A FAMILY REUNION OF SORTS 23

I've finished adding names and information from the two Ellingwood genealogy
books to my ancestry family tree and then following up by adding people born
after the books were published back in the 1970's. I now have  5152 descendants
of my 8x great grandparents Ralph Ellinwood/Ellingwood and Elenor Lyn on my
Ancestry tree. Time to move on to another lines of descent.

One of the two Ellingwood genealogies I am using is Florence O'Connor's The
Ancestors and Descendants of Asa Freeman  Ellingwood and Florilla (Dunham)
Ellingwood. Most of the book is on the Ellingwoods but there are sections on
the Dunhams and other families. I'd already entered some of the Dunhams and
decided to continue with more from the book.

Now Florilla Dunham's grandfather, James Donham/Dunham, was one of the eleven
children of John Donham/ Dunham and Mary Thomas of Carver, Ma., eight of whom,
men and women, migrated up to the  Bethel,  Oxford County, Maine area.

I was working on the line of one of James' brothers, Thomas. My routine is to enter
the information from the book on my Ancestry.com tree, then look for any documents
to confirm it. If I find the information from the book is wrong, I change it. Thomas
and his descendants kept the Donham spelling of the family name, and two generations
later his grandson George Donham ended up in Rockland, Ma. In fact back then,
Rockland was part of  Abington, where I live! I thought it was another case of someone coming down from Maine to work in one of the local shoe factories, but the Federal
Censuses fold me that George was actually a dentist, and apparently quite sucessful at
it. To top it off, George Donham, his wife and two of his children are buried at Mt.Vernon Cemetery where my parents and other Dunham cousins are interred.

I'll go further into all this in the next post. 

MY ALLERTON AND WARREN MAYFLOWER ANCESTRY

((First posted November 2011))


Whenever I am talking or writing about my Mayflower descent, for some
ironic reason I always forget about Remember Allerton. The reason for the
irony is that both my Dad's parents were Allerton descendants: Pop from
Remember Allerton and Grandma Bertha from Mary Allerton.:

My Warren ancestry also comes through my Barker line 

Allerton through Ellingwood Line

Isaac Allerton & Mary Norris
Remember Allerton & Moses Maverick
Abigail Maverick & Samuel Ward
Martha Ward & John Tuthill(Tuttle)
Martha Tuthill(Tuttle) & Mark Haskell
Martha Haskell & John Safford
Ruth Safford & Samuel Haskell
Martha Haskell & Moses Houghton
Sally Houghton & James Thomas Dunham
Florilla Dunham & Asa Freeman Ellingwood
Clara Ellingwood & Phillip Jonathan West
Floyd Earl West Sr  & Cora B Barker
Floyd Earl West Jr &  Anne Marie White



Allerton through Barker 


Isaac Allerton & Mary Norris
Mary Allerton & Thomas Cushman
Sarah Cushman & Adam Hawkes
John Hawkes & Mary(Margery)Whitford
Eva Hawkes & John Bancroft         Eunice Hawkes & Jacob Walton
John Bancroft & Mary Walton
Sally(Sarah)Bancroft & Francis Upton
Hannah Upton & Cyrus Moore
Betsey Jane Moore & Amos Hastings Barker
Charlotte Lovenia Barker & Frank W Barker
Cora B, Barker & Floyd Earl Wesrt Sr
Floyd Earl West Jr and Anne Marie White.


Warren Line

Richard Warren  &  Elizabeth (?)
Mary Warren & Robert Bartlett
Mary Bartlett & Jonathan Mowrey(Morey)
Hannah Mowrey(Morey) & John Bumpas
Mary Bumpas & Seth Ellis
Mary Ellis & Ephraim Griffith
John Griffith & Mary Boyden
Polly Griffith & Jonathan Phelps Ames
Arvilla S. Ames & John Cutter West
John Cutter West & Louisa Richardson
Phillip Jonathan West & Clara Ellingwood
Floyd Earl West Sr & Cora B Barker
Floyd Earl West Jr and Anne Marie White.

MY ELLINGWOOD MAYFLOWER ANCESTRY

(( I first posted two articles about my Mayflower family descents back in
 November 2011 and decided to repost them every year as a Thanksgiving 
tradition.))

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..
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
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

THE BOOK OF ME, WRITTEN BY YOU6: THE YEAR I WAS BORN

I'm taking  part in a meme started by Julie Goucher of Anglers Rest. Using
prompts from "The Book of Me, Written By You" I'm leaving my memories
of my life for present and future relatives."The year you were born:

What happened....
Historical - internation, national & local
Family events
Films
Music
Books
Television"

Using Google and Wikipedia, I was able to find the following information:

Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated
Harry Truman was elected President, defeating three opponents: Thomas Dewey
(Republican), Strom Thurmond(States Rights Party) and Henry Wallace(Progressive
Party).
Israel was declared an independent state.
The U.N. created the World Health Organization.
Chiang Kai Shek was elected President of Nationalist China.
Gas was .16 cents a gallon
A loak of bread cost .14 cents
A movie ticket cost .60 cents.

There were only a million television sets in the United States. Wrestling and
roller derby were first broadcast, The CBS network started and one of its new
programs was Toast of the Town hosted by Ed Sullivan.

Top movies included Red River starring John Wayne and The Treasure of the 
Sierra Madre starring Humphry Bogart, but Hamlet starring Sir Laurence Olivier
won the Academy Award.

Bestseller books included The Naked and the Dead, Raintree Country, The Big 
Fisherman, and The Young Lions, all of which would eventually also be sucessful
movies.

