Surname Saturday ~ AYER of Salisbury and Haverhill, Massachusetts

AYER, EYRE, AYRES, and other variations (The Essex Antiquarian article listed below* has 29 spelling variations found in New England records).

My 10^th great grandfather was John Ayer, whose arrival in New England is unknown despite the fact that several online and print sources claim he arrived on the Mary Anne in 1637 or the James in 1635.  He is not listed on the passenger lists of either ship.  John married a Hannah, maiden name unknown, around 1620 somewhere in England and they removed to Salisbury, Massachusetts about 1637.   He is on a list (undated) of men who were granted land in the first division of Colchester (renamed Salisbury).  His youngest child, Hannah (my 9^th great grandmother) is the only Ayer child of John’s listed in the Salisbury vital records.  She was born 21 December 1644.

In 1645 John and his son, John Jr., owned land in Haverhill, Massachusetts in an area now known as Ayers Village.  They were both made Freemen at Ipswich on “4^th day 9^th month 1645” ( 4 October 1645). 

Some people claim that John’s wife Hannah was a Webb or an Everard.  There is no proof that she is a sister of John Everard alias Webb.  She is not listed in his will even though she was alive when the will was proved.  Her children were listed as cousins and as the children of John Ayer, so there is a possible kinship somewhere.   The Ayer family is not listed on the James, which brought John and Stephen Everard from England.  You can read more about John Everard alias Webb at the website http://www.webbdeiss.org/webb/johnwebb_aliasevered.html by Jonathan Webb Deiss.  This website has a great list of sources.

John and Hannah Ayer’s daughter married Nathan Parker and was living in Ipswich.  She was hanged for witch craft on 22 September 1692 during the Salem witch hysteria. 

There are several famous AYER descendants including Laura Ingalls Wilder and President Gerald R. Ford.  A locally famous descendant, James Cook Ayer (1818 – 1878) was the namesake of the town of Ayer, Massachusetts.  He was the brother of the wealthy industrialist Frederick Ayer (1822 – 1918) and grandfather of Beatrice Banning Ayer, wife of General George S. Patton. 

Some AYER resources:

Ayer is not listed in the Great Migration series, so we know that Anderson did not consider John Ayer as a passenger on the James.  Besides the vital records, court records, and the usual Genealogical Dictionary of New England by Savage or Pioneers of Massachusetts by Pope there are two other good sources for more information on the Ayer family.

* “The Ayer Genealogy”, in The Essex Antiquarian, October 1900, Volume IV, No. 10, pages 145 – 150 (available online at www.americanancestors.org for members of NEHGS).

The Ayer Genealogy “Descendants of the Immigrant John Ayer of Haverhill, Massachusetts” compiled by Janson Ayer  http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ayergenealogy/index.html

My AYER Genealogy:

Generation 1:  John Ayer, born about 1582 and died 31 March 1657 in Haverhill, Massachusetts; married about 1620 in England to Hannah Unknown. She was born about 1598 and died 8 October 1688 in Haverhill.  Nine children.

Generation 2: Hannah Ayer, born 21 December 1644 in Haverhill; married on 24 March 1662/3 in Haverhill to Stephen Webster as his first wife.  Six children.  He remarried to Judith, widow of William Broad. 

Generation 3: Abigail Webster m. Samuel Berry

Generation 4: Jotham Berry m. Mary Bates

Generation 5: Rachel Berry m. Ithamar Mace

Generation 6: Abigail Mace m. Simon Locke

Generation 7: Richard Locke m. Margaret Welch

Generation 8: Abigail M. Locke m. George E. Batchelder

Generation 9: George E. Batchelder m. Mary Katharine Emerson

Generation 10: Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 11: Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ AYER of Salisbury and Haverhill, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted July 16, 2016,  (  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/07/surname-saturday-ayer-of-salisbury-and.html:  accessed [access date]).

Surname Saturday ~ BATES of New Castle (Great Island), New Hampshire

BATES

There is nothing about William Bates in vital records, or in Pope’s Pioneers of Maine and New Hampshire.   In the Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, page 82, mentions William Bates bought land at New Castle, New Hampshire from Elizabeth Fabes in 1704, and his two daughters Mary and Judith.  No mention in Hollick’s New Englanders in the 1600s or the Genealogical Dictionary of New England.   Also, there is no mention of William Bates in the New Hampshire State and Provincial Papers. No hits on the NEHGS database.  Nothing!

I found lots of information online, but none with reliable sources, about William Bates.  My favorite was a marriage with a wife named WALLIS.  Where did this come from?*

William Bates is my 8^th great grandfather.  His daughter Mary is my 7^th great grandmother.  Mary Bates married Jotham Berry on 11 November 1731 in Rye, New Hampshire.  The rest of this lineage is very straightforward, with lots of sources for births, marriages and deaths.  I’d love to know more about William, and his ancestry. 

My BATES genealogy:

Generation 1:  William Bates, born about 1675, died before 1731; married Unknown.  Two daughters

Generation 2:  Mary Bates, born about 1712, married on 11 November 1731 in Rye, New Hampshire to Jotham Berry as his first wife.  He was the son of Samuel Berry and Abigail Webster, born abut 1711 and died after 1790 (his second wife was Tryphene Philbrick, widow of John Saunders).  Six children with Mary Bates.

Generation 3: Rachel Berry m. Ithamar Mace

Generation 4: Abigail Mace m. Simon Locke

Generation 5: Richard Locke m. Margaret Welch

Generation 6: Abigail M. Locke m. George E. Batchelder

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

Generation 8:  Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

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

*UPDATE!  At noon today I found a private message on Facebook from genealogist Nancy Riley referencing the History of the Town of Hampton, New Hampshire: From its settlement in 1638, to the autumn of 1892, Volume II, page 1047 "Marriages - William Beats and Mary Walles, September 10, 1702" - So this is the source for the marriage of William Bates to Mary Wallis!  Thanks, Nancy!

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ BATES of New Castle (Great Island), New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 18, 2016,  (    http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/06/surname-saturday-bates-of-new-castle.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ FROST of the Isles of Shoals off the coast of Maine and New Hampshire

The Isles of Shoals

FROST

John Frost, my 10^th great grandfather, may be the son of George Frost, an early settler at Winter Harbor (now Biddeford), Maine. There is no proof, and there are no further records of George having descendants, although there are records of John and William Frost in this area.  John Frost received grants of land in York in 1663 and 1669.  He was killed by the Indians and his estate was divided between his widow, Rose, and children: John, Phillip and Annis, wife of Alexander Maxwell.

John Frost, Jr., my 9^th great grandfather, was presented at court for “abusing his father-in-law, Roger Kelly”.  He lived, along with the Kellys, on the Isles of Shoals off the coast of Maine and New Hampshire.  These islands were notorious for violence and lack of order.  Roger Kelly was the local constable assigned to the Isles, and he was often abused by the drunken sailors and Shoalers who were resisting arrest.  He was extremely unpopular on the Isles.

There is also a dearth of records on the births, marriages and deaths on the Isles.  What I have on these generations that lived there comes from court records or local history. Ithamar Frost, my 8^th great grandfather, has very few records and I don’t know the name of his wife.  But he had two children, including Sarah, my 7^th great grandmother, who married John Mace, another native Shoaler. Their son, Ithamar Mace, my 6^th great grandfather, left the Isles of Shoals to live on the mainland in Rye.  That makes a total of four generations of FROSTs who lived on the Isles. Today no one lives year round on the Isles of Shoals and the village of Gosport is gone.

This is not the FROST family which can claim the poet Robert Frost as a descendant.  The poet descends from Nicholas Frost (1592 – 1663), who also lived in York County, Maine after being banished from Massachusetts in 1634.  There is a good sketch of Nicholas Frost in the Great Migration books.

My FROST genealogy:

Generation 1:  John Frost, born in England and died 7 April 1677 in York County, Maine; married to Rose Unknown.  Three children.

Generation 2:  John Frost, born about 1635, and died 1718 on Star Island at the Isles of Shoals off the coast of New Hampshire; married in 1674 in York to Sarah Kelly, daughter of Roger Kelly.  Four children.

Generation 3:  Ithamar Frost, born about 1678 in the Isles of Shoals, married to Unknown.  Two children.

Generation 4: Sarah Frost, married first about 1726 to John Mace, son of Robert Mace and Hannah Gibbons (three children).  He was born about 1693 on the Isles of Shoals and died before 1737; married second on 17 March 1737 in Gosport on the Isles of Shoals to Arthur Randall, three more children.

Generation 5: Ithamar Mace, born about 1729 on the Isles of Shoals and died before 9 November 1806; married on 6 December 1764 in Rye, New Hampshire to Rachel Berry, daughter of Jotham Berry and Mary Bates.  Three children.

Generation 6: Abigail Mace m. Simon Locke

Generation 7: Richard Locke m. Margaret Welch

Generation 8: Abigail M. Locke m. George E. Batchelder

Generation 9: George E. Batchelder m. Mary Katharine Emerson

Generation 10: Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 11: Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ FROST of the Isles of Shoals off the coast of Maine and New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 11, 2016,  (  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/06/surname-saturday-frost-of-isles-of.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ MACE of the Isles of Shoals off the coast of New Hampshire and Maine

The Isles of Shoals

MACE

The Isles of Shoals are a group of islands six miles off the coast of Maine and New Hampshire.  Both states have wrangled over the state line which now makes the border between Appledore Island, Smuttynose and Cedar Island in Maine and Lunging Island and Star Island in New Hampshire.

The island were used for fishing by the native Americans and the first European explorers in the 1600s.  It was “discovered” by Captain John Smith in 1614, and there is a monument with his map in Rye Harbor, New Hampshire that overlooks a nice view of the isles.  Fishermen first resided on Appledore and Star Island, where they formed a little town called Gosport.   The town was evacuated during the Revolutionary War, and the island remained more or less abandoned until the 1800s when a hotel was built by Thomas Laighton and Levi Thaxter. 

Robert Mace (1652 - ?) my 8^th great grandfather, was a resident of Gosport.  He appears in several court records testifying in cases involving his neighbors in Gosport who were accused of wife abuse, defamation and other crimes.  He was probably a fisherman, and he owned a pew at the meetinghouse in Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1700.

Robert’s son, John Mace (1693 – 1737), my 7^th great grandfather, was born on the Isles of Shoals.  He married his wife, Sarah Frost in Gosport, and was taxed in Rye in 1724.  According to the Essex County, Massachusetts Probate, he was a mariner.  His estate was administered in Newbury, Essex County on 5 July 1737. 

Ithamar Mace (1729 – 1806), my 6^th great grandfather, was born in Gosport and named after his maternal grandfather, Ithamar Frost.  He enlisted in the French and Indian War and was taken prisoner for nine years.  He married Rachel Berry in Rye, New Hampshire and had three children born in Rye.  Their daughter, Abigail (1767 – 1803), my 5^th great grandmother, married Simon Locke, a descendant of John Locke and Elizabeth Berry, first settlers at Locke’s Neck in Rye.

For more information on the MACE family, please contact Jan A. Koso.  I previously published a blog post about Jan’s Mace Genealogy Project (the link to Jan’s website is no longer valid, please contact him at jakoso@gmail.com or at mace-genealogy@comcast.net  ) :

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/01/jan-kosos-mace-genealogy-project.html

I'm also descended of Rev. Joseph Hull, an early minister at Gosport on the Isles of Shoals.  You can read my blog post about my HULL lineage (and the updated information on the HULL family) at this link: 

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/12/surname-saturday-hull-update.html

Click here to see the Capt. John Smith Monument in Rye Harbor
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/01/400th-anniversary-of-john-smiths.html 

My MACE lineage:

Generation 1: Robert Mace, born about 1652 in England; married first to  Hannah Gibbons, daughter of James Gibbons and Judith Lewis, and had three children; married second to unknown and had two more children.  Hannah was born about 1669 in Saco, Maine. 

Generation 2: John Mace, son of Robert Mace and Hannah Gibbons, born about 1693 in Gosport, died before 5 July 1737; married about 1726 to Sarah Frost, daughter of Ithamar Frost. Three children. 

Generation 3:  Ithamar Mace, born about 1729 in Gosport, died before 9 November 1806; married to Rachel Berry, daughter of Jotham Berry and Mary Bates.  She was baptized on 3 July 1743 in Rye, New Hampshire and died 9 November 1806 in Rye, New Hampshire. Three children. 

Generation 4:  Abigail Mace, born 1 February 1767 in Rye, died 18 February 1803; married on 14 February 1792 in Greenland to Simon Locke as his first wife.  He was the son of Richard Locke and Elizabeth Garland, born in September 1770 in Rye, and died 31 July 1863 in Rye.  Seven children (he had eight more children with his second wife, Elizabeth Locke Allen, the daughter of Jude Allen and Dorcas Marden.)

Generation 5: Richard Locke m. Margaret Welch
Generation 6: Abigail M. Locke m. George E. Batchelder
Generation 7:  George E. Batchelder, Jr. m. Mary Katharine Emerson
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 ~  MACE of the Isles of Shoals off the coast of New Hampshire and Maine", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 4, 2016,  ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/06/surname-saturday-mace-of-isles-of.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ LOCKE of Rye, New Hampshire

The Locke Burial Ground at Locke's Neck, on Locke Road in Rye, New Hampshire

LOCKE

John Locke is a famous figure on the seacoast of New Hampshire.  His land and the family burial ground are marked with historical plaques from both the state of New Hampshire and the Locke Family Association.  His sword and scythe are on display at the New Hampshire Historical Society museum.  The history of Rye, New Hampshire has pages of information on his life, his infamous death, and his progeny. There are so many descendants that a compiled genealogy takes up two volumes, and additions and supplemental information are discussed at length every year at the annual Locke Family Reunion. This year will be the 126^th annual Locke Family Reunion, “traditionally held on the third Saturday of August to commemorate the death of our progenitor, Captain John Locke” (LFA website, http://www.lockefamilyassociation.org/reunions.html )

Outside of New Hampshire, and outside of the family, John Locke is an unknown figure in American History.  So I will tell his story here in an abridged version…

John Locke is probably the son of Thomas Locke and Christina French, baptized in London at Whitechapel in 1627.  He immigrated to New Hampshire about 1644 and went to Dover, New Castle, Sagamore Creek and then in 1665 he went to Hampton (now the part that is the town of Rye).  It is thought that he framed the first meetinghouse in Portsmouth about 1645. 

The Hampton records state “John Locke Senior was killed by the Heathen in his lott at work upon 26 August 1696.  An 1801 sermon by Rev. Porter of Rye said “In 1694 John Locke being at Locke’s Neck was ambushed and killed by the Indians as he was reaping grain in his field”.  Rev. John Pike’s journal has “Lieutenant Locke was slain by the Indians at Sandy Beach, 25 August 1696”. 

In the book History and Genealogy of Captain John Locke (1627 – 1696), 1916, there is a long description of how Locke was despised by the native people for foiling several attempts to attack Hampton.  In 1696 eight native men came upon him reaping salt hay with his scythe. They mortally wounded him, but not before he cut off the nose of one of the attackers.  One of the sons witnessed the murder, and spent years searching for the Indian without a nose.  Several grandsons are credited with avenging the death of Captain Locke by murdering an Indian (with or without a nose). 

I descend from the oldest son, John Locke, Jr. (1654 – 1733), my 8^th great grandfather, who inherited his father’s land at Locke’s Neck.  He sold all his land to his son, John, my 7^th great grandfather.  Locke’s Neck is now a very expensive neighborhood in Rye, with beautiful waterfront properties, and it’s entrance is graced by the two memorial plaques to Captain John Locke.  This last John Locke had a wife, Sarah, and seven children.  Sarah and four of the children all died in 1736 in the throat distemper epidemic (diphtheria).  The maiden names of the Elizabeth (my 8th great grandmother) and Sarah (my 7th great grandmother) are both unknown. 

More LOCKE resources:

The Locke Family Association:  http://www.lockefamilyassociation.org/  

A previous blog post "He Cut Off an Indian's Nose with his Scythe!"  posted on July 6, 2012 -   http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/07/john-locke-he-cut-off-indians-nose-with.html   

History and Genealogy of Captain John Locke (1627 – 1696) of Portsmouth and Rye, New Hampshire and His Descendants, by Arthur H. Locke, 1916, Heritage Books reprint 2003, 2 Volumes.

The History of Hampton, N.H., by Joseph Dow, 2 Volumes

A previous blog post about the Locke Burial Ground, Rye, New Hampshire
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/07/tombstone-tuesday-locke-burial-ground.html  

My LOCKE lineage:

Generation 1:  John Locke, born about 1627 in England, died 26 August 1696 in Rye, New Hampshire; married about 1652 to Elizabeth Berry, daughter of William Berry and Jane Unknown.  She was born about 1636 and died after 1708.  Eleven children.

Generation 2:  John Locke, born 1654 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, died after 1733; married about 1677 to Elizabeth Unknown.  She died 12 November 1734 in Rye, New Hampshire.  Seven children.

Generation 3:  John Locke, born 1683, died about 1774; married Sarah Unknown.  She died 1736.  Seven children (four died with their mother in 1736- of diptheria).

Generation 4: Richard Locke, born 28 July 1720 in Rye, died 15 May 1804; married about 1745 to Elizabeth Garland, the daughter of John Garland and Elizabeth Dearborn.  She was born 13 March 1724 in Rye, and died 1818.  Eleven children.

Generation 5: Simon Locke, born September 1770 in Rye, died 31 July 1863 in Rye; married first on 14 February 1792 in Greenland, New Hampshire to Abigail Mace, daughter of Ithamar Mace and Rachel Berry.  She was born 1 February 1767 in Rye, and died 18 February 1803.  Seven children.  He married second on 10 November 1803 in Rye to Elizabeth Locke Allen, the daughter of Jude Allen and Dorcas Marden. Eight more children!

Generation 6: Captain Richard Locke, born 1794 in Rye, died 23 March 1864 in Chichester, New Hampshire; married first on 21 October 1823 in Chichester to Margaret Welch.  She was born about 1796 in Kittery, Maine, and died 1 March 1860 in Chichester.  Four children. 

Generation 7: Abigail M. Locke, born 10 September 1825 in South Boston, Massachusetts, died 15 January 1888 in Chichester; married on 7 September 1845 in South Boston to George E. Batchelder, son of Jonathan Batchelder and Nancy Thompson.  He was born 13 August 1822 in Chichester, and died 3 April 1848 in Chichester.  Two children.

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

Generation 9: Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

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

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Published under a Creative Commons License

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ LOCKE of Rye, New Hampshire",  Nutfield Genealogy, posted April 21, 2016,  (  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/05/surname-saturday-locke-of-rye-new.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ WEBSTER of Ipswich, Massachusetts

WEBSTER

John Webster’s origins are unknown.  He was a freeman in Boston, Massachusetts on 4 March 1635. He was in Salem in 1637 and settled in Ipswich by 1639.  In the records he was described as a baker “John Webster the Baker was admonished for brewing and tipleinge” [1640].  He was married to Mary Shatswell, whose brothers Theophilus and John Shatswell also immigrated to Ipswich. 

John Webster had died by about 29 September 1646, when his estate was administered in court.  It is the long untangling of his estate in court records that give us the best glimpses into his life and property.  Mary’s will, as his widow, also continued the court records with many pages of descriptive information on the children and property. In the Great Migration sketch for John Webster, Robert Charles Anderson includes many pages of untangling based on these court records, including indentifying the married names of the daughters.

After John Webster’s death, Mary remarried on 29 October 1650 in Newbury to Sergeant John Emery, who was also my 9^th great grand uncle.  I descend from his brother, Anthony Emery (1601 – 1680) who settled in Boston, Massachusetts; Dover, New Hampshire; and Kittery, Maine.

John Webster and Mary Shatswell had eight children, including a daughter Hannah who was the mother of Hannah Duston (See this link for the story of Hannah Duston’s kidnapping and escape).  I descend from the son Stephen Webster (1636 – 1694) and his wife Hannah Ayer.

Some WEBSTER resources:

The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England 1634 – 1635, by Robert Charles Anderson, Volume VII, pages 261 – 268.

Pillsbury Family manuscript, by Mary Lovering Holman, in the collections of the New England Historic Genealogical Society MSS 779.

Ancestry of Charles Stinson Pillsbury and John Sargent Pillsbury, by Mary Lovering Holman, 1938, Volume 1, 

A Genealogical History of the Clark and Worth Families, by Carol Clark Johnson, 1970

Genealogical Records of Descendants of John and Anthony Emery ,by  Rev. Rufus Emery, 1890

Historical and Genealogical Shatswells of Ipswich., No 1., Augustine Caldwell, [A typed manuscript available to read online at Ancestry.com]

Some of the Descendants of John Webster of Ipswich, Massachusetts, compiled by John C. Webster, MD, 1912.  [Available online at Google book search] – a revision of an earlier work by Dr. John Ordway Webster in 1884.

My WEBSTER lineage:

Generation 1:  John Webster, born about 1606 in England, died before 29 September 1646 in Ipswich, Massachusetts; married about 1630 in England to Mary Shatswell, daughter of John Shatswell and Judith Dillingham.  She was born about 1610 in England and died 28 April 1694 in Newbury, Massachusetts.  Mary married second to John Emery,  my 9^th great grand uncle.  He is the son of John Emery and Alice Banet, my 10^th great grandparents through John’s brother, Anthony Emery (1601 – 1680).  Eight children.

Generation 2:  Stephen Webster, born about 1636 in Ipswich, died 10 August 1694 in Haverhill, Massachusetts; married on 24 March 1662/3 in Haverhill to Hannah Ayer, daughter of John Ayer and Hannah Webb.  She was born 21 December 1644. Six children.   Stephen married second to Judith Unknown, widow of William Broad.

Generation 3: Abigail Webster, born about 27 May 1676 in Haverhill, died 19 June 1750; married Samuel Berry, son of James Berry and Eleanor Wallis.  Four children.  Abigail was first married to James Marden on 23 October 1693.

Generation 4: Jotham Berry m. Mary Bates

Generation 5: Rachel Berry m. Ithamar Mace

Generation 6: Abigail Mace m. Simon Locke

Generation 7: Richard Locke m. Margaret Welch

Generation 8: Abigail M. Locke m. George E. Batchelder

Generation 9: George E. Batchelder m. Mary Katharine Emerson

Generation 10: Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 11: Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

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Published under a Creative Commons License
Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ WEBSTER of Ipswich, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted November 28, 2015, (   http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/11/surname-saturday-webster-of-ipswich.html:  accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ WALLIS of Rockingham County, New Hampshire

WALLIS/WALLACE/WALLES/WALLS

The first record of George Wallis is when he bought land in Rumney Marsh, now Chelsea, Massachusetts in 1656.  George Wallis next bought land in Little Harbor (part of Portsmouth, New Hampshire) in 1660.  The deed describes him as “sometime of Newfoundland”.  In 1685 administration of his estate was granted to his widow, Eleanor.  On 13 March 1785/6 his children William, George and Honor signed a deed dividing his land, as well as Walter Randall and James Berry for their wives, and “with the consent of Caleb, our youngest brother”.   This land is now near the state park and beach now known as Wallis Sands in Rye, New Hampshire.

I descend from the George Wallis’s daughter Eleanor, wife of James Berry.  I also descend from a completely different Wallis family, descendants of John Wallis (1627 – 1690) of Gloucester, Massachusetts at this link: http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/12/surname-saturday-wallis-of-gloucester.html   I also have a mystery Wallis – who is the unknown Wallis who married Sarah Wilkinson, daughter of Samuel Wilkinson (1722 – 1795) of Deerfield or Epping, New Hampshire?

Some WALLIS resources:

Martin Hollick, the blogger at The Slovak Yankee has written about the descendants of George Wallis extensively  http://mhollick.typepad.com/slovakyankee/

My WALLIS lineage:

Generation 1:  George Wallis, born about 1619, probably in England, died 14 Dec 1685 in Little Harbor, New Hampshire; married to Eleanor Unknown. Six children.

Generation 2: Eleanor Wallis, born 1652 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire; married about 1673 in Rye to James Berry, son of William Berry and Jane Unknown.  He was born between 1650 and 1652 and died after 1712. Five children.

Generation 3: Samuel Berry m. Abigail Webster

Generation 4: Jotham Berry m. Mary Bates

Generation 5: Rachel Berry m. Ithamar Mace

Generation 6: Abigail Mace m. Simon Locke

Generation 7: Richard Locke m. Margaret Welch

Generation 8: Abigail M. Locke m. George E. Batchelder

Generation 9:  George E. Batchelder m. Mary Katharine Emerson

Generation 10: Carrie Maud Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 11: Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

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Published under a Creative Commons License
Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ WALLIS of Rockingham County, New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted November 21, 2015, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/11/surname-saturday-wallis-of-rockingham.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ BERRY of Rye, New Hampshire

A mini reunion of BERRY descendants in Kittery, Maine 2014

BERRY

William Berry was sent to New Hampshire around 1631 by Captain John Mason.  He must not have been a permanent settler until later because he does not show up in Anderson’s Great Migration series of books. By 25 May 1640 he was living at Strawberry Bank.  He was a freeman on 18 May 1642 in Newbury, Massachusetts, where he was a proprietor on 7 December 1642.  At the town meeting in January 1648/9 it was “granted that Wm Berry shall have a lot upon the neck of land upon the South side of the Little River at Sandy Beach.”  He was granted another lot of land on 13 January 1652 at Sandy Beach, which is now Rye, New Hampshire.

He must have died before 28 June 1654 when his widow, Jane was granted administration of his estate.  Two sons, James and John Berry, and a grandson, Joshua Foss agreed to a division of his land on 13 June 1717.

The Berry Family Cemetery in Rye Is located about a quarter mile from  Route 1 (Lafayette Road) on Breakfast Hill Road. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~langolier/berry_rye.html

Some BERRY resources:

Descendants of William Berry of Rockingham County, NH for Four Generations, by June Berry, Kearns, UT, 1993

The Berrys by the Beach, by Sylvia Fitts Getchell, Newmarket, NH: Newmarket Press, 1980

A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, by James Savage, 1909

Pioneers of Maine and New Hampshire, by Charles Henry Pope, 1908       

     

History of the Town of Rye, NH from Its Discovery and Settlement to December 31, 1903, by Langdon B. Parsons, 1905.

"Descendants of William Berry of Strawberry Bank - Rye, NH" Facebook Group  https://www.facebook.com/groups/460907980677056/    

My BERRY lineage:

Generation 1:  William Berry, born about 1610 in England, died before 28 June 1654 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire; married before 1634 to Jane Unknown. Seven children, and I descend from three of them.  His widow Jane remarried to Nathaniel Drake.

Lineage A:

Generation 2:  Elizabeth Berry, born about 1636 and died after 1708; married about 1652 to John Locke.  He was born about 1627 in England and died 26 August 1696 in Rye, New Hampshire.  Eleven children.

Generation 3:  John Locke m. Elizabeth Unknown

Generation 4: John Locke m. Sarah Unknown

Generation 5: Richard Locke m. Elizabeth Garland

Generation 6: Simon Locke m. Abigail Mace

Generation 7: Richard Locke m. Margaret Welch

Generation 8: Abigail M. Locke m. George E. Batchelder

Generation 9: George E. Batchelder, Jr. m. Mary Katharine Emerson

Generation 10: Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 11: Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

Lineage B:

Generation 2:  Mary Berry, born about 1634, died between 1706 and 1710 in Rye, New Hampshire; married John Foss.  He was baptized 25 November 1633 in Paignton, Devonshire, England, and died 17 December 1699 in New Castle, New Hampshire. Eleven children.

Generation 3: Elizabeth Foss m. Nathaniel Batchelder

Generation 4:  Josiah Batchelder m. Sarah Page

Generation 5:  David Batchelder m. Elizabeth Swett

Generation 6: Elisha Batchelder m. Sarah Lane

Generation 7:  Jonathan Batchelder m. Nancy Thompson

Generation 8:  George E. Batchelder m. Abigail M. Locke (see above)

Lineage C:

Generation 2:  James Berry, born between 1650 and 1652 in Strawbery Banke or New Castle, New Hampshire, died after 1712; married about 1673 to Eleanor Wallis, daughter of George Wallis and Eleanor.  She was born about 1652 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Five children.

Generation 3: Samuel Berry, born between 1660 and 1680, died 19 June 1750; married to Abigail Webster, daughter of Stephen Webster and Hannah Ayer.  Four children.

Generation 4: Jotham Berry. Born about 1711, died after 1790; married on 11 November 1731 in Rye, New Hampshire to Mary Bates, daughter of William Bates.  She was born about 1712.  Two children. Jotham married second on 16 April 1780 to Tryphene Philbrick, widow of John Saunders.

Generation 5:  Rachel Berry, baptized on 3 July 1743 in Rye, died 9 November 1806 in Rye; married on 6 December 1764 in Rye to Ithamar Mace, son of John Mace and Sarah Frost. He was born about 1729 on the Isles of Shoals and died before 9 November 1806. Three children.  Rachel married second to Joseph Hall about 1781 in Rye.

Generation 6: Abigail Mace m. Simon Locke (see above)

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

Published under a Creative Commons License
Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ BERRY of Rye, New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted November 14, 2015 (  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/11/surname-saturday-berry-of-rye-new.html: accessed [access date]).

Surname Saturday ~ FOSS of New Hampshire

The Piscataqua River Region of New England, 1667, by John Scott,
from the British Library
http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/.a/6a00d8341c464853ef01a3fca57e7b970b-800wi

FOSS

There are many misleading myths about the origins of the FOSS family in New Hampshire.  For many years I have read in books and online that John FOSS and his brother were Danish crew members of a ship to New England.  They both stayed in New Hampshire.  Another myth says that John deserted the British Navy from a warship in Boston Harbor.  Here is an excerpt from a Foss genealogy typewritten manuscript at the New Hampshire Historical Society Library [Genealogy of the Foss Family, by Guy Scoby Rix, 1917] “Johan (John) Foss, son of Lauritz Davidson Foss, (see page 3) was born in Ribe, Denmark, July 23, 1638.  He went to England with his brother Peter, and thence came to New England.  A tradition exists that he came to Boston in a British war vessel, landing in Boston by jumping overboard, swimming ashore, and escaping further service.”  This seems like very specific information, but it is all untrue.

In the New England Historic Genealogical Society Register, Volume 144, page 32, there is an article about the Jackson family, and in it Mary Jackson, born about 1615, married on 14 February 1632 in Paignton, Devonshire to Stephen Fosse.  Her son, John, born about 1633, came to Portsmouth, New Hampshire to be with his great uncle, John Jackson (there was only a 25 year age difference).  John Foss was a caulker, and Jackson was a cooper in Portsmouth.

John Foss married Mary Berry, the daughter of immigrant William Berry and his wife Jane.  They had about 12 children.  John married second to Mary Chadbourne and third to Elizabeth Crawford.  He was granted land in Portsmouth in 1657, and admitted an inhabitant of Dover on 1 January 1665/6.  He was a selectman in 1698 and died in 1699.

I descend from his daughter Elizabeth Foss, who married Nathaniel Batchelder, grandson of Rev. Stephen Bachiler, about 1685 in Hampton, New Hampshire. 

For more information on the FOSS family of New Hampshire, see The Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire by Noyes, Libby and Davis; “Two John Jacksons from Dartmouth, Devon” by John Plummer in the 1990 New England Historic Genealogical Register, Volume 144, page 33, Berrys by the Beach by Sylvia Fitts Getchell, 1980; and The History of the Town of Rye, by Langdon B. Parsons, 1905 [reprint 1992 by Heritage Press]

My FOSS genealogy:

Generation 1: Stephen Fosse married on 14 February 1632 in Paignton, Devonshire, England to Mary Jackson, daughter of John Jackson and Christian Furneis, baptized on 7 August 1615 in Paignton. 

Generation 2: John Foss, baptized on 25 November 1633 in Paignton, died 17 December 1699 in New Castle, New Hampshire; married first to Mary Berry, daughter of William Berry and Jane Unknown.  Married second to Mary Chadbourne, third to Elizabeth Crawford.  About 12 children with Mary Berry.

Generation 3: Elizabeth Foss, born about 1666 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, died in 1746; married about 1685 to Nathaniel Batchelder, son of Nathaniel Batchelder and Deborah Smith.  He was born 24 December 1659 in Hampton, New Hampshire and died about 1745 in Hampton Falls.  Nine children.

Generation 4: Josiah Batchelder m. Sarah Page

Generation 5: David Batchelder m. Elizabeth Swett

Generation 6: Elisha Batchelder m. Sarah Lane

Generation 7: Jonathan Batchelder m. Nancy Thompson

Generation 8: George E. Batchelder m. Abigail M. Locke

Generation 9: George E. Batchelder m. Mary Katharine Emerson

Generation 10: Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 11: Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

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

Published under a Creative Commons License
Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ FOSS of New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted November 7, 2015 ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/11/surname-saturday-foss-of-new-hampshire.html : accessed [access date]).

BERRY cousins reunion in Kittery, Maine

I belong to many genealogy Facebook groups. Some of these groups are formed for specific families, like Mayflower Descendants, Felton Family Association, Descendants of New England Phelps, Descendants of Mayflower Passengers John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley, and many others.  One lively group is Descendants of William Berry Strawberry Bank - Rye, NH.  We have a lot of fun online posting photos, drawing up lineage charts, and finding cousins.  No matter how much fun it can be to meetup with cousins on line, it is even more fun to meet up in person.  Jeane Berry, all the way over in Colorado, organized a mini-BERRY reunion at Warren's restaurant in Kittery, Maine.  This is the crew of cousins who showed up!

We had a lot of fun comparing notes!  Even though the restaurant was noisy and full on a Saturday night, we were a small group and able to carry on a conversation about our BERRY ancestors.  Jeane, from Colorado, and Susan Ann Schweim from Minnesota had spent Friday being toured around Rye, New Hampshire and the seacoast by Dave Wilson from Manchester, New Hampshire.  They came the furthest, and were able to visit some of the local cemeteries and places where the BERRYs had lived. 

Other local cousins included Priscilla Foss Littlefield, from Stow, Massachusetts and James Elliott Reid from South Hampton, New Hampshire. We found that many of us had other ancestors in common including PROCTOR, FOSS, CAVERLY, WATERS, and other New England surnames. 

It was great to meet up with these cousins for the first time.  We are already planning to do this again another time.  How many of you belong to chat groups on line for certain families, or to Facebook groups?  Do you ever "break the third wall" and decide to meetup in person instead of virtually on line? Did you have as much fun as we did this weekend? 

For the truly curious:

Descendants of William BERRY of Strawberry Bank- Rye, NH

https://www.facebook.com/groups/460907980677056/     

My three BERRY lineages (from three of William Berry's children)!

William Berry (1610 - 1654)  & Jane Unknown

Elizabeth Berry (b. 1636) & John Locke (1627 - 1696)

John Locke & Elizabeth Unknown

John Locke & Sarah Unknown

Richard Locke & Elizabeth Garland

Simon Locke & Abigail Mace

Richard Locke & Margaret Welch

Abigail Locke & George Batchelder

George Batchelder & Mary Katharine Emerson

Carrie Maude Batchelder & Joseph Elmer Allen

Stanley Elmer Allen & Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

William Berry & Jane Unknown

Mary Berry (b. 1641) & John Foss

Elizabeth Foss & Nathaniel Batchelder

Josiah Batchelder & Sarah Page

David Batchelder & Elizabeth Swett

Elisha Batchelder & Sarah Lane

Jonathan Batchelder & Nancy Thompson

George Batchelder and Mary Katharine Emerson (see above)

William Berry & Jane Unknown

James Berry & Eleanor Wallis

Samuel Berry & Abigail Webster

Jotham Berry &Mary Bates

Rachel Berry & Ithamar Mace

Abigail Mace and Simon Locke (see above) 

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

The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/07/berry-cousins-reunion-in-kittery-maine.html   

Copyright (c) 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

William Henry Wilkinson and Josephine Chase, married in 1872 New Hampshire

THIS IS TO CERTIFY

That William H. Wilkinson of Rochester in the State of 

New Hampshire and Josephine B. Chase of Conway

in the State of New Hampshire were by me Joined together in

HOLY MATRIMONY

on the sixteenth day of December in the year of our Lord

One Thousand Eight Hundred and Seventy Two

In Presence of

Rachel W. Bailey            J. Hawks

Eva M. Hawks                    Pastor

This lovely, framed wedding certificate belonged to William Henry Wilkinson and was passed down in his family.  I've had trouble tracing his descendants.  The New Hampshire records seem to be missing quite a few of the important people needed to find someone to pass this document on to. The certificate is beautifully framed, but it is torn in a few places. It is very legible and easy to read, although the ink is fading.  Someone had it professionally framed and matted, which must have cost quite a bit. This wedding document would be priceless to a family member.

The certificate was last owned by Robert Purdy of Rochester, New Hampshire and Oregon.  He left the certificate and a house full of heirlooms to his neice.  She would like to return this certificate to a descendant of William Henry Wilkinson.  Robert Purdy was born in Rochester, and his parents were Robert Purdy and Ruth Wilkinson. I have not found any record of Ruth Wilkinson in the vital records, nor a marriage record to Robert Purdy.  However I did find the following in the 1920 Federal Census of Rochester, New Hampshire:

Wilkinson, William H, head, age 70, b. NH, father b. ME, mother b. ME, baggage handler, railroad
           Josephine B, wife, age 55, b. NH, father b. NH, mother b. ME
Purdy, Robert, grandson in law, age 20, b. Mass, father b. US, mother b. US
         Ruth, granddaughter, age 17, b. NH, father b. Mass, mother b. NH, saleslady, newstand

William Henry Wilkinson was born in September 1849 in Rochester, New Hampshire, the son of William Henry Wilkinson and Mary Lord.  He was a descendant of Thomas Wilkinson who married Elizabeth Caverly in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1715.  His lineage is Thomas Wilkinson > James Wilkinson  > William Wilkinson >William Henry Wilkinson >William Henry Wilkinson, II. This William Henry Wilkinson, Jr. (1849 - 1926) is my first cousin 4x removed.  He married Josephine Berry Chase on 1872 in Conway, New Hampshire.  She was the daughter of John Chase and Nancy Berry.  Then had at least six children:

1.  Millie A. Wilkinson, born about 1874, married Windsor Ward Berry on 8 August 1894 in Rochester, New Hampshire.  They had two children: 1) Harold Edgar Berry born 8 September 1896 in Peabody, Massachusetts 2) Milton Theodore Berry born 12 March 1899 in New Hampshire m. Elizabeth Unknown.

2.) John W. Wilkinson, born 1 October 1877 in Portsmouth, died 7 July 1878 in Portsmouth

3.) Franklin Wilkinson, born 15 October 1879 in Conway, New Hampshire, died 20 April 1944 in Rochester, New Hampshire.  It is unknown if he ever married or had descendants.

4.) Henry Wilkinson, born 14 October 1881 in New Hampshire, married Beatrice Muriel Fielding and had two children: 1)  Mary M. Wilkinson, born about 1916 in Massachusetts  2.) A son born 2 June 1914 in Malden, Massachusetts

5.)  Charles W. Wilkinson, born 7 October 1884 in Rochester, died 26 November 1884 in Rochester

6.) George H. Wilkinson, born 28 May 1886 in Rochester, died 29 March 1887 in Rochester.

From this I cannot seem to find a living descendant.  Robert Purdy of Oregon did not have any children. He left a large bequest to the Rochester Congregational Church.   I don't know who the granddaughter Ruth was born to, perhaps there was another daughter besides Millie?  Another son? Perhaps Franklin married and was Ruth's father?   Part of this mystery is that I cannot seem to find this family in the 1880 census, nor can I find Ruth in any earlier census before 1920.

I would love to reunite this framed wedding certificate to a living descendant.  Are you out there?

---------------------------
UPDATE!  -  28 August 2012  I found the obituary of Josephine Chase Wilkinson.  It names descendants.  Do you know any of these folks?


The Portsmouth Herald,  Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Tuesday, January 13, 1942, page 3

 "Last Rites Held"
"Funeral Services for Mrs. Josephine Chase Wilkinson, 86 were held this afternoon with Rev. M. Ernest Hall, DD pastor of the First Church Congregational, officiating.
Mrs. Wilkinson, who died Sunday at the home of her granddaughter, Mrs. Ruth Dempsey, 27 Leonard Street, was born in Conway, the daughter of John and Nancy (Berry) Chase.  She had been a resident of Rochester for 70 years.
She leaves a daughter, Mrs. Millie Berry, a brother, Horatio Chase of North Conway, two sons, Franklin Wilkinson and Henry Wilkinson of Rochester, two granddaughters, Mrs. Ruth Dempsey of Rochester and Mrs. Nancy Roy of Malden, Mass; a grandson, Milton Berry of Nashua, and three great grandchildren, Robert Purdy of Rochester, Vilma Berry of Nashua and Donald Roy of Malden, Mass.
Burial was in the family lot in Rochester cemetery."

UPDATE 2016 - This wedding certificate was donated to the Rochester Historical Society

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

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "William Henry Wilkinson and Josephine Chase, married in 1872 New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 25, 2012, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/08/william-henry-wilkinson-and-josephine.html: accessed [access date]).

Update on Nutfield Genealogy

The last two weeks have been hard since my old computer died a slow death with a deteriorating hard drive.  Fortunately all the data was recoverable, and I didn’t need to use my cloud storage or my external hard drive storage.  It took days to move the data (literally) since we have many gigs of photos and documents.  It took a professional to do all the fine tuning, which is fine by me since I wanted it done fast and “right the first time”.   

Thank goodness for pre-posting two weeks of blog posts ahead of time!

Several emails and messages kept me busy on my laptop while all this was happening.  First, Jeanie at The Family Connection blog http://www.jeaniesgenealogy.com/ wrote to me about my blog post “John Locke ~ He Cut Off an Indian’s Nose with his Scythe” at this link: http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/07/john-locke-he-cut-off-indians-nose-with.html

She questioned my statement that John Locke was not married to Elizabeth Berry.  She was correct, and I was wrong in my post.  John Locke definitely did marry Elizabeth Berry, daughter of William and Jane Berry, about 1652.  I was thinking of statements seen all over the internet that his wife was Elizabeth BOLLES or BOWLES.  See, I almost perpetuated that myth with my boo boo.  Sorry, Jeanie, but thanks for making the comment so I could correct the blog post!

I had my guest blogger Bette Pye Wing write up a second blog post about Fort Banks, Winthrop, Massachusetts at this link: http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/07/fort-banks-winthrop-massachusetts.html .  She will be creating her own genealogy blog soon, and it will be titled “The Pye Plate” (cute name ‘eh?)  I’ve never met Bette, but she is a cousin to a very good friend.  Bette’s research on her lineage to the Mayflower passenger Stephen Hopkins helped me to complete an application for membership for my friend’s Mom just two year before she passed away.  She was thrilled to become a member, even though she was only a member for a very short time.  Now her children and grandchildren and descendants will be able to apply for member in the Society of Mayflower Descendants, all due to Bette’s hard work.

I also heard from Paul A. Clark, who is researching Esther Wines, wife of Nicholas Hodson, married about 1639.  He is looking for a connection to the Wincoll family and is also looking for a will written by a cousin with the fantastic name of “Faintnot Wines” from Charlestown, Massachusetts.  This will mentions the cousin connections. Has anyone out there done any research on the WINCOLL or WINES families?

A mysterious message by “ Fr. Garcelon” left me a link to a GARCELON family tree on an excel spreadsheet.  Thanks, for the link and I have checked out the large pedigree chart!  I know I haven’t blogged about this family, but I did leave a message on a bulletin board a few years ago when I was looking for information on a Peter James Garcelon who married my third cousin Anna M. Wilkinson on 14 August 1875 in La Grange, Maine.   The pedigree chart was very helpful.

I am finding Connecticut research maddening.  There are two Charlotte Mathers  (a daughter in law and her mother in law) who appear to have flown under the radar and their records do not appear in any of the usual places for vital records.  I’ve never done any research in Connecticut before.  I hope I don’t have to make a trip down there!  Help! Any research tips or RAOGK would be appreciated now.   Maybe now that I have my computer I can write to a dozen possible towns clerks for information!

Surprise, surprise!  A very odd bunch of websites related to metal detecting have been referring readers to my blog.  I clicked on one of the links that showed up on my statistics page, and there was a running thread on a forum for metal detectors.  It seems that someone dug up a metal medallion related to an anniversary for the city of Springfield, Massachusetts.  On the front of this medallion was an image of Samuel Chapin, one of the city founders.  There is a large statue of Chapin in Springfield, and I blogged about it during the last NERGC conference in Springfield (see this link: http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/04/mini-chapin-reunion.html)    My blog post and the accompanying photograph helped the hobbyists identify the medallion and the image of my 10 x Great Grandfather, Deacon Samuel Chapin.  You never know, do you, where all this blogging will lead?

For the truly curious:

The link to the metal detecting thread:

http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=121022 

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

Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo and Bette Pye Wing