Thomas Bangs, age 12, of Brewster, Massachusetts for Tombstone Tuesday

 This tombstone was photographed at Brewster, Massachusetts.

THOMAS BANGS

SON OF JOSHUA &

MEHETIBEL BANGS

AGED 12 YEARS

AND 8 DAYS DECd

DECEMBER YE 8th

1728

Thomas Bangs was born on 28 November 1716 in Harwich, Massachusetts and died on 8 December 1728.  He was the son of Captain Joshua Bangs and Mehitable Clark.  He was one of nine children (Nathan 1714 -1749, Thomas 1716 - 1728, Thankful 1720- 1749, Joshua 1723 - 1755, Mary 1724 - 1784, Mehitable 1728 - 1805, Thomas b. 1729, Susanna b. 1731, and Mary b. 1734). 

Captain Joshua Bangs was the son of Edward Bangs and Ruth Allen, and the grandson of  Jonathan Bangs and Mary Mayo, and the great grandson of Edward Bangs and Rebecca Hobart (immigrant ancestors) of Chichester, England, who came to the Plymouth Colony on board the ship Anne in 1623. According to the book The Great Migration Begins 1620 - 1633, Volume 1, page 86, Edward Bangs was an inkeeper at Eastham on Cape Cod.  

To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Thomas Bangs, age 12, of Brewster, Massachusetts for Tombstone Tuesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted July 8, 2025, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2025/07/thomas-bangs-age-12-of-brewster.html: accessed [access date]). 

My 10th Great Grandmother, Judith Greenleaf Somerby Coffin, d. 1705, Newbury, Massachusetts - Tombstone Tuesday

 These tombstones were photographed at the First Parish Burial Ground, Newbury, Massachusetts. 

To the memory of Mrs. Judith

late vituous wife of Deacon Tristram Coffin, Esq.,

who having lived to see one hundred and seventy-seven

of her children and children's children to the third generation,

died 13 Dec. 1705, age 80.

Grave, sober, faithful, fruitful vine was she,

A rare example of true piety;

Widowed awhile she waited, wished for rest,

With her dear husband in her Savior's breast.

Mrs. JUDETH

COFFIN WIFE TO

TRISTRAM COFFIN

ESQr. 

Judith Greenleaf, daughter of Edmund Greenleaf (1574-1671) and Sarah Dole (1588 - 1663), was born 2 September 1625 in Ipswich, Suffolk, England and died 15 December 1705 in Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts.   She married first to Henry Somerby in 1644 and had four children, and I descend from her second daughter, Elizabeth Somerby (1646 - 1716) who married Nathaniel Clark.  She married second to Tristram Coffin and had ten more children.  Tristram Coffin had been her first husband's apprentice. Both men were merchant tailors. 

The headstone is mostly illegible now in the midday sun when we visited, and her elaborate footstone is very legible.  

Click here to see a blogpost about the tombstone of Tristram Coffin:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2022/06/tristram-coffin-died-1704-newbury.html   

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "My 10th Great Grandmother, Judith Greenleaf Coffin, d. 1705, Newbury, Massachusetts - Tombstone Tuesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted November 29, 2022, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2022/11/my-10th-great-grandmother-judith.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday – CLARKE of Newbury, Massachusetts

Newburyport Custom House
today it is the Maritime Museum

Don’t believe what you see on the internet about Nathaniel Clarke’s parents and ancestors, his origins are completely unknown.  There are several possible candidates for his father, including three different Thomas Clarkes in Ipswich, Massachusetts.

The first record of Nathaniel Clark (born? – 1690) is his marriage to Elizabeth Somersby in Newbury, Massachusetts on 23 November 1663.  The marriage was recorded by Joshua Coffin in a letter stating “Nathaniel Clarke and Elizabeth Somerby were married in the house occupied … by Tristram Coffin, step father of the bride in 1663” [ Nathaniel Clarke and his Descendants, 1902, page 12]

His first land deed was recorded in 1664.  He lived near the Merrimack River, in what is now Newburyport, just about where the corner of Water and Lime Streets are now.  He owned a wharf and a warehouse northeast of the custom house.  He was listed in records as a cordwainer or tanner. [Family History of New Hampshire, by Stearns, Volume 4, pages 1697 -1697) He served many elected positions in Newbury such as constable, tythingman, and selectman in 1682, 1687, and 1688.  He had eleven children with his wife Elizabeth Somerby. He was mentioned as “The Honorable Nathaniel Clarke” in Newbury records.  Nathaniel Clarke’s will included mentions of property valued at 714 pounds, including two dwelling houses and seven lots of land. 

Again, don’t believe the internet that Nathaniel Clark, Sr. died at sea.  The famous Judge Sewall mentioned in his diary on 29 August 1690 “Nathan’ Clarke of Newbury buried this week, died Aug’ 25.” And also mentions seeing Nathaniel at the funeral of Capt. Gerrish at Salem, on 11 August 1687.  His son, Nathaniel Clarke, Jr. is recorded in the Newbury deaths as “d. on board the sh. Six Friends, soon after sail, in the expedit. Against Quebec, 25 Aug. 1690, from an injury, aged 46”.   It is coincidence that the son, Nathaniel, Jr. died at sea on the day of his father’s burial, but not to be confused with his father. 

On board the ship Six Friends was also Nathaniel, Jr.’s future step father, the Rev. John Hale of Beverly, who wrote his will, which was signed and witnessed.  Mr. Hale gave the will to Nathaniel, Jr.’s father-in-law Peter Toppan, who never gave it to the probate court. However, there is a deposition on file at the Salem Court House by Rev. John Hale and his cousin Henry Somerby.  [NEHGS Register, Volume 46, pages 188 – 189].   

I descend from Nathaniel Clarke, Sr.’s son Henry Clarke (1673 – 1749) who owned land in Newbury, but removed to Greenland, New Hampshire.  In deeds and other records he was mentioned as gentleman, lieutenant, and cooper.  He was married first on 7 November 1695 in Newbury to Elizabeth Greenleaf, his second cousin, and second in 1724 to Mary Peirce.  In 1724 his first wife, Elizabeth, eldest son and three daughters all died of throat distemper within the same week. 

 Over the years Henry Clarke was a grantor or grantee on about twenty-five deeds in Essex County before moving to New Hampshire around 1731.  Henry Clarke, Sr., and his sons Enoch and Henry, Jr., signed a petition in 1739 in an attempt to annex Greenland to the province of Massachusetts.

In the third generation I descend from his daughter Mercy Clarke (1714 – 1798) who married Jonathan Longfellow.  They had twelve children, half born in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, and the rest born in Nottingham, New Hampshire.

My CLARKE genealogy:

Generation 1:  Nathaniel Clark, died on 25 August 1690 in Newbury, Massachusetts; married on 23 November 1663 to Elizabeth Somerby, daughter of Henry Somerby and Judith Greenleaf.  She was born 1 November 1646 in Newbury and died 15 March 1716 in Exeter, New Hampshire.  She married second to Rev. John Hale as his third wife. They had eleven children all born and recorded in Newbury:

1.       Nathaniel b. 5 Dec. 1664, died 6 June 1665

2.       Nathaniel b. 13 Mar 1666, died October 1690 at sea, married Elizabeth Toppan

3.       Thomas b. 9 Feb 1668, died 25 Apr. 1722, married Sarah Noyes and Lydia Moodey

4.       John b. 24 Jan 1670 died 25 July 1705, married Elizabeth Woodbridge

5.       Henry (see below)

6.       Daniel b. 16 Dec. 1675, died before 1709

7.       Sarah b. 17 Jan. 1677, died 25 Aug. 1741, married Nicholas Gilman

8.       Josiah b. 7 May 1682, died 29 Apr. 1717, married Sarah Woodwell

9.       Elizabeth b. 15 May 1684, died 24 Jan. 1762, married 1st Rev. Robert Hale, 2nd Col. John Gilman

10.   Judith b. 3 Jan. 1686, died 1763, married Thomas Jenkins

11.   Mary b. 25 Mar. 1689, died before 21 Aug. 1690

Generation 2: Henry Clarke, born 5 July 1673 in Newbury, died 9 June 1749 in Greenland, New Hampshire; married first on 7 November 1695 in Newbury to Elizabeth Greenleaf, the daughter of Stephen Greenleaf and Elizabeth Gerrish.  They were second cousins, both descended from Edmund Greenleaf (1574 – 1671) and Sarah Moore (1588 – 1663) early settlers at Newbury, Massachusetts.  He married second to Mary Pierce.  He had twelve children with Elizabeth, all born in Newbury:

1.       Stephen b. 21 Feb. 1697, died 1724

2.       Henry b. 21 Nov. 1698

3.       Judith b. 15 Aug 1700

4.       Elizabeth b. about 1701, married Daniel Thing

5.       Sarah b. 7 Aug. 1702

6.       Eunice b. 15 Oct. 1704

7.       John b. 20 July 1706, died 25 July 1706

8.       Mary b. 5 Aug. 1707, married Samuel Page

9.       Enoch b. 1 Sept 1709, died 1759, married Hannah, and Mary

10.   Anna b. 20 Feb. 1711

11.   Mercy (see below)

12.   Henry, b. 23 Apr. 1717, married Kezia Brickett, Catherine Bean, and Abigail Francis

Generation 3:  Mercy Clarke, born 26 December 1714 in Nottingham (now Deerfield), New Hampshire, died 1798 in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia; married on 28 October 1731 in Nottingham (now Deerfield) to Jonathan Longfellow, so of Nathan Longfellow and Mary Greene.  He was born 23 May 1714 in Nottingham (now Deerfield), and died 1774 in Machias, Maine.  Twelve children.

Generation 4: Mary Longfellow m. Nathaniel Batchelder

Generation 5: Nathaniel Batchelder m. Mary Perkins

Generation 6: Jonathan Batchelder m. Nancy Thompson

Generation 7: George E. Batchelder m. Abigail M. Locke

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

Generation 9:  Carrie Maud Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

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

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday – CLARKE of Newbury, Massachusetts”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 3, 2019, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/08/surname-saturday-clarke-of-newbury.html: accessed [access date]). 

CLARK – Descendants of Nutfield Minister Rev. Matthew Clark

[Note:  I will be doing a series of genealogical sketches on the early Nutfield settlers in advance of the 300th anniversary of Founders Day, April 12 - 14, 2019 in Derry, New Hampshire.  If you have additional notes on the first few generations of the Clark family, please comment below or send me an email at vrojomit@gmail.com, and I will edit this sketch.  These sketches will be used and distributed to the public and to descendants at the Founders Day activities.]

Matthew Clark, born about 1660 in Northern Ireland, and died in Londonderry, New Hampshire in February 1735/6 .  He was a Lieutenant during the Siege of Derry from 19 April to 10 July 1689, where he was wounded in the temple.  His wound never healed and he always wore a black patch. He was ordained in 1697 and served in Kilrea and Boveedy in County Derry.  On 28 April 1729 Matthew Clark left his congregation and came to Londonderry, New Hampshire to meet up with kin who were probably his children.

The Rev. James MacGregor had just died in Londonderry, New Hampshire when Rev. Clark arrived.  Since the town needed a minister they made him an offer, which he first refused, but then took the second offer and stayed as their minister for six more years.  He married Rev. MacGregor’s widow, Mary Anne Cargill, and died 27 February 1735/6. .  When he died, according to legend, his coffin was carried by fellow veterans of the Seige of Derry.

It is not proven that these were his children by a first marriage, but since they all named descendants “Matthew” he was probably their father or close kin.

      1.       Matthew, died 28 May 1781 by drowning near Amoskeag Falls; married to Elizabeth Lindsay on 15 April 1722.  Children:  Margaret, Jean, George. 

      2.       James, born about 1692, died 13 October 1768 age 77 years.  He was one of the original sixteen Nutfield grantees. James Clark married first to Elizabeth Fulton, widow of James Wilson on 22 May 1722 (the mother of Ocean Born Mary Wilson); married second to Margaret Unknown. Children born in Londonderry: John born 31 March 1723 married his cousin Margaret Clark; Samuel born 12 April 1726, died 27 November 1792, married Mary Unknown and resided in Windham; George born 15 April 1728; married Mary Wilson and had thirteen children; Elliner born 20 April 1730, died 21 September 1808, married Robert Hemphill of Windham and had nine children; Matthew born 30 June 1732, died 22 January 1805; married first Margaret Anderson, married second Margaret Unknown; and Mary born about 1740 and married William McAllister and lived in Antrim, New Hampshire.

      3.       John, died 12 January 1720/1 and was the first death recorded in Londonderry, New Hampshire.  The land he was granted in 1722 was deeded by his brothers James and Matthew on 28 January 1725/6 (NH Deed 14: 445)

      4.       Agnes, married Samuel McKeen on 15 August 1723, and had eleven children.

      5.       Thomas, arrived in 1720 to Londonderry as a servant of James McKeen.  Was granted land with his brother George.  Disappears from the Londonderry, New Hampshire records by 1733.

      6.       George, also a servant to James McKeen, also disappeared from the Londonderry records by 1733. 

      7.       Alexander, married Jane McGregor, daughter of Rev. James MacGregor, was a doctor in Portsmouth.  Jane was buried at Forest Hill in East Derry with the epitaph “Mrs. Jane Clark, relict of Dr. Alexander died Sept. 25, 1778 in her 67^th year”.

    

      Note:

          There is also a Robert Clark who appears to be completely unrelated to the above CLARK , was born about 1720, died 20 April 1775, married Letitia Cochran. He came to New England about 1725 and lived northwest of Beaver Pond.  Eight children: William, married Anne Wallace and removed to New Boston;  John, married Nancy Stinson; Samuel, married Sarah Holmes and Janet Barnett; Ninian, married Mary Ramsey and removed to New Boston; Jane, married James Crombie who removed to New Boston; Letitia, married Samuel Wallace and Robert Moor; Agnes, married William Anderson; and Elizabeth, married Andrew Mack

For more information:

“Rev. Matthew Clark of Ireland and Londonderry, N. H.” by John B. Threlfall, The American Genealogist, Volume 48 (1972), pages 21 – 26.

History of Londonderry, by Rev. Edward L. Parker


Click here for links to the sketches of all sixteen first Nutfield settlers: 
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/p/nutfields-first-16-settlers.html 

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "CLARK – Descendants of Nutfield Minister Rev. Matthew Clark", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 9, 2019, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/02/clark-descendants-of-nutfield-minister.html: accessed [access date]).

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Baby John Newton Clark, 1815, Londonderry, New Hampshire

This tombstone was photographed at the Forest Hill Cemetery in East Derry, New Hampshire.  At the time of the burial, this was Londonderry, New Hampshire.

John Newton

son of Capt. John &

Mrs. Sarah Clark,

died Sept 8, 1815

aged 3 months.

Not father's sighs nor mother's tears

Could save me from the tomb,

Nor would I for more years

If Christ has called me home. 

John Clark (son of Robert Clark and Letitia Cochran) and Sarah Taylor (daughter of Samuel Taylor and Eunice Lancaster,  and granddaughter of immigrant settlers Matthew and Jennet Taylor) were married in Londonderry, New Hampshire on 4 March 1802.  They had eight children and three died in infancy.   One of their daughters was a famous missionary you can read about at this link HERE.

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

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday ~ Baby John Newton Clark, 1815, Londonderry, New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted November 20, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/11/tombstone-tuesday-baby-john-newton.html: accessed [access date]).

Surname Saturday ~ LONGFELLOW of Newbury, Massachusetts

SITE OF GARRISON HOUSE BUILT BY
CAPT. JONATHAN LONGFELLOW
IN 1743
THE FARM PAID FOR IN SLAVES
----------------
BOUGHT IN 1785 BY
MAJOR SIMON MARSTON
WHO SERVED DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR
AND SINCE OCCUPIED BY HIS DESCENDANTS
-----------------
ERECTED BY THE ELSE CILLEY CHAPTER DAR IN 1908

This monument is in Deerfield, NH

My 9^th great grandfather, William Longfellow, was born in Horsforth, Yorkshire, England about 1650, well after the Great Migration of Puritans to New England.  Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans had control of the government, and Puritans no longer had to flee persecution.  He was the only one of his siblings who left England for New England, and he probably did not flee for religious reasons.  He appears for the first time in the Newbury, Massachusetts tax records around 1676. 

William Longfellow appeared in quite a few Essex County court records for misdemeanors and for debt.  In one case in 1677 he was found guilty of stealing wine.  In one 1677 case he was unable to pay his debts and so the court made him a servant for seven years.  In 1679 he was in court for fighting.  In 1681, the most curious court case had Longfellow confess to killing a steer. 

He married Anna Sewell and had six children.  Her brother, Samuel Sewell, was a famous chief justice involved in many famous early cases including the Salem Witch Trials. His diary contains a lot of information about his family, including the Longfellow family.  This diary states that there were eight Longfellow children, but the Newbury records only have six Longfellow births. 

In 1687 William Longfellow returned to England upon hearing of his brother’s death.  This left him the only male heir, and perhaps he was hoping to bring back an early inheritance from his father, who was still alive.

In 1690 William Longfellow joined the Newbury Company that went with Sir William Phips to Canada in an expedition against Quebec.  There were 32 ships with over 2000 men.   The New Englanders were driven back and encountered several storms on the way to Boston.  Many ships were wrecked, and four never returned, including the ship with William Longfellow which disappeared off Cape Breton near Anticosta on 31 October 1690.  Another 1000 died from an illness that was probably smallpox.  The expedition was a disaster. His wife was left a widow with six small children, and a large debt that William had accumulated during his lifetime.   Anna remarried to Henry Short in 1692.

I descend from William’s youngest son, Nathan (1690 -1731), my 8^th great grandfather, who was only a year old when his father died.  He must have been raised by his step-father, Henry Short, who had another eight children with his mother, Anna.  Nathan removed from Newbury, Massachusetts to Hampton, New Hampshire where he accumulated many lots of land.  He married Mary Green in 1713 and had nine children. 

Nathan Longfellow was the constable and tax collector for Hampton.  The ongoing border war between the province of New Hampshire and the Massachusetts Bay Colony came to blows during his tenure of collecting money from residents who had already paid taxes in Massachusetts.  He was arrested by the town of Salisbury, Massachusetts over this border dispute.  See my blog post about the Shapley Line:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-shapley-line-one-of-old-borders.html 

Nathan Longfellow died young in 1731 at age 40.  His widow, Mary, remarried to Joseph Macress.  I descend from the oldest son, Jonathan, who was of legal age upon the death of his father and did not require a guardian like the rest of his siblings.  He was eventually given guardianship of his brother Jacob, age 14, and they together inherited their grandfather’s (Jacob Greene) estate in Hampton. 

Jonathan, my 7^th great grandfather, was a wealthy landowner, who removed to Nottingham, New Hampshire.  This town is now called Deerfield because of some deer that Jonathan Longfellow  gave to Governor Benning Wentworth, the governor of New Hampshire, in 1765 as a bribe to separate their town from Nottingham.  He was wealthy enough to own several African slaves which he sold to buy his land in Nottingham.

Jonathan married Mercy Clark in 1731 and had twelve children.  They removed to Cornwallis, Nova Scotia during the planter movement in 1764 but only stayed 5 years.  They sold their land in Canada to their son, Nathan, and removed to Machias, Maine with the 3 youngest sons.  Mercy is buried in Cornwallis, and Jonathan is buried in Machias.   I descend from his daughter, Mary (1735 – 1814), who married Nathaniel Batchelder.  Her sister, Sally (1739 – 1811), married General Joseph Cilley, a hero of the 1^st New Hampshire Regiment with Robert Rogers during the French and Indian War. 

Mary Longfellow and her husband Nathaniel Batchelder, my 6^th great grandparents, had eight children born in Deerfield.  Nathaniel at Valley Forge in 1778. Mary received a Revolutionary War widow’s pension.  In the pension papers there was a testimony sworn by a Benjamin Page which stated “in Scammel's Regiment about one year until he died at Valley Forge in March 1778.  Stephen Batchelder, a brother of Nathaniel, Senior, and an uncle of Nathaniel, Jr. also served in Scammel's Regiment with me until he died in the fall of 1777. I further testify that Nathaniel Batchelder, senior, who served with me in Scammel's Regiments was a sergeant, and my recollection is that his son, Nathaniel Batchelder of Cilley's Regiment, was a corporal."

The Granite Monthly newspaper ran a short note "Nathaniel Batchelder, who was a brother-in-law of Col. Cilley [Joseph of Nottingham] fought in the battle of Bunker Hill, under Capt. Dearborn and was Adjutant in Col. Drake's regiment which did brave service in the battle of Stillwater, Saratoga, and the surrender of Burgoyne.  He died of fever at Valley Forge, March 18, 1778"

Some Longfellow resources:

The Garrison: Built by Jonathan Longfellow in 1743, by John Scales, 1966 (16 pages)

History of Nottingham, Deerfield, and Northwood, by Rev. Elliott C. Cogswell, 1878

A Longfellow Genealogy: Comprising the English Ancestry and Descendants of the Immigrant William Longfellow of Newbury, Massachusetts, Russell Clare Farnham, 2002

My Longfellow genealogy:

Generation 1:  William Longfellow, born about 1650 in Horsforth, Yorkshire, England, died July 1690 at sea off the coast of Anticosta, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia; married on 10 November 1678 in Newbury, Massachusetts to Anna Sewell, daughter of Henry Sewell and Jane Dummer.  She was born 3 September 1662 in Newbury, and died 18 December 1706 in Newbury.  Eight children.  Anna remarried to Henry Short.

Generation 2:  Nathan Longfellow, born 5 February 1690 in Newbury, died 15 January 1731 in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire; married on 28 May 1713 in Hampton Falls to Mary Greene, daughter of Jacob Greene and Sarah Unknown.  She was born 17 April 1693 in Hampton and died about 1763 in Nottingham, New Hampshire.  Eight children.  Mary remarried to Joseph Macress/Macrest.

Generation 3: Jonathan Longfellow, born 23 May 1714 in Nottingham (now Deerfield), died 1774 in Machias, Maine; married on 28 October 1731 in Nottingham (now Deerfield) to Mercy Clark, daughter of Henry Clarke and Elizabeth Greenleaf.  She was born 26 December 1714 in Nottingham, and died 1798 in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia.  Twelve children.

Generation 4:  Mary Longfellow, born 15 July 1735 in Hampton Falls, died 1814; married Nathaniel Batchelder, son of Stephen Batchelder and Jane Lamprey.  He was born 9 June 1732 in North Hampton, and died 1778 in Valley Forge.  Nine children.

Generation 5:  Nathaniel Batchelder m. Mary Perkins

Generation 6:  Jonathan Batchelder m. Nancy Thomson

Generation 7:  George E. Batchelder m. Abigail M. Locke

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

Generation 9:  Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

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

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ LONGFELLOW of Newbury, Massachusetts”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted November 3, 2018, (  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/11/surname-saturday-longfellow-of-newbury.html: accessed [access date]).  

Surname Saturday ~ CLARK of Plymouth and Duxbury, Massachusetts

CLARK / CLARKE

In 1634 my 9th great grandfather, Thurston Clark, "aged 44" sailed to Plymouth, Massachusetts from Ipswich, England aboard the ship Francis.  Listed with the children on board was "Fayth Clearke, aged 15", my 8th great grandmother.  It is believed that his wife and other children arrived on a later ship since a daughter named Abigail was buried in England in 1637.  He removed from Plymouth to Duxbury in 1652.

Thurston Clark was a farmer.  He was probably educated (he could read) because he owned a bible and a psalmbook valued at 3 shillings 4 pence in his inventory.  He died unexpectedly returning on foot from Plymouth to Duxbury when he became lost in an early winter snowstorm.  There was a coroner's inquiry two days later "to view the dead body of Thirston Clarke, Senior, of Duxburrow".    A margin note in the Plymouth County Records Volume 4, page 12 reads "he was lost, as we conceive, in the evening, and so he did bewilder himself, the sixth of this instant December, 1661".

He died without a will and an inventory was taken of his estate, and the court decided in 1663 that his daughter Faith, my ancestress, would received one quarter, and the remainder of the estate was divided between her two brothers Henry and Thurston, Jr. who were "incompetent" (probably mentally handicapped).  In 1690 the Plymouth court ordered "Henry Clarke and Thursten Clarke, by reason of their age, indiscretion & weakness of understanding, are incapable of making necessary provision for their own support, sustenance, and livelihood, notwithstanding they have an estate in lands sufficient, as is judged, to supply their necessity during their lives."  Their nephew John Doty (son of Faith) was ordered "to provide for their needs, and report once a year to the selectmen in return for which he shall have 'full satisfaction' made him out of the lands of said impotent persons" [Plymouth Colony Records 6:236 and 6:99) and also see History of the Town of Duxbury, by Justin Winsor, 1849.

Thurston's daugher, Faith, married Mayflower passenger Edward Doty (about 1600 - 1655) and had nine children.  She married second to in 1667 to John Phillips.  In the next generation I descend from her daughter Desire Doty (about 1645 - 1731) who married Alexander Standish, grandson of Mayflower passenger Captain Myles Standish.

For the truly curious, please see the sketch for Thurston Clark in The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England 1634 - 1635, Volume II, pages 99 to 101.


My CLARK genealogy:

Generation 1:  Thurston Clark, born about 1590 in England, died 6 December 1661 in Duxbury, Massachusetts; married to Faith Unknown.  She died 1 January 1663.  Six children.

Generation 2:  Faith Clark, born about 1619, died before 21 December 1675 in Marshfield, Massachusetts; married on 6 January 1635 in Plymouth to Edward Doty.  He was born about 1599 and died 23 August 1655 in Plymouth.  Nine children.

Generation 3:  Desire Doty m. Alexander Standish
Generation 4: Desire Standish m. Nathan Weston
Generation 5:  Nathan Weston m. Hannah Everson
Generation 6:  Zadoc Weston m. Mary Clements
Generation 7:  Matilda Weston m. Joseph Edwin Healy
Generation 8:  Mary Etta Healy m. Peter Hoogerzeil
Generation 9:  Florence Etta Hoogerzeil m. Arthur Treadwell Hitchings
Generation 10:  Gertrude Matilda Hitchings m. Stanley Elmer Allen (my grandparents)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ CLARK of Plymouth and Duxbury, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted October 6, 2018, (https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/10/surname-saturday-clark-of-plymouth-and.html: accessed [access date]).

Surname Saturday ~ DOTY of the Mayflower

DOTY / DOTEN / DOUGHTY / DOTIE /DOLTON

My 8^th great grandfather, Edward Doty, was a passenger on the Mayflower in 1620 to Plymouth, Massachusetts, and signed the Mayflower Compact. His origins are still unknown.  He was a servant to Stephen Hopkins during the voyage and for the first few years in Plymouth.  The first duel (with a sword and dagger) in New England was in 1621 between Edward Doty and Edward Leister, both servants to Hopkins.  Both were wounded, and both were punished by being bound with their head and feet together.  The sentence was for them to be bound for 24 hours, but within one hour “because of their great pains, and at their own and their master’s humble request, upon promise of better carriage, they are released by the governor” [A Chronological History of New England, by Thomas Prince, 1852, pages 190-191]

After this and Doty was in court many times for fighting, trespass, slander and debt.  But he married twice, prospered, had an apprentice. In his will he left land and property to his sons and wife.  In Faith’s will she left her land, willed to her from her husband, to her son John Doty.

 I descend from his daughter, Desire, my 7^th great grandmother, who married Alexander Standish, the son of Mayflower passenger Myles Standish.   Alexander also married Sarah Alden, daughter of Pilgrims John Alden and Priscilla Mullins.  Desire had eleven children by three husbands and outlived them all.  Her will written in 1723 mentions a sons William Sherman, Ebenezer Sherman, Israel Holmes, John Holmes, Thomas Standish and Ichabod Standish; and daughters Hannah Ring, Experience Standish and Desire Weston (my 6^th great grandmother). 

For the truly curious:

The Great Migration Begins, by Robert Charles Anderson, Volume 1, pages 573 - 577.

The Doty - Doten Family in America, by Ethan Allen Doty, 1897. 

Mayflower Families Five Generations, Doty, published by the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, Volume 11,  1996.

The Pilgrim Edward Doty Society:   http://www.edwarddoty.org/  

The General Society of Mayflower Descendants:  https://www.themayflowersociety.org/

My DOTY genealogy:

Generation 1:  Edward Doty, born about 1599, died 23 August 1655 at Plymouth, Massachusetts; married first to unknown before 1634; married second on 6 January 1635 in Plymouth to Faith Clark, daughter of Thurston Clark and Faith Unknown.  She was born about 1619 and died before 21 December 1675 in Marshfield, Massachusetts. Faith was the mother of nine children.  She remarried to John Phillips on 14 March 1667 in Plymouth as his second wife.

Generation 2: Desire Doty, born about 1645 in Plymouth, died 22 January 1731 in Marshfield; married first to William Sherman on 25 December 1667 in Marshfield (six children); married second on 24 November 1681 in Marshfield to Israel Holmes (two children); and married third before 1689 to Alexander Standish, son of Mayflower passenger Captain Myles Standish and Barbara Unknown.  He was born about 1626 in Plymouth and died 6 July 1702 in Duxbury.  Desire and Alexander Standish had three children together. 

Generation 3:  Desire Standish, born 5 May 1689 in Marshfield, died 20 June 1766 in Plympton; married on 21 February 1716 in Plympton to Nathan Weston, son of Edmund Weston and Rebecca Soule (granddaughter of Mayflower passenger George Soule).  He was born 8 February 1689 in Plympton, and died 11 October 1754 in Plympton.  Four children.

Generation 4: Nathan Weston m. Hannah Everson

Generation 5:  Zadoc Weston m. Mary Clements

Generation 6:  Matilda Weston m. Joseph Edwin Healy

Generation 7:  Mary Etta Healey m.  Peter Hoogerzeil

Generation 8:  Florence Etta Hoogerzeil m. Arthur Treadwell Hitchings

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

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ DOTY of the Mayflower”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted September 22, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/09/surname-saturday-doty-of-mayflower.html: accessed [access date]). 

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Elizabeth (Spear) Clark, buried 1836, Windham, NH

This tombstone was photographed at the Cemetery on the Plains, Windham, New Hampshire.

IN

Memory of

ELIZABETH

Wife of

JAMES CLARK

Died May 31, 1836

AET. 78

B. DAY. LOWELL

Elizabeth (Betsey) Spear was born about 1760 in Windham, New Hampshire, the daughter of Robert Spear and Jennet Armour.   She married James Clark of Windham and had eleven children (from the History of Windham, by Leonard A. Morrison, pages 378 – 379.):

      1. Polly, d April 15, 1790, 2 yrs, 6 mos

      2. Robert, d. single, March 20, 1815, age 25

      3. Samuel, m. Jennie McFee, lived in Danvers, Mass

      4. Eliza, d. Sept. 6, 1802, 1 yr, 7 mos

      5. Margaret, single, d. Lawrence, Mass.

      6. Jane, d. young

      7. Mary, m.  ----- Brown, res. Salem, Mass.

      8. Betsey, single, d. Lynn, Mass.

      9. Sally, m. Sylvester Forbush, of Lawrence, Mass.

     10. Matthew, lived in Lynn.

     11. William, lived and d. in Lynn.

Click on this link to see a gravestone of three infant Clark children:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/10/tombstone-tuesday-clark-children.html  

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Tombstone Tuesday ~ Elizabeth (Spear) Clark, buried 1836, Windham, NH", Nutfield Genealogy, posted April 17, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/04/tombstone-tuesday-elizabeth-spear-clark.html: accessed [access date]).  

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Samuel Clark, died 1790, Londonderry (now Derry), New Hampshire and his wives

These tombstones were photographed at Forest Hill Cemetery in Derry, New Hampshire.

ERECTED

In Memory of

Mr. Samuel Clark

who departed this Life

Augst ye 19th 1790

Aged 59 Years

and 1 month

Since he is gone we have no more to say

But here he must Remain unto ye Judgement day

Samuel Clark was the son of Scots Irish immigrants to Nutfield (Londonderry, New Hampshire) Robert Clark and Letitia Cochran.  I previously posted the parents' tombstones HERE.  Samuel was born about 1738 in Londonderry, New Hampshire and died 9 August 1790 in Londonderry.  He married first to Sarah Holmes, and second to Janet Barnett.  He had seven children:  Robert, Daniel, Sally (Sarah), Moses, William, John and Janet.

Memento Mori

ERECTED IN

Memory of Mrs.

Sarah Clark (wife

of Mr. Samuel Clark)

she departed this

Life May ye 7th

1776 In the 39th

Year of her

age.

IN

Memory of

MRS. JENNET

Wife of

MR. SAMUEL CLARK

Died April 15, 1833

AEt. 85.

Click here to see the tombstones of Samuel's parents, Robert and Letitia Clark:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/08/tombstone-tuesday-mr-and-mrs-robert.html


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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday ~ Samuel Clark, died 1790, Londonderry (now Derry), New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted December 27, 2016, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/12/tombstone-tuesday-samuel-clark-died.html: accessed [access date]).

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Mr. and Mrs. Robert Clark, Derry, New Hampshire

This tombstone was photographed at the Forest Hill Cemetery in Derry, New Hampshire.  At the time of these deaths, it was known as Londonderry.

ERECTED

In memory of

Mr. Robert Clark

who departed this Life

April the 20th AD 1775

Aged 65 Years

Likewise in memory of Mrs. Letitia

Clark, widow of Mr. Robert Clark

who died June ye 16th 1784.  In ye 70th

year of her age.                                

Erected by Mr. John and Samuel Clark

their Sons.                                         

Robert Clark came to Nutfield from Northern Ireland about 1725 and lived on land northwest of Beaver Pond (in what is now the town of Derry, New Hampshire).  Two of his sons removed to Clark Hill in New Boston, near the border of Francestown.  There are still Clark descendants living in Londonderry, New Hampshire.

Robert Clark was born about 1710 probably in Northern Ireland, died 20 April 1775 in Londonderry, New Hampshire.  He was buried at Forest Hill Cemetery and his wife shared his tombstone.  He married about 1732, probably in New Hampshire, to Letitia Cochran, born about 1708 in Northern Ireland and died 16 June 1784 in Londonderry, New Hampshire.  She was the daughter of early settlers John Cochran and his wife, Jean.

Children:

1.  John Clark, born about 1732, married about 1760 to Nancy Stinson

2. William Clark, born 18 January 1733/34 in Londonderry, New Hampshire, died 9 March 1808; married 2 February 1764 in New Boston, New Hampshire to Anne Wallace.

3. Ninian Clark, born about 1735, died 1808; married about 1765 in New Boston to Mary Ramsey.

4. Agnes Clark, born about 1736; married William Anderson

5. Elizabeth Clark, born about 1737, died 1830; married Andrew Mack.

6. Samuel Clark, born about 1738, died 9 August 1790; married first to Sarah Holmes, married second to Janet Barnett.

7.  Letitia Clark, born about 1744, died 6 Dec 1832; married first to Robert Moor, married second to Samuel Wallace.

8. Jane Clark, born about 1745, died in New Boston; married James Crombie.

For more about the Clark family see:

The History of Londonderry by Rev, Edward Lutwyche Parker, 1851 pages 265 – 266.  (available to read online at Google book search and Ancestry.com )

Willey’s Book of Nutfield, by George Franklyn Willey, 1895, page 339.  (Google book search)

“The Clark and Perkins Families of Londonderry, New Hampshire”, by Janice Brown, Cow Hampshire, posted 21 April 2015

http://www.cowhampshireblog.com/2015/04/21/the-clark-and-perkins-families-of-londonderry-new-hampshire/ 

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday ~  Mr. and Mrs. Robert Clark, Derry, New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 2, 2016, 

(http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/08/tombstone-tuesday-mr-and-mrs-robert.html:  accessed [access date]). 

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Sarah Hinsdale, missionary to Mosul (Iraq), buried at Derry, New Hampshire 1857

This tombstone was photographed at the Forest Hill Cemetery, Derry, New Hampshire

MRS. SARAH C. HINSDALE

DIED

June 10, 1857

Aged 48 yrs.

For many years a missionary of

the American Board of Commissioners

for Foreign Missions

"She hath done what she could."

Sarah Clark was the daughter of Captain John Clark and Sarah Taylor of Londonderry, New Hampshire.  Sarah Taylor was the daughter of Samuel Taylor and Eunice Lancaster, and the granddaughter of Scots Irish immigrants Matthew Taylor and Jennet Wilson.   Sarah was  born in what is now the town of Derry and was educated at the Adams Female Academy and the Gilmanton Academy.  

Sarah Clark became the wife of Reverend  Abel Knapp Hinsdale, and served with her husband as a missionary to the Armenians from June 1841 to 21 October 1844.  This was called the “Mission to the Independent Nestorians”.   The Persian Christians were called Nestorians, but called themselves the Chaldeans.  Sarah’s husband, Reverend Hinsdale,  died in Mosul, in what is now Iraq,  and was buried in the courtyard of the Syrian Orthodox church of Mar Toma (St. Thomas).   This church in the Khazraj neighborhood of Mosul was reported as destroyed by ISIS in July 2014. 

Sarah stayed in the Middle East for another ten years and continued as a missionary teaching children in Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey).   She had two children while in the Middle East, but they both died young before their father’s death in Mosul.  She retired to Derry, where she lived only another two years. 

You can view the personnel card for Sarah C. Hinsdale, an employee of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions,  at the American Research Institute in Istanbul, Turkey and online at http://www.dlir.org/archive/items/show/13031

Family notes:

Sarah Clark, daughter of Captain John Clark and Sarah Taylor, died 10 June 1857 in Derry, New Hampshire; married the Reverend Abel Knapp Hinsdale, son of Abel Hinsdale and Mary Knapp.  He was born 6 October 1807 in Torrington, Connecticut, and died on 26 December 1842 in Mosul, Mesopotamia (now Iraq).  He was the grandson of Reverend Joshua Knapp.

For more information see Hinsdale Genealogy: Descendants of Robert Hinsdale of Dedham, Medfield, Hadley and Deerfield, by Herbert Cornelius Andrews and Sanford Charles Hinsdale, 1906.  Available to read online at Google Book Search.

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/03/tombstone-tuesday-sarah-hinsdale.html

Copyright © 2015, Heather Wilkinson Rojo