Popular songs:
Buttons and Bows by Dina Shore
Nature Boy by Nat King Cole
The Woody Woodpecker Song by Kay Kyser
It's Magic by Doris Day
I'm My Own Grandpa by Guy Lombardo & His Orchestra.

Citation won the Kentucky Derby.
The World Series was won by the Cleveland Indians
The Philadelphia Eagles won the NFL Championship
The Toronto Mapole Leafs won the Stanley Cup.

Some of my fellow 1948 babies are Samuel L Jackson, James Taylor,
and Glenn Frey of the Eagles.

All and all, 1948 was a very interesting year to be born in!

WHAT I KNOW ABOUT: THE ABBOTTS

This is the start of a new series of posts in which I'll list what I've already
learned about one of my family lines. I'll also include a "To Do" list of
things I need to do to learn more. I'll do this alphabetically, so I'm
starting with my Abbott family line.



My 9x great grandfather George Abbott settled in Andover Massachusetts around
1643 and married Hannah Chandler on 12Dec 1646. Supposedly they had been fellow passengers on the same ship, the Arbella, from England. Ironically, my  car is insured
with the Arbella Insurance Company, which uses a picture of the ship as its logo. 

I am descended from two of George and Hannah's sons and one daughter, Sarah Abbott.

Their eldest son John is my 8xgreat grandfather and was married to Sarah Barker,
a daughter of my ancestor Richard Barker

Another son, my 8x great grandfather Benjamin Abbott and his wife Sarah (Farnum) Abbott testified against their neighbor Martha Carrier and accused her of being a
witch during the witchcraft trials. It has since been speculated that they did so in
order to obtain her land.

Two other sons, Joseph and Timothy, were involved in an Indian attack in April,1676.
Joseph was killed. Timothy was taken captive but was released the following August.
Joseph was twenty four and Timothy thirteen years old.


Benjamin's son Jonathan Abbott, my 7x great grandfather, housed some Acadian
exiles in a house he owned in Andover. Initially he was somewhat reluctant but eventually
treated them so well that they gave him a decorated powderhorn in appreciation of his
kindness.

My Abbott line ends with the marriage of my 4x great grandparents John Ellingwood
and Zerviah Abbott in Andover, Ma. on 29Dec 1789.

Fellow genealogists who are also descendants of  George Abbott and Hannah Chandler are Timothy Abbott, Janice Webster Brown, and Pam Carter.


To Do list:

I have some Abbott generations where I don't know much beyond names and dates,
so I need to work on them. I have a digital copy of the book, Genealogical Register
Of The Descendants Of George Abbott of Andover that I haven't made much use of
yet, so maybe I can find more in that.

I need to examine the Abbott land deeds from Essex County, Ma. and other relevant documents available on FamilySearch

I need to go to Andover and North Andover to view documents and the Abbott Powder
Horn. I'd also like to visit the cemeteries there. Those trips will probably have to wait until Spring now.

UNK-IFIED..WITH APOLOGIES TO DR. SEUSS

 ((One of my earliest posts, from February, 2007))


I've done some writing elsewhere on my
tree climbing in the past and this is part of
it.

A little background: I was still fairly new at
genealogy and when I stumbled across an
ancestor with the unlikely name of Joanna Unk,
I thought perhaps she was from some other
nationality and this was how the name was recorded
in the town records by someone who didn't know
how it was spelled properly. But the name amused
me and I wrote this poem.

Two weeks later I discovered that Unk is an abrreviated
version of Unknown, used when the maiden name of a
person is unavailable.


Ah, well!


When I started climbing my family tree
I didn't realize what a chore it might be.
I really had nothing much else on my mind
Then to see what else I could possibly find.

I already knew of a number of names
I knew Barker and Dunham and Abbott and Ames.
But never, no never, did I possibly thunk
I would find I'd a relative, Joanna Unk.

It must not have been easy to grow up an Unk.
It's not a name beaus want to carve in tree trunks.
But her story's not tragic, it isn't you see,
Because if it were there would not be a me.

She lived out a typical Puritan life,
Met someone who loved her and became his wife.
And somewhere in heaven she's drinking some hooch
With my distant relative, Mistress Ruth Gooch.

THE SHAKING LEAF AND THE MISSING FILE

I've been concentrating on my Ellingwood/Ellenwood/Ellinwood lines lately in my
research work on Ancestry. Usually when I sign on there now the majority of "shaking
leave" hints have to do with someone from those lines, but today there was a record
hint for my 3x great granduncle Caleb Benson Barrows. When I clicked on it, it turned out
to be for an entry in the War of 1812 Pension Application Files Index.

This puzzled me. Let me explain why.

The Fold3 website has been scanning & posting the War of 1812 Pension files for awhile
now and making them available for FREE on the site. As with any project of this size it is
a slow process, and they've been posting  them alphabetically by surname. In fact, it
was a little over a year now that I discovered the file there for my 3x great grandfather
Nathaniel Barker.  When I found that, I immediately checked for other relatives who
lived during the period and might have served, and kept checking back as more surnames
beginning with other letters were added. (They've now moved on into the names beginning
with the letter E). But at no time had I seen Caleb Benson Barrows listed under the B's.

So when I saw the hint from Ancestry, I immediately went over to Fold3 site and checked
the "Browse All Records" function for the War of 1812. I narrowed my search down to
just the 1812 Pension Files for Maine, Letter B, surname Barrows, and still came up with
the same two names that have been there for awhile. This is how the screen looks:

Still no Caleb Benson Barrows. I checked under Massachusetts, since the family came
from Plympton, then New Hampshire, where Caleb's father Asa Barrows had moved,
and still no luck.  Finally, I entered Caleb Benson Barrows in the Search box, and  nothing. Then I went back to the Fold3 main page and tried the Search box there using different variations on the name until finally I just tried Barrows and then the 1812 files
on the site wide search.

And voila, there he was, thirty images for Caleb B. Barrows' 1812 Pension file, and just
before him,  twenty images for the pension of his brother Asa. I was able to verify they
were my relatives by the included statements of their widows and siblings. Both files
are for their widows' survivor claims.

There's two lessons here: the first, I need to remind myself to go the extra step when
searching a site and use the Search functions and not just rely on indexes.

The second has to do with Ancestry. A lot of people are worried about  the recent
purchases of Fold3 and Find A Grave and what they might mean for our research. Well,
if I hadn't seen that shaking leaf hint over at Ancestry I might have found the files for
Caleb B. and Asa A. Barrows eventually, but this way, I found them much sooner! 
   
Now I need to contact Fold3 and let them know about this.

ON VETERANS DAY 2013

Every Veteran's Day I like to pay tribute to the members of
our family who have served our country from its birth. I don't
have all the details of the service records, and I'm sure I will
discover more relatives to add later, but this is what I have so far.

American Revolution: 
 
Jonathan Barker Jr. My 4x 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 tol April 1778 guarding
the captured troops of General Burgoyne.


Jonathan Barker 3rd  My 5x 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 18th,
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.
For a more detailed account of his service see my posts
about his Revolutionary War Pension File starting here.


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. I posted about his
Revolutionary War Pension File starting here.


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 was 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 for 8 months. 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 Abbot    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.

War of 1812
John Griffith My 5x great grandfather

served in Capt Elias Morse's Company, Col. Holland's Regiment
as part of a artillery company defending Portland, Maine.

Amos Hastings My 5x great grandfather
helped organize the militia in Bethel, Maine and rose
to the rank of Brigadier General  of the 2nd Brigade, 13th Division of
the Massachusetts State Militia.

Nathaniel Barker  My 3x great grandfather
was a private in  the company commanded by Captain William Wheeler
in the Regiment  of Militia commanded by Col. Ryerson, which was
stationed at Portland, Maine.

Civil War
Asa Freeman Ellingwood  My 2x great grandfather

enlisted in Company I, 5th Maine Infantry, on June 24, 1861.
He was at the First Battle of Bull Run after which he received
a medical discharge in Dec 1861. He reenlisted inCo "A" 9th
Veteran R Corps in September 1864 and served until the end
of the war when he was honorably discharged.

Asa & Florilla Ellingwood

Other relatives who served in the Civil War:


 2x great granduncles:

 Leonidas West
 Enlisted in Company G 12 Maine Infantry Regiment on March 1,
1865. Mustered out on  18Apr 1866

Asa Atwood West
Enlisted in Company F of the Maine Coast Guard.

Oscar Phipps Ellingwood
Enlisted in Company E, New Hampshire 14th Infantry Regiment
23Sept 1862, mustered out 9Sep 1863. Transferred to Company
E,  U.S,.Veterans Reserve Corps 21st Infantry Regiment 9Sep 1863,
mustered out 11Jul 1865.

Cousins:

Charles O. Ellingwood
Enlisted 21 Dec 1863 in Company E, 9th New Hampshire Infantry.
Died 13Mar 1864 at Camp Burnside,Kentucky. (18 yrs old)


Henry O. Ellingwood Enlisted 25Oct 1862  Company K,  New
Hampshire 16th Infantry Regiment, died  1Mar 1863 in Carollton, La.

Franklin Dunham
Died in the War. Haven't found any details as yet.


Spanish-American War
Hollis J Ellingwood My cousin
Enlisted 2May 1898 in Company A 1st Regiment Maine Infantry
Discharged 28Oct 1898

World War 1

 Floyd E West Sr. My grandfather

Floyd E West Sr.

Enlisted 29Apr 1918. Served in Company K,303rd Infantry. He was a
corpsman at Camp Devens, Ma during the Spanish Influenza outbreak
and was honorably discharged 12 Mar 1919


World War II

Floyd E West Jr  My Dad

 Enlisted 19 Mar 1943 at 18 years old. After washing out of the Air Corps
Bomber School, he served in the US Army Infantry in the Pacific Theater  and
11 Mar 1946 at age 22

 Edward F White, Jr. My Uncle

Enlisted in the U.S.Navy on 27Oct 1942 at 17years old. He was honorably
discharged 18Apr 1946, a week before his 21st birthday.

Charles Barger My Uncle
I don't know the specifics of his service yet.
 
Operation Iraqi Freedom
 Paul Skarinka My Nephew

Paul And Jen

My nephew Paul Skarinka

THE MILITARY HONOR ROLL PROJECT: ABINGTON, MA.

Heather Wilkinson Rojo of Nutfield Genealogy is once again asking
bloggers to transcribe their local veteran monuments and list the names
on their blog. It's called the Military Honor Roll Project and I wanted to
take part this year so I headed over to the memorial here in Abington
which is located right next to the building shared by the American Legion
and VFW Posts. It's a beautiful spot and there's quite a few names on it for
such a small town. They start with World War 1 and run up to the present
day.
 
It was a bright sunny day and I thought perfect for taking the pictures I needed
to work with for the transcription, but it turned out to be it was less than ideal.
The nearby trees were casting shadows over most of the monument and the wind
moving the leaves would cause the shadows to shift around.

 

So for this visit I settled for pictures of the taller central panel which
has the names of Abington residents who had been killed in action:

There are names for the two World Wars and Viet Nam. While there is
a heading for Korea, there is no one listed below it, nor are there any
sections as yet for those killed in Kuwait, Iraq, or Afghanistan. Here's
my transcription:

                     DEDICATED
          IN LASTING MEMORY OF
ABINGTON'S MEN AND WOMEN WHO
       SERVED AND SACRIFICED IN
         THEIR COUNTRY'S WARS

             KILLED IN ACTION



World War I
Edgar D. Bascomb
Chester W. Belcher
Walter W. Coleman
Charles Cook
Lloyd Crossman
Lewis V. Dorsey
Robert B. English
George H.Gillespie
Henry C. Hurst
John J. Mahoney
Joseph D. Martin
Charles E. Murphy
Charles S. Myers
Myron Stewart
Harold L. Taylor
Shirley S. Thayer
George L.  Whore

World War II
Charles H. Bellows Jr.
Wendell E Chamberlin
Lloyd R. Clapp
John Colburn
George W. Coleman
Edmund G. Crossley
Elton E. Eckstrom
George S. Forsyth
Roy E. Hjelm
Wellington Jamieson
John r. Keeley
Clifford Kimber
Richard L. McCue
Harold R. McGeoch
John F. Monahan
John Rice
Frank D. Warner Jr.

Korea

Viet-Nam
Dennis K. Holly
Peter D. Christianson DFC
Richard F. Gliniewicz
Glenn R. Gordon
Ralph G. Hamlin
Ernest H Laidler
Richard A. Fitts


Afghanistan
Daniel Vasellian

I encourage my fellow genealogy bloggers to take part in Heather's
Military Honor Roll Project. You can read more about it here.

STEPHEN FOSDICK

Back in August I mentioned here that I had won a copy of a book from Marian Pierre-Louis of Fieldstone Common. It was Roger Thompson's excellent From Deference to Defiance Charlestown, Massachusetts 1629-1692 and in it I found several chapters concerning several ancestors who had lived in Charlestown in that period. I had't done much research on most of them yet beyond names and dates because I've been busy working on more recent relatives. So it was exciting to read the stories in Professor Thompson's work.

One of the early chapters in the book is on my 11x great grandfather Stephen Fosdick who was one of the earliest settlers of Charlestown. I'm descended from his daughter Martha who married Richard Holden through my 3x great grandmother Arvilla (Ames) West. Reading the Professor's chapter about him inspired me to see what else I could find online about Stephen Fosdick online.  I found this by author Charles Lyman Newhall:

FOSDICK. 
STEPHEN FOSDICK was born in England, and was first mentioned in Charlestown, New England, in 1635. He was a carpenter. He married 2d, Sarah,* dau. of William Wetherell, who came from Maidstone, Co. Kent, England, to Boston in 1635, and was a schoolmaster. Charlestown records say that Stephen Fosdick was fined twenty pounds for reading anabaptist books, and was also excommunicated May 7, 1643. In the division of lands in Charlestown in 1658 he received twenty-five acres of wood and four and one-half acres of common. In his will, made Feb. 23, 1663-4, and proved 21-4-1664, he devised "to wife 4 rooms we now make use of, one over another; half the upper garden, next Mr. Shapley and Michael Long; moveables; after decease, house and lands to return to ex'r. To Hannah Barrett, £10. To Martha Holden, £10, and 40 acres at Woburn. To Mary Webb, £15; if she die, to chn. of John and Thomas Fosdick. To grandchild Stephen, £20. To Samuel, son of John, at father's decease, house, barn, &c, by Mr. Shapley's; hay-lot, wood-lot; 2 cow-commons; to him and his heirs, male or female, and so to run in the generation of Fosdicks forever. 7thly, to grandchild John, son of John, house and land in Malden, i/2 cow-lot in Malden, cow-lot on Mr. Wilson's side, wood-lot bo't of Mr. Roswell. To 2 grandchildren of son Thomas, £20. John, sole ex'r. Inventory, Farm at Mystic side, with the land, £50; 2 commons; 2:/2 hay-lots; 2 wood-lots; 40 acres at Woburn; total, £500." 

Stephen Fosdick resided on the west side of the highway to Mistick Weare, now the present line of Medford street. He died in Malden May 21, 1664. 

The children of Stephen Fosdick were: 
2 Thomas, b. in England; in. Damans ;d. 21-4-1650. 

3 John, b. July, 1626, in England; in. 1648, Anne3, widow ot H. Branson and dau. Nicholas Shapleigh; d. Sept. 17, 1716. 

4 Hannah, m. James Barrett. 

5 Martha, m. Richard Holden. 

6 Mary, b. 1632; m. Thomas Webb. 

7 Samuel, b. May 22, 1649. 

* "John Wetherell motioned court concerning his sister, the widow Fosdick, aged 75 yrs. old; lame-—going with crutches; near 40 years the wife of Stephen Fosdick; and upon her marriage had six of his children to take care of."—Court Files, 1664. 
-The record of my ancestry (Google eBook), Herald Power Print, 1899 pp60-61

A further ironic note: I spent the first eight years of my life in Malden, Ma., and never knew that one of my ancestors had lived there three hundred years before.

TWO MORE WITCHES ON THE FAMILY TREE

Yesterday I was doing some googling  on the Witch Trials trying to find out if
I had more relatives involved in them. I am a direct descendant of Rebecca Blake
Eames and Mary Towne Estey, and my relatives Willam Barker Sr and Jr were
also accused of witchcraft. But given how many ancestors I have from Essex County,
Massachusetts, I wondered if there were more. So I went looking and sure enough, there were two more female victims of the Trials.

All I had to do was find their maiden names. One was from my Ayer line, and one was
from my Hawkes line. They are related to me through my grandmother Cora Berthella
Barker.

Mary Ayer Parker was the sister of my 8x great grandfather Peter Ayer. She married a man named Nathan Parker and was an old widow when she was accused of being a witch. She maintained her innocence and claimed they had the wrong Mary Parker since there was another woman with the same name living in Andover. The court wasn't convinced by her argument and she was executed on 22 Sep 1692.

The Hawkes relative is Sarah (Hooper) Hawkes Wardwell. She was married in 1670 to my 10x great grandfather Adam Hawkes who was 62 years old. They had a child, a daughter also named Sarah, before he died in 1672. Adam was a wealthy man when he died and left a third of the estate to his younger wife which made her fairly well off for a widow when she married Samuel Wardwell in 1673.The couple moved to Andover and were living there when Thomas, Sarah, and their daughters Mercy Wardwell and Sarah Hawkes were accused of witchcraft. Among Thomas Wardwell's accusers were my relatives Thomas Chandler and Joseph Ballard.

One of the things that mystifies me about the Witch Trials is not so much the accusations
as the admissions of guilt by the victims. Thomas, Sarah and Mercy all confessed to dealing with Satan and other acts of witchcraft. I don't know if my aunt Sarah Hawkes Jr. did as well.

Thomas Wardwell was hung on the same day as Mary Ayer Parker, 22Sep 1692. The three
 women were eventually released, but Sarah (Hooper) Hawkes Wardwell property had been confiscated at her arrest, which probably included what she had been bequeathed by Adam Hawkes. I wonder if it was ever returned to her?


So now there are two more witches on our family tree!
   

HALLOWEEN TALES9: "LITTLE ORPHANT ANNIE"

I was a third grader at the Frank V Thompson School in Boston's
Dorchester section when I first read this 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. I think our Mom once or twice
recited the "Gobble-uns 'll git you ef you don't watch out!" part. 

 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!

HALLOWEEN TALES8: THE GARRISON OF CAPE ANN

Tonight's Halloween Tale is a poem by distant cousin John Greenleaf Whittier
and concerns a story written about by Cotton Mather. Apparently a garrison on
Cape Ann in Massachusetts was the target of nightly attacks by warriors who
could not be killed. These continued for several weeks until they ceased as
suddenly as they began. On the other hand, perhaps the soldiers defending the
stockade were just poor marksmen?

THE GARRISON OF CAPE ANN.

John Greenleaf  Whittier

Where the sea-waves back anil forward, hoarse with rolling pebbles,
ran,
The garrison-house stood watching on the gray rocks of Cape Ann;
On its windy site uplifting gabled roof and palisade,
And rough walls of unhewn timber with the moonlight overlaid.

Before the deep-mouthed chimney, dimly lit by dying brands,
Twenty soldiers sat and waited, with their muskets in their hands;
On the rough-hewn oaken table the venison haunch was shared,
And the pewter tankard circled slowly round from beard to beard.

But their voices sank yet lower, sank to husky tones of fear,
As they spake of present tokens of the powers of evil near;
Of a spectral host, defying stroke of steel and aim of gun;
Never yet was ball to slay them in the mould of mortals run!

Midnight came; from out the forest moved a dusky mass that soon
Grew to warriors, plumed and painted, grimly marching in the moon.
"Ghosts or witches," said the captain, "thus I foil the Evil One I"
And he rammed a silver button, from his doublet, down his gun.

"God preserve us!" said the captain; "never mortal foes were there
They have vanished with their leader, Prince and Power of the air!
Lay aside your useless weapons; skill and prowess naught avail;
They who do the Devil's service wear their master's coat of mail!"

So the night grew near to cock-crow, when again a warning call
Roused the score of weary soldiers watching round the dusky hall;
And they looked to flint and priming, and they longed for break of
day;
But the captain closed his Bible: "Let us cease from man, and
pray!"

To the men who went before us, all the unseen powers seemed near,
And their steadfast strength of courage struck its roots in holy fear.
Every hand forsook the musket, every head was bowed and bare,
Every stout knee pressed the flagstones, as the captain led in prayer.

Ceased thereat the mystic marching of the spectres round the wall,
But a sound abhorred, unearthly, smote the ears and hearts of all, —
Howls of rage and shrieks of anguish! Never after mortal man
Saw the ghostly leaguers marching round the blockhouse of Cape
Ann.

MY GENEALOGY TIME CAPSULE

((The prompt last week for Julie Goucher's The Book of Me, Written By
You was what I might put in a time time capsule. I had run a geneablogger
challenge last year on time capsules, so I thought I'd just reprint my post 
from that. Only one change from my original post: the tin foil wrapped
baseball cap has been replaced by a red plastic colander. That should
equally mystify future generations!))


Back in February I read about a century old time capsule being opened
here in Abington and it gave me an idea for a Genealogists' Time Capsule
Challenge. The rules I set were these:

1 Make a list of what you would put in a time capsule and why you'd choose
each item.

2, What would you use for the time capsule? Where would you have it kept?
 
3. Write a blogpost with the above information. If you don't have a blog, why.
not??? Ok, if you don't send your time capsule idea to me as a comment to
this post or email it to me. If you do have a blog, make sure to send me
the link to your time capsule post.

So, here's my Time Capsule. Besides the genealogy material I included
some items of personal value:

My genealogy research and my other writings printed on acid free archival
paper. Each page would be in polypropylene archive safe page
protectors

A book (or several) of my "West in New England" blogposts published
with one of the programs that convert blogs to books. 

A copy of the book "Morte'D Arthur" by Sir Thomas Malory-(The book that
started my love of history and mythology.)

The cd album "1" by The Beatles which is a collection of all their #1 songs.
(because the Beatles shaped so much of the popular music of my time)

The cassette album "Days of Future Passed" by The Moody Blues
(my favorite rock group)

Cds of a Chieftains' album and a Clannad album (I need to decide on which one.
Included because of our family's Irish heritage)

A collection of scanned family photos packed in polypropylene archive safe
protectors. Each photo will have names and dates of the people and places
in them.

A cd containing the same photos all properly labeled, my genealogy research
and my other writings

A flash drive with the same photos all properly labeled, my genealogy research
and my other writings.(I'm paranoid. If one doesn't work, maybe the other will!)

 My windup dinosaur skeleton (because there should always be some family
mysteries.)

A letter from me (written on my computer and printed out because at the rate
things are going, my relatives probably won't be able to read cursive) explaining
everything in my time capsule except the windup dinosaur and one other item.

 All of the above would be put in a waterproof plastic container inside a waterproof
metal box. I'd leave it with my niece and nephews with instructions that it be
opened in 2112.

Oh, and that one other item? This picture with "I must use these powers wisely"
written on the back.

My future relatives might not understand it, but the folks reading this who are
frequent visitors to the Geneabloggers Radio Chat Room will know what it means!

THE HELL HOUNDS OF BREWSTER

((Tonight's 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.
((Tonight's Halloween Tale is one of my own, first posted in
October, 2007))


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?

GENEABLOGGING PANEL AT THE MERRIMACK VALLEY CHAPTER OF THE MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY OF GENEALOGISTS

Today I had the honor of appearing on a panel about geneablogging at the Merrimack
Valley Chapter of the Massachusetts Society of Genealogists. The other members of
the panel were Lucie LeBlanc Consentino, Heather Wilkinson Rojo, Marian Pierre-Louis,
and Cynthia Shenette, so I was in very distinguished company. I have been a bit
nervous about this for awhile because it's the first time I've spoken before a group
of fellow genealogists. I spoke about three instances where blogging had led to cousin
connections that had helped my family research and led me to discover some things
I hadn't already seen or known about my family. I can't remember exactly what I said
but I'm told I did alright. (Nobody fell asleep!) I also received my first Blogger's
Beads!


Thanks to Lucie for facilitating our talk and doing some PowerPoint slides for each of us,
And thanks to Margaret Fortier, Karen Treachis and the chapter members for their kindness to a first time speaker!

Heather, Cynthia and Lucie

Erica Voolich, Heather and Cynthia

Lucie and Pat Stano-Carpenter

Cynthia, Marian, Myself, Lucie, & Heather

HALLOWEEN TALES7: THE WILD MAN OF CAPE COD

For today's Halloween Tale we return once more to pirates and Cape Cod:


THE WILD MAN OF CAPE COD

For years after Bellamy's pirate ship was wrecked at Wellfleet, by false pilotage on the part of one of his captives, a strange-looking man used to travel up and down the cape, who was believed to be one of the few survivors of that night of storm, and of the hanging that others underwent after getting ashore. The pirates had money when the ship struck; it was found in the pockets of a hundred drowned who were cast on the beach, as well as among the sands of the cape, for coin was gathered there long after. They supposed the stranger had his share, or more, and that he secreted a quantity of specie near his cabin. After his death gold was found under his clothing in a girdle. He was often received at the houses of the fishermen, both because the people were hospitable and because they feared harm if they refused to feed or shelter him; but if his company grew wearisome he was exorcised by reading aloud a portion of the Bible. When he heard the holy words he invariably departed.

And it was said that fiends came to him at night, for in his room, whether he appeared to sleep or wake, there were groans and blasphemy, uncanny words and sounds that stirred the hair of listeners on their scalps. The unhappy creature cried to be delivered from his tormenters and begged to be spared from seeing a rehearsal of the murders he had committed. For some time he was missed from his haunts, and it was thought that he had secured a ship and set to sea again; but a traveller on the sands, while passing his cabin in the small hours, had heard a more than usual commotion, and could distinguish the voice of the wild man raised in frantic appeal to somebody, or something; still, knowing that it was his habit to cry out so, and having misgivings about approaching the house, the traveller only hurried past. A few neighbors went to the lonely cabin and looked through the windows, which, as well as the doors, were locked on the inside. The wild man lay still and white on the floor, with the furniture upset and pieces of gold clutched in his fingers and scattered about him. There were marks of claws about his neck.-
Charles Montgomery Skinner Myths and Legends of Our Own Land: Vol. I (Google eBook) J.B. Lippincott, 1896 Philadelphia Pa pp309-310

"EVANGELINE" BY HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

Last month I reprinted a post I wrote in 2007 about my ancestor
Jonathan Abbott's relationship with some Acadian exiles in Andover
Ma. back in the 18th century. I hadn't known anything about it until
I found the story on Lucie LeBlanc Consentino's blog. Revisiting it
reminded me that back in grade school in Boston we'd read
the poem "Evangeline" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It told
the story of two starcrossed Acadian lovers but all I could recall
of it was the line "This is the forest primeval."

When I started looking for a poem for this year's Great Genealogy
Poetry Challenge, I realized Evangeline would be perfect because
of my family's brief connection with the tragedy of the Acadian exiles.
Now, it's a long poem, so I selected a passage in which Longfellow
depicts how a small French-Canadian community learned they were
losing their homes and being deported:    


So passed the morning away. And lo! with a summons sonorous           
sounded the bell from its tower, and over the meadows a drum beat.   
Thronged erelong was the church with men. Without, in the churchyard,   
Waited the women. They stood by the graves, and hung on the headstones   
Garlands of autumn-leaves and evergreens fresh from the forest.   
Then came the guard from the ships, and marching proudly among them          
Entered the sacred portal. With loud and dissonant clangor   
Echoed the sound of their brazen drums from ceiling and casement,—   
Echoed a moment only, and slowly the ponderous portal   
Closed, and in silence the crowd awaited the will of the soldiers.   
Then uprose their commander, and spake from the steps of the altar,       
Holding aloft in his hands, with its seals, the royal commission.   
‘You are convened this day,’ he said, ‘by his Majesty’s orders.   
Clement and kind has he been; but how you have answered his kindness,   
Let your own hearts reply! To my natural make and my temper   
Painful the task is I do, which to you I know must be grievous.           
Yet must I bow and obey, and deliver the will of our monarch;   
Namely, that all your lands, and dwellings, and cattle of all kinds   
Forfeited be to the crown; and that you yourselves from this province   
Be transported to other lands. God grant you may dwell there   
Ever as faithful subjects, a happy and peaceable people!           
Prisoners now I declare you; for such is his Majesty’s pleasure!’   
As, when the air is serene in sultry solstice of summer,   
Suddenly gathers a storm, and the deadly sling of the hailstones   
Beats down the farmer’s corn in the field and shatters his windows,   
Hiding the sun, and strewing the ground with thatch from the houseroofs,           
Bellowing fly the herds, and seek to break their enclosures;   
So on the hearts of the people descended the words of the speaker.   
Silent a moment they stood in speechless wonder, and then rose   
Louder and ever louder a wail of sorrow and anger,   
And, by one impulse moved, they madly rushed to the doorway.           
Vain was the hope of escape; and cries and fierce imprecations   
Rang through the house of prayer; and high o’er the heads of the others   
Rose, with his arms uplifted, the figure of Basil the blacksmith,   
As, on a stormy sea, a spar is tossed by the billows.   
Flushed was his face and distorted with passion; and wildly he shouted,—          
‘Down with the tyrants of England! we never have sworn them allegiance!   
Death to these foreign soldiers, who seize on our homes and our harvests!’   
More he fain would have said, but the merciless hand of a soldier   
Smote him upon the mouth, and dragged him down to the pavement.
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

THE BOOK OF ME, WRITTEN BY YOU5: MY GRANDPARENTS

I'm taking  part in a meme started by Julie Goucher of Anglers Rest. Using
prompts from "The Book of Me, Written By You" I'm leaving my memories
of my life for present and future relatives. This week's prompt is: my grandparents.



I didn't know our grandparents as well as now I wish I had. My Dad's parents lived
up in Maine, a good distance away from where my family lived in Boston; we'd go
"up home" for a few days in the summers when I was a kid and visit them for a few
hours.  On our Mom's side, our grandmother lived with us but she passed away in
1957 when I was eight years old. Our grandfather's name was never mentioned and
 there were no pictures, so to this day I have no idea what he looked like.

So here's what I know:

Paternal Grandparents: Floyd Earl West and Cora Berthella Barker.
My grandfather was born on 14Apr 1893 in So. Paris, Me. and had a younger brother Clarence who was two years younger. His mother Clara Ellingwood West died four
days before Floyd's eighth birthday and the boys and their father Philip J West were
living with my West 2x great grandparents when the 1900 Federal Census was taken. When World War 1 came along, Floyd enlisted on 29Apr 1918 but never served
overseas because he was assigned to Camp Devens in Massachusetts during the
Spanish Flu epidemic to work as an hospital orderly. After contracting pneumonia himself, he was honorably discharged on 12March 1919.

Two weeks later, on 24Mar 1919 he married my grandmother Cora Berthella Barker.
Cora was born on 27Oct 1899 at Bethel, Maine. Like Floyd, she'd lost a parent when she
was young, at age five  when her father died. He'd left debts so Cora had a pretty unsettled
childhood that included two stepfathers before she married my grandfather.
Floyd and Cora had five children , three girls and two boys, including my father Floyd Jr.

My grandfather supported the family with odd jobs during the Great Depression and
mostly in the lumber trade afterward.He also hunted and trapped which was common
in rural western Maine.

Floyd died  in 1970 and Cora in 1987.

Grandmother West with my cousin Mindy Sue West

Maternal Grandparents Edward F. White Sr. and Agnes McFarland

Agnes McFarland

Edward F. White was born on 3Jul 1899 in Boston, Ma., the third of 9 children. My Mom
said he was a chauffeur when he met my grandmother Aggie. The two of them might
have met through their fathers, both of who were employees of the city of Boston.
Aggie was born 7Oct 1898, the 14th of 17 children. Both she and Ed were the children of immigrants who'd come to this country in the late 19th century.

They were married 19Oct 1924 in Boston. My uncle was born in 1925 and my Mom in 1927.
Sometime after my Mom's birth a third child was lost in a miscarriage and the marriage
fell apart. Edward left my grandmother who spent several years trying to get him to pay
child support during the height of the Depression before divorcing him on 21Nov 1935.
As far as I know he never did pay any child support because she couldn't find him. Even
now I can't find him on the 1930 or 1940 Federal Censuses. My mother later found him
after I was born and discovered he'd remarried and had two sons by his second wife.
I've written here before about my search to find out more about him and his family.

My grandmother Aggie died on 12 Feb 1957 in Malden, Ma. of heart failure caused by
damage from having rheumatic fever as a child. Edward died on 6Dec 1991 in Billerica,
Ma. and is buried in an unmarked grave. 

HALLOWEEN TALES6:LADY ELEANOR'S MANTLE

Many legends have a basis in fact. Such is the case in this next Halloween Tale. There
was a Samuel Shute who was Royal Governor of Massachusetts from 1716 to 1723, and
there was an outbreak of smallpox in Boston over the winter of 1721-1722 that claimed
over 800 lives.  Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote a shot story about "Lady Eleanore's Mantle"
which this version is probably based on, and I first heard of this in another of
Edward Rowe Snow's books. I think Snow said he believed Edgar Allen Poe based "The
Masque of the Red Death" on the epidemic as well. It makes me wonder just how disliked
Lady Eleanor (if she were real)must have been to inspire such an unflattering story. 

LADY ELEANORE'S MANTLE
LADY ELEANORE ROCHCLIFFE, being orphaned, was admitted to the family of her distant relative, Governor Shute, of Massachusetts Bay, and came to America to take her home with him. She arrived at the gates of Province House, in Boston, in the governor's splendid coach, with outriders and guards, and as the governor went to receive her, a pale young man, with tangled hair, sprang from the crowd and fell in the dust at her feet, offering himself as a footstool for her to tread upon. Her proud face lighted with a smile of scorn, and she put out her hand to stay the governor, who was in the act of striking the fellow with his cane.

"Do not strike him," she said. "When men seek to be trampled, it is a favor they deserve."

For a moment she bore her weight on the prostrate form, "emblem of aristocracy trampling on human sympathies and the kindred of nature," and as she stood there the bell on South Church began to toll for a funeral that was passing at the moment. The crowd started; some looked annoyed; Lady Eleanore remained calm and walked in stately fashion up the passage on the arm of His Excellency. "Who was that insolent fellow?" was asked of Dr. Clarke, the governor's physician.

"Gervase Helwyse," replied the doctor; " a youth of no fortune, but of good mind until he met this lady in London, when he fell in love with her, and her pride and scorn have crazed him."

A few nights after a ball was given in honor of the governor's ward, and Province House was filled with the elect of the city. Commanding in figure, beautiful in face, richly dressed and jewelled, the Lady Eleanore was the admired of the whole assembly, and the women were especially curious to see her mantle, for a rumor went out that it had been made by a dying girl, and had the magic power of giving new beauty to the wearer every time it was put on. While the guests were taking refreshment, a young man stole into the room with a silver goblet, and this he offered on his knee to Lady Eleanore. As she looked down she recognized the face of Helwyse.

"Drink of this sacramental wine," he said, eagerly, "and pass it among the guests."

"Perhaps it is poisoned," whispered a man, and in another moment the liquor was overturned, and Helwyse was roughly dragged away.

"Pray, gentlemen, do not hurt my poor admirer," said the lady, in a tone of languor and condescension that was unusual to her. Breaking from his captives, Helwyse ran back and begged her to cast her mantle into the fire. She replied by throwing a fold of it above her head and smiling as she said, "Farewell. Remember me as you see me now."

Helwyse shook his head sadly and submitted to be led away. The weariness in Eleanore's manner increased; a flush was burning on her cheek; her laugh had grown infrequent. Dr. Clarke whispered something in the governor's ear that made that gentleman start and look alarmed. It was announced that an unforeseen circumstance made it necessary to close the festival at once, and the company went home. A few days after the city was thrown into a panic by an outbreak of small-pox, a disease that in those times could not be prevented nor often cured, and that gathered its victims by thousands. Graves were dug in rows, and every night the earth was piled hastily on fresh corpses. Before all infected houses hung a red flag of warning, and Province House was the first to show it, for the plague had come to town in Lady Eleanore's mantle. The people cursed her pride and pointed to the flags as her triumphal banners. The pestilence was at its height when Gervase Helwyse appeared in Province House. There were none to stay him now, and he climbed the stairs, peering from room to room, until he entered a darkened chamber, where something stirred feebly under a silken coverlet and a faint voice begged for water. Helwyse tore apart the curtains and exclaimed, " Fie! What does such a thing as you in Lady Eleanore's apartment?"

The figure on the bed tried to hide its hideous face. "Do not look on me," it cried. "I am cursed for my pride that I wrapped about me as a mantle. You are avenged. I am Eleanore Rochcliffe." 

The lunatic stared for a moment, then the house echoed with his laughter. The deadly mantle lay on a chair. He snatched it up, and waving also the red flag of the pestilence ran into the street. In a short time an effigy wrapped in the mantle was borne to Province House and set on fire by a mob. From that hour the pest abated and soon disappeared, though graves and scars made a bitter memory of it for many a year. Unhappiest of all was the disfigured creature who wandered amid the shadows of Province House, never showing her face, unloved, avoided, lonely.-
Charles Montgomery Skinner  Myths and Legends of Our Own Land: Vol. I (Google eBook) J.B. Lippincott, 1896 Philadelphia Pa  pp253-256