THE DISAPPEARING STONE OF READING, MASSACHUSETTS

Back earlier this year when I was researching accounts of my ancestors' experiences
in the New England Indian wars I came across an interesting story about some of
my Sawyer relatives. It concerned, of all things, a legend about a disappearing
stone! I bookmarked it to come back to later, or so I thought, because when I
was ready to post about it here I found I'd not saved the site location.

I began googling for the story once more but had no luck. Periodically
I'd renew the search but failed and I'd finally almost come to believe that the
story about a disappearing stone had disappeared itself! But tonight I finally
got lucky!

So here's a story of brothers John and Benjamin Sawyer, my fellow descendants
from Thomas Sawyer and Mary(Marie) Prescott:


"John was a builder, and when he was putting up a house for Charles Buck asked
Benjamin to help him find a big flat stone for the hearth, probably. They found a
stone which by splitting would serve, but left it for another that served without
splitting. Soon afterward, when another such stone was needed for another new
house. John searched for the stone and to his surprise it had disappeared.
Benjamin was sure he could find it, but he also failed in his search. Soon the
stone reappeared, however, in the very spot where it had been first discovered.
The superstitious explained the mystery of the stone that came and went, and the
public came to believe that the stone marked hidden treasure. It was supposed
that the ghostly guards who had to watch over the treasure got tired of their job
occasionally and hid away the stone. At any rate, enough credence was given to
the story of enchantment to cause many parties to dig for the fabled treasure,
and the stories of their experiences add an interesting chapter to the town history."

- Cutter, William Richard, ed. Historic Homes and Places and Genealogical
and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Middlesex County,
Massachusetts, Vol3 (New York, New York, Lewis Historical Publishing Co.
1908) p.1377

Benjamin Sawyer lived from 1762 to 1843 and this is the only mention I've
found anywhere of hidden treasure and a magical disappearing stone in Reading.
Middlesex, Ma. It is strongly reminiscent of the folktales of England, I think.

If you're up around Reading some day, look for a stone suddenly appearing in
a field and you might find some buried treasure!

GRAVE CONCERNS IN FORT SUMTER COUNTY :RESOLUTION!

I can't believe I hadn't posted this already. Great news from George
Geder on the fate of the Lake Panasoffkee Cemetery!

The Sumter County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously
against relocating the old cemetery which holds the remains
of African Americans and Native Americans. It is now designated
an historical site.

George provided a link to a story with more information.

A happy outcome, and thank you, George, for bringing this situation
to the attention of the geneablogging community!

WHY I'M NOT IN A GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY

The deadline for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is about 45 minutes
away and I'm still trying to come up with a piece on "My Favorite Genealogy
Society." The reason it's been so difficult is that I've been a member of only one society,
the New England Historic Genealogical Society, and I haven't renewed my membership
since it expired last summer. As much as I enjoy its website and its publications, I can't
justify the cost of yearly membership when I might only visit the NEHGS building
once or twice a year. This might horrify some of my geneablogging friends but I've
learned more about my family from Google Books than I have from the NEGHS.

The closest local genealogical society is the South Shore Genealogical Society
which meets two towns over in Hanover on the second Saturday of the month from
September to June. Unfortunately the meetings are at 1:30pm in the afternoon
when I'm at work in the bookstore.

I'd like to have the time and financial stability to be an active contributing member
of a genealogical society but the harsh reality is that I work retail. I work on Saturdays
and many nights when I get out of work I just want to go home and relax. Perhaps
in another five years when I reach full retirement age I'll be able to take an active
part in a society. I strongly suspect that I am not alone in having to look at it this way.

Until then, I'll be making the occasional visit to the NEHGS.

BOYS' NIGHT OUT

The transcriptions for the Essex County court session in Ipswich, Ma for Sept 13th,
1649 include the following tidbits:

"Thomas Cooke to be whipped or fined for his abuse of the ministry and magistrates,
and going into the woods at unseasonable time of night, carrying fire and liquors
with him. Wit: Richard Lowle and Danyell Thirston."

The brief description of the case against Thomas Cooke give the particulars
as to the "abuse of the ministry" :

"Thomas Cooke presented for saying Mr. Norton taught what was false, and also for
reproaching the ordinance of baptism, saying that if he had children he would not
have them so played the fools withal. Wit: Mr. Bartholomew and Joseph Medcalf.
Willm. Varney bound for him."

Infant baptisms were a hotly debated topic in Puritan New England and given the
lack of tolerance for opposing religious beliefs at the time the penalty could have been
much worse. More light is shed on the rest of the charges against Thomas Cooke by
by the next case record:

"Joseph Fowlar, Tho. Scott, John Kemball and Thomas Kemball admonished [for going
into the woods at an unseasonable time of the night, and carrying fire and liquor with them.
— Waste Book.]"

The details?

"Joseph Fowler, Thomas Cook, Thomas Scott and two of the sons of Richard Kimball
presented for going into the woods, shouting and singing, taking fire and liquors with
them, all being at unseasonable time in the night, and occasioning their wives and
some others to go out and search therein. Wit: Nathaniel S_______ and Danyell
K______."

Now I'm a descendant of Thomas Kimball through his daughter Priscilla who married my
8x grear grandfather John Eames(Ames) so this of course attracted my attention. I thought
a bit over the incident these past few days, toying with the idea that perhaps Thomas Cook
had been holding meetings of those who shared his religious beliefs and concealing them
under the disguise of some drinking party in the woods. But then I had a better thought:

Sometimes, to quote a worn cliche, it is what it is!

So I'm going to go with the simple explanation on this one: Thomas Cook, the Kimball
brothers and the others snuck out in the woods, built a campfire and passed a jug around
until their wives tracked them down and herded them back to hearth and home.

It might not have great historical significance but the image in my mind of chastened
husbands makes me chuckle!

THE GREAT AMERICAN LOCAL POEM GENEALOGY CHALLENGE!

Recently I've posted two local poems:

"Ipswich Town" by James Appleton Morgan

and

"Another 'Tea Rebellion' " by Holman Day.

In the mid to late 19th century every region of America boasted of one or
more poets whose works reflected local history and folklore. Chances are that our
had read some of those poems during the course of their lives.

So, my challenge to my readers is this:

1. Find a poem by a local poet, famous or obscure, from the region one of
your ancestors lived in. It can be about an historical event, a legend, a
person, or even about some place (like a river)or a local animal.

2. Post the poem to your blog (remembering to cite the source where you found it.)

3. Did it inspire you to research the subject of the poem and how it relates to your
ancestor?

4.Submit your post's link here to me by November 22nd and I'll publish all the entries
on Thanksgiving Day!

So there you have it. There's over a month until the deadline so there's plenty of time
for a Google search for poems. I'm looking forward to a great selection of American
poetry!

THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS...

I'm in one of those occasional periods when I've run out of "juice" so I'm
being lazy today as far as genealogy goes. I've had a pretty busy week
posting and looking back I have a few thoughts I'd meant to include in a few
posts but forgot for one reason or another.

"Ipswich Town" -I remember when I was a kid that the Boston Globe had a
page in the back of their Sunday Magazine supplement with poetry and quotations.
I read "The Face on the Barroom Floor" there. I'm not sure when they stopped
running that page, but seeing poems like "Ipswich Town" reminded me of it.

"Where The Sun Don't Shine" and "Grave Concerns in Sumter County, Florida"-
These sort of stories just infuriate me. It's bad enough we have punks with so little
decency that they damage or destroy gravestones for fun. But perhaps they draw
inspiration by the way cemeteries are allowed to fall into disrepair and become
overgrown with weeds, or ticketed to be relocated in the name of progress. After
all, it's only dead bodies, right? What difference does it make? (I'm being sarcastic
there.)

Finally, "Another 'Tea Rebellion' " brought back a memory of my maternal grandmother
Aggie who died 52 years ago today. It wasn't just Yankees who liked to drink their
tea off a saucer. Irish Catholic Aggie did too, and also liked to eat peas off a knife!

SATURDAY NIGHT GENEALOGY FUN: SATISFACTION

It's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun over at Randy Seaver's Genea-Musings
and here's this week's challenge:

For today's SNGF, if you choose to participate (cue the Mission Impossible music!),
please:

1) Tell us about one (or more) "Satisfying Genealogy Moments" from your family
history and genealogy research. What was it, and how did it make you feel? You
can make a Top Ten list if you want to!

2) Write your own blog post, or make a comment on this post, or make a comment
on Facebook, and tell us about your "moment in time."


So here's mine

1) This has to be when Aunt Dot gave me the West Family Bible last year. The only
thing that could ever top it would be finally breaking down the John Cutter West
brickwall or finding evidence of my Mom's family in Ireland.

2) The visit to Maine this year where I attended the Ellingwood Family Reunion
and especially visiting the graves of John Cutter West, Asa and Florilla Ellingwood,
and James Dunham and Sally Houghton.

3) Discovering online images of the Revolutionary War Pension Request files for
nine. ancestors.

4) Making contact with fellow Barker descendants Nancy Downey and Howard
Kaeplin who helped fill in some blanks in my Barker research.

5) Discovering online transcriptions of correspondence between the Massachusetts
Bay Colony Council and ancestor Simon Willard.

6) Discovering online transcriptions of correspondence between the Massachusetts
Bay Colony Council and ancestor Jeremiah Swain.

7) Discovering online transcriptions of Essex County Quarterly Court case records
involving many of my ancestors who lived in Essex County.

Visiting those gravesites, seeing that family bible and those records, all brought home to
me how long my family has been here in New England. It's given me a greater interest
and appreciation for it's history.

By the way, four of these have happened this year so it's been a very good year for me!

ANOTHER "TEA REBELLION"

Here's another regional New England poem from the early 20th century.
This is from "Pine Tree Ballads" by Holman Day:

ANOTHER " TEA REBELLION "

When Mis' Augusty Nichols joined the Tufts
Minerva Club,
She polished up on manners and she then com-
menced to rub
At the hide of Mister Nichols who, while not
exactly rude,
Was hardly calculated for a howling sort of
dude.
Now when Augusty Nichols got to see how
style was run,
You bet she went for Nichols and she dressed
him down like fun;
And the thing in all his actions that she couldn't
bear to see
Was to have him fill his saucer and go whoof-
ling up his tea.

After more'n a month of stewing;—making
mis'able his life,
She taught him not to shovel all his vittles
with his knife.
And after more'n a volume of pretty spicy talk
She got him in the hang of eating pie with
just his fork.
She trained him so's he didn't slop the vittles
round his plate,
She plagued him till he wouldn't sit in shirt-
sleeves when he ate,
And then she tried her Waterloo, with faith in
high degree
That she could revolutionize his way of drink-
ing tea.

He drank it as his father always quaffed the
cheering cup,
He poured it in his saucer, raised the brimming
puddle up
And gathered in the liquid with a loud re-
sounding " Swoof "
That now at last inspired Mrs. Nichols' fierce
reproof.
But here was where the victim—ah, here was
where the worm
Arose and fairly scared her by the vigor of his
squirm,

—Sat down his steaming saucer and with a
dangerous light
A-gleaming in his visage, he upbore a Yan-
kee's right.
From the days of Boston's party up to now I
think you'll see
That a Yankee's independent when you bother
with his tea.

" Consarn your schoolmarm notions," thun-
dered Mrs. Nichols' spouse,
" You've kept a'dingin' at me till I'm meechin
round the house.
I've swallered that and t'other for I didn't like
to row
But ye ain't a-going to boss me in the thing
ye've tackled now.
I'm durned if I'll be scalded all the time I'm
being stung
So I'll cool my tea, Mis' Nichols, while ye jab
me with your tongue."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * *
There are rights ye cannot smother, tyrants,
whoso'er ye be,
And the good, New England Yankee 's mighty
touchy, sir, on tea.

Day, Holman Pine Tree Ballads : Rhymed Stories of Unplaned Human Natur'
Up In Maine (Boston, Ma., Small , Maynard & Co 1902) pp225-227

GRAVE CONCERNS IN SUMTER COUNTY FLORIDA PT 2

I emailed my concern about the planned movement of the Lake
Panasoffkee Cemetery to an official with the Sumter County
government and received a one line reply, to whit:

"The living are a higher priority and thank you for your input"

I'm hoping that if enough of us send emails to the County
Commission and comment on the story in the Fort Sumter
newspaper we might make them rethink that.

You can find email addresses for the county officials at their
website here.

You can comment on the story here at the Sumter County Times
website here.

Please do it as quickly as you can. If they've already outlined
the unmarked graves with orange paint,work is probably
going to start soon.

Thank you.

