A Visit to The Fairbanks House

The Fairbanks house is located at 511 East Street, Dedham, Massachusetts.  It was about an hour and twenty minutes from Manchester, New Hampshire, and located just outside of Boston.  The website has driving directions, and directions for anyone arriving by public transportation (bus or the commuter train).  This building is the oldest known wooden structure in North America, and was built by my ancestor Jonathan Fairbanks sometime between 1637 and 1641.  Jonathan, his wife Grace, and six children arrived from England in 1633, and lived in this house, which was passed down through the family for eight generations!  

1630       1930

FAIRBANKS HOUSE

Oldest house in Dedham.

Part of it built about 1636. Home-

stead of Jonathan Fairbanks

who, with his sons, John, George,

and Jonathan, Junior.  Signed

the Dedham Covenant September

10, 1636.  Ancestral home of the

late vice-president Fairbanks

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Massachusetts Bay Colony                

                       Tercentenary Commission

Although the 1930 sign and the chimney say that the house was built in 1636, dendrochronology tests show that the oldest wood in the house was from a tree felled in 1637.   Over the years many additions and rooms were added to this house.  The last changes were added in 1820, when the family fell unto hard times.  After this time period no modern conveniences were ever added to this house, so the building remains trapped in time.  There were never any plumbing, heat or electricity added to the building.  When you visit, you see the house as it was when the Fairbanks family lived here. 

The Fairbanks house remained in the Fairbanks family until it was the home of Rebecca Fairbanks (1827 - 1908), the unmarried 6th great granddaughter of Jonathan and Grace (Smith) Fairbanks.  The building became a museum in 1904, operated by the Fairbanks Family in America, a family association.  It is open for tours from May to October.   The family association still has an annual reunion, and this year it will held on Saturday August 11th.  See the website (below) for more information on the family association. 

FAIRBANKS HOUSE

Built 1636 by

JONATHAN FAIRBANKS

Here lived eight generations

to preserve and perpetuate this historic spot

The Fairbanks Family Association

acquired the property in 1903

Tablet placed by

Massachusetts Society Daughters of the American Colonists

1941

During our tour of the Fairbanks House the curator took apart this model, and rebuilt it as he showed how each generation added additions and rooms onto the original homestead.  

Jonathan Fairbanks came from Yorkshire, where he was built spinning wheels for his living. When he arrived in New England, he was the only settler for many miles who knew this skill.  As a result, he became very wealthy, since the people of the Massachusetts Bay Colony needed spinning wheels to produce their own clothing, rugs, blankets and other textiles.

The kitchen of the Fairbanks House

My Fairbanks genealogy:

Generation 1:  Jonathan Fairbanks, son of John Fairbanks and Isabella Staincliffe, born about 1594 in Halifax, Yorkshire, England, died 5 December 1668 in Dedham, Massachusetts; married on 20 May 1617 in Halifax to Grace Smith, daughter of Samuel Smith and Grace Gawkroger.  She was born 6 January 1600 in Warley, Halifax Parish, Yorkshire and died 28 November 1673 in Dedham.  Six children.

Generation 2: Jonas Fairbanks, born 6 March 1624/5 Sowerby, Halifax, and died 10 February 1676 in Lancaster, Massachusetts when he was killed during an Indian massacre; married on 28 May 1658 in Lancaster to Lydia Prescott, daughter of John Prescott and Mary Gawkroger.  She was born 15 August 1641 in Watertown, Massachusetts and died 31 December 1723 in Watertown.  She married second to Elias Barron.  Six Fairbanks children.

Generation 3:  Grace Fairbanks, born 15 September 1663 in Lancaster, died 11 August 1689 in Sherborn, Massachusetts; married about 1680 to Ephraim Bullen, son of Samuel Bullen and Mary Morse.  He was born 18 July 1653 in Sherborn and died 1690 in Sherborn.  Four children.

Generation 4:  John Bullen m. Sarah Underwood

Generation 5:  Grace Bullen m. Ebenezer Healy

Generation 6:  Comfort Haley m. Abigail Allen

Generation 7:  Comfort Haley m. Rebecca Crosby

Generation 8:  Joseph Edwin Healy m. Matilda Weston

Generation 9:  Mary Etta Healey m. Peter Hoogerzeil

Generation 10:  Florence Etta Hoogerzeil m. Arthur Treadwell Hitchings

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

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The genealogy of the Fairbanks family members who lived in this house:

Generation 1:  Jonathan Fairbanks (about 1595 - 1668) and Grace Smith
Generation 2:  John Fairbanks (1618 - 1684) and his wife Sarah
Generation 3:  Joseph Fairbanks (1656 - 1734) and his wife Dorcas
Generation 4:  Joseph Fairbanks (1687 - 1753) and his wife Abigail
Generation 5:  Joseph Fairbanks (1717 - 1794) and his wife Frances, and his younger brother Ebenezer Fairbanks (1732- 1812) lived here with his wife Prudence.
Generation 6:  Ebenezer Fairbanks, Jr. (1758 - 1832) and his wife Mary
Generation 7:  Prudence (1781 - 1871), Sally (1790 - 1877), and Nancy (1794 - 1879) - three unmarried daughters of Ebenezer, Jr. left the house to an unmarried neice-
Generation 8:  Rebecca Fairbanks (1827 - 1908)

This painting "Old Fairbanks House, Dedham, Massachusetts", by Childe Hassam (1859 -1935) is at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts.  It is on display in the Lorraine and Alan Bressler Gallery (Gallery 222).    The artist is related to my mother through her LEACH, CHOATE and ALLEN lineages.  The artist was born Frederick Childe Hassam, son of Frederick Fitch Hassam and Rose Delia Hathorne.  

For the truly curious:

The Fairbanks House website (including the Fairbanks Family Association):     https://fairbankshouse.org/ 

The Fairbanks House Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/The-Fairbanks-House-129954507016357/ 

The Genealogy of the Fairbanks Family in America, 1633 - 1897, by Lorenzo Sayles Fairbanks,  1897.

The Fairbanks House: A History of the Oldest Timber-Frame Building in New England, by Abbott Lowell Cummings, published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2002.

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "A Visit to The Fairbanks House", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 6, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/08/a-visit-to-fairbanks-house.html: accessed [accesss date]).

Surname Saturday ~ Morse of Dedham and Medfield, Massachusetts

MORSE / MOORS

My 10^th great grandfather, Samuel Morse (1576 – 1654) arrived on board the ship Increase in 1635 with his wife, Elizabeth, a son Joseph, and “Elizabeth Daniel”, age 2, a granddaughter.  His living children followed him to Massachusetts but were not listed on the Increase. The English origins of Samuel and Elizabeth have been written up in journals.  Samuel Morse is the son of Rev. Thomas Morse of Foxearth Essex, and his wife Elizabeth Jasper is the daughter of Lancelot Jasper and Rose Shephard of Suffolk.   See below for the journals with their English origins.

Upon arriving in New England, Samuel and Elizabeth Morse first lived in Watertown, and in 1636 Samuel and his sons Joseph and Daniel were each granted twelve acres in Dedham. In 1640 he was admitted to the church in Dedham, and a few months later he became a freeman.  He was one of the original nineteen settlers of Dedham.

The inventory of his estate calls him “Samuell Morse of Medfield, lately deceased”.  His will mentions his wife Elizabeth, John Morse, Daniell Morse, Mary Bullin & Ann Morse “the wife of my dearly beloved son Joseph deceased, who with my said children shall have an equal portion”.  The will was witnessed by two neighbors and Samuel Bullin, my 9^th great grandfather, husband of Mary, the youngest Morse child.

For more MORSE information:

The English origins of Samuel Morse were written up by G. Andrews Moriarty in The American Genealogist, Volume 24 (1949), pages 147 – 156.

A sketch of Samuel Morse by Robert Charles Anderson in The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England 1634 – 1635, Volume V, pages 170 – 177.

The Ancestry of Colonel John Harrington Stevens and his wife Frances Hellen Miller, by Mary Lovering Holman, 1951, (non paginated, sketches 15 – 18)  

Caveat - some errors – The Morse Genealogy: being a revision of the Memorial of the Morses published by Rev. Abner Morse in 1850, by Howard Morse and Emily Levitt, 1903

Also:

The English origins of Elizabeth (Jasper) Morse were written up by Myrtle Stevens Hyde in The American Genealogist, Volume 62 (1987), pages 235- 40.

My MORSE genealogy:

Generation 1:  Samuel Morse, son of Rev. Thomas Morse, baptized 12 June 1576 in Boxted, Essex, England, died in Medfield, Massachusetts 5 December 1654; married on 29 June 1602 in Redgrave, Suffolk, to Elizabeth Jasper, daughter of Lancelot Jasper and Rose Shepard.  She was baptized on 30 January 1579/80 in Redgrave, and died on 20 June 1655 in Medfield.  Seven children.

Generation 2: Mary Morse, baptized on 13 August 1620 in Burgate, Suffolk, died on 14 February 1688 in Sherborn, Massachusetts; married on 10 August 1641 in Dedham to Samuel Bullen.  Ten children

Generation 3:  Ephraim Bullen m. Grace Fairbanks

Generation 4: John Bullen m. Sarah Underwood

Generation 5: Grace Bullen m. Ebenezer Healy

Generation 6: Comfort Haley m. Abigail Allen

Generation 7: Comfort Haley m. Rebecca Crosby

Generation 8: Joseph Edwin Healy m. Matilda Weston

Generation 9: Mary Etta Healey m. Peter Hoogerzeil

Generation 10: Florence Etta Hoogerzeil m. Arthur Treadwell Hitchings

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

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ Morse of Dedham and Medfield, Massachusetts”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 26, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/05/surname-saturday-morse-of-dedham-and.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ FAIRBANKS of Dedham, Massachusetts

Fairbanks House, 1940, Dedham, Massachusetts

FAIRBANKS

Jonathan Fairbanks (abt 1594 – 1668), my 10^th great grandfather, came from Halifax in Yorkshire, England. He was the son of John Fairbanks (born about 1560) and Isabella Staincliffe, the grandson of George Fairbanks (born about 1530) and Sybil Wade, and the great grandson of Gilbert Fairbanks and his wife Janet.

Jonathan settled in Dedham with his wife and six children, and built the house which is still standing.  The Fairbanks House is  built of timber from England and is considered to be one of the oldest frame houses in the United States.  It remained in the Fairbanks house and has never been deeded or mortgaged, and has belonged to the Fairbanks Family Association since 1903.

Jonathan Fairbanks signed the Dedham Covenant in 1636.  His will names his wife and five surviving children.  I descend from their son Jonas (1624/5 – 1676), my 9^th great grandfather, who removed his family to Lancaster, Massachusetts where he was killed by the native Indians with his son Joshua on 10 February 1676.  His wife, Lydia Prescott remarried to Elias Barron as his second wife. 

My 8^th great grandmother was Grace Fairbanks (1663 – 1689), who was orphaned when her father was killed in Lancaster at age 12.  She married Ephraim Bullen of Sherborn and had four children.  My Fairbanks lineage daughters out here.  The next generation removed to Brimfield, Massachusetts, and the next generation to Nova Scotia, Canada as planters upon the removal of the Acadians.

For more information on the Fairbanks family:

Dedham Town Records 1:28

Genealogy of the Fairbanks Family in America, 1633 - 1897, by Lorenzo Sayles Fairbanks, 1897

"The English Ancestry of Jonathan Fairbanks of Dedham, Massachusetts" by Clarence Almon Torrey, The American Genealogist, Volume 37 [1961]: pages 65 - 72.

"Jonathan Fairbanks of Dedham, Massachusetts and his family in the West Riding of Yorkshire", by Ruth Fairbanks Joseph and James Swan Landberg, The New England Historic Genealogical Register, Volume 166, pages 165 - 187.

My FAIRBANKS genealogy:

Generation 1:  Jonathan Fairbanks, son of John Fairbanks and Isabella Staincliffe, born about 1594 in Halifax, Yorkshire, England, died 5 December 1668 in Dedham, Massachusetts; married on 20 May 1617 in Halifax to Grace Smith, daughter of Samuel Smith and Grace Gawkroger.  She was born 6 January 1600 in Warley, Halifax Parish, Yorkshire and died 28 November 1673 in Dedham.  Six children.

Generation 2: Jonas Fairbanks, born 6 March 1624/5 Sowerby, Halifax, and died 10 February 1676 in Lancaster, Massachusetts; married on 28 May 1658 in Lancaster to Lydia Prescott, daughter of John Prescott and Mary Gawkroger.  She was born 15 August 1641 in Watertown, Massachusetts and died 31 December 1723 in Watertown.  She married second to Elias Barron.  Six Fairbanks children.

Generation 3:  Grace Fairbanks, born 15 September 1663 in Lancaster, died 11 August 1689 in Sherborn, Massachusetts; married about 1680 to Ephraim Bullen, son of Samuel Bullen and Mary Morse.  He was born 18 July 1653 in Sherborn and died 1690 in Sherborn.  Four children.

Generation 4:  John Bullen m. Sarah Underwood

Generation 5:  Grace Bullen m. Ebenezer Healy

Generation 6:  Comfort Haley m. Abigail Allen

Generation 7:  Comfort Haley m. Rebecca Crosby

Generation 8:  Joseph Edwin Healy m. Matilda Weston

Generation 9:  Mary Etta Healey m. Peter Hoogerzeil

Generation 10:  Florence Etta Hoogerzeil m. Arthur Treadwell Hitchings

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

The photo above is from the Library of Congress, Prints and Photograph Division, Historic American Buildings Survey HABS MASS, 11-DED, 1-9, Jonathan Fairbanks House 511 East Street, Dedham, Massachusetts, General View from South East. Created 1 May 1940.


A previous blog post about the PRESCOTT family:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/03/surname-saturday-prescott-of-lancaster.html

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ FAIRBANKS of Dedham, Massachusetts”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 5, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/05/surname-saturday-fairbanks-of-dedham.html: accessed [access date]).

Surname Saturday ~ BULLEN of Medfield, Dedham, and Sherborn, Massachusetts

BULLEN house, Sherborn, MA

BULLEN / BULLIN /  BULLEY  / BULLAN

Samuel Bullen (about 1617 - 1691), my 9th great grandfather, is of unknown origins. When he arrived in Massachusetts from England he was an indentured servant to Jonathan Fairbanks of Dedham.  He signed the Dedham Compact in 1639 and he took the freeman's oath in 1641, after his indenture was complete.  He also married Mary Morse in 1641 and owned a house in Dedham by 1646.

When Medfield was settled in 1651 he was one of the first thirteen original settlers.  The town was attacked during King Phillip's War, and 32 houses were burned, including Samuel Bullen's home.  The family relocated to Sherborn to be near Mary's brother, Daniel Morse.  This is when the house on Brush Hill Road was built.

Later, in 1679,  Samuel was able to petition for his losses during the war and he returned to Medfield and rebuilt his house.  He became a Medfield selectman in 1682 and was chosen to be a deacon in 1689.

Samuel Bullen has two grave markers, an original field stone and a memorial erected 100 years later by his descendants in the Vine Lake Cemetery in Medfield, Massachusetts.  You can see photographs at the Find A Grave website at this link:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/30823812/samuel-bullen 

His son Ephraim (1653 - 1690), my 8th great grandfather, married Grace Fairbanks, the granddaughter of Jonathan Fairbanks, his father's master during his indentured servitude.  They lived in Sherborn and four children.  I descend from their son John (1686 - 1757), my 7th great grandfather who removed to Brimfield in western Massachusetts.  This is where my lineage daughters out, with their daughter Grace (born 1727) in Brimfield, my 6th great grandmother, who married Ebenezer Healy and removed to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

For more information:

History of the Towns of Sherborn and Holliston, by Rev. Abner Morse

History of the Town of Medfield, Massachusetts 1650 - 1886, by William S. Tilden, 1887, page 334

Memorial of the Morses, by Rev. Abner Morse

New England Historical Genealogical Register,  Volume 83 (1929), pages 291 - 293.

Samuel Bullen and Some of His Descendants, by May Philipps Train, 1941 



My BULLEN genealogy:

Generation 1:  Samuel Bullen, born about 1617 in England, died 16 January 1691/2 in Medfield, Massachusetts; married on 10 August 1641 Medfield to Mary Morse, daughter of Samuel Morse and Elizabeth Jasper.  She was baptized on 13 August 1620 in Redgrave, Suffolk, England and died 14 February 1688 in Sherborn, Massachusetts.  Ten children.

Generation 2:  Ephraim Bullen, born 18 July 1653 in Dedham, died 1690 in Sherborn; married about 1680 to Grace Fairbanks, daughter of Jonas Fairbanks and Lydia Prescott.  She was born 15 September 1663 in Lancaster, Massachusetts, and died 11 August 1689 in Sherborn.  Four children.

Generation 3:  John Bullen, born 22 February 1686 in Sherborn, died 28 January 1757 in Brimfield, Massachusetts; married 31 August 1709 in Sherborn to Sarah Underwood, daughter of Joseph Underwood and Elizabeth Unknown.  She was born 9 February 1687 in Watertown, and died 18 September 1757 in Brimfield.  One known child.

Generation 4:  Grace Bullen, born 1727 in Brimfield; married Ebenezer Healy, son of Paul Healy and Elizabeth Unknown.  He was born 21 January 1708 in Rehoboth, and died 14 February 1777 in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.  Eight children.

Generation 5: Comfort Haley m. Abigail Allen
Generation 6: Comfort Healey m. Rebecca Crosby
Generation 7: Joseph Edwin Healy m. Matilda Weston
Generation 8: Mary Etta Healey m. Peter Hoogerzeil
Generation 9: Florence Etta Hoogerzeil m. Arthur Treadwell Hitchings
Generation 10: Gertrude Matilda Hitchings m. Stanley Elmer Allen (my grandparents)


The photo above this blog post is from Wikimedia
John Phelan, "Sawin-Bullen-Bullard House, Sherborn, Massachusetts", Wikimedia, April 2010, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sawin-Bullen-Bullard_House,_Sherborn_MA.jpg 

Click here to read a historic survey by the town of Sherborn on the Bullen House:
https://www.sherbornma.org/sites/sherbornma/files/uploads/52.pdf


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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ BULLEN of Dedham, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted April 28, 2018, (  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/04/surname-saturday-bullen-of-dedham.html: accessed [access date]).

Surname Saturday ~ BACON of Dedham, Newton, and Salem, Massachusetts

The grave of Tabitha (Bacon) (Glover) Jillings
at Marblehead, Massachusetts

BACON / BACCON

Michael Bacon (1569 – 1648), my 11^th great grandfather, came from Suffolk County, England with his wife, three sons, a daughter, and their families to Dedham, Massachusetts.  He was one of the original signers of the Dedham agreement in 1633.  That record says he was from Ireland. According to tradition, he returned to England and was back in Dedham by 1640. 

Michael Bacon’s will is dated 14 April 1648, and he died on 18 April.   His will mentions his sons Michael, Daniel and John, and his daughter Sarah Bancroft.  His wife Alice died on 2 April of the same year.  I descend from son Daniel Bacon (about 1620 – 1691), my 10^th great grandfather. 

Daniel Bacon was an original proprietor at Woburn, Massachusetts.  You can read his name on the list of the 32 original signers of the Woburn Orders 18 December 1640.  He removed to Bridgewater , and then later exchanged his land in Woburn (with his nephew Michael Bacon) for land in a part of Cambridge that is now the town of Newton, Massachusetts.  This deed states that he was formerly of Bridgewater, now of Cambridge.  His wife, Mary Read, was from Bridgewater.  Daniel Bacon was a tailor. His seven children are recorded in Newton.

In the next generation I descend from Daniel Bacon, Jr. (about 1641 – 1720), my 9^th great grandfather.  He was a ship carpenter and had a small shipyard in Salem, Massachusetts on a creek that was known as Knocker’s Hole.  This land is near Mill Street in Salem today.   The History of Salem, by Sidney Perley, lists many ships built by Daniel Bacon in this shipyard.   Daniel Bacon married Susanna Spencer.  In his will he left everything to his wife, with the agreement that when she passed away the property would be divided into five parts for his five children.

Next I descend from the youngest son, John Bacon, who was already deceased when his father wrote his will.  His children inherited from their grandfather.  John Bacon (1681 – 1716), 8^th great grandfather, was also a shipwright.  After his early death, his wife remarried to Joseph Willard.  I descend from John Bacon’s daughter Tabitha who married Jonathan Glover.  Tabitha and Jonathan had four sons, and all served in the Revolutionary War.   One of these sons was the famous Major General John Glover (1732 – 1797), the maritime hero of the American Revolutionary War.   I descend from their son youngest, Daniel Glover (b. 1734/5). 

Some BACON resources:

The History of Salem, by Sidney Perley (three volumes)

Bacon Genealogy: Michael Bacon of Dedham, 1640, and his descendants, by Thomas Williams Baldwin, 1915.

The Genealogical Dictionary of New England, by James Savage, Volume 1, page 90

My BACON genealogy:

Generation 1:  Michael Bacon, baptized on 6 December 1579 in Winston, Suffolk County, England, died on 18 April 1648 in Dedham, Massachusetts; married on 20 September 1607 in Winston to Alice Blower.  She was born about 1581 and died 2 April 1648 in Dedham.  Five children.

Generation 2:  Daniel Bacon, born about 1620, died 7 September 1691 in Newton, Massachusetts; married about 1640 to Mary Read, daughter of Thomas Read and Rachel Unknown.  She died on 4 October 1691 in Newton.  Eight children.

Generation 3: Daniel Bacon, born about 1641, died 1720; married on 1 August 1664 in Salem to Susannah Spencer, daughter of Michael Spencer and Isabel Unknown.  She was born about 1643 probably in Lynn, Massachusetts, and died 1719 in Salem.  Seven children.

Generation 4:  John Bacon was born 24 January 1681 in Salem, died 29 February 1716 in Salem; married on 20 January 1702 in Salem to Hannah King, daughter of Daniel King and Tabitha Walker.  She was born aobut 1681.  Six children.

Generation 5:  Tabitha Bacon, baptized on 20 July 1712 (with three of her siblings) in Salem, Massachusetts, died 7 March 1785 in Marblehead, Massachusetts; married on 23 February 1727 in Salem to Jonathan Glover, son of Jonathan Glover and Abigail Henderson.  He was born 14 December 1702 in Salem, and died August 1737 in Salem.  Four children.  Tabitha remarried to Thomas Jillings on 15 July 1756.

Generation 6:  Daniel Glover m. Hannah Jillings (step siblings)

Generation 7:  Tabitha Glover m. Thomas Homan

Generation 8:  Betsey Jillings Homan m. Jabez Treadwell

Generation 9:  Eliza Ann Treadwell m. Abijah Hitchings

Generation 10: Abijah Franklin Hitchings m. Hannah Eliza Lewis

Generation 11:  Arthur Treadwell Hitchings m. Florence Etta Hoogerzeil

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

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ BACON of Dedham, Newton, and Salem, Massachusetts”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted December 23, 2017, (  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/11/surname-saturday-bacon-of-dedham-newton.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ Barstow

BARSTOW/BAIRSTOW/BEARSTOW/BEERESTO

The North River
photo by Bill West, used with permission

William "Beeresto", age 23, came to Massachusetts in September 1635 on the ship Truelove, with his brother George, following his brother Michael who had arrived earlier.  On the passenger list he is listed as "Beeresto".   He first settled in Dedham, Massachusetts, and later went to the part of the town of Scituate that became the town of Hanover in 1727. He took the oath of Freeman in 1649.

William Barstow built the first bridge over the North River at Stony Beach.  He was a tavern keeper and also a selectman and surveyor of highways.   His house was located “about 40 rods back of the site of the Second Congregational Church on Oakland Avenue.  Its cellar hole can still be seen [note: 1937].  William Barstow was the pioneer shipbuilder in Hanover, near Barstow’s Bridge, the first bridge over the North River, built by him in 1656.  He received from the colony £12 for its erection.”  (From History and Genealogy of the Briggs Family, 1254 – 1937, by L. Vernon Briggs, Three volumes, 1937)

For more information on William Barstow you may consult The Complete Book of Emigrants, 1607 – 1776, by Peter Wilson Coldham, Genealogical Publishing Co., 1987 (also on CD) and there is a sketch of William Barstow in The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England 1634 -1635, by Robert Charles Anderson, NEHGS, 2001, Volume 1, pages 174 to 180, as well as sketches of his brothers, George and Michael Barstow.

My lineage from William Barstow:

Generation 1: Matthew Barstow, baptized 29 June 1565 in Shelf, North Halifax, Yorkshire, England; married to Isabell Hill.  Five children, including Michael, George and William who came to America.

Generation 2:  William Barstow, born about 1612 in England, died 1 January 1668/9 in Dedham, Massachusetts; married on 8 May 1638 in Dedham to Anna Hubbard, daughter of James Hubbard and Naomi Cocke.  She was born about 1616 in Hendlesham, England, and died after 23 June 1674 in Hull, Massachusetts.  Six children.

Generation 3: Mary Barstow, born 28 December 1641 in Dedham, died 16 November 1708 in Stonington, Connecticut; married on 14 May 1656 in Boston, Massachusetts to William Ingraham, son of Richard Ingraham.  He was born about 1629 in England and died 4 May 1721 in Groton, Connecticut. Six children.

Generation 4: William Ingram m. Elizabeth Chesebrough

Generation 5: Patience Ingraham m. Ebenezer Bill

Generation 6:  Asahel Bill m. Mary Rand

Generation 7: Reverend Ingraham Ebenezer Bill m. Isabella Lyons

Generation 8: Professor Caleb Rand Bill m. Ann Margaret Bollman

Generation 9: Isabella Lyons Bill m. Albert Munroe Wilkinson

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

Please click this link to read Bill West's blog post (he is also a Barstow descendant) with photos of the North River area where William Barstow had his land:

http://westinnewengland.blogspot.com/2012/01/walk-along-north-river-norwell-ma.html

 

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Copyright 2013, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Wedding Serendipity

Our family tree is growing a new branch!  Last month our daughter was engaged to be married, and she jumped right into wedding planning.  She has always dreamed of being married in a historical house with some family connection.  Fortunately for her, there are many houses in our area that were lived in by ancestors and their close kin.  She was on line researching houses, and on the phone with many of them that made her “short list”.

My daughter’s first choice was the Fairbanks house, which was built by her 11x great grandfather, Jonathan Fairbanks (abt 1594 – 1668), in Dedham, Massachusetts.  It was built between 1637 and 1641.  She loved the fairytale look of the crooked roof line, and the history.  However, the house and grounds were too small for a big wedding.  It has hosted small weddings in the past.  There were no kitchen facilities for a caterer.  Disappointed, she moved on down the list.

The Mayflower House, Plymouth, MA

Next was the Mayflower House in Plymouth, which is used by the General Society of Mayflower Descendants as their headquarters.  If you have used the library, you have been there.  It has a lovely rose garden in the back, where I have attended garden parties for the Mayflower Society’s Trienniel Congresses every three years.  This garden was too small for a reception tent, but would be perfect for a wedding ceremony.  My daughter decided to move on down the list…

The 2000 Felton Family Reunion, Peabody, MA

The Felton Houses in Peabody, Massachusetts were built by her 10x great grandfather, Nathaniel Felton (abt 1615 – 1705).  The Nathaniel Felton, Sr. house was built about 1650, and later divided in half to build the Nathaniel, Jr. house next door.  Both houses have large additions and gardens.  There is a barn across the street used for functions, and our family is familiar with this from the Felton Family Association reunions held every summer in the barn.  There is room for a tent near some beautiful orchards.  My daughter was not in love with the site (perhaps it was too familiar to her from the family reunions?) so we moved on down the list.

The Francis Wyman House, Burlington, MA

The Wyman house, built in Burlington, Massachusetts in 1666 by her 10x great grandfather, Francis Wyman (1617 – 1699), is lovely, but has no bathrooms, kitchen or proper place for a party.  There are plans to erect a barn on the grounds in the near future, especially for functions and rentals.  Too bad, because my daughter lives right in Burlington and that would have been handy! 

The next house was the Larz Anderson Auto Museum in Brookline, Massachusetts, which is inside a lovely carriage house that looks like a Loire castle.   The manor house that used to be behind it was destroyed years ago to form a town park.  Many weddings are held on the great lawn, with the “castle” in the background.  It was a bit too formal, too expensive, and not really owned by an ancestor, just a close cousin since Larz Anderson married Isabel Weld Perkins, and we have both Perkins and Weld ancestors.  Next…

The Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts sounded perfect.  I've passed by this old house many times and have seen weddings and functions going on in the yard.  It was built by Reverend William Emerson in 1770, who was Ralph Waldo Emerson's grandfather, and is my 1st cousin 7 generations removed.  Our Emerson ancestors lived for a long time in Concord.   The Old Manse is a very romantic house because Nathaniel Hawthorne lived here for a short time and etched love poems to his wife on the window panes.  It is also located right next door to the Concord Minuteman statue and the Old North Bridge for some delightful wedding photos, but would make her wedding right in the middle of lots of tourists and gawking.  The Old Manse didn't quite fit my daughter's plans either. 

I could tell that my daughter was becoming a bit frustrated in her search, since there were so many choices, and none were perfect.  She confessed that she always like the Pierce House in Lincoln, Massachusetts.  She used to pass it every day when she worked nearby at the DeCordova Museum.  It was beautiful, historical, and who cared if it didn’t belong to a member of the family tree.  We all went to visit it and she loved it so much that we put down a deposit for a day next spring.  My husband took a photo of the portrait of John H. Pierce that was in the hallway.  I asked the caretaker if he was descended of the Pierce’s of Watertown, Massachusetts (a wild guess!).  He told me that he didn’t know the family genealogy, but he knew that his real name was Hoar, and he changed it to Pierce.

Here we are at the Pierce  House

Undaunted, when I got home I took a look at my Pierce family tree on the computer.  I found an article about John Howard Pierce online, and how his father, Abijah Pierce Hoar, had changed the surname.  Abijah’s mother was Susanna Pierce.  I found her already listed in my database as a 5^th cousin, 6 generations removed.  This was a rather distant kinship, but fun to tell my daughter about the connection.  However, before I called her I looked at John Howard Pierce’s wife’s name, Mary Elizabeth Wheeler.   She had six common ancestors with us (Coolidge, Hubbard, Heyward, two Munroe lines, and Stone).  Now, that was interesting! 

We’ll have to put a family tree under that portrait of John. H. Pierce on the wedding day!

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For more information, check this list.  One of these historic Massachusetts houses could be perfect for your next function or wedding!:

The Fairbanks House, Dedham, MA http://www.fairbankshouse.org/index.html

The Mayflower House, Plymouth, MA http://www.themayflowersociety.com/museum

The Nathaniel Felton, Sr. and Jr. Houses, Peabody, MA http://www.peabodyhistorical.org/properties.asp

The Francis Wyman House, Burlington, MA http://www.wyman.org/francis-wyman-house

The Larz Anderson Estate, Brookline, MA http://larzanderson.org/
The Old Manse http://www.thetrustees.org/places-to-visit/greater-boston/old-manse.html 

The Pierce House, Lincoln, MA http://www.piercehouse.com/

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Wedding Serendipity", Nutfield Genealogy, posted April 9, 2012, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/04/wedding-serendipity.html: accessed [access date]). 

Friday Funny ~ The Museum of Bad Art

This is a real museum.  I'm not kidding.  A real museum with signs, a website and everything.  And so, my friend and I took a detour through Dedham Square just to see the Museum of Bad Art.  It is located in the basement of the Dedham Community Theater, down in the basement next to the men's room.  There is actually a second location in the Somerville Theater, in Davis Square.  I guess there is so much "Bad Art" that they had overflow...

Well, this doesn't have much to do with genealogy or local history, but it is the kind of place where my ancestor's art would probably end up...

My friend was laughing so hard
she could hardly take a photo!

An award winning museum

Don't miss this!

The Museum of Bad Art http://www.museumofbadart.org/

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Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo