Weathervane Wednesday ~ An Ancestral Church Found by Accident

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 England.

Do you know the location of weathervane post #332?  Scroll down to find the answer.

This gilded weathercock is on top of the steeple of St. Martin's church in Dorking, Surrey, England.  We photographed it while stopping in Dorking with the Mayflower Historic Sites Tour a few weeks ago, to see the home of William Mullins, a Mayflower passenger.  I remembered that I had several ancestors who lived and were married in Dorking at St. Martin's, and we saw the church near the Mullins home.

The weathercock is an ancient Christian symbol, and can be seen on many churches in Europe, and in early colonial era churches in the United States. This church dates from the 1100s, and replaced an older building. The 210 foot spire was added in the 1870s, so the weathercock may not be as old as the rest of the building.  In the photograph we noticed a ladder up to the weathervane, so it might be undergoing repairs or gilding this year. It is a three dimensional weathercock, with spread wings. 

My 9th great grandparents, Roger Bassett and Ann Holland were married here at St. Martin's church in Dorking on 27 April 1623.  My 8th great grandfather, William Bassett was baptized here on 30 May 1624, and he came to the New World at age 11 in 1635, with his mother and stepfather, Hugh Burt, who settled in Lynn, Massachusetts.  

Click here for my BASSETT surname blog post:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/05/surname-saturday-bassett-of-lynn.html  


The St. Martin's, Dorking website:
http://www.stmartinsdorking.org/welcome-to-our-church/index.html  

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

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Weathervane Wednesday ~  An Ancestral Church Found by Accident", Nutfield Genealogy, posted November 29, 2017, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/11/weathervane-wednesday-ancestral-church_29.html: accessed [access date]).

Surname Saturday ~ SMITH of Reading, Massachusetts

SMITH

My 8^th great grandmother Hannah Smith married her husband, George Lillie on 15 November 1659.  Who was her father? According to Robert Charles Anderson in his Great Migration: Immigrants to New England 1634 -1635, Volume VI, pages 351-354, sketch of Francis Smith of Reading, there was no daughter named Hannah.  Francis Smith of Reading only named sons John and Benjamin Smith in his will.

Francis Smith, born in England and died 20 March 1650 in Reading, Massachusetts was  married to Alice Unknown about 1622.  His son John Smith (1622 - 1706) married, as his second wife, Mary Bill, my 1^st cousin 8x removed- granddaughter of John Bill (1598- 1638) and Dorothy Tuttle, my 8^th great grandparents on my father’s side.  Their son, Deacon Francis Smith (1658 – 1744) married Ruth Maverick, my 1^st cousin 9 generations removed, granddaughter of Reverend John Maverick (1578 – 1638) and Mary Gye, my 11 great grandparents. A very tangled tree indeed!  But Francis Smith might not be my 9th great grandfather. 

If Hannah Smith is not the daughter of Francis Smith, she might be the daughter of Matthew Smith, who lived in Woburn, Reading and Charlestown, Massachusetts at this time period.  Anderson supposes that she might be Matthew’s daughter since he did have a child named "Hannah".  There were many other Smith families in Massachusetts, too.

Hannah remains another brickwall ancestress.  Hannah married George Lillie who settled in the west parish of Reading, Massachusetts (a village known as Woodend) and was the schoolmaster. They had four children, and then Hannah died in 1666.  George remarried to a woman named Jane and had two more children. Hannah and George’s son John Lilley,  my 7^th great grandfather,  married Hannah Bassett and removed to Woburn, Massachusetts. 

My SMITH genealogy:

 Generation 1: Hannah Smith, died on 6 May 1666 in Reading, Massachusetts; married on 15 November 1659 in Reading to George Lillie as his first wife.  He was the son of Edward Lillie and Margaret Wharton.  He was born about 1637 and died 14 February 1691 in Reading. Four children. 

Generation 2:  John Lillie m. Hannah Bassett

Generation 3: Phebe Lilley m. Noah Eaton

Generation 4: Katherine Eaton m. John Emerson

Generation 5: Romanus Emerson m. Jemima Burnham

Generation 6: George Emerson m. Mary Esther Younger

Generation 7: Mary Katharine Emerson m. George E. Batchelder

Generation 8: Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 9:  Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ SMITH of Reading, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted July 30, 2016,  (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/07/surname-saturday-smith-of-reading.html: accessed [access date]. 

Surname Saturday ~ BASSETT of Lynn, Massachusetts

BASSETT

The first BASSETT in this family to come to America was William Bassett (1624 – 1703), my 8^th great grandfather, who was baptized in Dorking, Surrey, England.  He was about ten or eleven years old when he immigrated to New England on board the ship Abigail with his mother and stepfather, Hugh Burt.     

About 1646 William married Sarah, maiden name unknown.  William and Sarah had twelve children born in Lynn, Massachusetts.  William served as an ensign in Captain Gardner’s company in Salem, and later he was raised to Captain and granted three acres in Lynn. 

WILL OF WILLIAM BASSETT, proved 22 May 1703

"In the name of God everlasting Amen: I William Bassett Senr. of Lyn in ye County of Esex in Newengland being of good & perfect memory & Rationally Disposed And having attained to ye years of a good old age & being very sensable of ye decay of nature & ye many Distempers & Infirmities that do attend my outward (mein?) not knowing how soone my great & last chang may come have therefor taken this opportunity to settle ye affaires of my family & so leave this as my last will and testament. Impr: as for my precious mortall soul I freely resign it to him that gave it & to my Redeemer Jesus Christ which by his precious blood hath ransome my soul from Death. as for my body which is fraile I comend it to ye dust willing a decent Interment thereof suitable to my Rank & quality. Although worms my skin destroy yet in my flesh I shal see God - Amen. As for the disposall of my outward Estate which God of his Goodness hath given me - my will is that after my funerall charges & lawfull debts bee paid I bequeathe to my deare & loving wife who hath bin carefull of mee & industrious in her place for ye procurement of what outward Estate I have I bequeath unto her the Improvement of my whole Estate during her naturall life and all the moveable estate in my house which is mine to be at her disposall - as shee shall see cause: Item: I give to my eldest son willm Bassett all ye housing land meddowes marshes and movalbes within y bounds of Lyn township or Elsewhere to bee at his absolut disposall: further it is to bee under stood that my son willm Bassett is to pay out of such Estate all such Legasies as I shall give to ye rest of my children as followeth: Item: I give to my son John Bassett five pounds in mony: Item: I give to my son Elisha Bassett fivetie shillings in mony: Item: I give to my son Samuel Bassett fivetie shillings in mony: Item: I give to my daughter Elizebeth Bassett allias Richards forty shillings in mony: Item: I give to my daughter Sarah Elwell fortie shillings in mony: Ittem: I give to my daughter Merriam Sandy fortie shillings: Ittem: I give to my daughter Mary Ruck fortie shillings in mony: Ittem: I give to my daughter Rachel Silsbe fortie shillings in mony: Ittem: I give to my daughter Rebeckah Bassett fortie shillings in Mony: Ittem: I give to my Hannah Lille fortie shillings in mony -- and if any of ye above named Children Except my son Willm should then to be divided Equaly amongst them all. It is to be understood that these legasies are to be paid with-in a one yeare after my disease and my wives and my will is that neither str? nor waste be made But to the end foresaid. Ittom my will is that my son William Bassett bee sole Executtor to this my last will and testament. Heare unto I have sett to my hand and seale this tenth day of february in the yeare of our 1701. Sighned William Bassett with a seale--Wittnessed by Before sighning it is to be understood that my son William Bassett is to have my whole Estate as is above mentioned to him & his heirs for ever."  

Witnesses: Samuel Johnson, Lois Rogers, Ezekiel Rogers.

In the third generation, William Bassett (1647 – 1732), my 7^th great grand uncle, married Sarah Hood (1657 – 1729).   They were early Quakers.  Sarah was accused of witchcraft in 1692 and sent to prison in Boston with her 22 month old child (possibly Ruth).  After her imprisonment she had another daughter she named Deliverance.  I descend from his sister, Hannah (born about 1670), who married John Lillie of Reading.

William and Hannah’s sister, Elizabeth Bassett (1650 – after 1703), married my 8^th great grandfather, John Proctor (1631 – 1692) who was hanged as a witch on 19 August 1692.  Elizabeth was John Proctor’s third wife, and I descend from his first wife, Martha.  Elizabeth (Bassett) Proctor was also condemned to be hanged but was finally pardoned because she was pregnant.  Her child was born January 27, 1693.  This family was plagued with witchcraft accusations and imprisonments.  

After she was set free, Elizabeth and her children and step children were impoverished, her house had been looted while she was in prison with John, and she was considered legally dead because she had been condemned to hang and she couldn’t claim her husband’s property.

Some sources for information on the Bassett family:

The Great Migration:  Immigrants to New England 1634 - 1635, Volume I, pages 190 to 195.  

The Bassett Family Association  www.BassettBranches.org   

The Essex Genealogist, Volume 18, pages 28 - 39. 

My BASSETT genealogy:

Generation 1:  Roger Bassett, married on 27 April 1623 at St. Martin’s church, Dorking, Surrey, England to Ann Holland. 

Generation 2:  William Bassett, baptized on 30 May 1624 in Dorking, died 31 March 1703 in Lynn, Massachusetts;  married about 1646 in Lynn to Sarah Unknown.  She was born between 1623 and 1627 in Dorking and died after 1700 in Lynn. Twelve children.

Generation 3:   Hannah Bassett, born about 1670 in Lynn; married to John Lillie.  He was born 5 December 1662 in Reading, and died in Woburn, Massachusetts.  Six children.

Generation 4:  Phebe Lilley m. Noah Eaton

Generation 5: Katherine Eaton m. John Emerson

Generation 6:  Romanus Emerson m. Jemima Burnham

Generation 7:  George Emerson m. Mary Esther Younger

Generation 8:  Mary Katharine Emerson m. George E. Batchelder

Generation 9: Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 10: Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/05/surname-saturday-bassett-of-lynn.html 

Copyright © 2015, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Surname Saturday ~ LILLIE of Reading, Massachusetts

LILLIE / LILLEY

George Lillie (about 1637 – 1691) is my 8^th great grandfather.  His parents, origins and immigration are all unknown, but he was probably from England.  He settled in Reading, Middlesex County, Massachusetts as a school master and owned land on the north side of the Ipswich River by 1658.   In 1667 the town made a list of the 59 houses in Reading, and George Lilly is on the list.

My 7^th great grandfather, John Lilley, removed to Woburn, a contiguous town and married Hannah Bassett.  Hannah was the daughter of William Bassett and Sarah Burt whose children were affected by the 1692 witch hysteria.  Their oldest daughter, Elizabeth, sister to Hannah, married John Proctor (my 8^th great grandfather in another lineage).  Elizabeth (Bassett) Proctor was accused of witch craft along with her husband, John, who was hung.   William Basset Jr., Hannah’s brother, had a wife Sarah (Hood) who was also arrested, tortured and tried for witch craft.   Hannah’s other sister, Mary, wife of Michael Rich, was also arrested, tortured and tried for witchcraft.  Fortunately, my 7^th great grandmother, Hannah (Bassett) Lilley escaped suspicion!

My Lillie lineage daughters out with my 6^th great grandmother, Phebe Lilley (1706 – 1786) who married Noah Eaton of Reading and Haverhill.  They had eight children all born in Reading. 

Some LILLIE resources:

George Lilly and his descendants, by Georgiana Hewins Lilly, 1945 – a typescript manuscript at the New England Historic Genealogical Society library in Boston, call number G LIL 964

Genealogical History of the Town of Reading, Massachusetts including the present towns of Wakefield, Reading, and North Reading with chronological and historical sketches from 1639 to 1874, by Lilley Eaton, 1874 also available online at https://archive.org/  and also reprinted by Heritage Books of Bowie, MD in 1994 (facsimile reprint).

Be aware that in the Reading records and vital records (and probably elsewhere) the name is spelled LELLEY, LELY, LILLE, LILLIE, LILLY, LILEY and LILLEY.  Also be aware that there are unrelated LILLIE familes in Boston and Marshfield, Massachusetts. 

One big genealogy clue I like to share about this family is to look for children with the first name of "Lilley" or "Lillie" (spelled with two LLs), and they are usually sons with a grandmother or other ancestress with the maiden name LILLIE or LILLEY from Reading.  I have a 5th great grand uncle named Lilley Eaton (1738 - 1812), and I was surprised to find out he was a boy, and happy that this discovery lead to finding his mother's maiden name was LILLEY.  The historian who wrote the town history of Reading, Massachusetts in 1874 was also named Lilley Eaton (1802 - 1872), and he is a gentleman, not a woman, and is my 2nd cousin five generations removed.  He is the son of Lilley Eaton (b. 1768) and the grandson of Lilley Eaton mentioned above as my 5th great grand uncle. 

My LILLIE genealogy:

Generation 1:  George Lillie, born about 1637 in Scotland or England, died 14 February 1691 in Reading, Massachusetts; married first on 15 November 1659 in Reading to Hannah Smith (four children), daughter of Francis Smith and Alice Unknown; married second to Jane Unkown on 6 May 1667 in Reading (two children).

Generation 2: John Lillie, born 5 December 1662 in Reading, died in Woburn, Massachusetts; married to Hannah Bassett, daughter of William Bassett and Sarah Burt.  She was born about 1670 in Lynn.  Six children.

Generation 3: Phebe Lilley, born 21 February 1706 in Woburn, died 1786 in Reading; married on 21 December 1726 in Woburn to Noah Eaton, son of Jonathan Eaton and Mary Cowdry(?).  He was born 26 January 1704 in Reading and died 1770 in Reading.  Eight children.

Generation 4:  Katherine Eaton married John Emerson

Generation 5:  Romanus Emerson married Jemima Burnham

Generation 6:  George Emerson married Mary Esther Younger

Generation 7:  Mary Katharine Emerson married George E. Batchelder

Generation 8:  Carrie Maude Batchelder married Joseph Elmer Allen

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/05/surname-saturday-lillie-of-reading.html 

Copyright ©2015, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Daisy the Cow –

This is the last cow story…at least for now!

George Barlow emigrated from England and arrived at Sandwich, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, by around 1657. He became a constable, and marshall for Sandwich, Barnstable and Yarmouth. This was the era of Massachusetts purging the Quakers from their borders, and the constable was responsible for upholding the right to fine Quakers. George Barlow had the right to take goods in exchange for fines, and the right to keep ten percent as his fee.

Henry C. Kittredge wrote of George Barlow: "It was his habit to take not what would be most valuable to the authorities, but what would be most poignantly missed by the Quaker families." He tells the story of Priscilla Allen, whose husband was driven out of town, leaving her and the children with only a cow. The marshall took the cow, all the corn in the house, a bag of meal that had been given by neighbors, and her only copper cooking kettle. Kittredge further wrote that George Barlow had, "so far as can be discovered from contemporary authorities, not a single good trait."

From Stratton’s “Plymouth Colony” he writes “In a case of 5 March 1660/1, Barlow himself was fined twenty shillings for cruelty to Benjamin Allen, making him sit in the stocks at Sandwich for most of the night without cause, and ‘for other wronges done by him unto said Allin.’ Allen was a Quaker, but nonetheless the court protected him…” and “In May 1665 Barlow was accused of ‘attempting the chastity of Abigaill, the wife of Jonathan Pratt, by alluring words and actes of force…’”

George Barlow married a Mrs. Jane Besse, widow to Anthony Besse, with whom she had eight children. It seems that the Barlows marriage was quite tragic, probably since he was a mean spirited man. According to a Plymouth Colony Court record of March 4, 1661/2, Dorcas, Ann, and Mary Besse were before the Court for "crewell and unnatural practice toward their father-in-law George Barlow." (Father-in-law meant step father in those days.) The 1662 records show that Daisy, the cow, had been taken by George Barlow, and the court ordered that Daisy be returned to his step-daughter Jane Besse.

George Barlow named only four children in his will, two from his first wife and two from his second wife. He was mean spirited even to these children, for in his will, which was dated August 4, 1684, and proved on October 31, 1684, he gave only five shillings each to Aaron and Moses, adding "that is all I give them." To his wife Jane and their sons John and Nathan he gave his land which amounted to about eight acres, his house, his farm stock and equipment, and his "household stuffe."

I am not a direct descendant of George Barlow, but many Barlows intermarried with distant cousins in my family tree. He would make a great Blacksheep ancestor! Look at all the records he left for us to uncover in Massachusetts!

I found him mentioned in the records of John Howland, Jr. born 24 February 1627, son of Mayflower passengers John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley. I’m descended of two of his sisters, Desire, who married John Gorham, and of the sister Hope, who married John Chipman. It seems that John Howland, Jr., was sympathetic to the plight of the Quakers and he was opposed to George Barlow.

Another ancestor, William Bassett, born 1624 in Plymouth, was fined ten pounds “for spreading false reports of the marshall.” He succeeded George Barlow as the constable, about 1661, in the town of Sandwich. This William Bassett was the father of William Bassett III, who attended Harvard College and became a superior court judge of Massachusetts 1710-1715, and served as Chief Marshall of Plymouth. Hopefully he was a more just and fair man than his predecessor, George Barlow!

For more information see:

“Plymouth Colony, its History and People, 1620-1691” by Eugene Aubrey Stratton, Ancestry Publishing, 1986 (see pages 93 and 99 for the stories of George Barlow, available at Google Books)

“Cape Cod and Its People and Their History” by Henry Crocker Kittredge, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1930
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Looking for more cow stories?

Cow story #1 Have a Cow, Win a Wife!

Cow story #2 Another Cow, a Salmon and Sam Adams

Cow Story #3 Moooore Cows in the Family Tree
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Copyright 2010, Heather Wilkinson Rojo