A Traitor in My Family Tree? Yes! Part Two

A screenshot of JL Bell's blog Boston 1775
https://boston1775.blogspot.com/

One of the things I love about blogging is the comments I get on my blog. In yesterday’s post I referenced another blogger.  He commented back on my blog with a big hint about some additional information in an article he wrote in 2005.  Wow!  What lot of good genealogical information that was new to me!

My blog post yesterday was about Ebenezer Richardson and his two wives.  Yesterday, 22 February, was the anniversary of Ebenezer’s mistaken attempt to quell a Boston mob by firing bird shot into the crowd.  He injured one boy and killed another, probably causing the Boston Massacre two weeks later, on 5 March 1770.  I read about his story at Twitter in an “On This Day In History” tweet.  The names in the link caught my attention since they were all from my family tree.

In my blog post I gave some posts from J.L. Bell’s history blog Boston 1775 as sources. He wrote back in a comment that he had written an article in the New England Historic Genealogical Society’s magazine New England Ancestors about Ebenezer Richardson, and he said, “I think Rebecca (Fowle) (Richardson) Richardson died in 1753 after her sister Kezia (Fowle) Henshaw gave birth and before Kezia married Ebenezer Richardson. There’s no divorce on the record… I think the Rebecca Richardson who died in 1782 is therefore someone else.”

The article that J.L. Bell wrote is “’A Wretch of Wretches Prov’d with Child’: From Local Scandal to Revolutionary Outrage”, New England Ancestors, Volume 6 (2005), pages 22 – 24 and page 40, (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009.)   I looked it up online with great enthusiasm, since both the RICHARDSON and the FOWLE families of Woburn are in my family tree.  As Bell stated in this article “When Kezia (Fowle) Hincher gave birth in 1752, she had been an unmarried widow for over five years. Naturally, her neighbors in Woburn, Massachusetts, gossiped about the father.  At first the mystery roiled local church politics.  Eventually, the fallout from this genealogical puzzle helped bring on the American Revolution.”  Yes, it was a great genealogical puzzle! 

Puzzling out my genealogical relationship to the main characters in this story was my main goal yesterday.  But last night, after reading the NEHGS article by J. L. Bell, I’m was determined to iron out the details of the lives of the two sisters, Rebecca and Kezia.  Fortunately, Bell had done all the work in preparing his article.  He believes there was no divorce, no bigamy, and that Rebecca had died before Ebenezer remarried to Kezia. His argument is laid out in his article. 

The magazine story also describes, in great detail, Ebenezer’s extra-marital affairs with his sister-in-law. She first accused her employer of being the father of her bastard child (she was house maid to the local minister), and he had to sue to restore his reputation.  It’s very juicy stuff for the 18^th century (things haven’t changed much, have they?).  And there are more details about Ebenezer’s treachery in colluding with the British customs officials more than fifteen years later, to the point of not sentencing him to hang, and leaving him free to escape to freedom in London.  He was so infamous that even in “1816 John Adams remembered Ebenezer this way: ‘Adultery, incest, perjury were reported to be his ordinary crimes’”. 

To me, another very interesting part of J. L. Bell’s article is how he describes how he found all the documentation to prove Ebenezer Richardson’s story. He puzzled out the intricacies of the sister’s relationships to him with vital records, church and town records, but he also found broadsides, trial records, Legal Papers of John Adams (he was the lawyer for the British side of the Boston massacre), and probate records. In the last paragraph of the article he gives a tip for ordering copies from the National Archives of Great Britain. Usually I read Bell’s work in the context of American history, but this article proves how history and genealogy work hand in hand.

If you missed part one of this blog post (yesterday) click on this link:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/02/a-traitor-in-my-family-tree.html 

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

To Cite/Link to this post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "A Traitor in My Family Tree?  Yes!  Part Two", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 23, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/02/a-traitor-in-my-family-tree-yes-part-two.html: accessed [access date]). 

A Traitor in my Family Tree?

Boston Massacre

On this date, 22 February, in 1770 a mob had gathered outside of Theophilus Lillie’s shop in Boston to protest his importation of British goods. This was during the “Intolerable Acts” when the folks in Boston decided to stop drinking tea and buying British goods, rather than pay the intolerable taxes on imported goods.  While reading about this incident in history, I was struck by the name of the shopkeeper and (thank you internet!)  I was researching his genealogy to find a link to my LILLIE ancestors of Reading, Massachusetts.  I wasn’t finding any links.

As I read further, I learned that the man who lived next door to the shop in the story was named Ebenezer Richardson.  He tried to disperse the crowd by firing bird shot into the crowd, which was mostly young boys and teenagers.  One teen was injured, and a 10 year old German boy named Christopher Sneider was killed.  Again, being a genealogist, I stopped at the name of Ebenezer Richardson.  I had a long line of Ebenezer Richardsons in my family tree, from the town of Woburn outside of Boston. It only took me a minute to confirm that one of these cousins in my tree was the same Ebenezer Richardson whose shot out his bedroom window foreshadowed the Boston Massacre, which took place soon after on 5 March 1770. 

Who was Ebenezer Richardson?  Well, it turns out that his hot temper which led to this incident was not the first time he had displayed tawdry behavior.   In 1752 his wife’s sister gave birth to his child.  He married his own sister-in-law in Boston in January 1754 (his wife didn’t die until 1782).   

Ebenezer Richardson, upon fleeing Woburn, went to work for the British as an informer in Boston.  When he was found out, the British made him a Boston customs officer. His job was to collect the new  taxes from the hated Stamp Act and Townshend Acts. 

