Do you know the roots of Margaret (Welch) Locke (about 1796 – 1860)?

 

MARGARET
wife of
RICHARD LOCKE
DIED
March 1, 1860
Age 64
[poem illegible]

Most of my “Brick Wall Ancestors” are females, usually unknown wives of ancestors.  Some of these mystery grandmothers are missing their maiden names (surnames), which makes it even more difficult to trace them.  Finding a maiden name is usually the key to smashing down the brick wall.  But for some of these mysterious ancestresses I know their maiden name, but nothing else about their background stories.

One of these mystery ancestresses is my 4^th great grandmother Margaret Welch Batchelder.  She was born Margaret Welch about 1796 according to her gravestone record.  Her death record in Chichester, New Hampshire lists her birthplace as Kittery, Maine.  Her son William F. Locke was the town clerk of Chichester at the time, so this is probably accurate.  Kittery has excellent records, but no record of my Margaret.

There were many Welch families in Kittery and York County, Maine at the time Margaret was supposedly born there.  They are descendants of Phillip Welch (born about 1638 and died 1700) of Ipswich, Massachusetts.  His son Moses Welch removed to York, Maine. 

On 21 October 1823 Margaret Welch married Captain Richard Locke in Chichester, New Hampshire.  He was a sea captain, and the son of Simon Locke and Abigail Mace of Rye, New Hampshire on the seacoast.  According to the Locke Genealogy compiled by the Locke Family Association, he went to Boston around 1811 to learn to be a blacksmith, was a sea captain, and removed to Chichester as a farmer. 

Richard Locke was enumerated in the Federal Census as living in Chichester in 1850 and 1860 as a farmer.  In the 1860 census Margaret is missing, and Richard Locke was living with his widowed daughter Abigail (Locke) Batchelder and her 11-year-old grandson, George, (my 2^nd great grandfather).  He was also enumerated with another widowed daughter, Mehitable (Locke) Brown and her 3-year-old daughter.  Poor Margaret had died about a month before this 1860 census, one son-in-law had died in 1848 (My 3^rd great grandfather George E Batchelder) and another (Elihu Brown) in 1859.  At least he had two daughters to care for him before his death in 1864.

I have been researching this family for over 40 years and looking for Margaret (Welch) Locke’s roots just as long.  I searching for any researchers of the Welch family in York County, Maine to assist me with this family history.  

My WELCH lineage:

Generation 1:  Margaret WELCH, born about 1796, maybe in Kittery, Maine, and died 1 March 1860 in Chichester, New Hampshire; married on 21 October 1823 in Chichester to Captain Richard Locke.  Three children.

Generation 2:  Abigail M. Locke born 10 September 1825 in South Boston, Massachusetts, and died 15 January 1888 in Chichester, New Hampshire, 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 3:  George E. Batchelder, Jr., born 8 October 1848 in Chichester, and died 28 July 1914 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, married on 28 October 1869 in Chichester to Mary Katharine Emerson, daughter of George Emerson and Mary Ester Younger.  She was born 25 December 1847 in South Boston, and died 23 April 1932 in Roxbury, Massachusetts.  Nine children.

Generation 4:  Carrie Maude Batchelder was born 22 September 1872 in Chichester and died 21 January 1963 at the Sea View Convalescent and Nursing home in Rowley, Massachusetts, married on 1 November 1892 in Essex, Massachusetts to Joseph Elmer Allen, son of Joseph Gilman Allen and Sarah Burnham Mears.  He was born 24 September 1870 in Essex and died 12 March 1932 at the Masonic Home in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts.  Five children.

Generation 5:  Stanley Elmer Allen, born 14 January 1904 and died 6 March 1982 in Beverly, Massachusetts, married on 14 February 1925 in Hamilton, Massachusetts to Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents) daughter of Arthur Treadwell Hitchings and Florence Etta Hoogerzeil.  She was born 1 August 1905 in Beverly and died 3 November 2001 at the Pilgrim Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Peabody, Massachusetts.  Seven children.

A blog post about finding the tombstones of Richard and Margaret Locke:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/11/tombstone-tuesday-bumping-into-great.html 

My LOCKE “Surname Saturday” blog post:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/05/surname-saturday-locke-of-rye-new.html 

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To Cite/Link to this post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Do you know the roots of Margaret (Welch) Locke (about 1796 – 1860)?”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 15, 2021, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2021/03/do-you-know-roots-of-margaret-welch.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ THOMPSON of Gilmanton, New Hampshire

THOMPSON/ THOMSON/ TOMPSON

My 4^th great grandmother, Nancy Thompson (1804 – after 1847), is a complete mystery to me.  I don’t know when she was born, or who are her parents.  I don’t have a death record for her either.  She was widowed, and then disappeared from any records I have seen – so far.   This Thompson line is a real genealogical brick wall to me.

I also have two other New England THOMPSON lineages.  One is from David Thompson ( 1592 – 1628), the first European settler to live permanently in New Hampshire.  The other is from Alexander Thompson (about1636 – 1696), one of Cromwell’s Scots prisoners of war sent to New England to be sold into servitude.   It would be wonderful to find out that Nancy was from one of these lineages, or even to find out she was from a third colonial Thompson line.  But so far, she is a mystery.

This is what I know about Nancy.  She was born about 1804, probably in or near the town of Gilmanton in Belknap County, New Hampshire.  On 11 February 1822 in Belmont,  Belknap County, New Hampshire she married Jonathan Batchelder (the marriage record lists her place of birth as Gilmanton, a town contiguous to Belmont).  They had two children, the eldest, George E. Batchelder (1822 – 1848) is my 3^rd great grandfather.  The other child is Pauline, who was left an orphan when her father died very young in 1847 in the New Hampshire State Insane Asylum.   I have found the guardianship papers for Pauline, and Nancy was named her guardian.  

After the guardianship case, Nancy disappeared from the records. I have not found a death for Nancy Thompson in New Hampshire. I have not found her in a census record after 1840.  I have found no proof that she remarried.  She was not living with her son or daughter in any census record after 1840.  There are several Thompson families living in and near Gilmanton and the region near Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire, but records do not show a Nancy/Ann/Hannah Thompson born near her supposed age.  I am sure there are missing records because New Hampshire did not require vital records to be recorded until later, and there was not total compliance in recording vital records until 1905.  

This is a very sad story.  I know that George married before his father died.  He married Abigail M. Locke in 1845.  His sister Pauline was only 14 years old when her father died in 1847, but two years later she married David C. Watson.  She seemed to live a nice life after this, since her husband was a merchant tailor in Concord, New Hampshire and Boston, Massachusetts according to census records.

George was emancipated from his father in 1840, the year he turned 18 years old, according to newspaper notices.  Sadly, he also died very young at age 25 in 1848.  His son George, Jr., my great great grandfather,  was born posthumously that same year.  I have no record of what caused his early death.   

George, Jr. was raised by his maternal grandparents in Chichester – Capt. Richard Locke and his wife Margaret Welch.  Young George, Jr. went to Boston and worked as a mechanic, on the railroads and in real estate looking after the estate of R. Esterbrooks in South Boston.  

My THOMPSON lineage:

Generation 1:  Nancy Thompson, born about 1804 probably in Gilmanton, New Hampshire, died after 1847; married on 11 February 1822 in Belmont, New Hampshire to Jonathan Batchelder, son of Elisha Batchelder and Sarah Lane.  He was born about 1800 in Hampton and died before 4 November 1847 in the New Hampshire State Asylum in Concord, New Hampshire.  Two children.

Generation 2:  George E. Batchelder m. Abigail M. Locke

Generation 3:  George E. Batchelder m. Mary Katharine Emerson

Generation 4:  Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 5:  Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ THOMPSON of Gilmanton, New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 14, 2016,  (  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/05/surname-saturday-thompson-of-gilmanton.html: accessed [access date]). 

Weathervane Wednesday ~ An Arrow

Every Wednesday for more than two years Vincent and I have been posting photographs of weather vanes located in or near the Nutfield area (the former name for the land where Londonderry, Derry and Windham, New Hampshire are now located). Most are historically interesting or just whimsical and fun weather vanes. If you know an interesting weather vane, please send me an email or leave a comment below.

Today's weather vane was found in on a barn north of Manchester, New Hampshire . Have fun guessing where you may have seen this weather vane.

Do you know the location of weather vane #132? Scroll down to see the answer....

While we were on a genea-jaunt to somewhere up off Rt. 28, we spied this interesting barn in Chichester, New Hampshire.  On the cupola above the barn was a very, very large weather vane.  It's only an arrow, but it appears to be quite old.  A sign out in front of the barn announced that this was "The MacCleery Farm."

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

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The URL for this post is
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/01/weathervane-wednesday-arrow.html

Copyright 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Tombstone Tuesday - The Lake Family

These gravestones were photographed at the Pine Ground Cemetery in Chichester, New Hampshire

Pine Ground Cemetery, Chichester, New Hampshire
on Route 28

[Front of the stone]

THOMAS LAKE
BORN IN ENGLAND 1734
DIED IN CHICHESTER 1816
HIS WIFE
       EUNICE SEAVEY  1804
1767    THOMAS LAKE   1856
HIS WIFE
      REBECCA BLAKE  1832
1837   ANN LAKE   1840

[Back of the stone]

1775     ROBERT LAKE  1858
HIS WIFE
        HANNAH BLAKE  1813
1778  WILLIAM LAKE  1852
HIS WIFE
HANNAH TRUE  1836
1812  JOHN LAKE  1814
1809  EUNICE LAKE  1866

Thomas Lake was born about 1734 in Portsmouth, England.  He arrived in New Hampshire at age 14, and appears in records in Portsmouth and Rye, and then settled in Chichester.  He married Eunice Seavey, the daughter of William Seavey and Hannah Unknown, who was the widow of John Davis.   Eunice and Thomas had eight children (she had four Davis children, too).   The sons marked with * are listed on the gravestone.

1.  James Lake born 13 August 1765, married Mehitable Berry

2. *  Thomas Lake born 10 June 1767, married Rebecca Blake

3.  John Lake born 21 March 1769, 

4.  Anna Lake born 26 May 1771, married Richard Rand

5.  Martha Lake born 21 March 1773

6. *  Robert Lake born 8 May 1775, married Hannah Blake

7.  Rebecca Lake born 23 December 1776, married Jonathan Leavitt

8.  * William Lake born 20 February 1779, married Sally Leavitt    

The John Lake b. 1812 and Eunice Lake b. 1808 were children of William Lake and Hannah True, grandchildren of Thomas Lake the immigrant from England. 

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Batchelder's buried in Chichester, NH- Tombstone Tuesday

These gravestones were photographed at the Leavitt Cemetery in Chichester, New Hampshire

The Batchelder Family Plot

 

An obelisk engraved with
Batchelder family names



MORRISON S.  BATCHELDER
LOTTIE E.
his wife, died
Apr. 22, 1880
AE 24 yrs and 11 mos.
[I found a marriage record in 1883 in Epsom when
Morrison remarried to Emily J. Moses,
note- there are no dates for Morrison here.
His first wife was Lottie Payne, married in 1878 in Salisbury, NH]



ANDREW BATCHELDER
DIED
Mar 20, 1875
AE 64 yrs and 10 mos
[note- Andrew was the father to Morrison above]

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Tombstone Tuesday - Leavitt Cemetery, Chichester, New Hampshire

The William F. Locke Family Plot. William (1826 - 1870) was the brother to my ancestor, Abigail M. Locke (1825 - 1888), wife of George E. Batchelder of Chichester. Abigail and William F. were the children of Richard and Margaret Locke (below).

Margaret Welch, wife of Richard Locke,
She is a Brickwall Ancestor- I have not idea who are her parents or family.
She was born aobut 1796 probably in Kittery, Maine, and died 11 March 1860 in Chichester, New Hampshire.

Richard Locke, son of Simon Locke and Abigail Mace. He is my 4x great grandfather. Captain Richard Locke went to Boston in 1811 to learn the blacksmith's trade, later was a sea captain and died in Chichester, New Hampshire in 1864, having made his will ten days before. He was listed in the 1850 census as a farmer, with his real estate valued at $10,000. His household in the Federal Census of 1850 included his wife, Margaret; his widowed daughter Abigail; his daughter Mehitable; his father, Simon; and his infant grandson, George E. Batchelder. He is a direct descendant of John Locke (1627 - 1695) who was killed by the Indians in Rye, New Hampshire whilst cutting hay on the marsh. (Locke Genealogy page 71)

Epitaph:
Richard Locke
died March 23, 1864
AE 70 ys
I am again we hope to meet there when the days of life are fled
then in heaven with joy to greet thee where no farewell tears shed

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Copyright 2010, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Tombstone Tuesday- Bumping into Great Great Great Grandma!

George E. Batchelder 1822- 1848


Abigail M. (Locke) Batchelder 1825-1888


Leavitt Cemetery, Chichester, New Hampshire

Not too far north of Nutfield is Chichester, New Hampshire. My mother’s grandmother was a Batchelder, and she was born in Chichester, but the family lived in Boston. Their roots were on the New Hampshire seacoast, because the first Batchelder in the New World was the Reverend Stephen Batchelder, who founded Hampton. The Batchelders didn’t have their roots in Chichester, but all the brides, and cousins, and in-laws, were born, lived and died in Chichester.

So we set off to Chichester one sunny day to look for various Batchelder names in the cemetery, and the other family names that went along with the family tree. We had a list of Welches and Lockes to search for, too. We didn’t have any idea which cemetery to look in, or where the cemeteries were located (in the days before GPS!) but we had the minivan, the camera, and the notebook.

Just off the center of town, we found a small grassy burial ground called the “Leavitt Cemetery.” This was promising because someone in the Batchelder family tree had married a Leavitt. We parked the minivan and searched the cemetery. There were loads of familiar names, and we took many photos, but we couldn’t find George and Abby (Locke) Batchelder, my 3x great grandparents.

After taking photos and notes, and getting exasperated, I threw open the door of the minivan and hit a gravestone. I jumped out to inspect the stone, and started to laugh out loud. I had just bumped into great, great, great grandma!  (The stone was undamaged, but I did nick the paint on the van door)

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For the Batchelder Family tree back to Rev. Stephen Batchelder, see my post on 20 August 2009 http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/08/mystery-of-jonathan-batchelder.html

Locke Family Tree:
Generation 1: John Locke, born about 1627 in England, died 26 August 1696 in Rye, New Hampshire during an Indian massacre; about 1652 to Elizabeth Berry, born about 1636 and died after 1708.

Generation 2: John Locke, born about 1654 in Portsmouth, died after 1733; married about 1677 to Elizabeth Bolles, daughter of Joseph Bolles and Mary Howell, born 15 January 1650/1 in Welles, Maine; died 12 November 1734 in Rye.

Generation 3: John Locke born 1683 and died about 1774; married to Sarah Unknown

Generation 4: Richard Locke born 28 July 1720 in Rye, died 15 May 1804; married about 1745 to Elizabeth Garland, daughter of John Garland and Elizabeth Dearborn, born 13 March 1723/4 in Rye.

Generation 5: Simon Locke, born September 1770 in Rye, died 31 July 1863 in Rye; married on 14 February 1792 in Greenland, New Hampshire to Abigail Mace, daughter of Ithamar Mace and Rachel Berry, born 1 February 1767 in Rye, died 18 February 1803.

Generation 6: Richard Locke, born 1794 in Rye, died 23 March 1864 in Chichester; married on 21 Oct 1823 in Chichester to Margaret Welch, born about 1796 in Kittery, Maine, died 11 March 1860 in Chichester.

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 and Nancy Batchelder, born on 13 August 1822 in Chichester, died 3 April 1848 in Chichester.

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Copyright 2009, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

George Emerson, Forty Niner

Carrie (Batchelder) Allen wearing the gold nugget

surrounded by her descendants, early 1950s

George Emerson’s parents were from New Hampshire, raised in Milford and removing to South Boston, Massachusetts sometime soon after their marriage in 1810. George was born on 11 July 1817, and married Mary Esther Younger in 1845. He was listed as a “boot and shoe worker.” This young family had two babies by the time gold was found in California in 1848.  George is my 3rd great grandfather. 

Like many young men of the time, the call to go west and find his fortune hit George Emerson. He joined the New England and California Trading and Mining Company, which was headed by Herman H. Greene and Samuel Whitmarsh. There were 100 young fortune seekers who paid $300 for a share in the corporation. $300 must have been quite a grand sum in those days. It seemed that every available New England ship was recruited to bring young miners to San Francisco that year. The New England and California Trading and Mining Company purchased the ship “Leonore”, which had been built in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

Before leaving Boston on February 3, 1849 the miners attended a special religious service at the Tremont Temple, and the Reverend Edward Beecher (brother to the authoress Harriet Beecher Stowe of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” fame) preached to them about morality. He admonished them to bring their good New England values with them as they traveled into the wilderness. After an uneventful voyage the "Leonore" reached San Francisco on July 5th. History books record the adventure as a bust, with no gold found and the ship "Leonore" was abandoned in San Francisco harbor.

Somehow George Emerson found his way home, because by 1851 he was back in Boston, and had fathered a third child. He eventually had eight children, and named the youngest, a daughter, Leonore. George became a Boston police officer, stationed at Field’s Corner. He died in 1890 at Dorchester, Massachusetts.

And what was his legacy? Well, at least one gold nugget was passed along in the family. His second child was Mary Katharine Emerson, who married George E. Batchelder in Chichester, New Hampshire in 1869. Their second daughter, Carrie Maude, born in 1872, wore the gold nugget on a chain around her neck, until she was quite elderly. According to a family story, it was going to be sold to finance her last years in a retirement home in Rowley, Massachusetts, but another son secretly sold it and took an extended vacation.

And what happened to the ship “Leonore”? Hundreds of ships were abandoned in San Francisco in the wake of the 1849 Gold Rush. Many became “ghost ships.” Many were scuttled for landfill. The “Leonore” became a whaler and eventually hauled timber.

The ‘49er George Emerson named his youngest daughter after her, and granddaughter Carrie named her eldest daughter Leonore, too. My great aunt Leonore (we called her Lena) was told that she was named after the covered wagon that took her ancestor west. It was only when George’s name was found on the passenger list of the New England and California Trading and Mining Company that we all found out the truth behind the gold rush myth!

Emerson Family Tree showing the girls named Leonore:

Gen. 1. Romanus Emerson, my 4th great grandfather, son of John Emerson and Katherine Eaton, b. 1 Sep. 1782 in Townsend, Massachusetts, raised in Hancock, New Hampshire, d. 10 Oct 1852 in South Boston, married on 22 Nov. 1810 in Boston to Jemima Burnham b. 9 May 1783 in Milford, New Hampshire, and died 5 Aug. 1868

Gen. 2. Son, George Emerson, my 3rd great grandfather,  b. 11 Jul. 1817 in South Boston, and d. 11 Jan 1890 in Dorchester, married on 11 Aug. 1845 to Mary Esther Younger, daughter of Levi Younger and Catherine Plummer Jones, b. 17 Feb. 1826 d. after 1910. Children of George and Esther (Eight born in Dorchester and South Boston)

Gen. 3. Child #2. Mary Katherine Emerson, my 2nd great grandmother, b. 25 Dec. 1847 in South Boston, d. 23 Apr. 1932 in Roxbury, m. on 28 Oct. 1869 in Chichester, New Hampshire to George E. Batchelder, b. 8 Oct. 1848, d. 28 Jul 1914 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was the son of George E. Batchelder and Abigail M. Locke of Chichester, New Hampshire. (Nine children born in Chichester and Boston)

Gen. 4. Child # 2. Carrie Maude Batchelder, my great grandmother,  b. 22 Sep. 1872 in Chichester, d. 21 Jan 1963 in Rowley, Massachusetts, m. on 1 Nov. 1892 in Essex, Massachusetts to Joseph Elmer Allen. He was the son of Joseph Gilman Allen and Sarah Burnham Mears, b. 24 Sep 1870 in Essex, d. 12 Mar 1932 at the Masonic Home in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. (Five children born in Boston, Cambridge and Dorchester)

Gen. 5. Child #1. LEONORE Carrie Allen, my grand aunt, b. 20 Mar. 1894 in Boston, d. Jan 1973 in Stamford, Connecticut, m. 1. on 29 Dec 1912 in Essex, Massachusetts to Waldo Emerson Cooper, m. 2. after 1920 to Thomas J. McCormack.

Also in Gen. 4. Child #8. LEONORE Emerson, my second great aunt b. 28 Jan 1865 in Boston, d. 3 Mar 1944 in Los Angeles, California, m. on 17 Jun. 1903 at Boston to John Milton Earl Morrill. He was the son of John Langley Morrill and Elmina L. Mansfield, b. 8 Aug. 1857 in Middleton, Connecticut. And so it appears that "Leonore" went to California twice!  She had a daughter named LEONORE Ester Elmina Morrill, and a grand daughter named LEONORA High.

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "George Emerson, Forty Niner", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 28, 2009, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/08/george-emerson-forty-niner.html: accessed [access date]).  

The Mystery of Jonathan Batchelder, Chichester, New Hampshire

The Mystery of Jonathan Batchelder, Chichester, New Hampshire


The Batchelder name is liberally sprinkled over New Hampshire. There are eight Batchelder/Bachellor families listed in the white pages for the Londonderry area. There are Batchelder Roads in towns from Hampton, to Strafford, to Raymond, to Nashua. The first Batchelder immigrant to the New World was the Reverend Stephen Batchelder, born in 1561, who was a founder of Hampton, New Hampshire.

There is a huge red genealogy book labeled “Batchelder Batcheller” available on the shelves of many libraries in the Granite State, as well as in genealogy libraries across the United States. It was written by Frederick Clifton Pierce in 1898, and has had many additions and updates.

It was in this old book that I found my ancestor Jonathan Batchelder, a farmer in Chichester, New Hampshire. Unfortunately, his profile in this book is very scanty. His wife is listed as “Nancy” with no maiden name. He was born “about 1800 in Hampton.” It states that he died in “C. age 46.” I took this to mean Chichester, but it could also be nearby Concord. Why did Jonathan receive such short shrift in a tome full of lengthy and wordy biographies on all the Batchelders descended from Rev. Stephen?

I searched the New Hampshire Vital Records in the files at Concord. I searched the internet and the shelves of the New England Genealogical Society in Boston. I posted queries on genealogical bulletin boards and websites for several years, and didn’t hear anything. Nearly ten years later, I received an interesting email from someone in Seattle.

The Washington State resident who had contacted me had bought a box of old books, and included in them was the account book of Jonathan Batchelder of Chichester, begun in 1831 and ending in the mid 1840s. Stuck inside were the adoption papers of his daughter Paulina, orphaned in 1847.

The finder of this book mailed it me at no charge, and he was just happy to send it to a descendant. I searched the book, but found no clues. The contents listed events such as “rocks and lumber” hauled, necessities bought at the general store, labor hired out for pennies. It was clearly the account of someone who was barely surviving, scraping out a living in rocky Chichester.

At this point I decided to think like a detective. If someone died in 1847, where would it be recorded? I decided to search the old New Hampshire newspapers of the time. What turned up was a very sad story.

New Hampshire Patriot and State Gazette, March 11, 1847, page 4
Guardian's Sale
"By virtue of a license from the Judge of Probate for the county of Merrimack, the subscriber as guardian of Jonathan Batchelder, of Chichester, in said county, who has been decreed an insane person, will sell at public auction on Wednesday, the 24th day of March next, at ten o'clock in the forenoon, all the right and interest the said Batchelder has in the homestead place on which he the said Batchelder has heretofore resided, containing about fifty five acres of first rate land, on which there is a good lot of timber and wood; the house large and two stories, and recently painted; the barn and shed not old. Said farm is within about two miles of Pittsfield Village, and on the main road from Pittsfield to Concord and Manchester, on which road Stages pass and repass every day. Also, about fifteen acres of pasture and wood land, lying about one half of a mile from said farm, adjoining and of David Brown and others. Terms of payment liberal. Sale on the premises.
D. M. Carpenter, Guardian”

Apparently Jonathan died soon after this notice was published. The Concord State Hospital for the Insane was new in 1847, and it will take a court order to gain permission to look at the records to see what Jonathan’s fate was. The new movement of providing care for the insane in the early 1800’s was considered humane and kind at the time, but would probably give us 21th century citizens goose pimples.

Nancy’s story took a while to untangle.  I dound that her maiden name was Thompson, possibly the daughter of Jonathan Thompson of Gilmanton, New Hampshire, a carpenter, listed on her death record.  She died 14 November 1884 in Sutton, New Hampshire, as the widow of an unknown man named Palmer. I don't know when she remarried or if she had more children. Her daughter Paulina married David C. Watson and removed to Sutton, New Hampshire, too, where she had two sons. 

I still treasure Jonathan’s old account book. It reflects the life of many unrecorded, and barely recorded, citizens of the Granite State.

UPDATED 8 JUNE 2026 

• Gen. 1. The Reverend Stephen Batchelder, b. abt 1561 in Wherwell, Hampshire, England and died about 31 Oct 1656 at "Robert Barber's home" in London, England, married to Ann Bate about 1586 in England. She was born about 1565 and died about 1623 in England. The Reverend Stephen Batchelder was married four times, going to Holland in 1608 with the Separatists, and on June 5, 1632 he arrived in New England aboard the ship "William and Frances" with some of his grandchildren. After living in Lynn, Yarmouth, Newbury and Hampston he returned to England.

• Gen. 2. Nathaniel Batchelder b. abt. 1590 in England d. abt. 1630 in the Netherlands m. to Hester Mercer of Belgium. Nathaniel was a merchant, and as far as we can tell he never came to America, but lived with the separatists in Holland (some of whom became the Pilgrims).

• Gen. 3. Nathaniel Batchelder b. abt 163o in England and d. 17 Jan 1709/10 in Hampton, married to Deborah Smith on 10 Dec 1656. She was born about 1645 at Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard and died 8 Mar 1675/6 at Hampton, daughter of John Smith and Deborah Parkhurst. Nathaniel was a farmer, selectman and constable.

• Gen. 4. Stephen Batchelder, born 19 July 1701 in North Hampton, NH, and died 6 March 1748/9 in North Hampton, married on 1 August 1721 in Hampton, NH to Jane Lamprey. Nine children. 

• Gen. 5. Nathaniel Batchelder born 9 June 1732 in North Hampton, NH, and died at the Battle of Bennington in Vermont along with his son Stephen.  He was married to Mary Longfellow. Nine children born in Deerfield. 

• Gen. 6. Nathaniel Batchelder, born about 1763 in Deerfield, NH, and died 20 August 1809 in Loudon, NH, married in April 1789 in Loudon to Mary Perkins, daughter of Stephen Perkins and Comfort Chesley. Seven children born in Deerfield, Loudon, and Chichester. 

• Gen. 7. Jonathan Batchelder b. about 1800 at Hampton, NH and died before 4 Nov 1847 in Concord or Chichester, NH m. to Nancy Unknown b. about 1804 in Pittsfield, NH and died after 1847. Farmer residing in Chichester.

• Gen. 8. George E. Batchelder b. 13 Aug. 1822 in Chichester, New Hampshire d. 3 Apr 1848 in Chichester m. to Abigail M. Locke on 7 Sept. 1845 in South Boston, Massachusetts. She was born 10 Sept 1825 in South Boston, daughter of Richard Locke and Margaret Welsh, and she died on 15 Jan 1888 in Chichester, New Hampshire. Farmer residing in Chichester.

• Gen. 9. George E. Batchelder b. 8 Oct 1848 in Chichester, New Hampshire and d. 28 Jul 1914 in Cambridge, Massachusetts m. to Mary Katharine Emerson on 28 Oct 1869 in Chichester, NH. She was born on 25 DEec 1847 in South Boston, d. 23 Apr 1932 in Roxbury, Massachusetts, daughter of George Emerson and Mary Esther Younger. Mechanic and farmer in Chichester, worked as a porter in the railroads and in real estate in South Boston.

• Gen 10. Carrie Maude Batchelder b. 22 Sep 1872 in Chichester, NH and d. 21 Jan 1963 at the Sea View Convaescent and Nursing Home in Rowley, Massachusetts, m. to Joseph Elmer Allen on 1 Nov. 1892 in Essex, Massachusetts. He was born on 24 Sept 1870 in Essex, died 12 Mar 1932 at the Masonic Home in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, son of Joseph Gilman Allen and Sarah Burnham Mears. Joseph worked as a steam fitter with his brother's business in Boston and removed back to Essex to be a meat cutter and salesman for Gould's butcher shop in Essex. Carrie and Joseph were my great grandparents.

See this blog post for some updates on the Batchelder genealogy:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/09/surname-saturday-new-batchelder-lineage.html  

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To cite link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "The Mystery of Jonathan Batchelder, Chichester, New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 20, 2009, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/08/mystery-of-jonathan-batchelder.html: accessed [access date]).