A New Bedford Whale for Weathervane Wednesday

 Today's featured weathervane was photographed in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

This two dimensional sperm whale weathervane is located on the cupola over the front door of the Fairfield Inn on the waterfront in New Bedford harbor.  It is a very appropriate weathervane for the location, since New Bedford is famous as a whaling seaport and home to Herman Melville, the author of the novel Moby Dick: or, The Whale, published in 1851.  The New Bedford Whaling Museum is situated a few blocks from the hotel. 

Although this weathervane is only two dimensional, I liked the details including the teeth inside the whales mouth, and the fins on the tail.  Below I have listed links to nine other whale weathervanes we have photographed, and most are sperm whales located near historic whaling ports or other locations related to the whaling industry. 

Once we checked into the hotel, we saw that our guestroom was right behind the weathervane!  This is the view of the whale weathervane through the hotel window. 

For the truly curious:

Click here for over 550 Weathervane Wednesday posts:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/search/label/Weathervane%20Wednesday  

More whale weathervanes:

2026 Peaks Island, Maine    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/01/a-whale-of-weathervane-for-weathervane.html  

2025 Krimpen aan de Lek, The Netherlands   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2025/06/krimpen-aan-de-lek-netherlands-for.html  

2023  Lunenburg, Massachusetts   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2023/08/a-whale-of-car-wash-for-weathervane.html  

2022 New Bedford Whaling Museum   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2022/04/new-bedford-whaling-museum-weathervane.html  

2018  Seabrook, New Hampshire   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/10/weathervane-wednesday-whale-of.html  

2017 Wells, Maine    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/01/weathervane-wednesday-three-from-one.html  

2014 Salem, New Hampshire   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/07/weathervane-wednesday-in-new-england.html  

2013 Cold Spring Harbor, New York   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/05/weathervane-wednesday-whale.html  

2013 Hampton Beach, New Hampshire   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/09/weathervane-wednesday-seen-by-beach.html  

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "A New Bedford Whale for Weathervane Wednesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted July 15, 2026, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/07/a-new-bedford-whale-for-weathervane.html: accessed [access date]). 

My Revolutionary War Ancestors - Amos Burnham of Ipswich, Massachusetts

 

1832 map of Ipswich, Massachusetts

This is the 11th Revolutionary War ancestor I have written about in this series.  My 5th great grandfather Amos Burnham was born on 13 July 1735 in Ipswich, Massachusetts, the son of David Burnham and Elizabeth Marshall.  On 27 January 1757 he married Sarah Giddings in Ipswich.  She was the daughter of Thomas Giddings and Martha Smith, born in 1737.  

Sarah and Amos had eleven children born in Essex and Ipswich between 1758 and 1782.  On 26 January 1782, Sarah died, just 12 days after giving birth to her last child, Judith, my 4th great grandmother.  I don't know how this infant survived without a mother, but she did live and I'm grateful!  Later that same year, on 4 October 1782 Amos married Mehitable Burnham, daughter of Solomon Burnham and Mehitable Emerson. I'm sure that the hasty marriage was to secure a wife to take care of his many children.  Mehitable was the widow of Joshua Foster.  He had at least one more child with his second marriage. 

During the Revolutionary War Amos Burnham served as a private in Captain David Low's Third Regiment, under Colonel Jonathan Cogswell's Company in 1778. I know very little about his time in the military, and very little about his private life.  Was he a farmer? A fisherman or mariner (Ipswich is a coastal town)? 

Amos Burnham died by drowning in Chebacco Pond in Essex on 28 November 1788 "while fowling" (hunting water fowl).  He was 54 years old.  This incident is mentioned on page 204 of the History of Ipswich, Essex and Hamilton, by Joseph B. Felt, 1834. I have not found a gravestone for Amos or either one of his two wives.  He left his second wife, Mehitable, a widow again for the second time with three children under the age of 18.  Judith, his daughter, my 4th great grandmother, married Joseph Allen on 5 April 1799 in Ipswich, and had eleven children, just like her own mother and father. 

For the truly curious:

Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, Volume 2, page 874

The Burnham Family, or, Genealogical Records of the Descendants of the Four Emigrants of the Name, by Roderick H. Burnham, 1869. 

#1 in this series,  Colonel Joshua Burnham of Milford, New Hampshire:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/02/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-colonel.html  

#2 in this series,  Andrew Munroe of Lexington, Massachusetts:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/03/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-major.html  

#3 Jonathan Flint of Reading, Massachusetts:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/03/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-jonathan.html   

#4 Daniel Glover of Marblehead, Massachusetts:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-daniel.html  

#5 Levi Younger of Gloucester, Massachusetts:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-levi.html  

#6 Nathaniel Treadwell of Ipswich, Massachusetts:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-nathaniel.html 

#7 Captain Westley Burnham of Essex, Massachusetts:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-captain.html  

#8 Abner Poland, Sr. of Essex, Massachusetts:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/05/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-abner_02014071889.html   

#9 Abner Poland, Jr. Of Essex, Massachusetts and Enfield, New Hampshire:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/05/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-abner_02014071889.html  

#10 Robert Wilson of Salem Village, (now Danvers, Massachusetts)     https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/03/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-robert.html   

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "My Revolutionary War Ancestors - Amos Burnham of Ipswich, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 22, 2026, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/06/my-revolutionary-war-ancestors-amos.html: accessed [access date]). 

A Bi-Plane for Weathervane Wednesday

 Today's weathervane was photographed in Fall River, Massachusetts.

We spotted this little bi-plane over the cupola on the Bay Coast Bank in Fall River, Massachusetts, at 310 Airport Road.  There is no longer an airport in Fall River, since the municipal airport closed in 1996.  There was a very big landfill next to the airport, and the FAA closed the airport due to the large number of seagulls in the flight path!

This three dimensional bi-plane weathervane is very appropriate for the location.  It is a very intricate metal figure, with easy to read cardinal points. The plane features a propeller which turns in the wind, struts on the wings, and the tail has a rudder.  The bank and this weathervane are visible from nearby highways 79 and 24, and is located right on the corner near the exit ramp.  

For the truly curious:

Bay Coast Bank:    https://baycoast.bank/en/  

Click here to read over 550 Weathervane Wednesday posts:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/search/label/Weathervane%20Wednesday   

Several other aviation weathervanes I have posted:

2014  Bi-plane  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/07/weathervane-wednesday-old-bi-plane.html   

2016  Piper Cub plane    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/11/weathervane-wednesday-piper-cub-plane.html 

2019  A Russian TU-95 Bear   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/05/weathervane-wednesday-russian-bomber.html  

2025  Goofy's Flight School    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2025/04/goofys-sky-school-ride-at-disneyland.html  

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "A Bi-Plane for Weathervane Wednesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 17, 2026, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/06/a-bi-plane-for-weathervane-wednesday.html: accessed [access date]). 

John McConihe (d. 1760), Nutfield Settler

A guest sketch by James H. McConihe, a direct descendant

The reason this sketch did not get written sooner is that John McConihe is hard to find in the records — not because he wasn't there, but because the early Londonderry clerks could not agree on how to spell his name.

The name twelve clerks could not agree on

Across the Early Records of the Town of Londonderry, Windham and Derry, N.H., 1719–1745, edited by George Waldo Browne (Manchester Historic Association, Vol. I 1908, Vol. II 1911), the early town clerks took roughly nine separate runs at John's surname and produced roughly nine separate spellings: Conoghy, Conehey, Conechy, Conochey, Conachey, Conahie, Mckonoihy, McConihe, and — when he signed the Provincial Oaths of Allegiance with his X mark — simply Conihe. The Willey map of Nutfield adds a tenth, "McConoghy," and a 1729 laying-out throws in "MacConechy" for good measure. Even Rev. Edward L. Parker himself, recording the official Schedule of Proprietors of the Royal Charter at p. 326 of his History of Londonderry (1851), contributed a twelfth: "John McConoeighy." One suspects John, signing with his mark, had given up trying to correct anyone.

What the records show

Parker preserves John McConihe's legal standing as a chartered proprietor. The Schedule of Proprietors attached to the Royal Charter granted by Governor Samuel Shute on 21 June 1722 lists "John McConoeighy" with one share among the 124½ shares of the Town of Londonderry (Parker, p. 326).

The 1720 grant of his sixty-acre home lot survives in full in Early Records Vol. II, recorded by Town Clerk John Goffe on 25 February 1722/3:

"Nutfield 1720. Laid out to John M°Conoghy a lot of land in said town Containing sixty acres... beginning at a stake at the north end of the common field... together with an intrest in ye Common land equal to other lots in said Town."

Subsequent entries show him as an active proprietor for another two decades: forty acres additionally laid out in 1722 (Vol. II, p. 80); a further grant confirmed "to John MacConechy and his heirs & assigns for Ever in fee" at town meeting on 5 March 1729/30 (Vol. II, p. 224); and repeated appearances as a bounding abutter through the 1730s (Vol. II, pp. 256, 364).

Browne's Vol. I index, two centuries later, gathers most of the variants under one heading — "McConihe, John, 42, 53, 109, 171, 258, 383, 388" — with a small stray entry filed back under C, "Conihe, John, 384," for the oath-book version. Vol. II is more cooperative: "McConihe, John, lot, 80, 224, 256, 364." Together those eleven page references and Parker's Charter Schedule cover roughly two decades of an active proprietor's life — once you know to look for him under all his names.

Bedford

John removed from Londonderry to Bedford, New Hampshire in 1751 — joining the broader Scotch-Irish migration north over the Merrimack that Parker dates to the late 1730s and 1740s — and died there at the end of October 1760. He was buried beside his wife Mary in the old burying ground; the memorial is catalogued at Find A Grave (#67906800, Bedford Center Cemetery). He and Mary had two sons, John and Samuel, and three daughters. The New Hampshire line persisted through four generations before branches moved west to Illinois in the 1830s and 1840s.

Sources

Rev. Edward L. Parker, The History of Londonderry, Comprising the Towns of Derry and Londonderry, N.H. (Boston: Perkins and Whipple, 1851), p. 326

Early Records of the Town of Londonderry, Windham and Derry, N.H., 1719–1745, ed. George Waldo Browne, 2 vols. (Manchester Historic Association, 1908 and 1911)

George F. Willey, Willey's Book of Nutfield (1895), map facing p. 8 — archive.org/details/willeysbookofnut00will

Find A Grave memorial #67906800, Bedford Center Cemetery, New Hampshire

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Transcription of an Early Nutfield Map," Nutfield Genealogy, 25 July 2016

James H. McConihe is a direct descendant of John McConihe through the Bedford, New Hampshire line. He welcomes contact from McConihe cousins and fellow researchers at jm2672@pacbell.net

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To cite/link to this blog post: James H. McConihe and Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "John McConihe (d. 1760), Nutfield Settler", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 9, 2026, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/06/john-mcconihe-d-1760-nutfield-settler.html: accessed [access date]). 

My Revolutionary War Patriots - Robert Wilson of Danvers, Massachusetts

 

At the Wilson Family Burial Ground, Peabody, Massachusetts

ROBERT WILSON

Died

Jan. 4, 1797

Aged 51

[epitaph illegible]

This is Patriot #10 I have written about for this series on my Revolutionary War ancestors.  

Robert Wilson is my 5th great grandfather.  He was born in Salem Village (after 1775 it was known as the town of Danvers), Massachusetts around 1746, the son of Robert Wilson (1724 - 1782) and Elizabeth Southwick of Danvers.  

Robert Wilson's father was a potter, and so was his grandfather, Isaac Wilson, and so were his sons.  According to the book Early New England Potters and Their Wares, by Lura Woodside Watkins, pages 65 - 66 "The Wilsons also were a prominent family of artisans.  Their homestead included the land near 141 Andover Street and eastward where Route 128 now crosses it.  The first two potting Wilsons were sons of Robert, a farmer.  They were Robert, known as Robert Jr., who remained in Danvers, and Joseph, who went to Dedham and thence to Providence, Rhode Island.  When Robert, Jr. died in 1782, he left property worth 627 pounds, including six lots of land, his house, barn, potter's shop, and corn house, a riding chair, and a large personal estate.  He seems to have done well in his trade.  His son Robert, known as Robert 3d, and a younger son Job were potters.  By an order of the court, Robert 3d, as administrator of his father's estate, was obliged to sell a large part of the elder Robert's property to pay certain debts.  This was not done until April 9, 1793, when two-thirds of the land and buildings, and an interest in the business was aquired by Isaac Wilson 3d.  He, too, was a craftsman in clay.  The threee Wilsons ran the shop together for a time, but Robert 3d. and Job both passed away before 1800, while Robert's son Robert, who had worked but a short time as a potter, died three years later at the age of twenty-seven.  Upon Isaac's decease in 1809, this early pottery must have come to an end."

Robert Wilson married Sarah Felton on 23 March 1775 in Danvers. She was the daughter of Malachi Felton and Abigail Jacobs (the great granddaughter of the George Jacobs hanged as a witch during the 1692 witch hysteria). She was probably the first child born in the Nathaniel Felton, Jr. house, which is still standing in the town of Peabody, Massachusetts.  Robert and Sarah had nine children, of whom seven grew up to adulthood and married.  I descend from the eldest child, Robert Wilson (1776 - 1803), mentioned above, who married Mary Southwick, his second cousin. This Robert died at age 27, leaving his widow with two babies.  She never remarried. 

The Wilsons produced an unsual kind of black pottery, which had an almost black glaze. There was a large clay deposit near Andover Street (now Route 114).  Some of this black pottery is on display inside the Nathaniel Felton houses (one is mentioned above) which are still standing on Felton Hill, owned by the Peabody Historical Society.  The Wilsons and their relatives lived on what is now the Danvers/Peabody line, near Route 114 and the Northshore Mall. Nearby is Wilson Square.  Several Wilsons were buried under the parking lot near Macy's at the Mall, but their graves were relocated. Across from the Mall, behind the Kappy's liquor store, there is a Wilson Family Burial Ground. 

At the start of the Revolutionary War there were over 50 small potteries in Danvers, all in the same neighborhood near the clay deposit.  The Wilsons lived and worked at the pottery business, along with other local families such as the Osborns, Paiges, Porters, and Southwicks. The last pottery in Peabody (which broke off from Danvers in 1855) closed due to a fire in the 1950s.  At one time some of these families also produced bricks. 

Robert Wilson served in the Revolutionary War as a Private in Captain Samuel Epe's Company under Colonel Pickering's Regiment of Danvers.  He marched on the alarm of 19 April 1775 for two days of service and is listed in the DAR Patriot's Index. There were six Wilsons from the area of Danvers and Peabody who marched on the Lexington Alarm.  

Robert Wilson died on 4 June 1797 in Danvers, and his son, my 4th great grandfather, Robert Wilson, was the administrator of his father's estate in 1782.  His will (Essex County Probate #30142) mentions his widow Sarah and all the children except for Mercy and Samuel in 1796. He was buried in the Wilson Family Burial Ground, and when Sarah died on 20 November 1836 she was buried nearby in the Felton Family Burial Ground. I cannot find a record of her applying for a widow's pension, and she never remarried. 

I'm curious to find out if the black and redware pottery produced in Danvers and Peabody contained a lead glaze. Both Robert Wilsons mentioned above (the Revolutionary War veteran and his son) died very young.  Perhaps it was lead poisoning? Perhaps we will never know? 

For the truly curious:

Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolution

Essex County, Massachusetts Probate

Early New England Potters and Their Wares,  by Lura Woodside Watkins,  Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1950, pages 65-66. 

Sophia Richter, "Peabody: Pottery City, 1730 - 1940", Peabody Historical Society and Museum, posted 1 August 2025, ( https://peabodyhistorical.org/2025/08/peabody-pottery-city-1730-1940/: accessed 22 March 2026). 

#1 in this series,  Colonel Joshua Burnham of Milford, New Hampshire:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/02/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-colonel.html  

#2 in this series,  Andrew Munroe of Lexington, Massachusetts:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/03/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-major.html  

#3 Jonathan Flint of Reading, Massachusetts:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/03/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-jonathan.html   

#4 Daniel Glover of Marblehead, Massachusetts:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-daniel.html  

#5 Levi Younger of Gloucester, Massachusetts:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-levi.html  

#6 Nathaniel Treadwell of Ipswich, Massachusetts:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-nathaniel.html 

#7 Captain Westley Burnham of Essex, Massachusetts:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-captain.html  

#8 Abner Poland, Sr. of Essex, Massachusetts:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/05/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-abner_02014071889.html   

#9 Abner Poland, Jr. Of Essex, Massachusetts and Enfield, New Hampshire:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/05/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-abner_02014071889.html  

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "My Revolutionary War Patriots - Robert Wilson of Danvers, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 2, 2026, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/06/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-robert.html: accessed [access date]). 

My Revolutionary War Patriots - Abner Poland, Jr. of Essex, Massachusetts

 

Abner Poland's Badge of Merit certificate

signed by General George Washington

This is #9 in my series of Revolutionary War Ancestors. 

Abner Poland, Jr. was born on 17 May 1761 in Chebacco Parish, Ipswich, Massachusetts (now the town of Essex),  the son of Abner Poland and Dorothy Burnham.  Last week I featured Abner Poland, Sr. in  sketch #8 because he was also a Revolutionary War veteran.  Abner, Jr. married Sarah Burnham on 20 March 1783.  She was the daughter of Westley Burnham and Deborah Story.  In a funny twist, Sarah's brother was Westley Burnham, another of my Revolutionary War ancestors.  Also, her sister Deborah was Abner Poland Sr.'s second wife (his first wife was also a Burnham).  Abner Poland was a mariner and fisherman in the coastal town of Essex, which is on the Essex River. 

Abner, Jr. and Sarah had eight children, four boys and four girls.  I descend from their eldest daughter, Sally, who married Henry Burnham (another Burnham!).  

As a young man, before his marriage in 1783 at the age of 22, Abner Jr. enlisted in the local militia on 15 January 1776 (he was barely 15 years old) as a private in Captain Abraham Dodge's Company under Colonel Moses Little's 12th regiment.  He was discharged on 14 May 1776. 

The following year Abner Jr., was listed on the muster rolls of the Continental Army under Colonel Joanthan Cogswell's 3rd Essex Regiment under Brigadier General Farley.  He joined Capt. Burnham's company (another Burnham!) under Colonel Jackson for a term of 3 years. He was listed as "Corporal, age 19 yrs, stature 5 feet 8 inches complexion fair; hair, dark; occupation, farmer, birthplace, Ipswich; residence, Ipswich; enlisted 17 Dec 1779 by Lt. Michael Jackson at West Point".  He ended up serving in the Continental Army for seven and a half years all the way to the Battle of Yorktown!  

Abner Poland, Jr. applied for a pension at age 57 years from his farm in Enfield, New Hampshire.  On his application found in the National Archives he stated "he first enlisted for one year, re-enlisted for three years, re-enlisted for a third time, serving seven 1/2 years total.  He received an honorable discharge in writing at Newburgh, NY.  He was in battles at Hubbardston, Stillwater, Monmouth, and Yorktown.  He received the Badge of Merit, the highest decoration.  W-152-B.L. Wt 48 71-100 1795  George Washington." 

I was excited to learn that he recieved the Badge of Merit from General Washington, and I found the award online, but it was a poorly scanned copy. I couldn't make out the signature.  So I actually took a trip to the National Archives in Washington, DC to see the document for myself. It was really signed by George Washington!  You can read all about this adventure in another blog post (see below for the link). 

The Battle of Yorktown was in 1781, with the surrender of the British on October 19th.  General Washington went to his headquarters at Newburgh, New York, and Abner received his certificate from Washington there in 1783. He married in 1783, probably upon returning home to Chebacco Parish, Ipswich.  

In the Registry of Deeds, Grafton County, Woodsville, New Hampshire, Book 57, page 162, we can read that Abner Poland, 2d of Ipswich, Massachusetts purchased a farm at Enfield, New Hampshire on 4 May 1812 for $850 from William Williams, Jr. of Enfield. Abner is listed in the 1830 census as living in Enfield.  He died at Enfield on 14 January 1835 and is buried in Lot 46 of the Oakgrove Cemetery, bhind the Community Church in Enfield.  

Abner Poland, Jr. became a pensioner, but was removed from the rolls for possessing too much property! Later he was placed back on the pension rolls.  His widow, Sarah, applied for a pension on 1 February 1837 and received $88 per year, which began on 4 September 1837 [Pension number 1586]. She died testate in Canaan, new Hampshire at the home of her daughter, Endor and son-in-law Elijah Gove.  [See The Polands of Essex County, Massachusetts by Lloyd Orville Poland, page 225, and also see The History of Canaan, NH by W.A. and J. B. Wallace].   

Abner and Sarah Poland

Enfield, New Hampshire

For the truly curious:

My trip to the National Archives to see Abner Poland's certificate from George Washington:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/04/national-archives-good-news-bad-news.html  

George Washington's Headquarters at Newburgh, NY:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2025/03/george-washingtons-headquarters-at.html  

My Poland lineage:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/04/surname-saturday-poland-of-essex-county.html  

#1 Colonel Joshua Burnham of Milford, NH:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/02/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-colonel.html  

#2  Major Andrew Munroe of Lexington, MA:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/03/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-major.html  

#3 Jonathan Flint of Reading, Massachusetts:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/03/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-jonathan.html   

#4 Daniel Glover of Marblehead, Massachusetts:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-daniel.html  

#5 Levi Younger of Gloucester, Massachusetts:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-levi.html  

#6 Nathaniel Treadwell of Ipswich, Massachusetts:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-nathaniel.html 

#7 Captain Westley Burnham of Essex, Massachusetts:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-captain.html  

#8 Abner Poland, Sr. of Essex, Massachusetts    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/05/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-abner_02014071889.html   

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "My Revolutionary War Patriots - Abner Poland, Jr. of Essex, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 28, 2026, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/05/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-abner_0416714129.html: accessed [access date]). 

My Revolutionary War Patriots - Abner Poland of Essex, Massachusetts

 

Essex, Massachusetts - The former Chebacco Parish of Ipswich, Massachusetts

This is blog post #8 on my series of stories about my Revolutionary War ancestors.

Abner Poland, baptized 17 October 1736 in the Chebacco Parish of Ipswich (now the town of Essex), on Cape Ann, Massachusetts, was the son of John Poland (1693 - 1777), a weaver from Chebacco Parish,  and Abigail Davis of Gloucester.  She was the daughter of James Davis (1685 - 1742) and Abigail Mettcalfe.  

Abner married Dorothy Burnham on 3 April 1761 and had seven children, three boys and four girls.  I descend from the oldest son, Abner Poland, Jr. (1761 - 1835) who was also a Revolutionary War veteran. Dorothy was the daughter of John Burnham and Rachel Smith, baptized on 26 June 1737 in the Chebacco Parish, and died on 7 April 1789.  Abner remarried for a second time to Deborah Burnham, the widow of Nathaniel Emerson, on 5 December 1792.  She was the daughter of Westley Burnham and Deborah Story.  Deborah Burnham Emerson Poland was denied a widow's pension under Abner's name because she had already filed under Nathaniel's name! I have not found a gravestone for Abner, Sr. or his wives. 

Abner Poland, Sr. served as a private from 1 January 1777 to 1 February 1777, in the Chebacco Parish company of Captain Abraham Dodge, in the 12 regiment of the Massachusetts line under Colonel Moses Little.  Later he served in the militia at Newport, Rhode Island and was at the taking of Burgoyne and his Army, in the Battles of Long Island, White Plains and Harlem Heights.  he was honorable discharged in New Jersey. 

Abner Poland received a pension for his service, number 10,055 at $8.00 per month beginning on 6 April 1818.  His pension application lists that he owned 18 acres of pasture land and tillage, a small house, a small barn and 2 cows in Essex.  He signed his will on 17 May 1804, which was probated on 20 July 1824.  At age 84 years (in 1822) he was blind.  He died on 9 February 1824 at age 86. 

Since both Abner Poland's were in the same war, and both lived in the same town.  The records are sometimes hard to untangle.  An Abner Poland was an American prisoner of war at Forton Prison, England, imprisoned on 2 April 1778.  He was kidnapped off the ship "Hawk".  I'm not sure if this was Abner, Sr. or Abner, Jr.  The older Abner Poland was not in the military records in 1778.  The younger Abner Poland was in the Continental Army from 1 March 1777 to 31 December 1779. There was an Abner Poland, III, but he was not born until 1781. 

 I'll be writing up Abner, Jr.'s sketch for next week's blog post. He will be Patriot #9 in this series. 

For the truly curious:

Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolution, Vol. XII, p. 490 for the line about Abner Poland.

New England Historic Genealogical Society Register Vol. 33, p. 37 ["American Prisoners at Forton Prison, England, Abner Poland, prize of ye Hawk.  Comitted to prison 2 Apr. 1778"]

A blog post with Abner Poland's will:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/10/last-will-and-testament-of-abner-poland.html 

My Poland lineage: https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/04/surname-saturday-poland-of-essex-county.html  

This series about Revolutionary War Patriots

#1 Colonel Joshua Burnham of Milford, NH:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/02/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-colonel.html  

#2  Major Andrew Munroe of Lexington, MA:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/03/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-major.html  

#3 Jonathan Flint of Reading, Massachusetts:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/03/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-jonathan.html   

#4 Daniel Glover of Marblehead, Massachusetts:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-daniel.html  

#5 Levi Younger of Gloucester, Massachusetts:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-levi.html  

#6 Nathaniel Treadwell of Ipswich, Massachusetts   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-nathaniel.html  

#7 Captain Westley Burnham of Essex, Massachusetts   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-captain.html  

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "My Revolutionary War Patriots - Abner Poland of Essex, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 21, 2026, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/05/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-abner.html: accessed [access date]). 

MIT New House 50th Reunion

 

Vivian Hir, Class of 2025

presented a history of New House

A few months ago we attended an interesting reunion at MIT.  It wasn't a class reunion, or a family reunion, but it was a 50th anniversary of my husband's dorm (known at MIT as a living group).  I thought about how little genealogists use college, school, or university records, and this reunion created a lot of epherma, presentations, and photographs that will end up at the MIT archives.  Someday someone will want to see those records.  They list names, occupations, degrees, hometowns, and other pertinent information, and all of it is of interest to family historians.

I have done research at the archives at Simmons University, Acadia University, Boston University, University of New Hampshire and other schools. I've found not just academic records and yearbooks, but also journals, sermons, news clippings, photographs, books and other interesting items.  All of it was useful and helped to flesh out the bones on some ancestors for whom I only had vital records. 

The New House 50th reunion featured some great presentations which were shared electronically with partipants at this reunion, and some artifacts that were on display.  Of special interest was a large format book with the signatures of all the residents of New House.  We had fun searching for Vincent's name, and the names of his classmates in the book.  There were also construction plans, renovation charts, newsclippings, and photos on display. 

This register had the date, name, class year, major, 

dorm room, home address, etc. of every resident of New House

At the reunion Vivian Hir, class of 2025, a resident of New House, gave a great presentation on the history of New House, which was built in the 1970s to stem an overcrowding issue on the MIT campus.  Construction began on a site next to MacGregor House, at 500 Memorial Drive, the site of Joyce Chen's restaurant from 1969 - 1974.  The new dorm was designed by Spanish architect Josep Lluis Sert.  It was six units connected by a street level corridor, creating many independent living communities.  Three units faced the Charles River, and 3 faced the athletic field.   

New House opened in September 1975 and House 1 was Chocolate City (African American) and Russian House, House 6 was French House and German House.  Later Spanish House and other living groups were added.  Vincent lived in House 3 (known as New Three Stooges).  In 2007 iHouse opened to promote international development, social justice and activism. In 2022 New House 2 became Juniper, an all female Black community.  There are nine different living groups at New House currently. 

In July 2015 there was a flood due to a burst pipe which damaged Houses 1, 2, and 3.  Students were moved to the nearby Hyatt hotel.  In 2016 another pipe burst.  MIT contemplated demoliton or full repair.  It was decided to renovate, which took several years, as each unit was restored .  The school decide to fully remove walls and change the separate units into one fully integrated dorm, but keeping the living groups.  

The history presentation was followed by a lunch and tours of the renovated New House.  We couldn't find Vincent's old rooms, because the renovations had completely removed the rooms, walls, corridors and lounges to create new dorm rooms, living spaces, kitchens, and maker spaces. It was strange to not see the old familiar spaces, but extremely interesting to see the new ideas and new students enjoying the building. 

Events like this reunion used the MIT archives, interviews, the libraries and more to create presentations, and then those presentations will be archived in turn.  Think of all the events, reunions, and more that are being archived at colleges, and your ancestors (or you!) might be named and described in detail.  

New House 3

New House current floor plans

Former New Three Stooges

residents of New House 3 

A group shot of all the reunion participants

New Three Stooges (New House 3) residents in 1978

For the truly curious:

MIT ArchivesSpace:  https://archivesspace.mit.edu/  

MIT Libraries:   https://libraries.mit.edu/distinctive-collections/  

MIT Facility Archive Collection:  https://campusplanning.mit.edu/what-we-do/facility-information-systems-fis/facilities-archive/  

New House webpage:  https://newhouse.mit.edu/   

This webpage has a good description of the history and renovations at MIT's New House:   https://www.goodyclancy.com/project/new-house/  

New House at MIT Facebook page:   https://www.facebook.com/mitnewhouse/  

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "MIT New House 50th Reunion", Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 22, 2026, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/05/mit-new-house-50th-reunion.html: accessed [access date]).