After the little Sneider boy died,  two thousand people attended his funeral.  On 20 April 1770 Richardson was found guilty of murder by a Boston jury. I’m not surprised- he was a very unpopular figure in Boston and rumored to be tarred and feathered.  The British judges thought the sentence unfair and didn’t sentence him to hang, and London sent a pardon.  The British also found him a new job in 1773 in Philadelphia.  But the good folks of Boston “informed” on Richardson and told the people of Philadelphia his story, including the scandal with his second wife.  He fled to London.

No more is known of Ebenezer Richardson.  Did he die in London?  Change his name?

Ebenezer Richardson, son of Timothy Richardson and Abigail Johnson, was born on 31 March 1718 in Woburn, Massachusetts.  He married first to Rebecca Fowle about 1740.  She was the widow of Phineas Richardson (she was the second cousin once removed of Phineas, and the second cousin twice removed of Ebenezer).   He married second to Kezia Fowle, sister to Rebecca and widow of Thomas Henshaw.   I have no further information on Kezia, and Rebecca died on 6 November 1782 in Woburn, long after the scandal.

The two Fowle sisters, Rebecca and Kezia, are my 1^st cousins 8 generations removed.  Their parents, John Fowle and Elizabeth Prescott are my 8^th great uncle and aunt.  John’s parents, James Fowle (1643 – 1690) and Abigail Carter (1648 – 1718) are my 8^th great grandparents.

Ebenezer Richardson is further removed from me.  He is my 3^rd cousin, 8 generations removed.  His great grandparents, John Richardson and Elizabeth Bacon, are my 9^th great uncle and aunt. His 2x great grandparents, Samuel Richardson (1602 – 1658) and Joanna Thake (1606 – 1666), are my 9^th great grandparents.  Interestingly, Elizabeth (Bacon) Richardson’s grandparents, Michael Bacon (1579 – 1648) and Alice Blower (1681 – 1648), are my 11^th great grandparents.

For more about this story:

Don't miss Part Two of this blog post:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/02/a-traitor-in-my-family-tree-yes-part-two.html

The Richardson Memorial: Comprising a Full History and Genealogy of the Posterity of these Three Brothers, Ezekiel, Samuel and Thomas Richardson, by John Adams Vinton, 1876, pages 242-244, page 265.

J.L. Bell, “Ebenezer Richardson Custom’s Informer”, Boston 1775, posted May 22, 2006, (http://boston1775.blogspot.com/2006/05/ebenezer-richardson-customs-informer.html: accessed 22 February 2018).

J. L. Bell, “Ebenezer Richardson as Cause of the American Revolution”, Boston 1775, posted April 9, 2015, (http://boston1775.blogspot.com/2015/04/ebenezer-richardson-as-cause-of.html: accessed 22 February 2018).

My RICHARDSON "Surname Saturday" post:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/01/surname-saturday-richardson-of-woburn.html

My FOWLE "Surname Saturday" post:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/12/surname-saturday-fowle-of-charlestown.html


The image above is from Paul Revere of Boston. The print was copied by Revere from a design by Henry Pelham for an engraving eventually published under the title "The Fruits of Arbitrary Power, or the Bloody Massacre," of which only two impressions could be located by Brigham. Revere's print appeared on or about March 28, 1770. - http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsc.00174, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4415919

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To Cite/Link to this post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “A Traitor in my Family Tree?”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 22, 2018, (  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/02/a-traitor-in-my-family-tree.html: accessed [access date]). 

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Elizabeth Carter, buried 1691 in Woburn, Massachusetts

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

HERE LIES Ye BODY

OF ELIZABETH

CARTER WIFE OF CAPt.

JOHN CARTER AGED

78 YEARS DIED Ye

6 OF MAY 1691

Elizabeth, my 8th great grandmother, was born about 1613 in England, died 6 May 1691 in Woburn, and married John Carter about 1642 in Woburn, Massachusetts.  Many sources, including Torrey's New England Marriages to 1700, give her surname as KENDALL, but actually no one knows her maiden name.  She doesn't have a marriage or death record.  This tombstone is the only record of her name "Elizabeth".

I descend from two of her daughters.  Abigail Carter, my ancestress, was born 21 April 1648 in Woburn, and married James Fowle in 1666.  I descend from their son, James Fowle, Jr. born 1667.

I also descend from Abigail's sister, Hannah Carter, my 7th great grandmother, born in 1651.  She married James Converse on 1 Jan 1669 in Woburn.  I descend from their son, Robert Converse, born in 1677.

A blog post about the tombstone of Elizabeth's husband, John Carter:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/07/tombstone-tuesday-captain-john-carter.html

A "Surname Saturday" blog post about the CARTER family:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/01/surname-saturday-carter-of-woburn.html


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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday ~ Elizabeth Carter, buried 1691 in Woburn, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 15, 2017, (https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/08/tombstone-tuesday-elizabeth-carter.html: accessed [access date]).

Colonel Loammi Baldwin

DISSEMINATOR OF THE APPLE

IN HONOR OF HIM CALLED

THE BALDWIN

WHICH PROCEEDED FROM A TREE

ORIGINALLY GROWING WILD

ABOUT TWO MILES NORTH

OF THIS MONUMENT

A PARTICIPANT WITH THE

RANK OF MAJOR

IN THE BATTLES OF

LEXINGTON AND CONCORD

A COLONEL OF 

THE 26TH REGIMENT OF

THE CONTINENTAL ARMY

WITH GENERAL WASHINGTON

DURING THE OCCUPATION

OF NEW YORK

AND IN THE BATTLE

OF TRENTON

LOAMMI BALDWIN

PATRIOT

PUBLIC OFFICIAL

BORN JANUARY 21, 1745, N.S.  [New Style]

IN NORTH WOBURN

MASSACHUSETTS

DIED OCTOBER 20, 1807 

ONE OF THE PROPRIETORS

AND

PRINCIPAL CONSTRUCTOR

OF THE MIDDLESEX CANAL

A MEMBER OF

THE COMMITTEE TO SIGN

THE PAPER MONEY OF

MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY

FIRST SHERIFF OF

MIDDLESEX COUNTY

UNDER THE STATE CONSTITUTION

A LEADER OF AFFAIRS

IN WOBURN 

ERECTED IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE WILL

OF HIS GRANDDAUGHTER

CATHERINE RUMFORD GRIFFITH

BY HIS GREAT-GRANDSONS ROSWELL PARK

LOAMMI FRANKLIN BALDWIN AND BALDWIN COOLIDGE

EXECUTORS AND TRUSTEES

A.D. MCMXVII

Loammi Baldwin is my 2nd cousin 7 generations removed.  I was driving through Woburn, Massachusetts when I saw this monument.  The name Loammi jumped out at me.  How many Loammi's do you know?  It's a very unusual Biblical name, and one I remembered was found in my family tree.  I knew that Loammi Baldwin was an officer in the American Revolutionary War, but I didn't know that he was also a horticulturalist, civil engineer and politician.  

Across the street from this monument, at 2 Alfred Street in Woburn, is the Loammi Baldwin mansion.  It is currently a restaurant, but it is still standing, and the outside of the building has a sign saying it was part of the National Register of Historic Places.  The house was moved from nearby to make room for a supermarket.   Just south of the house, near the lawn, is the remains of a section of the Middlesex Canal.  This was once a major waterway between downtown Boston and the Merrimack River.  Loammi Baldwin was a proprietor (shareholder) in this canal, which lasted until railroads took over transporting goods from Boston to Middlesex County and New Hampshire, and vice versa. 

You will often read that Loammi Baldwin was a great friend of Count Rumford, another politician, military leader and scientist who lived in Woburn at the same time period.  This is true, but more important, Count Rumford, the alias of Benjamin Thompson, was also Loammi's second cousin, one generation removed. I think that relationship is often overlooked by historians.  Click HERE to learn more about Count Rumford. 

                                               Samuel Richardson m. 1632  Joanna Thake

                                                                                  I                                            

                                      Joseph Richardson m. 1666 Hannah Greene

                                            I                                                         I    

           James Fowle m 1688. Mary Richardson             Joseph Richardson m. 1693 Mary Bloggett

                                I                                                                    I

            Mary Fowle m. 1714 James Simonds                Ruth Richardson m. James Baldwin

                                 I

            Ruth Simonds m. Benjamin Thompson               Loammi Baldwin (1745 - 1807)

                                 I                                                       m. 1772 Mary Fowle (first cousin)

       Benjamin Thompson "Count Rumford" (1752-1814)

        

Here is my kinship to Loammi Baldwin:

(you can see I am a first cousin, 6 generations removed from Count Rumford)

                                               Samuel Richardson m. 1632 Joanna Thake

                                                                                I

                                             Joseph Richardson m. 1666 Hannah Greene

                                                 I                                                    I

                  Mary Richardson m. 1688 James Fowle           Ruth Richardson m. James Baldwin

                                                I                                                      I

             Mary Fowle m. 1714 James Simonds                    Loammi Baldwin (1745 - 1807)

                                                I

             Caleb Simonds m. 1746 Susanna Converse

                                                I

              Ruth Simonds m. 1785 Andrew Munroe

                                                I

              Luther Simonds Munroe m. 1826 Olive Flint

                                                I

              Phebe Cross Munroe m. 1853 Robert Wilson Wilkinson

                                                I

              Albert Munroe Wilkinson m. 1894 Isabella Lyons Bill

                                                I

              Donald Munroe Wilkinson m. 1926  Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents) 

Here's something fun that I didn't know about the Baldwin Apple.  Genealogy Blogger Janice Brown, the author of the blog Cow Hampshire, told me that there was a monument to the Baldwin Apple.  The monument above states that Baldwin apple originated two miles north of Woburn.  This is in the town of Wilmington, Massachusetts.  The Rumford Historical Society erected this impressive monument to the apple here near the site of the original tree.

THIS MONUMENT

MARKS THE SITE OF THE FIRST

BALDWIN APPLE TREE

FOUND GROWING WILD NEAR HERE.

IT FELL IN THE GALE OF 1815

THE APPLE FIRST KNOWN AS THE 

BUTTERS, WOODPECKER

OR PECKER APPLE

WAS NAMED AFTER

COL. LOAMMI BALDWIN

OF WOBURN

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

ERECTED IN 1895

BY THE 

RUMFORD HISTORICAL 

ASSOCIATION

[on the left side of the monument]

EXACT SPOT

340 FEET WEST

-------------->

10 DEGREES NORTH

In an interesting twist, Colonel Loammi Baldwin was also a cousin to Johnny Appleseed.  You can read the story of Johnny Appleseed HERE.   I always wondered if Johnny "Appleseed" Chapman took Baldwin apple seeds with him on his journey to the Midwest.  Does anyone know the answer to that question? 

                                                Joseph Richardson m. 1666 Hannah Greene

                                                         I                                         I

Mary Richardson m. 1688 James Fowle                    Joseph Richardson m. Mary Bloggett

                            I                                                                      I

Mary Fowle m. 1714 James Simonds                        Ruth Richardson m. James Baldwin

                            I                                                                      I

James Simonds m. 1740 Anna Lawrence                  Colonel Loammi Baldwin (1744/45 - 1807)

                            I

Elizabeth Simonds m. 1769 Nathaniel Chapman

                            I

Johnny "Appleseed" Chapman (1744 - 1854) 

Click here for my blog post about Johnny Appleseed

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/08/on-trail-of-johnny-appleseed.html 

Click here for my blog post about Count Rumford

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/05/count-rumford-house.html

Click here for my blog post about the Middlesex Canal
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-middlesex-canal.html  

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

To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Colonel Loammi Baldwin", Nutfield Genealogy, posted October 14, 2013, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/10/colonel-loammi-baldwin.html , accessed [access date]).  

On the Trail of Johnny Appleseed

This spot, with the historical markers and miniature log cabin,
marks the birthplace of Johnny "Appleseed" Chapman, in Leominister, Massachusetts

Every time I drive to my Mother’s house we drive down Route 13 through Leominster, Massachusetts.  Along the way we pass a “Welcome to Leominster” sign that says “Home of Johnny Appleseed”, a  Johnny Appleseed school , Appleseed plaza, and lots of other references to the mythical hero.  But he was a real man, and his actual name was John Chapman.  He was my 2^nd cousin, five generations removed.   His mother was Elizabeth Simonds, the niece of my 5^th great grandfather, Caleb Simonds (1720 – 1811).

One day last month when we were passing though Leominster I said to my husband, “Let’s find the historical marker for his birthplace”.  Of course, it was located on Johnny Appleseed Lane, next to the Johnny Appleseed State Park.  It was easy to find with an iPhone using Google and a mapping app, or GPS.   The memorial was small and solemn, and easy to drive past if you don’t go slowly and keep your eyes open on Johnny Appleseed Lane.   There is no space to park and pay your respects, so we pulled over on the side of the road and took a few quick photos out the car window.

NEAR THIS SITE WAS BORN
JOHN CHAPMAN
KNOWN AS
JOHNNY APPLESEED
SEPTEMBER 26, 1774          MARCH 18, 1845
LEOMINSTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1963

My fellow genealogists are gathering in Fort Wayne, Indiana this week for the Federation of Genealogical Societies conference.  This is near where Johnny Appleseed lies buried at the Johnny Appleseed Memorial Park.  You can see photos of this at FindAGrave.com at this link: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1848 Or here are a few from my fellow blogger Carol A. Bowen Stevens.  Thanks, Carol!

"JOHNNY

APPLESEED"

HE LIVED FOR OTHERS

HOLY BIBLE

1774 - 1845

IN FOND MEMORY OF

JOHN CHAPMAN, ENDEARLY KNOWN AS "JOHNNY APPLESEED"

THESE GRAVESITE IMPROVEMENTS WERE PROVIDED BY

THE MEN'S GARDEN CLUBS OF AMERICA

AND

THE JOHNNY APPLESEED NATIONAL MEMORIAL FOUNDATION, INC.

SEPTEMBER 25, 1965

Johnny Appleseed Memorial Park
Fort Wayne, Indiana
photo courtesy of Carol A. Bowen Stevens

In a funny coincidence, my ancestor Caleb Simonds, mentioned above,  had a first cousin married to Colonel Loammi Baldwin (1744 – 1807), who was a renaissance man - an engineer, inventor, politician and an officer in the American Revolution.  Loammi Baldwin has a statue in his hometown of Woburn, Massachusetts, and is widely remembered as the cultivator of the Baldwin apple among all his other acomplishments. He is the husband of my 2^nd cousin six generations removed.   I wonder if Johnny “Appleseed” Chapman took Baldwin apple seeds with him on his journey to the midwest?   

This Johnny Appleseed statue is in the
Londonderry Leach Library, next to the Children's Room.
It was sculpted by Pat Verani of Londonderry.

Johnny Appleseed’s genealogy:

Generation 1:  John Chapman, born 26 September 1774 in Leominster, Massachusetts, died on 18 March 1845 in Fort Wayne, Indiana; unmarried.

Generation 2:  Johnny “Appleseed”’s parents were Nathaniel Chapman, born 13 September 1746 in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, died 18 February 1807 in Salem, Ohio; married as his first wife  on 9 August 1769 in Leominster to Elizabeth Simonds.  She was born 2 July 1748 in Ware, Massachusetts, died 18 July 1776 in Leominster.  

Generation 3: James Simonds, born 10 March 1717 in Woburn, Massachusetts, died in Leominster; married as his first wife on 12 May 1740 in Woburn to Anna Lawrence, daughter of John Lawrence and Elizabeth Stone.  They are my 5^th great uncle and aunt.

Generation 4: James Simonds, born 1 November 1686 in Woburn, died 30 June 1775 in Woburn; married on 17 June 1714 in Woburn to Mary Fowle, daughter of James Fowle and Mary Richardson.  She was born 18 June 1689 in Woburn, died 9 March 1762 in Woburn.  They are my 6^th great grandparents.

Generation 5: James Simonds, born 1 November 1658 in Woburn, died 15 September 1717 in Woburn; married 29 December 1685 in Woburn to Susannah Blodgett, daughter of Samuel Bloggett and Ruth Eggleton.  She was born 17 February 1663 in Woburn, and died 9 February 1715 in Woburn.  My 7^th great grandparents

Generation 6: William Simonds, born about 1612 in Winchester, Hampshire, England, died 7 June 1672 in Woburn; married on 18 January 1644 in Woburn to Judith Phippen.  She was born about 1619 and died 3 January 1690 in Woburn.  My 8^th great grandparents.

