MY ELLINGWOOD MAYFLOWER ANCESTRY

 

 

 Back when I first started researching the family genealogy online I was
thrilled to discover we were descended from several Mayflower passengers.
At one point I even carried around a small folded up piece of paper
in my wallet with the lines of descent to show when discussing genealogy
with some customer at the bookstore. But I lost that some time ago, so I
thought I'd post them here for other family members.

The first three lines come down through my Ellingwood ancestry from
Stephen Hopkins, Thomas Rogers, and James Chilton.

Hopkins Line
Stephen Hopkins and Mary____
Constance Hopkins & Nicholas Snow
Elizabeth Snow & Thomas Rogers
Eleazer Rogers & Ruhamah Willis
Experience Rogers & Stephen Totman
Deborah Totman & Moses Barrows Jr.
Asa Barrows & Content Benson
Rachel Barrows & John Ellingwood Jr
Asa F. Ellingwood & Florilla Dunham
Clara Ellingwood & Philip West
Floyd West Sr & Clara Barker
Floyd West Jr & Anne M White

Rogers Line
Thomas Rogers & Alice Cosford
Joseph Rogers & Hannah___
Thomas Rogers & Elizabeth Snow
Eleazer Rogers & Ruhamah Willis
Experience Rogers & Stephen Totman
Deborah Totman & Moses Barrows Jr.
Asa Barrows & Content Benson
Rachel Barrows & John Ellingwood Jr
Asa F. Ellingwood & Florilla Dunham
Clara Ellingwood & Philip West
Floyd West Sr & Clara Barker
Floyd West Jr & Anne M White

Chilton Line
James Chilton & ?
Isabella Chilton & Roger Chandler
Sarah Chandler & Moses Simmons
Moses Simmons Jr & Patience Barstow
Patience Simmons & George Barrows
Moses Barrows & Mary Carver
Deborah Totman & Moses Barrows Jr.
Asa Barrows & Content Benson
Rachel Barrows & John Ellingwood Jr
Asa F. Ellingwood & Florilla Dunham
Clara Ellingwood & Philip West
Floyd West Sr & Clara Barker
Floyd West Jr & Anne M White

ON THIS DATE: NOV. 2nd

 ON THIS DATE
BIRTHS:
2 Nov 1658 8x ggf John Clarke was born in Lynn, Ma.
2 Nov 1720 6x ggm Martha Lovejoy was born in Andover, Ma

DEATHS:
2 Nov 1688 7x ggf Samuel Briggs died in Rochester, Ma.
21 Jun 1682 9x ggf Edmund Freeman died in Sandwich, Ma.
2 Nov 1651 10x ggf John Bailey Sr. died in Newbury, Ma.

'LITTLE ORPHANT ANNIE"

 

 (First posted on October, 2011))



When we were small our Mom occasionally would recite this poem and would tickle us when she reached the "Gobble-uns 'll git you ef you don't watch out!" part. Then when I was in the third grade at the Frank V.Thompson school in Dorchester I read the poem in our English text book. Years later I used to post it every Halloween on an email list for a fantasy role playing group. So it's a sort of Halloween tradition for me.


Anyway, it's the best Halloween poem I know. Enjoy.

And `ware th' Gobble-uns!

Little Orphant Annie

by James Whitcomb Riley.

LITTLE Orphant Annie ’s come to our house to stay,   
An’ wash the cups and saucers up, an’ brush the crumbs away,   
An’ shoo the chickens off the porch, an’ dust the hearth, an’ sweep,   
An’ make the fire, an’ bake the bread, an’ earn her board-an’-keep;   
An’ all us other children, when the supper things is done,         
We set around the kitchen fire an’ has the mostest fun   
A-list’nin’ to the witch-tales ’at Annie tells about,   
An’ the Gobble-uns ’at gits you   
        Ef you   
            Don’t           
              Watch   
                Out!   

Onc’t they was a little boy would n’t say his pray’rs—   
An’ when he went to bed at night, away up stairs,   
His mammy heerd him holler, an’ his daddy heerd him bawl,           
An’ when they turn’t the kivvers down, he was n’t there at all!   
An’ they seeked him in the rafter-room, an’ cubby-hole, an’ press,   
An’ seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an’ ever’wheres, I guess;   
But all they ever found was thist his pants an’ roundabout!   
An’ the Gobble-uns ’ll git you           
        Ef you   
            Don’t   
              Watch   
                Out!   

An’ one time a little girl ’ud allus laugh an’ grin,         
An’ make fun of ever’ one, an’ all her blood-an’-kin;   
An’ onc’t when they was “company,” an’ ole folks was there,   
She mocked ’em an’ shocked ’em, an’ said she did n’t care!   
An’ thist as she kicked her heels, an’ turn’t to run an’ hide,   
They was two great big Black Things a-standin’ by her side,          
An’ they snatched her through the ceilin’ ’fore she knowed what she ’s about!   
An’ the Gobble-uns ’ll git you   
        Ef you   
            Don’t   
                Watch          
                    Out!   

An’ little Orphant Annie says, when the blaze is blue,   
An’ the lampwick sputters, an’ the wind goes woo-oo!   
An’ you hear the crickets quit, an’ the moon is gray,   
An’ the lightnin’-bugs in dew is allsquenched away,—        
You better mind yer parents, and yer teachers fond and dear,   
An’ churish them ’at loves you, an’ dry the orphant’s tear,   
An’ he’p the pore an’ needy ones ’at clusters all about,   
Er the Gobble-uns ’ll git you   
        Ef you           
            Don’t   
              Watch   
                Out!

THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS: OTHER PARTICIPANTS

This is the last of my "witch lists" of ancestors and relatives who had some connection to the witch trials: I made the lists with the help of  In The Shadow of Salem: he Andover Witch Hunt of 1692 by Richard Hite and by using Custom Tags I created on my Ancestry.com  tree using the MyTreeTags app:

CONSTABLE

Joseph Herrick-8x great grandfather


JUROR

Henry Herrick-9x great grandfather


VICTIMS (supposedly killed by witchcraft)

Ralph Farnum Sr-9x great grandfather

Elizabeth Phelps-8x great grandaunt

A few thoughts:
The lists are a work in progress. As I add  more siblings and extend consanguineous lines I suspect I will find more relatives involved with the witch trials.

As it is, I am struck by how many of my ancestors were involved. I knew about a few of them already, especially Rebecca (Blake) Ames/Eames and Mary (Towne) Easty/Esty who were my direct ancestors. But there were other things that came as a surprise, such as the death of Ralph Farnum Sr. supposedly being  a result of witchcraft. I also was unaware of my connection to Martha (Allen)Carrier.

As I find other connections, I will be blogging about them here.

THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS: THE OPPOSERS

Here's the list I've made of my ancestors and relatives from Andover, Ma who opposed the witch trials by signing petitions  There are some who earlier had made accusations of witchcraft against others,

I made this list using Ancestry.com's MyTreeTag function

Thomas Chandler Sr.-9x great grandfather
Thomas Chandler Jr-8x great granduncle
John Chandler-8x great granduncle
William Chandler-10x great granduncle
Francis Dane Sr.-9x great grandfather
Francis Dane Jr-8x great grandfather
Nathaniel Dane-8x great granduncle
Phebe Dane-8x great grandaunt
Oliver Holt-7x great granduncle
Mary Holt-8x great grandaunt
Joseph Herrick-8x great granduncle
Thomas Johnson- Mary Holt's husband
George Abbott-9x great granduncle
John Abbott-8x great grandfather
William Abbott-9x great granduncle
Ephraim Stevens-8x great grandfather
Joseph Stevens-9x great granduncle
Benjamin Stevens-9x great granduncle
Hannah (Poor)Dane-8x great grandmother
Henry Ingalls Sr.-7x great grandfather
Henry IngallsJr.-6x great grandfather
John Ingalls-7x great granduncle
Samuel Ingalls-7x great granduncle
John Barker-7x great granduncle
Ebenezer Barker-7x great granduncle
Samuel Endecott--8x great grandfather
Christopher Osgood-Hannah Barker's husband
Nathaniel Felton-9x great grandfather
Joseph Robinson-married to Mehitabel Ames.

ON THIS DATE: OCT 29th

 ON THIS DATE:
BIRTH:
29 Oct 1697 6x ggf Richard Kelley was born in Newbury, Ma.
DEATH:
29 Oct 1668 9x ggf John Eaton died at Haverhill, Ma.

SALEM WITCH TRIALS: THE ACCUSERS

 

Here's the list of my ancestors or relatives who were witnesses/accusers in the Salem witch trial. I made this using the MyTreeTags on my family tree at  Ancestry.com. Some of them would later sign petitions to support the prisoners.

Thomas Chandler-9x great grandfather
Hannah (Brewer) Chandler-9x great grandmother

Sarah (Farnum)Abbott-8x great grandmother 
 Benjamin Abbott-8x great grandfather
Jeremiah Swain-9x great grandfather
Ralph Farnum-8x great grandfather
John Farnum-8x great granduncle
Samuel Farnum-8x great granduncle
Joseph Ballard-9x great granduncle
Elizabeth Ballard--9x great grandaunt
Sarah Phelps-7x great grandaunt
Robert Swan-6x great granduncle
John Swan-6x great granduncle
Timothy Swan -6x great granduncle
Hannah (Foster) Ames- 8x great grandaunt
Ephraim Foster-married to Hannah Ames
Allen Toothaker-2nd cousin 7x removed

ON THIS DATE: OCT 28th

 ON THIS DATE:
BIRTH:
28 Oct 1648 8x ggm Elizabeth Sargent was born in Salisbury, Ma
28 Oct 1681 7x ggm Sarah Stevens was born in Andover, Ma
28 Oct 1653 7x ggm Sarah Learned was born in Chelmsford, Ma

MARRIAGE:28 Oct 1819 3x ggp John Ellingwood Jr. & Rachel Barrows were married in Woodstock, Me.

DEATH:
28 Oct 1684 10x ggf John Fiske died in Watertown, Ma.
28 Oct 1735 9x ggm Mary (Loker) Prescott died in died in Groton, Ma.

MY WITCH LISTS: THE ACCUSED

 

((First posted in August 2019))

Here's the list I've made of my ancestors and relatives from Andover, Ma who were tried for witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. Three of them were executed. I made this list using Ancestry.com's MyTreeTag function

Accused Witches

Mary (Towne) Estey-9x great grandmother- (executed)
Rebecca (Towne)Nurse 9x great grandaunt (executed)
Sarah (Towne)Cloyce 9x great grandaunt
Rebecca (Blake) Ames-9x great grandmother
Sarah (Hooper) Wardwell-widow of 10x great grandfather Adam Hawkes
Samuel Wardwell husband of Sarah (Hooper)Wardwell (executed)
Sarah Hawkes-9x great grandaunt
Abigail (Wheeler)Barker--wife of 8x great granduncle
William Barker Sr-7x great granduncle
William Barker Jr.-1st cousin 8x removed
Mary Barker-1st cousin 8x removed
Daniel Ames-8x great granduncle
Abigail (Dane)Faulkner-9x great aunt
Elizabeth (Dane)Johnson-9x great aunt
Dorothy Faulkner-1st cousin 9x removed
Abigail Faulkner-1st cousin 9x removed
Elizabeth Johnson-1st cousin 9x removed
Stephen Johnson-1st cousin 9x removed
Rose Foster-1st cousin 9x removed
Deliverance  (Hazeltine)-wife of 9th great-uncle
Mary (Allen) Hazeltine-1st cousin 8x removed
Martha (Allen)Carrier 1st cousin 8x removed
Roger Toothaker-Mary Allen's husband
Mercy Wardwell-step 10x great aunt

ON THIS DATE: OCT 27th

 

ON THIS DATE:

BIRTH:

27 Oct 1899 gm Cora Bertha Barker was born at Bethel, Me.

 

MARRIAGES:

27 Oct 1714 8x ggp John Adams & Mary Flagg were married at Watertown, Ma.

27 Oct 1698 7x ggp Joseph Tuck & Sarah Reith were married at Marblehead, Ma.

 

DEATHS:

27 Oct 1675 8x ggm Sarah (Chandler) Simmons died at West Bridgewater, Ma.

27 Oct 1713 9x ggf William Green died at Groton, Ma

WHEN THE FROST IS ON THE PUNKIN" BY JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY

 

   ((Oddly enough, both my parents occasionally would quote a line or two from Riley's
two most famous poems. This is the one Dad would quote. I first posted this on 13Oct 2012)) 


We had the first frost of the fall season in parts of New England and it put me in mind 
how Dad would  sometimes recite "When the frost is on the pumpkin...". That's the only part of
the poem he'd say. I think he must have had to recite it in school when he was a kid and that's all
he remembered.

Reading it just now I had to grin at the line about the turkey since I've now had experiences with
a loud, "struttin" turkey here in my own backyard!




 "When the Frost is on the Punkin"
                          James Whitcomb Riley

When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock,   
And you hear the kyouck and gobble of the struttin' turkey-cock,   
And the clackin' of the guineys, and the cluckin' of the hens,   
And the rooster's hallylooyer as he tiptoes on the fence;   
O, it's then the time a feller is a-feelin' at his best,         
With the risin' sun to greet him from a night of peaceful rest,   
As he leaves the house, bareheaded, and goes out to feed the stock,   
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.   
 
They's something kindo' harty-like about the atmusfere   
When the heat of summer's over and the coolin' fall is here—   
Of course we miss the flowers, and the blossoms on the trees,   
And the mumble of the hummin'-birds and buzzin' of the bees;   
But the air's so appetizin'; and the landscape through the haze   
Of a crisp and sunny morning of the airly autumn days   
Is a pictur' that no painter has the colorin' to mock—   
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.   
 
The husky, rusty russel of the tossels of the corn,   
And the raspin' of the tangled leaves as golden as the morn;   
The stubble in the furries—kindo' lonesome-like, but still   
A-preachin' sermuns to us of the barns they growed to fill;   
The strawstack in the medder, and the reaper in the shed;   
The hosses in theyr stalls below—the clover overhead!—   
O, it sets my hart a-clickin' like the tickin' of a clock,   
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.   
 
Then your apples all is gethered, and the ones a feller keeps   
Is poured around the cellar-floor in red and yaller heaps;   
And your cider-makin's over, and your wimmern-folks is through   
With theyr mince and apple-butter, and theyr souse and sausage too!...   
I don't know how to tell it—but ef such a thing could be   
As the angels wantin' boardin', and they'd call around on me—   
I'd want to 'commodate 'em—all the whole-indurin' flock—   
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.

0N THIS DATE: OCT. 16th

 Frank and Charlotte were first cousins.

ON THIS DATE:
BIRTHS:
16 Oct 1676 6x ggm Patience Simmons was born in Duxbury, Ma.
16 Oct 1672 7x ggf Thomas Safford was born in Ipswich, Ma.

MARRIAGE:
1 6 Oct 1898 ggp Frank W. Barker & Charlotte Lovenia Barker were married in Gorham, N.H.

DEATHS:
16 Oct 1664 10x ggm Judith (Wignol) Forster died in Ipswich, Ma.
16 Oct 1705 8x ggm Susannah (Edson) Keith died in West Bridgewater, Ma.

HALLOWEEN TALES: THE HELL HOUNDS OF BREWSTER, MA.

 (( This Halloween Tale is a story within a story about how I 
seem to have started a scary folktale while working as a camp
counselor. I first posted this in October, 2007))


Back in my college days, I spent three summers as a camp
counselor at Camp Mitton in Brewster, Mass down on Cape Cod.

One night during my last summer there in 1970, I was sitting at
the Indian Council Ring with the campers and councilors as we
told stories around a campfire. One of the kids started telling a
story about the Black Hell Hounds that chased a murderer’s
ghost on the dirt roads by the camp and I had to grin. I knew the
story well.

In fact, I was the one who’d first told it.


Two years before I was trying to come up with the a story to tell
at the campfire that hadn’t already been told and a combination
of things led me to make up a new one.


One of the elements was the camp’s location. There were several
dirt roads that wound their way through old cranberry bogs,
some of which with old buildings nearby. We occasionally took the
kids on hikes down those roads and so the locale of the story
would be familiar.


Another element was that one of the councilors had snorkeled in
the lake the camp was situated on and found an old buckboard
type wagon on the lake floor. Everyone had wondered how it ever
got there.

And the third element? That would be Queenie the black Labrador
Retriever and two of her grown offspring who frequently hung
around the camp mooching scraps and attention from the kids.
And so, I came up with this story:


“Many years ago there lived down by the cranberry bogs a man
and his wife. They had no children, and the cranberry farmer’s
wife was lonely so the farmer bought her three black hounds to
keep her company and protect her when he was away from the
farm.


Things went well for several years until bad weather caused
the cranberry crop to be a small one and the farmer fell into
debt. He took to drinking and when his wife asked him to stop
they would argue. One night the man hit his wife and the dogs
who were trained to protect her attacked the farmer. In a rage
he grabbed his axe and killed the dogs and then his wife, and
then buried them all in an unmarked grave somewhere along
the dirt roads through the bogs. If neighbors asked he told them
his wife had left him and gone off to her parents’ home in
Boston.


Then one night exactly a year to the night after the murder
the farmer was driving his wagon down a dirt road, the very
same road that runs right through the center of our camp, when
he heard the sound of hounds baying behind him. He looked
over his shoulder and by the light of the moon he saw the red
eyes of  three ghostly hounds racing after him in the
moonlight.


He whipped his horse to run faster, but still the hounds came
closer, and closer, and CLOSER until suddenly the wagon hit
the bump in the road just past where the softball field is
today and the horse broke free, while the wagon went racing
down into the lake, taking the farmer with it to drown.


And some say that every year the murderous farmer’s ghost
can be seen in his wagon being chased down the dirt road by
the three black Hell Hounds.”

Not exactly Poe but it worked well in the dark by the campfire,
especially with Queenie nearby begging for marshmallows.


I didn’t work at the camp the summer after I first told the story
but apparently it had been told by one of the campers that year,
and then the year I returned, another camper told it. I don’t
know if it continued to be told, since that was the last summer I
spent there. But if Queenie and her descendants were around I
suspect it might have been told again.


I think this must be how a lot of legends and ghost stories must
have started, a mixture of the commonplace with fantasy.


Oh. Did I mention that in my apartment complex nearly
forty years later, my next door neighbor’s pet was a black
Labrador Retriever?

ON THIS DATE: OCT. 11th

 ON THIS DATE:
BIRTH:
11 Oct 1670 8x ggf John Ames was born at Andover, Ma.

MARRIAGES:
11 Oct 1680 8x ggp Ephraim Stevens & Sarah Abbott were married at Andover, Ma.
11 Oct 1639 9x ggp Richard Willis & Amy Glass were married at East Bridgewater, Ma.

DEATHS:
11 Oct 1765 6x ggf Paul Crowell died at Chatham, Ma.
11 Oct 1750 7x ggf Benjamin Barker died at Andover, Ma.
11 Oct 1712 7x ggf Joseph Bailey died at Bradford, Ma.
11 Oct 1686 9x ggm Mary (Moulton) Sanborn died at Hampton, N.H.
11 Oct 1723 8x ggm Martha (Fuller) Marston died at Andover, Ma.

AGGIE

 




((This was my very first post here back in February, 2007.I'm reposting it toay in honor of her birthday,7Oct 1898)

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.
\

 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.

ON THIS DATE: OCT 7th

ON THIS DATE:

BIRTHS:

7 Oct 1898 gm Agnes McFarland was born in Boston, Ma.
7 Oct 1676 7x ggf Daniel Pierce was born in Woburn, Ma.

MARRIAGES:
7 Oct 1698 7x ggp Thomas Safford & Eleanor Cheney were married in Ipswich, Ma.
7 Oct 1712 7x ggp Stephen Greenleaf 3rd & Mary Mackres were married in Newbury, Ma.

DEATHS:
7 Oct 1662  10x ggf Stephen Gates died in Lancaster, Ma.
7 Oct 1688  9x ggm Elizabeth (Kendall) Eaton died in Reading, Ma.
7 Oct 1666 9x ggf Thomas Pierce died in Charlestown, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: OCT. 3RD

 ON THIS DATE:
BIRTHS:
3 Dec 1643 7x ggm Patience Barstow was born at Dedham, Ma.
3 Oct 1742 5x ggf Amos Upton Jr. was born at Reading, Ma.

MARRIAGES:
3 Oct 1759 5x ggp Reuben Packard & Anne Perkins were married at Bridgewater, Ma.
3 Oct 1803 4x ggp Stephen Moore &  Millie Davis were married at Waterford, Me.

DEATHS:
3 Oct 1671 9x ggf William Lewis died at Lancaster, Ma.
3 Oct 1689  9x ggf Edward Phelps died at Andover, Ma.
3 Oct 1665  9x ggf Roger Chandler died at Duxbury, Ma.
3 Oct 1676 10x ggm Hannah (Phillips) (Morse) Boyden died at Dedham, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: SEPT 28th

 ON THIS DATE:
BIRTHS:
28 Sep 1655 9x ggm Esther Ware was born at Dedham, Ma.
28 Sep 1669 7x ggf Samuel Ayer was born at Haverhill, Ma.
28 Sep 1673 8x ggf John Bumpus was born at Scituate, Ma.

MARRIAGES:
28 Sep 1721 6x ggp Richard Kelley & Susannah Hoyt were married at Newbury, Ma.
28 Sep 1659 9x ggp Samuel Woods & Alice Rushton were married at Cambridge, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: SEPT. 27th

 ON THIS DATE:
BIRTHS:
27 Sep 1646 8x ggf John Wright was born in Boston, Ma.
27 Sep 1634 8x ggm Mary Sargent was born in Amesbury, Ma.
27 Sep 1780 4x ggf Johann Michael Ruppmich was born in Kleinheppach, Wurttemberg, Germany

MARRIAGE:
27 Sep 1678 9x ggp Benjamin Rockwood & Judith Ellis were married in Medield, Ma.

DEATHS:
27 Sep 1716 8x ggm Mary (Sargent) Challis died in Salisbury, Ma.
27 Sep 1730 7x ggf Joseph Keith died in West Bridgewater, Ma.
27 Feb 1877 3x ggf Wesley Coburn died in Albany, Me.

ON THIS DATE: SEPT 24TH

ON THIS DATE:
BIRTH:
24 Sep 1737 5x ggf Lot Spaulding was born at Pelham, N.H.

MARRIAGES:
24 Sep 1734 7x ggp Daniel Boyden & Mehitable Mann were married at Dedham, Ma.
24 Sep 1678 8x ggp John Bancroft Sr. & Elizabeth Eaton were married at Lynn, Ma.
24 Sep 1723 7x ggp Samuel Griffith & Eleanor Estey were married at Rochester, Ma.

DEATHS:
24 Sep 1662 9x ggf John Whitcomb died at Lancaster, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: SEPT 16TH

 ON THIS DATE:
BIRTHS:
16 Sep 1663 7x ggf Nathaniel Stow was born at Concord, Ma.
16 Sep 1672 8x ggm Martha Ward was born at Dalem, Ma.
16 Sep 1769 4x ggm Esther Spaulding was born at Pelham, Ma.
16 Sep 1687 7x ggf Mark Haskell was born at Gloucester, Ma.

MARRIAGE:
16 Sep 1684 7x ggp John Wetherbee & Lydia Moore were married at Stow, Ma.

DEATHS:
16 Sep 1676 10x ggm Dionis (Stevens) Coffin died at nantucket, Ma.
16 Sep 1666 10x ggf Richard Goodale died at Ipswich, Ma.
 

ON THIS DATE: SEPT 10TH

 ON THIS DATE
MARRIAGE:
10 Sep 1778 4x ggp Amos Hastings & Elizabeth Wiley were married at
 Haverhill Ma.

DEATHS:
10 Sep 1694 8x ggf Daniel Cheney died at Newbury, Ma.
10 Sep 1696 8x ggf Samuel Davis died at Haverhill, Ma.
10 Sep 1731 8x ggf Eleazer Green died at Groton, Ma.

ON THIS DATE : SEPT. 8th

ON THIS DATE:
BIRTH:
8 Sep 1651 9x ggf Benjamin Rockwood was born at Medfield, Ma.
8 Sep 1662  8x ggm Elizabeth Eaton was born at Reading, Ma.

DEATH:
8 Sep 1684 9x ggf Elias Maverick died at Charlesrown, Ma.
8 Sep 1677 9x ggf Thomas Low died at Ipswich, Ma.
8 Sep 1691 8x ggf Marke Haskell died at Gloucester, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: JUNE 24TH

 

ON THIS DATE:

DEATHS:

24 Jun 1674 9x ggm Lydia (Cooper) Stone died at Cambridge, Ma.

24 Jun 1692 8x ggm Elizabeth (Freeman) Ellis died at Rochester, Ma.

24 Jun 1661 9x ggm Goodith (Gilman) Learned died at Malden, Ma.

24 Jun 1662 9x ggf Joseph Wormall died at Scituate, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: JUNE 23rd

 

ON THIS DATE:

BIRTH:

23 Jun 1837 2x ggm Louisa Almata Richardson was born at Wilton, Me.

 

MARRIAGE:

23 Jun 1659 8x ggp John Hoyt & Mary Barnes were married at Salisbury, Ma.

 

DEATH:

23 Jun 1679 8X ggf John Carver died at Marshfield, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: JUNE 22ND

 

ON THIS DATE

BIRTHS:

22 Jun 1805 3x ggf James Thomas Dunham was born in Hebron. Me.

22 Jun 1649 10x ggm Mary Newton was born at Sudbury, Ma.

22 Jun 1701 8x ggm Elizabeth Drury was born at Framingham, Ma.

DEATHS:

22 Jun 1675 10x ggf Richard Kimball died at Ipswich, Ma.

22 Jun 1791 7x ggm Meriah (Moore) Houghton died at Lancaster, Ma.

22 Jun 1762 8x ggf John Bumpus died at Wareham Ma.

ON THIS DATE: JUNE 2OTH

 ON THIS DATE:
BIRTH:
20 Jun 1639 8x ggf John Stevens Jr. was born at Newbury, Ma.
20 Jun 1813 3x ggf Cyrus Moore was born at Waterford, Me.

DEATHS:
20 Jun 1654 10x ggf Joseph Morse Sr. died at Dorchester, Ma.
20 Jun 1640 9x ggm Joan (Nudd)Dow died at Watertown, Ma.

ELISHA HOUGHTON HAD A GUN....AND THEN HE DIDN'T.

   ((Yesterday was the 248th Anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill. Several of my ancestors took
part in the battles, including my 5x great grandfather Elisha Houghton. I first posted this on 21
August, 2012:)) 

I mentioned my ancestor Elisha Houghton the other day and
that he was a veteran of the Revolutionary War. I found this
story about him in History of the Town of Harvard, Massachusetts
1732-1893 by Henry Steadman Nourse (p323):

"Coliney of the Massachusetts Bay.

To the Honnorabel General Coart seting at Watertown the Petion
of Elisha Houghton a Solder under Comand of Captan Hastings in Conl
Whitcomb's Rigement in the year 1775 and I was in the fight on Bunkers
hill So Called in Charlston on the 17 of June in the year 1775 as above
sd and on my Return I and others Lited on one Jacob Davis who was
wounded who requested our help and in tacking Care of the sd Davis
Caused me your Petinor to take Mistick Road to convey the sd Davis to
where he thought he could be tacken Care of and in so Doing 1 came
acros by Winter hill to go to head Quater at Cambridge and in Coming
by the Gard of Connal Starks which was set on sd hill they took away
my Gun which I and others that Knew sd Gun Judged to be worth teen
Dolers. I Endevuered to Recover my Gun again but was Denied the
Same which may be made Evident to this Coart by Reading the Paper
acompining this Petition. 1 also Sertify this Coart that I have Never
Reseved my Gun since Nor any Consideration for the same. I therefore
your Poor Petitioner Humbly Pray that this Coart would be Pleased to
take my Case into your Consideration and alow me Pay for my Gun
and your Petitioner as in Duty bound Shall Ever Pray. Bolton Jan. the —
1776 Elisha Houghton

This may Certify that Elisha Houghton of Col Whitcomb's Regiment
in Capt. Hasting's Company was in the Action on Bunker's hill and
helping bringing the wounded men off to Cambridge went mistick Road over
Winter hill and the Guard that was set on winter hill took away the Guns,
and this sd Houghton's Gun was among the Rest, the next Day with [a]
number of others sd Houghton went in order to Get his Gun with an officer
with him, but could not find it and have Never heard of it since—as I know of.

Josiah Whitney, Lt. Col. of sd Rgmt.
Dorchester Camp Febury 29th. 1776"

I don't know if Elisha ever got recompensed for his lost gun, but I suspect he
was one of the earliest victims of "requisitioning" in the American military tradition.

FATHERS DAY 2023

 

 In honor of Fathers Day I'm posting pictures of some of the fathers on my family tree. From the Wests:

Our Dad, Floyd E West, Jr.

 

Great grandfather Philip J. West, Cousin Stanley & Grandfather Floyd E West, Sr.

2x great grandfather Jonathan P.West & wife Louisa Almata (Richardson)West

3x Great grandfather John Cutter West

Some of the maternal grandfather's from Dad's family:

2x great grandfather Asa F Ellingwood & wife Florilla (Dunham)Ellingwood.

2x Great grandfather Amos Hastings Barker & wife Betsy Jane (Moore) Barker.

3x Great grandfather Philip Richardson

4x great grandfather Moses Coburn

 And the only pictures I have from Mom's side of the family:

Great grandfather John McFarland & wife Annie (Kelley)McFarland.

Great Grandfather Edward J White.

Happy Fathers' Day!

ON THIS DATE: MAY 25TH

 ON THIS DATE:
MARRIAGES:
25 May 1894 ggp Philip J. West & Clara Ellingwood were married at Shelburne, N.H.
25 May 1687 8x ggp Joseph Dow & Hannah Challlis were married at Amesbury, Ma.
25 May 1690 8x ggp Henry Herrick & Lydia Woodbury were married at Beverley.Ma.

DEATHS:
25 May 1714 8x ggm Anna (White) Hayward died in Concord. Ma
25 May 1700 9x ggf James Parker died at Groton, Ma

ON THIS DATE: MAY 21ST

 ON THIS DATE:
BIRTH:
21 May 1648 8x ggm Herster Wormall was born in Boston, Ma.
21 May 1647 8x ggm Elizabeth Hedge was born at Yarmouth. Ma.

MARRIAGES:
21 May 1649 8x ggp Henry Jefts & Hannah Births were married at Woburn, Ma.
21 May 1657 10x ggp Thomas Ellis & Mary Wight were married at Medfield, Ma.

DEATHS:
21 May 1905 ggf Frank W. Barker died in Bethel Maine.

ON THIS DATE: MAY 20TH

 ON THIS DATE:
BIRTH:
20 May 1672 8x ggf Eleazer Green was botn at Lancaster. Ma.
20 May 1638 9x ggm Mary (Crispe) Green was born at Watertown, Ma.

MARRIAGE:
20 May 1663 8x ggp John Kelley & Sarah Knight were married at Newbury, Ma.
DEATHS:
20 May 1699 8x ggf John Thomas died at Marshfield, Ma.
20 May 1676 10x ggm Mary (Tidd) Kendall died at Woburn, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: MAY 19TH

 ON THIS DATE:
BIRTH:
19 May 1659 7x ggm Mary Harlow was born at Plymouth, Ma.

 MARRIAGE:
19 May 1673 9x ggp Samuel Mann & Ester Ware were marroied at Dedham, Ma.

DEATHS:
19 May 1661 9x ggm Anne (Jundon) Butterfield died at Chelmsford, Ma.
19 May 1709 9x ggf Jonathan Morey died at Plymouth, Ma.

MOTHERS DAY 2

 

 In honor of Mother's Day, here are pictures of our Dad's female ancestors.

First, on his mother's side:

Amos H Barker & Betsey J (Moore) Barker

Our 2x great grandmother Betsey Jane Moore was born on 16 Aug 1842 at Waterford,
Oxford, Me. She married Amos Hastings Barker in 1856 and they raised a family of
12 children, 11 of whom survived to adulthood. Betsey died 12Mar 1924 at age 82.

My great grandmother Charlotte Lovenia Barker is the lady on the right.

 Our great grandmother Charlotte Lovenia Barker was youngest of  Amos & Betsey's
12 children. She was born on 3 Aug 1879 in Albany, Oxford, Maine and was known as
":Lottie". She married her first cousin Frank W. Barker on 16Oct 1898 and they had
4 children before Frank died in 1905 from pneumonia caused by "La Grippe" (the flu).
She was married three more times before her death on 3Jan 1944 at Bangor, Maine.   

Cora Berthella (Barker) West & her great granddaughter Mindy Sue West

Our grandmother Cora Berthella (Barker) West was born 27Oct 1899 and was the eldest
child of Frank and Charlotte. She preferred the name Bertha, although it was given as
Cora on her marriage certificate. Bertha married Floyd E.West Sr on 24Mar 1919 and
had 5 children, one of whom was our Dad.

 On his Dad's side of the family:

Arvilla (Ames)West

Our 3x great grandmother Arvilla Ames was born in Livermore, Androscoggin, Maine
on 25Jan 1810, one of 10 children. She married John Cutter West on 23Sep 1827
at Sumner, Maine, and five years later they moved to Letter B Plantation (later renamed
Upton), Oxford, Maine. She had 10 children, 3 of whom died in a diphtheria outbreak
in 1862. She died at age 97 at Hermon, Maine.

Louisa A.(Richardson) West

Louisa Richardson, our 2x great grandmother was born in Wilton, Maine on
23Jun 1837 at Wilton, Maine.  She was the second wife of Jonathan Phelps West,
whose first wife had died in the 1862 diphtheria outbreak. Louisa and Jonathan
married on 31Jan 1865 and had 4 sons. She died 4Oct 1925 at age 88.

Florilla (Dunham) Ellingwood & Asa F Ellingwood

Our other paternal 2x great grandmother was Florilla Dunham who was born 29Aug
1832 at North Paris, Oxford, Maine. She married Asa F. Ellingwood on 10Aug 1850
at Woodstock, Oxford, Maine and 11 children.(She was one of 11 children herself.)
She died in Paris, Oxford, Maine on 21Feb 1917.

Clara (Ellingwood) West

Finally, our great grandmother  Clara Ellingwood was the 8th child and youngest
daughter of Florilla and Asa Ellingwood. She was born 6Mar 1865 in Dummer, Coos,
NH. Her first marriage with Charles Tidswell ended in divorce and she married our
great grandfather Philip J West on 25May 1894 at Shelburne, Coos, NH. She had
three children by her first marriage and two by her second, including our grandfather
Floyd E West, Sr. Sadly, Clara died young after an illness in Augusta, Maine on 10Apr
1901. She was only 36 years old.

And those are the pictures we have of the mothers in our family.

Happy Mothers Day! 

MOTHERS DAY 1

 

 Once again for Mothers Day I'm posting photos of our family's mothers, starting with the maternal line of my family..

For our Mom's side we don't have very many since her grandparents immigrated
here from Ireland and Germany in the 19th century.

 

John McFarland & Annie (Kelley) McFarland

First there's Anna Kelley, born 1Oct 1858 in Kiltrustan, Roscommon, Ireland. She married
my great grandfather in Edinburgh Scotland on 16May1879 and shortly after they came
to America and settled in Boston. She had 17 children, 10 of whom survived to adulthood.
Anna died 15Feb 1945 at Boston, Ma. at age 86.

Pauline (Offinger) White

Our other maternal great grandmother was Pauline Offinger, born 17Dec 1873
in Cambridge, Massachusetts to German immigrant parents. She married Edward J.
White on 27Nov 1895 in Boston, Ma. and had 9 children.          

Agnes (McFarland) White

Our grandmother Agnes (McFarland) White was born 7Oct 1898 in Boston, Ma, the
14th of John & Annie's 17 children. She was known as "Aggie" in the family.
She married Edward F.White, Sr. and had two children, our Uncle Ed and our Mom
Anne Marie. She died 12Feb 1957 in Malden Ma.

Anne M. (White) West

Finally, our Mom, Anne M. (White) West. She was born 7Jul 1927 at Boston, Ma and
married our Dad on 29Jun 1947, also at Boston. To her McFarland cousins she was
known as "Red White". She died on 28Jul 1999 at Weymouth, Ma and she is missed by
my brother, my sister, myself and the rest of the family.

ON THIS DATE: APRIL 30th

 0N THIS DATE:
BIRTHS:
30 Apr 1699 6x ggf Mark Perkins was born in Beverly, Ma.

MARRIAGES:
30 Apr 1674 7x ggp Andrew Spaulding  & Hannah Jefes were married at Chelmsford, Ma.
30 Apr 1662 7x ggp John Doane & Hannah Banges were married in Orleans, Ma.

DEATHS:
30 Apr 1814 5x ggf John Dunham died in Carver, Ma.
30 Apr 1754 7x ggf Thomas Safford died at Ipswich, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: APRIL 24th

 ON THIS DATE:
MARRIAGE:
24 Apr 1669 8x ggp Philip Brown & Mary Buswell were married at Salisbury, Ma.

DEATHS:
24 Apr 1666 8x ggm Mary Parker died at Scituate, Ma.
24 Apr 1656 11x ggf John Tidd  died at Woburn, Ma.
24 Apr 1676 8x ggf Simon Willard died at Charlestown, Ma.

THE SHOT HEARD ROUND THE WORLD

 

 Today is the 248th Anniversary of the Battles of Lexington & Concord which
started the American Revolution on 19Apr 1775.

These are our colonial ancestors from our Dad's family lines for whom I have
so far been able to discover records that they took part in those battles and served in the
Revolution:



Jonathan Barker Jr. My 5x great grandfather
Was a Minuteman from Methuen Ma with rank of Sergeant.
He responded to Lexington and Concord with his sons
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's Company in Colonel
Jacob Gerrish's guards from Dec 1777 to l Apr 1778 guarding
the captured troops of General Burgoyne.


Jonathan Barker 3rd  My 4x great grandfather
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   My 5x great grandfather
Was a Minuteman under Capt. Asa Parker on April 19th,
1775. He then 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    My 4x great grandfather
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  My 4x great grandfather
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   My 5x great grandfather
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   My 5x great grandfather
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   5x great grandfather
Enlisted at Harvard Ma as a Private in May of 1777 in 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 back down to the ranks.

Amos Upton    My 5x great grandfather
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.
He was discharged in October of 1775.

John Griffith  My 5x great grandfather
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   My 5x great grandfather
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 Abbott   My 5x great grandfather
Served as a Sergeant in the Militia under Captain Henry
Abbott and responded to the Lexington Alarm


Samuel Stowe  My 5x great grandfather
Minuteman from Sherborn, Ma. Served in Capt. Benjamin Bullard's
Company in Col. Asa Whitcomb's 5th Massachusetts Bay
Provincial Regiment.


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.

ON THIS DATE: APRIL 17TH

 0N THIS DATE:
BIRTH:
17 Apr 1742 5x ggf Samuel Stow was born at Grafton, Ma.

MARRIAGES:
17 Apr 1645  9x ggp William Gerrish & Joanna Lowell were married at Newbury, Ma.
17 Apr 1727 6x ggp Samuel Totman & Experience Rogers were married at Plymouth, Ma.

DEATH:
17 Apr 1748 8x ggf Joseph Boyden died at Worcester, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: APRIL 15TH

 

ON THIS DATE:

 

BIRTHS:

15 Apr 1685 9x ggm Judith Ellis was born at Medfield, Ma.

15 Apr 1673 8x ggm Priscilla Kimball was born at Bradford, Ma.

 

MARRIAGE:

15 Apr 1668 9x ggp Gershom Flagg & Hannah Leffingwell were married at Woburn, Ma.

 

DEATHS:

15 Apr 1705 8x ggf Ralph Houghton died at Milton, Ma.

15 Apr 1686 9x ggf Thomas Hayward died at Bridgewater, Ma.

15 Apr 1678 10ggf Thomas Boyden died at Medfield, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: APRIL 3RD

 ON THIS DATE:
BIRTH
3 Apr 1665 6x ggm Elizabeth Briggs was born at Sandwich, Ma.
3 Apr 1712 6x ggm Keziah Shuttleworth was born at Wrentham, Ma.

DEATH:
3 Apr 1693 10x ggf Edward Bumpas died at Marshfield, Ma.
3 Apr 18385x ggf Amos Upton died at Norway, Me.

ON THIS DATE: APRIL 2ND

 BIRTHS:
2 Apr 1678 7x ggf Henry Haskell was born at Gloucester, Ma.
2 Apr 1637 9x ggf Jonathan Morey was born at Plymouth, Ma.

DEATHS:
2 Apr 1697 8x ggf John Ellis died at Sandwich, Ma
2 Apr 1833 5x ggf John Ames IV died at Canton, Me.

ON THIS DATE: MARCH 29TH

 ON THIS DATE:
BIRTHS:
29 Mar 1726 5x ggf Thomas West was born at Kingston, Ma.
29 Mar 1638 8x ggf Thomas Rogers died at Duxbury, Ma.

DEATH:
29 Mar 1671 9x ggf George Hayward died in Concord, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: MARCH 24TH

 0N THIS DATE:
BIRTH:
24 Mar 1689 7x ggm Zerviah Holt was born at Andover, Ma.
24 Mar 1684 7x ggf Jeremiah Dean was born at Dedham, Ma.

MARRIAGES:
24 Mar 1645 10x ggp Robert Ware & Margaret Hunting were married at Dedham, Ma.
24 Mar 1919 gp Floyd Earl West Sr. & Cora Bertha Barker were married at Errol, N.H.

 DEATHS:
24 Mar 1671  10x ggf Edmund Greenleaf died at Boston, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: MARCH 23RD

 

ON THIS DATE:

BIRTH:

23 Mar 1821 3xggm Regine Xiane Frederika Kaufman was born in Wurtemburg, Germany

 

MARRIAGE:

23 Mar 1718 6xggp Ebenezer Ellingwood and Sarah Tuck were married at Beverley, Ma. 

 

DEATHS:

23 Mar 1678 9x ggf Gamaliel Beaman died at Dorchester, Ma

23 Mar 1676 9x ggf John Ellis died at Plymouth, Ma.

23 Mar 1698 10x ggf Thomas Brewer died at Hampton, N.H.

ON THIS DATE: MARCH 18TH

 ON THIS DATE:
BIRTHS:
18 Mar 1657 7x ggf Ralph Ellingwood Jr. was born  at Salem, Ma
18 Mar 1648 8x ggm Hannah Lewis was born at Roxbury, Ma.
18 Mar 1667 7x ggf Luke Perkins was born at Charlestown, Ma.


DEATHS:
18 Mar 1676  7x ggf Moses Simmons died at Duxbury, Ma.
18 Mar 1693 8x ggf Richard Barker died at Andover, Ma

PRIDE

 

My Irish immigrant great grandparents John and Anna (Kelly) McFarland

 
((I wrote this back in 2008 when Borders Books was still in business))

We got a new book in at Borders last week for my "All
Things Local" section and the minute I saw it I knew I'd be
buying a copy. It's Peter F. Stevens' "Hidden History of the
Boston Irish" (trade paperback, $19.99 from History Press)
and a quick scan of the back made me grin. There was a
reference to Barney McGinniskin, who in 1851 became the
first Irishman on the Boston Police force. Barney announced
his arrival with: "Barney McGinniskin from the bogs of
Ireland!"

I could picture him roaring that out, an "in your face"
declaration of his presence despite the opposition to his hiring
that Stevens details. Many of the objections against him were
all too familiar to the Irish immigrants of the early 19th
century: he was taking work away from native born
Americans, American culture was threatened by the influx
of low born, poorly educated foreigners, and worst of all,
they were Catholic!


Barney lost his place on the force three years later during the
era of the aptly named "Know Nothing" Party's reign of anti-
Catholic terrorism, but the Irish kept coming, carving out
lives for themselves and their families in New England.


"No Irish Need Apply?' Fine, some of them started their own
businesses while others took on menial jobs that put roofs
over their heads and money in the bank. If they had to work
as maids or ditch diggers, they did; their children would have
the chance for better jobs as clerks or teachers. Bit by bit
they worked their way to their dreams. Among them were
my Mom's grandparents.


One of her grandfathers, John McFarland, started out as a
laborer in 1880 and was working for the Boston City Street
department by the 1910 census and as a gardener for the
City in 1920. At the time of his death he owned two houses.
By 1940, his sons were employed by shoe factories, a bottler,
and a diamond cutting company and each of them owned
their own homes. His grandchildren include three Boston
firemen. It's an American success story that's repeated in
many other families whose ancestors arrived here with very
little and achieved so very much through hard work and
perseverance.

I recently heard a conservative declare we make too much
of being "hyphenated" Americans, of being Irish-American,
or Italian-American or Polish-American. If he had his way,
there'd be no celebration of Columbus Day or St. Patrick's
Day or any other ethnic group festivities.

I was astonished as a historian, as a genealogist, as well as,
yes, an Irish-American. We should be proud of being
Americans but we should also be proud of where our
families came from and the contributions their cultures have
made to American culture as a whole. When I hear the debate
raging over immigration today I hear some of the same
arguments used against the immigrants of other times,
including my Irish ancestors. If those arguments had
prevailed then, what a much poorer country America would
be today!

And as a historian I am proud of the contribution Ireland itself
has made to music and literature, and in its role the Irish
monasteries played in preserving much of the Greek and
Roman literature during the Middle Ages.

So that's what I feel about being Irish and Irish-American:
pride in my ancestors for what they overcame, and grateful
to them for what they have given back to America in return!

ON THIS DATE: MARCH 15TH

 ON THIS DATE
BIRTH:
15 Mar 1735 6x ggf Jonathan Williamson was born at Georgetown,Me.

DEATHS:
15 Mar 1646 10x ggf Rice Cole died at Charlestown, Ma.
15 Mar 1641 9x ggm Isobel (Denton) Halstead died in Concord, Ma.
15 Mar 1708  7x ggf John Doane died at Eastham, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: MARCH 14TH

 ON THIS DATE:
BIRTH:
14 Mar 1721 5x ggf James Swan was born at Methuen, Ma

MARRIAGE:
14 Mar 1655 8x ggp Ralph Ellinwood & Elenor Lynn were married at Beverley, Ma.

DEATH:
14 Mar 1663 9x ggf James Pitney died at Marshfield, Ma.
14 Mar 1697  9x ggf William Barnes died at Salisbury, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: MARCH 13TH

ON THIS DATE:
BIRTHS:
13 Mar 1830 2x ggf Nathaniel Swan Barker was born at Newry, Me.
13 Mar 1648 8x ggf John Abbott was born ar Andover, Ma.
13 Mar 1667 8x ggm Abigail Lakin was born at Groton, Ma,

DEATHS:
13 Mar 1676 10x ggf John Nutting died at Groton, Ma
13 Mar 1672 10x ggf Adam Hawkes died at Lynn, a

ON THIS DATE: MARCH 12TH

 ON THIS DATE:


MARRIAGE:
12 Mar 1766 6x ggp John Laughton & Jane Adams were married at Pepperell, Ma.

DEATH:
12 Mar 1671 9x ggf Thomas Little died at Marshfield, Ma.
12 Mar 1924 2x ggm Betsy Jane (Moore) Barker died at Newry, Me.
12 Mar 1691 9x ggf Samuel Ward died at Quebec, Ma.

ON THIS DATE: MARCH 7TH

 0N THIS D ATE
BIRTHS:
7 Mar 1749 5x ggm Mary Walton was born in Reading, Ma.
7 Mar 1643 8x ggf John Pierce was born in Woburn, Ma

MARRIAGE:
7 Mar 1722 6x ggp Joseph Herrick & Mary Woodbury were married at Beverly, Ma.


DEATHS:
7 Mar 1662 10x ggf William Mann died at Cambridge Ma
7 Mar 1693 10 ggm Mary Wight (Ellis) died a Medfield, Ma.
7 Mar 1716 9x ggf John Bumpas died at Rochester, Ma.
7 Mar 1718 7x ggm Sarah Beaman (Sawyer) died at Lancaster, Ma.
7 Mar 1760 6x ggf John Spaulding died at Chelmsford, Ma

ON THIS DATE: MARCH 2ND

 ON THIS DATE:
BIRTH
2 Mar 1693 6x ggf Elisha West was born at Duxbury,Ma.

DEATHS:
2 Mar 1669 8x ggf John Dunham died at Plymouth, Ma.
2 Mar 1651 9x ggf John Crow died at Yarmouth, Ma.
2 Mar 1688 9x ggf Benjamin Butterfield died at Chelmsford, Ma.
2 Mar 1718 7x ggf Joseph Tuck died at Beverly, Ma.