Good News for Genealogy Research in Londonderry!

Last week the renowned New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston announced that they have added the Londonderry Vital Records to their online database. Today they announced that they have added volumes 1 to 5 of the journal “The Essex Genealogist” to their database, with additional volumes being added throughout this year.  According to the announcement "Within the pages of this journal are selections of cemetery transcriptions, bible records, vital and church records relating to families from Essex County. The Essex Genealogist has had published numerous Anentafel’s (Ancestor Tables) of the ancestry of their members, as well as verbatim transcriptions of lectures over the years."

Many Essex County families removed to Londonderry in the nineteenth century, especially from Haverhill, Topsfield and Newbury/Newburyport. This is important to know that Essex County, Massachusetts spawned this migration. This new resource is invaluable, especially for those who may not exactly where in Massachusetts they ancestors previously lived.

For more information see this link:

http://www.americanancestors.org/Blogs.aspx?id=24564&blogid=124069&blogid=124069

The NEHGS website is http://www.americanancestors.org/   Most of the NEHGS database requires membership to log in and use their files. Please see the website for more information.

At this time, Londonderry’s public library (the Leach Library) www.londonderrynh.org/library is not offering free access to the NEHGS website. However, they do have Ancestry.com, Heritage Quest, Newsbank and other subscription paid databases to use at the library computers or from home. Please visit the reference librarian for more information on logging on from your home computer.

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Everything Old is New Again?

The Londonderry Town Pound
according to a historical marker on this site,
the pound was built in 1730 by David Gilcreast

An excerpt from http://www.londonderrynh.net/ the Londonderry Hometown News website. This one made me think of the time we found a horse in our garden one morning.  We called the LPD and three cruisers showed up, but everyone stood around wondering what to do.  This story is for those who long for the good old days.  I suppose this incident was a much more common experience in the 1700s.

"Town Pound may Make a Comeback

At about 7pm Sunday night May 29th, officer Doyle was out on Old Derry Road for reports of a loose cow near the Manchester Line. Finding a bull on the side of the road grazing and enjoying the long grass, LPD now needed a way to help it get home.

While Londonderry Police were looking for “someone who deals with catching these kinds of animals” a neighbor and officer Coyle were able to round up the animal and secure it in the paddock."

For more information and photos see this link:
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/04/wordless-wednesday-1730-londonderry.html

Platts Family - Tombstone Tuesday

The Platts gravestones are located in the Forest Hill Cemetery, Derry, New Hampshire.  The stone erected to James Platts is typical of several found along the area called "Old Settlers", where descendants have erected memorial stones to their ancestors because the original gravestones are missing, broken or illegible.

The Platts family plot

JAMES PLATTS

BORN ROWLEY MASS. aUG. 21, 1775

BUNKER HILL MASS. AMERICAN ARMY

1775-6-7 DIED JAN 9, 1835

HIS WIFE MARY WARNER

BORN IPSWICH MASS JAN. 22, 1755

DIED NOV. 29, 1839

CHILDREN (B) LONDONDERRY

MARY 1780-1858

SUSAN (FISK) 1782-1822

NANCY (WALKER) 1785 - 1873

SARAH (WALKER PIERCE 1789 -1864

MAHITABLE 1790-1844 LOWELL MASS

ABIGAIL (FISK) 1792-1878

JAMES 1794-1828 BRASHER N.Y.

IN WAR 1812

WESLEY 1797-

ELIZA 1800 - 1830

ERECTED BY C.M. AND F.E. PLATTS

James Platts was born 21 August 1755 in Newbury, Massachusetts, died 29 January 1835 in Londonderry; married on 6 April 1780 to Mary Warner, born 22 January 1755 in Ipswich, Massachusetts, died 29 November 1839.

James Platts was the son of James Platts and Mary Perkins. We share a plethora of common ancestors, including Samuel Platts AKA Gawkroger (1617 – about 1690) and Sarah Bates (my 9x great grandparents), Richard Hutchinson (1602 – 1682) and Alice Bosworth (my 9x great grandparents), John Perkins (1583 – 1654) and Judith Gater (my 10x great grandparents), Robert Kinsman (1603 – 1664) (my 9x great grandfather), Daniel Rindge (d. 1662) and Mary Kinsman (my 8x great grandparents), and John Burnham (1616 – 1694) and Mary Whipple (my 9x great grandparents).

Mary was the daughter of John Warner and Susannah Hodgkins of Ipswich, and the grand daughter of Nathaniel Warner and Mary Tuthill. We also share the following ancestors: John Tuthill (1666 – 1715) and Martha Ward (my 8x great grandparents), George Giddings (1609 – 1676) and Jane Lawrence (my 9 x great grandparents), Daniel Rindge and Mary Kinsman (see above).

So many common ancestors! I’m glad we snapped this photo!

My Platts Genealogy:

Generation 1. Samuel Platts and Sarah Bates

Generation 2: Abel Platts and Lydia Bailey

Generation 3: Moses Platts and Hannah Platts (daughter of Jonathan Platts and Elizabeth Johnson)

Generation 4: Moses Platts and Ruth Williams

Generation 5: Sarah Platts and George Southwick

Generation 6: Mary Southwick and Robert Wilson

Generation 7: Mercy F. Wilson and Aaron Wilkinson

Generation 8: Robert Wilson Wilkinson and Phebe Cross Munroe

Generation 9: Albert Munroe Wilkinson and Isabella Lyons Bill

Generation 10: Donald Munroe Wilkinson and Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents)

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Carnival of Genealogy- Annual Swimsuit Edition

Swimsuits?

I wanted to participate in the Annual Swimsuit Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy for the past two years, but my ancestors were pretty Puritan when it came to the beach.  We lived on Massachusett's North Shore when I was growing up, right where my ancestors landed in the 1620s and 1630s in Beverly, near beautiful beaches in Gloucester, Ipswich and Manchester-by-the-Sea.  But no one has any photos of my grandparents or their ancestors in bathing costumes.  More typically, when they went to the beach they looked like the photo to the right (my great grandparents Arthur and Etta Hitchings in the 1930s at Gloucester, Massachusetts).  They are covered head to toe with clothes!

And so you will have to do with a photo taken in 1965, at Lynch Park beach in Beverly, Massachusetts of yours truly, and my baby sister and Mom (who isn't even in a bathing suit!)   I think this photo is the last time I was ever in a bikini!

This post was submitted for the 4th Annual Swimsuit Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy at http://creativegene.blogspot.com/     The permanant link for the 4th Annual Swimsuit Edition is
http://creativegene.blogspot.com/2011/06/carnival-of-genealogy-106th-edition.html

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

The Londonderry 99 - Memorial Day

This monument is on
the town common,
for the Revolutionary War

This list of the men who fought in the American Revolution from Londonderry, New Hampshire comes from pages 336-340 of Reverend Edward L. Parker’s History of Londonderry. Their names are not listed individually on the monument on the Londonderry Town Common, unlike the plaques for the Civil War, World Wars I and II, Korea and Vietnam monuments. On the monument, the men who served in the American Revolution are referred to as “The Londonderry 99”.   This book is available at libraries and is completely readable, in full, at Google Book Search.

In his book, Parker divides the list into the groups below. Parker also separates the officers from the enlisted men. I will just present the names in this list without distinguishing rank. For more information, please see the book, which is available free on Google Book Search.

Group One- men raised for the Lexington Alarm and marched to Medford. This list was made on 28 July 1775.
George Reid
Abraham Reid
James Anderson
John Patten
Daniel Miltimore
John Nesmith
Robert Barnet
John Mackey
James McCluer
Robert Boyes
Joshua Thompson
George McMurphy
Robert Burke
Thomas Ingliss
Matthew Anderson
Robert Adams
Samuel Ayers
Hugh Alexander
John Anderson
Alexander Brown
William Boyd
John Campbell
Thomas Campbell
Peter Christie
Solomon Collins
Stephen Chase
William Clyde
William Dickey
James Duncan
Samuel Dickey
John Ferguson
David Gregg
James Gilmore
Allen Hopkins
John Head
Asa Senter
John Hopkins
Samuel Houston
Jonathan Holmes
Peter Jenkins
John Livingston
Ebenezer McIlvain
Hugh Montgomery
John Morrison
James Morrison
Joseph Mack
Martin Montgomery
Robert McMurphy
William McMurphy
William Moore
Robert Mack
David MClary
Archibald Mack
James Nesmith
James Nesmith, Jr.
William Parker
Joshua Reid
William Rowell
Thomas Roach
Abel Senter
James Stinson
Samuel Senter
Samuel Thompson
John Vance
Hugh Watts
Thomas Wilson
John Paterson
Henry Parkinson
Samuel Stinson
John Smith
Richard Cressey
James Moore

A group of 99 men were raised for Londonderry, and town bounties were paid for them, but their names were not known except for David MacGregor, William Gregg and William Adams.

On August 1776 eighty men were raised for service from Londonderry, Windham, and Pelham under Col. Matthew Thornton’s regiment, and from Col. Josiah Bartlett’s regiment. This group was commanded by Captain John Nesmith. Parker lists these names from Londonderry:
John Nesmith
Alexander Graham
Samuel Cherry
Solomon Todd
William Dickey
Michael George
Timothy Dustin
John McClurg
Samuel Thompson
Matthew Anderson
John Anderson
William Rogers
Robert McCluer
James Ewins
James Boyes, Jr.
John Orr
Samuel Rowell
John Humphrey
John Cox
Edward Cox
John Anderson, Jr.
Thomas White
Ephraim White
Joseph Mack
James Moor
Samuel Eayres
John Vance
John Ramsey
David George
William Dickey
Jonathan Gregg
Hugh Alexander
Abner Andrews
Peter Jenkins
Alexander Graige
William Colby
Patrick Fling
William Adams
James Boyes, Jr.
Jonathan George
Allen Hopkins
James Gilmore
Charity Killient
John Lancanster

Men raised in December 1776 for Capt. Samuel McConnels’s company:
James Hopkins
Jonathan Walace
Hugh Watt
William Lyons
Moses Watt
Thomas McClary
Jesse Jones
James Nesmith
Arthur Nesmith
John Todd
Benjamin Nesmith
James Hobbs
Nathan Whiting
Benjamin Robinson
David Marshall
William Burroughs
James Gilmore
John Kinkead
Alexander Morrow

Men raised in 1777 and 1778 for Continental Service:
Peter Jenkijns
Joseph Mack
Samuel Walton
Nathaniel Plummer
William Dickey
Bishop Castor
John Obrian
George McMurphy
David Plummer
Abel Walton
James Campbell
John McMurphy
Robert Wilson
Joseph McFarland
Samuel Ayers
Robert Rogers
Solomon Todd
Frederick Roche
Charles Bryan
James Nesmith
William Johnson
John Erwin
Jeremiah Fairfield
John Ayres
John Martin
John Morgan
David George
David Dickey
Ebenezer Mellvane
Timothy Harrington
Robert Boyes
Thomas Holmes
Martin Montgomery
Zaccheus Dustin
Valentine Sargent
Robert Craige
John Head
James Boyse
John Allen
Alexander McMasters
Abel Whiting
Ambrose Vicker*
John Grear*
Claude Colombon*
Joseph Coste*
Jean Rots*
Jonathan George
Michael George
Timothy Hutchins
*according to Parker, these men were raised at Exeter, but the bounty was paid by Londonderry

Additional men from Londonderry found in muster rolls during the war, but who did not receive bounties for Londonderry according to Parker:
William Hogg
Samuel Hamilton
David Ela
John Mack
Zabulon Colby
William Colby
Castor Barnes

A company of volunteers raised on 20 July 1777 for the Battle of Bennington:
Daniel Reynolds
David McClary
Adam Taylor
John Hughes
John Smith
John McKeen
John Anderson
John Robinson
Matthew Dickey
David Clark
Simeon Senter
Joseph Hastings
Thomas Griffin
John Barr
Nathaniel Burrows
John Robinson
George Eviston
Joseph Sargent
Isaac Colby
Alexander Stevens
William Houston
William Fellows
James Nesmith
Jonanthan Cheney
Samuel Rowell
William Sevrans
Jonathan Kelso
John Ferguson
Samuel Thompson
Nathaniel Sweetser
Dudley Balley
John Campbell
James Humphrey
James Taylor
Archibald Cunningham
William Burrows
Peter Robinson
Mansfield McDuffee
Nathaniel Cheney
James Moore
Thomas Carr
Samuel Spear
Samuel Cambell
William Ramsey
Robert Morrison
Thomas Wallace
Joshua Conant
Joseph Caldwell
Adam Dickey
William Adams
Thomas McClary
Hugh Watts
Andrew Todd
Thomas Wallace
Jesse Jones
Thomas Rogers
Ephraim Gregg
James Morison
John Watts
Allen Anderson
David Brewster
Jonathan Wallace
John Wallace
John Todd
John McClary
Joseph Hobbs
Joseph Steel
Samuel Brown
Samuel Taylor
John Stuart

Volunteers raised on 1 October 1777 to join the Continental Army at Saratoga:
Joseph Finlay
James Christy
Robert Adams
John Patterson
Jonathan Gilmore
Robert Wallace
Adam Dunlap
John McCoy
David Quinten
Samuel Gregg
Jonathan Holmes
John Moore
Peter Christy
William Hopkins
Joshua Lancaster
William Moore
John Taylor
Adam Johnson
John Adams
William Aiken
David Wilson
Thomas Morrison
William Alexander
Samuel Anderson
William McKeen
John Hunter
Moses Walton
John Walton
Samuel Dodge
Nathaniel Holmes

From a muster roll of Col. Henry Jackson’s regiment the following men from Londonderry, enlisted in 1777
John Nesmith
John Vance
John Bryant
Timothy Melon
John Mitchel

Londonderry bounties were paid for 20 volunteers for the Rhode Island service in 1778, but their names are not know except for Joseph McKeen.
Also in 1778 Jonathan Ferrin, Hugh Jameson and Francis Mitchel enlisted in the Continental Army.

1779 enlistments:
Thomas Rankin
Edward Colby
Richard Gillespie
James Campbell
Henry Weld
Peter Hakins
Robert Barber
David Richards
John King
John White
John Ross
Archibald Clark
John McCarty
Isaac Colby
Thomas Drew
Neal McGee
Windsor Golden

1780 enlistments:
John McCarty
William Thomas
Zoe With
John Clark
John Remmick
Pomp Sherburn
James Whaley
Windsor Golden
James Harris
Thomas Mitchel
Samuel Merrill
James McMahan
Jeremiah Fairfield

1781 enlistments:
Abner Andrews
Asa Andrews
Jonathan Black
Charles Burrows
John Ward
Allen Anderson
Archibald Clark
John Webb
Pomp Sherburne
Martin Byrne
James Burke
James Adams
David Morrison
Jeremiah Fairfield
John McCarty
John Pease
Daniel Marsh
James Boyes
James Blair
William Dickey
Thomas McLaughlin
Adam Dickey
William Eastman
Arthur Nesmith
Robert Thompson
James Gregg
Elijah Towns
Alexander McMurphy
Abraham Perry
John Mannyfold

1782 enlistments:
John McCurdy
Charles Cavenaugh

Serving for other towns:
John Hall for Deerfield
John Reed for Chichester
Daniel Callaghan for Atkinson
John Moloy for Hampton
James Keeff for Hampton
Thomas Mitchel for Hampton
Michael Keeff for Amherst

Also noted General George Reid, David MacGregor, Robert MacGregor, Matthew Thornton and others served as officers.

For lists of men and women on the war memorials of Londonderry Common (Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korean and Vietnam), please see these links:

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/11/amanuensis-monday-weeklong-project.html

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/11/korean-war-veterans-from-londonderry.html
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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

The 1804 House Update

Back in March I posted a story about my cousin's rennovation of the Forster- Leach House, built in 1804 and inspired by Samuel McIntire's homes built in nearby Salem, Massachusetts  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/03/1804-house-and-some-family-connections.html     The project has been moving along, and we finally had a chance to tour the inside of the house.  The photo above is of the front parlor, and the mantelpiece is undergoing extensive stripping of 30 layers of paint which had obscured the beautiful, delicate carving.

The piece below is a carved panel that belongs over the door.

Below is an example of a McIntire designed room now on exhibit at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.  It was originally part of the Oak Hill Mansion built in Peabody, Massachusetts, owned by Nathaniel West and Elizabeth Derby originally of Salem, Massachusetts.   You can see how the Forster-Leach house used the McIntire carvings as inspiration.  The new owners are trying to preserve as much of the original woodwork as possible in the house rennovations.

click to enlarge
and to read the detailed museum description

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

NEHGS reads my blog!

Surprise!

I was very happy to receive an email this afternoon from Alessandra Magno at the New England Historic Genealogical Society.  She would like me share the following special events at NEHGS this summer:



Programs at NEHGS


June New Visitor and Welcome Tour
June 1, 2011 10:00AM - 11:00AM
99-101 Newbury Street
Boston, MA 02116-3007
Make plans to start your genealogy with this great tour. This program begins with a thirty-minute introductory lecture and will be followed by a tour of the NEHGS library and its vast holdings.

Come Home to New England
June 13, 2011 9:00AM - June 18, 2011 5:00PM
NEHGS, 99-101 Newbury Street
Boston, MA 02116-3007
Dubbed as one of the society’s most popular programs, “Come Home to New England,” is a fun-filled week of family history discovery and education. This program features research, individual consultations, interesting lectures, group meals, and other exciting activities.

Talking Back to Your Ancestors: Reweaving the Family History
June 22, 2011 6:00PM - 7:00PM
99-101 Newbury Street
Boston, MA 02116-3007
Dr. Barbara B. Reitt will describe what she learned in a four-year search for truths long hidden by the family and what compelled her to respond to her late father’s memoirs by researching and writing a biography of his grandmother.

Programs and Events

A Tour Through Ireland and Irish History
July 5, 2011 5:00PM - July 15, 2011 5:00PM
Ireland
Please join NEHGS as we explore our Irish immigrant ancestors’ native land, the rolling hills of Ireland. We will discover spectacular scenery, and enjoy legendary Irish hospitality in internationally renowned hotels and restaurants and elegant private homes.
Please e-mail education@nehgs.org if you wish to be placed on a waiting list for the event.

Weekend Research Trip to Albany, New York
July 13, 2011 3:00PM - July 17, 2011 11:00AM
Albany, New York
Join NEHGS as we explore the vast resources of the New York State Archives. The weekend includes individual consultations, lectures, and a group dinner.

English Research Tour
September 25, 2011 3:00PM - October 2, 2011 12:00PM
London, United Kingdom

Discover the wealth of information available in London's repositories as NEHGS returns to London in 2011. Participants will take part in two group dinners, consultations, and guided research tours through the Society of Genealogists (SOG) and the National Archives (UK).

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To learn more about upcoming events, programs, and tours, visit AmericanAncestors.org/Event to register online or download a registration form. Please mail your registration form to:

NEHGS, Education & Tours
Attn: Joshua Taylor
99-101 Newbury Street
Boston, MA 02116-3007
For more information call 1-888-296-3447, or e-mail education@nehgs.org

The Worcester Tornado, June 9, 1953

A young Senator John F. Kennedy and two teens
tour the tornado disaster in
Shrewsbury, Massachusetts 1953

News and photographs of the Joplin, Missouri tornado are filling the airways and newspapers this week. As the death toll mounted, the news reporters began to compare the storm to the Worcester Tornado over sixty years ago. This brought chills up my spine, and my skin began to crawl…

When I was growing up in Central Massachusetts, the adults would speak in hushed tones about the Worcester tornado. We moved to Holden in 1969, more than 15 years after the tornado, but the effects were very visible. The area was heavily forested, but the tornado’s path was still empty and barren of trees. I could follow the path through Holden into the nearby city of Worcester by seeing the lack of woodlands as we drove into the city for shopping or doctor’s appointments. My parents would casually mention that certain landmarks were “due to the tornado.”

Several neighbors had survived the tornado’s devastation. The young mother who lived next door had three toddlers, and would come to hide in our cellar whenever there were thunderstorm warnings. My mom would bring out boxes of Ritz crackers and peanut butter, and my sister and I would entertain the babies whenever storms passed over. At the time I didn’t understand her fear. She was just a small child herself when her home was destroyed in the Burncoat neighborhood of Worcester.

I would overhear women telling of how their children were injured in the storm, including a boy who was sucked out a living room window. Men would tell my Dad how belongings were found miles away, and miraculously returned. As a child I had visions of Dorothy and Toto’s flying house racing through my mind whenever we had severe storm warnings. It all seemed like fairy stories, too terrible to believe.

In my hometown of Holden, nine were killed, and then the tornado moved through Worcester, where another sixty residents died. A total of 94 people died, 1288 were injured and 10,000 were homeless. This was a staggering loss for the time, with a loss of 4,000 buildings and hundreds of automobiles. The damage was estimated at $53 million dollars in 1953. Debris was later found in the Atlantic Ocean off of Weymouth, Massachusetts- over 50 miles away. Worcester is a thousand miles away from tornado alley, but it was still a victim.  It held the unfortunate record of most destructive tornado for over 60 years, until this month when Joplin was hit.

When I was much older I saw the photographs of the tornado damage, and there were annual TV news reports on the storm’s anniversary. Not too long ago my daughter applied to Assumption College in Worcester. I took her to the main office for her entrance interview and spent my time perusing a display about the tornado. I didn’t know the campus was originally on Burncoat Street in Worcester. I didn’t know that the original campus was destroyed.  Later in 1953 Miss Jacqueline Bouvier, fiancée of Senator John F. Kennedy, presented a $150,000 gift from the Kennedy Foundation towards rebuilding a new campus on Salisbury Street. A priest and two nuns died in the storm, but no students died since summer break had just begun.

Today, the storm damage is barely visible. The great empty fields near the Great Brook Valley housing development are now covered with mature trees and new industrial buildings. There are no more vacant lots, since they have long been rebuilt with new homes or businesses. The earth has healed. I know that for now the people in Missouri will think that peace of mind is a fairy tale, but their pain will also fade and become barely visible. Barely… because I know at least one woman in Holden who still hides in the cellar when the thunderstorms pass through.

[The above photo is from MSNBC.com, at this link you can read about the Worcester tornado and also see a rare movie about the tornado  (in three parts on YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJciyLvvfKI&feature=youtu.be  ]

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "The Worcester Tornado, June 9, 1953", Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 26, 2011, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/05/worcester-tornado-june-9-1953.html: accessed [access date]). 

Ybor City, Tampa, Florida- Not so Wordless Wednesday

Ybor City is a historic neighborhood in Tampa, Florida, named after Vicente Martinez-Ybor, a prominent Spanish born cigar manufacturer.   It was founded by thousands of Cuban, Spanish and Italian immigrants who flocked there to work in the cigar factories.  It has been designated as a National Historic Landmark District.  Many of the old cigar factory buildings have been restored and rennovated as theaters, restaurants, a community college and shops.  Recently several typical small wooden houses of the era were removed from along Interstate 4 and rebuilt near the Ybor City museum and along Columbus Drive.  Each house has a plaque giving it's history.   Old streetcars have been restored to run through the center of Ybor City.

The immigration memorial is located in Centennial Park, across the street from the Ybor City Museum.  The walls surrounding this statue are inscribed with the names of hundreds of immigrant families.   The statue was dedicated in 1992.

The Ybor City Museum

http://www.ybormuseum.org/

located in the 1923 Ferlita Bakery Building

For more information:

http://www.ybor.org/   The Ybor City Chamber of Commerce website

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ybor_City   an article about the history of the Ybor City neighborhood of Tampa

http://www.tampapix.com/yborimmig.htm  The Ybor City Centennial Park Immigrant Memorial Website

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

In the cellar? - Tombstone Tuesday

This gravestone was found in the basement of the 1804 house being rennovated by a cousin in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts (for the story on the rennovation project, please see the link http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/03/1804-house-and-some-family-connections.html ).  This stone was facedown for many years, and it surprised the new owners when it was uprighted and discovered to be a gravestone. It is thought this child was buried somewhere on the property in 1836. The stone will eventually be removed and placed in one of the town cemeteries.

ISREAL FORSTER

son of Dr. E. W. and Charlotte E.

LEACH

of Boston

died Aug. 3, 1836

AEt 4 ms, 7 ds

Charlotte Eliza Forster, born 19 January 1810 in Manchester, Massachusetts and died 31 March 1885 in Manchester, was the daughter of Captain Israel Forster and Hannah Story (Captain Forster built the house in 1804 for his first wife Hannah Lee) . Charlotte married Ezekiel W. Leach on 23 February 1835 in Manchester. Ezekiel was born 1 July 1809 in Manchester, and died 2 March 1842, the son of Thomas Leach and Hannah Norton. This child who died in 1836 was named for his grandfather, Captain Israel Forster.

Dr. Ezekiel Leach studied medicine at Amherst College and with Dr. George S. Shattuck of Boston, and recieved his medical degreee in 1835.  He belonged to the Baldwin Place Baptist Church in Boston, and lived there for several years before removing south for his health.  He died at sea on a voyage from Savannah to Havre, at age 33.  He left a collection of papers to the Massachusetts Historical Society.

The Leach Family of Manchester is related to me since we are all descended of Lawrence Leach and his wife Elizabeth (my 10x Great Grandparents). He lived at Salem, Massachusetts, and one son came to Manchester and another to Bridgewater. He died sometime before 25 June 1662 when his will was probated.

Also, Captain Israel Forster had a child, Hannah Lee Forster, by his first wife, who married Benjamin Leach Allen on 24 August 1824 in Manchester, Massachusetts. He is a distant cousin, on my Mom's side of the family. Mom's maiden name was Allen, and all the Manchester Allen's are descended of William Allen, born about 1602, and an original proprietor of Manchester. William Allen and his wife Alice Norman are my 9x Great Grandparents.

UPDATE-
This Forster child had ANOTHER tombstone in the local cemetery. It was a double tombstone with another sibling. It is supposed that the parents removed the single stone and placed it in the home when the second tombstone was erected in the burial ground. Recycling?  Yankee Ingenuity?

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To Cite/Link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "In the cellar? - Tombstone Tuesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 24, 2021, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/05/in-cellar-tombstone-tuesday.html: accessed [access date]). 

Londonderry Database at NEHGS!

Today I received a message from the New England Historic Genealogical Society that they have just published the Londonderry, New Hampshire (Nutfield) Vital Records to 1910 at their online database. You can read the announcement at this link: http://www.americanancestors.org/Blogs.aspx?id=24517&blogid=124069


These records are also available at http://www.ancestry.com/  If you do not have a subscription to either website, you might have luck at your local library. Most libraries in the United States have access to Ancestry, and many, especially in the New England area, also have access to the NEHGS website. Both offer free limited time trial offers.

Other online resources for Londonderry records...

The Google Book Search also offers the Early Records of Londonderry, Windham, and Derry, NH, by George Waldo Browne, printed in 1908. This volume includes records from 1719 to 1762. Google Book Search also offers the full version of The History of Londonderry, by Rev. Edward L. Parker, which includes a chapter full of genealogies on some of the first families in Londonderry. Many other books on early Londonderry, Nutfield or Rockingham County history are available online through Google.

If you are not already familiar with it, a great resource for New Hampshire and Londonderry records is the New Hampshire Provincial Papers, sometimes known as the New Hampshire State Papers. I wrote about how to access this resource at this link: http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/08/follow-friday-new-hampshire-state.html The State Papers were published in forty volumes between 1867 and 1943, and they include town documents, Revolutionary War rolls, town charters, probate and court records. These are an invaluable resource for early New Hampshire ancestors.

Recently the LDS church website http://familysearch.org/ published the New Hampshire Birth records to 1900, Death records 1654- 1947, and marriage records 1637 – 1947. These are about 1.5 million scanned images of the cards you see at the New Hampshire Archives in Concord, New Hampshire. If you have questions about printed or transcribed versions of the vital records, why not look at the actual scanned versions of the records for yourself to clear up any discrepancies!

Please leave a comment here if you know of any other online resources for Londonderry records!

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

2011 NH Mayflower Society Scholarship Luncheon

This year the Society of Mayflower Descendants in the state of New Hampshire is pleased to announce four scholarship winners of the Memorial Scholarship program at the May 21, 2011 luncheon at the Chateau Restaurant in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Front row: Alexandra Conway, Manchester, NH (will attend Brown University);  Katelyn Shaw, Amherst, NH (will attend Keene State College); Kyle Donahue, Natick, MA, (will attend Cornell University); and Erica LeBlanc, Londonderry, NH (will attend Suffolk University).  Back row:  John Payzant, Deputy Governor of the NH Mayflower Society; Dean Dexter, Governor of the NH Mayflower Society, and Heather Rojo, Captain.

The meeting was also attended by the Deputy Governor General, Harry Folger, and Alice Teal, the editor of the "Mayflower Quarterly", the journal published by the General Society of Mayflower Descendants.  They came as guests to the luncheon to award Governor Dexter a certificate from the "Order of the Hook" for his service to the Quarterly and in editing the New Hampshire newsletter "The Shallop".

For more information about the New Hampshire Mayflower Society, or the Memorial Scholarship program, please see the website http://www.nhmayflower.org/

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

A Dozen Random Things about Nutfield

1. Nutfield, later called Londonderry, was the second largest town in New Hampshire in early colonial times. Derry, Windham and a portion of Manchester were formed from its boundaries.

2. In 1719 the first white potato (Irish potato) in the United States was grown in Derry

3. For the first census in 1790 the population of Londonderry was 2,622 and in the 2000 census the Londonderry population was 23,236 and the Derry population was 34,021.

4. The Londonderry Lancers Marching Band from our high school marched in 4 different Rose Bowl Parades, most recently in 2011!

5. The first tomatoes grown in New England for food were introduced by the widow of Rev. Morrison in 1822. Previously tomatoes were considered to be poisonous.

6. Linen from Colonial Londonderry was worn by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Londonderry produced much linen, and it was considered the finest, thus it was often found that other towns tried to sell cloth with the Londonderry label, so the New Hampshire House of Representatives wrote an act to have an official seal affixed to all Londonderry Linen.

7. Upon hearing of the attack at Lexington on 19 April 1775, George Reid marched with a contingent of men from Londonderry to Lexington and then to Medford, where they joined General Stark’s troops in the battle of Bunker Hill in June. Later in the war he attained the rank of Brigadier General.

8. Matthew Thornton was born in 1714 in Northern Ireland, but was a Londonderry selectman, President of the Provincial Assembly, later the President of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, and signer of the Declaration of Independence.

9. The first woman who claimed to bicycle around the world was “Annie Londonderry”, a mother from Boston who was sponsored by Londonderry Lithia Water in 1895. Her real name was Annie Cohen Kopchovsky, a Latvian Jewish immigrant.

10. The first American in Space was Derry resident, Alan Shepard.

11. Professional Baseball player Duffy (George Edward) Lewis is buried in the Holy Cross Cemetery, Londonderry. He played for the Boston Red Sox 190-1917, the New York Yankees 1919-1920, and the Washington Senators in 1921.

12. James Wilson (1763 -1835) of Londonderry manufactured the first pair of terrestrial and celestial globes made in America in 1813. The 13 inch globe sold for $50.

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Sinovas, Spain - Not So Wordless Wednesday

The parish church of St. Nicolas de Bari is located in the tiny village of Sinovas, in the province of Burgos, Spain.  This is the church where my father-in-law was baptized in 1931.  We have traced the family back to Manuel Rojo (born about 1750) and Juana Arauzo of Sinovas, and their son Tomas Rojo was baptized there on 7 March 1783.  Earlier records are not available in the parish office, nor at the archbishop's archives in Burgos.  The parish priest and villagers of Sinovas think the earlier parish records were hidden during the Napoleonic wars and never returned to the church.

The church was built in the 1200s.  The tower part of the church was built first as a defensive structure in the 11th century.  It was declared a National Monument on 9 July 1964.  The entire village of Sinovas has 134 inhabitants according to a 2008 report!

St. Nicolas de Bari Church
at our 2003 visit to Sinovas

a postcard showing medival decorations inside the church

this postcard shows the ceiling of the church

St. Nicolas de Bari after a 2010 restoration project

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Ela Family - Tombstone Tuesday

The Ela Family gravestones are at Forest Hill Cemetery, Derry, New Hampshire.  The Ela family lived in the area where Burger King and Rt. 93 are today.  It was a large farm. The first Ela in Londonderry was Samuel, who removed from Haverhill, Massachusetts about 1755.  The David below, married Nancy Fisher, widow of William Cunningham and had five children.  John married Sarah Ferson and had one child, who died young.  (see Parker's History of Londonderry, page 272)

DAVID ELA

DIED

Feb. 19, 1822

Aged 63 yrs.

NANCY

WIFE OF

DAVID ELA

and daughter of

DEA. SAMUEL AND SARAH FISHER

Died Feb. 19, 1837

Aged 90 yrs.

[note:  husband and wife died on the same day, 15 years apart]

In Memory of

Mr. JOHN ELA

who died

Jan. 4th 1811

Et. 43

Look here my friends so here I lie

As you are now so once was I

As I am now so you must be

Prepare for death and follow me

In

memory of

Sarah, wife of

John Ela,

who died

April 23, 1816

aged 66

 http://www.ela-family.org/israelelagen.pdf  From the Ela Family website, a link to a book Genealogy of the Ela Family, Descendants of Israel Ela of Haverhill, Massachusetts, by Reverend David Hough Ela, 1896
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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Local Genealogy and History Events

GENEALOGY CLUB: For all levels of experience, meets second Fri. each month (May 13), 1:30 p.m. at Rodgers Memorial Library, 194 Derry Road, Hudson, N.H. 603-886-6030 or http://www.rodgerslibrary.org/


Robert Frost Farm ongoing Hyla Brook Reading Series begins May 19 at 6:30 PM at the Robert Frost Farm, Rt. 28 in Derry, with poets Deborah Warren and Derry’s Midge Goldberg, followed by open mic poetry readings from the audience. There will be readings on Juen 16, July 14 and August 11. For more information email Robert Crawford at bobik9@aol.com

Also at the Frost Farm, the Summer Literary Series begins on July 17th, 2PM with Lea Newman discussing the women in Frost’s life and how their impact is reflected in his writing. Also, Alfred Nicol on July 24th , Robert Crawford on August 7th, Carole Thompson on August 21st, and Herc Pappachristos on August 28th. See the schedule at http://robertfrostfarm.org/events.html

Genealogy Basics Workshop, May 24, 2011, at the Lawrence Barn, 28 Depot Road, Hollis, NH, taught by Diane Gravel, email director@hollis.lib.nh.us or see the website http://www.hollis.nh.us/library/

The Lilac Festival, at the Wentworth Coolidge Mansion, Portsmouth, NH, May 28, 2011, 10 AM to 3 PM. Celebrate the blooming of the first lilacs brought to America. Museum website http://wentworthcoolidge.org/ Remember, the purple lilac is the New Hampshire state flower!

28th Annual Strawberry Festival, June 4, 2011, Windham High School, Windham, NH 10 AM to 4 PM. Book Fair runs June 1st to June 4th. Buy books, play games, listen to music, and of course, eat lots of strawberry treats! Contact strawberryfestival@flowwindam.org or see the website http://www.flowwindham.org/strawberry.html

New England Antiquarian Book and Ephemera Fair, June 5, 2011, 10 AM to 4PM at the Everett Arena, Concord, NH – Over 50 prominent dealers offering old, rare and out of print books and ephemera. Free parking. Email parrpromo@gmail.com

Market Square Day, Portsmouth, NH June 11, 2011, 9AM – 4:30PM Celebrate the renovation of downtown Portsmouth, entertainment, products, food and three performance stages. FREE! http://www.proportsmouth.org/MarketSquareDay.cfm

Exhibit of the Civil War Diary and Letters of John Milton Hay, from June 27 – July 31, 2011, at The Fells, 465 Route 103A, Newbury, NH The Fells was the summer home of John Hays, President Lincoln’s secretary and confidante. These documents are considered invaluable primary sources on both the Civil War and Lincoln. See the museum website at http://www.thefells.org/

American Independence Festival, at the American Independence Museum, Exeter, NH, July 16, 2011, celebrating the events of July 16, 1776 when the Dunlap Broadside copy of the Declaration of Independence arrived in Exeter from Philadelphia. Listen to a public reading (complete with hecklers), march to Fife and Drum music, see cannons being fired. There will be traditional New Hampshire Artisans Village, plenty of food, music, sidewalk sales and children’s activities. Evening fireworks and a live band. $7 for events on the museum grounds. Museum members and children under 10 FREE. See the website http://www.independencemuseum.org/aim_aif.asp for information and advance tickets.

The 31st Towne Family Reunion and Annual Meeting, August 13 – 15, Salem, Massachusetts. For the descendants of William and Joanna (Blessing) Towne who came to America from Great Yarmouth, England and settled in Salem, MA about 1635. Head-quartered at the Hawthorne Hotel in Salem. The hospitality room will open Saturday evening, and there will be a banquet Sunday evening. The business meeting will be at a Monday morning breakfast. Monday afternoon we will spend at the Nurse Homestead, where we will have a picnic box lunch. Additional activities are planned for the three days and will be announced here and in future issues of “About Towne”. If you have questions, please contact townefolk@allies.com or see the website www.townefolk.com

Londonderry Old Home Day Celebration, August 17 -21, 2011. A five day event including concerts, movies, fireworks, parade, baby contest, a 5K road race, children’s games, and a townwide celebration on the town common. See the website http://oldhomedays.com// for a complete schedule and photos of previous Old Home Days. Londonderry is one of less than a dozen communities that have faithfully observed Old Home Day on the third weekend in August since 1899.

An English child born in a Spanish Village, 1811- Amanuensis Monday

A page from the baptism record book, San Sebastian Church, Puerto Seguro, Salamanca province, Spain
The bottom right baptism record is for an English child named Julian Smith
click to enlarge

I hope you are enjoying the record books and archival documents you use to research your family history.  Take time to peruse the other names and information in the papers.  Sometimes you will find interesting things that, although not directly related to your family, will help you to understand the location and time in which your ancestors lived.

I found this interesting entry in the book of baptisms for the village of Puerto Seguro, in the province of Salamanca, Spain. In 1811, and before the Spanish War of Independence (against Napoleonic France) this village was known as Barba de Puerco (literally "Pig’s Beard" in English)!  Puerto Seguro is located on the Portuguese border, and there were some fierce battles all along this region between English and French troops.

Transcription in Spanish:

“En el lugar de Barba de Puerco en dies y ocho dias
del mes de Diciembre de 1811
yo el infraescripto Cura Ecónomo de esta parroquia
bauticé solemenemente a Julian que nació el veinte
y tres de Septiembre en un Pueblo de Portu-
gal llamada Mallada Sorda, Obispado de Piñel, hijo
de Josef Smith, natural de Oxford jurisdiction de ---------
-------y de Ysabel Smith, natural de Stanmanheh.
Nieto paterno de James Smith y de Nancy Smith y Materno
de Eduard Smith y Ysabel Smith, todos de Reino de
Ynglaterra, fueron Padrinos: D. Manuel Alvarez y
Dña. Juana Hernández Escobar, Españoles y vecinos de de éste,
les advertí a obligación espiritual y parentesco. Fueron testigos:
Lucas Alamo y Juan Francisco Bernal, y en fe de ello yo firmo,
fecha ut supra
Manuel Escudero Corral.

los contenidos en esta partida son Yngleses y se bautizó a instancia de los Padres que fueron católicos"


The translation reads:

“In the place of Pig’s Beard on the 18th day
of the month of December of the year one thousand eight hundred eleven
I, the undersigned Cura Economo of this parish
Solemnly baptized Julian, who was born
The 23rd of September of this same year, in the town of Port-
gal called Mallada Sorda, diocese of Pinel, son
Of Josef Smith, native of Oxford, jurisdiction of ---------
And of Ysabel Smith, native of Stowmarket,
Paternal Grandson of James Smith and Nancy Smith, and maternal
Edward Smith and Ysabel Smith, of the Kingdom of
England, godparents are Don Manuel Alvarez and
Doña Jauna Hernandez Escobar, Spaniards and residents of this place
who were advised of their spiritual obligation and kinship. Witnesses were
Lucas Alamo and Juan Francisco Bernal, and in faith I sign
Date ut supra
Manuel Escudero Corral

The margin note reads: “the member of this entry are English and the baptized is from parents who were Catholics”

This entry was found in the book of baptisms for San Sebastian church, as I looked through it for the baptisms for my mother-in-law’s side of the family. First of all, what was an English family doing in “Pig’s Beard” in 1811 during the war? And why did they have some important Spanish citizens serve as godparents to their infant? There was a second English child in the same baptism book, listed on 21 December 1811, which made me think that this baptism was not a fluke. It appears that there was a close relationship between the British and the people of “Pig’s Beard”. I wonder if any of my husband’s ancestors knew some of these Englishmen.

With a little research I found that the British were involved in what they call the Peninsular War (1809 – 1814), the same war that the Spaniards call the War of Independence. In February 1810 the British had occupied “Pig’s Beard” and the French had undertaken a large effort to free the village and the nearby walled city of Ciudad Rodrigo. The Duke of Wellington was involved with this large campaign. By August the invasion of Almeida, Portugal had begun. “Pig’s Beard” was disputed between Spain and Portugal until the borders' treaty signed on 29 September 1864. In 1916 “Pig’s Beard” became the village of Puerto Seguro (literally “Secure Door”).

In the book “Dispatches of Field Marshall the Duke of Wellington, K. G.” [Volume 5 by Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, London, 1852, pages 3- 18] I can see that he was still sending letters from the area of Ciudad Rodrigo by 15 May 1811, during the time period of this baptism. Obviously, the British must have maintained a large force of troops to occupy the area. Perhaps Mr. Joseph Smith was an officer, and some leading citizens of “Pig’s Beard” (designated by the titles Don and Doña) served as godparents to his son? This book was found online at a Google Book Search and is entirely readable and searchable.

There are 4,193,113 images available at Familysearch.org for Spanish Church Records, 1500 – 1930. All are fully visible scanned images from parish church books. If your family comes from one of the following provinces (Albacete, Avila, Barcelona, Ciudad Real, Gerona, Murcia, or Salamanca) you will find this is a gold mine of information viewable from your own computer. There are many other records available online for Spain, or on microfilm you can view at your local history library. But this new group of online images is where I have been finding gold nuggets for our family tree this year.

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For more information:

http://www.puertoseguro.org// the village of Puerto Seguro website, with history, all in Spanish

http://familysearch.org/ The LDS church genealogy website

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Three Generations and some Apple Blossoms

It's Apple Blossom Time in Londonderry (usually near Mother's Day)

Me, Mom and Daughter

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Two Joan Antrobuses

Joan Antrobus was born about 1592 in St. Albans, England to Joan Arnold and Walter Antrobus. She was married twice, First to Thomas Lawrence (1589 – 1625) on 23 October 1609 and had six children, and she married second to John Tuttle on before 1629.  Joan is the mother of three of my 9x Great Grandparents!

The Tuttles immigrated onboard the Planter, which left London in April 1635 for Boston. There exists an actual transcription of the Planter passenger list which shows that they traveled with her widowed mother (the other Joan Antrobus), John’s widowed mother, four of Joan’s children from her first marriage, four more children from her second marriage, John’s brothers Richard and William with their families, and several servants. Most ships did not keep passenger lists in the 1600s, and if they did, few survived. [ see “The Founders of New England”, The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 14, page 304 for the passenger list]

Obviously, from this rare record, you can see that this family group was wealthier than the average immigrant family. According to Gary Boyd Roberts and in other books about Americans of royal descent, the Lawrence family descended from nobility including the English Plantagenets. They lived well off here, and prospered with lots and lots of descendents.

Even though she came from a privileged background, I can’t imagine coming to America with all those children in tow! Even with servants and two grandmothers, it must have been an interesting voyage. I’d like to know that Joan lived in Massachusetts long enough to see her grandchildren prosper, but it is thought she went to Northern Ireland, where her husband died on 30 December 1656 in Carrickfergus. She wrote from there about his death to the children in Ipswich on 6 April 1657, but there is no further record of her in Ireland or New England.

This is one of my only ancestors who actually passed through Northern Ireland. Many Scots setters lived there for several generations and eventually many found their way to the New World. During the Great Rebellion of 1641 Carrickfergus was a refuge for Protestants. It was taken by the Scots that year by a General Robert Munro, and remained a Scots city until the restoration of Charles II in 1660.

And what about her mother, Joan Arnold Antrobus? She was baptized on 3 June 1571 in St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England, and she married Walter Antrobus/Anterbus on 8 February 1587. When the planter sailed for Boston she was about 64 years old. There is no further record of her in Massachusetts. I don’t know if she decided to stay in England, died on board the ship on the way, or survived the journey and later died in Massachusetts. Either way, she was a brave woman to consider such a journey in 1635. John’s widowed mother, Isabel Wells Toothill/ Tuttle is thought to have died in 1635 in New Haven Connecticut.

Genealogy:

Generation 1:  Joan Arnold, daughter of John Arnold and Marie Unknown, born before 3 June 1571 in St. Albans, England, died probably in Massachusetts; married on 8 Feburary 1587 to Walter Anterbus, born about 1555, died 5 April 1614 in St. Albans.  Walter married also Barbara Lawrence. Two Children: Joan and William

Generation 2:  Joan Atrobus, born about 1592, died after 29 January 1661 probably in Northern Ireland; married first on 23 October 1609 in St. Albans to Thomas Lawrence (six children including my 9x Great Grandmother Jane Lawrence who married George Giddings on 20 Feb 1634 in St. Albans);  married second on 1627 in St. Albans to John Tuttle ( another six children including my 9x Great Grandfather Simon Tuthill who married Sarah Cogswell about 1663, and also my 9x Great Grandmother Mary Tuttle who married Thomas Burnham in June 1645).

For more information on Joan (Antrobus) (Lawrence) Tuttle see:

The Great Migration Biographical Sketches, by Robert Charles Anderson (available online at the NEHGS website http://www.newenglandancestros.org/ , previously available as a book)

"Focus on the Planter”, Great Migration Newsletter, Volume 15, number 4 – Volume 16. #1, by Robert Charles Anderson, online at http://www.greatmigration.org/

Migrations and the Origins of the English Atlantic World, by Alison Games, Harvard University Press, 2001

A passenger list of the Planter from the Winthrop Society http://www.winthropsociety.com/ships/planter.htm

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

A Mystery Branch of the Wilkinson Family Tree?

a page from the Sullivan, Maine town records

A few years ago I found the following reference to some Wilkinsons living in Maine during a Google Book Search. It was one of the first times I used Google Books, and I was amazed at the references to a branch of Wilkinsons living not near New Hampshire, but way down east near Mount Desert Island. Using these clues, I went to census and vital records to piece the family together to see if they connected to the Thomas and Samuel Wilkinsons of Rockingham County. (see the links above under the heading for these Wilkinson lineages)

Elliott, Charles W., "John Gilley- One of the Forgotten Millions," Originally published in 1899 in the Century Magazine and in book form in 1904 by the American Unitarian Association under the title of "JOHN GILLEY, Maine Farmer and Fisherman".

Part Three
When cold weather put an end to the fishing season, John Gilley, having provided all necessary articles for his house, sailed over to Sullivan, distant about eighteen miles, in his fishing-vessel and brought back to the home on Sutton’s Island Harriet Bickford Wilkinson, the schoolmistress from Sullivan. The grandfather of Harriet Wilkinson came to Sullivan from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1769, and her mother’s family came from York, Maine. The marriage took place on December 25, 1854, when John was thirty-two and Harriet was twenty-five; and both entered with joy upon married life at their own island farm. She was a pretty woman, but delicate, belonging to a family which was thought to have a tendency to consumption. In the summer of 1855 he spent about half his time on this same vessel which had brought home his wife, and made a fair profit on the fishing; and the next year he sometimes went on short trips of shore fishing, but that was the last of his going away from the farm. Whatever fishing he did afterward he did in an open boat not far from home, and he went coasting no more. A son was born to them, but lived only seven months; and soon the wife’s health began to fail. A wife’s sickness, in the vast majority Of families, means first, the loss of her labor in the care and support of the household, and secondly, the necessity of hiring some woman to do the work which the wife cannot do. This necessity of hiring is a heavy burden in a family where little money is earned, although there may be great comfort so far as food, fire, and clothing are concerned. His young wife continuing to grow worse, John Gilley tried all means that were possible to him to restore her health. He consulted the neighboring physicians, bought quantities of medicine in great variety, and tried in every way that love or duty could suggest to avert the threatening blow. It was all in vain. Harriet Gilley lived only two years and a half after her marriage, dying in June, 1857. At this period, his expenses being large, and his earning power reduced, John Gilley was forced to borrow a little money. The farm and the household equipment had absorbed his whole capital.

On April 27, 1857, there came from Sullivan, to take care of Harriet, Mary Jane Wilkinson, her cousin. This cousin was only twenty-one years of age; but her father was dead, and her mother had married again. She had helped her mother till she was almost twenty-one years of age, but now felt free. Until this cousin came, nieces and a sister of John Gilley had helped him to take care of his dying wife. The women relatives must always come to the aid of a family thus distressed. To help in taking care of the farm and in fishing, John Gilley habitually hired a man all through the season, and this season of 1857 the hired man was his wife’s brother. When Harriet Gilley died -there was still the utmost need of a woman on the farm; so Mary Jane Wilkinson stayed during the summer and through the next winter, and before the end of that winter she had promised to marry John Gilley. There were at that time eight houses on Sutton’s Island, and more permanent residents than there are now. Mary Jane Wilkinson was fond of the care of animals and of farm duties in general. She found at the farm only twelve hens, a cow, and a calf, and she set to work at once to increase the quantity of live stock; but in April, 1858, she returned to her mother’s house at West Gouldsboro’, that she might prepare her wardrobe and some articles of household linen. When, later in the season, John Gilley came after Mary Jane Wilkinson at Jones’s Cove, he had to transport to Sutton’s Island, besides Mary Jane’s personal possessions, a pair of young steers, a pig, and a cat. They were married at Northeast Harbor by Squire Kimball, in the old tavern on the west side of the harbor, in July, 1858; and then these two set about improving their condition by unremitting industry and frugality, and an intelligent use of every resource the place afforded. The new wife gave her attention to the poultry and made butter whenever the milk could not be sold as such. "

1860 Federal Census, Cranberry Island, Maine
John Gilley, age 38, farmer, b. Maine
Mary J., age 24, b. Maine
Harriet M., age 1, b. Maine
Delphina Bunker, age 15, b. Maine

1870 Federal Census, Cranberry Island, Maine
John Gilley, age 55, eel fishing, b. Maine
Mary J, age 33, keeping house, b. Maine
Hattie M, age 11, at school, b. Maine
Laura A., age 8, at school, b. Maine
Mary E, age 3, at home, b. Maine
Pung, John, age 11, at school, b. Maine

1880 Federal Census, Cranberry Island, Maine
Gilley, John, age 58, farmer, b. Maine, father b. Maine, mother b. Maine
Mary J. age 33, wife, keeping house, b. Maine, father b. Maine, mother b. Maine
Harriet M, age 21, daughter, at home, b. Maine, father b. Maine, mother b. Maine
Laura A, age 17, daughter, at home, bb. Maine, father b. Maine, mother b. Maine
Mary A, age 13, daughter, at school, b. Maine, father b. Maine, mother b. Maine
Pung, John, ae 21, servant, laborer, b. Maine, father b. Maine, mother b. Maine

"and brought back to the home on Sutton's Island Harriet Bickford Wilkinson, the schoolmistress from Sullivan. The grandfather of Harriet Wilkinson came to Sullivan from Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1769, and her mother's family came from York, Maine. The marriage took place on December 25, 1854, when John was thirty-two and Harriet was twenty-five..."  from "The Durable Satisfactions of Life" by Charles William Eliot, Ayer Publishing, 1905.

The Genealogy:

Generation 1: Luke Wilkinson, born 1762 in New Hampshire, died 1845 in Hancock, Sullivan County, Maine; married Abigail Unknown, born 1767 and died 1842. (dates from gravestones at the Simpson Cemetery, Hancock)

Generation 2:
1. Joshua Wilkinson, born 23 August 1795 in New Castle, Maine, died 11 November 1867 in Sullivan; married on 22 October 1823 in Sullivan to Hannah Johnson, born 5 August 1806 in Sullivan, died March 1859 in Sullivan, the daughter of Stephen Johnson and Hannah Bickford.

2. Ruth Wilkinson, born 1791, died 1867, no further information

3. Joseph Wilkinson, born 1801, died 1852; married Mary Unknown, no further information.

4. Harriet Wilkinson, born 1805, no further information

5. Daniel Wilkinson, born 1809, no further information

Generation 3 (Children of Joshua Wilkinson and Hannah Johnson):
1. Abigail Wilkinson born 23 September 1824 in Sullivan, died 1865, no further information

2. Charles Wilkinson, born 1827, died 1853, no further information

3. Harriet Bickford Wilkinson, born 24 January 1830, died 21 June 1857 on Baker’s Island, Maine; married on 25 December 1854 to John Gilley, born 22 February 1822 on Great Cranberry Island, Maine and died on 12 October 1896 at sea, son of William Gilley and Hannah Boynton Lurvey. Four children: Hattie M. Gilley (married a Springer), Laura A. Gilley (married a Donnell), Mary E. Gilley (married Eugene Parker Stanley), and Charles Walter Gilley.   John Gilley married second on 18 July 1858 in Northeast Harbor, Maine to Mary Jane Wilkinson, born about 1830 in Sullivan, daughter of Joseph Wilkinson and Charlotte Ash.  She was described in the Century article as a "cousin" to Harriett B. Wilkinson.

4. Hannah Wilkinson, born 1832 in Sullivan, no further information

5. Daniel L. Wilkinson, born 1835 in Sullivan, died 27 October 1862 while serving in the Civil War at Camp Stetson, Washington DC; married on 23 March 1862 in Sullivan to Huldah Wasgatt, born 4 August 1830, died 9 December 1862, daughter of Unknown Wasgatt and Hulda Buckley. One child: Charles Daniel Wilkinson, born 7 November 1862 in Sullivan and died 29 March 1888 in Reading, Pennsylvania.

6. Joshua B. Wilkinson, born 7 August 1837, died 3 December 1908 in Rockport, Maine; married about 1863 to Edith A. Jellison, born 1845 and died after 1908, daughter of Sylvanus Jellison and Catherine Merchant. Three children: Annie Wilkinson born 1866, Willard A. Wilkinson, born Dec 1868, died before 1944 in Rockport, Maine; married on 31 October 1895 in Rockport to Bertha L. Parsons, and Blanche Wilkinson, born 1873

7. Eliza Wilkinson, born 1843, died 1846.

8. Eleanor Elizabeth Wilkinson, born 11 March 1850, died 7 May 112 in Boston; married on 4 April 1865 in Prospect Harbor, Maine to Allen Moore Cole, son of Abijah Cole and Rebecca Simonton, born 11 March 1830 in Gouldsboro, Maine, died 11 May 1890 in Gouldsboro. Five children: Charlotte Sargent Cole, Jennie Wright Cole, Rebecca C. Cole, Winnefred Cole, and Allen Wilkinson Cole.

Why do I think Luke Wilkinson is related to Thomas Wilkinson? He lived in New Castle where he was enumerated in the 1790 Federal Census. In the New Hampshire Provincial and State Papers I found a reference in Volume 12, pages 696-7 where he and Thomas both signed a petition to raise money by lottery to build a bridge in New Castle, New Hampshire. He was enumerated in Portsmouth in 1800, in Hancock in the 1810, 1820 and 1830 Federal Censuses, which matches up with the story from the Century Magazine. More study is needed on Luke Wilkinson to find the relationship, which could be brothers or cousins to Thomas and/or Samuel Wilkinson.

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For more information see:

The Gilley Family of Mount Desert Island, by William Otis Sawtelle, published in Spragues Journal of American History Vol 12 # 1&2.

http://api.ning.com/files/0xC-5W72P2eo3GZ36el9OIsdQcZX7dEgs7a2mJsQzhM_/Wilkinson.jpg a page from the Sullivan town records listing the Joshua Wilkinson family.

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "A Mystery Branch of the Wilkinson Family Tree?", Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 12, 2011, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/05/mystery-branch-of-wilkinson-family-tree.html: accessed [access date]).

I'm going to SCGS Jamboree!

Yippeee!

Even though I was away and incommunicado in Spain, on April 29th Thomas MacEntee, on his Genealogy BlogTalk Radio Show, announced that I was the winner of a free registration to the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree!  (Please see the right sidebar for a link the Jamboree website and to archived versions of this wonderful internet genealogy radio show).

With the luck of free registration, some Marriott points and frequent flyer miles I will be attending this conference in June.  Stay posted, and I promise to not be incommunicado while I'm in Burbank.  I'll be posting stories from Jamboree, and keep everyone updated with the latest genealogy news from the conference.

Message #1- I'm already loving the Jamboree 2011 app for my iPhone!  I can't tell you all the ways I tried to put together a Rube Goldberg style version of this app on my iPhone for the 2011 NERGC conference in April using Google Documents, scanned schedules and links to the NERGC website.  This new app will blow your mind!

Thanks, Thomas and SCGS!

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo