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Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Weathervane Wednesday ~ Above a famous University

 I post another in a series of weather vane photographs every Wednesday.  This started with images of weathervanes from the Londonderry, New Hampshire area, but now I've found interesting weather vanes all across New England and across the globe.  Sometimes my weather vanes are whimsical, or historical, but all are interesting.  Often my readers tip me off to some very unique or unusual weathervanes, too!  If you know a great weather vane near you, let me know if you'd like to have it featured on this blog.

Today's weather vane was photographed in Massachusetts.

Do you know the location of weathervane post #326?  Scroll down to find the answer.




This weathervane was photographed above the central tower of Dunster House on the Harvard University campus, from a boat in the middle of the Charles River.

Like Hogwarts, Harvard University has houses for the students (they are not known as dorms).   First year students live in Harvard Yard.  Upper class students participate in a lottery to live in the houses (again, the Hogwarts comparison to the "sorting hat" ceremony).  Along the Charles River are the River Houses known as Adams, Dunster, Eliot, Kirkland, Leverett, Lowell, Mather and Quincy Houses.  The three Quad houses are Pfohozeimer, Currier and Cabot. There are a total of 12 residential houses on campus, and a thirteenth house, Dudley House, serves graduates and non-residents. 

The house system was instituted in the 1930s at Harvard.  Each house has about about 350 student residents.  There are living quarters, as well as a dining hall, libraries, common rooms, and rooms for activities.  Each house has about 20 resident tutors.

Dunster House was named for Henry Dunster, the first president of Harvard.  The houses of Harvard all have specific colors, and so the tower roof of Dunster House is red.  It’s mascot is a moose.  It was completely renovated in 2014 - 2015, and the weathervane is looking especially shiny now above replacement cupola (the old one was crumbling away).   Dunster House is located at 945 Memorial Drive in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

This is a traditional swallow-tailed banner weathervane, based on medieval designs and popular in colonial America.  It appears to be newly gilded or perhaps a new replacement altogether since the Dunster renovation. 

Stay tuned for a few more weather vanes from Harvard Houses in the next few weeks!


Harvard Housing and Residential Life link:  https://osl.fas.harvard.edu/residential-life 

Wikipedia information on Dunster House:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunster_House 
Click here to see the entire collection of Weathervane Wednesday posts!

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Weathervane Wednesday ~ Above a famous University", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 30, 2017, (https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/08/weathervane-wednesday-above-famous.html: accessed [access date]).

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Tombstone Tuesday ~ James Dunlap (1699 – 1771) Windham, New Hampshire

This tombstone was photographed at the Cemetery on the Plain, in Windham, New Hampshire.


Hear Lyes Buryed
The Body of Mr.
James Dunlap Who
Died June ye 21th
1771 Aged 72 years.


James Dunlap was born 1699 in Antrim, Northern Ireland and died 21 June 1771 in Windham, New Hampshire.  He married Sarah Robinson, who died in Windham on 14 November 1747.   James Dunlap owned 60 acres south of Cobbett’s Pond, and he was selectman in 1743 and 1752.

His children were:

1. Isabel, born in 1747 and married Deacon William Gregg
2. Thomas, married Elizabeth, was a soldier in the French and Indian War
3. James
4. Adam, married Elizabeth Adams and removed to Antrim, New Hampshire.  He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War

  
For more information see:

Dunlap:  Alexander Dunlap, 16-- - 1754, of Londonderry & Windham, NH: James Dunlap, 1699 – 1771 of Londonderry & Windham, NH, by Alice Lucinda Priest, 1932 ( a 7 page manuscripts available at the NH Historical Society, call number 929.2 D921p )

History of Windham in New Hampshire, by Leonard A. Morrison, 1883 ( a sketch of the first four generations of DUNLAPs is on pages 519 – 520)

A 2010 blog post of the Dunlap tombstones in Chester, New Hampshire
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/06/tombstone-tuesday-dunlaps-of-chester.html   


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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday ~ James Dunlap (1699 – 1771) Windham, New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 29, 2017, (https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/08/tombstone-tuesday-james-dunlap-1699.html: accessed [access date]).

Monday, August 28, 2017

September 2017 Genealogy and Local History Calendar




For last minute updates, see the “Nutfield Genealogy” Facebook page at this link:  https://www.facebook.com/nutfield.gen/ 

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 August 29, Tuesday,5pm,  A Walk Back in Time:  The Secrets of Cellar Holes, at the Chapin Senior Center, 37 Pleasant Street, New London, New Hampshire.  Presented by Adair Mulligan and sponsored by the New Hampshire Humanities Council.  Free to the public.  Contact information 503-526-6368.

September 1, Friday, noon, Genealogical Resources at the Boston City Archive, at the New England Historic Genealogical Society, 99 – 101 Newbury Street, Boston, Massachusetts.  www.americanancestors.org  Presented by Marta Crilly.  Free to the public as part of the First Friday Lecture Series.  Register here: https://shop.americanancestors.org/products/genealogical-resources-at-the-boston-city-archives

September 2, Saturday, 1pm,  Burial Hill Tours:  History in Progress:  Gravestone Conservation (tour begins at the top of Burial Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts).  A close look at individual stones to reveal changing techniques and highlights the philosophy of modern day historic preservation.  Led by Dr. Donna Curtin, Executive Director of Pilgrim Hall Museum, and Dr. Anne Reilly, Executive Director of the Plymouth Antiquarian Society.  For more information email pasm@verizon.net or call 508-736-0012 

September 2, 3, and 4, Militia Weekend at Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, Massachusetts.  This weekend will feature all the sights and sounds of the training days that 1830s companies took part in at least twice a year.  You will experience everything from cannon and musket demonstrations, to martial music and sham battles. Included with museum admission.  www.osv.org 

September 3, Sunday, 1pm – 4pm, American Canadian Genealogical Society Brickwall Meeting at 4 Elm Street, Manchester, New Hampshire.   Please email your brickwall challenge a few days prior to ACGS@ACGS.org

September 4, Monday, 6pm,  New England Quilts and the Stories They Tell, at the Conway Public Library, 1 Greenwood Avenue, Conway, New Hampshire.  Present by Pam Weeks, sponsored by the New Hampshire Humanities Council.  Free to the public.  Contact information 603-447-5552.

September 6, Wednesday, noon, Brown Bag Lecture:  The Liberator’s Legacy: Memory, Abolitionism, and the Struggle for Civil Rights, 1865 – 1965, at the Massachusetts Historical Society.  Free to the public.  Presented by Donald Yacovone of Harvard University. https://www.masshist.org/calendar

September 7 and 8, Thursday and Friday,   Boston Charter Day, Free to Massachusetts residents.  See the webpage https://www.facebook.com/OSMHBoston

September 7, Thursday, noon, Lunch & Learn:  Four Seventeenth Century Globetrotters, at Plimoth Plantation Museum, Plymouth, Massachusetts.  Hear Virginia and Alden Vaughn discuss four early explorers from the 1600s – John Pory, George Sandys, Stephen Hopkins and John Smith. Free for members, $8 non-members.  Bring a lunch, or buy one at the visitor’s center. http://www.plimoth.org/calendar#/?i=10

September 7, Thursday, 7pm, The Music History of  French Canadians, Franco-Americans, Acadians, and Cajuns, at the Langdon Public Library, 328 Nimble Hill Road, Newington, New Hampshire, presented by Lucie Therrien, sponsored by the New Hampshire Humanities Council.  Free to the public.

September 8 – 13, 2017, General Society of Mayflower Descendants Congress 2017, Plmouth, Massachusetts.  Congressinfo@theMayflowerSociety.org  The General Congress will take place at the 1620 Hotel with business meetings Monday and Tuesday for members, along with other activities. The public can view the Pilgrim’s Progress will begin at the Mayflower House at 2pm, Sunday and participants will march to Cole’s Hill and then to the first Parish Meetinghouse for opening ceremonies.


September 8, 1pm,  New Hampshire’s One-Room Rural Schools: The Romance and the Reality, at the Congress of Claremont Senior Citizens, 67 Maple Street, Claremont, New Hampshire. Presented by Steve Taylor, sponsored by the New Hampshire Humanities Council.  Free to the public. Contact information 603-542-2180.

September 8, Friday, 11am, Walk with Washington, at the Langdon House, 143 Pleasant Street, Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  A guided walking tour through Portsmouth in the footsteps of George Washington.  $8 Historic New England members, $12 non-members.  Registration required at 603-436-3205.

September 9, Saturday, 10am, New Visitor Tour of the New England Historic Genealogical Society Library, at 99 – 101 Newbury Street, Boston, Massachusetts.  Free to the public.  No registration necessary.  Feel free to stay and use the library for research following the tour. 

September 9, Saturday, 10:30am – noon, Naugatuck Valley Genealogy Club Genealogy Presentation, at the Prospect Library, 17 Center Street, Prospect, Connecticut.  A presentation by TV researcher and genealogist Janeen Bjork.  Free to the public.

September 9,  Saturday, 10am, Mount Hope Cemetery Walking Tour, meet up at the superintendents office at Mount Hope Cemetery, Bangor, Maine for a 90 minute guided tour of the nation’s second largest garden cemetery. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for ages 12 and under.  Sponsored by the Bangor Historical Society.

September 9, Saturday, Irish Study Genealogy Group, at the New England Historic Genealogical Society, 99 – 101 Newbury Street, Boston, Massachusetts.  Free to the public.  Contact mary Ellen Grogan at megrogan@ix.netcom.com for more information.

September 9, Saturday, 10am – noon, Fashions of Their Times, 1805 – 1925: A Historical Fashion Workshop, at the Nickels Sortwell House, 121 Main Street, Wiscasset, Maine.  $25 non-members, $15 members of Historic New England.   Registration is limited, please call 207-882-7169 for more information. 

September 10, Sunday, 1pm, Surprising and Inspiring Stories of Jews Buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery, hosted by Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 M. Auburn Street, Watertown,  Massachusetts. Meet up at the Grove Street Gate. Click here to purchase tickets for the tour https://www.eventbrite.com/e/surprising-and-inspiring-stories-of-jews-buried-at-mount-auburn-cemetery-tickets-33173072553?aff=efbeventtix  

September 10, Sunday, 2pm,  New England Lighthouses and the People Who Kept Them, at the Ray-Fre Senior Center, Raymond, New Hampshire.  Free to the public. Presented by Jeremy D’Entremont, sponsored by the NH Humanities Council.  Contact information 603-895-4536.

September 11 and 18, 7pm, Mondays, Climbing Your Family Tree Part I, at the Greenwich High School, 10 Hillside Avenue, Greenwich, Connecticut.  Greenwich Adult and Continuing Education is sponsoring five two part Monday night Genealogy classes taught by TV researcher and genealogist Janeen Bjork this fall.  Fee: $49.  The class fee includes three daytime bonus labs at the Greenwich Library. See page 11 of the catalog online:  https://www.greenwichace.com/customer-content/www/CMS/files/Fall17catalogws.pdf  

September 11, Monday, 7pm, New Hampshire on High: Historic and Unusual Weathervanes of the Granite State, at the Stratham Fire Department Morgera Meeting Room, 2 Winnicutt Road, Stratham, New Hampshire.  Presented by Glenn Knobock, hosted by the Stratham Historical Society.  Contact information 603-772-4346.

September 12, Tuesday, 7pm,  New England Lighthouses and the People Who Kept Them, at the Elkins Library, 9 Center road, Canterbury, New Hampshire.  Free to the public. Presented by Jeremy D’Entremont, sponsored by the NH Humanities Council.  Contact information 603-783-4386.

September 12, Tuesday,  7pm, A Tale of Two Domestics:  Adventures in Archival Archaeology, at the Lyman Estate, 185 Lyman Street, Waltham, Massachusetts. $5 Historic New England and Waltham Historical Society members, $10 non members.  Registration recommended at 617-994-5912.

September 13, Wednesday, 5:30pm, The Devil's Half Acre Walking Tour, meet up at the Bangor Historical Society's Thomas A. Hill House, 159 Union Street, Bangor, Maine.  $10 per person.  www.bangorhistoricalsociety.org  

September 13, Wednesday, 6 – 7:30, Monstrous Births, Powerful Midwives: The Battle Over Women’s Bodies in 17th Century Boston, at the Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston Street (Copley Square), Boston, Massachusetts in the Rabb Lecture Hall. Presented by author Eve LaPlante.  Free to the public.  www.bpl.org

September 14, Thursday, 6pm,  New England Quilts and the Stories They Tell, at the Upper Pemigewasset Historical Society, 26 Church Street, Lincoln, New Hampshire.  Present by Pam Weeks, sponsored by the New Hampshire Humanities Council.  Free to the public.  Contact information 603-745-8159.

September 14, Thursday, 6pm, Harnessing History:  On the Trail of New Hampshire’s State Dog, the Chinook, at the Wiggin Memorial Library, 10 Bunker Hill Avenue, Stratham, New Hampshire.  Presented by Bob Cottrell, sponsored by the New Hampshire Humanities Council. Free to the public.

September 15 - 17, Friday - Sunday, The New Hampshire Highland Games, at Loon Mountain Resort in Lincoln, New Hampshire.  See the website for details https://nhscot.org/festival/activities/seminars 

September 15, Friday, 9:30 am – 3:30pm, Blacksmithing Friday in the Forge, at the Lawrence History Center, 6 Essex Street, Lawrence, Massachusetts.  FREE event.  Richard Wright of the Granite State Hammer Alliance will demonstrate traditional blacksmithing methods in our historic courtyard.

September 16, Saturday, 10:30 - noon,  Fee or Free Genealogy:  Finding Free Records, Deciding When to Pay, at the Stamford History Center, 1508 High Ridge Road, Stamford, Connecticut.  Free to the public.  A lecture by Marian B. Wood sponsored by the Connecticut Ancestry Society. www.connecticutancestry.org  

September 16, Saturday, 2017 Annual Maine State Genealogical Society Fall Conference, at the Point Lookout Resort, 67 Atlantic Highway, Northport, Maine. www.maineroots.org Featured speaker will be David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist for NEHGS.

September 16, Saturday, 1:30pm, Identifying and Dating Family Photographs, at the Connecticut Society of Genealogists, in the Raymond Library, 840 Main Street, East Hartford, Connecticut.  Free to the public.  Please pre-register at this link: http://www.csginc.org/csg_view_event.php?event=269 

September 16, Saturday, 9am – 4:15pm, Researching the Lives of Your Irish Ancestors, at the New England Historic Genealogical Society, 99 – 101 Newbury Street, Boston, Massachusetts.  Cost $125 Breakfast and lunch included.  A full day seminar with Fiona Fitzsimmons, lead investigator of the Irish Family History Centre in Eneclann.  For information and registration:  https://shop.americanancestors.org/products/researching-the-lives-of-your-irish-ancestors

September 16,  Saturday, 6pm, Mount Hope Cemetery Walking Tour, meet up at the superintendents office at Mount Hope Cemetery, Bangor, Maine for a 90 minute guided tour of the nation’s second largest garden cemetery. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for ages 12 and under.  Sponsored by the Bangor Historical Society.

September 16, Saturday, 1pm,  New England Lighthouses and the People Who Kept Them, at the Joseph Patch Library, Warren, 320 NH Route 25, New Hampshire.  Free to the public. Presented by Jeremy D’Entremont, sponsored by the NH Humanities Council.  Contact information 603-764-9072.

September 16, Saturday, Yard Sale sponsored by the Plymouth County Genealogists,  at the Hanson Historical Society, Hanson, Massachusetts.

September 18, Monday, 7:15pm,  Liberty Is Our Motto!: Songs and Stories of the Hutchinson Family Singers, at the St. James Methodist Church, 646 DW Highway, Merrimack, New Hampshire.  Presented by living historian Steve Blunt. Free to the public.  Contact information 603-424-0383.

September 19 and 26, Tuesdays, 10:30 - noon, Researching Your Family Tree: A Six Week Course at the Library,  (completed on Oct 3, 10, 17, and 24) at the Lynnfield Public Library, 18 Summer Street, Lynnfield, Massachusetts.  Presented by Linda B. MacIver, former genealogy specialist at the Boston Public Library.  Free to the public.  Space is limited. Pre-registration and computer skills required. Contact Samantha Cabral at cabral@noblenet.org or (781) 334-5411.  

September 19, Tuesday, 7pm, The Capital Crime of Witchcraft: What the Primary Sources Tell Us, at the Belmont Corner Meeting House, at the intersection of Fuller & Sargent Streets, Belmont, New Hampshire. Presented by Margo Burns, sponsored by the New Hampshire Humanities Council.  Contact Information 603-524-8268.

September 19, Tuesday, 6pm,  New England Quilts and the Stories They Tell, at the Goffstown Public Library, 2 High Street, Goffstown, New Hampshire.  Presented by Pam Weeks, sponsored by the New Hampshire Humanities Council.  Free to the public.  Contact information 603-497-2102.

September 19, Tuesday, 6:30pm, New Hampshire on High: Historic and Unusual Weathervanes of the Granite State, at the Kimball Public Library, 5 Academy Avenue, Atkinson, New Hampshire.  Presented by Glenn Knobock, hosted by the Stratham Historical Society.  Contact information 603-362-5234.

September 19, Tuesday, 6pm, A Visit with Queen Victoria, at the Gilmanton- Year-Round Library, 1285 NH Route 140, Gilmanton Iron Works, New Hampshire.  Presented by living historian Sally Mummey in proper 19th Century clothing resplendid with Royal Orders.  Sponsored by the NH Humanities Council.  Free to the public.

September 20, Wednesday, 6 – 8pm, Preserving Your Family History, at the Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston Street (Copley Square), Boston, Massachusetts, in the Commonwealth Salon.  Free to the public. Presented by Steven Edson and Dan Gilman.

September 20, Wednesday, 1pm,  New England Quilts and the Stories They Tell, at Kimball-Jenkins Estate Carriage House, 266 North Main Street, Concord, New Hampshire.  Presented by Pam Weeks, hosted by the New Hampshire Weaver’s Guild, sponsored by the New Hampshire Humanities Council.  Free to the public.  Contact information 207-829-611.

September 20, Wednesday, 7pm, Poor Houses and Town Farms: The Hard Row for Paupers, at the Veteran’s Hall, 105 Old Homestead Highway, Richmond, New Hampshire.  Presented by Steve Taylor, hosted by the Richmond Public Library.  Free to the public.  Contact information 603-239-6169.

September 20, Wednesday, 7pm, Songs of Emigration: Storytelling Through Traditional Irish Music, at the Center Barnstead Town Hall, 108 South Barnstead Road, Center Barnstead, New Hampshire. Presented by Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki, and hosted by the Oscar Foss Memorial Library.  Free to the public.

September 21, Thursday, 6:30pm, Not-So-Good Life of The Colonial Goodwife, at the Old Colony History Museum, 66 Church Green, Taunton, Massachusetts.  Presented by Velya Janca-Urban.  Free to the public.  Refreshments at 6:30, talk at 7pm.

September 21, Thursday, noon, Lunch and Learn:  When Shipping Was King:  The Piscataqua Region in Colonial America, at the American Independence Museum,  Folsom Tavern, 164 Water Street, Exeter, New Hampshire . Free to the public.  Presented by Jeff Bolster.  Bring a lunch to enjoy during the lecture.

September 21, Thursday, 7:30pm, The Capital Crime of Witchcraft: What the Primary Sources Tell Us, at the Speare Museum, Nashua Historical Society, 5 Abbott Street, Nashua, New Hampshire.  Presented by Margo Burns.  Free to the public. Contact information: 603-883-0015

September 22, Friday, 7pm, Abby Hutchinson’s Sweet Freedom Songs:  Songs and Sories of the Struggle for Abolition and Woman Suffrage, at the Weare Town Hall, 15 Flanders Memorial Road, Weare, New Hampshire.  Presented by living historian Deborah Anne Goss as Abby Hutchinson Patton.  Hosted by the Weare Historical Society.  Free to the public. Contact information 603-529-2630.

September 23, Saturday, 10:30 - noon, DNA Testing for Genealogy Research, at the Cos Cob Library, 5 Sinoway Road, Cos Cob, Connecticut, presented by TV researcher and genealogist Janeen Bjork.  Free to the public. Light refreshments will be served. 

September 23, Saturday, 2pm, Family, Memory, Place: Writing Family Stories, at the Bath Public Library, 4 Lisbon Road, Bath, New Hampshire.  An Interactive workshop run by Martha Andrews Donovan and Maura MacNeil.  Sponsored by the NH Humanities Council. Free to the public.  Contact information 603-747-3372.

September 23, Saturday, 10am, New Visitor Tour of the New England Historic Genealogical Society Library at 99 – 101 Newbury Street, Boston, Massachusetts.  Free to the public.  No registration necessary.  Feel free to stay and use the library following the tour.

September 24,  Sunday, 2pm, Poor Houses and Town Farms: The Hard Row for Paupers, at the Lempster History Hall, 4 2nd NH Turnpike, Lempster, New Hampshire.  Presented by Steve Taylor, hosted by the Lempster Historical Society.  Free to the public.  Contact information 603-863-1121.  

September 23 and 24, Saturday and Sunday, Living History Weekend:  18th Century Medicine, at the Fort at No. 4, 267 Springfield Road, Charlestown, New Hampshire. www.fortat4.org 

September 23 and 24, Saturday and Sunday, 11am – 3pm, Thirteenth Annual Portsmouth Fairy House Tour, starting at the Langdon House,  143 Pleasant Street, Portsmouth, New Hampshire and continuing throughout the historic South End neighborhood including Strawbery Banke and Prescott Park.  Please call 603-436-3205 for more information.  Advance tickets recommended. http://www.portsmouthfairyhousetour.com/  and on Facebook.

September 25 and October 2, Mondays, 7pm, Climbing Your Family Tree IIat the Greenwich High School, 10 Hillside Avenue, Greenwich, Connecticut.  Greenwich Adult and Continuing Education is sponsoring five two part Monday night Genealogy classes taught by TV researcher and genealogist Janeen Bjork this fall.  Fee: $49.  The class fee includes three daytime bonus labs at the Greenwich Library. See page 11 of the catalog online:  https://www.greenwichace.com/customer-content/www/CMS/files/Fall17catalogws.pdf  

September 26, Tuesday, 7pm, A Taste of the Old Country in the New:  Franco-Americas of Manchester, New Hampshire,  at the Marlborough Community House, 160 Main Street, Marlborough, New Hampshire.  Presented by Robert Perreault. Hosted by the Marlborough Historical Society.  Free to the public.

September 26, Tuesday, 7pm, The Zimmerman Telegram Story, at the Wright Museum of World War II, 77 Center Street, Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, presented by Professor Douglas Wheeler, about the famous leaked telegram that helped propel the USA into World War I.  $8 admission, and reservations required by calling 603-569-1212.  www.wrightmuseum.org

September 27, Wednesday, 6pm, Privies and Peach Pits:  Public Health in Puritan Boston, at the New England Historic Genealogical Society, 99 - 101 Newbury Street, Boston, Massachusetts.  Sponsored by the Partnership of Historic Bostons. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/privies-and-peach-pits-public-health-in-puritan-boston-registration-36661947873   Free to the public.

September 27, Wednesday, noon, Brown Bag Lecture: The Constitution of Disability in the Early United States, at the Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, Massachusetts.  Free to the Public.  Presented by Laurel Daen, MHS- NEH Fellow.

September 27, Wednesday,  11:30am “If I am Not For Myself, Who Will be For Me?” George Washington’s Runaway Slave, at the Rivier University Dion Center, 4 Clement Street,  Nashua, New Hampshire.  Living historian Gwendolyn Quezaire-Presutti will portray Oney Judge Staines.  Free to the public.  Hosted by the Women’s Studies program at Rivier University.  Contact information 603-897-8563. 

September 27, Wednesday, 6:30pm,  The Capital Crime of Witchcraft: What the Primary Sources Tell Us, at the Silsby Free Public Library, 226 Main Street, Charlestown, New Hampshire. Presented by Margo Burns, sponsored by the New Hampshire Humanities Council.  Free to the public.  Contact Information 603-826-7793.

September 27, Wednesday, 6:30 pm, Rosie’s Mom:  Forgotten Women of the First World War, at the Belknap Mill, 25 Beacon Street East, Laconia, New Hampshire. Presented by historian Carrie Brown and hosted by the Belknap Mill.  Free to the public.

September 27, Wednesday, 7pm, New England Lighthouses and the People Who Kept Them, at the Kensington Public Library, 126 Amesbury Road, Kensington, New Hampshire.  Presented by Jeremy D’Entremont.  Sponsored by the NH Humanities Council.  Free to the public.  Contact 603-772-5022.

 September 28, Thursday, 7pm,  The Capital Crime of Witchcraft: What the Primary Sources Tell Us, at Wilmot Public Library, 11 North Wilmot Road, Wilmot, New Hampshire. Presented by Margo Burns, sponsored by the New Hampshire Humanities Council.  Free to the public.  Contact Information 603-526-6804.

September 28, 6:30pm, Yankee Ingenuity: Stories of Headstrong and Resourceful People, at the Hooksett Library, 31 Mount Saint Mary’s Way, Hooksett, New Hampshire.  Jo Radner shares historical tales about New Englanders who have used their wits to solve problems and create inventions. Free to the public through a grant from the NH Humanities council.

September 28,  Thursday, 7pm, Poor Houses and Town Farms: The Hard Row for Paupers, at the Old Webster Courthouse, 6 Court Street, Plymouth, New Hampshire.  Presented by Steve Taylor, hosted by the Plymouth Historical Society.  Free to the public.  Contact information 603-536-1376.

September 30, Saturday, American Canadian Genealogy Society Fall Conference, at the Puritan Restaurant, 245 Hooksett Road, Manchester, New Hampshire (in the Pappas Room).  Annual meeting, three speakers (Jeanne Douillard, Lucie LeBlanc Consentino, and Leslie Choquette), buffet luncheon, and raffle.  Register here:  https://acgs.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Fall-Conference-2017-1.pdf   Members $70, nonmembers $80.

September 30 and October 1, Saturday and Sunday, Return to Number 4: Revolutionary War Weekend at The Fort at No. 4, 267 Springfield Road, Charlestown, New Hampshire. www.fortat4.org 

October 1, Sunday, 2pm, Giving Voice: An Afternoon with Annette Gordon-Reed, at the Royall House & Slave Quarters, 15 George Street, Medford, Massachusetts.

October 3, Tuesday, 6:30pm, New England Lighthouses and the People Who Kept Them, at the Hampton Falls Free Library, 7 Drinkwater Road, Hampton Falls, New Hampshire.  Presented by Jeremy D’Entremont.  Sponsored by the NH Humanities Council.  Free to the public.  Contact 603-926-3682.

October 3, Tuesday, 7pm, Brewing in New Hampshire: An Informal History of Beer in the Granite State from Colonial Times to the Present, at the Hollis Social Library, 2 Monument Square, Hollis, New Hampshire.  Free to the public. Presented by Glenn Knoblock.  Sponsored by the NH Humanities Council.  Contact 603-465-7721.

October 4, Wednesday, noon, Brown Bag Lecture:  Commerce and the Material Culture of the Maritime Atlantic World, at the Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, Massachusetts. Presented by J. Ritchie Garrison of the University of Delaware.  Free to the Public. https://www.masshist.org/calendar

October 4, Wednesday, 6 – 7:30pm, Margaret Newell, author of Brethren by Nature: New England Indians, Colonists, and the Origins of American Slavery, at the Boston Public Library, Commonwealth Salon, 700 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts.  Present by author Margaret Newell.  Free to the public.

October 5, Thursday, noon, Lunch & Learn: Salem Witch Museum and Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and 1693, at the Plimoth Plantation visitor’s center, Plymouth, Massachusetts.  Presented by Stacy Tilney. Register at this site: http://www.plimoth.org/calendar#/?i=14  Free for members, $8 non-members. Bring a lunch or buy one at the visitor’s center.

October 5,  Thursday, 6:30pm,  The Capital Crime of Witchcraft: What the Primary Sources Tell Us, at Fremont Public Library, 7 Jackie Bernier Drive, Fremont, New Hampshire. Presented by Margo Burns, sponsored by the New Hampshire Humanities Council.  Free to the public.  Contact Information 603-702-0120.

October 6, Connecticut Roots at 40 Conference, at Goodwin College, 1 Riverside Drive, East Hartford, Connecticut. Keynote Speaker, Colson Whitehead.  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/roots-at-40-reflections-and-rememberances-tickets-32911981623

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "September 2017 Genealogy and Local History Calendar", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 28, 2017, (https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/08/september-2017-genealogy-and-local.html: accessed [access date]). 

Saturday, August 26, 2017

Surname Saturday ~ GORHAM of Massachusetts


John Gorham (1620 – 1675) is my 11th great grandfather.  He is not the son of Ralph Gorham, who arrived in New England aboard the Phillip in 1635. The first record of John in New England is in 1643, just months before he married Desire Howland, the daughter of John Howland of the Mayflower.  After marriage they lived in Marshfield, then Yarmouth where he ran a grist mill, wharf and was also a tanner.

Captain John Gorman served in King Philip’s war in the winter of 1675, where he was injured when his powder horn, attached to his belt, exploded.    Then he was exposed to harsh weather and developed a fever.  He was brought to Wannamoisett in Rhode Island to the farm of John Brown.  He died there, and was buried on the Brown farm in the burial plot on 7 March 1675.  His wife is also buried with him.

Their daughter, Desire Gorham (1644 – 1700) is my 10th great grandmother.  She married John Hawes in 1661.  He was a “cutler” by occupation, and an ensign in the militia. They lived in Yarmouth, on Cape Cod. By 1700 John Hawes was appointed Captain of the militia. He served in the legislature in Boston in 1698. John Hawes died after having his leg amputated.  I descend from their eldest child, Elizabeth Hawes (1662 – about 1732), my 9th great grandmother, who married Thomas Daggett of Martha’s Vineyard.

Some Gorham genealogy resources:     
           
John Howland of the Mayflower: Volume I: Documented Descendants Through His First Child Desire Howland and her Husband Captain John Gorham, by Elizabeth Pearson White, 1990.

Capt. John Gorham of Barnstable, Mass., compiled by Henry S. Gorham, 1931, 18 volumes

"Gorham Family," Boston Evening Transcript, (in their famous genealogy query column) 15 May 1916

Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families, by Amos Otis, Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1991

"Howland History Still Lives in Wannamoisett," by Clinton W. Sellew, The Howland Quarterly, Vol. 64, No. 1, pp 10-11, March 1999

My GORHAM lineage:

Generation 1: John Gorham, born about 1620 in England, died 5 February 1675 in Swansea (now East Providence, Rhode Island); married on 6 November 1644 in Barnstable, Massachusetts to Desire Howland, daughter of two Mayflower passengers – John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley.  She was born 13 October 1623 in Plymouth, and died 13 October 1683 in Barnstable. Eleven children.

Generation 2: Desire Gorham, born 2 April 1644 in Plymouth, died 30 June 1700 in Yarmouth, Massachusetts; married on 7 October 1661 in Barnstable, Massachusetts to John Hawes, son of Edmund Hawes.  He was born about 1635 in Duxbury, Massachusetts, and died 11 November 1701 in Yarmouth.  Eleven children.

Generation 3:  Elizabeth Hawes m. Thomas Daggett
Generation 4:  Elizabeth Daggett m. John Butler
Generation 5:  Keziah Butler m. Samuel Osborn
Generation 6:  Samuel Osborn m. Sarah Wass
Generation 7: Sarah Osborn m. Charles Skinner
Generation 8: Ann Skinner m. Thomas Ratchford Lyons
Generation 9: Isabella Lyons m. Rev. Ingraham Ebenezer Bill
Generation 10: Caleb Rand Bill m. Ann Margaret Bollman
Generation 11: Isabella Lyons Bill m. Albert Munroe Wilkinson
Generation 12:  Donald Munroe Wilkinson m. Bertha Louise Roberts

My HOWLAND "Surname Saturday" blog post:


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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ GORHAM of Massachusetts”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 26, 2017, (https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/08/surname-saturday-gorham-of-massachusetts.html: accessed [access date]). 

Friday, August 25, 2017

Vintage Views of Yosemite National Park

My first cousin discovered a large box of my grandparents' slides and sent them to me.  A second cousin offered to digitize the slides for me.  I've been featuring them on my blog once or twice a month. This week I'm sharing some photos I recognize as Yosemite National Park in the 1960s.  I've been there, so I know the scenery.

My grandparents moved to California around 1970 after many visits to my uncle in Long Beach.  They had quite a few photographs in the slide collection of sights around the state of California. They must have had fun during their retirement years exploring their new state.  The scenery here is nothing like New England at all!

Here is my grandmother posing in front of the giant sequoia tree known as "General Grant".
Today this tree is 270 feet tall and 107 feet around, and it appears just about as big here!
Doesn't everyone have a photo like this in the family album? (Lots of dirt instead of the tree?)

This photo and the one below are of the Bridal Veil Falls.
The photo below is great! The one above isn't focused on anything


My grandfather "Papa" Wilkinson snapped this shot in the Yosemite Valley.
Car trouble? A picnic? Who are these people? The background is spectacular!
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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Vintage Views of Yosemite National Park", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 25, 2017, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/08/vintage-views-of-yosemite-national-park.html: accessed [access date]).

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Weathervane Wednesday ~ Above Harvard Square

I post another in a series of weather vane photographs every Wednesday.  This started with images of weathervanes from the Londonderry, New Hampshire area, but now I've found interesting weather vanes all across New England and across the globe.  Sometimes my weather vanes are whimsical, or historical, but all are interesting.  Often my readers tip me off to some very unique or unusual weathervanes, too!  If you know a great weather vane near you, let me know if you'd like to have it featured on this blog.

Today's weather vane was photographed in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Do you know the location of weathervane post #325?  Scroll down to find the answer.



This simple arrow weather vane is located on the steeple of the First Parish Church in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts.  On the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Church street, this church looks across Harvard Square towards Harvard Yard.  When I was in college, this church hosted coffee shops, music and weekly meals- and it was very popular with all the students in the area.

The first meeting house in Cambridge was built nearby in 1632 and the Puritan minister was Thomas Hooker.  There were four more meeting houses built in Cambridge until in 1829 the parish divided into a Unitarian and a Congregational church.  This meetinghouse was built in 1833. The weathervane is probably original to the building.

First Parish Church in Cambridge  http://firstparishcambridge.org/


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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Weathervane Wednesday ~ Above Harvard Square", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 23, 2017 ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/08/weathervane-wednesday-above-harvard.html: accessed [access date]).

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Elihu Stevens, 1871, Manchester, New Hampshire

This tombstone was photographed at the Valley Cemetery in Manchester, New Hampshire.


ELIHU T. STEVENS
Died
Cot. 17, 1871
AE. 69 yrs.
MARY A. O.
his wife.
Died Jan. 2, 1896
AE. 85 yrs.
----------------------
STEVENS

This gravestone and the plot it sits on were neglected and abandoned by the City of Manchester.  It was weed infested and overgrown.  Volunteers have been clearing out the Valley Cemetery, and trimming back the over growth to uncover lost tombstones and family plots.  If this were my ancestor, I'd be appalled at this neglect.  If it were my family member, I'd complain to the city for their lack of "perpetual care."

You can read more about the volunteers at Valley Cemetery at this link:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/07/historic-valley-cemetery-manchester-new.html

Here is a photo taken by Pat Van Den Berghe of Elihu T. Stevens' tombstone for the FindAGrave website in 2010.  Please notice the vegetation in the foreground and background between 2010 and 2017.

Pat Van Den Berghe/FindAGrave 2010

Vincent Rojo/Nutfield Genealogy 2017

Elihu T. Stevens was born about 1802 and died 17 Oct 1871 in Manchester, New Hampshire.  He served in the First Massachusetts Cavalry around 1823.

In June 1832 in Exeter, New Hampshire, Elihu Stevens married Mary Anne Odlin, daughter of William Odlin and Elizabeth Leavitt.  She was born on 29 July 1810 in Exeter, New Hampshire. They had four children: Caroline Odlin Stevens (married Captain Amos Blanchard Shattuck), William Odlin Stevens, Mary Anne Stevens (married Ruben Lord Griffin) and Julianna.


A link to the Find A Grave Memorial for Elihu T. Stevens ( Find A Grave Memorial #62695553):
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=62695553


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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday ~ Elihu Stevens, 1871, Manchester, New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 22, 2017, (https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/08/tombstone-tuesday-elihu-stevens-1871.html: accessed [access date]).

Monday, August 21, 2017

The Obituary of Sarah (Osborne) Skinner, 1848, Nova Scotia

From the Christian Messenger, Friday 14 April 1848, pages 116a and 117.  This was a Baptist newsletter in Nova Scotia, Canada. 




“OBITUARY NOTICE
Mrs. Sarah Skinner was the daughter of the late Mr. Samuel Osborne.  Both Mr. And Mrs. S. were born in Martha’s Vineyard, U. S. where they were married.  They removed, thence to Casco bay Maine, from thence to N. B. and finally to N. S.
                Sarah, their daughter, and the subject of this notice, was born on the 22nd July 1760 and was sprinkled in her infancy, as were the rest of the children.  Their mother instructed them in the belief and practice of the Pedobaptists, - and exercised over their morals watchful care – taught them to repeat prayers and read their Bibles, &c.  Sarah’s mind was seriously exercised from childhood about her soul’s interests and at twelve years of age her concern became more pungent, and notwithstanding, her having been early instructed, that having been dedicated to God, and be properly termed, truly religious instructions, calculated to impress her mind with the necessity of a divine change, and lead her to the right source and practice, irrespective of the Spirit of God and His Word, were very limited.  When about nineteen years of age, she heard a sermon preached by Henry Allen, who was a Pedobaptist Congregational Minister, and all the churches formed thro’ his instrumentality were of that order, consequently she did not make a public profession of religion until she was bout forty six years of age.  About this time there was a Close Communion Calvinistic Baptist Church organized in Cornwallis by Elder Case, from Maine, consisting of only seven members who separated from what was then called the Open Communion Church, consisting of Baptists and Pedobaptists, over which Elder Edward Manning was Pastor, but who was subsequently immersed by the late Rev. T. H. Chipman, and re-ordained by Elder Case, as the Pastor of the newly organized church.  This being the first Baptist church ever formed in Cornwallis, which Mrs. Skinner untied with, and remained a consistent member until her demise.  It may be truly said that but few persons in life were more rooted and grounded in the truths of the Bible, more circumspect in her deportment, and possessed stronger faith during the whole course of her religious life – and notwithstanding the various conflicts she was called to pass thro’, it bing her lot in the Providence of God, to be what the world is wont to call poor, yet she was rich in faith, and an heir of the Kingdom of God, and in much patience possessed her soul, -- was always cheerful and resigned, and possessed abiding reliance in the strong arm of Jehovah – and a confident assurance of a blessed immortality, knowing that her hope rested alone on the merits of Christ’s death.  She was familiar with her Bible, enjoyed much communion with her Saviour, and always delighting in the Gospel. She loved the house of God, and the communion and fellowship of the saints.  Her life was one continued example of piety – she had, it is true, her inbred corruptions to content with and lament, yet her faith in Christ’s blood triumphed over them.  For a number of years after her husband’s death, she resided with her brother in law, the late W. A. Chipman, Esq.  They highly appreciated her company, but she preferred living with her children during the latter part of her life.  She retained the use of her faculties remarkably in old age, her memory was good – the choice sayings contained in the book of God were always her support, and with much emphasis would she relate them, her mind being richly stored with them.  For a number of years before her demise she was unable to go to the house of God, but when sermons were preached in the house where she resided, she would greatly rejoice in the truth.  She would often repeat appropriate hymns to her state of mind and with pious emotions; and looking forward with joyful expectation of entering into the full enjoyment of that rest that remains for the saints of God.
                One circumstance among many that might be named as interesting might be adverted to.  At one time she was tempted to believe that there was no Heaven.  The thought exceedingly distressed her, and she immediately retired and threw herself prostrate on the ground, and begged of God to relieve her mind.  She returned to the house in agony, and fled to her Bible, and when she opened it the following words from Isaiah met her view “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, &c”  instantly all her doubts were removed, and she then resolved in future when any similar suggestion came to her mind that would reject it and this proved a source of great comfort and safeguard to her through her life.  About two years before her demise she took a severe cold which settled in her limbs and rendered her incapable of walking – yet she could sit up through the day – but for the last year she was principally confined to her bed, but always patient and cheerful, -- and her whole theme was the subject of religion.  She gradually declined, and finally when the closing scene drew near, she was like one looking for and hastening unto the day of God.  Death was no terror to her, she could triumph over it.  She knew that her Redeemer liveth, and that his promises would never fail.  How oft would she repeat the saying of our blessed Lord, “In my Father’s house are many mansions &c.”, she had no doubt that there was one for her and that she should soon enter there.  She retained her senses until the last.  Tuesday, before she expired the writer of this sketch saw her, found her dying, but still capable of speaking so as to understood.  In answer to questions proposed to her, she relied that she knew she was dying—that her hope of heaven was strong—She had no fears – all was well.  Being asked if she wished him to pray with her, she replied “Yes!  Prayer is sweet.”  After prayer she said “Amen,” in token of her approbation.  She finally fell asleep in Jesus on the 15th January 1848, in the 88th year of her age.  Her death was improved by a sermon preached by the Rev. A. Stronach.
                She was married at the age of sixteen to Mr. Charles Skinner, in N. B. who was a native of Connecticut.  She had by him eight sons and seven daughters, all of whom have been married except on daughter and one son who died when in his eighth year. Most of her children have publicly professed religion, and for the others she was not without hope.  She had one hundred and thirteen grandchildren, forty-seven of whom have professed religion, and all except two are Baptists.  Upwards of sixty great grand children, a number of whom have also professed religion.  There are four Baptist Ministers connected with her family.  One her own sons, Pastor of a Baptist Church in N. B., Elders Ed. Manning, Cornwallis, and Geo. Dimock, Newport, N. S., who married her daughter, and Rev. I. E. Bill, of Nictaux, who married her grand daughter.  – Communicated by Rev. W. Chipman.
                Pleasant Valley, March 29th, ‘48


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Sarah Osborne Skinner was my 5th great grandmother.  She was the daughter of  Samuel Osborn and Sarah Wass, residents of the island of Martha's Vineyard who removed to New Brunswick, Canada.   She was born 22 July 1760 in Fredricton, New Brunswick, and died 15 January 1848 in Pleasant Valley, Cornwallis, Nova Scotia.

At age sixteen Sarah married Charles Skinner on 24 November 1774 in Passamoquoddy, New Brunswick.   They had fifteen children, including my 4th great grandmother, Ann Skinner (1786 - 1815) who married Thomas Ratchford Lyons.  Ann's daughter, Isabella Lyons (1806 - 1872), married the Reverend Ingraham Ebenezer Bill, who is mentioned in the obituary above.  Ann's sister, Rebecca Skinner (1781 - 1857) married Reverend Edward Manning, who baptized my 2nd great grandfather, Rev. I. E. Bill. 

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "The Obituary of Sarah (Osborne) Skinner, 1848, Nova Scotia", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 21, 2017, (https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/08/the-obituary-of-sarah-osborne-skinner.html: accessed [access date]). 

Sunday, August 20, 2017

Should I Stay, Or Should I Go?


"Should I Stay, Or Should I Go?"

I often wonder how my ancestors made the decision to step aboard a 17th century sailing ship and cross the Atlantic ocean.  When I see refugees fleeing the Middle East or North Africa by boat I often wonder how desperate they must have been to leave the known world for the New World. Especially my Mayflower ancestors, who had only a few reports from Jamestown to help them make up their minds.  I even asked my mother-in-law this question, although she didn't board a ship to come to the USA, but she boarded a Lockheed Constellation and landed at LaGuardia airport in 1960 from Spain. 

Today, when you visit Plymouth, Massachusetts, the first thing that is noticeable is the missing Mayflower II.  I've grown so accustomed to seeing this ship in her home berth, that the sight of her gone is rather startling.  But, don't worry!  The folks at Plimoth Plantation have developed a fun new interactive display for the pavilion on State Pier that used to house the Mayflower exhibits.  


The new exhibit "Should I Stay, Or Should I Go?" opened earlier this summer, and has been refined to the interactive game I experienced last week as part of a members only party held by Plimoth Plantation staff.  Upon entering the exhibit, visitors choose the identity of an un-named Mayflower passenger or crew member.  I chose a 50 year old woman who was part of the Leiden congregation.  You can also choose a man or woman from England (Pilgrims or Strangers), a child, or one of the Mayflower mariners. They all had different experiences, views, and reasons for being on board the Mayflower in 1620. 


These exhibits show what life was like aboard the Mayflower. Visitors read color coded signs to follow their chosen "passenger" through the exhibit. You are free to repeat the tour and read all the signs to see how other passengers and crew experienced their passage to New England and life during the first year in Plymouth. The exhibits are interactive. You can hoist supplies aboard, raise flags, experience your sea legs, or climb into this tiny cubby that housed an entire family for the 66 days it took to cross the Atlantic ocean. 



If your chosen Mayflower character was male, and "of age", and not a crew member, he might have signed the Mayflower compact.  In this photo below was pointing to my ancestor's (Isaac Allerton) signature.  I was wearing my identity card around my neck as I perused the exhibit.  It was color coded so I could read my character's story as I passed through. 


My favorite part of this member event was signing a trunnel with my name with a permanent marker. A trunnel ( "tree nail" ) is the wooden peg used in post and beam construction, and for the 17th century ship building techniques being used to renovate the Mayflower II in the Mystic Seaport shipyard.  These trunnels will be used on the Mayflower II, and will become part of her structure.  How cool is that! 

This exhibit takes a visitor from England, across the Atlantic, to Cape Cod, to Plymouth and the first encounters with the Native Wampanoag people.  There are lots of hands on things for the kids, and great signs and explanations along the way for the older folks. I would have liked to have seen more displays on the ultimate destinies of those people represent by our chosen "character" tags around our necks during the visit.  Did they survive? Did they perish that first winter? Did they return to England? Did they flourish in the New World? Or was life a struggle?

What is missing from the photo below?


Mayflower II is missing... but we enjoyed the new exhibit! You can enjoy it, too, until the Mayflower returns to Plymouth harbor (probably sometime in late 2019). 

Plimoth Plantation official website:  http://www.plimoth.org/  

The Waterfront Experience "Should I Stay, Or Should I Go?"


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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Should I Stay, Or Should I Go?", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 19, 2017, (https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/08/should-i-stay-or-should-i-go.html: accessed [access date])

Saturday, August 19, 2017

Surname Saturday ~ HOWLAND, A Mayflower Passenger

The Jabez Howland House in Plymouth, Massachusetts
home of John Howland's son. 

John Howland is my 11th and 10th great grandfather because I descend from two of his daughters. He was the famous passenger on board the Mayflower in 1620 who almost lost his life when he fell overboard during a storm.  Thankfully, he was saved with a rope and a boat hook, thus ensuring thousands, and perhaps millions of descendants.   The only first person account of this event reads that “a lusty young man called John Howland, coming upon some occasion above the gratings was, with a seele of the ship, thrown into the sea; but it pleased God that he caught hold of the topsail halyards which hung overboard and ran out at length. Yet he held his hold (though he was sundry fathoms under water) till he was hauled up by the same rope to the brim of the water, and then with boat hook and other means got into the ship again and his life saved. And though he was something ill with it, yet he lived many years after and became a profitable member both in church and commonwealth." [from Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford]

The Mayflower passengers are among some of the most studied and researched immigrants to America, and you can read much about them in books, scholarly journals and online.  I will summarize some of that research in a few paragraphs, and list some of the best genealogical sources below. John Howland was a cooper, who came aboard the Mayflower as a young servant to John Carver, the first governor of the Plymouth Colony.  He was one of the 41 men who signed the Mayflower Compact, and he is buried on Burial Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

John Howland was married about 1623 to Elizabeth Tilley, who was only about fifteen during her passage to Plymouth on board the Mayflower.  Elizabeth’s parents, John Tilley and Joan Hurst died that first winter in New England, 1620 – 1621, and Governor Carver became her guardian.  However, Governor Carver, died in April 1621 and his wife died in May 1621, which made John Howland the head of the Carver household, which included Mrs. Carver’s daughter Desire Minter (by her first marriage).  John and Elizabeth Howland named their first child (my ancestor) after Desire (see below).

John and Elizabeth Howland raised ten children at their home in Rocky Nook, which was part of Plymouth but is now in the town of Kingston, Massachusetts.  John’s brothers, Henry and Arthur Howland both came to New England and left descendants, too.  Famous descendants of John and Elizabeth Howland include Presidents George W. Bush, George H. W. Bush, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, as well as the writers Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, actors Christopher Lloyd, Humphrey Bogart, Stephen Baldwin, and the founder of the LDS church Joseph Smith.  Henry Howland is the ancestor of presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford.  Arthur Howland is the ancestor of Sir Winston Churchill.  

In the second generation I descend from sisters Desire (1623 – 1683) and Hope (1629 – 1684).  Desire married Captain John Gorham in 1644.  He was a tanner who lived in Barnstable on Cape Cod, and he owned a grist mill.  He served in King Philip’s war where he contracted a fever and died in 1675.  Hope Howland married John Chipman in 1646.  He arrived from England on board the Friendship with Isaac Allerton (one of my other Mayflower ancestors) as a servant to Richard Derby.  He became a resident of Barnstable and an elder of the church. (See the lineages listed below)

HOWLAND resources:

The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620 – 1633, by Robert Charles Anderson, 1995, Volume II, pages 1020 – 1024 for John Howland, and pages 1016 – 1019 for Henry Howland.

John Howland of the Mayflower: Volume 1, the First Five Generations, Documented Descendants Through his First Child Desire Howland and her Husband Captain John Gorham, by Elizabeth Pearson White, 1990.

John Howland of the Mayflower: Volume III: Documented Descendants Through His Third Child Hope Howland, Wife of John Chipman, by Elizabeth Pearson White, 1990

Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620 - 1647, by William Bradford (many editions)
The History of Arthur, Henry and John Howland and Their Descendants, by Franklyn Howland. 

The Pilgrim John Howland Society (Family Association) http://www.pilgrimjohnhowlandsociety.org/  

The English origins of the three HOWLAND brothers are in an article in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Volume 75, pages 105 – 116, and 2016 – 225.

For children, The Boy Who Fell Off the Mayflower: Or John Howland’s Good Fortune, by P. J. Lynch, 2015, (the story is good, but the illustrations portray John Howland in 1620 as a boy instead of the being “of age” and old enough to sign the Mayflower Compact).

My HOWLAND genealogy (two lineages):

Generation 1:  John Howland, son of Henry Howland and Margaret Aires, born about 1592 in Fenstanton, Huntingdonshire, England, died 23 February 1673 at Rocky Nook, Plymouth; married about 1623 in Plymouth to Elizabeth Tilley, daughter of John Tilley and Joan Hurst, born 30 August 1607 in Henlow, Bedfordshire, England and died 21 December 1687 in Swansea, Massachusetts.  Ten children (I descend from Hope and Desire):

Lineage A:

Generation 2: Hope Howland, born 30 August 1629 in Plymouth, died 8 January 1684 in Barnstable, Massachusetts; married 13 September 1646 in Plymouth to John Chipman as his first wife.  He was the son of Thomas Chipman, born about 1620 in Bryant’s Puddle, Dorsetshire, England, and died 8 January 1709 in Sandwich, Massachusetts. Twelve children.

Generation 3:  Hannah Chipman, born 14 January 1659 in Plymouth, died 4 November 1696 in Barnstable; married on 1 May 1680 in Barnstable to Thomas Huckins as his first wife.  He was the son of Thomas Huckins and Rose Unknown,  born 25 April 1651 in Barnstable, and died before 15 October 1714 in Barnstable. Nine children.

Generation 4: Hope Huckins, born 21 September 1689 in Barnstable, died after 4 January 1730 in Barnstable; married first to Benjamin Hamblin (4 children), son of John Hamblin and Sarah Bearse, born 11 February 1687 in Barnstable, died before 8 March 1718; married second to Ebenezer Childs, son of Richard Childs and Elizabeth Crocker, born March 1691 in Barnstable, died 17 January 1756 in Barnstable (2 children).

Generation 5: Hannah Hamblin, born about 1714 in Barnstable, died 26 July 1791 in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia; married before 7 March 1734 to Jonathan Crosby, son of John Crosby and Hannah Bangs, born 2 November 1705 in Harwich, Massachusetts, and died 26 July 1782 in Yarmouth.  Eleven children.

Generation 6: Ebenezer Crosby, born 26 August 1747 in Mansfield, Connecticut, died 26 February 1826 in Yarmouth; married on 8 September 1774 in Chebogue, Nova Scotia to Elizabeth Robinson, daughter of Jabez Robinson and Tabitha Green.  She was born 17 June 1750 in Falmouth, Massachusetts, and died 27 July 1837 in Nova Scotia.  Eleven children.

Generation 7:  Rebecca Crosby, born 19 December 1789 in Yarmouth, died 1889 in Nova Scotia; married 12 August 1808 in Chebogue to Comfort Haley, son of Comfort Haley and Abigail Allen.  He was born 9 October 1787 in Chebogue and died 3 December 1874 in Chebogue. Eleven children.

Generation 8:  Joseph Edwin Healy, born 12 August 1823 in Belfast, Maine or Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, died 17 June 1862 at the Battle of Saint Charles, Arkansas during the Civil War; married on 3 February 1848 to Matilda Weston, daughter of Zadoc Weston and Mary Clements.  She was born October 1825 in Yarmouth, and died 19 August 1909 at 43 Bartlett Street, Beverly, Massachusetts.  Four children.

Generation 9: Mary Etta Healey, born 19 May 1852 in Beverly, died 23 July 1932 in Beverly; married on 14 March 1870 in Salem, Massachusetts to Peter Hoogerzeil, so of Peter Hoogerzeil and Eunice Stone.  He was born 24 June 1841 in Beverly, and died 10 May 1908 in Beverly. Six children.

Generation 10:  Florence Etta Hoogerzeil, born 20 August 1871 in Beverly, died 10 February 1941 in Hamilton, Massachusetts; married on 25 December 1890 in Beverly to Arthur Treadwell Hitchings, son of Abijah Franklin Hitchings and Hannah Eliza Lewis.  He was born 10 May 1869 in Salem, and died 7 March 1937 in Hamilton. Eight children.

Generation 11:  Gertrude Matilda Hitchings, born 1 August 1905 in Beverly, died 3 November 2001 in Peabody, Massachusetts; married on 14 February 1925 in Hamilton to Stanley Elmer Allen, son of Joseph Gilman Allen and Carrie Maude Batchelder.  He was born 14 January 1904 in Cambridge, Massachusetts and died 6 March 1982 in Beverly.  Seven children. (My grandparents)

Lineage B:

Generation 2: Desire Howland, born 13 October 1623 in Plymouth, died 13 October 1683 in Barnstable; married on 6 November 1644 in Barnstable to John Gorham, son of Ralph Gorham and Margaret Stephenson.  He was born 28 January 1620 in Benefield, Northamptonshire, England, and died 5 February 1675 in Swansea. Eleven children.

Generation 3:  Desire Gorham, born 2 April 1644 in Plymouth, died 30 June 1700 in Yarmouth, Massachusetts; married on 7 October 1661 in Barnstable to John Hawes, son of Edmund Hawes.  He was born about 1635 in Duxbury, Massachusetts and died 11 November 1701 in Yarmouth.  Eleven children.

Generation 4:  Elizabeth Hawes, born 5 October 1662 in Yarmouth, died between 25 December 1732 and 13 February 1734 in Edgartown, Massachusetts; married on 22 January 1684 in Bristol, Rhode Island to Thomas Daggett, so of Thomas Daggett and Hannah Mayhew.  He was born about 1658 in Bristol, and died 28 August 1726 in Edgartown.  Ten children.

Generation 5: Elizabeth Daggett, born about 1690 in Edgartown, died after 1753; married 16 December 1708 in Edgartown to John Butler, son of John Butler and Priscilla Norton.  He was born about 1674 and died after 6 February 1754.  Six children.

Generation 6:  Keziah Butler, born 1710 in Edgartown, died October 1768 in Edgartown; married on 9 September 1731 in Edgartown to Samuel Osborn, son of Samuel Osborn and Mercy Norton.  He was born about 1711 in Edgartown and died after 8 October 1753.  Ten children.

Generation 7:  Samuel Osborn, born 1732 in Edgartown, probably died in Nova Scotia; married on 28 April 1755 in Martha’s Vineyard to Sarah Wass, daughter of Wilmot Wass and Rebecca Allen.  She was born 24 January 1738 in West Tisbury, Massachusetts; and died 23 February 1813 in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia.  Five children.

Generation 8:  Sarah Osborn, born 22 July 1760 in Fredricton, New Brunswick, died 15 January 1848 in Pleasant Valley, Cornwallis; married on 24 November 1774 in Passamoquoddy to Charles Skinner, son of Aaron Skinner and Eunice Taintor.  He was born 3 January 1748/9 in Colchester, Connecticut, and died before 1837 in Nova Scotia.  Fifteen children.

Generation 9: Ann Skinner, born 9 March 1786 in Cornwallis, died 19 October 1815 in Cornwallis; married on 30 September 1802 in Cornwallis to Thomas Ratchford Lyons, son of David Lyons and Elizabeth Ratchford.  He was born 3 March 1780 in Cornwallis, and died 3 September 1859 in New Brunswick.  Six children.

Generation 10: Isabella Lyons, born 28 January 1806 in Cornwallis, died April 1872 in Carleton, New Brunswick; married on 20 April 1826 in Annapolis County to the Reverend Ingraham Ebenezer Bill as his first wife.  He was the son of Asahel Bill and Mary Rand,  born 19 February 1805 in Billtown, Cornwallis, and died 4 August 1891 in St. Martin’s, New Brunswick.  Five children.

Generation 11: Caleb Rand Bill, born 30 May 1833 in Nictaux, Cornwallis, died 30 December 1902 in Salem, Massachusetts; married 7 June 1858 in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia to Ann Margaret Bollman, daughter of Bremner  Frederick Bollman and Sarah Elizabeth Lennox.  She was born 11 September 1835 in Lunenburg, and died 1923 in Salem.  Nine children.

Generation 12:  Isabella Lyons Bill, born January 1863 in Machias  Maine, died on 19 January 1935 in Beverly, Massachusetts; married on 18 October Salem, Massachusetts to Albert Munroe Wilkinson, son of Robert Wilson Wilkinson and Phebe Cross Munroe.  He was born 7 November 1860 in Danvers, Massachusetts and died 12 May 1908 at the Corey Hill Hospital, Brookline, Massachusetts.  Two children.

Generation 13: Donald Munroe Wilkinson, born 23 October 1895 in Salem, died 24 July 1977 in Long Beach, California; married on 26 November 1926 in Beverly to Bertha Louise Roberts, daughter of John Peter Bawden Roberts and Emma Frances Warren.  She was born 30 September 1897 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England and died 17 March 1990 in Long Beach.  Three sons. (my grandparents)

I have posted another Mayflower lineage, the ALLERTON family:

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ HOWLAND, A Mayflower Passenger”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 19, 2017, (https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/08/surname-saturday-howland-mayflower.html: accessed [access date]).