WHAT I KNOW ABOUT THE BARROWS FAMILY

This is one of the family lines I need to do more work on.

 My Barrows family ancestry is another family line from the Plymouth-Plympton-Carver
area in Massachusetts, although my immigrant ancestor was originally at Salem in the
late 1630's before moving south to Plymouth. He was my 8x great grandfather. George Barrows married Patience Simmons in 1694 and settled in  the Plympton-Carver area where my ancestors stayed until after the Revolutionary War. I have a double Barrows descent through the marriage of my 4x great grandparents Asa Barrows and Content Benson. (Her mother was Deborah Barrows.) Asa's father Moses Barrows had moved
the family to Cornish, New Hampshire, and then Asa moved to Oxford County, Me.

I have images of a few documents in my database:
-The will of 7x great grandfather Robert Barrows.
-Records of land sales by Robert
-Records of land sales by 6x great grandfather George Barrows
-The Revolutionary War Pension file of 4x great grandfather Asa Barrows
-The War of 1812 Pension files of  3x great granduncles Asa and Caleb Barrows.



I also have an article that Barrows cousin Martin Hollick wrote and kindly sent a
copy to me. 

To Do-
There are some other Barrows wills and probate files on FamilySearch that I've found listed in the index but I haven't been able to find the actual documents as of yet. I need
to do more research on the family history here in Plymouth County. And if this darn
snow ever stops and melts, I want to visit the towns of Plymouth, Plympton, and Carver
to see what I can find there.

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS #8: EDMUND GREENLEAF PT2

As I said in the previous post on my ancestor Edmond Greenleaf, his second
marriage was not entirely a happy one. The reason why is in the codicil attached
to his will. It's a rather long document, so I'll comment on it in the next post, as as
discuss a few another matter.

Once again, this is from the Google ebook edition of James Edward Greenleaf's Genealogy of the Greenleaf Family (F. Wood, printer, Boston, Ma. 1896):


In the early part of 1671 Mr. Greenleaf died. His will, a very curious document, written, as is supposed, by himself, was proved Feb. 12, 1671, and is recorded in the "Probate Records" in Boston, in the volume for 1669 to 1674, page 112.

The following is a copy, the orthography being corrected :—

"In the name of God, Amen. The two and twentieth day of December, sixteen hundred and sixty-eight, I, Edmund Greenleaf, being mindful of my own mortality and certainty of death, and uncertainty of the same, and being desirous to settle things in order, being now in good health and perfect memory, do make, appoint and ordain this to be my last will and testament in manner and form following: that is to say— first and principally, I give and bequeath my soul into the hands of my blessed Redeemer, the Lord Jesus, who hath died and gave himself for me, and his blood cleanseth from all sin, and through his righteousness I do only look for justification and salvation; and do commit my mortal body, after this life is ended, into the dust from whence it was taken, there to be preserved by the power and faithfulness of my Redeemer, Jesus Christ, until the resurrection of the just, and then to be raised up by the same power to immortality and life, where I shall see him as he is, and shall ever be with him; and in this faith and hope I desire, through his grace nd assistance, to live and die, and at last to be found of him in peace.

"Nextly, my will is, being according to God's will revealed in his word, that we must pay what we owe and live of the rest, unto whose rule the sons of men ought to frame their wills and actions; therefore, my mind and will is, that my debts shall be truly and justly paid to every man to whom I shall be indebted, by my executors hereafter named.

"And first I do revoke, renounce, frustrate and make void all wills by me formerly made; and I declare and appoint this to be my last will and testament.

"Imprimis—I give unto my son Stephen Greenleaf, and to my daughter Browne, widow, and to my daughter Coffin, to each of them twenty shillings apiece. Item—I give unto my grandchild Elizabeth Hilton, ten pounds. Item—I give unto my grandchild Enoch Greenleaf, five pounds. Item—I give unto my grandchild Sarah Winslow, five pounds, if her father pay me the four pounds he oweth me. Item—I give unto my  eldest son's son, James Greenleaf, twenty shillings; and after my funeral expenses, debts and legacies are discharged, I give and bequeath the rest of my estate unto my son Stephen Greenleaf, and to my daughter Elizabeth Browne, and to my daughter Judith Coffin, equally to be divided amongst them and their children. And, further, I desire and appoint my son, Stephen Greenleaf, and Tristram Coffin the executors of this my will, to see it executed and affirmed as near as they can; and I further entreat my cousin, Thomas Moon, mariner, to see to the performance of this my will.

"In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this twenty-fifth day of December, 1668.
[merged small][ocr errors]

"Signed, sealed, published, and declared to be my last will in the presence of us,

"George Ruggell,
"john Furniside."

The inventory of Mr. Greenleaf's estate, which was appended to the will, amounted to £131-5-9.

The following paper is also recorded in the "Probate Records," appended to the will, as, probably, assigning the reason why the name of his second wife, who appears to have outlived him, was not mentioned:—

"When I married my wife, I kept her grandchild, as I best remember, three years to schooling, diet and apparel; and William Hill, her son, had a bond of six pounds a year, whereof I received no more than a barrel of pork of £3-0-0 of that £6-0-0 a year he was to pay me, and sent to her son Ignatius Hill, to the Barbadoes, in mackerel, cider, and bread and pease, as much as come to twenty pounds, and never received one penny of it. His aunt gave to the three brothers £50 apiece. I know not whether they received it or no; but I have not received any part of it.

"Witness my hand. (Signed) Edmund Greenleaf."

"Besides, when I married my wife, she brought me a silver bowl, a silver porringer, and a silver spoon. She lent or gave them to her son, James Hill, without my consent."

To be continued,

 

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS #8: EDMUND GREENLEAF

Fellow geneablogger Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small has issued the 52
Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. Basically, we have to post something every week
on a different ancestor, whether a story, picture, or research problem. This week my
subject is 10x great grandfather Edmund Greenleaf.

I found the following in  the Google ebook edition of James Edward Greenleaf's Genealogy of the Greenleaf Family (F. Wood, printer, Boston, Ma. 1896).
There's an interesting bit of information at the end of the excerpt:

On the parish records of St. Mary's la Tour in Ipswich, County Suffolk, England, is recorded: "Edmund Greenleaf, son of John and Margaret, was baptized Jan. 2, 1574."
Among the family relics still preserved is the cane brought to this country by Edmund Greenleaf; it bears the initials "J. G." on a silver band near the handle.

Edmund Greenleaf married Sarah Dole, and by her had nine children, whose names appear on the records of the parish of St. Mary's la Tour above mentioned. It is supposed there were two others,—John, born about 1632, and who died in Boston, Dec. 16, 1712; and Mary,— referred to in "Savage's Dictionary," Vol. IV. p. 476: "John Wells, of Newbury, took the oath of allegiance, May, 1669, and was made a freeman the same month, a carpenter, married March 5, 1669, Mary, probably daughter of Edmund Greenleaf, and had, December 16th, Mary, who died the year following. Mary, again, born Feb. 16, 1673. William, born Jan. IS. 1675."

All of the nine children named in the chart, and whose baptismal records and deaths appear on the parish records of St. Mary's before mentioned, were born in England. Mr. Greenleaf lived near the old town bridge in Newbury, where for some years he kept a tavern. He was admitted a freeman on March 13, 1639,* and on May 22d of the same year was "permitted to keep a house of entertainment."

The name of Edmund Greenleaf appears :—
June 1, 1642.—" On a commission of Newbury."
Sept. 8, 1642.—" Ordered to send home an Indian woman."
Sept. 27, 1642.—" On a committee to take charge of certain orders by the council."
Nov. 11, 1647.—Requests his " discharge from military service."
May 2, 1649.—On appraisement of real estate. (" Massachusetts Bay Records," Vol. I. page 258; Vol. II. pages 16, 23, 30, 215, and 276).

Capt. Edmund Greenleaf moved to Boston with his wife Sarah about 1650 (New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. VI. page 102), where he buried his wife, and afterwards married Mrs. Sarah Hill, widow of Wilson, 2d, of William Hill, of Fairfield, Conn., who had several children by her former marriage. This marriage was rather an unhappy one.
-pp71-72

The answer as to why the second marriage was unhappy lies in Edmund Greenleaf's
will and I'll discuss that in Part 2.

To be continued.

THE BOOK OF ME WRITTEN BY YOU: TECHNOLOGY

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.And this week's entry is a "twofer"
since it's also the latest Saturday Night Genealogy Fun from Randy Seaver
over at Genea-Musings.

   The prompt this week is Technology


    What technology changes did your ancestors see?
    What technology changes have you seen?
    Did your family own one of those early changes? - such as television
    Do you like or dislike technology?
    What do you think has been the best technological change in your lifetime and historically?


I've thought  a lot about this over the years. Starting from the 19th century, my ancestors
saw the coming of the steam engine, the telegraph, the telephone, and photography. In the
19th century my grandparents' lives were changed by electricity, automobiles, the movies, refrigerators, electric washing machines, and gas heating. According to my mother, my McFarland great grandparents were the owners of one of the first houses in the Mission Hill district of Boston that had electric lighting. 

My parents owned a black and white Emerson tv when i was a kid, and my aunt and uncle one of the first color televisions.  Before they died, they saw the first atomic bomb, the first computers, and the first men to walk on the moon.  Since I was born in the mid-20th century, I saw all the things my parents did.

I like technology. It makes my life so much easier and richer in comparison even to what my grandparents had during their lifetimes. I cook using a microwave onion, I watch cable tv, I call my sister on acell phone, and I can send email to my cousins in Ohio.  Even though I still prefer real paper books, I own and use an e-reader.

And I use my computer to research my family tree and blog about it here online.

The technologies I'd choose for the best or for having the most important effects aren't those most people might choose, I think.  To me, the best are things like central heating, urban plumbing and water filtration, and of course the medical technologies. They have made our lives easier, safer and healthier. 

DIPHTHERIA

Today marks the end of a horrific period in my family's history. On this date in 1862 thelast of three children and two grandchildren of John Cutter West and Arvilla (Ames)  died during a diphtheria outbreak in  Letter B Plantation in Oxford County Maine. It started with the death of their daughter in law Orpha Viette Reynolds West who died on New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31st, 1861. She was 19 years old, and she was the first wife of my 2x great grandfather Jonathan Phelps West. They'd been married two months.

Then Jonathan and Arvilla's younger children began to die:


David Pingree West died on Jan. 17th , 1862. He was eight years old, the youngest of the
eleven children, and was mentally handicapped.

Ruth Ellen West died on Jan. 26th. She was ten.

16 year old Arvilla Electa West died on Feb. 6th.

Older brother Asa Atwood West had married and started his own family on his
farm in neighboring Andover, Maine. He lost two children to the outbreak:

8 year old Arvilla died on Feb. 18th.

2 year old Anna Pearl on Feb. 20th.

I don't know if the rest of the older sons and daughters came down with diphtheria as
well, but if they did they recovered because they all lived into the 20th century. Jonathan
Phelps West remarried which is why I am here telling this story. John Cutter West died on
July 24 1862 at age 60. Whether his death was caused by poor health after diphtheria
I do not know.

Emil Behring discovered a vaccine for diphtheria in 1913.

And every time I read an argument against childhood vaccination shots, I think of my 3x
great grandmother Arvilla West, and how grateful she'd have been for something that
might have saved her children and grandchildren.

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS #7: THE BARKER SISTERS

Fellow geneablogger Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small has issued the 52
Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. Basically, we have to post something every week
on a different ancestor, whether a story, picture, or research problem. This week
I thought I'd write a little about this picture.

These four women are my great grandaunts. My great grandmother Charlotte Lovenia
Barker was their sister. It looks like they posed by age with the youngest sister on the
left going to the oldest on the right. They are:

Lelia Leona Barker, b.13Sept 1875 at Albany, Oxford, Me. She married Fred M Skinner
on 3 Jul 1894 when she was a few months shy of her 19th birthday. They had nine
children and thirteen grandchildren (that I've found so far). Fred passed away in
1944 and Lelia followed him ten years later on 16Sep 1954 at age 79.

Mary Elizabeth Barker was born on 22Dec 1869 in Albany, Oxford, Me. She married
the unusually named Zenas Mills (I've seen the name spelled as Xenon, Zarar and Zaran
on various records) on 22May 1888. They raised a family of seven children and fourteen
grandchildren. Mary died on 8Oct 1951.

Melinda Jane Barker, born on 4Jun 1867  in Albany, Oxford, Me., married Edwin Smith
on 30Jun 1886 at Bethel, Oxford, Me. and had a family of six children and fourteen
grandchildren.  Melinda died on 24Apr 1957.

Lastly, Hannah Eldora Barker,  who was born in Albany, Oxford, Me. on  10Dec 1863, only had two children and seven grandchildren with her first husband John Wyman. They were married on 18Sep 1884 and the marriage lasted 25 years until John's death in 1905.  Five years later Hannah married widower Alvin Brown in 1909. Hannah died in Lewiston, Maine on 22 Maine, 1950.

Since Hannah died in 1950, and going by how old they look in the picture, I estimate
it was taken sometime between 1930 and 1950. 

So altogether the four sisters had 24 children and 48 grandchildren. But they were just following their parents Amos Hastings and Betsey Jane (Moore) Barker's example, who
12 children(including the sisters) and 72 grandchildren! 

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS #6:GEORGE BARROWS PT3

Just a few more things about George Barrows and my Barrows ancestry.

First, I have a double descent from George and his wife Patience Simmons.
Here's that list of his children by Lucien Moore Robinson from in the first
post in this series:


16 I. Moses4, b. Feb. 14, 1696-7, m. Mary Carver Dec. 4, 1717.
17 II. George4, b. Mch. n, 1698, m. Desire (Doly.2)
18 III. Samuel4, b. 1700, m. Susannah Tobey, Nov. 21, 1723.
19 IV. Peleg4, b. 1708, m. Hopestill Darling, Nov. 26, 1733.
20 V. Benjamin4, m. Lois Tilson, Oct. 15, 1741.
21 VI. James4, m. 1st, Oct. 15, 1741, 2d Nov. 3, 1726, Mary Coffin.
VII. Patience4, m. Jos. Waterman, 1733.
VIII. Ruth4, m. Seth Sampson, Mch. 19, 1723-4.
IX. Keziah4, m. Saml. Benson, May 21, 1728.
X. Deborah4, m. Caleb Benson.
XI. Sarah4, m. Caleb Cushman, Nov. 1742.

I highlighted the two Barrows children who are my ancestors.I haven't
been able to find a date of birth for Deborah Barrows but I estimate
she was about fifteen years younger than oldest brother Moses. My
double descent comes from the marriage of  Asa Barrows and Content
Benson:

They were first cousins once removed.

Two years ago in April, 2012, I took a drive down to Lakenham Cemetery in
Carver and found the headstones of George Barrows and his three wives.
Now I'm planning to go back and see if I can find the location of the Barrows
homestead. 

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS #6:GEORGE BARROWS PT2

I'd seen reference once before to iron ore and George Barrows in Florence O'
Connor's book on my Dunham and Ellingwood ancestors but hadn't really given
it much thought. But as I was researching George for this past week's 52 Ancestors
in 52 Weeks post I ran into more information in Henry Griffith's History of the Town
of Carver, Massachusetts: Historical Review, 1637-1910.

First, some knowledge about the location of the Barrows homestead which is
of use. The pond mentioned is Sampsons Pond, which was named after a local
Indian sachem:
  
Reckoned from the standpoint of continued influence, George Barrows and John
Murdock were the pioneers of South Carver. Through marital connections Caleb
Cushman, (whose wife was a daughter of George Barrows), established the Cushman
farm about 1740; and later the Saverys were settled in the village through the Barrows
girls. The Barrows property skirted the west shore of the pond and John Murdock held
the claim to the land on the east side. The pond itself was lightly regarded, except for
the fish it yielded and the grassy coves for their hay giving and pasturage qualities. Grassy Island was also used as a pasture, being approached through a slough from the west shore. The old Barrows' homestead stood at the junction of Mayflower road with Rochester road; the Murdock homestead was the farm on the east side of the pond, later known as the Israel Thomas farm; the Tillson farm was located about midway between Rochester road and Meadows road, in what is now known as New Meadows; and it is probable that the main highway at that time passed the Tillson 
house, the  Silas Shaw house, the Barrows house and the Murdock house and so on to the fishery at the outlet of the pond. Rochester road as we travel it, was laid out in 1698, but it is probable that the main travel south was on the east side of the pond, 
and the old roads leading to Halfway ponds and Agawam, show signs of having once 
been main travelled roads.p61-62


The location of the Barrows and Murdock homesteads came into play because of the
rich iron ore deposits beneath Sampsons Pond.

The operation of Popes Point furnace created a demand for bog ore that gave life to industrial Plympton and the swamps and ponds were regarded as valuable properties.
A rich bed of this ore was found in Sampsons Pond and tributary coves which was being turned to a source of profit to the abutters when the officials of the town raised the point that the bog was public property. The matter found its way into Town meeting in 1749, where the private claimants were defeated and agents appointed to guard the interests of the public. After a few years of clashing between these factions the courts decided in favor of the private claimants and the pond passed to the control of George Barrows and Bartlett Murdock who in 1758 signed an indenture whereby a line was established extending from a point on the northerly shore to a point near the connection of Sampsons brook, Barrows to have the ore on the westerly side of the line, and Murdock the ore on the easterly side, while each was bound to guard the property of the other against poachers. p198

Eventually Murdock would build a second furnace, the Charlotte Furnace, and for about
a hundred years Carver was one of the leading producers of iron cooking and kitchen utensils in the colonies. When the iron ore deposits began to run out in town, more ore was imported from other town in the area and from as far away as New Jersey. Eventually the industry died out, and today the town of Carver is better known for its cranberry bogs and the Edaville Railroad Park and Museum.

But my ancestor George Barrows and members of his family had played a part when Carver was know for its iron furnaces.

To be continued.

THE SECOND GENEA-BLOGGERS' JUST MAKE UP SOME LYRICS CHALLENGE

 Five years back I ran a fun challenge here called The Genea-Bloggers' Just
Make Up Some Lyrics Challenge. My fellow geneabloggers who
took part submitted some funny and clever posts, one of which was by the
renowned footnoteMaven. Well, the other day over on Facebook she found
and shared her entry for the Challenge, and it got me thinking.(always a dangerous
event): five years is a  looooooooooooooog time.

