Weathervane Wednesday ~ Weathervanes in Boston, England

I posted a series of weather vane photographs every Wednesday for the last several years.  This started with images of weathervanes from the Londonderry, New Hampshire area, but now I've found interesting weather vanes all across New England and across the globe.  This is the last weathervane post of the series!  I hope you've enjoyed these Weathervane Wednesday posts. 

Today's weather vanes were photographed in England.

Do you know the location of weathervane post #400?  Scroll down to find the answer.

These weathervanes were photographed on the tower above the "Boston Stump" or St. Botolph's church,  in Boston, Lincolnshire, England.  The name of the town "Boston" is thought to derive from "St. Botolph's town".  We were visiting Boston during our tour of England and Holland with the General Society of Mayflower Descendants Historic Sites Tour last year.

There appear to be eight weathervanes on the octagonal tower above the church.  Each is a gilded banner, and very shiny in the sunlight.  However, the tower is extremely tall at 272 feet height, and we could only see these weathervanes using the zoom lens on the camera.  You can see the sunlight glinting off the banners from a great distance.  This tower is so tall, sailors at sea use it as a landmark!

There is a "Puritan Path" of markers outside the
church, memorializing the Puritans who left
Lincolnshire for Boston, Massachusetts

"1630 John Cotton bids farewell to his parishoners on the the Arbella"

This church is very important in New England history.  The Puritan leader Rev. John Cotton was a vicar at St. Botolphs in the 17th century.  He encouraged a large number of his congregation, on board the ship Arbella and other ships in the Winthrop Fleet, to leave for New England in 1630.  By 1633 Rev. Cotton also left, and he founded and named Boston, Massachusetts.  There is a Cotton Chapel inside St. Botolph's church now, as well as a model of the Mayflower (the Pilgrim Fathers were imprisoned in Boston for trying to escape to Holland).   I had several ancestors believed to have been on board the Arbella, including Samuel and William Chesebrough, William Beamsley, Edward Converse, Mattias Irons, Edmund Lockwood, Thomas Mayhew, and Ezekiel Richardson.

Five men from Boston, England became Governors of Massachusetts - Richard Bellingham, Thomas Dudley, Simon Bradstreet, John Leverett and Francis Bernard.

I think that this church and it's weathervanes are a nice way to wrap up this series of 400 weathervane posts for "Weathervane Wednesday".  I can't think of a town or church in England that influenced migration and family history as much as the "Boston Stump".

I hope you enjoyed this series!

Click here to read about our day in Boston, Lincolnshire, England:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/11/along-pilgrim-trail-boston-lincolnshire.html

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

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Weathervane Wednesday ~ Weathervanes in Boston, England", Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 30, 2019, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/01/weathervane-wednesday-weathervanes-in_23.html: accessed [access date]). 

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Patience Converse, buried 1707 in Woburn, Massachusetts

This tombstone was photographed at the Old Burial Ground in Woburn, Massachusetts

  MEMENTO                      FUGIT

  MORI                                HORA

HERE LYES Ye BODY

OF PASHENCE CONVER

DAUGHTER OF MAJOR

JAMES & HANNAH CONVER

WHO DEPARTED THIS

LIFE JULY Ye 25^th

1707  IN Ye 21

YEAR OF HER AGE.

Patience Converse, my 6^th great aunt,  was born on 6 November 1686 in Woburn, and died unmarried 23 July 1707.  She was the daughter of Major James Converse (1645 – 1706) and Hannah Carter (1651 – 1691).  She came from a family of nine siblings, and I descend from her brother, Robert Converse (1677 – 1736) who married Mary Sawyer.  

My CONVERSE lineage:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/09/surname-saturday-converse-of-woburn.html   

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday ~ Patience Converse, buried 1707 in Woburn, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted July 11, 2017, (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/06/tombstone-tuesday-patience-converse.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ CONVERSE of Woburn

CONVERSE  CONVERS

I have already written a “Surname Saturday” blog post on the CONVERSE family of Woburn at this link: https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/02/surname-saturday-converse-of-woburn.html   However, last year I discovered that in addition to a lineage from Deacon Edward Convers (1590 – 1662) on my father’s side, I also have a link on my mother’s side (see below)

I also discovered our link to the Converse sneaker King, and you can read all about it at this link:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-sneaker-king-marquis-mills-converse.html   

MY CONVERSE lineage:

Generation 1:  Edward Convers, son of Anthony Convers and Clemence Spady, born 30 January 1590 in Stanford Rivers, Essex, England, died 10 August 1662 at Woburn, Massachusetts; married first on 29 June 1614 at Great Burstead, Essex, England to Sarah Parker, daughter of John Parker, died 14 January 1662/3 in Woburn.  Six children.   Edward Convers married second to Joanna Warren, widow of Ralph Sprague.

Generation 2.  James Convers, born about 1621 in England, died 10 May 1715 in Woburn; married first to Anna Long, daughter of Robert Long and Sarah Taylor.  She was born 1 June 1623 in St. Albans, England and died 10 August 1691 in Woburn. Ten chlldren.  He married second to Anna Sparhawk.

Lineage A:

Generation 3.  James Converse, born 16 November 1645 in Woburn, died 8 July 1706 in Woburn; married on 1 January 1669 to Hannah Carter, daughter of John Carter and Elizabeth Kendall.  She was born 19 January 1651 in Woburn and died 10 August 1691 in Woburn. Nine children.

Generation 4. Robert Converse, born 29 December 1677 in Woburn, died 20 July 1736; married on 19 December 1698 in Woburn to Mary Sawyer, daughter of Joshua Sawyer and Sarah Wright.  She was born about 1681 and died 1766.  Twelve children.

Generation 5. Susanna Converse, born 18 June 1724 in Woburn, died 29 October 1771 in Woburn; married on 26 March 1746 in Woburn to Caleb Simonds, son of James Simonds and Mary Fowle.  He was born 27 August 1720 in Woburn, died 4 January 1811 in Woburn.  Eight children.

Generation 6. Ruth Simonds m. Andrew Munroe

Generation 7.  Luther Simonds Munroe m. Olive Flint

Generation 8.  Phebe Cross Munroe m. Robert Wilson Wilkinson

Generation 9. Albert Munroe Wilkinson m. Isabella Lyons Bill

Generation 10.  Donald Munroe Wilkinson m. Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents)

Lineage B:

Generation 3.  Deborah Converse, born 25 July 1647 in Woburn; married 1 July 1663 in Woburn to John Pierce, son of Thomas Pierce and Elizabeth Cole.  He was born 7 May 1643 in Woburn and died 25 May 1720 in Woburn. Ten chlldren.

Generation 4.  Ebenezer Pierce m. Mary Wilson

Generation 5.  Deborah Pierce m. Increase Wyman

Generation 6.  Increase Wyman m. Catherine Unknown

Generation 7.  Jemima Wyman m. Colonel Joshua Burnham

Generation 8.  Jemima Burnham . Romanus Emerson

Generation 9. George Emerson m. Mary Esther Younger

Generation 10.  Mary Katharine Emerson m. George E. Batchelder

Generation 11.  Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 12.  Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~  CONVERSE of Woburn", Nutfield Genealogy, posted September 3, 2016, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/09/surname-saturday-converse-of-woburn.html: accessed [access date]).

Surname Saturday ~ COLE of Charlestown, Massachusetts

COLE, COLL, COWLES, COLES, COALE

Ryce Cole, my 11^th great grandfather, was made member #109 of the church in Boston in 1631.  Rice Cole was admitted as an inhabitant of Charlestown, Massachusetts in 1630.   His first name can be found as Rice or Ryce or Rise in the records, as well as all the surname variations listed above.  Just to make it more interesting, his wife’s name is listed as “Arrald” on her church membership and her will.   Her two sons-in-law listed her as “Harald Coale” on a petition in Cambridge dated 1662. 

Doctor Samuel Fuller, Mayflower passenger, gave medical assistance to some of the Charlestown settlers in 1630.  Several of these families sent their children to live in his household as servants.  In his will he made reference to Elizabeth and Robert Cowles of Charlestown.  They were Rice Cole’s two first children.  Elizabeth Cole (1619 – 1688) is my 10^th great grandmother.  She married Thomas Pierce and had thirteen children.

Notable descendants of Rice Cole are presidents Franklin Pierce and George H. W. Bush.

For more information see:

The Great Migration Begins, by Robert Charles Anderson, Volume I, pages 426 – 429.

American Presidential Families, by Charles Mosely, 1993, page 420.

The Genealogies and Estates of Charlestown, by Thomas Bellows Wyman and Henry Herbert Edes, Volume 1, page 228

The Early Genealogies of the Cole Families in America, by Frank T. Cole, 1887, pages 178 – 179.

My COLE genealogy:

Generation 1: Rice Cole, born about 1590 and died 15 May 1646 in Charlestown, Massachusetts; married about 1616 to Arrald Unknown.  She died between 20 December and 26 December 1661.  Five children.

Generation 2: Elizabeth Cole, born about 1619, died 5 March 1688 in Woburn, Massachusetts; married 6 May 1635 in Charlestown to Thomas Pierce, son of Thomas Pierce and Elizabeth Carew.  He was born about 1620 and died 6 November 1683 in Woburn.  Thirteen children.

Generation 3:  John Pierce and Deborah Convers

Generation 4:  Ebenezer Pierce and Mary Wilson

Generation 5:  Deborah Pierce and Increase Wyman

Generation 6:  Increase Wyman and Catherine Unknown

Generation 7: Jemima Wyman and Joshua Burnham

Generation 8: Jemima Burnham and Romanus Emerson

Generation 9:  George Emerson and Mary Esther Younger

Generation 10: Mary Katharine Emerson and George E. Batchelder

Generation 11: Carrie Maude Batchelder and Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 12: Stanley Elmer Allen and Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~  COLE of Charlestown, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 27, 2016, (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/08/surname-saturday-cole-of-charlestown.html:  accessed [access date]). 

A Door with History

This door is located at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

in the new American Wing

Nathaniel Sparhawk was born about 1717 in Boston and he

married Elizabeth Pepperell on 1 May 1742 in Kittery, Maine.  

His great aunt, Anna Sparhawk (1623 - about 1717) married 

James Convers, my 8th great grandfather, as his second wife. 

"Doorway from the

Sparhawk house

Maine (Kittery), about 1742

Painted wood, glass

This doorway comes from one of the grandest 

eighteenth-century houses in Kittery, Maine, on

the New Hampshire border.  The house was

owned by Nathaniel Sparhawk, whose portrait

by John Singleton Copley is on view in gallery 128"

a close up of the door knocker

This house at Kittery, Maine was known locally as Sparhawk Hall.  It was built in 1742 (one year after Nathaniel Sparhawk's marriage) as a wedding gift from his father-in-law, Sir William Pepperell.  Nathaniel Sparhawk was a wealthy merchant.  His portrait by Copley is one of the artist's few life sized paintings.  In 1758 Sparhawk had to declare bankruptcy, and his property was auctioned, except for this house.  When his wealthy father-in-law died, he was not named in the will.  His wife inherited in her own name.  This was all lost after the American Revolution because the Sparhawks and Pepperells remained loyalists and everything was confiscated by the new government.

The Lady Pepperell House and Sparhawk Hall were famous homes in Kittery, from the same family.  The Sparhawk house was used in movies and hosted politicians during the Portsmouth Treaty in 1905.  Sparhawk Hall was finally demolished in 1967, and the door was donated to Strawberry Banke Museum.  The interior woodwork was sold off and installed in a private home in Winthrop, Maine.  You can still find Sparhawk Lane in Kittery, near where the home once stood.

Click here to see photos of the Sparhawk Mansion before its demolition:
http://www.seacoastnh.com/Places-%26-Events/Historic-Portsmouth/Sparhawk-Mansion-on-Death-Row/


Museum of Fine Arts, Boston  http://www.mfa.org/

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The URL for this post is
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-door-with-history.html

Copyright 2013, Heather Wilkinson Rojo