George L. Wyman ~ “A Hard Character”

The Manchester Weekly Times, Manchester, New Hampshire, October 1, 1881

From http://theoldentimes.com/glwyman81nh.html

--- George L. Wyman, who stole a quantity of steam fire engine castings from the Amoskeag Company about six years ago, and who was tracked by David Perkins after his appointment as detective for the company, was sentenced Thursday forenoon in the Supreme Court at Nashua to a fine of $50 and costs, and to six month in jail.  Wyman has been a hard character, and has led a life of crime.

I saw this newsclipping and I was intrigued by several things.  First of all, it was fun to imagine a detective in the 1880s tracking down this thief, before the technology we have today.  Also, the name WYMAN, which is in my family tree, is what made me stop and read this story.  Most New England Wymans are all descended from Francis Wyman (1621 - 1684) of Woburn, Massachusetts.  I wondered if this George was a cousin to me through Francis Wyman?  Also, The Amoskeag Company was famous for their fire engines in the 1800s and early 1900s.  I just saw a fine example in Exeter at the Fire Museum, and another on display at the Manchester Historic Association’s Millyard Museum.  I knew I wanted to investigate this Black Sheep Wyman, just like the detective mentioned in the news clipping. 

I didn't know what a tangled knot I was going to find! 

I turned to Google to see what I could find on George L. Wyman.  The first thing that popped up  at Google books was a list of paupers from the city of Manchester, New Hampshire in this book:  Thirty-Fourth Annual Report of the Receipts and Expenditures of the City of Manchester for the Fiscal Year ending December 31,1879, Manchester, NH: Printed by John B. Clarke, 1880.  In the year 1874 George L. Wyman was given $2.46 in poor relief.  In 1875 he received $3.22, in 1876 he received $2.62.  Also in this book a Peter Gaines was paid $1 to furnish wood to Sarah Wyman (page 223), and Hardy & Putnam were paid $89.43 to furnish groceries to Sarah Wyman (page 220).   Who was Sarah Wyman?

In the NH Death records I found a George L. Wyman, d. 23 Feb 1912 at 752 Elm Street in Manchester, New Hampshire, age 70 years, 3 months, born in Goffstown, New Hampshire in November 1841, divorced, cause of death- natural causes, alcoholism probable, father Edward Wyman and mother Mary Loomis.  From here I was able to look for more information on George in the vital records, and filled out the genealogy you can find below.  I found his wife (the Sarah Wyman from the poor records), daughters, marriages and lots of other New Hampshire vital records pertaining to this family at https://familysearch.org/

1870 US Federal Census, Manchester, New Hampshire, George L  (age 29) and Sarah J. Wyman (age 28) are living in the household of Edward and Mary Wyman.  George is listed as a teamster. His brother Edward A. (age 26), working in a print shop, is listed there as well.  Remember this fact – see below!

In the 1880 census, Sarah J. Wyman is listed at 31 Granite Street in Manchester,  as the head of the household, no husband, age 37, with five daughters, and a boarder named Charles Loomis, age 22 (a possible cousin?).   I couldn’t find George L. Wyman in the 1880 census, but in 1900 he was listed in the census as living in Goffstown,  age 60,  as a prisoner at the state prison.  Jailed again for some unknown offense!   In the 1910 census he was listed as a boarder at 788 Elm Street in Manchester, working as an engineer doing “contract-work”.  He was dead two years later.

Since I was having good luck with online resources, I also tried Fold3 www.fold3.com  whereI found George L. Wyman listed as a private in the Civil War, from Nashua, New Hampshire, enlisted on 9 August 1861, age 21, in Company F of the 4^th New Hampshire Infantry.  He was discharged on 23 August 1864.  On 29 March 1894 he applied for an invalid pension.   

Last I checked Genealogy Bank www.genealogybank.com and I found a divorce granted in Nashua, New Hampshire to Sarah J. Wyman from George L. Wyman listed in the New Hampshire Patriot and State Gazette (Concord, NH), Thursday, October 14, 1880, page 3.   Unfortunately, I didn’t find any more news stories on the theft or the arrest and sentencing of George L. Wyman, for either offense (1881 or whatever put him in prison in the 1900 census).

As a Wyman descendant, and a member of the Wyman Family Association  http://wymanassociation.org/ I had the rest of George L. Wyman's lineage back to the 1500s in my data base.  The family database, newsletters and books helped me to piece this lineage together many years ago, and the search I had done on George L. Wyman fit right in!  This Wyman family originated when Francis Wyman (1621 - 1684) came to America and settled in Woburn, Massachusetts.  His house, built in 1666, still stands and is the site of an annual Wyman family reunion every autumn.  

The Wyman Genealogy:

Generation 1:   Francis Wyman, was born 1594 in Westmill, Hertfordshire, England, died about 15 September 1658 in Westmill; married on 1 May 1617 in Westmill to Elizabeth Richardson, daughter of Thomas Richardson and Katherine Duxford.  These are my 10^th great grandparents.

Generation 2: John Wyman, son of Francis Wyman and Elizabeth Richardson, was born 1621 in Westmill, Hertfordshire, England, died 9 May 1684 in Woburn; married on 5 November 1644 in Woburn to Sarah Nutt, daughter of Miles Nutt and Sarah Bronson.  She was born about 1624 in Barking, Suffolk, England and died 24 May 1688 in Woburn.  Ten children.   John Wyman was my 9^th great uncle, and I descend from his brother, Francis Wyman (1617 – 1699), who also immigrated to Woburn, Massachusetts from Westmill in England.

Generation 3: Seth Wyman, son of John Wyman and Sarah Nutt, was born 3 August 1663 in Woburn, died 26 October 1715 in Woburn; married on 17 December 1685 in Woburn to Esther Johnson, daughter of William Johnson and Esther Wiswall.  She was born 13 April 1662 in Woburn, and died 31 March 1742 in Woburn.

Generation 4: Seth Wyman, son of Seth Wyman and Esther Johnson, was born 13 September 1686 in Woburn, died 5 September 1725 in Woburn; married on 26 January 1715 in Billerica to Sarah Ross.  She was born 7 October 1694 and died 26 November 1727.

Generation 5: Seth Wyman, son of Seth Wyman and Sarah Ross, was born in 1719, died 19 November 1749 in Arlington, Massachusetts; married on 4 July 1744 in Woburn to Ruth Wright.

Generation 6: Seth Wyman, son of Seth Wyman and Ruth Wright, was born 17 February 1750 in Woburn, Massachusetts, died 11 April 1825 in Goffstown; married three times to Sarah Atwood,  Sarah Wright and Ruth Belknap.

Generation 7: Seth Wyman, son of Seth Wyman and Sarah Atwood, born 4 March 1784 in Goffstown, died 2 April 1843; married on 16 December 1808 in Skowhegan, Maine to Wealthy Loomis, Daughter of Dyer Loomis and Esther Johnson. 

Generation 8: Edward Wyman married on 6 January 1840 in Manchester, New Hampshire to Mary Loomis, daughter of George Loomis and Martha French.  She was born 16 January 1819 in Skowhegan, Maine, and was Edward’s first cousin (George Loomis was the son of Dyer Loomis and Esther Johnson).   Seven children.   Just by coincidence, Mary Loomis is my 6^th cousin 5 generations removed because we are both descendants of the immigrants Joseph Loomis (about 1590 – 1658) and Mary White (1590 – 1652) who settled in Windsor, Connecticut.

Generation 9: George Lewis Wyman, born November 1840 in Goffstown, New Hampshire, died 23 February 1912 in Manchester, New Hampshire, married to Sarah Jane Lyman, five children born in Manchester.   According to the NH Vital Records, on 19 April 1885 she remarried to Edward A. WYMAN , printer, (George’s brother) in Manchester!   She died 31 October 1926 in New Hampshire.  This makes the two Wyman brothers, both husbands of Sarah Jane Lyman,  my 7^th cousins 4 generations removed. 

Children of George Lewis Wyman and Sarah Jane Lyman:

1. Ida Wealthy Wyman, born 15 March 1861; married first to Wardner Jefferson Jones; married second 21 April 1908 to Jason Albert Phillips

2. Mary Pattee Wyman died 19 October 1947; married first on 23 March 1888 to Herbert Danford; married second on 25 April 1893 in Manchester to John Thomas. Interestingly, this marriage record did not list George L. Wyman as the father, the father was left blank (note below how another sister spurned George and named Edwin as her father on her marriage record).

3. Caroline E. Wyman, born 1868, died 12 June 1945 and buried at Pine Grove Cemetery in Manchester; married Arthur Leroy Holt on 3 July 1888.  

4. Sarah Aurilla Wyman, born 1871, married on 15 August 1892 to  Joseph Frank George; married second on 28 August 1926 in Francestown, New Hampshire to Frank Edson Chandler.

5. Anna Lillice Wyman born 1 September 1875 married on 2 September 1893 in Manchester to Emile G. Dirtsch.  Edwin A. Wyman is listed as the father on the marriage.

6. Nellie Wyman,  born after 1876, no further information.

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/02/george-l-wyman-hard-character.html

Copyright © 2015, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Henry Tufts, Black Sheep of an Otherwise Respectable Family

by guest blogger, Tom Tufts

I hope my Great-Grandfather forgives me. James Arthur Tufts I was a professor of English at Phillips Exeter Academy for 50 years and on local library boards to prevent Henry Tufts's book from being bought for the public to read. Henry was not an ancestor of mine and his book is what I call barely historical fiction. It tells the tale of his life of criminal activities and “sufferings”. Titled; A Narrative of the Life, Adventures, Travels and Sufferings of Henry Tufts, Now Residing at Lemington, in the District of Maine, in Substance, as Compiled from His Own Mouth. The printing shop that originally printed it was burned down on account of it but later it was edited and released by Edmund Lester Pearson in 1930 and in 1993 with an extensive introduction by Neal Keating.  It is available occasionally today from online sources. Some stated it was really written with Thomas Tash, a revolutionary hero and neighbor of Henry’s in Lee NH.

                                The story contains narrative of his first exploits stealing fruit from a neighbor’s orchard as a child and continues stealing whenever he needed throughout his life. He seemed proud of it, stole from his own family and found fault with those who would not lock things up. He fathered children with several women, even marrying them without leaving his previous wife. He joined the army and deserted when he got bored. After a time this all caught up with him and he often was jailed but prided himself with his ability to escape jails including Exeter, Dover, and in Maine and Massachusetts. He even was committed to death for offenses in Massachusetts and only was reprieved at the last moment and sent to the Castle prison in Boston. He later was moved to Salem where he escaped the last time fleeing to Maine where his wife and their children had established homes. He had spent time living with the Abenaki Indians to recover from an illness and learned the Indian method of medicine from Molly Ockett which he later performed for many others, perhaps making up for his many disgraces.

That is the short version. It barely details the full story. A quick internet search will bring up results for many books and articles where the book is mentioned. It is not bad if you look at it as entertainment or for a look into what life was like in the colonial era. The book Landmarks in Ancient Dover, New Hampshire by Mary Thompson describes him in her description of the Lee/Durham boundary line which ran through their farm. Notable Events in the History of Dover New Hampshire From the First Settlement in 1623 to 1865 by George Wadleigh is another. The full review of his book which I prefer appears in Harper's new monthly magazine Volume 76, Issues 451-456. This review by Thomas Wentworth Higginson really describes it better than I could. He details many of his exploits stealing horses and travelling the continent.

I would rather tell the story of the true Tufts family that is filled with leaders in many fields. They were teachers, preachers, soldiers, and farmers, and all respectable members of society. The book itself describes the family as Boston “Brahmin”. Most of us can trace our roots to Henry’s great-great- grandfather Peter Tufts who came to Charlestown Massachusetts from Norfolk County England around 1638. Henry’s grandfather was a respected Harvard educated preacher and his cousin Lieutenant Thomas Tufts of Greenland NH was one of the New Hampshire Militia in the siege of Louisburg Nova Scotia in 1745 and died from illness acquired there. Colonel Henry Tufts, no direct relation, and of a much later date was the first head of the US Army Criminal Investigation Division. Descendents of his family and his father’s family were early settlers of the Farmington NH area and Limington ME. I expect to greet many of them at the annual reunion in Middleton NH this month. There are many patriots and civic leaders in the families even today. A Dennis Robinson of seacoastnh.com recently reviewed the book with no reference to respectable Tufts. The best reference for this family is Tufts Kinsmen by Herbert Adams and the Tufts Kinsmen Association (2010 and earlier editions). It can be obtained by e-mailing tuftskinsmenbook@gmail.com

For more information: 

J. Dennis Robinson "Henry Tufts wrote First American Criminal Biography" http://www.seacoastnh.com/History/History_Matters/Henry_Tufts_Wrote_First_American_Criminal_Autobiography/

A Narrative of the Life, Adventures, Travels and Sufferings of Henry Tufts, now residing at Lemington, in the District of Maine, by Henry Tufts, printed by Samuel Bragg, 1807 (the original book can be seen at the Essex Institute, Salem, Massachusetts and at the New York Public Library) 1993 reprint available.

Genealogy:

Generation 1) Peter Tufts (1617 - 1700) m. Mary Pierce

Generation 2) Thomas Tufts (1883 - 1733) m. Mary Lynde

Generation 3) Henry Tufts (1716 - 1780) m. Mary Wedgewood

Generation 4) Henry Tufts was born 24 June 1748 in Newmarket, New Hamphsire, and died 31 January 1831 in Limerick, Maine.  He was married about 1770 in Durham, New Hampshire to Lydia Bickford, daughter of Joseph Bickford and Margery Unknown. In the Tufts Kinsman he is listed as "vagabond, soldier AR, Indian doctor".  

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Copyright 2012 Heather Wilkinson Rojo and Tom Tufts

A Blacksheep found with NewspaperArchive.com

I found this story when I was perusing newpaperarchive.com with my surname and town names.  I wasn't looking for one particular person, but I was trying to see if there were any stories about WILKINSONs in Maine, New Hampshire or Massachusetts.  Wow, I found this story about a cousin who does not appear in any birth record, so I didn't know he existed.  As you read about Ivory Wilkinson, you'll be surprised, too! 

From The Biographical Directory of the Railway Officials of America, edited by E. H. Talbott and H. R. Hobart, Chicago: The Railway Age Publishing Co, 1885.

T. W. Peirce was a wealthy railroad tycoon in the 1800s.  Thomas Wentworth Peirce (16 August 1818 – 1885), was the second son of the eleven children of  Andrew Pierce, the first mayor of Dover, New Hampshire.  He made his money investing in the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway.  Peirce drove the Silver Spike uniting the second transcontinental railway between his railroad and the Southern Pacific Railroad in Val Verde County, Texas.  His ancestor was John Peirce of Watertown, Massachusetts, and he was a cousin to the only US President from New Hampshire, Franklin Peirce.  His lineage was John, Anthony, Benjamin, Benjamin, Benjamin, Andrew, Andrew Peirce his father.  Thomas Peirce’s mother was Betsey Wentworth, daughter of Thomas Wentworth and Mary Roberts.

As a millionaire he donated school s and churches, both in New England and out west in Galveston.  He was a summer resident of Topsfield, Massachusetts.   His summer estate had over 700 acres. A railroad spur was brought up to the house with a private car for his last years when he was in ill health.   He had two wives, Mary Curtis of Boston, and Cornelia Cook of Galveston.  He died in 1885 at the Sanitarium at Clifton Springs, New York and was buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery near Boston.   His estate was valued at $8 million and his more than 700,000 acres of Texas land were sold by his executors.

The settlement of Thomas Wentworth Peirce’s will was national news.  The news was especially interesting when an unknown man entered a lawsuit at Salem District court contesting the will.  Ivory Wilkinson Moulton Peirce of Lynn, Massachusetts was a shoemaker born in Sanford, Maine. He claimed that Thomas Peirce was his father, and that his mother, Julia Ann Wilkinson, would testify for him in court.    

As a young man, Ivory Peirce left Maine.  As Ivory W. M. Peirce he enlisted in the Civil War in the Massachusetts Infantry, 2^nd Regiment, Company F on 25 August 1861 and mustered out on 28 May 1865.  In his 1863 marriage record in Lynn, Massachusetts, Ivory Pierce, age 24, is listed as a “gentleman”, and gives his father’s name as Thomas Pierce. On his daughter’s birth record in 1878 his occupation is listed as “leather cutter”.  In the 1880 census he was listed as as “works in shoe factory”.  Apparently he either fibbed about being a “gentleman” or lost his fortune.  Can you believe what you see on a marriage or birth record?  Do you take into consideration the truthfulness of the person reporting the information to the town clerk?

During the trial, several people testified about his family, including Ivory himself. Their testimony listed lots of family members I didn’t know about, entire branches of new relatives!  Most of the names and dates listed matched up with public records.  I’ve had fun comparing the testimony in the newspapers of 1885 to the Maine vital records to build new branches of my family tree. 

In the end, I never found a marriage or divorce record between Julia Wilkinson and the millionaire Thomas W. Peirce, and neither did the judge in 1885.  The case was thrown out being that “illegitimate” meant he could not inherit, which was more important back then than now.  A child found to be born out of wedlock today could still inherit, but that was not the case in 1885.  Even DNA would not have helped Ivory Wilkinson Moulton Peirce in those days.

To be continued tomorrow, when I’ll show some of the testimony that reads like a soap opera!  And once I had Ivory Wilkinson Moulton Pierce's name, I found his story in over three dozen newspaper stories, from over a dozen states coast to coast.

For more information:

Peirce Genealogy, by Frederick Clifton Perice, 1880. 

John Mason Hart, "PEIRCE, THOMAS WENTWORTH," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fpe17), accessed July 31, 2012. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.  

Click here for Part II of this story:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/08/ivory-wilkinson-aka-ivory-peirce-aka.html  

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Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

A 1731 Counterfeiter named Tamsen Meserve

Tamsen Meserve is the wife of my 6x great grand uncle, Joseph Ham.  He was born 3 June 1678 in Dover, New Hampshire and killed in an Indian Raid on 28 September 1723.  Tamsen remarried to Joseph Tibbetts about 1725.  Joseph Ham, the first husband, is the brother of Mercy Ham, my 6x great grandmother, who married Richard Nason.  I blogged about the Ham family recently.  A sharp eyed reader, Paul Clark, saw that post and sent me a link to this wonderful story about Tamsen.    I’m posting the entire article here.

This story is full of names from 1731 New Hampshire.  Are you related to a MESERVE, HAM, TIBBETTS, BYRN, McVICKER, STYLES, PITNEY, CROFTSWAIT, or a BRADFORD?

This is a Ten Shilling Note from
Massachusetts 1776.
Note the warning across the middle! 

Story published by the Arlington Coin Journal Vol. II - No. 7, dated Sept.- Oct. 1973

"OUR EARLY FEMALE COUNTERFEITER'S

"This month we want to tell you about Tamsen Meserve. She had the dubious distinction of being the only woman counterfeiter to ever darken New Hampshire's shores.

Tamsen was an outgoing woman, with no little amount of ambition, curtailed, perhaps, only by the times and the premise that woman in those early days were meant to be seen rather than heard.

In 1704 Tamsen married Joseph Ham of Dover with whom she lived a typical and somewhat conformist life for 19 years, until her husband's death in 1723.

Two years later, scarcely out of the mourning period dictated by the times, she remarried - this time a widower named John Tibbitts. This marriage followed much the same pattern as her first one. That is, until 1731 when things began to look up for Tamsen. It so happened that a William Byrn, a painter (and perhaps a laborer, too) came to Dover from Rochester, New Hampshire. Now after a short while, the folks in Dover began to think pretty highly of Mr. Byrn and so implored him to "keep School." As he put it, "learn their children to write."

William cottoned to this idea, accepted their offer, and was at once boarded at the home of John and Tamsen Tibbitts. Now, Tamsen, being a bright young woman, soon discovered that the new boarder had latent talents; that is, he could do a mighty nice flower drawing, and had the ability to pen beautiful script.

Believing that such talent shouldn't go to waste, Tamsen brought a 20 Shilling Mass. bill and a few other notes to Bryn, and with a bit of friendly persuasion, prevailed upon him to copy them.

News of Byrn's skill somehow reached the ears of John McVicker and Samuel Styles, and soon a partnership was formed with the gifted penman. McVicker and Byrne, never ones to use their heads, made a foolhardy mistake of delivering to Styles two documents bearing their signatures. In one they promised to give Styles one-fifth of all the money he could pass, and also pay his expenses, while the other one they swore "by the living God" to betray him neither by signs or word of mouth.

Meantime, Tamsen was busy in her own way, having passed off a 30 shilling New Hampshire bill to Sarah Pitney, while Styles passed a 3-Pound 10 Shilling note to Hannah Bradford of Portsmouth and another to Sarah Croftswait.

This threw Styles under suspicion and he was promptly arrested and he was promptly arrested and searched. His pockets produced nine counterfeit 3 pound 10 shilling bills, along with much more incriminating evidence-the two documents given him by McVicker and Bryn.

At this point things began to happen pretty fast; warrants were speedily issued and both of Style's accomplices were tossed into jail. They were soon joined by the Tibbets, and it didn't take long to discover that the gang had a plate and that the only give-away on the nicely stuck bills were the signings.

At the court hearing, both Styles and Byrn wre given the same sentence-pay a fine of 14 pounds, stand one hour in the pillory at Exeter, each to have one ear lopped off, and each to be jailed for one year without bail.

The Court, backlogged with work, didn't have time for the other prisoners, so McVickers was returned to jail and the Tibbitts were released on recognizance of 500 pounds.

Byrn, who began to feel sorry for what he had done, began to repent, though more than likely spurred by the thought of perhaps drawing a lighter sentence, decided to blow the whistle on his friends and made a full confession of the whole ugly mess. He claimed the bills were not made by a plate but his own hand and pen at the instigation of Tamsen; and bitter at Styles for his carelessness which brought on Byrn's arrest, he let loose with everything he knew about him, too.

The outcome was that Tamsen and her husband were charged with counterfeiting and passing, but at a Court of General Sessions, the king's attorney couldn't get a grand jury to indict them, so they were dismissed after paying court costs. McVickers, on the other hand, was convicted, fined 7 pounds, pilloried for one hour, had one ear cropped, and spent a year in prison.

Thus New Hampshire's only woman counterfeiter, Tamsen Meserve Ham Tibbitts, bless her heart, came out of that nasty counterfeiting business smelling like a rose!"

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Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

How the Women Went From Dover

Three Quaker women from England appeared in Dover, New Hampshire in 1662 to preach against the established church.  These women spoke out against the customs of the established minister John Reynor.   Major Richard Waldron, a local magistrate,  issued this decree:

“To the constables of Dover, Hampton, Salisbury, Newbury, Rowley, Ispwich, Wenham, Lynn, Boston, Roxbury, Dedham, and until these vagabond Quakers are carried out of this jurisdiction.

You, and every one of you, are required, in the King’s Majesty’s name, to take these vagabond Quakers, Anne Colman, Mary Tomkins and Alice Ambrose, and make them fast to the cart’s tail, and driving the cart through your several towns, to whip them upon their naked backs not exceeding ten stripes apiece on each of them, in each town; and so to convey them from constable to constable till they are out of this jurisdiction, as you will answer it at your peril; and this shall be your warrant.”

Richard Waldron

Dated at Dover, December 22, 1662

According to Sewall’s History of the Quakers:

"The women thus being whipped at Dover, were carried to Hampton and there delivered to the constable . . . The constable the next morning would have whipped them before day, but they refused, saying they were not ashamed of their sufferings. Then he would have whipped them with their clothes on, when he had tied them to the cart. But they said, 'set us free, or do according to thine order.' He then spoke to a woman to take off their clothes. But she said she would not for all the world. 'Why,' said he, then I'll do it myself.' So he stripped them, and then stood trembling whip in hand, and so he did the execution. Then he carried them to Salisbury through the dirt and the snow half the leg deep; and here they were whipped again. Indeed their bodies were so torn, that if Providence had not watched over them, they might have been in danger of their lives."

The order was carried out in Dover and at Hampton, (both now in New Hampshire) with the idea of running the women all the way to Rhode Island.   In the town of Salisbury, which is now on the Massachusetts side of the border) the constable, Robert Pike, refused to follow the order.   A man named Dr. Walter Barefoot convinced the constable to name him as a deputy, and he took them to safety in Kittery, Maine. 

Strangely, the women eventually returned to Dover, where over one third of the people converted to the Quaker religion.   The towns people prophesized that Waldron’s victims would be avenged.  Prophetically, he was killed in an Indian raid a few years later. 

John Greenleaf Whittier, a Quaker poet, wrote this poem for the Atlantic Monthly, Volume 51, issue 308, page 805 -6 in June 1883.  He was an ardent progressive, and the Atlantic Monthly was a liberal Boston journal.  Whittier lived in nearby Haverhill, Massachusetts, on the New Hampshire border.   Many of Whittier’s poems are based on New Hampshire legends, or Quaker history, such as the Ballad of Cassandra Southwick, which I blogged about at this link: http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/11/ballad-of-cassandra-southwick.html

Just like Cassandra Southwick, I am related to one of the characters in his poem about the three Quaker women from Dover, New Hampshire.  Unfortunately this time it is the villain, Richard Waldron.   Waldron married Ann Scammon, sister to my 9x great grandmother, Elizabeth Scammons who married Thomas Atkins.  Richard Waldron was born 6 January 1615 in Warwickshire, England, and died on 17 June 1689 in Dover, New Hampshire during the Cochecho Massacre.  His cruelty was not just a figment of Whittier’s rich imagination.  Even the Penacook Indians were so angry with his reign over them that:

 “The Indians rushed into Major Walderne's garrison. He attempted to defend himself with a sword but was quickly overpowered and tied to a chair. The furious Penacooks each slashed the 74 year old man across the chest with his own sword, crying out " I cross out my account!" They hacked off his nose and ears then thrust them into his mouth. Finally, they forced him to fall upon his sword. Even in death, the Indians were not done with vengeance: they cut off the hand that had cheated them by holding down down the scales during trading. The final act of revenge was to burn the house to the ground, and murder or take captive the rest of Walderne's family.”

From the 1909 Heritage Walk Tour Booklet at the Dover, New Hampshire Public Library, http://www.dover.lib.nh.us/DoverHistory/cocheco.htm 

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How the Women Went From Dover 
by John Greenleaf Whittier

The tossing spray of Cocheco's fall
Hardened to ice on its rocky wall,
As through Dover town, in the chill, gray dawn,
Three women passed, at the cart-tail drawn!
Bared to the waist, for the north wind's grip
And keener sting of the constable's whip,
The blood that followed each hissing blow
Froze as it sprinkled the winter snow.
Priest and ruler, boy and maid
Followed the dismal cavalcade;
And from door and window, open thrown,
Looked and wondered gaffer and crone.
"God is our witness," the victims cried,
"We suffer for Him who for all men died;
The wrong ye do has been done before,
We bear the stripes that the Master bore!
"And thou, O Richard Waldron, for whom
We hear the feet of a coming doom,
On thy cruel heart and thy hand of wrong
Vengeance is sure, though it tarry long.
"In the light of the Lord, a flame we see
Climb and kindle a proud roof-tree;
And beneath it an old man lying dead,
With stains of blood on his hoary head."
"Smite, Goodman Hate-Evil!--harder still!"
The magistrate cried, "lay on with a will!
Drive out of their bodies the Father of Lies,
Who through them preaches and prophesies!"
So into the forest they held their way,
By winding river and frost-rimmed bay,
Over wind-swept hills that felt the beat
Of the winter sea at their icy feet.
The Indian hunter, searching his traps,
Peered stealthily through the forest gaps;
And the outlying settler shook his head,--
"They're witches going to jail," he said.
At last a meeting-house came to view;
A blast on his horn the constable blew;
And the boys of Hampton cried up and down,
"The Quakers have come!" to the wondering town.
From barn and woodpile the goodman came;
The goodwife quitted her quilting frame,
With her child at her breast; and, hobbling slow,
The grandam followed to see the show,
Once more the torturing whip was swung,
Once more keen lashes the bare flesh stung.
"Oh, spare! they are bleeding!" a little maid cried,
And covered her face the sight to hide.
A murmur ran round the crowd: "Good folks,"
Quoth the constable, busy counting the strokes.
"No pity to wretches like these is due,
They have beaten the gospel black and blue!"
Then a pallid woman, in wild-eyed fear,
With her wooden noggin of milk drew near.
"Drink, poor hearts!" A rude hand smote
Her draught away from a parching throat.
"Take heed," one whispered, "they'll take your cow
For fines, as they took your horse and plow.
And the bed from under you." "Even so,"
She said. "They are cruel as death I know."
Then on they passed, in the waning day,
Through Seabrook woods, a weariful way;
By great salt meadows and sand-hills bare,
And glimpses of blue sea here and there.
By the meeting-house in Salisbury town,
The sufferers stood, in the red sun-down,
Bare for the lash! O pitying Night,
Drop swift thy curtain and hide the sight!
With shame in his eye and wrath on his lip
The Salisbury constable dropped his whip.
"This warrant means murder foul and red;
Cursed is he who serves it," he said.
"Show me the order, and meanwhile strike
A blow at your peril!" said Justice Pike.
Of all the rulers the land possessed,
Wisest and boldest was he, and best.
He scoffed at witchcraft; the priest he met
As man meets man; his feet he set
Beyond his dark age, standing upright,
Soul-free, with his face to the morning light.
He read the warrant: "These convey
From our precincts; at every town on the way
Give each ten lashes." "God judge the brute!
I tread his order under my foot!
"Cut loose these poor ones and let them go;
Come what will of it, all men shall know
No warrant is good, though backed by the Crown,
For whipping women in Salisbury town!"
The hearts of the villagers, half released
From creed of terror and rule of priest,
By a primal instinct owned the right
Of human pity in law's despite.
For ruth and chivalry only slept,
His Saxon manhood the yeoman kept;
Quicker or slower, the same blood ran
In the Cavalier and the Puritan.
The Quakers sank on their knees in praise
And thanks. A last, low sunset blaze
Flashed out from under a cloud, and shed
A golden glory on each bowed head.
The tale is one of an evil time,
When souls were fettered and thought was crime,
And heresy's whisper above its breath
Meant shameful scourging and bonds and death!
What marvel, that hunted and sorely tried,
Even woman rebuked and prophesied,
And soft words rarely answered back
The grim persuasion of whip and rack!
If her cry from the whipping-post and jail
Pierced sharp as the Kenite's driven nail,
O woman, at ease in these happier days,
Forbear to judge of thy sister's ways!
How much thy beautiful life may owe
To her faith and courage thou canst not know,
Nor how from the paths of thy calm retreat
She smoothed the thorns with her bleeding feet. 

For the truly curious:

This blog post is about the Cocheco Massacre, which was revenge by the native people on Richard Waldron.  The Quakers and the native population were just some of the victims of Waldron's cruelty:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/05/cochecho-massacre-27-june-1689-dover.html  

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "How the Women Went From Dover", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 10, 2012, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/02/how-women-went-from-dover.html: accessed [access date]). 

Witches, Halloween and Genealogy

"The Trail of George Jacobs" (my ancestor)
painting by T. H. Matteson,
this artwork depicts teenager Margaret Jacobs
accusing her grandfather, to save her own life

As someone with a family tree that goes back to Salem in the 1630’s, I have many ancestors who lived through the Salem witchcraft trials.  Now, anyone with colonial Essex County ancestry might have ancestors who lived through this infamous time period, and believe me, if they were alive in 1692 they were involved.  Everyone had an opinion, thousands attended meetings, and hundreds were imprisoned.  There were hundreds of citizens imprisoned on witchcraft charges, which meant that many hundreds more gave evidence against them, as neighbors and witnesses.

            Writers from 1692 tell us that so many people attended the trials and meetings cows were left to wander though the lanes, and children languished at home unfed and uncared for.  In the summer of 1692 farmers left their fields to attend hangings, court testimonies and inquiries, and their fields were left untended.  The Salem witchcraft hysteria was more popularly attended and gossiped about than any modern sports event or sensational TV trial, because people were afraid of their own family members being accused.  Like an insidious plague, the accusations were flying in Essex County, and even ministers and people from the highest social orders were being found guilty of witchcraft.

            I can’t imagine what life was like that summer of 1692, and the fear that people must have felt as their friends and neighbors were being led off to prison.  Very few people spoke against the trials, nor did they want to stand up in defense of their neighbors’ innocence.  Remember that when John Proctor spoke up for his own wife, he himself was hung as a witch.  When the popular Andover minister Frances Dane spoke against the trials, most of the female members of his extended family were arrested. 

            However, in the end, only 19 people were hung, several others died in prison, and one was tortured to death.  These are the names you will find in the history books.  By looking further into the trials, at the transcripts of the meetings and on the lists of the witnesses, you can find thousands of other names.  There were jurors, jailors, and even people who signed their names (bravely!) on petitions against the evidence.  Considering that the entire population of Salem Village (now Danvers) at this time numbered only 600 people, and 200 Essex county people were jailed.  This was a high percentage of citizens were involved in the hysteria, especially since this number didn’t include witnesses and complainants.

            The archives of Danvers hold most of the trial transcripts, and you can access some of them online at http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/home.html  The rest are in the Essex County archives.   Many good books about the Salem witchcraft hysteria are available in bookstores, libraries including “Salem Village Witchcraft: a Documentary Record of Local Conflict in Colonial New England” by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, which is a collection of primary source documents from 1692.  My favorite is “The Wonders of the Invisible World” by Reverend Cotton Mather, written in 1693.   Mather’s book is one of the only firsthand accounts of the Salem witch trials, written mostly to defend his position as the chief persecutor of his neighbors, the supposed witches.

            By searching for surnames in the indexes of these databases and books, it is surprising how many family members and distant cousins I could find were involved with the trials.  Of course, no one kept track of the audience members and witnesses to the trials and hangings.  If there had been a guest book at these events, I suppose most of the adult citizens of Essex county would be found on the lists.  Remember that if you had Massachusetts ancestors during this time period, they might have been involved since trial and hearings took place in Gloucester, Andover, and even in Boston.  Just like everyone tuning into their TV sets to see the latest crime news, or just like neighbors who run downtown to see the latest thing going on in town (the Bruins in their Boston duck boat parade after winning the Stanley Cup?), our 17^th century ancestors were no different from us.

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

The Ship “John and Sara” Prisoners of War, 1651

In 1650 the Scots sided with the monarchy in the English Civil War, and fought against the Puritans in the Battle of Worcester.  Thousands were captured as prisoners of war, and forced to march to London.  Oliver Cromwell sent these undesirables to the New World to be sold into forced servitude.  They died at a rate of about 30 a day until the ships left London, when the first ship “Unity” left with 150 prisoners.  The second ship was the “John and Sara” and it carried 272 men to Boston.

Some of the men of the “John and Sara” were sold to work at hard labor at the Saugus Ironworks, and others to sawmills in New Hampshire and Maine.  The average length of servitude was 6 to 8 years.  They were sold by Thomas Kemble of Charlestown to the highest bidders.  This statement of goods recorded on 8 November 1651 gives us the passenger list for the “John and Sara”.  The Gaelic names of some of the prisoners were written phonetically by the British, for example Saint Clair became Sinkler, Forbes became Furbush, etc. which are surnames still found in New England.

My ancestor, William Munroe, is the Monrow listed below with the torn first name.  He arrived with at least one brother and was sold into servitude in Menotony, now Arlington, Massachusetts, to millwright John Adams.   He first appears on the records in Cambridge in 1657 as receiving a fine for not having a ring in the nose of his pig.  By 1660 he had settled in Cambridge Farms, which is now known as Lexington.  He was a freeman in 1690.  His grandsons and great grandsons fought in the Battle of Lexington Green.

London this 11th : of November 1651:
Capt. Jn'o GREENE
Wee whose names are vnder written freighters of your shipe the John & Sarah doe Order yow forthwith as winde & weather shall permitt to sett sajle for Boston in New England & there deliver our Orders & Servants to Tho : KEMBLE of charles Toune to be disposed of by him according to the orders wee have sent him in that behafe & wee desire yow to Advise with the sajd KEMBLE about all that may concerne that whole Intended vojage using your Indeavors with the sajd KEMBLE for the speediest lading your shipp from N.E. fit for the West Indies where yow are to deliver them to Mr. Charles RICH to be disposed of by him for the Joinet accout of the freighters & so to be retourned home in a stocke undevided thus desiring your Care & industrje in Dispatch & speed of the vojage wishing you a happy & safe Retourne wee remajne your loving freinds

Jo : BEEX
Robt RICH
Willjam GREEN

Signatum & Recognitum in pnica -- Jo : NOTTOCK notar Publ:

Entred & Recorded at the Instant Request of the said Mr. Tho : KEMBLE. Edw: RAWSON Recorder, 13 May 1652

A list of the passengers abord the John & Sarah of London John GREENE mr bound for New England:--

• Donald ROYE
• James MOORE
• Walter JACKSON
• Michaell FFOSSEM
• Daniell SIMSON
• John ROSSE
• Sander MILLESON
• Daniell MONLOW
• Henry BROUNELL
• James FARSASON
• Alester LOWE
• Daniell HOGG
• Hugh MACKEY
• Daniel MACKANNELL
• John CROOME
• John MACKLUDE
• Dan : MACKWELL
• ----- MACKUNNELL
• John HUDSON
• John MACKHOLME
• John BEME
• ----- MORE
• John GRAG
• Robert MONROW
• Hill MACKIE
• John MACKDONELL
• Allester MACKNESTER
• John EDMINSTEIRE
• Wm. BANES
• Patrick JONES
• Andrew WILSON
• Baniell MONWILLIAM
• John MACKENTHOW
• John JAMNELL
• David MACKHOME
• Mortel MACKJLUDE
• Salamon SINCLARE
• John GURDEN
• Wm. MACKEN
• John CRAGON
• John GRAUNT
• Alestre MACKRORE
• Daniel MACKENDOCKE
• Gellust MACKWILLIAM
• James MILWARD
• Wm. DELL
• James MICKNAB
• Glester MACKTOMAS
• Almister MACKALINSTEN
• John COEHON
• Robert JENLER
• Edward DULEN
• John HOGG
• James MICKELL
• John MACKALESTER
• Daniell MACKNELL
• Patrick JIMSON
• John HANOMAN
• Andrew JERRIS
• James JACKSON
• Patricke TOWER
• Wm. MACKANNELL
• Dani-- MACKAJNE
• Senly MACKONNE
• James ENGLISH
• Dan--- MACKENNELL
• John MACKEY
• Danniell GUNN
• James ROSS
• John WILSON
• David JELLER
• George QUENNE
• John JENLER
• John WOODELL
• George PERRY
• John MONROW
• Wm. CLEWSTON
• Daniell MACKHAN
• Alester MACKHENE
• Alester SIMSON
• Richard JACKSON
• James CARNELL
• Dan : MARTJN
• John HOGG
• John ROBINSON
• John ROSSE
• John ROSSE
• Hugh MONROW
• Thomas BEREERE
• Simon RUSSELL
• John MORRE
• Edward PUNN
• Sannder MORROT
• Wm. FFRESSELL
• John BOYE
• John BUCKANEN
• Patricke MORTON
• Dan(i)ell MAKALESTER
• James MICHELL
• Sander MACKDO(N)ELL
• James GURNER
• Wm. TELLER
• Origlais MACKFARSON
• Nicholas WALLIS
• John MURROW
• Robert HIGBEN
• John MACKHELLIN
• Allester -----
• Dan : MACKHELLIN
• ----- --------
• Charles LESTEN
• Wm. STEWART
• John MORRE
• Edward FFRESSELL
• David HINNE (?)
• Daniell BLACKE
• Daniell SESSOR
• Patricke MACKHATHERNE
• Alexander TOMPSON
• Danell KEMPER
• Daniell HOW
• John BROW
• ---- -------
• Henry MACK----
• John ROBINSON
• Daniell ------
• Patricke ------
• Patricke ------
• ----- -------
• ----- (MAC)KFARSON
• ----- MACKLYNE
• ----- MONROW
• ---ster MACKNELL
• Daniell ROBINSON
• (J)ames SHONE
• John ANDERSON
• James GRAUNT
• Patricke CROSSHONE
• John GRANT
• John SCOTT
• Dan : GORDON
• Dan : ROSS
• John HOGG
• Partick MANN
• Ansell SHERRON
• James ROSS
• David HAMILTON
• Patricke MACKNEILE
• David ROSSE
• Amos QUERNE
• Alestre HUME
• Neile JOHNSON
• Alester RALLENDRA
• Rory HAMILTON
• James ROBINSON
• David BUKANON
• David STERLING
• Daniell MACKNITH
• Rob't MACKFARSON
• Mw. MUNCKRELL
• Neile CAMELL
• Semell MACKNETH
• John MACKANE
• Dan SHURON
• Rory MACHY
• Patrick GRAUNT
• Particke HARRON
• James ROWE
• Sander SIMSON
• James GORDEN
• Charles ROBINSON
• Alester ROBINSON
• Patricke ROBERSON
• Alester GRAUNT
• Neile MACKETH
• Patricke MACKNITH
• Daniell MACKNITH
• James HEDERICKE
• James MACKHELL
• John CURMICKHELL
• Havid HUME
• Patrick MACKTRETH
• David ANDERSON
• Wm. BEAMES
• David MONWILLJAM
• John STERLING
• John MANN
• Wm. DENGELL
• Daniell MANN
• Sander MACKCUNNELL
• Cana MACKURNALL
• Patricke MACKANE
• Ansel SOTHERLAND
• Sander MILLER
• James PATTISON
• Alexander GRAUNT
• Thomas GRAUNT
• Neile CARTER
• Dan : MACKUEILE
• John SHENNE
• Robt. MACKAJNE
• Dan : HUDSON
• Neile MURROW
• Jahn CANNELL
• Evan TILER
• Jonas MURROW
• Alester MACKHELE
• Edward DENGLE
• James KALLENDER
• Jonas ROSS
• Neile MACKHONE
• James GRAUNT
• David TENLER
• James MACKALLY
• Wm. MACKAJNE
• Alester TOOTH
• Austin STEWART
• Laughlell MONTROSSE
• Wm. MACKONTOSS
• Neile MACKAJNE
• James MACKREITH
• John MACKREITH
• John MACKFORSEN
• James HAMILTON
• John GRAUNT
• James MURROW
• Wm. CARMACKHELL
• James MACKNEILE
• Samuell MACKAJNE
• Dan : GRAUNT
• Cha : STEWART
• Neile STEWART
• David MARKETH
• David JAMESON
• Dan SIMSON
• George HUME
• James CROCKFORD
• David KALLENDER
• David PATTERSON
• Alester ANDERSON
• Patricke SMISON
• Rob't BOY
• John WILSON
• Patricke JACAON
• Wm. MACKAJNE
• Dan : MACKHOE
• Dan : MACKAJNE
• Alester ROSS
• Neile MUCKSTORE
• Wm. MACKANDRA
• John BOYE
• Wm. GRAUNT
• James GRAUNT
• Henry SMITH
• Wm. HIDRECKE
• Cana MACKTENTHA
• Niele HOGG
• Rob't MACKHANE
• Rob't STEWART
• David SIMSON
• Laughteth GORDON
• Neile JAMESON
• Patrick ENGLISH
• James BENNE
• David MILWARD
• Wm. ANDERSON
• Sander MACKEY
• Patrick SOTHERLAND
• Daniel ONEALE
• John WOODALL
• Christopher WILSON
• John MURROW

The persons afore named passed from hence in the ship afore mentioned and are according to order Registed heare.
Dat. Search office, Gravesend, 8th November, 1651
Giles BARROW
Edw : PELLING
John MORRIS - Searchers 

http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/colonial/main/john&sara.html   Passenger List for the “John and Sara” , source Historical and Genealogical Registers, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, 1847 Vol - 1 - 50 - (Oct 1847 pg 378-379)

http://files.usgwarchives.net/ma/essex/towns/lynn/scotsprisoners.txt  from the Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings – Oct 1927, p. 5 – 28.  A list of prisoners and to whom they were sold.  This list is incomplete, but very useful.

http://www.todrobbins.com/robbins/sources/list-of-scots.html  A similar type of list as the one immediately above, with men from the Unity and John and Sara

The Original Scots Colonists of Early America, Supplement: 1607-1707 by David Dobson Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997 (available at ancestry.com)  

Emigrants in Chains by Peter Wilson Coldham, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1994

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo