Surname Saturday ~ BEADLE of Salem, Massachusetts

Colonial Tavern

BEADLE  /  BEDEL  /  BEDLE /  BEATLE / BETTEL /  BETLE

Samuel Beadle, my 9th great grandfather, is of unknown birth.  It is unknown when he came to New England from England.  He was living in Charlestown, Massachusetts as early as 1656 when he bought a house. "Sameul Beadle, Planter, inhabitant in Charltowne, New England....[purchased a dwelling] on sconse pyont... [including] ... a cow common on the stinted pasture without the Neck.. a hay Lott of an Aker of Meadow, by estimation, more or less, lying at Wilson's poynt on mistik syde". 

Samuel Beadle removed to Salem, about twenty miles away, in 1661 when there was an inquest for their child who drowned in well at the Salem Quarterly Court.  The inquest met 7 September 1661.  "They found the remains laid out on a chest or table; and upon inquiry as to how it came to its death, the parents answered that it was drowned in the well, and no contrary evidence appeared."  [History of Salem, Volume II, page 301]   He lived in a house owned by Philip Cromwell on the corner of Bridge Street and Howard Street (roughly where the Howard Street Cemetery is located today). 

The will of Samuel Beadle was proved in the Salem quarterly court 30:4:1664. 

I Samell Beadle being by Gods pvidents sick & weak of body:yett through the Lords mercy of pfect memorye, doe make this my last will & testament: as followeth:

Impr I giue vnto my son nathanyell Beadle ten shillings: it being as much as I conciud convenyent vpon the divers good considerations alsoe with respect to what I haue already don for him

It I giue to my daughter Dorithy forty shillings ffor the rest of my estate, moueables and vnmoueables, what euer God haue giuen me in this world, (when all my Just debts are paid) I giue to my three smallest children now at home with me, namly Samuell, Thomas, and Elizabeth, equally to be devided betweene them & to be paid at the age, of 21 years my sons & my daughters at ye age of 18 years or maryed & of ye three viz: Samuell Thomas & Elizabeth ye survivers at the time of payment to haue ye deceased pt devided And lastly I doe apoynt my Loveing freind m walter price to be my executor of this my will & mr John Croad & Hillyard veren overseers witnes my hand this 12th of march 1663/64

witnesses

Hillyard veren

Thomas Watson

Samuell Bedle

Samuel Beadle, Jr. (1643 – 1706), my 8^th great grandfather, was a wood turner, and he served in King Philip’s War.  His health failed and in 1681 he became a vintner (wine merchant).    In 1683 he received a license to keep an inn in recognition of his health failing as a result of his service against the Indians in the Narragansett Country. His statement reads:  "Whereas by the providence of God and my hard service in the Narraganset country my health has been much impaired and my body incapable of following my calling (by reason of grievous aches and pains that constantly attend me) the consideration whereof has moved the selectmen of Salem to consider of some fit way for me whereby I might get a livelihood for myself and family and for that end have granted me their approbation for one of the innholders to keep an inn in the town of Salem."[History of Salem, Volume III, page 84]  

During the 1692 Salem witch hysteria John Parker frequented Samuel Beadle's tavern.  One night his wife Alice went to fetch him from the inn and she berated him in front of the other men.  One man, John Westgate, scolded her.  Some weeks later, on his way home from Beadle's tavern, Westgate met up with a black pig that chased him. He swore out a complaint against Alice Parker for witchcraft.  He deposed that she sent the black hog after him.  Alice Parker was hanged on 22 September 1692. 

Samuel, Jr.'s house on St. Peter Street (then known as Prison Lane) was the Beadle's inn described in the witch craft documents from 1692.  He died intestate in 1706, and the property inventory listed a "Jersey boy servant" and an "Indian woman slave". His wife, Hannah, survived him and died with a will dated 29 March 1729 and proved 25 July 1736.

Lemon Beadle (1680 – 1717), my 7^th great grandfather, received his unusual name from his mother, Hannah Lemon (1650 – 1736).   He was also a woodcarver (like his father) and an innkeeper (like his father).  He carved signs and figure heads for the bows of ships built in Salem.  He was licensed to keep his own tavern in his own dwelling in 1716.  When Salem built a new Watch House in 1712 he carved “a handsome wooden soldier” for the roof.   I descend from his daughter, Rebecca Beadle (1714 – 1758), my 6^th great grandmother, who married John Becket (28 Feb 1715) of the famous Becket shipbuilding family of Salem.

More BEADLE resources:

Samuel Beadle Family: History and Genealogy of Descendants of Samuel Beader, Planter Who lived in Charlestown, Massachusetts in 1656 and died in Salem, Massachusetts in 1664 by Walter J. Beadle, privately printed 1970 (available at Family Search online, at the Ancestry card catalog,  and at the NEHGS manuscript department)

The Essex Antiquarian, Volume 7, pages 172 - 175 "Beadle Genealogy"

The History of Salem, Massachusetts, by Sidney Perley, Volume II, pages 386 – 387 for the BEADLE genealogy.  Various members of the BEADLE family are mentioned in all three volumes of these books, check the index.

Generation 1: Samuel Beadle, born about 1622 in England, died 10 March 1664 in Salem, Massachusetts; married about 1645, probably in Salem, to Susanna Grey.  She was born about 1626 and died 13 February 1661 in Salem.  Seven children.

Generation 2:  Samuel Beadle, Jr., born 1643 in Salem, died before 27 November 1706 in Salem; married on 10 June 1668 in Salem to Hannah Lemon, daughter of Robert Lemon and Mary Unknown.  She was born 7 July 1650 in Salem and died 1736.  Twelve children.

Generation 3: Lemon Beadle, born 30 July 1680 in Salem, died 17 November 1717; married on 4 January 1710 to Rebecca Atwater, daughter of Joshua Atwater and Rebecca Unknown.  She was born 25 February 1687 and died 1727 in Salem.  Two children.  (Rebecca married second to Samuel Phippen on 20 March 1718.  He was the widower of Lemon’s sister, Mary Beadle (1678 – 1715))

Generation 4:  Rebecca Beadle, born 13 January 1714 in Salem, died 13 January 1758; married 3 May 1738 in Salem to John Becket, son of John Becket and Susannah Mason.  He was born 28 February 1715 in Salem, and died 29 August 1781 in Salem.  Thirteen children.

Generation 5:  Hannah Becket m. Joseph Cloutman

Generation 6:  Mary Cloutman m. Abijah Hitchings

Generation 7: Abijah Hitchings m. Eliza Ann Treadwell

Generation 8: Abijah Franklin Hitchings m. Hannah Eliza Lewis

Generation 9: Arthur Treadwell Hitchings m. Florence Etta Hoogerzeil

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

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ BEADLE of Salem, Massachusetts”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 27, 2017, (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/05/surname-saturday-beadle-of-salem.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ SIBLEY of Salem, Massachusetts

I have two SIBLEY ancestors who were probably brother and sister, or at least close kin.  Some writers believe that Richard and Damaris SIBLEY  of Salem were siblings to John Sibley of Manchester, Massachusetts.  This is possible, since they are all close enough in age, and the two towns are very close, especially by water.  John Sibley arrived with the Winthrop fleet early in the 1630s as a servant to Richard Saltonstall, while Richard Sibley doesn’t appear in Salem until the late 1650s.  We don't know how these three SIBLEYs are related, or if they are related at all. 

I’ll discuss Damaris Sibley first. She is my 10^th great grandmother, born about 1600 in England, married about 1629 to a Shattuck and had six Shattuck children all probably born in England.  In 1641 she was admitted to the Salem church as a widow.  She remarried a second time to Capt. Thomas Gardner.  Two of the Gardner sons married two Shattuck daughters.  Damaris died in 1674.  Just to add another knot to the puzzle, can you believe that Thomas Gardner is my 9^th great grandfather with his first wife, Margaret Frier, through their daughter Sarah Gardner (1627 – 1686), who married Benjamin Balch of Beverly.

I descend from Mary Shattuck, my 9^th great grandmother, born about 1624, who married Mark Hands of Charlestown, Massachusetts.  They had two children, and then he died at sea in 1664.  John Hands, born in 1654 is my 8^th great grandfather. 

The second SIBLEY lineage starts with Richard Sibley, born in the late 1620s in England.  He was a traymaker and he first appears in the Salem records in 1656.  He bought land from Philip Veren, a Salem wheelwright, in 1662 and built a house.  He left this estate to his wife, and it eventually was sold by some of his children to a brother, John Sibley.  Half of this land was sold to John Becket in 1714. John Becket was my 7^th great grandfather, and grandson of Richard Sibley.

Richard Sibley and his wife, Hannah UNKNOWN, had seven children.  I descend from Hannah (1661 – 1734), my 8^th great grandmother, who married William Becket, a Salem shipwright.  The Beckets also lived in the same neighborhood of Salem, near the neck and the harbor.  Their oldest son, John Becket (1684 – 1763) is my 7^th great grandfather (see above).  

My SIBLEY genealogies (two lineages):

DAMARIS

Generation 1:  Damaris Sibley, born about 1600 in England, died 28 November 1674 in Salem; married about 1629 to UNKNOWN Shattuck.  Six children.

Generation 2:  Mary Shattuck m. Mark Hands

Generation 3:  Katherine Hands m. Jonathan Kettell

Generation 4:  Katherine Kettell m. Caleb Rand

Generation 5:  Caleb Rand m. Mary Mayhew

Generation 6:  Mary Rand m. Asahel Bill

Generation 7:  Ingraham Ebenezer Bill m. Isabella Lyons

Generation 8:  Caleb Rand Bill m. Ann Margaret Bollman

Generation 9:  Isabella Lyons Bill m. Albert Munroe Wilkinson

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

RICHARD:

Generation 1:  Richard Sibley, born about 1628, died 30 June 1676 in Salem; married to Hannah UNKNOWN.  Seven children

Generation 2: Hannah Sibley, born 20 September 1661 in Salem, died 1734; married on 8 May 1683 in Marblehead to William Becket, son of John Becket and Margaret Unknown.  He was born 9 April 1665 in Salem, died 10 November 1723 in Salem.  Eight children.

Generation 3:  John Becket m. Susannah Mason

Generation 4:  John Becket m. Rebecca Beadle

Generation 5:  Hannah Becket m. Joseph Cloutman

Generation 6:  Mary Cloutman m. Abijah Hitchings

Generation 7:  Abijah Hitchings m. Eliza Ann Treadwell

Generation 8:  Abijah Franklin Hitchings m. Hannah Eliza Lewis

Generation 9: Arthur Treadwell Hitchings m. Florence Etta Hoogerzeil

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

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ SIBLEY of Salem, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 6, 2017, (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/05/surname-saturday-sibley-of-salem.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ MASON of Salem, Massachusetts

Thomas MASON, my 8^th great grandfather, was a fisherman who came to Salem in 1680 after selling land in Casco, Maine.  [York Deeds, Volume 14, page 33 ( Book XIV, folio 8)]  He was the pilot for a privateer Dragon in 1694, captained by Robert Glover, which captured a rich French ship St. Joseph at the mouth of the Canada River [the early name for the St. Lawrence River).  It was “Laden with Wine, Brandy and other Mechandizes” [from the Acts and Resolves, Public and Private, of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, Volume VII (Resolves, etc. 1692 – 1702), page 55]  This prize was brought to Boston and valued at fifteen hundred pounds sterling.

About 1686 he married Christian Oliver, the daughter of Bridget (Playfer) Wasselbee Oliver Bishop, who would be hanged as a witch in Salem in 1692.  Their only daughter was Susannah Mason (1687 – 1769) my 7^th great grandmother.   Christian died with a year of her mother’s death by execution, about 1693, and Thomas Mason remarried on 1 November 1693 to the widow Abigail (Curtice) Greenslade, the widow of Thomas Greenslade.  He was one of Ann Pudeator’s sons (Ann was hanged as a witch in 1692, too).  So Thomas Mason was married to two wives closely connected to witch trial victims. 

Edward Bishop, the husband of Bridget Bishop, was appointed guardian to his step granddaughter Susannah Mason.   When Thomas Oliver, Bridget’s second husband, died the court ordered 9 pounds from his estate to be given to Christian Oliver Mason, but she was already dead so the new administrator of the probate case left the money to Susannah.  On 12 April 1694 Edward Bishop was appointed the guardian of Susanna Mason and took control of the 9 pounds.  He bought a houselot for her at the intersection of Essex Street and Forrester Street.  This was her property when she married John Becket, Jr. in 1711.  The Beckets were shipbuilders, and their shipyard was nearby.

My MASON lineage:

Generation 1  Thomas Mason, born about 1665; married about 1686 in Salem to Christian Oliver, daughter of Thomas Oliver and Bridget Playfer.  She was born 8 May 1667 in Salem, and died about 1693.  One daughter.

Generation 2:  Susannah Mason, born 23 August 1687 in Salem, died after 1769; married on 20 September 1711 in Salem to John Becket, son of William Becket and Hannah Sibley. He was born in Salem on 10 August 1684 and died 1763.  Six children.

Generation 3: John Becket m. Rebecca Beadle

Generation 4:  Hannah Becket m. Joseph Cloutman

Generation 5:  Mary Cloutman m. Abijah Hitchings

Generation 6:  Abijah Hitchings m. Eliza Ann Treadwell

Generation 7:  Abijah Franklin Hitchings m. Hannah Eliza Lewis

Generation 8:  Arthur Treadwell Hitchings m. Florence Etta Hoogerzeil

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

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~  MASON of Salem, Massachusetts”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 6, 2017, (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/05/surname-saturday-mason-of-salem.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ BECKETT of Salem, Massachusetts

The John Becket House, 1655, at the House of Seven Gables in Salem, Massachusetts
is labeled the "Retire Becket House" by the front door. 

BECKET, BECKETT

John Becket, my 9^th great grandfather, was first recorded in Salem, Massachusetts on 9 April 1655 when he bought “one dwelling house and three acres of land behind it” from Samuel Archard.  The street where this house stood is now known as Becket Court, near the waterfront in Salem. Eventually the family built a shipyard on this property.  In 1924 this house was moved one half mile to the museum compound where the House of Seven Gables stands, and was converted into the gift shop.  (from The Chronicles of Three Old Houses, by Caroline O. Emmerton, 1985, published by the House of Seven Gables Settlement Association)

John Becket was the great great grandfather of the famous ship builder Retire Becket.   In 1816 the millionaire George Crowninshield, Jr. of Salem commissioned Retire “Tyrey” Becket to build the first known private luxury yacht, which was known as Cleopatra’s Barge.   It cost $50,000 to build, and another $50,000 to outfit it as an ocean going mansion (in 1816 dollars!).  No expense was spared on this 100 foot brig.  In 1820 this yacht was traded to King Kamehameha II of Hawaii and renamed Ka Ha'aheo O' Hawai'i.  She sank off Hanalei Bay on the north of Kauai in 1824, and in 1994 the wreck was rediscovered.  191 objects were raised from the wreck and displayed at the Kauai Museum.

There is a reconstruction of the main cabin of Cleopatra's Barge
inside the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts

William Becket, my 8^th great grandfather, was also a shipwright, as well as his son, John Becket (1684 – 1763). This lineage lived in Salem from John Becket the immigrant in the 1650s until my grandmother’s time.  If you look down below to generation 8 you will see my great great grandfather, Abijah F. Hitchings, who was the deputy customs collector at the Salem Custom House, also on the waterfront.  He lived in a house that stood on the land that is now the parking lot for visitors to the House of Seven Gables.  This family has always lived in this neighborhood of Salem.  

For more on the BECKET family:

The Story of George Crowninsheild’s Yacht, Cleopatra’s Barge, by George Crowninshield, 1913

A video of the wreck and recovery of Cleopatra’s Barge AKA  Ka Ha'aheo O' Hawai'i  https://vimeo.com/13968115

My BECKET genealogy:

Generation 1:  John Becket, born about 1626, probably in England, died 26 November 1683 in Salem, Massachusetts; married Margaret UNKNOWN.  She died about 1717.  Five children.

Generation 2: William Becket, born 9 April 1665 in Salem, died 10 November 1723 in Salem; married on 8 May 1683 in Marblehead to Hannah Sibley, daughter of Richard Sibley and Hannah UNKNOWN.  She was born 20 September 1661 in Salem and died 1734.  Eight children.

Generation 3:  John Becket, born 10 August 1684 in Salem, died 1763 in Salem; married on 20 September 1711 in Salem to Susannah Mason, daughter of Thomas Mason and Christian Oliver.  She was born 23 August 1687 in Salem, and died after 1769.  Six children.

Generation 4:  John Becket, born 28 February 1715 in Salem, died 29 August 1781 in Salem; married first on 3 May 1738 to Rebecca Beadle, daughter of Lemon Beadle and Rebecca Atwater.  She was born 31 January 1714 in Salem and died 13 January 1758 in Salem.  Thirteen children.   John married second to Sarah Rue on 25 November 1762 in Salem.  No more children with second marriage.

Generation 5: Hannah Becket, born 17 November 1751 in Salem, died 18 August 1837 in Salem; married on 20 June 1770 in Salem to Joseph Cloutman, son of Joseph Cloutman and Mary Webb.  He was born about 1748.  Seven children.

Generation 6: Mary Cloutman m. Abijah Hitchings

Generation 7:  Abijah Hitchings m. Eliza Ann Treadwell

Generation 8:  Abijah Franklin Hitchings m. Hannah Eliza Lewis

Generation 9:  Arthur Treadwell Hitchings m. Florence Etta Hoogerzeil

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

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ BECKET of Salem, Massachusetts”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted April 15, 2017, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/04/surname-saturday-beckett-of-salem.html: accessed [access date]). 

Manuel Francisco Ciriaco Fenollosa del Pino

My great great grandfather Caleb Rand Bill (1833 - 1902) was a music professor in Salem, Massachusetts. When I was researching Professor Bill I found many stories about Manuel Fenollosa and Manuel Emilio, two other famous musicians from Salem. And, surprise!, a family link, too!

Manuel Fenollosa came to Salem from Spain with his brother in law, Manuel Emilio in 1838 on the US naval frigate the United States. They had both been musicians for the crew, and Emilio was the bandmaster. They remained in the United States, and formed a band, then a music school in Salem, Massachusetts. Their first Salem concert was held at John P. Jewett’s house, who later published their sheet music (he also published Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin). Jewett taught Fenollosa how to speak English.

Later Emilio wrote the music to accompany one of John Greenleaf Whititer’s poems “Little Eva: Uncle Tom’s Guardian Angel”. It was dedicated to Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852, when it was published by Jewett & Co. In 1863 Manuel Fenollosa composed the “Emancipation Hymn”. He also held a concert in Salem in 1864 after Emancipation. Both Emilio and Fenollosa aided the famous 54th regiment when it was formed of white Massachusetts officers and black recruits. Obviously the two immigrants from Spain were greatly influenced by their Salem abolitionist friends.

According to the lyrics written by a mysterious “R. T. L.” the “Emancipation Hymn”:

Long our land in blood had weltered, Blood of dearest sons:
Long had Hero Spirits faltered, Not at booming guns:
Long our pray'r to Heav'n ascended Fraught with bondmen's groans;
Long with victory's cheers had blended Fettered manhood's moans!
God hath heard us, God hath heard us, and in mercy Gives us bread for stones.
God hath heard us, God hath heard us, and in mercy Gives us bread for stones.

Asking for a Land, for a Land united, We forgot the slave.
Pray'd we for our Country, for our Country blighted--For our falling brave,
Left the bondman, chas'd by blood hounds Scented thro' the cane,
God was with that panting brother; Pray'd we thus in vain!
Ask, as we would serve another, ask and he will hear again!
Ask, as we would serve another, ask and he will hear again!

He hath heard; O give Him glory! Heard the Bondman's pray'r:
O'er the war path, red and gory Thro' the slave-hound's lair,
Peals the mandate of salvation, "Let my people go."
Humbled, bleeding, hear the nation Answer, "Be it so!"
Who shall weary! Who shall weary! who shall falter! God is with us now!

Fenollosa Family History:

Generation 1. Manuel Fenollosa and Isabel Del Pino of Spain

Generation 2. Manuel Francisco Ciriaco Fenollosa, born 24 December 1822 in Malaga, Spain, died 13 January 1878 in Salem, Massachusetts; married first to Mary Silsbee, on 20 November 1851 in Salem; married second to Annie Elizabeth Kinsman on 26 July 1869 in Salem. Manuel’s sister, Isabel, married Manuel Emilio.

Two children with Mary Silsbee:

1. Ernest Francisco Fenollosa, born 18 February 1853, died 21 September 1908, in London; married Elizabeth Goodhue Millett. He spent thirty years in Japan studying the art and culture.

2. William Silsbee Fenollosa, born about 1855, married a Martha W. Fabene in 1887

Three children with Annie Kinsman:

3. Clarence Fenollosa, born 25 November 1870 in Salem

4. Sydney Kinsman Fenollosa, born 4 May 1873 in Salem.

5. Manuel Emilio Fenollosa, born 7 June 1875 in Salem

Both of Manuel Fenollosa’s wives are distant cousins to me. Mary Silsbee is a great grand daughter of John Becket (1715 – 1781) and Rebecca Beadle (1714 – 1758), my 6x great grandparents. Annie Elizabeth Kinsman is related to me through multiple lines of Essex County families (Kinsman, Dutch, Kimball, Treadwell, Webb, and Burnham).

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For more information:

The Papers of Luis F. Emilio, 1812 – 1871 contain information on the musical career of Manuel Fenollosa in Salem. They are held at the Peabody Essex Museum.

“Emancipaton Hymn”, by Manuel Fenollosa, lyrics by R. T. L, Boston: Oliver Ditson & Co, 1863 (sheet music) M1640.F at the Library of Congress

Diary of Manuel Fenollosa, 1848 – 1849, by Manuel Fenollosa, held at the Peabody Essex Museum (describes a voyage from Malaga, Spain to Salem, Massachusetts in 1838, on the barks Sophia Walker and the A. G. Hill)

“Immigrants to Salem Join the Abolitionist Cause”, Boston Globe, by Jim Dalton, 1 Feb 2011 at the website http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/salem/2011/02/immigrants_to_salem_join_the_a.html accessed 9 March 2011

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Peabody Essex Museum - Not so Wordless Wednesday

The East India Marine Society was founded in 1799 in Salem, Massachusetts. Membership was limited to those captains who had sailed around Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope. They shared information on voyages, started a library, and provided benefits to widows and children of members who died at sea. Part of their mission was to also collect “natural and artificial curiosities”. By 1824 there were more than 3,000 items In the collections, so a new museum was created in 1825. At the dedication ceremony there were dignitaries from near and far, including President John Quincy Adams, and Salem’s own justice on the US Supreme Court, Joseph Story. John White Treadwell (1785 – 1857), the secretary of the East India Marine Society, read a toast to the president at the dinner that followed. He was my second cousin six generations removed, great grandson of our common ancestor, Nathaniel Treadwell of Ipswich (1677-1723).

Marine Hall in March
(complete with a pile of dirty snow)

Over the years many of my Salem ancestors were part of the East India Marine Society, the Essex Institute and the Peabody Essex Museum. Dr. Andrew Nichols (1785 – 1853) was the president of the Essex Institute from 1836 – 1848). His grandson, another Dr. Andrew Nichols (1862-1897) married Mary Ann Bill (1861-1910) sister to my great grandmother Isabella Lyons Bill. My Great great grandfather, Peter Hoogerzeil (1841 – 1908) sailed around the world collecting curiosities which were donated to the museum. The most famous family member, George Jacobs (1612-1692) who was hung as a witch, was an exhibit himself. His finger bones and canes were exhibited in the museum as curiosities when I was a child, but I haven’t seen them on display in many years. I guess it's not politically correct anymore to display something like that.

In 1992 the Essex and Peabody Institutes merged into the Peabody Essex Museum. There are more than 840,000 works of art and culture, from maritime and American art to Asian, Oceanic and African art and export art. Today it is more of an art museum, and the mummies, stuffed animals and curiosities I remember seeing as a child are only a small portion of the exhibits.

We visited the PEM again last weekend, and I saw more things related to our family’s long history in Salem. Some I remember from years ago, and others were new to me. I guess that with nearly a million items in storage, they are constantly showing new things, and changing the displays. Here are a sampling…


Chest built by Symonds of Salem for
Benjamin Putnam (1664-1715)
brother to my ancestor Elizabeth Putnam,
who married George Flint in 1679



This is a logbook by Thorndike Proctor
(a descendant of my ancestor John Proctor (1631-1692) hung as a witch)
from the brig Ocean on a voyage to Hispanola in 1783-84
M856 1783o / Log 1783o

The salon of the yacht Cleopatra's Barge
built by Retire Becket (1754 - 1831) my 2nd cousin many generations removed
see the story from January 2011 for the Becket family of Salem.
The yacht was sold to King Kamehameha II, and it sunk off the coast of Hawaii

Chest by Symonds of Salem built for my 7 x great grandparents
Joseph Pope and Bathsheba Folger married in 1679
(see the inscription with their initial and date)
see this link for more on the Pope Valuable Chest-
it's a long, interesting story!

If you have ancestors who lived in Salem or nearby, the PEM's Phillips Library should be on your list of places for research. The website contains schedules, which is important because it is only open two days a week. You can also check out the card catalog online. Their collections are superb for early colonial, maritime and trade history (especially Aisian export trade), containing manuscripts, newspapers and other rare documents. The museum also has photographs and nautical navigation charts.

Peabody Essex Museum http://www.pem.org/

East India Marine Hall http://www.salemweb.com/tales/eastindiamarinehall.shtml

A list of the original 1800 members of the East India Marine Society can be found at this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_India_Marine_Society

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Peabody Essex Museum - Not so Wordless Wednesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 9, 2011, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/03/peabody-essex-museum-not-so-wordless.html: accessed [access date]).

Cleopatra’s Barge, from Salem to Hawaii

Cleopatra's Barge painting by George Ropes, 1818 ,
exhibit M-8255
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts

My 2nd cousin six generations removed, Retire Becket, built America’s first pleasure yacht, Cleopatra's Barge.  He was a ship builder in Salem, Massachusetts, and he was one of the more prominent men in his trade. In 1816 George Crowninshield commissioned a pleasure boat unlike any other ever built. It had a 100 foot deck and cost $50,000 (in 1816 dollars!) to build out of mahogany and gold trim, and another $50,000 to furnish with artwork, fine silver and porcelain.

The log book of Cleopatra’s Barge is available at the Peabody Essex Museum’s Phillip’s library. A reconstruction of the grand salon is on display, and gives visitors an idea of the splendor of the ship. Some of the furnishings are on display, too.

According to the PEM website “One telling exhibit in the Peabody Essex Museum that illustrates the fabulous wealth that had accrued to Salem is a reconstruction of the lounge of Cleopatra's Barge, a pleasure yacht built in 1816 by entrepreneur George Crowninshield. Some call it the country's first cruise ship. He had it constructed with the finest craftsmanship available and outfitted it with fine furnishings in the Federal and Neo-Classical styles and all the accoutrements of royalty. His intention was to sail Cleopatra's Barge to Europe with the express hope of hosting Napoleon himself on board and becoming the toast of the continent. He received quite a bit of attention as his yacht, gilded and herringboned on one side and striped on the other sailed into European ports, but Napoleon snubbed him, and Mr. Crowninshield returned home only to die unexpectedly the following year.”

After Crowninshield died, in 1817, Cleopatra’s Barge was sold to two Boston merchants in 1820. They sailed it to the Sandwich Islands, then known as the Kingdom of Hawaii, to sell it. King Kamehameha II took one look, and bought it for 8000 piculs of sandalwood (more than one million pounds of wood) worth $80,000 in 1820 dollars. The King renamed his ship the Royal Yacht Ha’aheo o Hawai’i. The ship began to slowly rot in the Pacific climate, so Captain Thomas Meek was hired to fix it with lumber from the Pacific Northwest. In 1824 it ran aground near Hanalei Bay off the coast of Kaua’i.

Some interesting facts about this ship and my family history:

1. Retire Becket’s house, which used to stand on Becket Street in Salem, was moved to the grounds of the House of Seven Gables museum in 1924. It now is used as a gift shop. My Becket ancestors lived on Becket Street, possibly in the same house. It was built in 1655 by John Beckett, my 9x Great Grandfather. My Great Great Grandparents lived one block over on Bentley Street. Retire Becket also built the schooner Fame which was commanded by another ancestor, Abner Poland.  Click here for my blog post about the ship Fame.

2. Captain Thomas Meek (mentioned above) was born 27 November 1791 in Marblehead, Massachusetts and died 29 January 1875 in Marblehead, where he returned after living in Hawaii. He married a native woman and left numerous descendants in Hawaii.  During my research trip to Hawaii’s Bishop Museum I met a man who was a descendant of Thomas Meek. When I got back to the hotel to check my database on my computer I found that Captain Thomas Meek’s son John married Elizabeth Kaluapapohana Kamsi, a member of the Hawaiian nobility. The Meeks are my cousins through my Gardner lineage in Salem.

3. The connection between my family in Massachusetts and Hawaii keeps growing stronger. King Kamehameha was a distant relative to Queen Lili’uokalani, whose husband was the nephew of my 4x great grandmother, Catherine Plummer (Jones) Younger.

4. Many members of my immediate and extended family tree have donated things to the Peabody Essex Museum, or their possessions and papers now are part of their collections. I suppose this isn’t unusual since I have so many Salem ancestors. I have blogged about the Pope Cabinet here, which was sold to the museum in 2000. Also in the collections is a book written by Great Great Grandfather Abijah Franklin Hitchings. His book is Ship registers of the district of Salem and Beverly, Massachusetts, 1789-1900, with annotations by Stephen Willard Phillips, published at Salem by the Essex Institute in 1906. The only other library I know to have a copy of this book is the library at the New England Historic Genealogical Society. I blogged about Abijah Hitchings here at this post from 26 July 2010  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/07/amanuensis-monday-abijah-fanklin.html .

The Becket Family Tree:

                                                 John Becket
                                                 b. abt. 1626
                                                         I
                                              William Becket
                                                    b. 1665

John Becket                                                         Retire Becket
b. 1684                                                                   b. 1704
         I                                                                          I
John Becket                                                        William Becket
b. 1715
         I                                                                          I
Hannah Becket                                                    Retire Becket
b. 1751                                                            (Built Cleopatra’s Barge)
         I                                                                     b. 1754
Mary Cloutman
b. abt 1775
         I
Abijah Hitchings
b. 1809
         I
Abijah Franklin Hitchings
b. 1841
(my 2x Great Grandfather)

Retire Becket's home in Salem, Massachusetts
now the gift shop at the
House of Seven Gables Museum

For more information:

The House of Seven Gables Historic Site Website http://www.7gables.org/

The Peabody Essex Museum Website http://www.pem.org/

An interesting proposal to reconstruct the Royal Yacht Ha’aheo o Hawai’I http://www.eb-5investors.com/POHF%20Summary.htm , with an estimated cost of over $7 million dollars to rebuild today.

The Schooner Fame http://www.schoonerfame.com/ a replica was rebuilt in 2003 by Harold Burnham (another cousin!) of Essex, Massachusetts. Now you can sail aboard the Fame to see Salem Harbor and the Massachusetts coastline on their day tours.

A genealogy of the Becket family can be found at The Historical Collections of the Essex Institute, Volume 8, page 139 - 144, by the Essex Institute of Salem, Massachusetts, 1868, available for full viewing at Google Books.

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

The Schooner Fame, and three Abner Polands

The Schooner Fame in Salem Harbor

The schooner Fame is moored in Salem, Massachusetts at Pickering Wharf. She was built in Essex, Massachusetts by Harold Burnham, and launched in 2003. The Burnhams have been building boats in Essex since the 1640s. The original schooner Fame was an Essex fishing schooner used as a privateer in the War of 1812.

The interesting connection is that Abner Poland III served on board the Fame in the War of 1812. I’m descended of his sister, Sally Poland, and also twice descended from his great grandfather John Poland of Hamilton, Massachusetts. The current schooner Fame has a captain named Michael Rutstein, who contacted me in 2009 for more information about Captain Abner Poland. He found the connections between the Polands and the Burnham family interesting. Captain Rutstein also found it interesting that all three generations of Abner Polands served in the military in the first two wars in American History. Abner Poland was also the owner of the schooner Dart, built in Newburyport in 1792, and captain of the Cossack.

The first captain for the original Fame was William Webb, and his lieutenant was John Becket, Jr. John Becket was grandson of my 7x great grandfather, John Becket, and he was also a shipwright. The older John Becket a great grandson of Bridget (Playfer) Oliver Bishop, who was hung as a witch in Salem on 10 June 1692. She was my 9x great grandmother. John Becket, Jr., captain of the Fame, died at sea in 1816 and left a wife and three orphaned children.

The Fame and the Jefferson were the first two privateers sanctioned by the American government. It was a very lucrative business, and many more Salem ships entered privateering. A privateer was authorized by the government to attack foreign shipping, and allowed to rob cargo and take prisoners of war. These raiders interrupted the British trade routes during the War of 1812, at great risk of being captured as prisoners of war themselves. However, the seized cargo was allowed to be auctioned and the proceeds distributed amongst the crew, making it a desirable occupation during the War of 1812.

The Poland Family Tree:

Generation 1: Thomas Poland, immigrant from England, died 22 February 1666 in Wenham, Massachusetts; married to Hannah Unknown, three sons including:

Generation 2: John Poland, born about 1631 in England, died 3 August 1713 in Hamilton, Massachusetts; married first in 1657 to Bethiah Friend, daughter of John Friend; married second to Margery Unknown about 1680, widow of Anthony Dike. Seven children with Bethiah, including:

Generation 3: James Poland, born about 1665 in Wenham, died in 1722; married first in 12 April 19 in Wenham to Rebecca Kimball, daughter of Richard Kimball and Rebecca Abbye; married second to Elizabeth Unknown. Seven children with Rebecca, including:

Generation 4: John Poland, born about 1693 in Hamilton or Wenham, died 21 April 1777; married on 11 April 1718 in Hamilton to Abigail Davis, daughter of James Davis and Abigail Mettcalfe. Nine children, including:

Generation 5: Abner Poland, born about 1736 in Essex, died 9 Feb 1824 in Essex; married first on 3 April 1761 to Dorothy Burnham, daughter of John Burnham and Rachel Smith. My 7x great grandfather. He served in the American Revolution at the taking of Burgoyne at the Battles of Long Island, White Plains and Harlem Heights. This Abner, his son Abner, and his grandson Abner all served in the American Revolution.

Also, his brother Daniel Poland, born about 1724, died 19 August 1768 in Salem; married on 18 October 1747 in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire to Sarah Bishop, daughter of James Bishop and Sarah Holmes. Also my 6x great grandfather.

Generation 6: Abner Poland, jr. born 17 May 1761, died 14 January 1835 in Enfield, New Hampshire; married on 20 March 1783 in Essex to Sarah Burnham, daughter of Westley Burnham and Deborah Story of Essex. Abner, Jr. served in the American Revolution in the battles at Hubbardston, Stillwater, Monmouth, and Yorktown. He received the Badge of Merit, the highest decoration, from General George Washington. Eight children, Including:

Generation 7: Abner Poland III, born about 1781 in Essex, Massachusetts; married on 28 October 1819 at the Second Baptist Church of Boston to Lucinda Baker, married second to Mercy Kidder born 22 Mar 1792 in Enfield, New Hampshire, daughter of Joseph Kidder and Mercy Fox. One daughter. Abner III was a sailor during the American Revolution, and was captured aboard the Hawk and imprisoned at Forten Prison in England. He was master of the privateers the Dart and the Fame in the War of 1812.

For more information:

The Polands from Essex County, Massachusetts, by Lloyd Orville Poland, Book Crafters, Inc., Chelsea, Michigan, 1981

My blog post on 4 October 2010 about Abner Poland’s Badge of Merit from George Washington http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/10/amanuensis-monday-george-washington.html

http://schoonerfame.com/ The website for the new schooner Fame, with sailing schedules and historical information.

My blog post on 19 November 2010 about Harold Burnham’s Shipbuilding in Essex, Massachusetts http://draft.blogger.com/goog_736008429

Boatbuilding with Burnham, the blog for Harold Burnham in Essex http://boatbuildingwithburnham.blogspot.com/

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "The Schooner Fame, and three Abner Polands", Nutfield Genealogy, posted December 23, 2010, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/12/schooner-fame-and-three-abner-polands.html: accessed [access date]).