The Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts

Last week we took a walk by the Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts.  I have never seen the inside of this historic house museum, even though I am related to the Emerson family of Concord.  It was built in 1770 by the Reverend William Emerson, just in time to experience one of the first battles of the American Revolution.  It is located by Concord’s Old North Bridge where the battle of April 19, 1775 was fought between the American patriots and the British.

First, a little family history! The Rev. William Emerson is my 2^nd cousin, seven generations removed. We share Joseph Emerson (about 1621 – 1680) and his wife Elizabeth Bulkely (1638 – 1693) as our common ancestor.  My line of Emerson ancestors lived nearby Concord in Reading, Massachusetts until the 1800s when my ancestor Romanus Emerson (1782 – 1852) removed to South Boston.  He was from a family of eleven children, and eight brothers.  Of those eight brothers, four lived to adulthood and became ministers. Romanus studied for the ministry, too, but due to a “speech impediment” (according to a compiled genealogy of the family) he went to Boston and became a famous atheist!

The great writer and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882) lived in Concord and was the grandson of Rev. Phebe Bliss. Ralph Waldo Emerson was from a line of five out of six generations of minister Emerson ancestors in a row, and he studied to be a minister, too. His brief ministry included being ordained at Boston's Second Church and being the chaplain of the Massachusetts legislature, but it all ended when he began to doubt his faith. He went to Europe and returned to Concord to become a popular lecturer, and later a philosopher and writer.  It was perhaps the influence of this famous writer and his transcendentalist friends, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, that made this house so important and historic. 

From this sign by the Old Manse:

"The Reverend William Emerson (1743 - 1776), grandfather of writer Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882), built this house in 1769-70.  On April 19, 1775, family members watched from the house as British soldiers and local militia fought the battle that started the American Revolution.

The Old Manse then played an important role in America's literary and cultural revolutions.  Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) wrote Nature here in 1834-35, an essay that sparked the Transcendental movement.  Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804 - 64) lived here from 1842 - 45).  His collection of short stories, Mosses from an Old Manse, gave the house its nickname, a Scottish term for 'minister's house." 

Rev. William Emerson became a chaplain to the Continental Army, then died in October 1776 on his way home from Fort Ticonderoga. His widow remarried to his successor, the Rev. Ezra Ripley, and continued living at the Old Manse.  Ralph Waldo Emerson lived here with his step-grandfather in 1834 while writing Nature. 

Nathaniel Hawthorne and his new bride, Sophia Peabody, moved here in 1842, and Henry David Thoreau dug them a garden.  One famous legacy that Hawthorne and his wife left at the Old Manse was a a short passage they etched in the window of his study with her wedding ring diamond. He also wrote many of his tales here, some which were included in Mosses from an Old Manse (1846), and others published later. New Hampshire's only US president, Franklin Pierce, was a guest of the Hawthorne's while they lived at the Old Manse.  Hawthorne removed to Salem in 1845, and returned to Concord in 1852 to live at the historic house called The Wayside.  

The house was owned by the Ripley family until 1939 when it was donated to the Trustees of Reservations.  It was a National Historic Landmark in 1966.  The house is open for guided tours by the Trustees of Reservations in the summer, see the website (below) for more information. It is located adjacent to the Old North Bridge, the Minuteman Statue, and the battlefield.  There is a restroom across the path to the Old North Bridge, and if you follow across the bridge and up the hill, you will reach the US National Historic Site interpretive center with more restrooms, giftshop, and small museum. It is also within walking distance of the Concord Common and the Sleep Hollow Cemetery with Author's Ridge where Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Ellery Channing, Louisa May Alcott and others are buried. 

For the truly curious:

The Old Manse, 269 Monument Street, Concord, Massachusetts

The Old Manse website:   https://thetrustees.org/place/the-old-manse/   

The US National Park Service website:  https://www.nps.gov/places/the-old-manse.htm   

My EMERSON Surname Saturday sketch, with eight generations of Emersons from Thomas Emerson the immigrant to Ipswich, Massachusetts down to my great great grandmother, Mary Katharine Emerson (1847 - 1932):  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/01/surname-saturday-emerson-of-ipswich.html    

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To Cite/Link to this post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "The Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 12, 2021, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-old-manse-in-concord-massachusetts.html: accessed [access date]).

Tombstone Tuesday - Benjamin Bulkley, died 1822 at Wethersfield, Connecticut

This tombstone was photographed at the Wethersfield Village Cemetery in Wethersfield, Connecticut

In Memory of

Mr. BENJAMIN

BULKLEY, who

died August 16th

1822.

Aged 91 years.

Benjamin Bulkley, the son of Charles Bulkely and Mary Sage, was born 1 August 1731.  He married twice, first on 3 November 1757 to Susanna Kirby who died on 27 May 1776, and then on 6 February 1777 to Elizabeth Brownell, who died on 30 January 1816.  He survived both wives and died on 16 August 1822 in Farmington, and was buried at the Wethersfield Village Cemetery. 

Benjamin Bulkley is the great grandson of the Rev. Peter Bulkeley, of Concord, Massachusetts, who is my 10th great grandfather.  He descends from the Reverend's son Gershom, and grandson, Edward.  

Click here to see my BULKELEY lineage:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/01/surname-saturday-bulkeley-of-concord.html   

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday - Benjamin Bulkley, died 1822 at Wethersfield, Connecticut", Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 8, 2019, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/01/tombstone-tuesday-benjamin-bulkley-died.html: accessed [access date]). 

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Chester Bulkley, buried 1848 in Wethersfield, Connecticut

This tombstone was photographed in the Ancient Burying Ground in Wethersfield, Connecticut.

Chester Bulkley

Born Feb. 22, 1782

Died Dec. 4, 1848

Behold the upright

For the end of that man is peace

Caroline Maria

His wife

Born March 8, 1798

Died Sept 17, 1872

Asleep in Jesus

Chester Bulkley, son of Charles Bulkely (1734 – 1813) and Eunice Welles (1746 – 1827) was born 22 February 1782 and died 4 December 1848 in Wethersfield, Connecticut.  He was married three times, first to Hannah Buck, second to Martha Riley, and third to Caroline Maria Latimer (1798 – 1872).   He had three children with his first wife, Charles Dean b. 1810 d. young; Silas Butler, b. 1812. d. young; and John b. 1814, d. 1833.  He is my 3rd cousin, 8 generations removed. We are both descendants of Rev. Peter Bulkely (1583- 1659) of Concord, Massachusetts. 

Chester Bulkley’s 1830 house still exists in Wethersfield at 184 Main Street, and it is a five guest room bed and breakfast.  See this link: https://www.chesterbulkleyhouse.com/ 

The Bulkley Family Plot in Wethersfield, Connecticut

For more information on the Bulkeley family see The Bulkeley Genealogy: Rev. Peter Bulkeley, by Donald Lines Jacobus, 1933.  The sketch of Chester Bulkley is on pages 659 – 660.    Also see Wethersfield Inscriptions, by Edward Sweetser Tillotson, 1899,  page 29.    (both books are available online at Google books, the second book is also at Archive.org )

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday ~ Chester Bulkley, buried 1848 in Wethersfield, Connecticut", Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 13, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/03/tombstone-tuesday-chester-bulkley.html: accessed [access date]).  

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Rev. and Hon. Gershom Bulkely (1636 - 1713) Wethersfield, Connecticut

This tombstone was photographed at the Village Cemetery in Wethersfield, Connecticut, behind the First Church of Christ on Main Street.

Rev. and

Hon. GERSHOM BULKELY

Died Dec. 2^nd 1713 aged 77.

He was honorable in his descent.

Of rare abilities, excellent in learning,

Master of many languages,

Exquisite in his skill in

Divinity, physic and law

And a most exemplary

And

Christian life.

In certam spem beatae resurrectionis repositus.

GERSHOM BULKLEY [upside down]

This tombstone is odd to me for several reasons.  First of all, I had never seen red, sandstone tombstones until we visited Wethersfield.  It is a very soft, crumbly stone, and many of the grave markers in this cemetery were in poor condition.  Gershom’s grave marker is a ledger style table, which was very worn and difficult to read.  Also, it is very odd that the family crest is so poorly carved, almost cartoonish.  And his name is upside down on the bottom?

Gershom Bulkeley, son of Rev. Peter Bulkeley (my 10^th great grandfather) and Grace Chetwood, was born in January 1636 in Concord, Massachusetts, and died 2 December 1713 in Glastonbury, Connecticut.  He married Sarah Chauncy, daughter of Charles Chauncy (2^nd president of Harvard College) and Catherine Eyre, on 26 October 1659 in Concord.  They had six children, and son John also became a minister (third generation). 

Gershom graduated Harvard College in 1655.  He served as a minister in New London and Wethersfield.  He was also a trained doctor and served as a surgeon during King Philip’s War where he was wounded near Mount Wachusett.  He was a deputy to the Connecticut General Court, and a Justice of the Peace.

Peter and Grace Bulkeley took their voyage to the New World in the 1630s.  During the voyage it appeared that Grace “apparently died and her husband, supposing land to be near and unwilling to consign the beloved form to a watery grave, urgently entreated the Captain that the body might be kept one day and yet another day.” [Families of Ancient Wethersfield, Connecticut, by Henry R. Stiles, 2009] On the third day she stirred, and recovered. She gave birth some months later in Concord, Massachusetts and named the child “Gershom”, a biblical name which means “exile”.  It is supposed that part of this story is myth since the Bulkeley family came from England in separate ships to throw off the authorities that Rev. Peter Bulkeley was leaving England as a “non-conformist”. 

Gershom Bulkley's tombstone is next to

his son's, Charles Bulkley.  You can read a post

about Charles' tombstone HERE.  

For more information on the Wethersfield Ancient Burying Ground and Village Cemetery, see this website for photos, transcriptions and GPS coordinates of each stone:
http://wethersfieldhistory.org/burying-ground 

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday ~ Rev. and Hon. Gershom Bulkely (1626 - 1713) Wethersfield, Connecticut", Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 31, 2016,  (  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/05/tombstone-tuesday-rev-and-hon-gershom.html: accessed [access date]).

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Mr. Charles Bulkley, Wethersfield, CT

This tombstone was photographed at the Village Cemetery in Wethersfield, Connecticut, behind the First Church of Christ on Main Street.

Here lies Interr'd

the Body of Mr.

CHARLES BULKLEY

who Departed this

Life Febry 21st 1758

In the 55th year

of his Age

Charles Bulkley is my 2nd cousin, 8 generations removed.  His grandfather, my 9th great grand uncle, Rev. Gerhom Bulkeley, removed from Cambridge, where he graduated from Harvard College in 1655, to be the minister at New London, Connecticut.  Charles was born in Wethersfield, the son of Edward Bulkeley and Dorothy Prescott, on 25 March 1702, and he died there on 21 March 1758.  He married Mary Sage on 28 May 1724 and they had eleven children.  

Charles Bulkely was the great grandson of Rev. Peter Bulkely (1583 - 1659), a founder of Concord, Massachusetts, and also my 10th great grandfather.  He is also the great grandson of John Prescott (1604 - 1681) and Mary Gawkroger, my 9th great grandparents.  Charles's is also a great grandson of Charles Chauncey (1592 - 1672), the second President of Harvard College from 1654 - 1671. 

For more information on the Wethersfield Ancient Burying Ground and Village Cemetery, see this website for photos, transcriptions and GPS coordinates of each stone:
http://wethersfieldhistory.org/burying-ground

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday ~ Mr. Charles Bulkley, Wethersfield, CT", Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 24, 2016,  (  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/05/tombstone-tuesday-mr-charles-bulkley.html: accessed [access date])/

Surname Saturday ~ BULKELEY of Concord, Massachusetts

BULKELEY

Here in the house of the

Reverend Peter Bulkeley

First Minister and one of the

founders of this town

a bargain was made with the

squaw sachem and the sagamore Tahattawan

and other Indians

who then sold their righrts in 

the six miles square called Concord

to the English Planters

and gave them peaceful possession

of the land

A.D. 1636

The Bulkeley family is full of ministers, and clergymen leave terrific paper trails, so it is a lot of fun to research the Bulkeley family.  My 10^th great grandfather, Reverend Peter Bulkeley (1583 – 1659) graduated from St. John’s College, Cambridge, England in 1604/5.  His father before him, the Reverend Doctor Edward Bulkeley, was also a St. John’s graduate and curate of St. Mary’s church in Shrewsbury, England and the rector at Odell, Bedfordshire.  Peter succeeded his father as rector at Odell from 1610 to 1635, and then came to New England with his family aboard the ship Susan and Ellen in 1635.  He was ordained in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and then bought six acres at Concord, Massachusetts where he established his church and was pastor there for the rest of his life.

My 9^th great grandfather, Edward Bulkeley, came to New England before the rest of his family.  He was a young man, in his early 20s and he joined the church in Boston on 22 March 1635.  The rest of the family arrived later that summer.  Edward had attended St. Catharine’s College at Cambridge.  He was ordained at Marshfield in 1642/3, and when his father died he was installed at Concord as the pastor.  He died at Chelmsford and was buried at Concord.   His daughter, Elizabeth, my 8^th great grandmother, was married to Reverend Joseph Emerson, who preached at Ipswich, Massachusetts; York, Maine; Wells, Maine; Mendon, Massachusetts and retired to Concord where he died in 1679/80.

There was a long line of Bulkeley and Emerson ministers from this family, including the famous Ralph Waldo Emerson of Concord, Massachusetts, who also studied to be a pastor.

UPDATE 25 January 2015

From reader John McEwen "Hi Heather, I have seen your info on this Rev.Peter Bulkeley 1582/83 d-1658/59. Peter wasn`t  the first minister of Concord it was his son Thomas`s father-in- law  Rev. John Jones who went to Fairfield,Conn in 1644. Rev.Jones is my 10th great grandfather.  John"   Well, John was absolutely correct.  Read the list of ministers at the website for the First Parish Church in Concord, Massachusetts.  This page even states "Many of us think of Rev. Peter Bulkeley as our first parish minister, but this was not the case.  "  http://www.firstparish.org/cms/about-first-parish/history-of-fp/ministers   

For more information:

The Bulkeley Genealogy compiled by Donald Lines Jacobus, New Haven, Connecticut 1933  (available to read online at Ancestry.com and the Hathi Trust website)

“Reverend Edward Bulkeley’s Two Wives: Edward Bulkeley’s three betrothals and two marriages: a Correction to Jacobus’s The Bulkeley Genealogy” by Robert M. Gerrity, 2006 http://yankeeancestry.tripod.com/EB2wives.html 

My BULKELEY genealogy:

Generation 1: Reverend Peter Bulkeley, son of Reverend Doctor Edward Bulkely and Olyff Irby, born 31 January 1583 in Odell, Bedfordshire, England and died 9 March 1659 in Concord, Massachusetts; married first on 12 August 1613 in Goldington, Bedfordshire, England to Jane Allen, daughter of Thomas Allen and Mary Fairclough.  She was baptized on 13 January 1588 in Goldington and died about 8 December 1626 in Odell.  She was the mother of nine children.  Peter married second about 1634 to Grace Chetwood, daughter of Richard Chetwood and Dorothy Needham.  She was born about 1605 and died 21 April 1669 in New London, Connecticut and was the mother of four more children.

Generation 2:  Reverend Edward Bulkeley, eldest son of Peter Bulkely and Jane Allen,  born June 1614 in Odell, England and died 4 January 1696 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts; married about 1638 to Lucyann Coy. Five children.

Generation 3: Elizabeth Bulkely, born 1638 and died 4 September 1693 in Reading, Massachusetts; married on 7 December 1665 in Concord, Massachusetts to Reverend Joseph Emerson, son of Thomas Emerson and Elizabeth Brewster.  He was born about 1620 in England and died 3 January 1680 in Concord.  Seven children.

Generation 4: Peter Emerson m. Mary Brown

Generation 5: Brown Emerson m. Sarah Townsend

Generation 6: John Emerson m. Katherine Eaton

Generation 7: Romanus Emerson m. Jemima Burnham

Generation 8: George Emerson m. Mary Esther Younger

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

Generation 10: Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

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

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/01/surname-saturday-bulkeley-of-concord.html

Copyright © 2015, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Surname Saturday ~ EMERSON of Ipswich, Massachusetts

EMERSON

Thomas Emerson (1584 – 1666)  lived at Bishop’s Stortford in Hertfordshire, England, where he was recorded in 1636 as a collector for the poor.  His children were recorded in the baptismal records at St. Michael’s church in Bishop’s Stortford.  He first appears in the records of Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1638 when he received a deed for 120 acres.  This land was known as “Turkey Shore” and remained in the Emerson family for generations.

Thomas Emerson was the father of two ministers, Rev. Joseph Emerson and Rev. John Emerson.  There is a long list of Puritan, Congregational and Unitarian ministers among his descendants, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, who also studied to be a minister.  I descend from two of Thomas Emerson’s children, the Rev. Joseph Emerson (1621 – 1680) and Elizabeth Emerson (1623 – 1700) who married John Fuller.

His will was recorded in Salem, Massachusetts:

The Will Of Thomas Emerson

Essex Probate Registry, Salem, Mass.

The 31st of Maye 1653

            I Thomas Emerson of Ispswich in the countye of Essex being att present, I prayse God, of good health and pfect memory, and well knowing that all men are borue to dye & depart this life, and that the tyme and place of there departure is to them unknown and uncertayne and sometymes sudden, I doe therefore declare and make knowne this my lasr will and Testament in the maner following:

            Inprimus/ I bequeath my soule into the hands of my blessed Creator and Redeemer my body to the earth to be densently buried In assured hope of a Joyfull resurection at the last day, and for my outward Estate I doe dispose of as followeth:

            I give and bequeath unto my sonne Joseph the some eighty pound of current paye of New England viz forty pound of it which I reserued out of my farme Given unto my sonne John to be payd unto the said Joseph my sonne acording to the couenant and agreement expressed in a papre of Indentors beareing date the six and twentieth of the ninth month 1648 the other forty pound to be payd unto him by my son Nathaniell (out of my house and land given unto him) within six months after the decease of me and my wife.

Item/ I give and bequeath unto Nathaniell Emerson my sonne my house wherein I now dwell with all my upland and meddow and the marsh I bought of my sonne Joseph wh was sometymes Mr Woodsmansys with all the aptenances and priveledges thereunto belonging payeing forty pound out of it as above exprest alsoe a little p'sel of meddoe lyeing within the marsh before mentioned after the decease of me and my wife

Item/ I give unto my daughter Elisabeth Fullor the best feather bed and boulster with a paire of blanketts and the best coverlet and bedsted to injoy for hir use untill hir daughter Susana atayne the age of Twenty yeares or day of hir mariage if shall happen sooner and then she to injoy them alsoe. I give unto my sayd daughter the great carved chest and the carved box with a little Trunck with all y is in it and a small carved chest with what is in it

Item/ I give unto my sonne James Emerson the some of forty pounds out of my stock of cattell to be payd unto him if he shall come ouer into this country ( or send by a certayne surtifficate of his being liueing) within two yeares after the decease of me and my wife. In case my sayd sonne dye before then my will is that my sonne Joseph his sonne Joseph shall have ten pound of it and my sonne Nathaiell ten pound and my daughter Fullor hir foure sonnes the other Twenty pound or if any of them dye the surviuors ton injoye the same

Item/ my will is that Elisabeth Emerson my wife shall Injoye the yearely rent of the farme with six head of cattell wintering at the sayd farme and if they doe not winter soe many to make it up as is agreed as alsoe the house wherein I dwell with the upland and meddow and marsh bought of my sonne Joseph Joseph with all aptenances belonging thereunto and alsoe all my household goods and all my cattell I shall leave both oxen and cowes and all other young cattell whasoeuer to injoy them freely without let or disturbance of any person whatsoeuer dureing the tyme that she doth continue my widdow provided allways and it is my will and meaneing that if the sayd Elisabeth my wife doth marry that then she shall have only the yearley Rent of the aforesayd farme dureing the tyme of hir naturall life and the wintering of the aforesayd six head of cattell alsoe to have the little featherbed and one boulster and two payre of sheets and two cowes The rest of the cattell and household stufe to be disposed of as in this my will exprsst

            And futher my will is that my sonne Nathaniell incase he doe injoye the house and Land by the marriage of my wife that then he shall paye the some of six pound by the yeare to his mother duering the terme of hir naturall life for the rest of my household goods I leave to my wife to dispose of what shee shall thinke fitt to my sonne Joseph and the rest to be devided betweene my sonne Nathaniell and my daughter Fuller futher I make my loveing wife Elisabeth Emerson sole execotrix to this my last will and Testament and doe desire my much honored and faithful frends Mr Samule Symonds and Major Gen Daniell Denison to be overseeres to see y this my will be fullfilled.

In witness to this my last will I have hereunto sett my hand and seale the day and yeare first exprest

signed sealed and c in the psents of us

Robert Lord

Daniel Houey

January the 4th 1660.

Memorandum/ thes ar to testifie unto any home it may consern that I have given unto my sonne John Emerson his portion Ful in y Consideration of y agreement betwixt us about my farme he dully performming the Covenant of y sady indenters betwixt us during the terme of my life and his mothers as alsoe thos engagments their spesified afterwards acording to our mutuall agreement acording to the sixtenth line of this will

Signed: Thomas Emerson

Memorandum/ in consideration of the ten Lins Canseld on the other sie conserning my sonne James my will is that he shall have the some of five pound payd to him by my sonne Mathaniell within two years afters the decease of the longest liver of my wife or myself in case he shall come or send by certain sertifficat y he is then living

Alsoe in refrans to ye eighteen line of this my will for six months there exprest is thus to be understood that my son Nathaniell should paye that forty pound to my son Joseph the sumee of ten pounds a year till it be fully discharged unles he y said Nathaniell shall sell my house and land I now dwell in and the it is to be payd to my sonne Joseph presently

Alsoe in refrens to the twent fifth line of this my will it is to be understood that what there mentoned as to my daughter Fullor is my intent that it shall be holy and fully devided betwen hir two daughters at y age of twenty years or at y day of mariage Susanna and Elisabeth.

Alsoe my will is that my loving wife Elisabeth Emerson shall injoy for hir use halfe the fruit of the orchard during her natural life, the the particules above mentioned I witnes to be my own act

In the presents of

George Giddinge

Daniel Houey

Pfued by the oaths of George Giddinge, Daniell Houey and Robert Lord respectiuely before Mr Symon Bradstreet and Major Gen Denison the clerks being prsent the 10th day of May 1666 to be the last will of Thomas Emerson with the additions

As attest Robert Lord- clerk

[George Giddings (1609 – 1676) is also my 9^th great grandfather]

Some Emerson sources:

Stone –Gregg Genealogy:  The Ancestors and Descendants of Galen Luther Stone and his wife Carrie Marston Gregg, by Alicia Crane Williams, (Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1987)

The Emerson-Benson Saga: The Ancestry of Charles F. Emerson and Bessie Benson and the Struggle to Settle the United States Including 194 Allied Lines by Edmund K. Swigart, (Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1994).

The Bulkeley Genealogy: Rev. Peter Bulkeley, by Donald Lines Jacobus (New Haven: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor, Co, 1933).

The Ipswich Emersons: AD 1636 – 1900, by Benjamin Kendall Emerson (Boston: Press of David Clapp & Son, 1900).   Available online   https://openlibrary.org/books/OL6902776M/The_Ipswich_Emersons._A.D._1636-1900. 

My EMERSON genealogy:

Generation 1: Thomas Emerson, born 26 July 1584 in Sedgefield Parish, County Durham, England, the son of Robert Emerson and Susan Crabbe, died 1 May 1666 in Ipswich, Massachusetts; married on 1 July 1611 in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, England to Elizabeth Brewster, who died 10 August 1638 in Ipswich. [She is not a descendant of William Brewster of the Mayflower]  They had nine children and I descend from two of them.

Lineage A:

Generation 2: Reverend Joseph Emerson, born between 1620 and 1621 in Bishop’s Stortford, died 3 January 1680 in Concord, Massachusetts; married first to Elizabeth Woodmansey about 1646 in Boston, Massachusetts, one child; married second on 7 December 1665 in Concord to Elizabeth Bulkeley, the daughter of Rev. Edward Bulkeley and Lucyann Coy.  She was born in 1638 and died 4 September 1693 in Reading, Massachusetts.  Seven children.

Generation 3:  Peter Emerson, born 1673 in Mendon, Massachusetts, died 19 January 1751 in Reading; married on 11 November 1696 in Reading to Mary Brown, daughter of John Brown and Anna Fiske. Ten children.

Generation 4:  Deacon Brown Emerson, born 16 April 1704 in Reading, died 16 March 1774 in Reading; married on 17 June 1725 in Reading to Sarah Townsend, daughter of John Townsend and Sarah Boutwell.  She was born 25 March 1705 in Lynn, Massachusetts.  Ten children.

Generation 5: John Emerson, baptized 5 April 1739 in South Reading, died 14 November 1809 in Hancock, New Hampshire; married on 20 December 1764 in Reading to Katherine Eaton, daughter of Noah Eaton and Phebe Lilley.  She was born 19 December 1744 in Reading and died 21 January 1809 in Hancock.  Eleven children.

Generation 6: Romanus Emerson, born 1 September 1782 in Townsend, Massachusetts, died 10 October 1852 in South Boston, Massachusetts; married on 22 November 1819 in Boston to Jemima Burnham, daughter of Colonel Joshua Burnham and Jemima Wyman.

Generation 10: George Emerson, born 11 July 1817 in South Boston, died 11 January 1890 in Dorchester; married on 11 August 1845 in Boston to Mary Esther Younger, daughter of Levi Younger and Catherine Plummer Jones.  Eight children.

Generation 11: Mary Katharine Emerson, born 25 December 1847 in South Boston, died 23 April 1932 in Roxbury; married on 28 October 1869 in Chichester, New Hampshire to George E. Batchelder, son of George E. Batchelder and Abigail M. Locke.  Nine children.

Generation 12: Carrie Maude Batchelder, 22 September 1872 in Chichester, New Hampshire, died 21 January 1963 in Rowley, Massachusetts; married on 1 November 1892 in Essex, Massachusetts to Joseph Elmer Allen, son of Joseph Gilman Allen and Sarah Burnham Mears.

Generation 13: Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

Lineage B:

Generation 2: Elizabeth Emerson, born about 1623 in Bishop’s Stortford, died 1700 in Massachusetts; married to John Fuller, son of Roger Fuller and Jane Gowan. He was born about 1620 in England and died 4 June 1666 in Ipswich.  Nine children.

Generation 3:  James Fuller m. Mary Rindge

Generation 4: Dorothy Fuller m. Josiah Stone

Generation 5: Josiah Stone m. Martha Ashby

Generation 6: Josiah Stone m. Susanna Hix

Generation 7: Eunice Stone m. Peter Hoogerzeil

Generation 8: Peter Hoogerzeil m. Mary Etta Healey

Generation 9: Florence Etta Hoogerzeil m. Arthur Treadwell Hitchings

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

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ EMERSON of Ipswich, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 10, 2015, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/01/surname-saturday-emerson-of-ipswich.html: accessed [access date]). 

Tombstone Tuesday~ Another case of genealogical serendipity!

I photographed these two tombstones while I was wandering around the Central Cemetery in Beverly, Massachusetts looking for my 3^rd great grandparent’s gravestones (Peter Hoogerzeil and Eunice Stone).  I never found my ancestors, but I thought that perhaps I was related to these Emersons.

I was right! These are two wives of Rev. Joseph Emerson (he was married three times).  He was called to be the first minister of the Third Congregational Church of Beverly on 21 September 1803.  He was my 2^nd cousin six generations removed, born in Hollis, New Hampshire on 13 October 1777.  His grandfather, Daniel Emerson (1716 – 1801) was the brother of Brown Emerson (1704 – 1774), my 6^th great grandfather.  This family was full of ministers.  The first Emerson in this lineage was Reverend Joseph Emerson (1620 – 1680) of Concord, Massachusetts, who married the daughter of Rev. Edward Bulkeley (1614 – 1696), Concord’s first minister.   My 4^th great grandfather, Romanus Emerson (1782 – 1852) had four brothers- all ministers (Romanus had a speech impediment and never made it to being a pastor).  Even cousin Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882), studied to be a minister, too, at Harvard Divinity School and was an assistant at Boston’s Second Congregational Church.

"MY REDEEMER LIVETH"

Holy

Bible

Nancy, the wife of Joseph Emerson

born May 28, 1779. married Oct. 19

1803. died June 15, 1804.

"A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband"

What armies of endearments throng the soul!

My Nancy, I'm become thy pupil now,

"Now will I take my leave, so soon to follow."

May her dying counsels live in the hearts of

her surviving friends, may her living virtues

and graces flourish in their lives; and the

sublime serenity of her death prove more

than a pillow for theirs.

O DEATH!  WHERE IS THY STING

ELEANOR

The wife of Joseph Emerson was

born Dec. 19, 1777, married July 15,

1805, and died Nov. 7, 1808.

She was remarkable for mental vigor

and bodily infirmities, for animat-

ing cheerfulness under much pain,

for rich resources of mind with

little reading; for performing the 

useful labors of a long life in a few

years; for the most lively and tender

attachment to her connexions and

friends; with the most sublime and

diffusive benevolence to all mankind.

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

Fond pupil pause, with deep concern receive

The solemn lesson that the dead can give.

What tho for thee, she toils and weeps no more

Nor charms thee now with intellectual store:

[the rest is buried under the sod]

Researching ministers is wonderful.  If you have a minister in your family, you are very lucky because they leave lots of documents and records behind for you to find.  I usually start with Google.  There might be links to sermons, ceremonies, books, biographies and even church bulletins at the Google Book search.  I found the Simmons College thesis that mentioned Rev. Joseph Emerson (see below) via Google.  Most ministers go to a college, university or divinity school, and these places have archives you can search online, visit in person, or call and speak to an archivist.  Many churches have historians or secretaries, and it is worth getting friendly with them by email or in person (bring coffee and cookies). Schmoozing with church staff is perfectly acceptable, especially if you make a donation of any size.   You might find your minister ancestor’s grave right in the church yard, or nearby.  Don’t forget to search WorldCat.org for sermons and papers by or about your minister.

The Third Parish in Beverly, Massachusetts was formed from a dissenting group of Calvinists in 1802.  Most of their members came from the First Parish, which had become Unitarian.  Eventually this parish became the Dane Street Congregational Church in 1837.  This is the same church where my Dad went to Sunday school, and where I was baptized.  This church is located within walking distance of the Central Cemetery, and these tombstones face Dane Street, near the fence on the sidewalk.  Isn’t that serendipity?

Reverend Joseph Emerson graduated Harvard College in 1801.  He was ordained at Beverly as pastor of the Third Church on 21 September 1803 and resigned in 1816 for health reasons. He established the Young Ladies’ Seminary in 1821 (Mary Lyon, who founded Mt. Holyoke College, was his student).  He died at Wethersfield, Connecticut on 13, May 1833.  He married first Nancy Eaton on 19 October 1803.  She died in 1804 (see the tombstone above).  He married second to Eleanor Read in July 1805, and she died in 1808.  He married third to Rebecca Haseltine in 1810.

Rev. Joseph Emerson and Rebecca Haseltine had a son, Luther (1810 – 1867) who was the minister in Amherst and Highland County, Virginia.  You can see his grave, at the Shemariah Church Cemetery in Augusta County,  at this link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=23261746 .  Reverend Luther Emerson was born in Beverly in 1810.

Another son, Alfred Emerson (1812 – 1896) graduated from Yale and from the Andover Theological Seminary.  He was a professor at Western Reserve College, and then served as a Congregational pastor at South Berwick, Maine and in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.   See this link for a biography: http://wheatoncollege.edu/college-history/1890s/reverend-alfred-emerson/   I told you that the Emerson family was full of ministers, and here is more proof! 

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For the truly curious:

If you have New England Puritan or Congregational ministers in your family tree, an invaluable resource is the Congregational Church Library, 14 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts  http://www.congregationallibrary.org/ and telephone 617-523-0470.  Their library is open Monday through Friday, 9am – 5pm and by appointment, free to the public.

Book on Rev. Joseph Emerson, Life of Rev. Joseph Emerson, Pastor of the Third Congregational Church in Beverly, Massachusetts, by Rev. Ralph Emerson, 1834 (Ralph was the brother of Joseph Emerson, also a Congregational minister in Norfolk, Connecticut and a professor of Ecclesiastical History at Andover Theological Seminary).

A Master’s Degree thesis from Simmons College mentions Rev. Joseph Emerson and the history of the Third Parish:   “Congregationalism Divided: A Case Study of Beverly, Massachusetts’ First Parish Congregational Church Split, 1802 – 1834” by Caitlin Lampman, 30 April 2013, online at this link:

http://history.firstparishbeverly.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Congregationalism-Divided.pdf

The Dane Street Congregational Church website  http://www.danestchurch.org/about/history

For more information on the Emerson family and their many ministers, see the book The Bulkeley Genealogy by Donald Lines Jacobus, 1933.

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