purchasers, and
the great freedom with which the company construed the liberal privileges of the court, caused their failure. The owners of the lands which had been injured, commenced several suits against them, and at last hired a person to cut away the flood gates and destroy the works. This was done in the night, when the pond was full. The dam was high, and just below it, on the left, stood the house of Mac Callum More Downing. The water rushed out, and flowed into the house, without disturbing the inhabitants, who were asleep in a chamber. In the morning, Mrs. Downing found a fine live fish flouncing in her oven. The works were much injured, and the depredator fled to Penobscot. 

The suits against the Iron Works were protracted for more than twenty years. Mr. Hubbard says 'that instead of drawing out bars of iron for the country's use, there was hammered out nothing but contention and law suits.' The works were continued, though on a smaller scale, for more than one hundred years from their establishment. But they have long been discontinued, and nothing now is to be seen of them, except the heaps of scoria, nearly overgrown with grass, and called the 'Cinder Banks.'  Alonzo Lewis The History of Lynn: Including Nahant (Google eBook) Samuel N. Dickinson, Boston 1844 p154

It doesn't say who the perpetrators of that second breach of the dam were, but given the
past history of my Hawkes ancestors and the Saugus Iron Works, it wouldn't surprise me
in the least if there were a Hawkes or two involved that night!

ADAM HAWKES AND THE SAUGUS IRON WORKS PT2

For seventeen years, starting in 1643, my ancestor Adam Hawkes had a less
than cordial relationship with the operators of the Saugus Iron Works over
damage done by a dam built and operated by the miners. In 1660 Adam had
finally reached his breaking point and he brought suit against company at
the Essex County Court:

"Mr. Adam Haukes v. Mr. William Paine and company of undertakers of the Iron
works of Lynn and Mr. Oliver Purchass, their agent. Trespass. For damming their
waters so high, which was the cause of floating his lands, well and bridge, to
his great damage for several years. ..."

In the testimony from various witnesses, evidence was given about the previous
agreements between Adam and the miners, as well as to the harmful effects the
overflowing dam had on the Hawkes farm.

"Writ, dated, 4mo: 1660, signed by William Longley for the court, and served by
Theophylus Bayley, constable of Lynn, by attachment of meadow on the west
side of the river to the Long Poynt, to the value of one hundred pounds.

Oliver Purchis" bill of costs. To Major Wm. Hathorne, Joseph Jencks, sr., Henry
Leonard, Jno. Vinton, Nicholas Pinnion, Macam Downing, Charls Phillips,
Thomas Browne, Daniell Salmon and George Darline, witness fees.

Thomas Wellman and John Knight, appointed to appraise the damage, reported
that it amounted to 10li . a year, for the meadow, plow land and in floating a bridge;
in the corn field, the corn had suffered much from the water; the wells were
sometimes floated with the waters of the Iron works, so that when the pond was
up with the waters standing in the wells, the well water was not fit for use on
account of the dirt that fouled it; the damage in the orchard, in the English grass
and in the tobacco lands was also great, etc. Sworn in court.

Charles Phillopes testified that he had kept the water at the Iron works since Mr.
Purchas came, and that the latter told him to keep it low in order that it might not
damage Mr. Haukes. This deponent did, and gained the ill-will of the workmen
thereby. Sworn in court.

Agreement, dated, Oct. 31,1652, between John Giffard. agent for the company of
the Iron works, and Adam Hawks: Whereas there was an agreement made, 20: 4:
1651, by Capt. Robert Caine and Capt. William Hawthorne, arbitrators for said Giffard
and Hawks, in consideration of oertain damages that said Hawks had received, from
the first erecting of the said works by raising a dam for the works, whereby he had
lost the use of three acres in one place and since then, six acres, besides the
overflowing of certain feeding ands, for all of which said Hawks was allowed eight
pounds; now in consideration of that causeway which should be made him good
by the company with sixteen loads of hay to be allowed him yearly, besides two
hundred cords of wood granted said Hawks to cut and carry away; also in consideration
of ten acres of ground now sold by Hawks to the Iron company, lying near the works
among those ten acre lots which lay near Thomas Errington's house, and in full
satisfaction for any future damage that may occur, the said Giffard conveyed to
said Hawks, that fresh marsh called Farmer Dextor's marsh, which adjoined the
house of Adam Hawks, which was in full satisfaction of the arbitration. It was further
agreed that for the future the water should be so kept that it would not ascend the
top of the upper flood gates in the pond or higher than a foot and a half from the
top of the great rock that lay in the middle of the pond before the gates. Wit:
John Jarviss* and Daniel Salmon.*

Joseph Jencks, sr., deposed that he spoke with Adam Hawks about the damage and
the latter told him that he had satisfaction from the old company, etc. Sworn in
court.

Daniell Salmon, aged about fifty years, deposed that, being servant to the Iron
works under Mr. Geffards, he laid out the marsh given to Mr. Hauckes for damage,
and Hauckes was with him at the time, etc. Sworn in court.

Henorey Lenard, aged about forty years, Nicklis Pinnion and John Vinton deposed
that ever since Mr. Porchas came to the works, the water had been kept low by his
order, so low that it caused a great deal of difference between the workmen and
the water drawer; that the waste had been dug wider and deeper since he came, etc.
Sworn in court.

Francis Hutchinson deposed that the flowage of water over Mr. Adam Hauckes' land
made the ground unfit for use; that the bridge in front of the house, which was the
usual passage to and from the house for both man and beast, a herd of cattle passing
over twice each day, had been broken by the water and the timbers raised up ; that
the cattle were in danger of falling in and breaking their legs; that sometimes it had
been repaired, and then the water would break it so that horses going over had fallen
in, etc. Sworn in court. "

-Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts, 
Volume 2  1656-1662 (Google eBook) Essex Institute, Salem Ma. 1912

Given the amount of damage to Adam Hawkes' land and to a bridge used by the 

general public, it would seem certain the jury would rule in Adam's favor.

 

I'll discuss the outcome of the trial and what happened afterward next.

 

To be continued...

ADAM HAWKES AND THE SAUGUS IRON WORKS PT1

When I was much much younger and  my family was living in Malden, Ma., we'd
often go over to the nearby town of Saugus. Sometimes it was to go to Adventure
Car Hop (Adventure Car Hop is the place to go, for food that's always right, woo-
woo!"), other times it was to go to a VERY small amusement park that had a mini-
roller coaster. What none of us knew at the time was that Saugus was the site
of the first iron works in the British colonies, and that two of my Dad's ancestors
had a somewhat adversarial relationship with that mine. Back then Saugus was
part of the town of Lynn, so much of my information for this post comes from
Alonzo Lewis' History of Lynn and its year by year chronicle.

The story begins in the year 1643:

"An Iron Mine having been discovered on the land of Mr. Adam Hawkes, in
Saugus, information was sent to England; where a company was formed,
called the Company of Undertakers for the Iron Works. It consisted of the
following gentlemen.

Lionel Copley, Esquire, of York County, England.
Nicholas Bond, Esquire, of Westminster.
Thomas Pury, Esquire, of Westminster.
John Becx, London, Merchant.
William Beauchamp, London, Merchant.
Thomas Foley, London, Gentleman.
William Greenhill, Stepney, Middlesex County.
Thomas Weld, Minister, Gateshead, Durham County.
John Pococke, Merchant Tailor, London.
William Becke, Merchant Tailor, London.
William Hicocke, London, Citizen.2

Mr. John Winthrop, junior, came from England with work men, and stock to
the amount of one thousand pounds, for commencing the work. A Foundry
was erected on the western bank of Saugus river, upon land now owned by
Mr. Thomas Mansfield, where large heaps of scoria are still to he seen. The
iron ore. was very plenty, about one mile north of the Foundry ; and according
to several accounts, some lead was discovered, which the people at first
imagined to be silver. The village at the Foundry was called Hammersmith,
by some of the workmen who came from a place of that name in England.
Mr. Endecott, in a letter to Governor Winthrop, December 1, says, "1 want
much to hear from your son's Iron and Steel." Mr. William Wood says that Iron
was discovered as early as 1633." pp 81-82 Alonzo Lewis The history of Lynn
 (Google eBook) Press of J. H. Eastburn, 1829 - Lynn (Mass.)

Adam Hawkes who owned the land where the iron was discovered was my
10x great grandfather through my Dad's maternal Barker line.  

Things seem to have gone well for a few years, but then in 1646 the first
hint of possible trouble occurs: the proprietors of the Iron  Works purchased
some land "for opening a new watercourse, and enlarging the pond." But,
"This extension of the pond caused it to overflow three acres of land belonging
to Mr Adam Hawkes." -p91

The water level of the dam became the center of Adam's problems with the
Iron Works. Five years later  in 1651  there was a change in the management and
an accompanying change in the water level:

"On taking on the management of the Iron Works, Mr. Gifford raised the dam,
which caused the water to overflow six acres of " plowland" belonging to Mr.
Adam Hawkes. For this, on the twentieth of June, an agreement was made, in
which Mr.Hawkes was allowed L8 for damages." p97

That agreement didn't last very long:
"Mr. Gifford this year increased the height of the dam at the Iron Works, by which
ten acres of Mr. Hawkes's land were flowed ; for which he agreed to give 16 loads
of hay yearly, and 200 cords of wood. Afterward he agreed to give him £7, "which
ends all, except that 10s. is to be given him yearly." By this agreement the water
was to be so kept "that it may not ascend the top of the upper floodgates in the
pond, or pier then within foot and a halfe of the top of the great Rock that lies
in the middle of the pond before the gates." p99

But this didn't end all. Adam Hawkes' frustration was rising along with water rising
behind the dam.


To be continued...

RALPH & THE RELUCTANT BRIDE

((Today is my 7x great grandfather Ralph Ellingwood Jr  's 356th
 birthday. I wrote about his dubious historical distinction back 
in July 2007.))



Chris Dunham’s post over on The Genealogue about the
upcoming book “The Naked Quaker” by Diane Rapaport
reminded me of a story about a divorce that might or might
not be among those in the book:


In June 1682, a twenty five year old man named Ralph found
himself being divorced by his young wife Katharine, who stated
words to the effect that she’d rather be dead than live with him.
She sued on grounds of her husband’s insufficiency to consummate
their marriage.


Ralph for his part did what any man in 17th century Salem Ma.
might do when faced with such an embarrassing situation: he
claimed that it had to be witchcraft. Not exactly original, and
highly ineffective in the light of the character witnesses Katherine
called to testify in her behalf.



It must have been the talk of the town. Both husband and wife
were given physical examinations, Katherine by a panel of
“goodwives” and Ralph by two men(one of them a chirurgeon)
appointed by the Court. Based on their reports the Court granted
Katherine her divorce and ordered she be allowed to take
whatever clothes and property that she had brought with her into
marriage.


All of this might have been lost in the mists of time except that
there was a court record of the proceedings and several centuries
later the case is cited in articles and a book about women in
Puritan society. I’ve not been able to read any of them in their
entirety but what I have read makes no mention of what
happened after. So in the interest of fairness to Ralph, here’s the
rest of it:

Ralph remained single for nearly 9 years but in August of 1691 he
wed Martha Rowlandson. The marriage lasted nearly 20 years
before her death.


They had 7 children


We don’t know what happened to Katherine after her divorce
from Ralph, There is no record of her maiden name. Hopefully
she too remarried and with a man she loved and who gave her
children of her own.


We’ll never know the exact reason why the marriage of my
ancestor Ralph Ellingwood and his first wife Katherine ended so
scandalously. Possibly it was an arranged match between a man
and a deeply unhappy younger bride. Possibly Ralph was not the
perfect husband and possessed bad manners and lousy personal
hygiene. Perhaps there just wasn't any...spark.

Perhaps he could have used a talk with Dr. Phil, but alas, there
was no Dr. Phil in 17th century Salem.


But obviously Ralph felt he had a point to prove to all of Salem,
and judging by the 7 children he fathered, I guess he did it.


He wasn’t “insufficient”!

THE DEATH OF JOHN NUTTING 13MAR 1676

337 years ago today, my 10x great grandfather John Nutting died. according
to family tradition and some historians. The reason there is no record is that
John was killed during an Indian attack on Groton, Massachusetts during the
conflict known as the King Philip's War.  John Keep Nutting, another  of John's
descendants, a century ago wrote about the incident

"Trouble actually began March 2, 1676. That night, Indians came and rifled
some of the deserted houses, carried off cattle and swine, and pretty thoroughly
waked up the town.

March 9, four men, who had gone out with two carts to bring hay, were attacked.
One was killed, two reached shelter, and one was made prisoner. He however
escaped, and reached Lancaster, up the River south ward.

March 13, a body of about 400 Indians stealthily came to the place. They were
under the command of a chief named Monoco, or Monojo, the latter indicating
that he had been among the Spaniards. He could speak English brokenly, and
was well acquainted with Captain James Parker, and probably with all the men
of Groton. The settlers translated his name, calling him One-eyed John, indicating
that he had lost an eye. This chief knew his business. Scouts from town had been
out in all directions the day before, and reported no Indians. Either the attacking
body had been hidden, or had come from a distance later.

Early in the morning, the watch at Nutting's garrison reported two Indians skulking
about,—no doubt "vpon discouery", or scouting. As there were supposed to be
no other Indians in the neighborhood, it seemed to all a desirable thing to capture
or kill these rascals. It would be easy, it seemed, if a sufficient force went out, to
surround them. Accordingly the whole fighting force of that garrison, and some
from Parker's (which was within speaking distance) sallied forth, led as we
suppose by our Founder himself.

Monojo had planned wisely. The two supposed scouts led the whites on and on,
till they were in the midst of the ambuscade prepared for them, which rose up
and poured in a volley. Thanks probably to the worthless guns furnished to the
Indians by traders, or to the equally worthless ammunition-—perhaps also to
poor markmanship—only two shots took effect. One man was killed outright,
and another was wounded. A panic ensued, and the men, apparently thinking
nothing of the defenceless women and children at the Nutting garrison, fled to
Parker's en masse. Meanwhile the other part of Monojo's plan had also succeeded,
a second ambush having risen up behind Nutting's, pulled down some of the
palisades, and effected an entrance.

However, the women and children all escaped to Parker's. The enemy found only
an infant, already dead. Whose, it is not recorded. There were five families in
refuge there.

Monojo lost no time in occupying the garrison thus captured, from which he kept
up such fire as he could upon the other houses. Night put an end to active hostilities,
but Monojo called up Captain Parker, reminding him that they were old neighbors,
and held quite a conversation with him. He discussed the cause of the war, and
spoke of making peace. He naturally ridiculed the white man's worship of God in
the Meetinghouse, seeing that God had not helped them. He boasted that he had
burnt Medfield and Lancaster, would now burn Groton, then "Chelmsford, Concord,
Watertown, Cambridge, Charlestown, Roxburv, and Boston", adding, "What me
WILL that me DO!" The chronicler, however, is pleased to add to his account that
not many months later this boaster was seen marching through the Boston streets
which he had threatened to burn "with an halter about his neck, wherewith he was
hanged at the town's end"', in September of the same year.

The Indians cut off the head of him who had beep killed by their first fire, and "did
set it vpon a pole, looking unto his own lande". " -pp54-56

Nutting genealogy: A record of some of the descendants of John Nutting, 
of Groton, Mass (Google eBook) by John Keep Nutting,  (C. W. Bardeen,
Syracuse, N.Y. 1908)

A few pages later he gives the reasoning for March 13th being the date of
John Nutting's death:

"Monojo was undoubtedly acquainted with John Nutting, and knew well where
"his own lande lay"—namely, at his garrison, a few rods to the north of where he
fell. It seems to me likely also, that the particular direction toward which the gory
trophy was made to "look". would hardly have been noticed,had not the chief called 
attention to it by way of boasting, in his talk with Captain Parker.

The Town and Church Records, of course were in abbeyance for some time following
the catastrophe, so that the absence of any entry concerning the death of John Nutting
is not to be wondered at. (The Church Record is hopelessly lost.) But it is significant
that his name never appears after, in any connection. The names of his sons, John,
James, and (once or twice) Ebenezer, naturally take the place of his. Sarah, his widow,
is found some time later at Woburn, living, it is supposed with her married sister—
Blodgett." -pp57-58

Nutting genealogy: A record of some of the descendants of John Nutting, of Groton,
Mass (Google eBook) by John Keep Nutting,  (C. W. Bardeen, Syracuse, N.Y. 1908)

So once again, thanks to Google books I've found a story about one of my ancestors!

AGGIE

((This was my very first post here back in February, 2007. I'm reposting it 
today to mark Womens' History  Month)) 

I’m a child of mixed heritage. On one side I’m
descended from a long line of Yankee settlers.
On the other, I’m descended from Irish Catholic
immigrants who came to Boston in the late
19th century.

Meet my maternal grandmother, Agnes McFarland.
In the family she’s known as Aggie. To us grandchildren
she was "Nanny". I believe the picture is for her Confirmation.

She was born in 1898, eighth child and third daughter
out of the ten children that would survive infancy. She
grew up in a Irish Catholic family, her father a laborer
on the Boston Elevated Railway.


She had rheumatic fever as a child in a time when it
was a deadly disease and although she'd survived it left
Aggie with a weak heart. In 1924 she married Edward F.
White Sr. They had two children before a third died, then
Edward walked out in the middle of the Great Depression
leaving Aggie to raise the children on her own.

Aggie divorced him in 1935.

It was hard for her; in those times the label "divorced"
was somewhat shameful for an Irish Catholic woman.


Work was hard to come by for a woman with children
so she scrimped and saved. Some nights dinner was
bread soaked in milk. My Mom and uncle were sent to
a nearby dental school to have their teeth worked on by
students. When Mom came down with what was known
as St. Vitus’ Dance in those days, Aggie somehow came
up with the money for the doctors and to buy liver to
serve at dinner to get Mom’s iron content up. I suspect
Aggie’s parents must have helped her out here and there
financially. My Mom once claimed that the legendary
Boston Mayor James Michael Curley helped out with
some problem as well.


But Aggie was no cream puff, either. One story my
Mom told was of the time she and Uncle Ed skipped
school to hang out at the cottage out on Houghs’ Neck
with their cousins. The place was owned by Aggie’s
younger sister Peggy and her husband Leo McCue and
was quite a distance away from the Jamaica Plain
neighborhood of Boston Aggie and her children lived
in.


Yet suddenly my grandmother was walking down the
beach towards them. She’d taken the trolley and two
different buses to get there. She stayed long enough
to let Mom and Ed get their things and then took
them home by the same route she’d used to get there.


Somehow she did it. She raised her children to adulthood
even though it meant sometimes ducking her rebellious
son's head in the sink when he used swears or nursing her
daughter through a case of scarlet fever. She survived
watching her son join the Navy at 18 to fight in WW2.
All this while living life as a divorced Catholic woman
whose husband had left her for another woman.


She never remarried.


I knew her as Nanny, my grandmother, and she lived
with us when I was a kid. My Dad and Uncle Ed had
bought a two family home after the war in Malden on
a GI loan and so Aggie saw all five of her grandchildren
everyday. But she spent most of the time with my sister
and I because my parents both worked fulltime.


I have memories of her.


She was a quiet woman, black haired with grey streaks
and usually wore those one piece housedresses. She’d eat
peas by rolling them down the blade of her knife into her
mouth and looking back I think she did it to amuse me
and tease my mom. She never yelled but I remember
her breaking up a knockdown fight between two Italian
ladies who lived in the houses to either side of ours and
doing it with a slightly louder than usual voice and a
disgusted tone at their behavior in front of children.


I remember her being upset when the goldfish got sucked
down the drain of the kitchen sink when she pulled the
sink plug by accident after cleaning the goldfish bowl. And
I recall how she kept me from looking out the window after
a worker fell off the roof when it was being reshingled.
(He survived by the way; he broke his back and narrowly
missed landing atop the picket fence that ran between our
house and our next door neighbor’s.)


As time went by her rheumatic heart got worse and she
needed an oxygen tank in her bedroom for when breathing
was hard.


Aggie died at age 58 on February 12th, 1957.


She lived a tough life but she always carried herself like
a lady.

"SOME SCURVY TRICK"

I've found a lot of family history in the Records and Files of the Quarterly
Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts over in Google Books. Some if it has
been full stories, and some, like this one, are tantalizing tidbits that give
some information but leave me wondering about the parts that are missing.

This one is from a court session in June of 1667 and involves my 8x great
grandfather, Edward Colbourne, the first of my Coburn ancestors here in
America. Apparently he had serious problems with his neighbor Daniel
Gresier:

"Daniell Gresier gave bond to the treasurer of the county that he would on or
before the last day of the week at night remove himself and family from the
place where he then lived and never to come within ten miles of the place.
Further to appear at the next Ipswich court to be examined concerning the
misdemeanors he was charged with and to be of good behavior toward all,
especially toward Edward Colborne and family. Expenses at Mr. Gidneyes,
3s. 6d.*

*Edward Colborne's bill of cost, 1Li. 10s. 6d.
John Morrill, aged about thirty-five years, deposed that he heard Daniell
Gresier say that he would make Edward Colborne suffer for his labor, and
the latter said he could not do it unless he burned his house or destroyed
his cattle. Sworn, 26 :4 : 1667, before Simon Bradstreet.

Alexander Tompson, aged about forty years, and John Coburne, aged about
twenty-one years, deposed that they were in Edward Coburne's ten acre
corn field, and found that the Indian corn had been pulled up, it seemed by
men's hands or hoes. Further that Grasier and wife said that they would be
revenged for a cow that had been taken away, and she told her husband to
shut up the hogs and not let them go out until they were yoked, and that
the hogs could not get into the corn field, also that Grasier and wife Nel
and her son were not at meeting, etc. Sworn, June 24, 1667, before Daniel
Denison.

John Clarke, aged about forty-five years, deposed that Daniel Grasier said
that he must do Coburne some scurvy trick to pay him for what he had done
about the lease. Deponent said he must not revenge himself that way, but
he said it would do Coburne good for he would repent and God would forgive
him, and he felt called upon to do it for good people's sake and to be true to
the country, etc. Sworn June 24, 1667, before Daniel Denison.

Ann Haget and Deliveranc Tomson deposed that they heard Kate Greene say
that Coburn had done them wrong, etc. Sworn, June 25, 1667, before Daniel
Denison.

Daniell Black deposed that when at work for John Merrill, etc. Sworn, 26 :4 :
1667, before Simon Bradstreete."

-Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts
Volume 3 (Google eBook) Essex Institute, 1913 p430-431

And I'm left wondering what started all this!

THE THIRD AMERICAN CIVIL WAR BLOG CHALLENGE

It's time for this year's edition of the American Civil War Genealogy Blog
Challenge. This year, I've picked a submission deadline and publication date
to honor the Battle of Chancellorsville, where Confederate General Stonewall
Jackson died. The Battle started on 30Apr 1863 and ended on 6May.   

 This is how you can participate:

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 of color who enlisted
to fight?

If your ancestors had not emigrated to America as yet, what was their life
like around the time of the Civil War?

The 150 year celebration of the Civil War is a great source for those of us
blogging about our family history. So, let's do a little research over the coming
weeks between now and April 30th . Find out the answers to the questions
I asked and write about them. Or if you think of another topic to do with your
family history and the Civil War, write about that. Send me the link when you
publish it on your blog, and on May 6th I'll publish all the links here.

I'm looking forward to some interesting blogposts!