GRAVE CONCERNS IN SUMTER COUNTY, FLORIDA

George Geder has alerted the genealogical community about another disturbing
case of a cemetery being sacrificed in the name of "progress". The Lake
Panasoffkee Cemetery in Sumter County, Florida is to be moved even though
the developer in the original land deal has decided to build their project in
Georgia instead.

Now the cemetery is a small one with what is now believed to be 50 graves of
African Americans and Seminole Indians. According to an article you can read
here from the Sumter County Times, County Admistrator Bradley Arnold
"said the gravesite is a family cemetery. When asked what criteria were used to
establish Panasoffkee as a “family cemetery,” Arnold stated “the county holds
title to the property.”

The reason for the move is "The cemetery is close to being in the middle of an
industrial area that is encroaching on the present site. We are moving it.”
The Sumter County Historical Society and relatives and descendants of those
buried at the Lake Panasoffkee site have protested the move but the County
seems determined to go ahead with it anyway.

A quick search of Wikipedia revealed that Sumter County is in a mainly rural
area of Florida that has experienced an upsurge recently due, ironically, to the
arrival of a rather large senior citizen retirement community.

It seems to be a trend lately that sites such as these are being sacrificed in the
name of progress, that a people's heritage and local history mean nothing compared
to increasing the tax revenues in town and county coffers. Recently there is
the case of an Indian mound in Oxford, Alabama being used to provide landfill
for the construction of a Sam's Club. According to the Mayor of Oxford:
"We want to take care of people's remains," Smith said. "That can be moved.
What it's going to be is more prettier than it is today."

Right. A Sam's Club is a "more prettier" thing.

The trouble is, many of these sites are cemeteries of Indians and African Americans
who in earlier times either were not allowed to be buried in town or church cemeteries
or who preferred to be buried on ancestral lands according to their cultures' rites and
beliefs. Often they were buried in out of the way places to prevent desecration.

And now ironically the land they were buried in has become valuable and they face
removal to another place.

As genealogists and family historians, we should do what we can to help the Sumter
County Historical Society convince the County Commission that there are some things
more valuable than progress. The website for the Sumter County Government is here
and there are email addresses for Mr. Arnold and the County Commissioners. You
can also make comments to the story at the Sumter County Times website as well as
vote on a poll on the subject. Perhaps some of the other Southern state historical and
genealogical societies can help the Sumter County Historical Society get the word out
to the citizenry?

Folks, you might think it's no big deal. But as time goes on, more and more of us are
going to be facing this sort of situation as businesses look to expand and local
governments look for ways to attract tax revenue.

We need to start taking a stand now before it's our families whose graves are being
moved.

WHAT'S ON YOUR GOOGLE BOOKS SHELF?

I've added some books to my Google books library. Of course they are
all old out of print 19th century local history and family genealogy books,
and the ones I added last night include histories of Dracut, Groton, Harvard,
Ipswich and Lancaster.

The Early Records of Lancaster, Massachsetts 1643-1725 is really a find. My
ancestor Ralph Houghton and his sons and grandsons served as Town Clerk
and there are many mentions of the Houghtons and others from families
I'm descended from. Here's a break down of names followed by the number of
pages they appear on:

Houghton 100
Willard 99
Prescott 85
Sawyer 73

While I've found the information on the early settlers and history of a town to be
fairly accurate, a little caution is advised especially with the sections dealing
with the family or town flourishing at the time the book was being written.
Some of them have turned out to be "puffpieces".

What books are in your Google books library?

WHERE THE SUN DON'T SHINE....

Hildreth Cemetery in Lowell here in Massachusetts has been vandalized.
You can read about it here from the Boston Globe.

I understand the kids call these events "kicking parties".

I think they themselves need a few good swift kicks administered to them from
parents, police, and the descendants of the deceased whose graves
they desecrated.

THE NOMINATIONS FOR THE TOP 40 GENEALOGY BLOGS ARE OUT!

Family Tree Magazine is running a contest to select the Top 40 Genealogy
Blogs and the nominations were released today. Over 130 bloggers
are competing in ten different categories and voting is going to be tough
because there are so many fine writers on the ballot.

You can vote as often as you like here and you'll notice that you
can vote for more than one choice in eight out of the ten categories.

And of you aren't familiar with all the nominated blogs, you'll find a
very helpful list of all the nominees and links to them at footnoteMaven's
blog. (She's a nominee herself, by the way!)

I'm honored (and astounded) to say that West in New England has been nominated
in the Personal/Family Category. Thanks to all my readers for your support.
I greatly appreciate it!

Congratulations to all the nominees!

THE 81ST CARNIVAL OF GENEALOGY IS UP!

The latest CoG is up over at Schelly Talalay Dardashti's Tracing the Tribe:
The Jewish Genealogy Blog. This time around the assignment was to write
an obituary for your blog should it suddenly die and my contribution was
posted here. There' s some inventive takes on the subject so visit Shelly's
blog and the follow the links to some very enjoyable reading!

Kathryn Doyle of the California Genealogical Society and Library blog is hosting
the next Carnival of Genealogy which will be the 82nd and which will focus on
the following topic:

What's your favorite genealogical society?
Do you belong to a society?
Tell us why! Or if not, why not?

The deadline for submissions is Oct 15th and you can submit your
blog post here.

Come on and join us in the CoG!

IPSWICH TOWN

Sometimes when I'm researching my ancestors on GoogleBooks
I run across some of the poetry that was popular in the 19th
century. There were quite a few local New England poets who
are largely unknown today. One of them is James Appleton
Morgan, whose poem Ipswich Town I found in the Essex
Antiquarian and enjoyed how he used the local history and
folklore in writing it:



IPSWICH TOWN.

BY JAMES APPLETON MORGAN.

I love to think of old Ipswich town,—
Old Ipswich town in the east countree,—
Whence on the tide you can float down
Through long salt grass to the wailing sea
Where the Mayflower drifted off the bar,
Seaworn and weary, long years ago,
And dared not enter, but sailed away
Till she landed her boat in Plymouth bay

I love to think of old Ipswich town,
Where Whitefield preached in the church on the
hill,
Driving out the devil until he leaped down
From the steeple's top, where they show you still,
Imbedded deep in the solid rock,
The indelible print of his cloven hoof,
And tell you the devil has never shown
Face or hoof since that day in the honest town

I love to think of old Ipswich town,
Where they shut up the witches until the day
When they should be roasted so thoroughly brown
In Salem village twelve miles away.
They've moved it off for a stable now,
But there are the holes where the stout jail stood,
And at night, they say, that over the holes
You can see the ghost of Goody Coles

I love to think of old Ipswich town,
That house to your right a rod or more,
Where the stern old elm trees seem to frown
If you peer too hard through the open door,
Sheltered the regicide judges three,
When the royal sheriffs were after them,
And a queer old villager once I met
Who says in the cellar they're living yet.

I love to think of old Ipswich town,
Harry Main, you have heard the tale, lived there,
He blasphemed God so they put him down
With an iron shovel at Ipswich bar.
They chained him there for a thousand years,
As the sea rolls up to shovel it back;
So when the sea cries the goodwives say,
"Harry Main growls at his work today."

I love to think of old Ipswich town;
There's a graveyard upon the old High street,
Where generations are looking down
On the one that is toiling at their feet;
Where the stones stand shoulder to shoulder like
troops,
Drawn up to receive a cavalry charge.
And graves have been dug in graves till the sod
Is the mound of good men gone to God.

I love to think of old Ipswich town,—
Old Ipswich town in the east countree,—
Whence on the tide you can float down
Through the long salt grass to the wailing sea,
And lie all day on the glassy beach,
And learn the lesson the green waves teach,
Till at sunset, from surf and seaweed brown,
You are pulling back to Ipswich town.

THE LAST OF EDWARD BERRY

So was the Edward Berry who married Beatrice the widower of Elizabeth
(Hardy)Haskell?

If my theory that Elizabeth's death occurred earlier that 1677 is correct, it's
certainly possible. It wasn't uncommon in that period for a man to remarry
quickly after the death of a wife. I checked the "Early Vital Records of
Massachusetts" website and couldn't find records for either marriage
or the deaths of all three people. I also googled for Berry under the
three first names "Edward", "Edmund", and "Edmond" since both men
are referred to with all three names in the court records. I found genealogy
and family history web site entries for each but nothing to indicate they
were really the same man


I did, however, find this:

"Edward Berry married Beatrice (Burt), who married, first, William Cantlebury of Salem; second, Francis Plumer of Newbury Nov. 29, 1665; he died Jan. 17, 1672-3 ; and she married, third, Edward Berry; they lived in Salem Village; and she died in 1683, aged eighty-three. William Sibley called her "mother," and claimed to have maintained her for eight years prior to her death. Her inventory amounted to ^181l, 18 s. She was formerly of Frampton, Dorset, England. Edward Berry, a seaman and weaver, lived in Salem, 1668-1689 , married Elizabeth, widow of Roger Haskell, before 1668; she was Mrs. Berry in 1677; he removed to Marblehead in 1678, and was there in 1679. He was deceased in 1693. He had a son Edward, who came to Salem from Painton, Devon, England about 1676, being a weaver and seaman, and of Salem, 1677-1706." —Records
-Sydney Perley Essex Antiquarian v 9 p88

It would seem that they are two different men, but Beatrice did mention that
her husband's son had abused her as well. So there's still a possibility it's the
same Edward Berry.

I'm aware I'm reaching here. But what if they were the same man? Did Edward
Berry have a pattern of marrying wealthy widows and then bullying them into
handing over control of their estate to him? It might explain Elizabeth Berry's
recanting of her first testimony and why her children apparently had already
moved out of the home even before William Haskell was granted legal custody.
And given the outcome of Haskell case, a frustrated Edward might have used
harsher tactics when his new wife Beatrice didn't cave into his demands to
negate their prenuptial agreement.

Of course, he should have known from her past history that Beatrice was no
shrinking violet!

And with that, I'll conclude my posts about Edward Berry. He wasn't my direct
relative but he certainly figured prominently in the lives of those who were.

WORD VERIFICATION DICTIONARY 6

Once again, definitions and uses for the strange words that we type for
word verification when leaving comments on Blogspot.com blogs:


bawed-Admiration of the writing skills of a fellow geneablogger. Example:
"I was bawed when I read that latest post over on "Walking the
Berkshires."

gasissi-What one becomes when one worries about what one eats before
attending a genealogy conference Example: "Ted was such a
gasissi he wouldn't eat the onions in his salad."

deduit- What ever they want. Especially on Halloween.

meevil- What me is for coming up with this stuff.

EDWARD BERRY & BEATRICE4 ":..THIS MY WOFULL CASE..."

Now that we've looked at Beatrice's own less than spotless past, let's
return to her predicament of her third marriage.

In June 1677 Edward/Edmund/Edmond Berry was brought up on
charges before the Court. Beatrice submitted a petition detailing
the cruel conditions in which she was forced to live which reads
like something straight out of Charles Dickens:

"Edmond Bery, for being distempered with drink and for abusive carriages
and speeches to his wife, was fined.

Bettorice Berry's petition: "It being not unknowne to this honored Court
how it hath bin with me in respect of my wofull condition with liueing
with my husband Edmond Berry, who in regard of his most bitter, Inhumane
& most ill becomeing carriage to me, as many of my neighbors can give
Testimony. I was compelled to goe away from him; liueing where I could
gett harbor. ye honord Court upon Information hereof, compelld me upon ye
penalty of Fiue pounds to Hue with him againe wch as ye Lord knowes to my
unexpressable sorrow hath bin now for about a Twelue month, as by
Testimony Sufficient may speake for me & what shall a poor woman doe in
the Case; if ye Lord doth not wonderfully help; as for matter of substance, I
haue nothing of him neither haue I euer had but a very small matter euer since
I was his wife, for such was & still is his absurd manner in eating his victualls,
as takeing his meat out of ye pickle; & broyleing it upon ye coales, & this he
would tell me I must eate or else I must fast so that if I had not reserved to my
self a Little of myne owne I must haue perisht; neither will he allow me any
necessary about house for decencey or that wch is absolutely needfull but am
compelled to borrow of my neighbors; by wch it is evident that he exactly goes
about to verifie what he hath reported; namely that he will haue my estate or
elce he will make me weary of my Life; now ye honord Major Hathorne
Knowes ye contract that was made between vs before marriage & acknowledgd
before him; howeuer in hopes of my more comfortable liueing with him was
willing to bring into ye house what I could, & did doe it; although to be sure ill
bestowed upon such a person, as you may please to Judge of him in part what
he is by one late Expression of his to me who when I brought to him a cup of
my owne Sugar & Beare (for he will allow me nothing of his owne) and dranke
to him useing these words) come husband lett all former differences be buried
& trod under Foote; why should we not Hue in Loue & unity as other Folks doe,
he replied to me againe, Thus; Thou old cheating Rogue; The Divell take thee i
f thou doest not bring me Forth this Court; but such like direfull expressing
towards me are not rare with him; wch although my hard portion & very Tedious
to beare, yet was rather willing to groane under it then to make a publique
discovery of his wicked; & brutish carriage to me; but surely ye Lord brings
him forth, & ye grand Jury had cognissance of his Impious behavior towards me
& by theire act is he now presented & it is but rationall that I should speake
something before yor worships for ye clearing up of myne owne Innocency, &
also since ye Thing is brought forth to lay open my grievances before you
althouth god knowes my mind was rather to haue borne my affection & haue
waited upon him who is ye perswader of ye heart, with my poor prayers to my
good god in hopes of ye worke of his grace upon his heart & soule; whereby
he might be brought to see ye evill of his waves & so to carry it to me as
becomes an honest man to his wife; but ye Lord in mercy Looke upon me; I
am now past hopes of him; & ye onely wise god direct you what to doe with
me in this my wofull case, for I am not onely continually abused by my husband,
with most vile, threatening & opprobrious speeches but also his son who lives
in howse with him hath in his Father's presence threatened me to throw me
downe head long downe ye staires; & not onely so but he hath broken up
my chest & taken away a part of that Little wch I had."

If anyone were skeptical of Beatrice's claims, she had the testimony of
several friends and neighbors to confirm them:

"Deborah Winter, aged about thirty-one years, testified that she had heard
Edmond Berry use very reproachful terms to his wife, as bad as possibly could
be spoken and when she was sick he would also then most terribly revile her.
He had said that he desired it for her good and he did not care if there were
a fire in the south field and she in the middle of it. Sworn in court.

Abigail White, aged about seventy-two years, testified that Berry called his
wife Jezebell, cheating rogue, etc., and told her that he could not abide her,
and bade her begone. Also that his wife had proffered to do what she could
for him, such as to dress his victuals, wind his quills, etc., and she would
entreat him to be quiet, but he was angry because she would not join her
estate to his. Also when she was sick, he said that she should have nothing
of him because he had nothing of hers. Deponent had tried to persuade him
to live quietly with his wife but he said it was too late. Sworn in court.

Abigail Gray, aged about twenty-one years, deposed that when his wife was
sick in bed and the nurse at the same time was in bed with her, Goodman
Berry asked for cider. The nurse said that she would rise and get him some.
Goody Berry said he had had enough already, and he replied that he would
have some more or he would pull her in pieces. Sworn in court.

Writ, dated 29 : 4 : 1677, signed by Hilliard Veren, cleric, and served by
Henery Skerry, marshal of Salem, by attachment of a table and a cupboard.
Also summons to Mr. Resolved White and wife Abigail, Abigail Gray and
Deborah Winter."
-Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County,
Massachusetts Vol VI 1675-1678 (pp297-298)

The absence of any testimony from her own children and stepchildren is
perhaps an indication of how bad her relationship with them was due to her
own actions.

This transcript is the last court record I've found online for Edward/Edmund/
Edmond Berry. It's quite possible there are more out there but there are only
8 volumes of the Essex County Court Records on Google books. What remains
now is the question of whether the Edward Berry of the Haskell case and the
man married to Beatrice were one and the same.

CARNIVAL OF GENEALOGY: "WiNG-NUTS MOURN GENEABLOG'S PASSING"

This is a post for the Carnival of Genealogy and the topic this time is:

".....Your Genealogy Blog's Obituary. If your blog ended or was
lost/deleted today, how would you write it's obituary? What
were the highlights of your blog? What is its history? This t
heme was suggested by Schelly Talalay Dardashti of
Tracing the Tribe who will be hosting this next edition of
the COG. "

So....here goes:



"It's my sad duty to report the passing of my blog, "West in New England", or as
I had come to privately think of it, "WiNG". WiNG was a comparatively young
blog, not having as yet reached it's third birthday and only having 607 posts
under it's belt, but it had a good run. If one might use an analogy, in the
pack of geneablogs, it was the young and enthusiastic blog that darted about
excitedly sniffing out stories of ancestors to share with others much as a young
pup will proudly lay some unearthed bone at the feet of others to share the
beauty of his find. Of late, WiNG had had incredible success in discovering
quite a bit of information on the fertile grounds of GoogleBooks which
provided material for most of the blog entries for this past year.

What brought WiNG the most satisfaction and enjoyment was being able to share
these stories with his immediate family and with those distant relatives with whom
he shared ancestry and whom he'd might never have known about other wise.

Rumor has it that a secret society of devotees known as WiNG-nuts are decrying
the early demise of WiNG and some claim it's not dead but merely the victim of
a vast conspiracy of town hall clerks.

But whatever the case, we bid farewell to "West in New England" with a softly
murmured "Well done, o good and faithful geneablog..."


NOT!!!

The blog is not dead. But I couldn't find a way to write this in a serious manner, so
I got a little goofy. What is true is the parts of how much I've enjoyed sharing the
stories I find, and how much fun it is to share them with my relatives.

Dang, this was a tough one to write!

We now return you to the regularly scheduled "West in New England."

EDWARD BERRY & BEATRICE3 ":..THE DIVEL SHOULD PICK HIS BONES..."

This is the second in a series of posts speculating whether the Edward Berry married
to Beatrice was the same as Edward Berry the widower of Elizabeth Hardy Berry.

As I showed in the last post, Beatrice had a bit of a rowdy past herself during her
marriage to her first husband, William Cantlebury. And besides the fights with
the Rowden family, Beatrice was also chastised for criticizing her son in law
Benjamin Woodrow in a most improper manner:

"Bettrice, wife of Wm. Cantlebury, was fined upon her presentment for wicked
and reviling speeches toward her son-in-law, in wishing the devil might pick
his bones, and for telling her daughter if she had such a husband, she would
give the devil one limb to fetch away the other; also for endeavoring to
withdraw the affections of his wife from him.*

*Mary Felton, aged thirty-five years, deposed that several times in her hearing,
the wife of Willm. Cantlebury had endeavored to alienate the affections of her
daughter from her husband, using many reproachful speeches in deponent's
hearing against said husband. Her daughter was weeping and praying her to
be contented, for she had him that God had appointed for her and she was
better contented with him than she should have been with those her mother
nominated unto her. Deponent told the mother to be contented, as by the
providence of God they were brought together, and to do what she could by
good counsel and encouragement, that they might live lovingly together.
The mother replied that there was no finger of God in bringing them together,
but it was the mere act of the devil, and that the husband deserved to be
hanged, with many other reproachful carriages and speeches. Once at
deponent's house, she spit at him and told her daughter " that she would
have scorned she should have touched the hemme of her coat they both
being present." Sworn in court.

Elisabeth Buxton, aged thirty-eight years, testified that the wife of Willyam
Cantlebery and her daughter Woodrow, were at deponent's house, and the
latter heard her say to her daughter that Woodrow was both a rogue and a
thief. Her daughter said she must prove it, and she said he was a thief
because he had stolen the best flower in her garden, and a rogue because
he had brought her to shame. Deponent told Goodwife Cantlebery that she
did not well to speak to her daughter against her husband, but that she
should do him the best good she could and give him good counsel, for now
he was her son. Cantlebery's wife answered that the " divel should picke
his bones before she would owne him to be her son." Sworn in court,
13: 10: 1661, before Hillyard Veren, cleric.

Samuel Eburne, aged fifty years, deposed that, being at the house of Willm.
Cantlebery, his daughter Woodrow came in and her mother asked her where
her husband was. She answered that he had gone to the doctor for physic
for her father. Her mother used many reviling Opeeches against Woodrow,
saying he was no man. Deponent was much grieved and desired her to forbear
such opprobrious terms, and that seeing that they were married, she should
endeavor to maintain love and unity between them. Her daughter wept
bitterly and prayed her mother to forbear charging her husband with such
untruths, but still she went on in bitter reviling and said she wondered how
she could love such a wretch. Sworn in court, 13: 10: 1661, before Hillyard
Veren, cleric.

Summons also served on Anthony Buxstone and Mary Rowden, as witnesses."

-Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts
Volume II 1656-1662 (p340-341) Oct 1661




Notice that one of the witnesses was one of the Rowden family!

And talk about mother in law trouble! Poor Mr. Woodrow certainly had plenty of it.

So given this past history, it's not completely surprising that the Court initially
had no sympathy for Beatrice Berry and that it ordered she and Edward to
move back in together. But that was not the end of the matter.

To be continued.