It's time for the Second Great Genealogy `Just Make Up Some Genealogy Lyrics'
Challenge!

Here are the rules:

1. Set the names of your ancestors to the music of any song. It can be
any number of names, any song. Just remember to mention what song
you are using so we can all sing along as we read!

2. Publish your efforts on your blog and send me the link. If you don't have
a blog( and you really should, you know, they're easy and fun to do) then send
me your song in a comment to this blog.

2. Dead line is April 15th. I'll publish the final list of links here on  April
    25th.

You can see what songs were submitted here in the roundup of links from the
first challenge.



I think that five years is enough time for everyone's funny bones to recharge.
Think of all the new songs that can be used! I look forward to seeing the results! 
 

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS #6:GEORGE BARROWS

Fellow geneablogger Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small has issued the 52
Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. Basically, we have to post something evey week
on a different ancestor, whether a story, picture, or research problem. This post is
about George Barrows, (1670-1758), my 6x great grandfather. My research for the
previous post got me interested in my ancestors who lived in the Plympton, Ma.
area, of which George was one.



I found the following in an article  THE BARROWS FAMILY by Rev. Lucien Moore Robinson in  The Maine Historical and Genealogical Recorder, Volume 7 (Google 
eBook) (S.M. Watson, 1893).:

(7) George, (Robert2, John1,) b. 1670, m. Feb. 14, 1694, Patience, dau. of John Simmons, a descendant of Moses Symondson who came in "Fortune" 1621. She died Oct. 30, 1723. George m. 2nd, Anne Dunham, June 25, 1724, m. 3d, Hannah Jackson, Dec. 20, 1736.

CHILDREN.
16 I. Moses4, b. Feb. 14, 1696-7, m. Mary Carver Dec. 4, 1717.
17 II. George4, b. Mch. n, 1698, m. Desire (Doly.2)
18 III. Samuel4, b. 1700, m. Susannah Tobey, Nov. 21, 1723.
19 IV. Peleg4, b. 1708, m. Hopestill Darling, Nov. 26, 1733.
20 V. Benjamin4, m. Lois Tilson, Oct. 15, 1741.
21 VI. James4, m. 1st, Oct. 15, 1741, 2d Nov. 3, 1726, Mary Coffin.
VII. Patience4, m. Jos. Waterman, 1733.
VIII. Ruth4, m. Seth Sampson, Mch. 19, 1723-4.
IX. Keziah4, m. Saml. Benson, May 21, 1728.
X. Deborah4, m. Caleb Benson.
XI. Sarah4, m. Caleb Cushman, Nov. 1742.

7. George resided in Plymouth till 1711. The next year he is described as of Plympton where he was already the owner of considerable quantities of land. He was known as "Captain George" and being, it is said, a successful negotiator with the Indians he was often entrusted with the settlement of business affairs with them. He seems to have been a very great enterprising and successful man, brought up a large family, which appear to have intermarried with the most respected families of that vicinity,

He gave deeds to each of his sons during the later years of his life, of lands near him and near to each other, on which it seems that most of them resided. One deed conveys to his sons and sons in law the privilege and the right to take iron ore from Samson's Pond in Plympton, (now Carver) for which they are to pay him two shillings sixpence per ton. Sampson's Pond is in that part of Plympton which became in 1790 the town of Carver. The descendants of George still reside in this town and occupy the lands that have been in their families for several generations.

His son Samuel removed to Killingly, Conn., but "in consideration of fatherly affection" etc., is made the recipient in 1748, of 100 acres of land in Plympton, near "the forge standing on South Meadow River." It seems a fair inference that he must have been quite wealthy. His will disposes of additional quantities of land among his sons, and grand children, and directs the payment of small legacies to his daughters. His son Peleg is made executor and residing legatee. The will bears date September 4, 1750. The original is on file in the probate office in Plymouth, and is witnessed by Nathl. Bradford, Nathl. Leonard Jun. and James Hovey. The signature is written as in the other documents named, "Gorg Barrow" (the handwriting in the opinion of good judges being the same in each. This fact seems to leave no possible room for doubt concerning the identity of this person. It seems to establish the fact that he was the son of Robert, who was the son of John the emigrant to Plymouth. There is a record in an old family Bible in Maine, written by a grandson of this George who came to Plymouth from the West of England in 1668 and married a daughter of George Bonum. But this record we cannot explain. The Plymouth records mention the daughters of George Bonum, giving the name of Ruth and the date of her marriage with Robert Barrow2, Nov. 28,1666, and Patience who m. Richard Willis, Dec. 28, 1670, and Sarah who probably died unmarried. But no record or deed is found referring to any other daughter of George Bonum who married a Burrow or any other person. (George Bonum it may be proper to say in passing, was a prominent man, a land Surveyer, often in public service, and his name frequently appears on the town records. He m. Sarah, dau. of Geo. Morton, Dec. 20, 1644, and died April 28, 1704, 95 years of age. He was a member of the Plymouth Church. The record of the church says, "He lived to a good old age, being about 95. He was a man almost all men spoke well of and is gone to receive his crown."
The will of George Barrows was not presented for probate till 1794, nearly forty years after the death of the testator.
-p144

There's a lot of information in there, and I'll discuss that in the next post.

To be continued.

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS #5: PERCIVAL LOWELL

Fellow geneablogger Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small has issued the 52
Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. Basically, we have to post something every week
on a different ancestor, whether a story, picture, or research problem.  I'm about a
week behind do I'm publishing a second post this week to catch up. This post is on
my 10x great grandfather Percival Lowell.

Percival Lowell is another of my ancestors so far back on my family tree that I haven't
done much work on him as yet. I know that through him I am somehow related to the
poet James Russell Lowell, and supposedly there's a Plantagenet connection through
him as well.  Here's what Ellery Bicknell Crane had to say about Percival in Historic
Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts: With a History of Worcester Society of Antiquity, Volume 2 (Google
eBook)


"(X) Percival Lowell, son of Richard Lowle (9), was born in England, 1571, and died in Newbury, Massachusetts, January 8, 1664. He was sixtyeight years of age when he immigrated to America and ninety-three years old when he died. In England he resided at Kingston, Seymour, England. He and his family had a large mercantile establishment at Bristol, England, under the firm name of Percival Lowe and Co. This firm was composed of Percival, his son John, perhaps son Richard, and possibly son-in-law, William Gerrish, who came over with the Lowells and subsequently married Percival Lowell's daughter, Mrs. Joanna Oliver, widow of John Oliver. The Lowell and Percival families were both wealthy. Percival Lowell came to Newbury, Massachusetts, where his sons John and Richard had already settled, in 1638-39 from Bristol on the ship "Jonathan," possibly not his first trip, as he was a proprietor of Newbury in 1638. He was a freeholder when the town was incorporated March 17, 1742. Percival wrote a poem on the death of Governor Winthrop of Massachusetts, which was printed on a "broadside" and generally circulated.

Children of Percival and Rebecca Lowell were:

John, born in England,1595, died at Newbury, Massachusetts, July 10, 1647; married (first) Margaret; married (second), 1639, Elizabeth Goodale. Richard, see forward. Joan, born in England, 1609, died in Newbury, June 14, 1677; married (first), 1639. John Oliver; married (second), in Newbury, April 17, 1644, Captain William Gerrish."
-page72

What impresses me the most about Percival Lowell is this: at age 68 he left a comfortable
life and prosperous business to come to the New World and start all over again, and was
just as successful here as he had been back in England!

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS #4: EPHRAIM GRIFFITH

Fellow geneablogger Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small has issued the 52
Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. Basically, we have to post something every week
on a different ancestor, whether a story, picture, or research problem.  This week's
subject is my 6x great grandfather Ephraim Griffith.

The Griffith's are one of those families for which I wish I had more information. It's
one of those cases where I know a lot about Ephraim's maternal line, and a lot about
his West descendants, but not as much about the Griffiths themselves. Ephraim's parents
were Samuel Griffith and Eleanor Estey. His great grandmother was Mary Estey(Eastey) who was hung as a witch at Salem in 1692. The Estey family moved out of Essex County
afterwards and Mary's son Joshua settled in Rochester in Plymouth County where Eleanor
was born in 1704. She married Samuel Griffith(Griffeth) on 24Sep 1723 in Rochester.

Ephraim Griffith's birth is given as July 25 1733 in the Rochester "Tan Book" of the town records. They also list his marriage to Mary Ellis of Wareham as occurring on Feb.10 1757 in Wareham, Ma. Among their children was my 5x great grandfather John Griffith.
At some point in the late 1700's the family moved to Plympton Ma. in a part of town which later became the town of Carver.

The rest of what I think I know about Ephraim is a bit tentative because there may have been other men living in the same area named Ephraim Griffith. There was one other
that I am certain of, that being Ephraim's son Ephraim Junior.  What I've pieced together

 is this:

-In his History of the Town of Carver, Massachusetts: Historical Review, 1637-1910, author Henry S. Griffith says Ephraim had a farm on Popes Point Rd. (p61)

-During the Revolution  a Ephraim Griffith was in a company commanded by Capt. Bridgham
 (p103)

-In 1792 Ephraim Griffith and Ephraim Jr were involved in a church dispute (p124) 

From Ancestry, I have images of:
-Ephraim Griffith on the Tax Rolls for Plympton for 1783, 1784, and 1788
-Ephraim Griffith on the Federal Census for Carver  in 1800, 1819, and 1820.
- Ephraim Griffith's identifying ear marks for his sheep on a  list from Carver.

Ephraim's death date in the town records and on his gravestone is given as just
December, 1823. The only hint I have of where Mary Griffith died is that on Ephraim's headstone it says she died in Woodstock, Vt.
  

Of course the question is are all those for Ephraim Sr. or are some Ephraim Jr's? 

I've also begun downloading  land records from Plymouth County at FamilySearch and
hope to learn more from them.

It seems when I am researching one of these 52 weeks posts I discover something I
hadn't know previously about my family. In this case, I found an article by Gary Boyd Roberts on the American Ancestors website which talks about how basbeball legend
Ty Cobb was descended from Ephraim Griffith's brother, Daniel!

WHAT I KNOW ABOUT THE BARKER FAMILY

This is one of a  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. This post will
be about my Barker ancestral line.

I know more about my Barker family line than any of the others except for my
Ellingwood ancestors. I have 96 document images for different members of the
family as well as some pictures. These include:

-the Will and Probate of immigrant ancestor Richard Barker who settled in Andover, Ma.
 around 1643 and died in 1693. I don't know the maiden name of his wife, Joanna.They
 were my 8x great grandparents.

-the Will & Probate of Benjamin Barker (1663-1750) my 7x great grandfather.

-the Probate of my 6x great grandfather Jonathan Barker (1706-1750). He's the first of
 three Jonathan Barkers in a row.

- the Revolutionary War Pension file of my 4x great grandfather Jonathan Barker (1754-
  1824) who with his brothers settled the Sunday River region of Maine.

-the War of 1812 Pension File of 3x great grandfather Nathaniel Barker  (1794-1884) of
 Newry, Maine.

-the Probate of my great grandfather Frank Wesley Barker (1865-1905). He was the son
of my 2x great grandfather Nathaniel S, Barker. Frank married his first cousin Charlotte Lovenia Barker, whose father was my 2x great grandfather Amos H Barker. Amos and Nathaniel were brothers.  (I need a simpler way to explain that.)

I also have Federal Census images for some of them.

Among the pictures I have:

My great grandaunts Lela, Mary, Melinda & Hannah Barker.

2x great grandparents Amos H. & Betsey (Moore) Barker.

To Do List:
There's quite a lot more I need to work on with the Barkers. They were a prominent family
in colonial Andover, North Andover, and Methuen, Ma. and I need to study those towns' histories for a more complete picture of how involved the Barkers were.

Among those matters is their part in the Witch Trials. My 7x great granduncle William Barker Sr., his son William Jr, and niece Mary were both accused and accusers. I want
to analyze the documents having to do with them.

Finally, I want to make a few day trips up to the Andovers and Methuen to visit the cemeteries and historical societies there.

THE BOOK OF ME WRITTEN BY YOU: HOBBIES

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

    This week's prompt is - Hobbies

    Childhood hobbies & collections
    Did you share a "passion" with a family member or friend?
    Tell us about it - How, why, where
    Do you still have any old hobbies - the ones that have been with you since childhood?
    Do you still have those childhood collections?

When I was young, starting about the time I was 8 years old,  I was a collector.  We had
moved to the Dorchester area of Boston and baseball cards were a big deal in the neighborhood.  They were a heck of a lot cheaper back then, only 5 cents a pack of about
10 cards and a stick of bubblegum. I kept mine in a shoebox and would take them out to
trade them with Barry Solomon or play the "flip" game. This was played by leaning a
card up against a stairstep, then stepping back a few feet to "flip" other cards at it to knock
it down. If you succeeded, you won that card and any of the others laying around it on the step. The main thing was to never use a valuable card if you could help it because you
could use it. So I'd use the "extra cards" in my collection. If I had 6 Joe Nuxhall baseball cards. I'd use them first. I always had a lot of Nuxhalls, and some of them ended up bent on my bike wheel so the spokes would hit it and make noise as I pedaled.

Around the same time  I began buying comic books, which, like baseball cards, were much cheaper back then (10  cents a comic book). I had a newspaper route back then and I discovered my paper bag, when emptied of the day's newspapers, was a great way to sneak comic books and baseball cards into the house. I collected comics well into my twenties (long after my paperboy days were over) until I decided I could afford to buy comics, or I could afford to buy books, but I couldn't afford to do both. So I sold off my collection.

Of course, by then, my collection had also been culled a bit when I was a teenager by some of it being thrown out by my mother who was tieed of the books cluttering my room. I once brought home a comic book price guide to show her how valuable some of the comics she'd thrown out had become.She looked it over, then reminded me she wouldn't have thrown them out if I'd been neater with them.

My third hobby back then was stamp collecting. I can't recall exactly who started me off
with it but I kept at that into my thirties, visiting stamp shows at the mall and driving
up to Quincy to shop at a small hobby shop off Quincy Center. For some reason I lost
interest in it all back in my thirties. I think it had to do with my work schedule and with
my becoming interested in photography. I bought myself a Canon AE1 Camera and then
a telephoto lens and filters, then drove around looking for things to photograph. But
again, as I grew older that became something I'd only do occasionally.

My lifelong hobby has been reading. I am an avid reader of sf, fantasy, history, and
mysteries, and still have books that I bought in college 44 years ago as part of my
collection.  An outgrowth of that was writing my own stories, some of which were
published in Darkover fanzines back in the 1980s. When I was online gaming in the
late 1990's and early 2000's I wrote stories about my characters.

Now that I'm a grumpy old fart retiree, I still read, and I take photos  with my Canon
Powershot digital camera. Thanks to my sister who fund it when I last moved, I still
have my stamp album from years ago.

But my main hobby these days is genealogy, part of which is this blog!

SATURDAY NIGHT GENEALOGY FUN: SIX GENERATIONS OF ABBOTTS OF ANDOVER, MA.

 It's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun Night over on Randy Seaver's Genea-Musings blog! It's been awhile since the last time I took part, and I almost didn't this time, either. First, let's look at what this week's genea-challenge before I explain why I nearly took a pass on it:
1)  Which family surname line (of identified ancestors) of yours stayed the longest in one U.S. state or other country province/shire since, say, 1600?  For example, in the USA, my Seaver line was in Massachusetts from 1634 to 1940.  For England, my Vaux line was in Somerset from the late 1500s to 1840.  For Canada, my Kemp line was there from 1785 to 1902.

*  List the generations for one or two of your long-staying-in-one-locality surname lines.  (Yes, I know that some countries used patronymics - follow the father's line back in time).

*  Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a Google+ or Facebook post.

Seems pretty straightforward, but I wasn't sure I'd do it. You see, my Mom's ancestors
are from Scotland, Ireland and Germany and I don't have much information on where
they lived in those countries. On Dad's side, while my ancestors have lived in America
from the earliest colonial period,  many of them moved in the late 1700s from Massachusetts to Maine and New Hampshire.  I wasn't sure how many generations
stayed in one place for very long. Then I checked my RootsMagic base, and while my ancestors didn't stay in Massachusetts as long as Randy's, they did do something else: several of my ancestral lines stayed in the same town for five or six generations.

Here's one line, the Abbotts of Andover, Ma.:

1. George Abbott settled in Andover Ma in the mid 1600's
2.  Benjamin Abbott (1662-1703) Andover, Ma.
3. Jonathan Abbott (1687-1770) Andover Ma
4. Jonathan Abbott (1714 1794) Andover, Ma
5  Jonathan Abbott (1740-1821) Andover, Ma.
6. Zerviah Abbott, born in Andover, Ma. in 1768, then married John Ellingwood in 1789 and moved to Maine.
So six generations of Abbotts lived in Andover for  around 130 years!

 

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS #3: THOMAS BOYDEN

Fellow geneablogger Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small has issued the 52
Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. Basically, we have to post something every week
on a different ancestor, whether a story, picture, or research problem.  This week's
subject is my 9x great grandfather Thomas Boyden. The Boydens are one of the lines
I haven't done too much research on compared to what I've done on some of my other
lines, and i haven;t found much about Thomas so far. Most of what I know comes from
the NEHGS publication The Great Migration, p366-368 in images posted on Ancestry.com. But when I reread it I realized something I hadn't noticed before.
And just now, after Googling his name, I discovered an amazing coincidence from
my college days.

Thomas Boyden sailed from Ipswich England at age aboard  21 in April, 1634 on the ship
Francis. That would put his birth year as around 1613. There seems to be a theory that
he lived for a time in Scituate here south of Boston but there is mo concrete evidence
of that. What is known is that a Thomas Boyden married a woman named Frances (last name unknown) in Boston sometime around 1639. They then took up living in Boston
for the next eighteen years, where Thomas was listed as a planter. I assume this means
he was a farmer, and it seems so strange to me here in the 21st century that at one time people had farms within the Boston city limits.

Thomas and Frances had five children together, the oldest of whom, Thomas Jr., is my
8x great grandfather. Then Frances died in Boston on 17 Mar 1657/8. Thomas then
remarried on 3Nov 1658, and here is where  I wasn't paying attention the first time I
read the Great Migration entry for Thomas Boyden. The woman he married was Hannah
(Phillips)Morse, the widow of Joseph Morse. Joseph and Hannah are my 10x great grandparents. So my 9x great grandfather Thomas had married my 10x great grandmother!

Sometime shortly after their marriage Thomas and Hannah moved to Medfield, Ma. and
sold their house and land in Boston  on Sudbury Lane to Simeon Lynde. Hannah died in 1676 and Thomas sometime after 15April 1678 when he is recorded as coontributing
one bushel of wheat to help rebuild Harvard College.

Oh, and that coincidence from my college days? Well, I graduated from Bridgewater
State College in Bridgewater, Ma. in 1970. One of the buildings on campus is Boyden Hall, the main administration building built back in 1929. It's named after Albert G Boyden, another descendant of Thomas Boyden. For four years I took courses in a building named after my distant cousin, and never realized it until earlier this evening!

BLOGIVERSARY: NOW WE ARE SEVEN

I started West in New England seven years ago today, but this wasn't my first
crack at a geneablog. I like to retell this story on every blogiversary:

"Yes, now it can be told. My first geneablog was a failure. I was new
to this whole idea and started out enthusiastically and wrote
five posts within a few days for my blog which I'd named
West of New England. But when I went to add a new post a day
or so later, I discovered I couldn't recall the password for the blog.
After about a half an hour I gave up and just recreated the blog.
I'd saved what I'd written so I created a new blogger account
and started a new geneablog, West in New England. And that's why
the first five posts are all dated Jan 23,2007.

And that's also how I learned the first rule of blogging, "Don't forget
your password!"

In these seven years I've had 244,479 views of my 1477 posts. I have no delusions
that means I had 244, 479 actual people read my blog but apparently the web
crawler programs find it a lot. Nor have I actually written 1477 posts since I repost
some every year, especially in December with the Advent Calendar of Christmas
Memories posts.

Last year I included a list of my alltime 5 Most Viewed Posts. This year's list has
an entirely new set of posts:

THE FIFTH ANNUAL GREAT GENEALOGY POETRY CHALLENGE ...
Nov 28, 2013  2484 views.

MEMORIES OF MALDEN 
Oct 4, 2013, 1 comment  925 views,

ANCESTRY.COM'S NEW MASS. VITAL RECORDS INDEXES: FI. 
Sep 10, 2013, 2 comments  602 views.

THE BOOK OF ME, WRITTEN BY YOU 3: THE SKIN I'M IN...
Sep 16, 2013, 3 comments  589 views

THE SHAKING LEAF AND THE MISSING FILE  
Nov 11, 2013, 3 comments  515 views.

Wow, I hope those people who viewed the Poetry Challenge post followed the links
to the great posts from the geneabloggers who took part in it last year!

The geneablogging community has really grown in these seven years, but it's still a
great one with people who I've come to think of as my friends although I've only
met a few face to face. If I started mentioning names I could go on and on, so I'll
simply say thanks to all of you! 

Writing a blog can be hard work but it is so rewarding. I've had so many distant
cousins find me because of West In New England with whom I've enjoyed sharing information. It's given me a place to tell the stories I've found, to ask questions about
things that puzzled me, to vent over things that irked me, and to sometimes just be
silly. I thank you all for the comments and encouragement I've received.

And yes, after seven years, I'm still having fun writing about my family history!

WHAT I KNOW ABOUT THE AMES FAMILY

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. This post will
be about my Ames family ancestors. The name was originally spelled Eames
and was spelled a variety of ways, but became Ames in my family.

There were two different well known Ames families in colonial Massachusetts.
One flourished south of Boston, while my Ames ancestors lived in Essex and
Middlesex counties north and west of the city. Not much is known about the
early life of Robert Eames, my immigrant ancestor except that he was born in
England and came to Massachusetts where he married Rebecca Blake around
1660. They settled in Boxford Ma. where they were living in 1692 when the
Witch Hysteria began and Rebecca was accused of witchcraft along with their
son Daniel. Eventually they were both acquitted.

Together Robert and Rebecca had eight children, of whom one was my 8x great
grandfather John. He was the first of four consecutive generations of John Ames'
in my ancestry:

John (1670=1724) married Priscilla Kimball. He was killed by Indians at Groton, Ma.
John(1693-1743) married Elizabeth Green
John(1725-?) married Susannah Nutting
John (1756-1833) was a Revolutionary War veteran. He married Lydia Phelps, a widow,
and moved their combined family to Hartford Me. Their son Jonathan Phelps Ames
married Polly Griffith and had a daughter, Arvilla Ames, who married my 3x great grandfather John Cutter West.

Besides my West family cousins, I share my descent from Robert Ames and
Rebecca Blake with fellow geneablogger Vicki Everhart of the Be Not Forgot
blog, and Peni Renner, author of Puritan Witch: The Redemption of  Rebecca
Eames.

To Do List: I know more about John Ames(1756-1833)than I do about most of the rest of
the family because of his Revolutionary War Pension file and his Probate File. I need to
fill in the gaps for the other generations between him and his ancestor Robert.

There are images for Ames family land transactions available on FamilySearch that I need
to download and analyze.

And I will try to visit Groton sometime this summer to see what material might be avaialble
there at the local historical society and library.

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS #2: JOHN UPTON:

Fellow geneablogger Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small has issued the 52
Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. Basically, we have to post something every week
on a different ancestor, whether a story, picture, or research problem.  This week's
subject is my 8x great grandfather John Upton.

Most of what I know about John comes from The Upton Memorial, a family genealogy
and this from the (exceedingly long titled) Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts: With a History of Worcester Society of Antiquity, Volume 4 (Google eBook) by  Ellery Bicknell Crane:


"(I) John Upton, who came to New England about 1652, was the pioneer ancestor in this country. He is the progenitor of the late John Upton, Colonel Edwin Upton and Joseph Upton, of Fitchburg. Massachusetts. He settled in Salem village, in what is now Danvers. Massachusetts. There is a tradition that he came from Scotland. He may have been one of the Scotch prisoners taken by Cromwell at Dunbarton, September 3, 1650, or at Worcester, 1651. The last named battle was fought near the town of Upton, England, the seat of the ancient family. Cromwell took seventeen thousand Englishmen and Scotchmen prisoners in these two battles and many of them were sent to the American colonies. There is a tradition that the name of his wife was Eleanor Stuart and that she too was Scotch. He seems to have refused to join the Puritan Church and that may indicate that he was Scotch and a Presbyterian. He did not take the freeman oath until it had been modified. He was admitted April 18, 169t. a freeman. The first record is of date December 26, 1658, when he bought land of Henry Bullock, some time of Hammersmith (the Lynn Iron Works at Saugus). He paid four pounds for fortv acres in Salem. He bought land of Daniel Rumboll. of Salem. April 6, 1662, adjoining his farm. His homestead was near the line of the present town of Danvers. half a mile from the present line of Lynnfield, one mile south of the Ipswich river and two miles west of the Newburyport turnpike. It is two miles and a half from the site of his later residence in North Reading. His neighbors were the Popes. Gardners. Flints. Walcotts and Smiths. He bought and sold considerable land in the vicinity. Active, energetic and successful, he began with no capital and accumulated a handsome estate. He died July 11. 1699. aged about seventy-seven. The will was dated November 16. 1697, and proved July 31, 160Q. He used a fleur de lis for a seal and in his will tried to entail his estate, but the laws of the colony effectually prevented him.

The children of John and Eleanor Upton were: John, born 1654: Eleanor. 1656: William. 1658: James. September, 1660; Mary, 1661, died 1663; Samuel, October, 1664: Ann: Isabel, January 3, 1666-7, died 1680: Ezekiel. September, 1668: Joseph, April 0, 1670: Francis July 1. 1671; Mary." -p31.

Now in The Upton Memorial there is a discussion about the tradition that John Upton
was one of the Scottish prisoners of war sent to  Massachusetts. The problem is, there
is no John Upton on the list of prisoners. I suspect that perhaps John's family name was something else and he took the name Upton to conceal his last name for some reason.
His wife Eleanor's name was indeed Stuart, although I've also seen it spelled Stewart.

I'm a double descendant of John and Eleanor (Stuart) Upton through their sons William and Samuel who lived together with their families in the same house. William had
married Mary Maber and Samuel's wife was Abigail Frost. In his will, John Upton
left them  his "Negro", who was named Thomas and who served them for eighteen
years before he was freed. I wrote about Thomas in a post nearly two years ago in
January 2012.

My descent from John Upton:
John Upton & Eleanor Stuart
William Upton & Mary Maber       Samuel Upton & Abigail Frost
Francis Upton & Edith Herrick       Amos Upton & Sarah Bickford
Edith Upton & Amos Upton Jr.
Francis Uptn & Sarah Bancroft
Cyrus Moore & Hanna Upton
Betsey Jane Moore &  Amos Hastings Barker
Charlotte Lovenia Barker & Frank Wesley Barker (cousins)
Cora Bertha Barker & Floyd Earl West Sr.(my grandparents)

THE VALUE OF AN OX, REVISITED

In light of how we have been asking ourselves how are ancestors could
have survived horrid winter conditions without the technological advances
we enjoy today, I thought I'd repost this entry from 2008. It tells how my
ancestor John C West and two companions survived a Maine snowstorm:
they had oxen. They also hit each other a bit, but it was mostly the oxen.

First posted in 30Sep 2008:







"We have often admonished people who frequent the unbroken forests, especially those unaccustomed to hunting and camping, of the safety in having a pocket compass, which can be obtained at the cost of a few cents, and may ofttimes save the possessor much trouble and even save a life."

So begins an article in the Oxford County(Maine) Advertiser of Friday,
February 3,1905. Entitled "The Value of A Compass," the article was
written by a Mark Tapley, who then goes on to illustrate his point with a
story of an event "some sixty years before" which would have been in 1845.
Three men from Letter B Plantation (now Upton) Maine set out with a wagonload
of hay by for the logging camp at Swift Diamond River: Enoch Abbott,
Joseph Chase, and John West. The latter was my 4x great-grandfather,
John Cutter West.

Of course, this was meant as a cautionary tale and Mr. Tapley tells
of how after traveling across a frozen lake and delivering their load the
party started back for home at 1 in the afternoon. But as snow began to fall
the trail across the lake was obscured and the three men became lost in the dark.
Joseph Chase decided he was going to lie down and take a nap, a fatal error
in the middle of a snowstorm. John West took a rather unique approach to the
situation by beating Chase with the ox prod until the other man was so angry he
jumped up to defend himself and the two men got into a fistfight.

Eventually they stopped fighting and John came up with a plan to get them all
out of their predicament. The wagon had been drawn by two pairs of oxen and
the lead ox belonged to John. He proposed they set the oxen loose and follow
their lead since "they are tired and hungry and will make for the nearest
habitation." And that's exactly what they did! The three men followed the
oxen to the home of a man named Joe Stone and so were saved.

You can read the full story in the clipping at the top of this post. It
was given to me by my Aunt Dorothy.

I learned a few things I didn't know from this newspaper story. One was that
John C. West owned one or more oxen and used them to deliver supplies to
logging camps. He did this by traveling across a frozen lake. (Think "Ice
Truckers" but with oxen.) Oxen would make more sense for this sort of
venture; they are slow but surefooted and even tempered, so easier to handle
while crossing a slippery surface. They also could handle the weather
better than horses, as you can see by reading the concluding paragraphs of
the article.

I wondered about the two other men, Enoch Abbott and Joseph Chase, especially
the first. I have Abbott ancestors but through the marriage of Clara Ellingwood
to my great grandfather Philip John West some fifty years after the events in the
story. Could Enoch be related through that line somehow? A quick check of
the 1850 census for Letter B shows Enoch and his family entered on the same
page as the West family. I checked for family trees and found one for his
family, and upon further investigation I discovered that Enoch had a son named
Otis. That rang a bell, and upon further investigation I found Otis was the father
of Valora Agnes Abbott, who married Leonidas West, one of the sons of John
Cutter West.

One of John's grandsons, Hiram, married an Eva Chase but I haven't found any
link to Joseph Chase.

Lastly, the most important thing I learned from this article is this:
when taking a hike in the woods, make sure you bring a team of
oxen!