For more information:

The Chapman Family Association, www.chapmanfamilies.org

From the Chapman Family Association website, the Johnny Appleseed page at this link: http://www.chapmanfamilies.org/BIO/j_appleseed.html

"This Day in History- September 26" video from YouTube by the Freedom Trail Foundation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei_mKYvGU-c

New England’s Insomniac Theater visits the Johnny Appleseed Birthplace, on YouTube at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ofihZVnBG8

A story from the Worcester Telegram, 3 July 2011 “Johnny Appleseed Tale Grew Tall in Leominster” by Karen Nugent at this link:  http://www.telegram.com/article/20110703/NEWS/107039793

Johnny Appleseed Country website, sponsored by Massachusetts Visitor Center on Route 2 westbound, located between exits 35 and 36 in Leominster, Massachusetts.      http://www.appleseed.org/

Carol A. Bowen Stevens blog "Reflections from the Fence" http://www.reflectionsfromthefence.com/

-----------------------
The URL for this post is
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/08/on-trail-of-johnny-appleseed.html

If you are reading this at any other URL you are reading stolen content

Copyright 2013, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

jgiNqPyreWsmdjAbThpy 

Surname Saturday ~ Green of Malden, Massachusetts

NOTE
This blog post has been updated at this link:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/07/surname-saturday-green-of-malden.html 

GREEN

Thomas Green arrived in Massachusetts on the ship Planter in 1635/6.  In 1646 he was living at Lady Deborah Moody’s farm in Lynn, Massachusetts, and by 1650 he was a resident of Malden.  He had a 63 acre farm located in what is now the Melrose and Wakefield border.  He was a farmer, and was a selectman in 1658 and a juror several times for Middlesex County.

There were two other Thomas Greens living in Malden at this time period.  This Thomas Green is called “senior” and his son “junior”.  The other Thomas Green has no suffix after his name.  Thomas Green left a will dated 12 November 1667 and proved on 15 January 1667/8.  It doesn’t name a wife, but names all his children. 

His son, William Greene, my 9x great grandfather, was born in Topsfield in 1635 and settled also in Malden.  He was made a freeman in Malden in 1668 and was a selectman in 1678, 1683, and 1702.   Thomas’s grandson, Isaac Green, my 8x great grandfather, left Malden and settled in Falmouth, on Cape Cod, where he is buried.

Some sources for information on the Green family:

Descendants of Thomas Green of Malden, Massachusetts by Samuel S. Green and also The Greenes of Rhode Island with Historical Records of England Ancestors by Louise Brownell Clarke, New York: Knickerbocker Press, 1903.   There are lots of Greens/Greenes buried at Bell Rock Cemetery in Malden that are descendants of these Greens, but none of my direct line have stones that are still visible there.  You can see these Green gravestones at www.FindAGrave.com   

My Green Genealogy:

Generation 1: Thomas Green, born 17 May 1606 in Kegworth, Leicestershire, England, son of John Greene and Ann Scargell, died 19 December 1667 in Malden, Massachusetts; married on 26 June 1627 in Hertfordshire, England to Elizabeth Lynde, daughter of Thomas Lynde and Elizabeth Unknown.   Ten children.

Generation 2: Hannah Green, born 7 February 1647 in Woburn, died 20 May 1721 in Norwich, Connecticut; married on 5 November 1666 in Woburn to Joseph Richardson, son of Samuel Richardson and Joanna Thake.  Four children.

Generation 3: Mary Richardson married James Fowle

Generation 4: Mary Fowle married James Simonds, Jr.

Generation 5: Caleb Simonds married Susanna Converse

Generation 6: Ruth Simonds married Andrew Munroe

Generation 7: Luther Simonds Munroe married Olive Flint

Generation 8: Phebe Cross Munroe married Robert Wilson Wilkinson

Generation 9: Albert Munroe Wilkinson married Isabella Lyons Bill

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

My second Green lineage:

Generation 2: William Green, born 15 December 1635 in England, died 30 Decmeber 1705 in Malden; married first on 13 March 1659 to Elizabeth Wheeler, daughter of Isaac Wheeler and Frances Watson.  Three children.  He married second to Isabel Farmer.

Generation 3: Isaac Greene, born 27 December 1674 in Malden, died 4 January 1740 in Falmouth, Massachusetts; married Sarah Unknown. Four children.

Generation 4:  Martha Green, born 28 October 1705 in Falmouth, married on 18 July 1724 in Falmouth to Peter Robinson, son of Isaac Robinson and Hannah Harper (great great grandson of Rev. John Robinson, pastor to the Mayflower Pilgrims in England and in Leyden, Holland). Seven children.

Generation 5: Jabez Robinson, born 9 June 1726 in Falmouth; married on 7 January 1748 to Tabitha Green, daughter of William Green and Joanna Mendall (a possible 2^nd cousin and a third Green lineage?)  Five children.

Generation 6: Elizabeth Robinson, born 17 June 1750 in Falmouth, died 27 July 1837; married on 8 September 1774 to Ebenezer Crosby, son of Jonathan Crosby and Hannah Hamblin. They removed from Falmouth, Massachusetts to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Eleven children.

Generation 7: Rebecca Crosby, born 19 December 1789 in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia; married on 12 August 1808 in Chebogue, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia to Comfort Haley, son of Comfort Haley and Abigail Allen.  Eleven children.

Generation 8: Joseph Edwin Healy, born 12 August 1823 in Belfast, Maine or Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, died on 17 June 1862 at the Battle of Saint Charles, Arkansas during the Civil War; married on 3 February 1848 to Matilda Weston, daughter of Zadoc Weston and Mary Clements.  Four children.

Generation 9: Mary Etta Healey, born 19 May 1852 in Beverly, Massachusetts, died 23 July 1932 in Beverly, Massachusetts; married on 14 March 1870 in Salem, Massachusetts to Peter Hoogerzeil, son of the immigrant Peter Hoogerzeil of Dordrecht, Holland, and Eunice Stone. Six children.

Generation 10: Florence Etta Hoogerzeil, born 20 August 1871 in Beverly, died 10 February 1941 in Hamilton, Massachusetts; married on 25 December 1890 in Beverly to Arthur Treadwell Hitchings, son of Abijah Franklin Hitchings and Hannah Eliza Lewis.  Nine children.

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

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Copyright 2013, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Surname Saturday ~ Richardson of Woburn, Massachusetts

RICHARDSON

Samuel Richardson was executor of his father’s estate in 1634 in Hutchins, England and then came to America with his brother Thomas, to follow his brother Ezekiel who was already in Massachusetts.  He was granted a lot in Charlestown and became a member of the church there.  All three brothers were granted lots in 1638 in what is now Malden, Massachusetts.   In 1640 all three brothers, and others, were on a committee of seven to draw up the boundaries for a new settlement to be called “Charlestown Village”.  They all had new house lots next to each other on a road that became known as Richardson’s Row in what is now Woburn, Massachusetts.

Samuel was the richest man in Woburn in 1645, and became a selectman.   He left no will, but had deeded some land earlier in 1657 to his sister “Susanna  Richardson, now Brooks, during her lifetime and ten to my cousin [sic nephew] Theophilus Richardson”. 

Samuel’s son, Joseph Richardson (my 8x great grandfather), was in the Great Swamp Fight on 19 December 1675.  This was one of the great battles of the King Philip’s War against the Narragansett tribe.   It took place in a frozen swamp near the present day Kingston, Rhode Island, when the frozen water made an assault possible on a large native fortification.  It is thought that 300 native people died, and many families fled into the harsh environment to only die later of exposure.  It was a battle that changed the war in favor of the colonists and the Narragansett were eventually defeated when their sachem Canonchet was captured the next spring.  King Philip (also known as Metacomet) was killed in August 1676, ending the conflict.

Sources for researching the Richardsons of Woburn:

The Richardson Memorial by John Vinton, Brown Thurston & Co., Portland, Maine, 1876 and Samuel Richardson and Josiah Ellsworth. By Ruth Richardson Privately Published. 1974.   There are several sketches and articles about Samuel, Ezekiel and Thomas Richardson, and the English origins of Joanna (Thake) Richardson,  in the New England Historic Genealogical Society Register and in The Great Migration Begins, Volume III by Anderson.  For a complete list of these articles and sketches see pages 197 and 198 of New Englanders in the 1600s by Martin Hollick, NEHGS, 2012 expanded edition.

My Richardson genealogy:

Generation 1:  Samuel Richardson, baptized on 22 December  1602 in Westmill, Hertfordshire, England, died 23 March 1658 in Woburn (the part now known as Winchester), Massachusetts; married on 18 October 1632 in Great Hormstead, England to Joanna Thake, daughter of William Thake and Joan Wood.  She was baptized on 2 February 1606 in Barkway, England and died 20 June 1666 in Woburn, Massachusetts.   Nine children.

Generation 2: Joseph Richardson, born on 27 July 1643 in Woburn, Massachusetts, died on 5 March 1717/18 in Woburn; married on 5 November 1666 in Woburn to Hannah Green, daughter of Thomas Greene and Elizabeth Lynde.  She was born on 7 February 1647 in Woburn, and died on 20 May 1721 in Norwich, Connecticut.

Generation 3: Mary Richardson, born 22 March 1669 in Woburn, died 23 October 1748 in Woburn; married first on 2 October 1688 in Woburn to James Fowle, son of James Fowle and Abigail Carter.  He was born 4 March 1667 in Woburn and died 19 March 1714 in Woburn. Then had twelve children.  Mary married second to Samuel Walker. 

Generation 4: Mary Fowle married James Simonds, Jr.

Generation 5: Caleb Simonds married Susanna Converse

Generation 6:  Ruth Simonds married Andrew Munroe

Generation 7: Luther Simonds Munroe married Olive Flint

Generation 8: Phebe Cross Munroe married Robert Wilson Wlkinson

Generation 9. Albert Munroe Wilkinson married Isabella Lyons Bill

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

My second Richardson lineage:

Generation 1: Thomas Richardson, born 14 May 1543 in Westmill, Hertfordshire, England, died 7 January 1634 in Westmill; married on 24 August 1590 in Westmill to Katherine Duxford, daughter of Richard Duxford and Katherine Unknown.  Seven children:

1.       Elizabeth Richardson (my 9x great grandmother) born 12 January 1593,  in Westmill and died 22 June 1630 in Westmill, married on 1 May 1617 in Westmill to Francis Wyman as his first of three wives.  I descend from their first son, Francis Wyman (1617 – 1699) who married Abigail Reed and settled in Woburn, Massachusetts

2.       John Richardson, born about 1596

3.       James Richardson, born about 1600

4.       Samuel Richardson (see above) my 9x great grandfather

5.       Ezekiel Richardson, born about 1602, died 21 Oct 1647 in Woburn, Massachusetts

6.       Margaret Richardson, born about 1607

7.       Thomas Richardson, born 3 July 1608 in Westmill, died 28 August 1651 in Woburn

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Copyright 2013, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Surname Saturday ~ Carter of Woburn, Massachusetts

Capt. John Carter, son of Thomas Carter, Woburn Old Burial Ground

There are two Thomas Carters who were first settlers of Woburn, Massachusetts.   It is easy to keep their stories and families separate if you recognize that their ages are about thirty years apart.  One was the first minister, and the other a lowly blacksmith.  Their children have similar names, and both had wives named “Mary”.  

My ancestor Thomas Carter was born about 1585 in England.  It is unknown when he immigrated, or on which ship he arrived.  He was admitted as a freeman in 1636. Thomas Carter was a blacksmith, and served once as constable but was fined for being late in directing witnesses to a trial.  He lived first at Charlestown, but was described as being “of Woburn” (the borders seem to be a bit confused in those days.)  His  1650 will names his wife, Mary, sons Thomas, Samuel, Joseph and John, daughters Mary and Hannah, grandsons Caleb and Joseph Carter, John Brinsmead and John Green.   Among his assets was a Scotsman named Matthew, valued at 14 pounds.

Among my Woburn ancestors, another, Francis Wyman, a tanner, owned several Scotsmen who were prisoners of war from the Battle of Dunbar.  Another was a Scots prisoner, William Munroe.  It is interesting that these men stayed and intermarried in the communities where they were once held captive and in servitude. 

Randy Seaver posted Thomas Carter’s will recently at his blog GeneaMusings http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/11/amanuensis-monday-will-of-thomas-carter.html

The best sources for Thomas Carter, the blacksmith, are the town histories of Charlestown and Woburn, and the vital records.  There is a short sketch of Thomas Carter in the book The New England Ancestory of Dana Converse Backus, by Mary E. N. Backus, 1949.

My lineage from Thomas Carter:

Generation 1: Thomas Carter, born about 1585 in England; died about 1652 in Woburn, Massachusetts; married Mary Unknown, who died 6 March 1665 in Woburn.  Six children.

Generation 2: John Carter, born about 1617, died 14 September 1692 in Woburn; married about 1642 in Woburn to Elizabeth Kendall.  She was born about 1613 in England, died 6 May 1691 in Woburn.  Five children, I descend from two Carter daughters.

Line A.  

Generation 3.  Abigail Carter, born 21 April 1648 in Woburn, died 11 May 1718 in Woburn; married in 1666 in Woburn to Lt. James Fowle, son of George Fowle and Mary Tufts. 

Generation 4.  Capt. James Fowle m. Mary Richardson

Generation 5. Mary Fowle m. James Simonds, Jr.

Generation 6. Caleb Simonds m. Susanna Convers

Generation 7. Ruth Simonds m. Andrew Munroe

Generation 8. Luther Simonds Munroe m. Olive Flint

Generation 9. Phebe Cross Munroe m. Robert Munroe Wilkinson

Generation 10. Albert Munroe Wilkinson m. Isabella Lyons Bill

Generation 11. Donald Munroe Wilkinson m. Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents)

Line B.

Generation B.

Generation 3.  Hannah Carter, born 19 January 1651 in Woburn, died 10 August 1691 in Woburn; married on 1 January 1669 to James Converse, son of James Converse and Anna Long.  He was born on 16 November 1645 in Woburn and died on 8 July 1706 in Woburn.

Generation 4. Robert Converse m. Mary Sawyer

Generation 5. Susanna Converse m. Caleb Simonds (they were first cousins once removed)

(See Above)

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ Carter of Woburn, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 18, 2013, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/01/surname-saturday-carter-of-woburn.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ Tufts of Charlestown and Malden, Massachusetts

TUFTS

My first and only Tufts ancestor is Mary Tufts, the daughter of Peter and Frances Tufts, born in England about 1613.  She married George Fowle in England, about 1634, had one son, and then came to America.  She lived first in Concord, Massachusetts (where she had five children), and then in Charlestown (where she had five more children!).

It is interesting that Mary’s sister, Elizabeth, and brother, Peter Tufts, all came to America, too, and lived in Malden, Massachusetts next door to Charlestown.   Peter Tufts  (1616 – 1700) married Mary Pierce in 1647 in Charlestown, and had five children.  Sister Elizabeth Tufts (about 1619 – 1693) married Thomas Lynde in Charlestown in 1646. 

Tufts University http://www.tufts.edu/ is located in both Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, across the Mystic River from Charlestown and Malden.   The founders were Universalists, and 20 acres of land were donated by Charles Tufts in 1852 on top of Walnut Hill, the highest point in Medford.  He also made a second  donation of another 80 acres later in his life.  In 1892 the trustees voted to admit both men and women.  P. T. Barnum was an early benefactor, and he started a Natural History Museum on campus with his animal specimens, including Jumbo the elephant, who is the college mascot.

Charles Tufts (1781 – 1876), the college benefactor, is the 3x great grandson of Peter Tufts and Mary Pierce of Malden, Massachusetts.   He would be my fourth cousin, five generations removed.  He made his fortune in brickmaking, and inherited most of his land.   He is buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery.    

You can read about the Tufts family at Thomas W. Tuft’s blog “Tufts Family Genealogy” at the link http://tuftsgenealogy.blogspot.com/   There is a book called Tufts Kinsmen: A Recapitulation of the Geonealogy of All Known Persons of the Tufts Surname, by Herbert Freeman Adams, 1992, as well as many papers published by the Tufts Kinsman Association at the NEHGS library.  You can also read a story of the family at the book Sex in Middlesex, by Roger Thompson, University of Massachusetts Press, 1986, pages 45 – 53. 

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Generation 1: Mary Tufts, daughter of Peter Tufts and Frances Unknown, born about 1613 probably in Wilby, Norfolk, England, died 15 February 1676 in Charlestown, Massachusetts; married about 1634 in England to George Fowle, son of George Fowle and Ann Draper.  He was born on 27 January 1610 in Sandhurst, Kent, England, and died on 19 September 1682 in Charlestown, Massachusetts. Eleven children.

Generation 2:  Lt. James Fowle m. Abigail Carter

Generation 3:  Capt. James Fowle m. Mary Richardson

Generation 4: Mary Fowle m. James Simonds

Generation 5: Caleb Simonds m. Susanna Converse

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)

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Copyright 2013, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Surname Saturday ~ Fowle of Charlestown and Woburn, Massachusetts

Lt. James Fowle's tombstone
at the Old Burial Ground, Woburn, Massachusetts

George Fowle was an early immigrant to New England. He was made a freeman in Concord, Massachusetts on 14 March 1639 and living in Charlestown by 1648.  He was a tanner.  His double gravestone, with his wife Mary, at the Phipps Street Burying Ground in Charlestown states that he died at age 72.  Together, they had eleven children and left a will probated on 3 October 1682. 

Lieutenant James Fowle, the second son, was born at Concord and died at Woburn, Massachusetts. He was a cordwainer (shoemaker).   His gravestone states he was forty-nine years old.  He married Abigail Carter, the daughter of Captain John Carter.  She married second Ensign Samuel Walker, and married third to Deacon Samuel Stone.  He was the lieutenant of the local militia, originally appointed as ensign by Governor Andros, which met with some opposition since Andros was an unpopular  leader.   Lt. James Fowle enlisted in the1690 unsuccessful  Phipps Expedition to Quebec, Canada.  He died shortly after returning home, probably due to complications of exposure to the cold weather.   His will , written before the expedition, reads “being a call of God bound for Canada in the Expedition against the French Enemy, and not knowing whether I shall ever return home alive…”

The best source for information on the Massachusetts Fowle family is the book Descendants of George Fowle (1610/11? – 1682) of Charlestown, Massachusetts by Eugene Chalmers Fowle,  New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1990.

My lineage from George Fowle:

Generation 1: George Fowle, born 27 January 1610 at Sandhurst, Kent, England, son of George Fowle and Ann Draper, died on 19 September 1682 in Charlestown, Massachusetts; married about 1634 to Mary Tufts, daughter of Peter Tufts and Frances Unknown, born about 1613 in England and died 15 February 1676 in Charlestown.  Eleven children.

Generation 2: Lieutenant James Fowle, born about 12 March 1643 in Concord, Massachusetts, died on 17 December 1690 in Woburn; married in 1666 to Abigail Carter, daughter of John Carter and Elizabeth Kendall, born 21 April 1648 in Woburn, died 11 May 1718 in Woburn. Eight children.

Generation 3:  Captain James Fowle, born 4 March 1667 in Woburn, died 19 March 1714 in Woburn; married on 2 October 1688 in Woburn to Mary Richardson, daughter of Joseph Richardson and Hannah Greene, born 22 March 1669 in Woburn and died 23 October 1748 in Woburn. Twelve children.

Generation 4: Mary Fowle, born 18 June 1689 in Woburn, died 9 March 1762 in Woburn; married on 17 June 1714 in Woburn to James Simonds, Jr., son of James Simonds and Susanna Blodgett, who was born 1 November 1686 in Woburn and died 30 June 1775 in Woburn. Nine children.

Generation 5: Caleb Simonds m. Susanna Converse

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)

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Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Surname Saturday ~ Blodgett of Cambridge and Woburn, Massachusetts

BLOGGETT

Thomas Blogget was born about 1605 in England and arrived in Massachusetts in 1635 on board the ship “Increase” with his wife Susanna and two of his children; Daniel age 4 and Samuel, age 1.   He had been a glover in England.  He was made a freeman and admitted to the church in Cambridge on 3 March 1635/6.   He owned many parcels of land before his death in 1641.  His house is believed to have been located between Massachusetts Avenue and Oxford Street, near Wendell, which is now located exactly where I went to school at Lesley College (My senior year dorm was one block over on the corner of Oxford and Mellen).

His wife remarried to James Thompson on 15 February 1643/4 and resettled in Woburn with her children.  Thomas had six children, one daughter, Susanna, married her stepbrother, Jonathan Thomson, and one of their descendants was Count Rumford (Benjamin Thompson (1753 – 1814).   Another Blodgett descendant is President Calvin Coolidge.

In his will, dated 10 August 1641 and probated in 1643, he left all his estate to his wife.  The phrase “father-in-law” in the will refers to a possible future stepfather.

      "I, Thomas Bloggett, being at this time in my right mind, give to my wife Susan my whole estate after my decease as well within as without. She to bring up my Children in such learning and other things as is meet for them and pay to oldest son Daniel 15 pounds, when one and twenty or in one month after decease. To second son Samuel 15 pounds as above. To daughter Susanna 15 pounds. Should they have a father-in-law how does not treat them well, my will is that the Deacons and our brother Fessington and our brother Edward Winship they or either of them shall have power to see unto it and reforme it by one means or other.

      Written this 10th day of the 9th month, 1641.

                                          Thomas Blogget

      In presence of us,

            Thomas Harris

            John Meena"

You can read a sketch of Thomas Blodgett in The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England 1634 – 1635, by Robert Charles Anderson, George Sanborn and Melinde Lutz Sanborn, Volume 1,  pages  324 – 325, 2001.  There is also a six volume set of books with an index called Blodget-Blodgett Descendants of Thomas of Cambridge, by Bradley DeForest Thompson and Franklin Condit Thompson, 1954.  If you are lucky, you might find your Blodgett line in the papers of Isaac Dimond Blodgett which are stored in the manuscript collection at the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston.  Isaac Blodgett was born in 1828, elected a member of NEHGS in 1903 and died in 1916. 

My lineage from Thomas Blodgett:

Generation 1: Thomas Blodgett, born about 1605, died between 10 August 1641 (date of will) and 10 December 1642 (date of his inventory); married Susanna Unknown

Generation 2: Samuel Blodgett, born 12 July 1633 in England, died 3 July 1687 in Woburn, Massachusetts; married on 13 December 1655 to Ruth Eggleton, daughter of Stephen Eggleton and Elizabeth.  She was baptized on 8 November 1632 at All Saint’s, Biddendon, Kent, England and died 14 October 1703 in Woburn.

Generation 3:  Susanna Blodgett born 17 February 1663 in Woburn, died 9 February 1715 in Woburn; married on 29 December 1685 in Woburn to James Simonds, son of William Simonds and Judith Phippen.  He was born 1 November 1658 in Woburn, and died on 15 September 1717 in Woburn.

Generation 4: James Simonds m. Mary Fowle

Generation 5: Caleb Simonds m. Susanna Converse

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)

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Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo