Amanuensis Monday - A Horrific Accident!

My 7x great grandfather, George Flint, lived in what is now Reading, Massachusetts. It was considered a frontier town, on the edge of the wilderness, when he settled there in about 1682. He built a garrison house, for his family and to protect his neighbors.

From “Genealogical History of the Town of Reading, Massachusetts”, pages 72-3.

“Tradition says that his was the first framed house in the Precinct, and that it was early used as a garrison house in the Precinct, while there were hostile Indians in the Colony. Another circumstance connected with this family is, that on a certain Sabbath all the family were absent at church (five miles distant) but two daughters of Sergt. Flint, who were left at home in charge of the house. During their absence, one of the daughters took a pistol, and aiming it at the other, said: "Suppose you were an Indian, how easily I could shoot you!" At that moment the pistol went off and lodged its contents in the shoulder of her sister, which crippled her for life. Mary, the wounded daughter, is listed as a cripple in her father's will. Sergt. Flint was selectmen of the town and a very influential citizen.”

Grandfather, Nathaniel Putnam also gave Mary Flint a double portion in his will “because she hath a lame arm”. Mary Flint never married. It is unknown which sister caused the accident, or how old the girls were when this horrific accident happened.

This story is also repeated in “New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial” by William Richard Cutter, Volume II, page 1384; in “The Vermont Historical Gazeteer” Volume II, page 1024, 1871, in the article “Deacon Samuel Flint” by Mrs. Mary A. Flint Keyes; and also in “Genealogical and Family History of the State of New Hampshire”, Volume II, page 629, by the Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, 1908.

The Flint Family:

Generation 1. Thomas Flint, born about 1603 in Wales, died 15 April 1663 in Salem Village (now Danvers), Massachusetts; married in Salem about 1644 to Ann (maiden name unknown), who died 1710. She remarried after Thomas’s death to John Southwick, who is my 9x great Grandfather in a different lineage. Thomas Flint is my 8x great grandfather.

Generation 2. George Flint, born 6 January 1652 in Salem, died 23 June 1720 in the North Precinct (now Reading, Massachusetts); married in Salem on 2 March 1679 to Elizabeth Putnam, daughter of Nathaniel Putnam and Elizabeth Hutchinson, born 11 August 1662 in Salem, died 6 March 1697 in Salem Village. George is my 7x great grandfather, and his brother Thomas is also my 7x great grandfather. George remarried after Elizabeth’s death to Susannah Gardner on 2 March 1699, she was the granddaughter of Thomas Gardner and Margaret Frier, my 9x great grandparents in another lineage.

Elizabeth’s second cousin, Thomas Putnam married Ann Carr in Salem in 1678. She was the infamous “Ann Putnam” who was the most outspoken witness against her neighbors in the 1692 witch trials. Ann Putnam, Jr. was one of the “afflicted” teen aged witnesses against many Salem citizens. She begged for forgiveness in 1706 and read a confession in front of the Salem Village congregation.

Children:

1. Elizabeth Flint, born 19 August 1685, married Ebenezer Damon

2. George Flint, born 1 April 1686, married Jerusha Pope (my 6x great grandparents)

3. Anna Flint, born 18 April 1687, married Jonathan Parker (he was the grandson of Thomas Kendal and Rebecca Payne, my 9x great grandparents in another lineage)

4. Ebenezer Flint, born 16 December 1689, married Tabitha Burnap

5. Nathaniel Flint, born 21 Oct 1690, died young

6. Mary Flint, born November 1691(the crippled child)

7. Mercy Flint, born 7 October 1692, married Benjamin Damon (brother to Ebenezer above)

8. Nathaniel Flint, born January 1694, married Mary Stearns

9. Hannah Flint, born 12 February 1695, married John Hunt

10. John Flint, born 4 March 1696, died young

------------------------
Copyright 2010, Heather Wilkinson Rojo