Weathervane Wednesday ~ Happy 4th Anniversary to Weathervane Wednesday AND Another Weathervane by cousin Thomas Drowne

This is the 4th Anniversary of Weathervane Wednesday!  I wrote my very first weathervane post on August 24th, 2011, and today I am posting my 222nd weather vane.

This is an on-going series of blog posts on local weathervanes I post every week on Wednesdays.  Some of the weather vanes are whimsical, some are historical, but all are interesting.  Often my readers tip me off to some very unique and unusual weathervanes from their own areas!  If you know an interesting or historical weather vane, please let me know.

Today's weathervane is from Boston, Massachusetts.

Do you know the location of weather vane #222?  Scroll down to see the answer!

Today's weathervane was photographed at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts.  You can find it at the entrance to the new American wing.  It is the third time I've posted a weathervane by my cousins in the Drowne family of Boston and Kittery, Maine.  You can see a post about Shem Drowne's  (1683 - 1774 ) famous grasshopper weathervane on the top of Faneuil Hall at this link HERE, and a link to his weathervane atop Boston's Old North Church HERE.

Shem Drown was born in Kittery, Maine in 1683. He was the son of Leonard Drown (1646 - 1729).  Leonard Drowne married first to Elizabeth Abbott about 1675.   So I guess that makes Leonard my  7th great grand uncle by marriage?  Shem would be my step cousin?

Thomas Drowne, Leonard's grandson, wrote a slip of paper about his father making the famous Faneuil Hall grasshopper in 1742, and put this paper inside dated 1755.  The grasshopper weathervane apparently fell off during a great earthquake and was replaced by Thomas.  You can read more about that at the link below.

And so son Thomas Drowne was also a tinsmith and made weathervanes, just like his famous father.  This one featured above is on display at the Museum of Fine Arts.  Not bad, 'eh?

My blog post about Shem Drowne's Faneuil Hall grasshopper weathervane
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/06/weathervane-wednesday-genealogical.html  

My blog post about Shem Drowne's weathervane atop of Boston's Old North Church
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/08/weathervane-wednesday-very-historic.html

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
http://www.mfa.org/  


UPDATE 3 May 2017 -

The 1805 Newbury First Parish Meeinghouse
photo restored by Wayne Chase

I have received new information about this weather vane from Wayne Chase.  This weathervane stood above three different meetinghouse buildings in Newbury, Massachusetts.  It was originally on the First Parish Meetinghous built in 1669.  It was then installed atop the 1805 meetinghouse.  "The weathervane survived a fire that destroyed this building on January 25th in 1868".  It was placed on the new church building built in 1867, but in 2008 it was sold "to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston for $575,000. A replica is now atop the spire."

This is a growing trend in New England.  Parishioners at churches that are historic, yet over 100, sometimes nearly 300 years old, face growing costs for repairing, restoring and renovating old wooden churches, steeples, roofs and additions.  Some churches have sold their historic communion silver, stained glass windows, or valuable books to fund these renovations.

Please read this newspaper article from the time of the weathervane sale:

Brian R. Ballou, "For Struggling Newbury Church, weather vane a gift from above", Boston Glove, posted 25 February 2009, accessed May 3, 2017 http://archive.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/02/25/for_struggling_newbury_church_weather_vane_a_gift_from_above/?page=full

It is interesting to note that the sign and the data base at the Museum of Fine Arts does not reflect the fact that this weathervane came from the church in Newbury, Massachusetts.  The photo of the 1805 meetinghouse (above) was restored by Wayne Chase, and you can see the rooster weather vane above both steeples in both images (above and below).

from Wayne Chase, unknown origin

------------------

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Weathervane Wednesday ~ Happy 4th Anniversary to Weathervane Wednesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 19, 2015, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/08/weathervane-wednesday-happy-4th.html: accessed [access date]).

Samplers with Family Trees and Family Registers

Think outside the box for unusual places for clues to your genealogy! Or perhaps I should say, “Think outside of the book!”

Did you know that many samplers  worked by young girls in years past often had family trees or family registers?  Did you know that mourning pieces were often embroidered by young women, in memory of a loved one who had passed away.  All these types of samplers and embroideries contain names, dates, places and other clues valuable to genealogists.

The New England Historic Genealogical Society values these resources, and has created a data base of Family Samplers at their website www.americanancestors.org  This is the Dan and Marty Campanelli Collection.  You can access this database search directly at this link: http://www.americanancestors.org/search.aspx?Da=0503&utm_source=twgnewsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=twg672

I checked out this database last week. There is no browse feature, so instead of being able to peruse the surnames I decided to put in “New Hampshire” as a place name.   Many hits came up, including this sampler worked by Eliza Hills of Londonderry, with her family carefully embroidered in cross stitch lettering. Once you have pulled up a sampler of interest, you can hit “next” to browse the collection.

Each sampler in this collection has an enlargeable color photograph and a one line biography of the stitcher, some had a family sketch, description of the sampler, and every sampler had a list of each person on the piece.  I counted over thirty samplers, from many states, and even one stitched by a little boy, James H. Hoadley,  in Connecticut 1844!  

REGISTER

John Hills Born Oct. 3. 1799. Married to Jane

Anderson Dec. 17. 1807.  She was Born Feb. 5. 1785.

And by him hath the following children

Names                   Births                                      Deaths

Eliza Hills                  Born Sept. 27, 1808                

Gilbert Hills              Born May 20. 1811                

Charles Hills             Born Sept 23, 1813                

Jane P. Hills             Born Sept. 25, 1819               

Next unto God Dear Parents I address

Myself to you in humble thankfulness

For all car and pans on me bestow’d

The means of learning unto me allow’d

Wrought by Eliza Hills in the 12 year of her age

Londonderry Sept. 1, 1820

You just might find your family in a database or museum collection like this.  Many art museums and historical societies have collections of samplers.  The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has had exhibits of samplers, and their website has an online database at this link: http://www.mfa.org/search/collections and type the word “sampler” into the search box.

I’ve also seen samplers at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont,  the Philadelphia Museum of Art and at the Smithsonian Museums.   Pilgrim Hall in Plymouth had a wonderful exhibit of nine samplers until February 1st (you just missed it!)  They have a new exhibit open February 1 through April 25 "Needlework Samplers: Wrought by Tradition" that includes 72 samples from the 17th to the 20th century including the oldest sampler in the USA, the Loara Standish sampler.  Keep your eyes open for exhibits of antique samplers at galleries and museum.   Watch online for samplers for sale in auction catalogs, eBay and at antique shops.

Here is a second sampler I found at the NEHGS database, from a border town of Londonderry.  It was wrought by Dolly Abbott of Litchfield, New Hampshire in 1817.  It is a combination sampler/mourning piece if you notice the embroidered gravestone of her little sister Mary T. Abbott, died 1815, at the bottom (not quite two years before she completed this sampler).  This one also has the death dates for most of the siblings, including herself in the black box.  Someone must have embroidered in the death dates later.

JONATHAN ABBOTT Born Jan

20. 1772 Married to REBEKAH MASSEY

April 1794 Who died Dec. 19 1795 in the 24^th year of her age

And to DOLLY PARKER Dec 31 1800 Who Was Born

Sept 12 1779 the following are the names of their CHILDREN

NAMES                                                 BORN                                      DIED

REBEKAH                                       Nov. 21. 1795                         July. 18. 1819

CLARISSA                                      August. 20. 1801                     Nov. 28. 1841

DOLLY                                           April. 19. 1803                        April. 27. 1855

  ELIZA                                             April. 5. 1805                              August 3, 1838

EMILY                                           Sept. 18. 1807                                                 

THOMAS P.                                 May. 14. 1810                          May. 24. 1810

SALLY P.                                       Sept. 13. 1855                          Sept. 22. 1811

MARY T.                                     June. 17. 1815                         Nov. 7. 1815

My heart exults while to the attentive eye

The curious needle spreads the enamel’d dye

While varying shades of the Pleasing task beguile

My friends applaud me and my Parents smile

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Dolly Abbott         Litchfield  New Hampshire   Sept 18, 1817

Other blog posts I have done on school girl embroidery:

Sarah Henshaw’s Embroidery, daughter of Elizabeth Bill (my 3rd cousin, 6 generations removed)

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/06/sarah-henshaws-embroidery.html

Phebe Munroe’s Sampler, 1844  (my great great grandmother)

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/09/phebes-sampler-1844.html

Both sampler photographs above  are from Family Tree Samplers. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2013. (From the collection of Dan and Marty Campanelli.)

Pilgrim Hall Museum,
75 Court Street,
Plymouth, Massachusetts
"Needlework Samplers: Wrought by Tradition" 72 samplers from the 17th to the 20th Century, including the Loara Standish sampler- February 1 - April 25, 7 days a week, 9:30 - 4:30.
http://www.pilgrimhallmuseum.org/ 

UPDATE 20 February 2014 Flickr album of the NEHGS Campanelli Collection
http://www.flickr.com/photos/110664726@N08/sets/72157641266541014/

 

--------------------------

The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/01/samplers-with-family-trees-and-family.html 

Copyright © 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Weathervane Wednesday ~ A very historic weathervane, and a celebration

Happy 2nd Anniversary to Weathervane Wednesday!

I posted my very first weather vane on 24 August 2011.  It was the gilded centaur seen at Mack's Apples in Londonderry, New Hampshire.  I never thought I'd still be posting weather vane photos two years later, but this is the 110th photo on my blog.

Weathervane Wednesday is an on-going series of photographs I post weekly, usually of weather vanes in the Nutfield, New Hampshire area, but sometimes they can be from anywhere. Occasionally they are elsewhere in New England, or very historical weather vanes from anywhere else. Sometimes my weather vanes are whimsical, but all are interesting. Often, my readers tip me off to some very unique and unusual weather vanes, too! Today's weather vane is from Boston, Massachusetts.

Do you know the location of weather vane #110? Scroll down to the bottom to see the answer!

Today's weather vane is from the top of the steeple at the Old North Church in Boston.  This is the church, and the famous steeple where the signal lights were hung for Paul Revere on the evening of 18 April 1775, when he set out on his famous ride to raise the alarm that "The Redcoats were coming!"  This church is very difficult to photograph from the narrow streets.  Below you can see church steeple photographed from the 33rd floor of 60 State Street, Boston (the old "Bay Tower Room" restaurant).

This weather vane is a six foot swallow tailed banner, made in 1740 by my relative Shem Drowne.  Shem's father, Leonard Drown, married my 7th great grandmother, Mary Abbott, as her third husband.  Only four surviving weather vanes can be attributed to tinsmith Shem Drowne.  You can read more about Shem Drowne, our genealogy, and his most famous weather vane, the Faneuil Hall grasshopper, at this link:
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/06/weathervane-wednesday-genealogical.html 

The Old North Church website http://oldnorth.com/site/ 

Click here to see the entire collection of Weathervane Wednesday posts!

UPDATE:  1:22pm 20 August 2013
An email from reader Bill Olsen of Plymouth, Massachusetts
"August 25, 1954 High winds destroyed the spire of the Old North Church in Boston, which was the location of where the lanterns were hung during Paul Revere's ride. It was a replacement spire, after a hurricane in 1804 destroyed the original."


---------------------------------

Copyright 2013, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Weathervane Wednesday ~ A Genealogical Connection!

UPDATED August 3, 2018 (see below)

Are you wondering why I started my Weathervane Wednesday series?

What have weather vanes to do with genealogy?

Shem Drowne (1683 – 1774) is my first cousin 8 generations removed.  He is most famous as the artisan who made the grasshopper weather vane atop of Boston’s Faneuil Hall.  This is a beloved landmark in Boston, and is reproduced on souvenirs, Christmas ornaments, jewelry, postcards and you-name-it.  However, he was by trade a tinsmith.  He produced ordinary objects out of tin for household use, cups, pails, lanterns.  The stuff no one particularly remembers.  If it weren't for his giant grasshopper, we wouldn't know much about Shem Drowne the tradesman.

Weather vane #101
The famous grasshopper above Boston's Faneuil Hall

Besides the weather vane at Faneuil Hall, the famous grasshopper, there are other well-known weather vanes around Boston attributed to Shem Drowne.   Nathaniel Hawthorne used Shem Drown as the main character in his story “Drowne’s Wooden Image” in his book Mosses from an Old Manse.  In this book, Hawthorne styled Drowne as a carver of figureheads and ornamental wooden decorations.  However, Shem Drowne never made a  wooden pump head, like the image of the mythical Admiral Vernon in the book.

 

Drowne’s  other  weather vanes are the Indian Chief now on display at the Massachusetts Historical Society, and the weather cock on top of the Congregational Church in Cambridge.  He also made the banner shaped weathervane on the steeple of the Old North Church in Boston.

How do we know that Shem Drowne made the famous grasshopper?  In 1852 the weather vane was removed for repair.  Inside there was a slip of paper, barely legible, which read:

SHEM DROWNE MADE ITT

May 25, 1742

To my Brethren and Fellow Grasshoppers

Fell in y'e year 1755 Nov 15th day from y'e Market by a great Earthquake ... sing ... sett a ... by my old Master above.

Again Like to have Met with my Utter Ruin by Fire, but hopping Timely from my Publick Situation came of with Broken bones, and much Bruised, Cured and again fixed....

Old Master's Son Thomas Drowne June 28th, 1763. And Although I now promise to Play ... Discharge my Office, yet I shall vary as ye wind.  

From the Boston Daily Advertiser, December 2, 1852

The Drowne family lived in Kittery, Maine, where Shem was born in 1683.  His father, Leonard Drowne, an immigrant from England, was a shipbuilder.  He moved his family from Kittery, Maine to the safety of Boston during the French and Indian War.  Leonard is buried at the Copp’s Hill Burying Ground in the North End.   It was here, in the North End, that Shem Drowne began his trade as a tinsmith.  He was also a deacon at the First Baptist Church, where many of my other ancestors belonged, and can be found in the marriage and church records at this same time period.

The Drowne genealogy:

Generation 1:  Leonard Drown, born about 1646 in Penyn, Cornwall, England, died 31 October 1729 in Boston; married first about 1675 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire to Elizabeth Abbott, daughter of Walter Abbott and Sarah Steward (my 8x great grandparents).  She was born about 1652 in Portsmouth, died on 5 May 1704.  Leonard and Elizabeth had nine children.  He married second to Mary Abbott, sister of Elizabeth, on 4 November 1707 in Boston.  Mary was the widow of William Caverly and also the widow of Thomas Guptill.   Mary is my 7^th great grandmother, through her daughter Elizabeth Caverly, who is my 6x great grandmother.  See the chart below if you are confused!

This makes Leonard Drown both my 7^th great grand uncle by marriage, and also my Step 7^th great grandfather.  

Generation 2:  Shem Drowne, born 4 December 1683 at Sturgeon Creek, Kittery, Maine, died 13 January 1774 in Boston; married on 18 September 1712 in Boston to Katherine Clarke, daughter of Timothy Clark and Sarah Richardson.  She was born 6 April 1687 in Boston, died 21 April 1754.

Also in Generation 2:  Mary Drowne, sister to Shem, born about 1693, died 24 January 1732; married on 24 April 1712 to James Kettle my 7^th great grand uncle, brother to Jonathan Kettle (1681 – 1764) my 7^th great grandfather.   That makes Mary Drowne my 7^th great aunt by marriage, as well as my first cousin 8 generations removed.

                                Walter Abbott m. Sarah Steward

                                                            I      

            --------------------------------------------------

           I                                                                  I

Elizabeth Abbott m. Leonard Drown  m. Mary Abbott m. William Caverly

          I                                                                                        I

Shem Drowne m. Katherine Clarke                Elizabeth Caverly m. Thomas Wilkinson

                                                                             I

                                                                         James Wilkinson m. Hannah Mead

                                                                             I

                                                                          William Wilkinson m. Mercy Nason

                                                                             I         

                                                                          Aaron Wilkinson m. Mercy F. Wilson

                                                                             I

                                                                         Robert Wilson Wilkinson m. Phebe Munroe

                                                                             I

                                                                         Albert Munroe Wilkinson m. Isabella Bill

                                                                             I

                                (my grandparents) Donald Munroe Wilkinson m. Bertha Roberts

For more information see Yankee Weathervanes by Myrna Kaye, New York:  E.P. Dutton and Co., 1975

Click here to see the entire collection of Weathervane Wednesday posts!

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Weathervane Wednesday ~ A Genealogical Connection!", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 26, 2013, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/06/weathervane-wednesday-genealogical.html: accessed [access date]). 

Weathervane Wednesday ~ A Stagecoach!

Weathervane Wednesday is an on-going series of photographs I post weekly, usually of weather vanes in the Nutfield, New Hampshire area, but sometimes they can be from anywhere. Occasionally they are elsewhere in New England, or very historical weather vanes from anywhere else. Sometimes my weather vanes are whimsical, but all are interesting. Often, my readers tip me off to some very unique and unusual weathervanes, too!  Today's weathervane was photographed in Concord, New Hampshire.

Do you know the location of weather vane #90? Scroll down to the bottom to see the answer!

Today's weather vane is on the cupola atop the Abbott Downing Middle School in Concord, New Hampshire.  It is located on 152 South Street. 

Last week I posted a photograph of the weather vane atop of a carriage house in Derry, New Hampshire, which had a gilded banner with a large letter "A".  It was owned by Charles Abbott of the Abbott Downing Carriage Company.  This carriage company made the famous stage coaches that rode the range out West, often featured in movies and television shows.  You can read more about the Abbott Downing Carriage Company at this link: http://theconcordcoach.tripod.com/abbotdowning/

The Abbott Downing Carriage company was located in Concord, New Hampshire, from 1813 until about 1899.  According to the school handbook, page 4,  "In December 2010 the Concord school board voted to name the new middle school the Abbott-Downing school.  The former Conant School was located in the area of the new school's playground."   The Conant School was built 1929.

My blog post from last week, about weather vane #89 found on the Charles W. Abbott carriage house in Derry, New Hampshire:
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/04/weathervane-wednesday-brought-to-you-by.html

Abbott Downing School website http://ads.concordnhschools.net/ 

Click here to see the entire collection of Weathervane Wednesday posts!

--------------------------

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Weathervane Wednesday ~  A Stagecoach!", Nutfield Genealogy, posted April 10, 2019, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/04/weathervane-wednesday-stagecoach.html: accessed [access date]).

Surname Saturday – Caverly

CAVERLY

Charles and Comfort Caverly Family and Cat
by Joseph H. Davis, ink and watercolor, 1836

(See the UPDATE below dated 3 August 2018)

The first Caverly in New Hampshire was William Caverly, who left a will naming his wife, sons and daughter.    His marriage was unrecorded in town records, but we know his wife’s name from his father-in-law’s will (Walter Abbott), which called her Mary Caverly.   The Caverly family has descendants with the name still in New Hampshire.  Many still meet up every two years at the Caverly Family Reunion at the historic Bow Lake Grange Hall in Strafford.  

William Caverly’s origins are unknown, although he married a wife whose ancestry went back to the first settlers in New Hampshire. There are other Caverly families in the USA, who have different DNA from our branch.

Generation 1.  William Caverly, born about 1650, died before 1732 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire when his will was proved; married about 1696 to Mary Abbott, daughter of Walter Abbott and Sarah Steward, born about 1652 in New Hampshire.  Four Caverly children.  Mary married first to Thomas Guptill about 1672, and he was lost at sea in 1686 after having five children.  Mary married third on 4 November 1707 in Boston, Massachusetts to Leonard Drown (1646 – 1729), a ship builder in Portsmouth and in Boston, and her sister's widowed husband.  Leonard Drown had nine children with his first wife Elizabeth Abbott, and one daughter, Mary Drown, married James Kettle of Charlestown, Massachusetts, the son of my 8x great grandparents, Jonathan Kettle and Abigail Converse (but that's a different story to tell another time!). 

            1. Nathaniel married Jane Fitzgerald

            2. Moses, born about 1694; married Margaret Cotton

            3. Elizabeth, born about 1696; married Thomas Wilkinson

            4. Thomas, no further information

Generation 2. Elizabeth Caverly, born about 1696 in Portsmouth; married  first in August 1715 in Portsmouth to Thomas Wilkinson, immigrant from London, born about 1690, died before 1739.  Two known sons, James born about 1730 and William born 17 October 1736 in Portsmouth.  Probably more children.   Married second on 27 November 1739 in Portsmouth to Phillip Jewell, born in Yanton, Biddeford, England.  No known children with Jewell.   For more information see my Surname Saturday post on Wilkinson here at this link: http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/09/surname-saturday-wilkinson.html

Generation 3. James Wilkinson (b.abt 1730) m. Hannah Mead (1730 – bef. 1759)

Generation 4. William Wilkinson (d. aft. 1840) m. Mercy Nason

Generation 5. Aaron Wilkinson (1802- 1879) m. Mercy F. Wilson (1803- 1883)

Generation 6. Robert Wilson Wilkinson (1830 – 1874) m. Phebe Cross Munroe (1830 – 1895)

Generation 7. Albert Munroe Wilkinson (1860 – 1908) m. Isabella Lyons Bill

Generation 8. Donald Munroe Wilkinson (1895 - 1977) m. Bertha Louise Roberts (1897 - 1990) My grandparents.

The Caverly family was written up by Robert Boodey Caverly in 1879 in the book Genealogy of the Caverly Family.    In 2008 Paul Caverly revised this book and has published it at Lulu.com and he also has a blog at http://caverly.blogspot.com/.

 The Caverlys have also been written up at the website www.kimvarneychandler.com/caverly  but there are some mistakes in the first two generations, so be aware and check your own sources.   The Caverly Family Newsletter has several new articles on Moses and Nathaniel Caverly in the second generation, and their descendants.  You can contact the Caverly Family Association at maryecav@metrocast.net

There is a Caverly DNA project at www.familyTreeDNA.com  

Update 3 August 2018

An email from Christopher Childs 
"I'm finding (MA VR) that Leonard married Mary _Caley_, widow of Robert Caley (Torrey's "New England Marriages" has "Calley") of Malden... not Mary _Caverly_, widow of William. (Mary is, from best evidence, my ancestress, with 1st hubby Thomas Guptill.) Thanks for any info you may have. (If William didn't die till somewhere relatively near 1732, this also would call into question a 1707 remarriage of his widow!) I've laid out the argument with source links on Leonard's WikiTree profile at wikitree (dot) com/wiki/Drowne-62"

 Please see the link  https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Drowne-62   

-------------------

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday – Caverly", Nutfield Genealogy, posted October 1, 2011, (  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/10/surname-saturday-caverly.html: accessed [access date]). 

Caverly Family Portraits

Charles and Comfort Caverly Family and Cat
by Joseph H. Davis, ink and watercolor, 1836

Joseph H. Davis (1804-1845) was an itinerant painter in rural New Hampshire and Maine from 1832 througth the 1840s. His paintings are ink and watercolor on paper. He is called the “left-handed painter” because he signed at least one portrait with that name. In 2006 an 1836 watercolor by Joseph H. Davis of Asa and Susannah Caverly sold for $76,375 at a Skinner auction. The watercolor of Charles and Comfort Caverly sold for $127,000 in August 2006 at Northeast Auctions in Manchester, New Hampshire to art dealer David Wheatcroft.

The Charles Caverly and Comfort Boodey lineage:

Generation 1. William Caverly, married Mary Abbott, daughter of Walter Abbott and Sarah Steward, and widow of Thomas Guptill. She married a third time to Leonard Drown, 4 November 1707 in Boston, Massachusetts to her sister Elizabeth’s widowed husband.  William Caverly and Mary Abbott are my 7th great grandparents.

Children:
1. Moses (see below)
2. Elizabeth Caverly, born about 1696 married Thomas Wilkinson (my 6th great grandparents)

Generation 2. Moses Caverly married on 30 January 1714 in Portsmouth to Margaret Cotton, daughter of John Cotton and Sarah Hearle. He removed to Barrington in 1746.

Children:
1. William
2. Moses (see below)
3. John
4. Thomas
5. Hannah
6. Nathaniel

Generation 3. Moses Caverly, born 1719 in Portsmouth, died 17 March 1795 in Barrington, New Hampshire; married in 1741 to Hannah Johnson, died in 1802. He was a merchant, barber and hairdresser in Portsmouth until about 1754 when he removed to Barrington.

Children:
1. Charles, born 15 June 1741
2. Philip, born 17 March 1745 (see below)
3. John, born 25 June 1747, died young
4. Hannah, born 12 January 1749
5. John, born May 11, 1752
6. Abigail, born 11 June 1754
7. William, born 2 February 1757, died young
8. Charles, born 15 December 1760

Generation 4. Philip Caverly, son of Moses and ???, born 17 March 1745 at Portsmouth, died 1 April 1813; married to Bridget Pendergast, born 24 Feb 1745, and died 28 April 1818

Children:
1. Moses, born 3 April 1771
2. Samuel, born 23 June 1773
3. Stephen, born 18 May 1775, died 15 September 1778
4. John, born 7 November 1777
5. Polly, born 2 July 1779
6. Edmund, born 15 January 1781
7. Stephen, born 28 October 1782
8. Charles, born 27 September 1784 (see below)
9. Solomon, born 11 February 1778.

Generation 5. Charles Caverly, son of Philip Caverly and Bridget Pendergast, born 27 September 1784 in Strafford, died 6 June 1872; married Comfort Boodey, born 10 February 1791 in Strafford, and died 30 March 1876. Charles was a blacksmith in Strafford, New Hampshire and served in the legislature in 1845 and 1846.

Children:
1. Eliza J. born 1 November 1812, d. 3 March 1826
2. Joseph B., born 21 April 1815
3. Leonard W., born 7 November 1818
4. Charles H., born 26 May 1823
5. Cyrus G., born 25 November 18125
6. Isaac L., born 31 May 1835, died 31 January 1864 (in the portrait with his parents)

Sources:

Genealogy of the Caverly Family, by Robert Boodey Caverly, 1879, reprint by Higginson

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

George Peabody Merit Scholarship Medals

1879 set of Dickens inscribed by the Peabody Scholarship Committee

Sometimes I Google the names of ancestors and wait to see what happens next. I usually know their vital statistics, such as birth, marriage or death records, and I often know their children, or their parent’s names. However, I want to know the stories that might come up in obscure books or newspapers, or their mentions in town records, annual reports, and church bulletins. You never know what you’ll find.

Imagine my surprise when I found the name of my great grandfather on a list of George Peabody Merit Scholarships recipients in the 1879 graduating class of Peabody High School. George Peabody was a famous resident of Massachusetts, and when South Danvers broke off from Danvers, the citizens named their new town after him- Peabody, Massachusetts.

George Peabody (1795 – 1869) was an entrepreneur and a philanthropist. In 1851 he found a company called “George Peabody and Company”, and later went into business with Junius Spencer Morgan to form “Peabody, Morgan and Company.” Peabody retired in 1864, and firm was renamed “J. S. Morgan” and later “J.P. Morgan” after his son. The international bank JPMorgan Chase traces its roots back to Peabody’s original business. Peabody was the only American ever buried inside Winchester Cathedral in London. He was later re-interred at the Harmony Grove Cemetery in Salem, Massachusetts. One of his philanthropic ventures was this lasting Scholarship, which is still awarded by the city of Peabody, Massachusetts.

I found a website by the Peabody Public Schools that lists each group of Peabody Scholars. Apparently the first award was in 1855. Albert Munroe Wilkinson, my great grandfather, won the award in 1879. Albert’s elder brother, Robert Henry, was also a recipient in 1873. Robert’s future wife, Eliza Harris Poor, won the scholarship in 1871. In 1885, a cousin named Rosetta Mary Munroe won the medal. Another distant cousin, Alice Hubbard Munroe, won in 1913 and her brother Allan Breed Munroe in 1917. Other Wilkinsons won the award in 1941, 1958, and 1974 (perhaps distant cousins?).

From School Committee Report on Peabody Prizes - "...determined that a suitable medal shall be awarded and presented to every pupil who shall pass three years, - constituting the entire course, - in either of these schools (Peabody and Holten), and whose attendance, deportment, and advancement shall have been uniformly satisfactory to the teachers and committee. The die, from which the medals are to be struck, will soon be completed, and the following individuals, who have accomplished the amount required, will be entitled to a "Peabody Medal," and will receive the same at an early day. It is hoped that each and all, thus favored, will feel a strong and sincere determination to have their subsequent deportment and standing in life such as will do them credit, and thus honor the Peabody Medal and the generous friend to whose liberality and thoughtfulness they are indebted for this act of encouragement. By habits of industry and perseverance, by acts of kindness, by manly and upright deportment, and by fidelity in all of life's relations and duties, they will best their appreciation of the gift and the giver."

I don’t know what happened to Albert’s medal, but I do know he also received a set of Dickens books from the Peabody School Committee. When my Dad passed away in 2002 my Mom sorted out his books, and gave me a boxful, including a set of Dickens. Months later I noticed that the inside of the books were inscribed to Albert, my Dad’s grandfather, from the Peabody School Committee. Now I know the full story!

Albert Munroe Wilkinson was in the 1886 Peabody City Directory and he is listed as a bookkeeper at Thomas Proctor's, boarding with his mother at 14 Elm Street in Peabody. He is listed in the Salem City Directory as a bookkeeper at 9 Webster Street, living at 15 Stevens St. in Peabody, Massachusetts. After his marriage to Isabella Lyons Bill they lived on Loring Avenue in Salem. Albert died fairly young at age 47 due to "shock following the removal of gall stones, about 12 hours" signed Dr. Benjamin E. Sibley on his death certificate on 12 May 1908 at Corey Hill Hospital in Brookline, Massachusetts. My Dad never knew his grandfather, because of his early death, and I wish I could have told Dad the story of the George Peabody Merit Scholarship.

The Wilkinson Lineage:

Generation 1. Thomas Wilkinson, born about 1690 in England, died before 1739; married August 1715 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire to Elizabeth Caverly, daughter of William Caverly and Mary Abbott, born about 1696 in Portsmouth, married second 27 Nov 1739 to Philip Jewell.

Generation 2. James Wilkinson, born about 1730, probably in Berwick, Maine, died between 1795 and 1805 in Berwick; married first about 1753 to Hannah Mead, daughter of Thomas Mead and Hannah Stilson, born 9 August 1730 in Wakefield, New Hampshire, died before 1759; married second to Mary Unknown.

Generation 3. William Wilkinson, died after 1840; married 7 February 1788 in South Berwick to Mercy Nason, daughter of Richard Nason and Mary Thompson, born about 1764 in Kittery, Maine.

Generation 4. Aaron Wilkinson, born 22 February 1802 in South Berwick, died 25 November 1879 in Peabody, Massachusetts; married 23 June 1829 to Mercy F. Wilson, daughter of Robert Wilson and Mary Southwick, born 17 June 1803 in South Danvers, died 9 October 1883 in Peabody.

Generation 5. Robert Wilson Wilkinson, born 26 May 1830 in Salem, Massachusetts, died 23 March 1874 in Peabody; married 24 November 1853 in Danvers, Massachusetts to Phebe Cross Munroe, daughter of Luther Simonds Munroe and Olive Flint. Three sons:

1. Robert Henry Wilkinson*, born 14 January 1855 in South Danvers, died 22 September 1884 in Peabody; married 18 April 1883 in Peabody to Eliza Harris Poor*, daughter of Nathan Holt Poor and Abigail Morrill.

2. Walter Wilkinson, born 3 November 1856 in South Danvers, died 2 April 1858 in South Danvers.

3. Albert Munroe Wilkinson*, born 7 November 1860 in Danvers, died 12 May 1908 in Brookline, Massachusetts; married 18 October 1894 in Salem to Isabella Lyons Bill, daughter of Caleb Rand Bill and Ann Margaret Bollman.

*denotes Peabody Merit Medal Scholars


For more information:

A list of the George Peabody Merit Medal Scholars
https://ma01001873.schoolwires.net/Page/409

The History of the George Peabody Merit Scholar Program  https://ma01001873.schoolwires.net/Page/407

“George Peabody: A Biography” by Franklin Parker, Vanderbilt University Press, 1995

www.peabodyhistorical.org The website of the Peabody, Massachusetts Historical Society

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "George Peabody Merit Scholarship Medals", Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 29, 2010, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/01/george-peabody-merit-scholarship-medals.html: accessed [access date]).

Robert Frost, Derry Resident

The Robert Frost Farm, Derry, NH 

Robert Frost was born in San Francisco, California, taught school in Massachusetts, and died in Vermont, yet he will forever be loved as a New Hampshire Poet. He lived in New Hampshire between 1895 and 1938. His first book was title “North of Boston” and his fifth book was titled “New Hampshire”. As another nod to his Derry residence, Frost’s eighth book was titled “West Running Brook” after the stream near his farmstead. This fame has caused a collection of things in town to be named “West Running Brook Middle School” or “West Running Brook Lane” besides the actual brook.

There is also a Frost Road nearby, and a restaurant named “Promises to Keep.” 

The land around his farmhouse contains the pasture, country roads and stonewalls found in his poems. Anyone reading Frost’s poetry is reading about Derry, New Hampshire. Despite being born in San Francisco, his roots run deep in New Hampshire. Anyone from Londonderry or Derry would recognize the places his ancestors lived, for they are all within an hour drive of our towns: Wells, Kittery, Andover, Penacook, Kingston, New Castle, etc. 

When Robert Frost returned to his father’s home in Derry, he was returning to his roots. The first Frost of his lineage sailed aboard the Wulfrana from Plimoth, Devonshire, England in June 1634 to arrive at Little Harbor, Maine, and first settled in Kittery. The first few generations of Frosts were merchants, marrying wives from the upper class families such as the Pepperells. Another Frost ancestor married the daughter of a prominent Essex County minister. However, the subsequent Frosts seemed to be farmers, removing from Maine to Massachusetts to eke out a living in our harsh New England climate. 

The poet Frost attended Dartmouth College for only two months, and later attended Harvard College for two years but never finished his degree. At about the time of his marriage his grandfather in Derry died leaving him his farm. It was here that he produced many of the first poems that made him famous. He taught at Pinkerton Academy, before finally removing to Plymouth, New Hampshire to teach at the Normal School (now Plymouth State University.) 

After removing to Scotland and England in he returned to New Hampshire to live in Franconia from 1915. His home in the notch remained a summer house until 1938, but he spent most of this time period teaching in Massachusetts, Vermont and Michigan. In 1940 he bought at home in South Miami, and spent his winters there for the rest of his life instead of in New Hampshire. 

Frost loved to read free form poets such as Ezra Pound, but he only wrote traditional poems with rhyming schemes. However, his love of the New England dialect is reflected in his poetry, and his mother’s Scottish accent can be heard in the rhythms of the poems. My favorite poem “The Pasture Spring” is an unlikely love poem, with the speaker sounding just like my own laconic grandfather. I don’t think I ever heard him say “I love you” but the line “I shan’t be gone long, you come, too” could have been Grampy's voice. 

Robert E. Lee Frost, the Pulitzer Prize winner, receiver of the Congressional Medal of Honor, Poet Laureate of the United States was named after the Southern Confederate General. He taught at Lawrence High School, which was my first teaching job, too! We share a love of writing, residence in Nutfield, and several colonial ancestors... 

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Gen. 1. Nicholas Frost, b. 1592 in Tiverton, Devonshire, England, d. 1663; married in Jan 1629/30 to Bertha Cadwalla, b. 14 Feb 1609/10 in Tavistock, Devonshire, England, d. 4 Jul 1650 at Sturgeon Creek, Kittery, Maine. 

Gen. 2. Charles Frost, b. 30 Jul 1631 in Tiverton, d. 4 Jul 1697 in Berwick, Maine; married before 1664 to Mary Bowles, daughter of Joseph Bowles and Mary Howell, b. 4 Jan 1640/1 in Wells, Maine, d. 11 Nov. 1704 in Kittery, Maine. 

Gen. 3. John Frost, b. 1 Mar 1681/2 in Kittery, Maine, d. 25 Feb. 1732/3 in New Castle, New Hampshire; married on 4 Sep. 1702 to Mary Pepperell, daughter of William Pepperell and Margery Bray, b. 3 Sep. 1685 in Kittery, d. 18 Apr 1766. 

Gen. 4. William Frost, b. 20 Aug. 1705 in New Castle, d. 17 Sep. 1778 in New Castle; married 24 Nov. 1750 in Salem, Massachusetts to Elizabeth Prescott, daughter of Benjamin Prescott and Elizabeth Higginson, b. 15 Sep. 1721 in Danvers, Massachusetts, d. 22 Mar 1759 in New Castle. 

Gen. 5. William Frost, b. 15 Nov. 1754 in Andover, Massachusetts, d. 28 Sep. 1836 in Andover; married Dec. 1777 in Danvers, Massachusetts to Sarah Holt, daughter of Reverend Nathan Holt of Danvers and Sarah Abbott, b. 29 Oct. 1758 in Andover, Massachusetts, d. 17 Sep. 1841 in Danvers. 

Gen. 6. Samuel Abbott Frost, b. 11 Jun. 1795 in Andover, d. 11 Jan. 1848 in Brentwood, New Hampshire; married 18 Oct. 1821 in Eden, Maine to Mary Blunt, b. 26 Jun 1787 in Portsmouth, d. 14 Jan. 1875 in Nashua, New Hampshire. 

Gen. 7. William Prescott Frost b. 11 Jul. 1823 in Eden, Maine, d. 10 Jul. 1901; married 27 Sep. 1846 in Kingston to Judith Colcord, daughter of Daniel Colcord and Mary Woodman, b. 23 Jun. 1820 in Kingston, d. 21 Aug. 1893 in Lawrence, Massachusetts. 

Gen. 8. William Prescott Frost, b. 27 Dec. 1850 in Kingston, d. 5 May 1885 in San Francisco, California; married 18 Mar 1874 in Lewistown, Pennsylvania to Isabelle Moody, daughter of Capt. John Moody and Amelia Christie, b. 16 Sep. 1844 in Alloa, Scotland, d. 21 Nov. 1900 in Pennacook, New Hampshire. 

Gen. 9. Robert Edward Lee Frost, b. 26 Mar 1874 in San Francisco, California, d. 29 Jan 1963 in Boston, Massachusetts; married in 1895 to Elinor Miriam White 

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Sources 

 “Frost Family In England and America, with Special Reference to Edmund Frost” by Thomas Gold Frost, Buffalo, Russell Print. Co., 1909 

 And from Gary Boyd Roberts, “Notable Kin: Royal Scions in Northern New England: Some Notable Descendants of Joseph Bolles, Elder William Wentworth, and/or Rev. Samuel Dudley,” NEHGS Nexus 11 (1994): 106. 

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Robert Frost, Derry Resident", Nutfield Genealogy, posted December 4, 2009, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/12/robert-frost-derry-resident.html: accessed [access date]).