My Revolutionary War Ancestors - George Fint of Reading, Massachusetts

 

The George Flint House in North Reading, Mass.

This is the 12th post I have written about a Revolutionary War veteran ancestor.  George Flint, my 5th great grandfather, was the son of George Flint (b. 1686) and Jerusha Pope, born on 16 November 1728 in what is now the town of North Reading, Massachusetts.  His mother, Jerusha, was the daughter of Joseph Pope and Bethshua Folger (the sister to Abiah Folger, Benjamin Franklin's mother).  Joseph and Bethshua Pope were notorious witnesses in the 1692 Salem witch trials, and accused their neighbors John Proctor, Martha Corey, and Rebecca Nurse of witchcraft.  

On 13 November 1753 George Flint married Hannah Phelps in Andover, Massachusetts.  Hannah is a "brickwall ancestor", and I have not been able to identify her parents or her ancestors. Phelps is a very common name in Andover, Massachusetts.  George and Hannah had seven children between 1755 and 1770, including my 4th great grandmother, Phebe Flint, born on 8 March 1763 in North Reading.  Phebe married her cousin, John Flint, who was the son of Jonathan Flint and Lydia Proctor.  Jonathan Flint is the son of Mary Collston, also imprisoned for witchcraft along with her mother and grandmother.  Lydia Proctor is the granddaughter of John Proctor, who was accused by the Pope (see the paragraph above) and hanged as a witch on 19 August 1692.  This family tree is full of people who both survived and also died during the 1692 hysteria.  

George Flint served in the American Revolution as a Sargent.  He first answered the Lexington Alarm under Colonel David Green in the 2nd Middlesex County Regiment. David Green is the great grandson of my ancestor Thomas Green of Malden, Massachusetts.  He later served under Captains Amos Upton and John Flint (a cousin) in the 3rd Reading Company.  

George Flint died on 31 August 1808 in North Reading.  His wife, Hannah, had died three years earlier on 5 May 1805. I have not been able to locate a gravestone or burial site for either George or Hannah Flint. He apparently died intestate. 

For the truly curious:

Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts, by William Richard Cutter, Volume 1, page 267.  

Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution, Volume 16, page 226. 

Other blog posts about my Revolutionary War Ancestors: 

#1 Colonel Joshua Burnham of Milford, NH:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/02/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-colonel.html  

#2  Major Andrew Munroe of Lexington, MA:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/03/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-major.html  

#3 Jonathan Flint of Reading, Massachusetts:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/03/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-jonathan.html   

#4 Daniel Glover of Marblehead, Massachusetts:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-daniel.html  

#5 Levi Younger of Gloucester, Massachusetts:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-levi.html  

#6 Nathaniel Treadwell of Ipswich, Massachusetts:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-nathaniel.html 

#7 Captain Westley Burnham of Essex, Massachusetts:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-captain.html  

#8 Abner Poland, Sr. of Essex, Massachusetts    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/05/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-abner_02014071889.html   

#9 Abner Poland, Jr. of Essex, Massachusetts    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/05/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-abner_02014071889.html  

#10  Robert Wilson of Danvers, Massachusetts    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/03/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-robert.html   

#11  Amos Burnham of Ipswich, Massachusetts   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/06/my-revolutionary-war-ancestors-amos.html   

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "My Revolutionary War Ancestors - George Fint of Reading, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted July 21, 2026, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/07/my-revolutionary-war-ancestors-george.html: accessed [access date]). 

My Revolutionary War Patriots, Levi Younger of Gloucester, Massachusetts

 

The Gloucester Fisherman's Memorial

This is #5 in a series of posts I am publishing this year for the 250th Anniversary of the USA. 

My 5th great grandfather Levi Younger was born on 7 February 1756 in Gloucester, Massachusetts, the son of William Younger and Lucy Foster.  He was the second of three sons, and his sister was the famous Thomasine AKA Tammy Younger, "The Witch of Dogtown".  All three brothers were mariners. 

On 17 July 1784, after the Revolutionary War, Levi married Mary Wotten in Gloucester.  She was the Daughter of John Wotton and Mary Hall of Gloucester. Mary was one of nine children in the Wotten family.  Together they had five children of their own, and I descend from their eldest son, Levi Younger, Jr. 

There is very little known about Levi's life in Gloucester.  I know he was a mariner, but was he a sailor?, a fisherman? a whaler? On 13 January 1776, when he was almost 20 years old he enlisted in Captain Bradbury Sanders' Company for a service of 7 months and 18 days.  This company was stationed at Gloucester for defense of the seacoast.  Gloucester is at the tip of Cape Ann, north of Boston, and a strategic seaport for New England.

At some point after his initial enlistment Levi must have re-enlisted in the militia, or perhaps he served as a privateer with a contract with a ship captain.  I can't find any further information on a re-enlistment.  However, he was apparently a seaman captured during the war, imprisoned on a prison ship Favorite, and later sent to prison in England and later exchanged. I found him listed as a mariner aboard the ship General Glover, captained by Nicholas Bartlett, with a crew of 66, captured on 18 October 1779 by the British navy. 

In the book Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the American Revolution, Volume XVII, page 1039: 

Younger, ------, List of prisoners to be returned in exchange for British Prisoners sent to New York in the cartel "Favorite" as returned by Robert Pierpont, commissary of Prisoners (year not given); said Younger, Seaman, to be exchanged for James Price, Seaman.

To confirm that this was actually Levi Younger, I was able to find this document in the Franklin Papers:

From Daniel Edwards et al.

als: American Philosophical Society

L’Orient April 8th: 1782.

Sir

Haveing had the good fortune to make our Escape from Forton Prison in England on the 13th March last and to take a small Sloop from Portsmouth in the Night in which 32 of us landed safe at Cape Bellflour from whence we marched to Le Hague where we met with a French Gentlemen a Commissary who gave us a Pass a pair of Shoes & 10 Livres each to go as far as St. Maloes. When we arrived there 19 of us being not able to travell any farther they went on board a Privateer for a Months Cruize 5 got Passes and have gone to Nantes in order to make the best of their way to America & 8 of us came here for the like purpose wanting to get home as soon as Possible haveing been a long time prisoners some of us sent to England from the West Indies & some from New York. We arrived here the 25th: Ultio. & the American Agent not being here nor no Continental Ships we were Obliged to take Lodgeings for 11 Days before we could get a Vessell to go on Board off & the Capt. has it not in his power to give us any thing but our Victuals for our Work he haveing his Complement of hands already Shipped however he has promissed us a passage home but cannot give us any Money untill he Arrives in Philadelphia. And as there is no other Vessell in the Harbour Bound to America that will Sail this 3 or 4 Months and this Ship being almost Ready to sail we have thought it best to come on Board of her upon them Conditions.

And as we are destitute of both Money and Clothes we have made bold to apply to your Excellency requesting (If you please) some Assistance that will enable us at least to satisfy the Gentleman who was so kind as to take us in and Board us for the above mentioned time. (his Name is John Dager)

Two of us belong to Continental Ships Joshua Goss Midshipman belonging to the Boston Frigate was taken in one of her Prizes on the 8th: of July 1778 by the Porcupine Ship of War of 24 Guns and Carried to England where he has been a Prisoner ever since untill this present Escape.- The Other Eliphalet Rogers belonging to the Alliance Frigate was taken in one of her Prizes the 18th: Septr. 1779 and has likewise been a Prisoner in Forton Prison untill this present time. Therefore they would be extremely Obliged to your Excellency (if in your Power) to advance them a trifle of their Wages as their Necessities at present are very Pressing- Your Excellencie’s granting this our Humble Petition would be gratefully Acknowledged by your Excellencies Most Obdt. Humble Servts.

Daniel Edwards Joshua Goss George Clark James Fuller Elipalet Rogers Robert Fulton Isaac Allen William James His Mark

p.s. There is two more prisoners arived here that wrote to your Excellency from Havre de Grace and two of their Companions that Escaped in the Cartell with the french are detained in the [Kian] at Brest who would be glad of your assistance in setting them at Liberty. their Names are Levi Younger & Bartholemew Cashwood

His Excellency Doctr. Franklin Esqr.

Addressed: His Excellency / Doctr. Franklin Esqr. / At / Paris.

Notation: [torn: Edwar]ds Daniel, [torn: Goss J]oshua, &c. L’ori-ent [torn] 1782.

It appears that when the ship General Glover was captured, the seamen were imprisoned by the British at the imfamous Forton Prison in Gosport, England. Some of the prisoners made an escape in March, and were taken to the Netherlands, and later to St. Malo.  They were separated, and some made it back to the colonies. It must have been quite an adventure, but by 1782 they were back home. This document addressed to Benjamin Franklin, who was the ambassador to Britain during the war, asks for Levi Younger to be released from the cartell in Brest, France. We know that Levi made it home, because in 1784 he married Mary Wotten in Gloucester. This is interesting to me because Benjamin Franklin is a cousin on my paternal side, and Levi Younger is on my maternal side of the family tree. 

Forton was an infamous prison.  It was originally a naval hospital, but later used during the American Revolution and the war of 1812 as a prisoner of war camp. The conditions were brutal, and many prisoners died or were hanged as traitors and pirates.  Most of the prisoners had spent time on prison ships in New York Harbor before being transferred to Forton.  

In the Salem Gazette, 11 March 1806, page 4, there was a notice for the estate of Levi Younger of Gloucester. "Notice is hereby given that the subscriber has been duly appointed administratix of the estate of Levi Younger of Gloucester, mariner, deceased, and has taken upon herself that by giving bends, as the law directs.  All persons having demands against the said estate, are requested to exhibit them for settlement- and those indebted to make payments to: Mary Carter, Admin'x Gloucester, Feb. 4th, 1806."  The Essex County Probate records state that Levi Younger died intestate.  His wife, Mary, had remarried to John Carter on 24 October 1801 in Gloucester.  We have not found a death record for Levi Younger, but he must have died sometime before 1801, leaving Mary with five children between the ages of 6 and 15 years old. 

I find the story of Levi Younger to be fascinating for many reasons. First, although we know almost nothing about his personal life, his harrowing capture, imprisonment and escape survive through federal records.  He must have had a very hard life, as a mariner in New England and died young. Perhaps he died at sea? Perhaps he died from his hardships as a prisoner of war.  Perhaps we will never know? 

In a twist of fate, Levi Younger, Jr., my 4th great grandfather, was also a privateer during the War of 1812, and he was also captured by the British.  He was held on board the prison ship Royal William. I'm not sure of how he was released, but by 1816 he was back in Gloucester and married my 4th great grandmother Catherine Plummer Jones on 23 October 1816.  She was the sister of Mary Lambert Jones Dominis, the mother-in-law to Queen Lili'oukalani. 

For the truly curious:

Kaminkow, Marion and Jack. Mariners of the American Revolution. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore, 1996 

 Franklin Papers, Volume 37, page 116, letter from Daniel Edwards about the Escape from Forten Prison

Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the American Revolution, Vol. XVII, page 1039

The first blog post in this series

Patriot #1 Colonel Joshua Burnham of Milford, New Hampshire:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/02/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-colonel.html   

Patriot #2 Major Andrew Munroe of Lexington, Massachusetts    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/03/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-major.html  

Patriot #3 Jonathan Flint of Reading, Massachusetts    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/03/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-jonathan.html  

Patriot #4  Daniel Glover of Marblehead, Massachusetts    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-daniel.html  

The Younger family:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/12/surname-saturday-younger-of-gloucester.html   

Tammy Younger, the Witch of Dogtown:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/02/tammy-younger-witch-of-dogtown.html  

A blog post on Levi Younger, Jr. and his capture during the War of 1812:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/01/levi-younger-mariner-and-prisoner-of.html  

Also,

An interesting article about Forton Prison during the American Revolution:

https://allthingsliberty.com/2021/01/plight-of-the-seamen-incarceration-escape-or-secured-freedom/  

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "My Revolutionary War Patriots, Levi Younger of Gloucester, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted April 14, 2026, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-levi.html: accessed [access date]). 

Benjamin Franklin's Burial Site, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 These tombstones were photographed at the Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

BENJAMIN 

                                  And                FRANKLIN

DEBORAH   

                     1790

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

SIGNER OF

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 17, 1787

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

PRESENTED BY

THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE SOCIETY

DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

SEPTEMBER 17, 1987

The Body of

B. Franklin, Printer,

Like the Cover of an old Book,

Its Contents torn out,

And stript of its Lettering & Gilding,

Lies here, Food for Worms.

But the Work shall not be lost,

For it will as he believ'd

appear once more

In a new and more elegant Edition

Corrected and improved

By the Author.

---------

(This epitaph written by Franklin as a young

man, was not intended to be used.  His nearby

gravestone was prepared in exact accordance

with the instructions contained in his will.)

-----------

This gravesite restored

by the Poor Richard Club

of Philadelphia

THE LAST RESTING PLACE OF

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 

1706 - 1790

< 0 >

"VENERATED FOR BENEVOLENCE,

ADMIRED FOR TALENTS,  ESTEEMED

FOR PATRIOTISM, BELOVED FOR

PHILANTHROPY."

                                           WASHINGTON

<  0 >

"THE SAGE WHOM TWO WORLDS

CLAIMED AS THEIR OWN"

                                        MIRABEAU

< 0 >

"HE TORE FROM THE SKIES THE

LIGHTNING AND FROM TYRANTS

THE SCEPTRE."

                                   TURGOT

< 0 >

I have written several previous blog posts about Benjamin Franklin, since he is my first cousin, 8 generations removed.  His mother, Abiah Folger (1667 - 1752) and my 7th great grandmother, Bethshua Folger (1650 - ?) were sisters.  When we were visiting Philadelphia recently, seeing Franklin's house and burial site were on the top of my list of things to do.

The Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia was established in 1719.  Five signers of the Declaration of Independence are buried here. 

This burial ground is easy to find, since it is across the street from the Visitor Center and National Park Visitor Center in Philadelphia.  It is open to the public for a fee of $5 for adults. If it is closed, there is a wrought iron railing in an opening in the brick wall surrounding the cemetery, so you can see Franklin's grave.  It is a tradition to leave a penny on Franklin's grave.  The family plot was restored in 2017 (see the Christ Church webpage below for more information.  

Benjamin and Deborah Franklin are buried to the right of his daughter, Sarah and her husband Richard Bache.  Next to Benjamin's gravemarker is his son who died young,  and Francis F. Franklin (1732 - 1736).  There are nearby markers for Deborah's parents and other Bache family members. 

For the Truly Curious: 

The Christ Church webpage for the burial ground (including a map of the cemetery):  https://christchurchphila.org/burial-grounds/  

Christ Church Burial Ground, at Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_Church_Burial_Ground  

My "Surname Saturday" post for my FOLGER lineage:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/11/surname-saturday-folger-of-watertown.html  

Other posts about Benjamin Franklin:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/search/label/Franklin  

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Benjamin Franklin's Burial Site, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania", Nutfield Genealogy, posted October 8, 2024, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2024/10/benjamin-franklins-burial-site.html, accessed [access date]).  

"On The Path Of The Pilgrims" Tour from the General Society of Mayflower Descendants - Day One

The Massachusetts, State House, Boston, Massachusetts
Undergoing an extensive exterior restoration project

 For the 400th Anniversary commemoration of the voyage of the ship Mayflower, the General Society of Mayflower Descendants planned several tours.  After rescheduling due to the COVID pandemic, these tours finally took place this summer.  Earlier, a tour took place in England and the Netherlands, and since Vincent and I had already taken that tour in 2017 we opted for the New England tour.  Although we live within two hours of Plymouth we know there are many historic sites we have not experienced.  What fun to do it with Mayflower cousins! 

Our tour started by meeting up with our 44 fellow travelers at a hotel at Boston's Logan airport.  We had a welcome dinner and meeting, which included playing an ice breaker game where we had to find someone who matched the Mayflower passengers on cards passed out before dinner.  The person I had to find shared Mayflower passenger George Soule in her family tree, just like me! In our group there were Society members from as far away as California, Montana, and Texas - and there were some from New England including Maine and also a pair from New Hampshire.  

We started our tour the next day by walking the Freedom Trail from the State House to the North End.  This was rather like herding cats!  Having 45 tourists following a guide through Boston's narrow streets and traffic crossing was not easy, but we didn't lose anyone! We were back at the State House on the last day of our tour for a special Mayflower Pilgrim surprise, so stay tuned for the blog post Day Five of this tour. 

The Robert Gould Shaw Memorial on the Boston Common

Our group at the Granary Burying Ground

Our tour guide, Lisa,
with her ancestor's tombstone

We walked past the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial, the memorial to William Blackstone (Boston's first English resident), the Park Street Church, the Tremont Temple and over to the Granary Burial Ground.  There are no Mayflower passengers buried here, but several members of our group had ancestors buried here.  Our tour guide found her ancestor's gravesite - a Captain Thomas Andrews buried in 1690 (he died of small pox returning from an expedition to Canada.  

A marker for the graves of John Winslow and his wife,
Mary Chilton, a Mayflower passenger

Not far from the Granary Burying Ground is the King's Chapel burying ground.  This is where Mary Chilton, a Mayflower passenger is buried.  Mary was about fourteen years old in 1620 when the Mayflower landed in Plymouth, and a common myth is that she was first European woman to step on Plymouth Rock.  She was orphaned the first winter in Plymouth.  She married John Winslow, who was the brother of another Mayflower passenger, Edward Winslow.  They lived on Spring Lane in Boston, where John Winslow was a prosperous merchant. The Chilton Club in Boston is named in her honor. 

Spring Lane, off Washington Street, 
the oldest street in Boston

This marker to Mary Chilton is located on Spring Lane,

near the Commonwealth Book Shop (a pedestrian street)

Next we walked past the Old State House, the site of the Boston Massacre, and had a short stop at Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market.  Our tour continued past the Holocaust Memorial and we had a lunch break at the new Boston Public Market (new to me!).  We regrouped in front of the Union Oyster House and followed the guide across the Greenway to the North End.  We passed Paul Revere's House and followed the Paul Revere Mall up to the Old North Church.  

The state of Paul Revere in front
of the Old North Church

We had a tour of the Old North Church, and the docent knew we were all Mayflower descendants, so she made point of showing us two stone plaques in the entrance of the church. One is a gift from the Guildhall in Boston, England where the Pilgrims were thrown into prison for illegally attempting to leave England.  The other is a plaque from the Boston Stump parishoners to the city of Boston, commemorating the Winthrop fleet.  The picture of the plaque from the Guildhall was difficult to photograph since the bright summer sun from the front door was shining on the glass cover. 

After a brief tour of the Copp's Hill Burial Ground, we boarded our bus again and headed to Quincy, Massachusetts for the Adams National Historical Park.  Did you know that President John Adams was a descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins?  And so was his son, President John Quincy Adams.  

Church of the Presidents
United First Parish Church, Quincy

Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams
and their First Ladies lie in this crypt under the church

This plaque is in the church sanctuary.
There is a similar plaque for John Quincy Adams
and his wife, Louisa Catherine Johnson

John Quincy Adams was born in this modest house in 1767

John Adams was born in this little house in 1735

Our tour first went to the Church of the Presidents, where a docent gave a wonderful lecture on both Presidents Adams.  He then took us (in small groups of course) into the crypt where both presidents and their first ladies are interred.  The church was built in 1828 with granite donated by John Adams.  The bell in the steeple was cast by Paul Revere. 

Our next stop was at the farm where both John Adams and John Quincy Adams were born in side by side homes.  Then we went to see Peacefield, where John Adams lived in retirement, and his son John Quincy Adams built a library.  Generations of the Adams family lived here until it was donated to the United States in 1946.  The Stone Library houses the 14,000 volumes owned by John Quincy Adams.  Once a year, on John Quincy Adams' birthday (July 11th) the library is open to the public.  We were there on this special day to see inside the library, and to view the Mendi Bible on display on his library table.  The Mendi Bible was given to him in 1841 by the group of freed Mendi captives from the ship La Amistad.  This bible was stolen from the library in 1996, but the FBI recovered it in 1997 from a locker at a gym in Portsmouth, New Hampshire!  The first black governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, took his oath of office with the Mendi Bible in both 2007 and 2011.   

Next I will post on this blog about Day Two, in Plymouth, Massachusetts! 

The Stone Libary, next to Peacefield

The Mendi Bible on display inside the Stone Library

For the truly curious:

My 2017 blog posts of "Along the Pilgrim Trail" tour of England and the Netherlands start with this post in Babworth, Nottinghamshire, England:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/10/along-pilgrim-trail-babworth.html  

Click this link for Day Two of the tour:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2022/07/day-two-on-path-of-pilgrims-tour-by-gsmd.html  

Tour Day Three  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2022/07/day-three-of-path-of-pilgrims-tour-by.html 

Tour Day Four https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2022/07/day-four-on-path-of-pilgrims-tour-by.html    

Tour Day Five  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2022/07/day-five-of-path-of-pilgrims-tour-by.html   

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

Boston Freedom Trail    https://www.thefreedomtrail.org/  

Old North Church  https://www.oldnorth.com/   

Wikipedia article on Mary Chilton   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Chilton  

The Adams National Historic Park   https://www.nps.gov/adam/index.htm   

Wikipedia article on The Mendi Bible https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendi_Bible   

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

To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, ""On The Path Of The Pilgrims" Tour from the General Society of Mayflower Descendants - Day One", Nutfield Genealogy, posted July 19, 2022, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2022/07/on-path-of-pilgrims-tour-from-general.html: accessed [access date]).  

Benjamin Franklin House, London

Right in the center of London, a few blocks from Trafalgar Square, behind the famous Sherlock Holmes Pub, is the Benjamin Franklin House at 36 Craven Street.  Believe it or not, but it is the only surviving house that Benjamin Franklin ever lived in!  His boyhood home in Boston is gone, as well as his house in Philadelphia. 

Franklin lived here for sixteen years as a diplomat in England from 1757 to 1775.  While he was here he served as Deputy Postmaster for the Colonies (which his wife, Deborah, fulfilled back in Philadelphia), explored science, and music.  Franklin was a Fellow of the Royal Society and perhaps the most famous scientist of his day while he lived in London. 

The house was built about 1730.  Today it serves as a museum house, science center for children, an archive for Franklin’s papers, and for public events.  There are architectural tours, special lectures, and on Tuesdays (when the house is closed to the public) there are science events for young students. 

The Benjamin Franklin House website:  http://www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org 

A good book to read:

Benjamin Franklin in London: The British Life of America’s Founding Father, by George Goodwin, Yale University Press, 2016 (George Goodwin is currently the author in residence at the Benjamin Franklin House in London). 

Benjamin Franklin (1706 – 1790) is my 1^st cousin, 8 generations removed.  His mother, Abiah Folger, who married Josiah Franklin, is the sister to Bathsheba Folger, who married Joseph Pope, my 7^th great grandparents.   Peter Folger (1617- 1690) and Mary Morrill (1623 – 1704) are the parents of the two Folger sisters, and my common ancestors with Benjamin Franklin.

Here is the FOLGER Surname Saturday post from 2014 that shows my FOLGER lineage:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/11/surname-saturday-folger-of-watertown.html 

Click here for all my FOLGER posts:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/search/label/Folger 

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

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Benjamin Franklin House, London”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 3, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/05/benjamin-franklin-house-london.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ POPE of Salem, Massachusetts

The Pope Chest, dated 1679
At the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts

POPE

The English origins of Joseph Pope, my 8^th great grandfather,  are unknown, but the records in Salem are full of stories about him and his family.  He arrived in Massachusetts in 1634 aboard the ship Mary and John and settled in Salem, Massachusetts.  He joined the First Church (Puritan) in 1636, but he was also in the first group of early Quakers in Salem.  There is a long list of fines levied against him in the court records, for absence from church until they were finally excommunicated.  Many other Quakers in Salem were whipped and jailed.

The Quaker persecution in Salem ended when Samuel Shattuck went to London in 1661 to deliver a plea to King Charles II, who sent a mandamus to Massachusetts and ended the Quaker persecutions.  It is unknown whether or not Shattuck is related to Joseph Pope.  Joseph named “my bothers George and Richard and Joseph Gardner and cousin Samuell Shatok the elder to be overseers”  of his last will and testament.  All these families were Quaker.  In a TAG article in 1954 the author was unable to find a genealogical relationship between these families [The American Genealogist, Volume 30: 164-66]

Joseph Pope, Jr. is my 7^th great grandfather.  He was the constable for Salem Village (now the town of Danvers) in 1683, and was one of the more wealthy citizens according to a tax list.  He ran a saw mill with his brother, Benjamin, and brother-in-law, Joshua Buffum.  The Buffums were also a Salem Quaker family (another sister, Hannah Pope, married Joshua’s brother, Caleb Buffum).   I descend from Joshua’s sister, Deborah Buffum, who married Robert Wilson (my 9^th great grandparents) and was whipped for appearing  “naked” in the Puritan church to protest these persecutions of the Quakers (she was also probably suffering from some sort of mental illness).   Click HERE for that story.

Joseph Pope, Jr. and his bride, Bethshua Folger, were married in 1679.  This year, and their initials, was carved into a valuables chest attributed to the Symonds furniture shop of Salem.   This chest was passed on in the family as the “Franklin Chest” because Joseph and Bethshua Pope were the uncle and aunt to Benjamin Franklin (Bethshua’s sister, Abiah, was Benjamin Franklin’s mother).   When the chest was sold at a Christies Auction on 20 January 2000 it was bought by the Peabody Essex Museum for a record breaking $2,422,500.   Now it is on display as the “Pope Chest”.  To read more about this chest, click HERE. 

The Popes were witnesses against some of their Salem neighbors in the 1692 Salem witch trials.  Perhaps this was payback for  all the earlier the Quaker persecutions?  Besides being connected to the infamous Witch Hysteria, they were also related to founding father Benjamin Franklin.  Bethshua's sister, Abiah Folger, was Franklin's mother.  This branch of my family tree touches a lot of interesting American history! 

For more information on the Pope family:

The Great Migration, by Robert Charles Anderson, NEHGS, 2007, Volume V, pages 487-491.

A History of the Dorchester Pope Family, 1634 – 1888 by Charles Henry Pope, (Boston 1888) pages 299 – 301.

Also see The Records of the First Church in Salem, Massachusetts, 1629 -1736, and The Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts (too many to list here, see the sketch at The Great Migration for details on the volumes and page numbers)

Also, please see last week's "Surname Saturday" post on the FOLGER family at this link:
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/11/surname-saturday-folger-of-watertown.html

My POPE genealogy:

Generation 1:  Joseph Pope, born about 1606 in England, died 1667 in Salem, Massachusetts; married first to Damaris Unknown (mother of 8 children); married second to Gertrude Unknown.  She died 27 April 1667 in Salem.

Generation 2:  Joseph Pope, baptized 27 October 1650 in Salem, Massachusetts, died in February 1712 in Salem; married in 1679 in Salem Village (now Danvers), Massachusetts to Bethshua Folger, daughter of Peter Folger and Mary Merrill.  She was born about 1650 on Nantucket.  Nine children.

Generation 3:  Jerusha Pope, born 1 April 1695 in Salem, died 29 June 1781; married on 9 July 1713 to George Flint, son of George Flint and Elizabeth Putnam.  He was born on 1 April 1686 in Reading, Massachusetts. Seven children.

Generation 4:  George Flint m. Hannah Phelps 

Generation 5:  Phebe Flint m. John Flint

Generation 6:  Olive Flint m. Luther Simonds Munroe

Generation 7:  Phebe Cross Munroe m. Robert Wilson Wilkinson

Generation 8: Albert Munroe Wilkinson m. Isabella Lyons Bill

Generation 9: Donald Munroe Wilkinson m. Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents)

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/11/surname-saturday-pope-of-salem.html

Copyright © 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Surname Saturday ~ FOLGER of Watertown, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, Massachusetts

A replica of the Pope Valuables Chest
at Plimoth Plantation

FOLGER

John Folger (my 9^th great grandfather), his wife Meribah, and son Peter arrived in New England on board the ship Abigail with the Reverend Hugh Peter in 1635. He lived first at Watertown, and then removed to the island of Martha’s Vineyard with Thomas Mayhew (my 10^th great grandfather).  He died intestate about 1660. 

In the second generation, Peter Folger was my 8^th great grandfather, and his wife Mary Morrill was an indentured servant for Rev. Hugh Peters.  Peter saved his money for seven years and paid 20 pounds to buy her out of servitude and declared “it was the best appropriation of money he ever made”.  There is too much information about Peter Folger to include in one blog post, but I'll put the highlights here. 

Peter went to Nantucket in 1663 to be an Indian interpreter for Tristram Coffin.  He was very influential in assisting the first settlers on this island with negotiations with the native people.  In the records Peter appears as a surveyor, miller, weaver, blacksmith, school master, and the clerk of the records.  His poem “A Looking Glass for the Time” was published on 23 April 1676. This poem gives his opinions on religious freedom and government, including freedom of speech.  

In the next generation, Peter had 12 children. One daughter was Bethshua, my 7^th great grandmother, and another was Abiah, mother of the famous Benjamin Franklin.  Several authors have attributed Benjamin Franklin’s wit to his grandfather, Peter.  Others have compared Franklin’s concepts of religious freedom and free speech in the Articles of Confederation with his grandfather’s writing. 

My 7^th great grandmother, Bethshua Folger, married Joseph Pope and lived in Salem, Massachusetts.   Their initials and wedding date is carved upon a "Valuables Chest” that was passed down in the family and auctioned off at Christie’s in 2000 for a record breaking $2,422,500.00  [see the link below for the full story].  The Popes were wealthy Quakers, who had been persecuted by the Salem authorities in earlier days.  During the witch craft hysteria of 1692 Joseph and Bethshua were accusers against John Proctor (also my ancestor), and Bethshua claimed to be tortured by some of the accused witches, including Giles and Martha Corey, and Rebecca Nurse (sister to another ancestor, Edmund Towne, my 9^th great grandfather).   When he died, Joseph Pope’s gravestone was described as “a pretentious stone of slate” by Jasper Marsh  [in the Historical Collections of the Danvers Historical Society, Volume 10, page 93].

Some sources for more information on the Folger family:

Mayflower Quarterly, Volume 72, pages 243- 264 (Peter Folger and his descendants)

Away Off Shore: Nantucket and Its People, by Nathaniel Phibrick, New York: Penguin Books, 2011

History of Martha’s Vineyard by Charles Edward Banks, Boston, 1911

History of Watertown, by Henry Bond and Horatio Gates Jones, Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1860.

“The Folger Family” by William Coleman Folger in the NEHGS Register July 1862, Volume XVI, pages 269 – 274.

The Devil Hath Been Raised: A Documentary History of the Salem Village Witchcraft Outbreak of March 1692, by Richard B. Trask, Danvers, Massachusetts: Danvers Historical Society, 1992, pages 38 and 57.

A previous blog post about Joseph Pope and Bethshua Folger’s “Valuables Chest”

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/09/treasure-chest-thursday-at.html

My Folger lineage:

Generation 1:  John Folger, born about 1590 in Norwich, Norfolk, England, died about 1660 on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, in Massachusetts;  married before 1618 in England to Meribah Gibbs, daughter of John Gibbs and Alice Elmy.  She was born about 1595 in Freyn, Norwich, Norfolk, England and died about 1635 on Martha’s Vineyard.  They had five children.

Generation 2:  Peter Folger, born about 1618 in Norfolk and died about 1690 in Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard; married on 23 June 1644 in Watertown, Massachusetts to Mary Morrill.  She was born about 1623 in England and died 1704 on Nantucket.  They had twelve children.

Generation 3:  Bethshua Folger, born about 1650 on Nantucket island and died in Salem, Massachusetts; married in 1679 in Salem Village (now Danvers), Massachusetts to Joseph Pope, son of Joseph Pope and Damaris Unknown.  Nine children

Generation 4:  Jerusha Pope m. George Flint

Generation 5: George Flint m. Hannah Phelps

Generation 6: Phebe Flint m. John Flint

Generation 7: Olive Flint m. Luther Simonds Munroe

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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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ FOLGER of Watertown, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted November 1, 2014, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/11/surname-saturday-folger-of-watertown.html: accessed [access date]). 

Weathervane Wednesday ~ A Historic Site

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

Today's weather vane can be found on a very historic building in Pennsylvania. Have fun guessing where you may have seen this weather vane.

Do you know the location of weather vane #128? Scroll down to see the answer....

Today's weather vane was seen on the steeple above Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This beloved building is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a National Historic Landmark. The tower above the hall was built between 1750 and 1753.   In 2010 the tower section of Independence Hall underwent extensive renovations, including new clock faces, replacing the structure that held up the weather vane, and updating the lightning protection systems.  You can see photographs of the restoration and re-gilding of the weathervane by Kreilick Conservation Company at this link: http://www.kreilickconservation.com/projects/Objects/IndependenceHallWV.html

For more information:

National Park Service- Independence Hall  http://www.nps.gov/inde/independence-hall-1.htm/index.htm

Visit Philadelphia - Independence Hall
http://www.visitphilly.com/history/philadelphia/independence-hall/?gclid=CM_4m7XX47cCFRQOOgodyyQARA

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

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The URL for this post is
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/12/weathervane-wednesday-historic-site.html

Copyright 2013, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Two Cousins

Can you guess these two famous cousins of mine?  Both were named “Benjamin”.

Both men grew up within twelve miles of each other, near or in Boston, Massachusetts.  They were contemporaries and lived through the American Revolution.  One was considered a patriot, and one a traitor.

Both men were scientists, and both invented household items like stoves and forms of central heating.  Both were honored by European Scientific Societies.  Both developed theories in thermodynamics.

Both men were philanthropists and endowed educational pursuits in America.

Both men had illegitimate children.  

Both men were statesmen and politicians.  Both were honored in European royal courts.  One took a title of nobility, and the other refused to take a title.  Both were also considered philosophers.

I don’t know if they ever met, and neither was related to the other, but both are my first cousins, one 6 generations removed, the other 8 generations removed.

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Cousin #1, Benjamin Thompson AKA Count Rumford

If you have a can of Rumford Baking Powder on your shelf, you have seen his silhouette.  He was born in Woburn, Massachusetts on 26 March 1753, the son of Benjamin Thompson and Ruth Simonds.   Ruth was the sister to my 5x great grandfather, Caleb Simons (1720 – 1811).    At age thirteen he was apprenticed to a Salem merchant, where he learned mathematics and the physical sciences.  When the merchant lost his business due to the strained relations between Britain and the colonies, Benjamin Thompson returned home to Woburn to work in a dry goods store.  He eventually became a school teacher and took a few classes at Harvard.

In 1772 he served as a British major in a New Hampshire regiment.  When the war broke out he sided with the Loyalists.  When the British evacuated Boston in March 1776 he fled to England and left his New Hampshire wife behind.  He was elected to the Royal Society in 1779.  He returned to America briefly during the war and was knighted in 1784.  He served the Prince of Bavaria for the next 18 years (the Prince was a relative of King George of England). 

He was made a count of the Holy Roman Empire, and took the name “Count Rumford” for his former wife’s hometown (Rumford was the former name of Concord, New Hampshire). He was married to the widow of the famous chemist Lavoisier.  He wrote the theory that heat was a form of motion, and was the father of thermodynamics.  The Rumford fireplace was one of the inventions that changed chimney design forever after making rooms smoke free.  He endowed the Rumford chair of science at Harvard and the Rumford Medals of the Royal Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  He is buried in the Auteuil Cemetery in Paris, France.

Cousin #2 Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin is the better known of the two cousins.  He was born on 6 January 1706 on Milk Street in Boston, the son of Josiah Franklin and Abiah Folger.  Abiah was the sister of my 7x great grandmother, Bethshua Folger (born about 1650 on the island of Nantucket).   Benjamin Franklin was the youngest son of a soapmaker.   At age 12 he was apprenticed to his brother James, a printer.  At age 17 Benjamin Franklin ran away to Philadelphia to start a new life.

In Philadelphia he became a printer, and started a subscription library in 1731.  This library continues today as The Library Company, a research library with rare books and manuscripts. He became a Freemason and entered into a common-law marriage with Deborah Read.  He had an illegitimate son, William, who would become the last Loyalist governor of New Jersey.

Franklin became an author, first with Poor Richard’s Almanack, and then he became an inventor.  He never patented his creations, which included the lightning rod, the Franklin Stove, and bifocal glasses.  He became postmaster, and founded the American Philosophical Society.   He was awarded the Royal Society’s Copley Medal in 1753 and 1756 for his work with electricity.   In 1753 he was awarded honorary degrees from both Harvard and Yale.

Politically active, he traveled to London many times as a delegate for Pennsylvania against the Stamp Act.  He became a delegate to the Second Continental Congress and a member of the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence. Following the Revolution he was Ambassador to France and minister to Sweden.   In 1787 he was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. 

Benjamin Franklin died 17 April 1790 in Philadelphia and left 1,000 pounds to both Boston and Philadelphia for education to be used 200 years after his death.   Philadelphia’s portion had grown to more than $2 million and they spent it on scholarships, while Boston’s portion grew to almost $5 million which was used to found the Franklin Institute of Boston. 

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President Franklin Delano Roosevelt stated that Sir Benjamin Thompson ( Count Rumford), Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were “the three greatest minds America has produced”.

Click here for a previous post on the "Count Rumford House" in Woburn, Massachusetts: http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/05/count-rumford-house.html

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Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

The Boston Massacre, 5 March 1770

Revere, Paul, engraver.  'The bloody massacre perpetrated in King Street Boston on March 5th 1770 by a party of the 29th Regt.," 1770. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress. Reproduction Number LC-USZC2-4913.

 Revere, Paul, engraver.
 'The bloody massacre perpetrated in King Street Boston on March 5th 1770 by a party of the 29th Regt.,"
1770. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress. Reproduction Number LC-USZC2-4913. 

The “Incident on King Street” happened on 5 March 1770.  Due to some unpopular legislation from England, Boston residents became unruly so soldiers were stationed in Boston to maintain order.  Relations were tense between civilians and representatives of the British crown.  On this day the British soldiers killed five civilian Boston residents. 

The “incident” now known as the Boston Massacre started when a mob began to harass a British sentry.  Snowballs and objects were thrown, and the soldiers fired into the crowd.  Eight soldiers, one British officer and four civilians were arrested.  Tensions heightened when Paul Revere (and others) published propaganda that spread throughout the colonies.  In the court case that followed, six of the soldiers defended by John Adams were acquitted.   The American Revolution broke out five years later, after further tensions between the colonies and the Crown broke down diplomatic relations, and the Intolerable Acts led to the Boston Tea Party and the eventual showdown at Lexington and Concord.

Since my family tree included many Boston families, I took a closer look to see if anyone witnessed or participated in any of the events around the Boston Massacre.  I was happy to find quite a few connections!

Thomas Wilkinson was married to Rebecca Cocks in Boston on 2 December 1756.  In attempting to connect this Thomas Wilkinson to my 6x great grandfather Thomas Wilkinson (abt 1690 – about 1740) who lived in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, I found that this Boston Thomas was the great grandfather of my 1^st cousin several generations removed.  I have traced the Boston Wilkinsons and found much good information, but no Wilkinson connection.  This Thomas died in 1809 in Boston, and was a member of the New North Church.  He testified at the court case where John Adams represented the British soldiers.

His testimony:

"Thomas Wilkinson, sworn.  Do you know either of the prisoners?  Yes, I know Montgomery, he used to live close by my house;  I know none of the rest.  I was a thome the whole evening, the Old South bell rung for nine as usual; about a quarter after, I heard Mr. Cooper's bell ring.  I went out and swa the Old South engine hauled out.  I ran down as far as the town pump, there seemed to be a considerable body of people and some with buckts.  The people out of the champber windows, said, do not go down there, you will be killed.  I saw ten or twelve of the soldiers with naked cutlasses by Boylston's alley.  I saw them with their cutlasses and bayonets drawing up towards the people.  I went back and stopped at the main-guard.  Were there a number of the town's people there at that time?  Yes, and many with buckets in their hands.  Were they contending with any body?  No, they wee standing in the street.  What were the soldiers doing?  They were brandishing their swords and sallying up to the people, but I did not tarry there one minute.  What number of people were there?  Thirty or forty.  Had the persons the soldiers came up to, anything in their hands?  No, they had nothing but buckets.  I took it they were brandishing their swords at the people, but I saw them strike nobody.  I went to the main-guard, I saw the sentries before the guard-house, walking as usual.  I stayed on purpose to see somebody come back from Boylston's alley, to know if any were wounded.  People were coming down from the south end, crying where is the fire?  where is the fire?  I said there is no fire but the soldiers were fighting.  At that time, in King Street, I do not think you could see a man, chid, or boy passing.  I stood there at the main-guard for about four minutes.  The Old Brick Bell began to ring, and the people seemed to come along fast, with buckets and bags.  Did Mr. Cooper's bell ring before?  Yes, a good while.  Could you see the sentry at the Custom house where you stood.  No, I stayed there about five minutes, and in a very short time I looked down King street, and saw thirty or forty people in King street; Capt. Preston came down to the main-guard, as it were from behind the Brick meeting, and said turn out, damn your bloods, turn out.  A party of soldiers turned out, Montgomery amongst them;   I was going to Montgomery to ask what they were going to do?  They drew up in two files, I think there were eight men, Capt. Preston drew his sword and marched down with them, and I went down as far as Mr. Waldo's shop with them, I thought they were going to relieve the guard.  After that, I went up by the main guard again, having left the soldiers on their march down from Waldo's shop, and passed round the Town-house, came down the north side of it, and went down King street, and got within two yards of the right of them; I saw Capt. Preston standing at the right of the circle; I stayed there about four minutes when I heard the word given, fire!  There was none fired then.  Then I heard, damn your bloods fire!  Instantly one gun went off; I saw the flash of every gun as they went off, one after another, like the clock striking.  Where did the firing begin?  I began at the right.  Did you see Montgomery after he got down there?  No.   Where did you stand when the guns were fired?  I stood about two yards to the right, in Royal Exchange lane, and towards the back of the soldiers;  I am positive the firing began a the right and went on to the left.  I counted the guns.  How many were fired?  Seven fired and one flashed.  Was there a longer distance betwixt the first and second gun, than betwixt the rest?  No more than the rest I think.  Did you see any man fall?  I did not.  There was a large opening at the centre, but on the right and left wings the crowd was close and thick.  Could you see all the soldiers?  No, I could not, there were many people between me and the soldiers.  Did you see the person who held the gun that flashed?  Yes, but did not know him.  Whereabouts was he standing?  I believe by the flash, he was the third or fourth man from the right.  Did you see any thing thrown at any of them before the firing?  No, I stood all the time they were there, and saw nothing thrown at all.  Did you see any body knocked down?  No.  You saw no ice nor snow balls?  No, I did not.  Did the people round you seem to be pressing on as to injure the soldiers?  No; had I seen anything being thrown, I would have gone away.  Did you see any blows given by any body, before or after the firing?  No, I did not.  Do you know Mr. Palmes?  No; I saw a man talking wiht the officer.  Do you know Mr. Bliss?  No  Did you hear any huzzaing?  Yes, before the party marched down, there were were two or three huzza, but afterwards none at all.  How many people do you imagine were there?  Sixty or seventy.  From the time they went from the main-guard, till the firing, how long was it?  It was not more than ten or twelve minutes."  [History of the Boston Massacre, March 5, 1770: Consisting of the Narrative by Frederick Kidder, Albany, NY: Joel Munsell, 1870, pages 144-146]

My second cousin 9 generations removed is Isaac Greenwood.  He is listed among the witnesses, but I haven’t found his testimony.  Richard Dana (1700 – 1772) is a 2^nd cousin 9 generations,  removed.  He was a lawyer in Marblehead and Boston.  He was a member of the committee that investigated the Boston Massacre, and died before the Revolution started.  When John Adams became president he stated “had his life been preserved he would have furnished one of the immortal names of the Revolution” [American Historical Magazine, by the publishing society of New York, Americana Society, Volume 1, November 1906, No. 6, page 465].

Jane (Franklin) Mecom (1712- 1794) is a 1^st cousin 8x removed.  As a woman, her most of her papers were not saved and any diary did not survive.  She lived in Boston, and was the youngest of seventeen children.  She cared for my great aunt, Abiah, in her old age, and witnessed an extraordinary time period in Boston.  But her brother was famous, and her letters to him were saved. She said of the mobs "what a wretched world would [this] be if the vile of mankind had no Laws to [re]strain them!"  Yes, her brother was Benjamin Franklin.  According to Jane Franklin Mecom: A Boston Woman in Revolutionary Times, by Neremy A. Stern, Princeton University, The McNeil Center for Early American Studies, 2006  “A copy of the long section dealing with Benjamin's attitude to his office was made by Jane, and ended up in the British Library. It clearly came there from Cooper's papers, seized by British forces in 1775. Unfortunately, Jane’s letters to her brother for the next several years do not survive and once again she must be seen mainly in her brother’s replies.”  Benjamin Franklin did not return to Boston during the years Massacre, Tea Party and of the Revolution, but we can catch a glimpse of the family life from these bits by Jane.

My 6x great uncle, General John Glover (1732 – 1797), married Frances Hitchborn as his second wife, and she was the 1^st cousin to Paul Revere!  This is my closest connection to the famous Paul Revere who is most known for his “Midnight Ride” to warn the countryside that the British Regulars were marching to Concord.  However, his propaganda posters and cartoons like the one he produced about the Boston Massacre were probably his biggest political move of the era.  Many, many men were out riding to warn the countryside about the British soldiers marching to Lexington and Concord, but this one cartoon roused the thirteen colonies to action in the first place!

UPDATE!  A loyal reader sent me this link to the story of his ancestor, Dr. Elisha Story, who treated Robert Patterson after the Boston Massacre (he was wounded in the arm with gunshots).  This link is to a post at J.L. Bell's blog "Boston 1775"  http://boston1775.blogspot.com/search/label/Dr.%20Elisha%20Story 

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To Cite/Link to this post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "The Boston Massacre,  5 March 1770", Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 5, 2012, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/03/boston-massacre-5-march-1770.html: accessed [access date]).