52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2016 WEEK 4: ROBERT PROCTOR OF CONCORD & CHELMSFORD, MA. PT2

As I said in the previous post I was able to find the probate file of my 9x great grandfather
Robert Proctor over at AmericanAncestors.org.:

Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.) Case 18219 p1

Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.) Case 18219 p2

I found a transcription in a Proctor family genealogy written by William Lawrence Proctor and Dolly Pauline Howard Proctor: 


WILL OF ROBERT PROCTOR.
In the Name of God, Amen—I Robert Proctor of the Town of Chelmsford in the County of Middlx within his Magtys Province of the Massachussetts Bay in New England being at This present Time of good memory & Sound judgmt thro ye mercy of God, Do make & ordaine This my last Will & Testamt, In manner following. 

Impr. My Will is yt wt Debts I owe to prson shall be discharged & payd by my Executors hereafter named before any Legaeys are paid out of my Estate.

It. I will yt my Sons amongst whome I have Disposed of my lands shall beare the charges of ye Funerall of myself & Deare wife.

It. It is my will yt the severrall parcels of land wch I have Disposed to my beloved Sons by Deeds of the Same to ym given viz—: To my Son Gershom Proctor, to my Son Peter Proctor, to my Son James Proctor. to my Son John Proctor, to my Son Samuell Proctor & To my Son Israell Proctor, shall stand & remaine firm & yt no advantage in Law shall be Taken by ye or any of ye one agnt the other. In case any circumstantiall Errour in the Severall Deeds & Instruments of conveighance should appeare and yt wt Lands. Medows, Houses &v air conveighed to my above named Sons shall be & are theire severall proportions of my estate of Inheritance & that my sd Sons or any one of Them shall not have power & liberty upon any pretence wt soever to Challenge Demand any more of & In my Estate either real or personal & It is my will, Earnest Desire & charge of my Beloved Sons live together peaceably & yt they fall not out or Contend about the Disposall off my lands as is above mentioned according to my Conscience & best Judgmt in ye matter made & ordered.

It My will is yt In case my Beloved Son Thomas Proctor live & return from Sea to New England yt he shall possess & Injoy for himselfe. Heyres & assignes forever all my Remaining lands & medows in Chelmsford not disposed to my other Sons wch I give to him absolutely wth all the priveledges of Highways & other conveniences, as I have granted to my other Sons in yr Deeds. But if my Son Thomas Proctor should not live & Return to New England it is then my Will That the land & medow as above shall be for the use Improvemt & Benefit off my wife Jane. during her naturall life & yt is my will yt my wife Jane, shall sell the sd land & medow to those my Sons yt have land adjoining to it, In case they Desire to purchase it at a valuable price & Consideration, and moreover it is my will yet my wife Jane shall pay out to my Beloved Daughters viz—Dorothy Barrett & Elizabeth Proctor two Thirds of the money or vallue of sd land ( being sold as above) the same to be equally divided between sd Daughters & that my wife shall pay the remainlng Third part of the vallued price of sd lands unto my Beloved Daughter, Sarah Chamberlin, for life & Mary Bourne— That is to say Two parts of it to Mary Bourne & the other part to Sarah the wife of Tho. Chamberlin & yt these several! payments & legacys to my Daughters shall not be Demanded of my wife During her life but shee may dispose thes legacys in any time of her life if shee please. Further it is my will that the vallue & price of the land shall be secured for my Daughters as above & yt my wife shall only have the use & Improvemt of the same as above expressed.

I give and bequeath all my moveable Estate to my Beloved Wife Jane During the term of her naturall life for her use & comfort & after her Death my will is yt it shall be Injoyed by my Two Daughters viz: Dorothy Barrett & Elizabeth Proctor To whome I give an Equall share & Proportion of said moveables & I do constitute & appoint my Beloved wife Jane sole Executrix of this my last Will & Testamt & Require my Beloved Brother Jacob Warren Senr. of Chelmsfd & Impower him to be the overseer of this my last Will & Testamt to advise & assist my Beloved wife in Executing the same & for the Confinuation of this my last will & Testamt I have hereunto set my Hand & Seale this Tenth Day of March 1695-6.

I, Robert Proctor, before signing this Instrumt Declare yt I formerly gave my Daughters Sarah Chamberlin & Mary Bourne yr portions & Therefore I will yt they shall not have power to Challeng any further Interest in my Estate than wt is mentioned to be given to ym in this my Will & Testmt & upon ye conditions expressed.

his
Robert x Proctor.
mark
Signed, sealed & Delivered in presence of
Thomas Clark, 

Eli Foster,

Joshua Barrus.

 
Concord, July 15, 1697.
By ye Honble James Russell, Esqr., one of ye witnesses subscribed personally appearing made oath that he was personally present & Saw ye Subscriber, Robert Proctor, Sign and Scale and heard him publish and Declare ye above and within written to be his last Will and Testamt, and yt yn he was of Disposing minde yt he yn saw, Mr. Thomas Clark and Joshua Barrus, signe ye same with himselfe as witnesses.
Sam*l. Phipps, Regr. J. A. Russell.

Charlestowne, July 14th, 1697.
By ye Honble James Russell, Esq. The Reverend Mr. Thomas Clark of Chelmsford, one of ye Witnesses subscribed prsonally appearing made Oath yt he was prsonally prsent and Saw the Subscriber, Robert Proctor, Deeed. Sign and Scal and heard him publish and Declare the above within written to 1)3 his last Will and Testament and yt when he so did he was of a Disposing minde, and yt he saw Eli Foster and Joshua Barms Sign ye Same together with himselfe as witnesses.
Sam'l Phipps, Regr. J. A. Russell. 

-pp239-242
A genealogy of descendants of Robert Proctor of Concord and Chelmsford, Mass
Republican & Journl Print, Ogdenburg, New York, 1898

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2016 WEEK 4: ROBERT PROCTOR OF CONCORD & CHELMSFORD, MA.

My 8x great grandmother Sarah (Proctor) Chamberlain was the daughter of Robert Proctor and
Jane Hildreth, and is mentioned in her father's will. He had immigrated from England, settled at
Concord, Ma. originally, and was one of the founders of Chelmsford, Ma. Here's a biographical
sketch of Robert by William Richard Cutter:

(1) Robert Proctor, immigrant ancestor in America of the Proctor family here dealt with, was probably born in England, and died at Chelmsford, Massachusetts, April 28, 1697. He first appears in this country at Concord, Massachusetts, where he was made a freeman in 1643. He may have come from England with the three other Proctors already named. There is. however, another tradition concerning his ancestry. Under date of July 26, 1897, Mrs. Lucretia H. Lawrence, of Leominster, a daughter of Jacob Proctor, of Littleton, Massachusetts, writes as follows: “My father in his last days dwelt much upon the history of his family and events of his early life. He said his grandfather (who was Nathaniel Proctor. a great-grandson of Robert, of Concord) “told him that three brothers from a wealthy family in Scotland came to this country in a ship of their own. One of the brothers settled in or near Chelmsford. The Littleton branch descended from this brother. My father remembered visits back and forth with the Chelmsford relations”. The conflict between these traditions must remain unsettled. at least until additional evidence in favor of one or the other can be obtained.

In 1653 Robert Proctor, in connection with Richard Hildreth and twenty—seven others, pe— titioned the general court for a grant of land six miles square, “to begin at Merrimack river at a neck of land next to Concord River, and so run up by Concord River south and west into the country to make up the circumference or quantity of land as above expressed". The petition was granted. In 1654 Mr. Proctor removed to the new plantation which was organized November 22, 1654, as a town under the name of Chelmsford. The first four or five of his children were born in Concord, the others in Chelmsford. His descendants resided in many of the neighboring towns. and at an early date some of them pushed back into the wilderness and settled in New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York, and have since scattered over the west. Letters of administration on his estate were granted to Jane Proctor, executrix, July 13, 1697. Some of his children settled in what afterwards became the West Precinct, and later the town of Westford.

Robert Proctor married, December 31, 1645, Jane, eldest daughter of Richard Hildreth, of Concord and Chelmsford, ancestor of the Hildreths of America, who died at Chelmsford in 1688. Children: 1. Sarah, born October 12, 1646; married, August 10, 1666, Thomas Chamberlain. 2. Gershom, May 13, 1648. 3. Mary, April 20, 1650; married, 1685, John Bourne. 4. Peter, 1652. 5. Dorothy, 1654; married, December 18, 1679, John Barret Jr. 6. Elizabeth, December 16, 1656; became, in ' 1705, the third wife of Samuel Fletcher. 7. James, January 8, 1658. 8. Lydia, February 19, 1660, died August 13, 1661. 9. John, August 17, 1663. 10. Samuel, of whom further. 11. Israel, April 29, I668. 12. Thomas, April 30, 1671, went to sea, and there is no evidence that he returned.-p467

New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation, Volume 1 ,
Lewis historical publishing Company,  New York, N.Y., 1913

I've found Robert Proctor's probate file on AmericanAncestors.org and will discuss that next.

WHEN GOOD PURITANS GO BAD: HENRY PHELPS PT2

Having found testimony against Henry Phelps' behavior with his future sister-in-law Hannah Baskell in Volume 1 of  Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts, I searched for more information. But there was nothing else about the matter there, so I turned to Volume 2, where there were several more mentions of them. The first was at a session of the Salem Quarterly Court on Nov 27 1660:

Henry Phelps, being bound to this court to answer a complaint for keeping company or in the house with his brother's wife, and appearing, was released of his bond. Upon further consideration and examination of some witnesses, which the court did not see meet for the present to bring forth in public, and the wife of Nicholas Phelps not appearing, said Phelps was bound to the next court at Salem. He was ordered meanwhile to keep from the company of his brother Nicolas Phelps’ wife.‘ 

In the footnotes of the page is this: 


Henry Phelps, of Salem, was complained of at the county court at Boston, July 31, 1660, for beating his son, John Phelps, and forcing him to work carrying dung and mending a hogshead on the Lord's day, also for intimacy with his brother's wife and for entertaining Quakers. It was ordered that John Phelps, the son, be given over to his uncle, Mr. Edmond Batter, to take care of him and place him out to some religious family as an apprentice, said Henry, the father, to pay to Mr. Batter what the boy's grandmother left him, to be improved to said John Phelps’ best advantage. Said Henry Phelps was ordered to give bond for his good behavior until the next Salem court, and especially not to be found in the company of Nicholas Phelps’ wife, and to answer at that time concerning the entertaining of Quakers. Copy of judgment, made by Edward Rawson,T recorder. Sureties: Tho. Joy and Nicholas Phillips. Copy of bond, made by Edward Rawson,T recorder.

Henry Phelps bound for appearance at the next Salem court. Copy of Ipswich court record, made by Robert Lord,T cleric.-pp261-262

The next session was held at Salem on June 4 1661

Henry Phelps, appearing under bonds, to answer the complaint against him concerning his brother, Nicholas Phelps’ wife, and no one appearing to testify against him, was discharged of his bond for appearance, but was still bound in 10li. not to accompany his brother’s wife.-p310 

Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts, Volume 2, Essex Institute, Salem, Ma. 1912

The Boston Court awarding custody of Henry's son John to another relative wasn't just a matter
of his harsh treatment of the boy. It was done, I think, more because of the biggest crime of the
Phelps' family. The Phelps were Quakers, and Hannah (Baskell) Phelps was quite vocal about it.
Perhaps that, plus the testimony years before from Janet Johnson about the behavior of Henry
and Hannah, was the reason he was warned off from associating with her. 
  
I'll discuss Nicholas and Hannah's dealings with the Court in another blogpost. 

WHEN GOOD PURITANS GO BAD: HENRY PHELPS PT1

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

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

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

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

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

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

To be continued

BLOGIVERSARY: NOW WE ARE NINE

It's hard to believe that this blog is nine years old today. Sometimes I guess that old saying about "time flies when you're having fun" is as true for me in genealogy blogging as it is for me in researching my family tree. You'd think by now I would have run out of things to blog about but that hasn't happened yet! 

A few stats: This is post 1901. I've had 489,309 pageviews (the majority of which are probably webcrawlers) and I currently have 292 followers (I still haven't cracked the 300 barrier.)

These were my all time Top 5 blogposts as of January 2015:

THE FIFTH ANNUAL GREAT GENEALOGY POETRY CHALLENGE POSTS  2471 pageviews
MEMORIES OF MALDEN                                                                                    938 pageviews

THE FOURTH AMERICAN CIVIL WAR BLOGPOST CHALLENGE ROUNDUP 757 pageviews

ANCESTRY.COM, 'NEW SEARCH' AND THE C.H.O.P. PRINCIPLE.                  618 pageviews

THE BOOK OF ME, WRITTEN BY YOU 3: THE SKIN I'M IN.                             584 pageviews

And these are my all time Top Ten as of today:

I was inspired to start my own geneablog by seeing the blogs written by Randy Seaver, Chris Dunham, and Tim Abbott, who as it turns out, are all my cousins. I found their blogs while
googling the surnames of my ancestors, and I realized that a genealogy blog might help other
distant cousins find me. It's worked beyond me expectations as "cousin bait".

Finally, thanks to you folks who read what I write and encourage me by leaving comments!

FINDMYPAST FRIDAY COLLECTION RELEASES FOR 22JAN 2016

Here's the Findmypast Friday record collection releases for 22 January. And don't forget there's
free access to Findmypast this weekend!

Here's the description of the new releases:

 
We've just released three fascinating new UK record sets for you to explore this Findmypast Friday as well as an index of volunteers who received awards for their service with the British Army's Indian Volunteer Force during both World Wars.

Learn about the lives of your Scottish ancestors with a rich and varied collection of records spanning four centuries, or trace your family's roots back to medieval Lincolnshire with monumental inscriptions dating back to the reign of Henry V. Also available to search are 241 volumes of William Phillimore Watts Stiff's collection of printed marriage registers covering 29 counties right across England.

This week we've added over 84,000 new records including:

England, Phillimore Marriage Registers, 1531-1913
Explore 241 volumes of marriage records containing approximately 2.3 million names from over 1,500 parishes across 29 English counties.
Add new branches to your family tree »

Scotland Registers & Records
Delve into 14 fascinating publications on Scottish parishes and families, containing thousands of records dating back to the early 1600s. The records included range from monumental inscriptions to a novel on rural life in 18th century Scotland!
Unearth unknown Scottish ancestors »

British Army, Indian Volunteer Force Medal Awards, 1915-1939
Find out if your relative volunteered for service with the British Army while living in India and uncover details of the awards they received. Explore over 15,000 records to determine their rank, corps and dates of service.
Did your Anglo-Indian ancestors go to war? »

Monumental Inscriptions from Lincolnshire, England
Locate the gravesites of relatives buried in the historic English county of Lincolnshire between the early 1400s and 2012. Search over 24,000 additional records of tombstone inscriptions to discover when and where they died.
Trace your family's roots back to the reign of Henry V! »


We hope these new releases allow you to make some fascinating finds and our new collection from Scotland will be an invaluable resource for those with ancestors from there. If you're having difficulty locating Scottish relatives, why not try searching some of our existing collections? These include The influence of Scotch-Irish people in the formation of the US Government and Members of the Scotch-Irish Society Of America, 1891.

Have a great weekend,

Jen Baldwin

Full disclosure: I am a member of the Findmypast Ambassador Program which includes a
complimentary one year world subscription to Findmypast and a Findmypast First membership.

JOHN CHAMBERLAIN,THE INDIAN FIGHTER

In my previous post about my ancestor Thomas Chamberlain Jr I mentioned I'd found a research
paper entitled "John Chamberlain,The Indian Fighter At Pigwacket." It was presented by George
Chamberlain to the Maine Historical Society in 1897. I was fascinated by the title, so I read pat
the part about Thomas Jr to see what it was about. It turns out that John is my 1st cousin 8x removed, being Thomas' grandson, and Pigwacket was the Indian name for the location of the
Battle of Lovewell's Pond. The theme of the paper was whether John Chamberlain was the man responsible for the death of the Indian chief Paugus.

Here's the story:

The Chamberlain-Paugus tradition was first published at Fryeburg, Maine, in the year 1799, by Elijah Russell in his edition of Rev. Thomas Symmes' "Memoirs of the Fight at Piggwacket." It runs as follows: —
Several of the Indians, particularly Paugus their chief, were well known to Lovewell's men, and frequently conversed with each other during the engagement. In the course of the battle Paugus and John Chamberlain discoursed familiarly with each other; their guns had become foul from frequent firing; they washed their guns at the pond, and the latter assured Paugus that he should kill him; Paugus also menaced him, and bid defiance to his insinuations. When they had prepared their guns they loaded and discharged them, and Paugus fell.

This story was printed seventy-four years after the battle occurred, and one year after Noah Johnson, the last survivor of the battle, had died. Was this story a fabrication invented by Elijah Russell? Did it exist before 1799 in other parts of New England? Does it contain any of the elements of truth?
-p5
 Collections of the Maine Historical Society, published by the Society, Portland, Me. 1898
Ironically many other accounts of the battle credit another of my cousins, Seth Wyman, as being the man who'd killed Paugus.

It's an interesting paper, although it seemed to me that while George Chamberlain admits that there
was no factual evidence about the incident, or that his ancestor was even actually at at the battle, George wants to believe it's true.

If you are interested in judging for yourself, you can read the paper here.

FREE ACCESS THIS WEEKEND AT FINDMYPAST

Here's a press release from Findmypast about free access this weekend:  



Findmypast Announces Free Weekend 22-25 January 2015

• Findmypast announces free access to historical records this weekend
• Billions of records available to everyone to search for free
• Local subscribers granted World access, and World subscribers enjoy 3 days added to their subscription

London, UK, 20th January 2015 Findmypast has announced that this weekend, they will be opening up their archives and giving unlimited free access to billions of records and newspaper pages from all over the world. From 7am on Friday, January 22nd to 7am on Monday, January 25st (EST), absolutely everyone will have access to Findmypast’s comprehensive collections of historical records and innovative research tools, including:

• Millions of records you won't find anywhere else, including fascinating WW2 Prisoner of War records, millions of England & Wales Crime records and the incredible British in India collection
• The largest online collection of England & Wales Electoral registers, containing over 220 million names
• Birth, marriage and death records dating back to the 18th century
• The largest online collection of UK parish records, dating back to 1538
• Historical newspapers from across the world, including nearly 13 million British newspaper dating all the way back to 1710
• The most comprehensive collection of UK military records anywhere online
• The largest collection of Irish family history records available online
• Passenger lists for ships sailing to and from Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the USA
• An easy to use online family tree builder, which allows you to import and export your tree if you’ve built it elsewhere
• Our Family Tree hints feature, which will suggest potential matches between the ancestors in your tree and records from our archives  

Family historians will also have free access to the millions of other records available to search on Findmypast. Access to the 1939 Register has not been included and pay as you go credits will be required in order to unlock household records.

Extended access for existing users

It’s not only new users who’ll enjoy special family history research opportunities this weekend. Those with current Findmypast Local subscriptions (with an active Britain, Ireland, US & Canada or Australia & New Zealand subscription) will be able to access Findmypast’s historical World records during the free access weekend, and those with active World subscriptions will have an additional three days added to their subscription.


Find out more at Findmypast’s dedicated Free Weekend page.


Terms & conditions: Free access lasts from 07:00am (EST) on Friday 22nd January 2015 until 06:59am (EST) on Monday 25th January 2015. To access the records you will need to be signed in at Findmypast: you can register for free using your name, email address and country of residence. The free access excludes the 1939 Register, UK Electoral Registers (2002-2013) and the UK Companies House Directors (2002-2013) record sets. Free access is subject to our fair usage policy: each account may view up to a maximum of 1,000 records per day.

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2016 WEEK 3: THOMAS CHAMBERLAIN JR. OF CHELMSFORD AND GROTON MA.

I found only a little bit more about my 8x great grandfather Thomas Chamberlain Jr. than I found about his father Thomas, Sr.  Levi Shattuck has this to say about him:

2.) Thomas Chamberlain, S. of Thomas, (1) above mentioned, settled in Chelmsford, where he d. May 28,1727. He m. Aug. 10,1666, Sarah Proctor, daughter of Robert Proctor, and had the following, and perhaps other children. 1. Thomas, b. May 30, 1667, (noticed below;) 2. Sarah, b. Jan. 11, 1C79; 3. Jane, b. Jan. 19, 1682; 4. Elizabeth, b. July 25, 1685.
-p372

Memorials of the Descendants of William Shattuck: The Progenitor of the Families in America that Have Borne His Name; Including an Introduction, and an Appendix Containing Collateral Information  Dutton & Wentworth, Boston Ma. 1855.

I found a little more information in a paper about Thomas' grandson John Chamberlain presented to the Maine Historical Society by another descendant. From" JOHN CHAMBERLAIN,THE INDIAN FIGHTER AT PIGWACKET." BY GEORGE W. CHAMBERLAIN.

Read before the Maine Historical Society, March 11, 1897.  :

His grandfather, Thomas Chamberlain of Chelmsford, who was both senior and junior, was a soldier in King Philip's war, being stationed at the frontier garrison in Groton on November 30, 1675. He was probably the Thomas Chamberlain who served in Syll's Company and also in Poole's Company in 1676. Thomas, the father, and Thomas, the grandfather, were both stationed at the garrison in Chelmsford on March 16, 1691-92.
-pp1-2
 Collections of the Maine Historical Society, published by the Society, Portland, Me. 1898

I'm descended from Thomas Chamberlain Jr.'s daughter Elizabeth who married my 7x great grandfather
Jonathan Butterfield.

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2016 WEEK 2: THOMAS CHAMBERLAIN SR. OF CHELMSFORD, MA.

It's now time to turn to the families of the Butterfield wives, but there are a few problems with
identifying who the first few generations of wives were:

-Immigrant ancestor Benjamin Butterfield's wife is believed by some to be Anne Jundon but no proof of that has yet been discovered.

- There's a similar problem concerning Samuel Butterfield's wife, who may or may not have been Mary Ballard of Andover.

So I'll begin with the family of Elizabeth, wife of Jonathan Butterfield, and her grandfather,  Thomas Chamberlain Sr., the immigrant ancestor. Thomas Chamberlain is another who I haven't
found much about so far except for this short entry in a genealogy of the descendants of William Shattuck written by Levi Shattuck:

1.) The name of Chamberlain was borne by several of the early inhabitants of Massachusetts. THOMAS, Edmond, and Samuel, first of Charlestown and afterwards of Woburn, were among the petitioners and first settlers of Chelmsford. Thomas, probably the ancestor of all of the name who are mentioned in this volume, was one of those persons who purchased 1500 acres of land lying on both sides of Concord River; granted to Thomas Dudley. He settled in Chelmsford, but the precise date of his death is unknown. His first wife, Mary , d. about 1670. He m. 2, April 19, 1674, in his old age, Mary Parker, who d. Feb. 7, 1692. By his first wife he had, b. in Woburn, Thomas, (noticed below,) Samuel, b. Oct. 7, 1645, Mary, b. June 11, 1649, and perhaps other children
-p372

Memorials of the Descendants of William Shattuck: The Progenitor of the Families in America that Have Borne His Name; Including an Introduction, and an Appendix Containing Collateral Information  Dutton & Wentworth, Boston Ma. 1855.

I haven't found a probate file for Thomas and I need to check for records of land sales, so that's all I have for him so far.

I'm descended from his son Thomas Chamberlain, Jr who will be the subject of my next post in the series.  

FINDMYPAST FRIDAY COLLECTION RELEASES FOR 15JAN 2016

Here are the Findmypast Friday record collections releases for15January 2016:


This week we're bringing you over 2.3 million new records and newspaper articles including:

 England, Pollbooks and Directories, 1830-1837
Search through over 62,000 records to discover who your ancestor voted for in the election of 1830. This valuable census substitute can also include details of their occupation, residence, religious beliefs and even a short biography.
Find out what your family was up to in the 1830s »

British Newspapers Update
Search over 2.25 million articles and 8 brand new titles from the cities of London and Glasgow as well as towns in the English counties of Devon, Lincolnshire, Shropshire, and West Sussex.
Extra! Extra! read all about it »

Hertfordshire, Parish Registers Browse, 1538-1988
Our collection of over 1.9 million Hertfordshire parish registers is now available to browse. Page by page, explore records dating back to the 16th century to uncover baptisms, marriages and burials.
Trace your roots back to Elizabethan Hertfordshire »

Surrey, Southwark, Newington Apprentice Register 1891
Uncover your ancestor's trade, the names of their parents, who they trained under and where in this register of Victorian apprentices from Newington in London.
Was your ancestor an apprentice in London? »

If you have any queries or comments for us, or family history discoveries you'd like to share, get in touch here. We love hearing from you.
Have a great weekend,

Jen Baldwin

Full disclosure: I am a member of the Findmypast Ambassador Program which includes a
complimentary one year world subscription to Findmypast and a Findmypast First membership.

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2016 WEEK 1: DAVID BUTTERFIELD OF CHELMSFORD, MA. PT3.

To recap, I noticed that in an article in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register
the first name of David Butterfield's youngest daughter Joanna was omitted although the full name
of her husband Dennis McLane is there. I surmised the author of the article, George A Gordon, may have gotten the information on the family from David Butterfield's probate file.

The images of pages in probate and pension files are often out of order, and this was the case in
David's probate file. There are 22 images in it, some hard to read and none with any mention of Joanna,  but eventually I found the image of a letter to a judge that gave me an answer as to why.
It seems there was a dispute over the estate, fueled by a distrust in Joanna's husband Dennis' involvement with how the estate was administered:

Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.)Case_Number: 3715 Page 9

Here's my transcription:

To the Honorable Samuel Danforth Esq.Judge of Probate of the
& for the County of Middlesex------
          The Petition of Keziah Shed Widow, Jean Butterfield, Esther
          Butterfield, Jacob Manning and Sarah Manning My Wife,
          Children and Heirs of our Honoured Father Mr. David Butterfield
          Late of Chelmsford Deceased Humbly Showeth that your Petitioners
          Said Father had in his Life time a pritty Comfortable Estate both
          Real and personal and died so Seized thereof and Our Mother Mrs
          Keziah Butterfield administered on Said Estate and we fear is like
          to Ruin and waste the Same for that we have a sister who is
                                                            who is not a very good husband
          Married to one Dennis McLane ^whom our said Mother hath
          Taken in to Manage the Place Contrary to our minds, who we fear
          will utterly Ruin the Same. ________
          Wherefore your Petitioners Humbly pray, that your Honor would
          be pleased to Order Our Said Mothers Third to be Sett of to her So
          as She may have the Improvement of that Only, and that the
          other Two Thirds may be Lett out to best advantage to good
          Husbandry until Our Brother (for we have but one) comes of age
          to Settle it; Or any other way that your Honor in your Wisdom
          Shall think proper So that the Said Estate may not be wasted or
          Spent, and your petitioners as Duty Bound Shall ever pray.
                                                                  Keziah Shed
                                                                  Jean (her mark)Butterfield
                                                                  Esther (her mark)Butterfield
                                                                  Jacob Manning
                                                                  Sarah (her mark)Butterfield

I like that insertion of "who is not a very good husband". I wonder which Butterfield
sister insisted that be added?

The other side of the letter is dated April 16, 1764. From what I can make out from other
page the judge, Samuel Danforth granted the family's request and gave my 6x great grandmother
Keziah (Shuttleworth)Butterfield her third of the estate while the other two thirds were administered
by men appointed by the judge. Samuel Butterfield was granted control his inheritance himself
on 16Jan 1770.

Among those who assessed the estate was John Spaulding, my 6th great grandfather, who is
ancestor through the marriage of his son Lot to Esther Butterfield on 27Jun 1764,

As for Joanna (Butterfield) McLain, she and Dennis lived in Chelmsford long enough to
have a son Willard, but then the McLains seem to have left Chelmsford.

So I think I was right, George Gordon must have used that letter in the file in compiling his
list of the family, which solves one mystery.

There still remain two questions:

Did Joanna and her sisters ever reconcile, and where did the McLains go when they left
Chelmsford?


 

FINDMYPAST FRIDAY COLLECTION RELEASES FOR 8JAN 2016

Here's the Findmypast Friday new records releases for 8Jan 2016. I need to take a look
at those Kent records!  


Here's their announcement:

This week's Findmypast Friday marks the release of new records from the English counties of Devon and Kent. Amongst the new additions are a fascinating collection of electoral registers that not only reveal where your ancestors lived, but also who they voted for! They also allow you to uncover records from dates that are not covered by our England & Wales Electoral Registers.

We've made new additions to our Kent baptisms, banns, marriages and burials, giving you the chance to trace your family's roots all the way back to the time of Henry VIII.

This week we've added over 106,000 new records including:

Electoral registers from Plymouth & West Devon, England, 1780-1973
Explore over 74,000 records to locate your ancestor's family home and find out who they voted for with a collection that spans three centuries.
Get political »


Baptisms from Kent, England
Delve into over 16,000 new additions to our collection of Kent baptismal records covering the parishes of Addington, Ash, Cuxton, Ridley and Offham to uncover your ancestor's birth place and the names of their parents.
Does your family tree have roots in Kent? »

Marriages from Kent, England
Over 4,000 records have been added to our Kent marriages. Find out who your ancestors wed, the names of their parents and how they earned a living.
Uncover new branches of your family »


Burials from Kent, England
Discover your relative's final resting place with over 11,000 new additions to Kent burials. Determine their age at death, the date of their burial and uncover notes that may reveal interesting facts about their lives.
Find out where your Kent relatives were laid to rest »


We hope you enjoy exploring these rich and varied collections. The electoral registers in particular are a fantastic resource that can provide you with rare insights into how your ancestors viewed the world.

Have a great weekend,
Jen Baldwin

Full disclosure: I am a member of the Findmypast Ambassador Program which includes a
complimentary one year world subscription to Findmypast and a Findmypast First membership.

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2016 WEEK 1: DAVID BUTTERFIELD OF CHELMSFORD, MA. PT2.

So who was the daughter whose name was omitted from George A Gordon's article on the Butterfields in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register ?  I decided to check the Chelmsford Births on the Early Vital Records of Massachusetts From 1600 to 1850 website and found that David and Keziah had three children more than the five Gordon had listed. The three additional children are in boldface:

Benjamin, Oct 17, 1732
Keziah, Feb 25, 1733-34 
Jane , Jan 9 1736-7
Esther, Nov 13, 1738
Joanna, Oct 6 1741
Susanna, bp. Nov 8 1741
Sarah, May 20 1744
Samuel, Dec 9 1748.

None of those three are named in David's probate file. Since I was looking for the daughter who married "Dennis Maclane" it had to be Joanna or Susanna. Next I checked the Marriages page and found this entry:

Joanna, and Dennis McLain, Dec 29, 1762

So why is Dennis "McLane" on George Gordon's list of the family but Joanna (Butterfield) "McLane"
is not?

Looking at Gordon's entry for David Butterfield's family again, I decided he was using the probate file as his source of information. I took a closer look at the images in the file.

And that's where I think I found an answer to my question.

To be continued. 

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2016 WEEK 1: DAVID BUTTERFIELD OF CHELMSFORD, MA.

I'm beginning my 2016 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge series with my 6x great grandfather
David Butterfield of Chelmsford, Ma.  David is another of my ancestors that there wasn't too much
information about on the internet when I first searched, but a little digging revealed an interesting
story about the family. 

Here's what little George A Gordon has to say about David in the BUTTERFIELDS OF MIDDLESEX:

25. David4 Butterfield (Jonathan* Samuel* Benjamin') was born in Chelmsford in 1712. In 1724, he was adopted by his uncle Samuel (9) who was childless, and in 1742 inherited his whole estate. He married Kezia, who, with his adopted mother, Tabitha, were widows on the estate at his decease in 1764. Children:

i. Samuel,4 b. 1749-50.

ii Kezia. m. Benjamin Shed of Billerica, who died 19 Dec. 1760, and she m. 2d, in 1765, David Stlckney, and removed to Grafton, Vt.

iii. Jean.

iv. Esther.

v. Sarah, m. Jacob Manning of Billerica.

vi.______ , m. Dennis McLane.
p41

The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 44 , Published at the Society's House, 18 Somerset Street. Printed by David Clapp & Son Boston, Ma 1890


I know David's wife Kezia;s maiden name was Shettleworth/Shuttleworth, as shown in this
image of the Chelmsford marriage records. They are the third couple listed at the bottom of the
page under the name Butterfeild.

Looking at the list of children, I can fill in some of the missing information from David's Probate file. At the time of his death, daughters Jean and Esther signed a certain letter (which I will get to in my
next post) about the estate and either they were unmarried or married to cousins,  because both signed as Butterfields. Esther later married Lot Spaulding and is my 5x great grandmother.

It's the last daughter that interested me, the one whose first name is not given but who survived into adulthood long enough to marry a "Dennis McLane". Why is her fist name missing from the
list of David Butterfield?  And that's where that interesting family story comes into the picture.

I'll discuss it in the next post.

To be continued.

MY GENEA-PLANS FOR 2016

Here's my list of Genea-Plans (aka genealogy New Year's resolutions) for 2016. Being a realist I know I probably won't reach most of them, especially number 9, but I'll try my best:

1. Work more on my family tree: I still have plenty of collateral relatives to add to my database
but I also need to continue to work on merging the duplicates I put in the database back when I first started researching online and was in my "name gathering" newbie phase. I also need to add citations and sources where I don't have any entered.   

2. Visit more of the towns where my ancestors lived, see their graves and homes, and take photos: I need to make more of an effort at this as soon as the snow season is over, especially getting up to Essex and Middlesex counties, and west to Worcester county.

3. Blog more: I met my 2015 goal for this blog of going over 200 posts by reaching 220. So for 2016
I need to top that, even if it's only by just one more post. And I will institute that 52 Gravestones in 52 Weeks series for my Old Colony Genealogy Rabbit blog.
 
4. Keep on with Find A Grave activities: I still have a whole lot of cemetery photos to use to create
memorials, and I want to get out and fill some more photo requests. 

5.Transcribe: There's a bunch of Probate Files I haven't worked on yet. I started using the program
Transcript last Fall and it's simple to use, so I'll see if it makes it easier to keep this resolution

6. Stay organized: I need to keep at putting things I download onto my hard drive into whatever folder they belong in immediately, rather than letting them sit in the Downloads file until I get around to it.

7. Scan more: I still have family photos to scan.

8. Index more:  I hope to do some indexing for Familysearch without waiting for another crowd sourcing "event" to motivate me

9. Join a local society: I say this every year. Hope springs eternal.

10. Break down that John Cutter West brick wall: Maybe this will be the year!

And again, as in every year, to keep having fun with genealogy!

MY 2015 GENEAPLANS: HOW WELL DID I DO?

Before I make my "geneaplans" for 2016, let's see what they were for 2015 and how
well I did fulfilling them. My comments on how I did on each are in red type: 

1.Transcribe:  The amount of probate files and other documents I've found increased
substantially last year. I need to establish some sort of routine to get more of them
transcribed. Perhaps regular Amanuensis Monday posts, or maybe Transcription
Tuesdays?


Results: Not as good as I hoped. I've transcribed some but still have a bunch untouched.
I think this and other things fell victim to blogging. 

2. Make more use of Google ebooks and also the FamilySearch and AmericanAncestors.org
websites: I have found a lot of these sites already but I know there is more on them that
I haven't found yet. I need to be more efficient using them.
 
Results: This was one of plans that went well. I use Googlebooks a lot in my blogging and in researching.  I'm still finding probate files on AmericanAncestors.org and I use FamilySearch
frequently when working on memorials for Find A Grave.

3. Organize: I've made a start this past year. I need to keep at it and not backslide because
I'm a hurry. Laziness now will be paid for later. 
Results: Moderately successful. I have done better in getting images into files and folders
as soon after downloading as possible.

4. Continue working on my family tree: I need to keep adding information on collateral
lines and keep trimming duplicate entries. I seem to add and trim an equal amount of
entries each year. I need to maybe concentrate on the trimming a bit more. 
Results: This is one of those years where I've trimmed or merged as many people as I've added to my database, to the point the number of people went down by 60 on it this year. So this was a
success.

6. Join a local society: Yeah, I say that every year. 
Results: Nope, still hasn't happened.

7. Continue Find A Grave activities: I seem to work on Find A Grave in spurts. I need to
 maybe pick one night a week to work on uploading the photos and creating memorials
to make it a weekly routine.   
 
Results: Created 67 memorials, added 150 photos and 53 volunteer photos.
Another moderate success

8.Blog more: This year I will break the 200 post mark for this blog and post at least 50
times on my Old Colony Graveyard Rabbit blog. I'd really like to hit 100 there, though. 
The 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks was very successful for me in 2014, and I plan to continue
with that. Maybe I'll adapt it on the Graveyard Rabbit blog to 52 Headstone in 52 Weeks! 
Results: Mixed. I had 220 posts for this blog but only 6 for my Old Colony Graveyard Rabbit blog.
 
9. Scan more: I still have my portion of the family photos to scan. 
Result:Epic fail. No activity on this front at all.

10. Index more: This one may be the toughest. With all the other things it's hard to
fit it in, but I will try. 
Results: I took part in the big crowd sourcing indexing project but that was it.

11. Visit more of the  towns where my ancestors lived, see their graves and homes,
and take photos.
 
Results: While I still gallivanted around in the nearby Plymouth County towns, I didn't make it
North or West this year into other places my ancestors lived.

12. Break down that John Cutter West brick wall: Maybe this will be the year!

Results: Still hammering away but no progress.

And as I say every year, just keep having fun!
Results: I still am!

2015 BY THE NUMBERS

Time for a look back at my some of my genealogy activity  in 2015 and a comparison with 2014.

Database:
My research numbers as shown by RootsMagic 6:

2014-30,882 people, 104,934 citations, 574 sources
2015-30,823 people, 110,992 citations, 577 sources.

The number of people in my database actually decreased by 61. It's a result of ridding my
database of duplicates while adding new family members.

Find a Grave
My total contributions went up modestly:
2014- 548 memorials,  812 Photos, 109 volunteer photos taken.
2015- 615 memorials,  962 Photos, 162 volunteer photos taken

Blogging
This is post 220 for this blog this year, the first time I've broken 200 posts since 2011. In 2012 I went down to 170, but have gone up every year since then.
2015 (220)
2014 (199)
2013 (179)
2012 (170)
2011 (248)
I doubled my posts on the Old Colony Graveyard Rabbit from 3 to um...6. Sigh. I have to work on that.

Not a bad year, but I'll do better in 2016, I hope!

" A CAPTIVE EXPOSD TO GREAT HARDSHIPS,..."

In my research for my posts about my Butterfield ancestors, I came across this story about a Samuel Butterfield. This Samuel was not my 8x great grandfather, but rather his nephew, a son of Nathaniel Butterfield, and therefore one of my distant cousins. The incident took place during the Queen Anne's War, and Samuel Abbott Green (another distant cousin) wrote about it in his book Groton During the Indian Wars:

Penhallow, in his History, gives several instances of extreme cruelty to the prisoners on the part of the savages, and mentions the following case of a man who was captured in this town: —

A third was of Samuel Butterfield, who being sent to Groton as a Soldier, was with others attackt, as they were gathering in the Harvest; his bravery was such, that he kill'd one and wounded another, but being overpower'd by strength, was forc'd to submit; and it hapned that the slain Indian was a Sagamore, and of great dexterity in War, which caused matter of Lamentation, and enrag'd them to such degree that they vow'd the utmost revenge; Some were for whipping him to Death; others for burning him alive; but differing in their Sentiments, they submitted the Issue to the Squaw Widow, concluding she would determine something very dreadful, but when the matter was opened, and the Fact considered, her Spirits were so moderate as to make no other reply, than, " Fortune L'guare. Upon which some were uneasy; to whom she answered, If by killing him, you can bring my Husband to life again, I beg you to study what Death you please; but if not let him be my Servant; which he accordingly was, during his Captivity, and had favour shewn him." (Pages 38, 39.)
pp 94-95
Groton During the Indian Wars,  John Wilson & Son, Universtiy Press, Cambridge, Ma. 1883

Samuel was able to escape eventually:

Butterfield remained a captive for more than a year. It is not known how he obtained his release. His petition to the General Court sets forth the fact that he was an inhabitant of Chelmsford, and was sent by Captain Jerathmel Bowers to Groton, in order to help Colonel Taylor, in August, 1704, when the enemy came upon the place. It is as follows: —

To his Excellency Joseph Dudley Esqr Capt. General and Governor in Chief and To the Honoble the Council and House of Representatives now in General Assembly convened at Boston within 6* for her Majesties Province of the Massachust. Bay April 10th 1706.

The Humble Petition of Samuel Butterfield Sheweth
That yor Petitioner is an Inhabitant of the Town of Chelmsford, and in the month of August 1704, when the Enemy came upon Nashoway & Groton &: yor Petitioner (with others) was sent out by the Capt Jerathmel Bowers to Groton to assist Col. Taylor, when yor Petitioner being ordered out with some others to Guard a Man who was going to work in the field, the Enemy came upon them, killd one man and took yor Petitioner and one other Prisoners, tho yor Petitioner made all the resistance possible, killed one, and knockt down two more after they had seized him, for which yor Petitioner was cruelly used by them afterwards & threatened to be burnt, several times. May it please this Great and Generall Assembly, yor Petitioner was very well accoutred in all respects when he was taken, and then was stript of all and was between fourteen and fifteen months a Captive exposd to great hardships, and has sustained great Loss and damage.

Yor Petitioner therefore humbly prays the favor of this great and General Assembly to take the premises into yor serious Consideration and Grant him such Recompense for his Losses and sufferings, as aforesd as to yor wisdom and Goodness shall seem meet.
and yor Petitioner (as in duty bound) shall ever pray &c.
Samuell Butterfield
[Endorsed]

Apri1 10: 1706, Read.
In the House of Representative Resolved That the Sum of Five Pounds be allowed, & Paid out of the Publick Treasury to Samll Butterfield the Petitioner in Consideration of his Losse, & service. Sent up for concurrence.
Thomas Oakes Speaker
 
April. 11. 1706.
In Council.
Read & concurr'd.
Isa Addington Secry.
[Massachusetts Archives, LXXI. 195, 196.]

Butterfield had previously received, October 27, 1704, a bounty of four pounds for killing the Indian mentioned in this petition; but the present award was for his services and personal loss.
pp95-96
ibid. 

It's always struck me as ironic and sad that the Puritans, who sought to establish a godly commonwealth here in Massachusetts, should offer a bounty on the lives of other human beings, a practice that continued across the continent until the late 19th century.

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2015 WEEK 52: JONATHAN BUTTERFIELD OF CHELMSFORD, MA.

My final subject for the 2015 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is my 7x great grandfather Jonathan Butterfield. George A. Gordon has 0nly a little to say about him in his THE BUTTERFIELDS OF MIDDLESEX article:

12. Jonathan' Butterfield (Samuel, Benjamin) was born in Chelmsford; had wife Elizabeth, who died early, leaving one child:
1. Elizabeth,4 m. Adam Gould.
He married 2d, Elizabeth, a daughter of Thomas and _____Chamberlain of Chelmsford, who survived him. He was an husbandman. His will, signed " Buterfeild," made 10 July, 1728, was probated 7 August, 1738. Children:
25. Ii. David,* b. 1702.
26. iii. Jonathan.
27. iv. Robert, b. 1716.
v. Samuel, of Westford, where he d. unm. in 1764.
vi. Sarah, m. 16 Oct. 1744, Thomas Danforth of Billerica.
vii. Mary, m.____ Perham.
p37


The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 44 , Published at the Society's House, 18 Somerset Street. Printed by David Clapp & Son Boston, Ma 1890



I did find a will in his probate file at AmericanAncestors.org  and in it was this interesting item at the bottom of the first page:

Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.)case 3725 p8

 

Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.) Case 3725 page8

 Here's my transcription of that part:

I give and Bequeath unto my well beloved son David my part
of an orchard in Chelmsford and and Lyeth on the west side of
the Country Road and between the Land of John Butterfield and--
Daniel Blogett. And the Reason why I give David no more is because
I gave him to my Brother Samuel Butterfield at fourteen years of age
and he has had his service this twelve years and is to give him
a portion for the same as by promise - -


The document was written at a slant on the first page. While the writing on the second page is
straight and level it's still small and messy so it's slightly difficult to read, but it does have Jonathan's signature written in a big although shaky hand.



 

Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.)Case3725 page 9

 
I'll try to find the will of Jonathan's adopted father Samuel Butterfield to see if he kept his promise.

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2015 WEEK 51: SAMUEL BUTTERFIELD OF CHELMSFORD, MA.

Drawing close to the end of the 2015 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge, I've come to my 8x great grandfather Samuel Butterfield. George A. Gordon wrote this about Samuel and his family in his article THE BUTTERFIELDS OF MIDDLESEX:


4. Samuel 2 Butterfield (Benjamin1) was born in Woburn, 17 May, 1647, removed with his father to Chelmsford, where he remained till his death in 1714. He had a wife Mary. His will, signed 26 April, 1703, "Samuel Buterfeld, his mark," was written by Eliezer Browne, one of the witnesses, and probated 1 July, 1715. In it, he mentions his sons Samuel and Jonathan, and his daughters Mercy, Ann, Phebe and Deborah. It lies in the Middlesex Registry with the following certificate appended:
 
"Middx County
This Will of Samuel Bntterfield, late of Chelmsford in the county of Middx dec'd, contained in two sides of this sheet of paper was Exhibd for probate pr Samuel and Jonathan Butterfleld sons of the Sd Dec'd & Ex's in the same named & Jonathan Bowers made oath yt he together wth Nathaniel Blodgit (now dead) & Eliezer Brown (who now lives in Connecticut Colony) set to there hands as Witnesses in the Testator's presence & that he see him sign & seal & heard him publish the same to be his last will and Testament & that he was of sound mind & this Will is proved & approved & the administracon thereof is Committed to the sd Samuel & Jonathan Buttertield Executors aforesaid. Witness my hand and seal of office at Camb. July 1st 1715.
Pr. Fra. Foxcroft Judge Prob for Middx."

Children:
11. i Samuel,3
ii. Mary, m. 30 June, 1698, Samuel3 Spalding (John,2 Edward1); removed in 1700 to Canterbury, Conn., where she died in 1726. Six children, three born in Chelmsford and three in Canterbury.
iii. Ann m. (prob.) John Davis, son of the Chelmsford blacksmith.
iv. Phebe. m._____ How, of Plainfleld, Conn.
v. Deborah, b. 20 Aug. 1687; m. Joseph3 Cleveland (Josiah2 Moses1); removed, about 1706, to Canterbury, Conn.
12. vi. Jonathan.

p35

The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 44 , Published at the Society's House, 18 Somerset Street. Printed by David Clapp & Son Boston, Ma 1890


A few notes:
I've found the images of Samuel's will over on AmericanAncestor.org but didn't find one of the above statement.

Some sources say Samuel's wife Mary was Mary Ann Ballard, daughter of William & Grace (Berwick) Ballard of Andover, Ma.

Interesting to see that Samuel's sister Mary married a Spaulding. So there were earlier connections between the two families before my 5x great grandparents Lot Spaulding and Esther Butterfield in 1764

FINDMYPAST FRIDAY COLLECTION RELEASES FOR 25DEC 2015

Due to the holiday I'm late posting the announcement for this week's Findmypast Friday new record collections. The new releases focus on Ireland and India:  

As well as new additions to our collection of historic Irish newspapers, find far-flung family connections with births, marriages, wills and more from the tropical climes of India and beyond.

For Christmas Day, we're bringing you over 870,000 new records and newspaper articles including:

Irish Newspapers Update
Our collection of Irish newspapers now contains an additional 819,000 articles and 5 brand new titles. Read historic articles from all over Ireland to find out what life was like for your Irish ancestors.
Do you have Irish relatives who made the news? »

British in India
Search the names of British people who either lived, worked or travelled in India from as early as 1664 up to 1961 with an index of births, marriages, divorces and deaths compiled by the Society of Genealogists.
Follow your family to India »

British India Office Births & Baptisms
Explore over 23,000 new additions to find the births and baptisms of ancestors who lived or worked in India and other territories administered by the India Office.
Discover if you had family members living in the British Raj »

British India Office Wills & Probate
Unearth the wills and probate records of European soldiers and civilians who died in India and Burma. Discover information about your relative's estate and what happened to it after their death.
Find out what they left behind »

These latest additions are a great opportunity to find ancestors that you can't find in other records, as so many sought their fortune on the subcontinent generations ago. Whether your relatives were clergy, aristocracy, tradespeople, merchants, civil servants or soldiers, the lowest and the landed all have stories to be told with these fascinating records.

Have a great Christmas,

Jen Baldwin

 
Full disclosure: I am a member of the Findmypast Ambassador Program which includes a
complimentary one year world subscription to Findmypast and a Findmypast First membership.

AFTER CHRISTMAS

((originally posted in December 2013))

When I was a kid the day after Christmas was a wonderful day: I knew I had a
week or so off from school and I had some new toys or games to play. If I
grew bored with them I'd just go to the library and take out some more books
to keep me occupied. If it had snowed, I'd go sledding over on Selden Street
with Barry Solomon and the other kids. 

The torn wrapping paper was stuffed into empty department store bags (
plastic trash bags didn't become popular until the 1960's) and the boxes that
toys and appliances came in were hauled out by the curb for the city
trash trucks. This was how we knew what  the other kids got for Christmas
or Hanukkah. Inside, gifts had to be removed from under the tree to our
rooms a day or so after Christmas so the pine needles under the Christmas
tree could be vacuumed up.  
  
If Christmas fell on a Friday or Monday that year there'd be a round of visits
to our McFarland and McCue relatives or they'd visit us. So Christmas decorations
stayed up for several weeks, sometimes to the end of January. When we were
living on Capen St. my Mom used Glass Wax stencils to decorate our apartment
windows but she stopped after one year when cleaning the windows off was
harder than usual. Besides, nobody could see them anyway since the apartment
was on the third floor! We also only used "angel hair" to decorate the tree
once.

But eventually we'd take off the decorations, lights, and garlands from the tree
and pack them away, and the tree would be hauled out to the curbside. If it
snowed before trash pickup it might be out there an extra week or two. In time,
as we grew older, the artificial tree would be disassembled and taken down to
the cellar.

Christmas was  over.

2014 Update
Since I'm a single "senior citizen" the after Christmas cleanup is minimal. After New
Years I'll put away the six inch tabletop Christmas tree and it's decorations away. Easy
peasy!

ADVENT CALENDAR OF CHRISTMAS MEMORIES:CHRISTMAS EVES

Christmas Eve was sometimes hectic in our family, especially
those years when we lived in Dorchester, because Mom and Dad
would drive around to Mom’s cousins’ houses to drop off gifts for
the kids. Sometimes my sister and I went along but as we got
older and more responsible we’d stay home while the gifts run
was made.


Then there were Christmas Eves where we were all home
and spent the night wrapping presents for each other or other
relatives. I think I liked those quieter nights best.


The past two decades or so Christmas Eve is spent at my sister
and brother-in-law’s house. Gifts are given out and opened and
my sister’s youngest son Mike(now in his twenties) often ends
up with the handing out the gifts duties since he’s the youngest
family member. Then there’s food served buffet style. At that
point, I am just trying to stay awake because I’ve been dealing
with the last minute shoppers at the store all day and a good
meal on top of that makes me want to take a nap. And next
day I go back over for dinner.


All in all Christmas Eves over the years have been good ones,
sometimes saddened by losses of loved ones but we all enjoy
being together and relaxing after the end of the Christmas rush.

2009 Update: A new tradition began last year with the Christmas
Eve festivities moving to the home of my niece Sarah and her
husband Steve. And this year I am actually having a day off on
Christmas Eve, so I won't be so tired and sleepy!


2010 Update: Christmas Eve will be at my sister's this year and I'm
looking forward to some lasagna. I expect that Michael will be helped
with giving out gifts this year by my 2 year old grandnephew Noah!

2011 Update: Christmas Eve will again be at  my sister's house and
there will be lasagna! One change this year: since the bookstore closed
I haven't been working the Christmas shopping rush so I may not fall
asleep as early as I have in past years!

2012 Update: Christmas Eve was at my sister Cheryl's house with her
family and my brother Phil and his oldest son Phil. It was a great evening
and much lasagna was eaten. 

2013 Update: Christmas Eve will be at Chery & Pete's house tonight with
gift opening and food. Christmas Day will be at my nephew Paul's house

One nice change the past few years since my retirement is not having to
work on Christmas Eve. There were nights where one manager at the
Borders store would take FOREVER to close down the store, so it 
might be two hours before the unlucky few of us working the close
could go home. Luckily, the other two managers I worked for there
in later years were just as anxious to get home as the staff was, so 
we were out pretty quickly. And there was the Christmas Eve we
were all out of the store, the alarm was armed, and all the cash
registers were already locked away in the safe.... and two teenagers
ran up and asked if the store was still open and could we sell them
a cd they needed. No, we didn't reopen the store. If we had, there
would have been more people showing up and wanting to come in.

Ah memories...  

2014 Update:
Looking forward to tonight at Cheryl & Pete's. This will a special Christmas
as it's the first for their new granddaughters Lillianna and Abigail. And the
torch has been passed by Mike to a new generation as their grandson Noah 
now handing out the gifts to everyone.  

 ((Originally posted in 2007))

The Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories (ACCM) allows you to share your family’s holiday history twenty-four different ways during December! Learn more at http://adventcalendar.geneabloggers.com.

DEAR GENEA-SANTA 2015

Dear Genea-Santa
You've been so good to me in 2015, what with all those free Essex and Middlesex County
Probate Records images and other things on AmericanAncestors.org. That's been keeping me
busy most of the year and I really appreciate eveything I discovered. So I'm going to keep my
requests for 2016 short. I don't expect you to give me all of this but any one would be nice:

-More help with finding probate records online would be nice, especially for Worcester County, Ma. I'm hoping FamilySearch will add more images soon to their "Massachusetts, Worcester County, Probate Files, 1731-1925 " collection.

-Court record files for more Massachusetts counties would be great too, especially for Middlesex,
Suffolk, and Worcester counties.  

-This one might be a bit more difficult: magic glasses. Magic glasses that will let me read the colonial documents with the worst handwriting. Hard to believe that there were people with worse handwriting than mine, but there were, and I need some sort of edge to decipher their while trying to decipher their scribbling.

-And finally, still waiting Santa for that hint that will let me break down that John Cutter West brick wall!

That's it for this year, Santa. If you can come through on any one of those I'll be very happy. Or surprise me, because the surprises you gave me this past year were great!
Merry Genea-Christmas!
Bill 
 
((Inspired by a Saturday Night Genealogy Fun prompt from Randy Seaver over at Genea-Musings.))