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]). 

Gloucester Fisherman's Memorial 1965 - Photo Friday

Another digitized slide from my grandparent's collection.  My grandparents, Donald and Bertha (Roberts) Wilkinson came to visit us in 1965 while we were living in Beverly, Massachusetts. We must have taken a drive to Gloucester.  Of course, my grandfather was famous for chopping off heads in photos, and this one is no exception!

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Gloucester Fisherman's Memorial 1965 - Photo Friday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted July 26, 2019, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/07/gloucester-fishermans-memorial-1965.html: accessed [access date]).

Surname Saturday ~ GARDNER of Gloucester, Massachusetts

GARDNER / GARDINER / GARNER

 Very, very little is known of my 8^th great grandfather, James Gardner (about 1641 – 1684) who appears first in the Gloucester, Massachusetts records in 1661 when William Vinson deeded him some land.  He settled in the most eastern section of the Gloucester peninsula according to John J. Babson in his History of the Town of Gloucester, 1860.   He next appears in the vital records in 1661 when he married Elizabeth Vinson, daughter of the William mentioned above.  They had ten children together and both died rather young in 1684. 

I descend from James Gardner, Jr., my 7^th great grandfather, who was the youngest child, not even four years old when his parents died.  James had five children with his wife Abigail (maiden name unknown) all born in Gloucester.  Again, I descend from the youngest child, Eunice, born in 1724, my 6^th great grandmother, who married Jeremiah Allen from Manchester, Massachusetts. 

I have two other GARDNER lineages.  One is from Thomas Gardner at this link:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/01/surname-saturday-gardner-of-salem.html

and the other is a brickwall ancestor in Salem, Massachusetts:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/03/surname-saturday-gardner-of-boston.html 

My GARDNER genealogy:

Generation 1:   James Gardner, born about 1641, died 8 December 1684 in Gloucester, Massachusetts; married on 19 June 1662 in Gloucester to Elizabeth Vinson, daughter of William Vinson and Sarah Unknown. She was born 16 May 1644 in Gloucester, and died 4 March 1684 in Gloucester. Ten children.

Generation 2:  James Gardner, born 27 August 1681 in Gloucester, married Abigail Unknown.  Five children. 

Generation 3:  Eunice Gardner, born 18 March 1724 in Gloucester; married on 17 June 1748 in Manchester, Massachusetts to Jeremiah Allen, son of Jeremiah Allen and Lydia Tuck.  He was born 6 April 1728 in Manchester and probably died in Nova Scotia. Eight children.

Generation 4:  Abigail Allen m. Comfort Haley

Generation 5:  Comfort Haley m. Rebecca Crosby

Generation 6:  Joseph Edwin Healy m. Matilda Weston

Generation 7:  Mary Etta Healey m. Peter Hoogerzeil

Generation 8:  Florence Etta Hoogerzeil m. Arthur Treadwell Hitchings

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

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ GARDNER of Gloucester, Massachusetts”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 16, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/06/surname-saturday-gardner-of-gloucester.html: accessed [access date]). 

Another Nutfield Anniversary Account from an 1869 Gloucester, Massachusetts Newspaper

West Running Brook
from a Robert Frost book of the same title
published 1928, woodcut by J. J. Lankes

Transcribed from The Cape Ann Light and Gloucester Telegraph, Saturday, June 12, 1869, Gloucester, Massachusetts, page 2.

“A SUMMER HOLIDAY

IN THE COUNTRY

Derry, N.H., is familiar to many of our people from a variety of causes: made familiar by the reminiscences of the fathers – of the Londonderry women who sought our town on horseback to dispose of the products of their spinning wheels, looms and dairies; by the Derry linen handed down by the careful mothers as an heirloom; by intermarriage; and by reminiscences of the school hours of those who claim Pinkerton Academy or Adams’ Female Academy as their alma mater, including, by the way, not a few of the present generation. It is also known to many as a desirable summer resort, and these recall pleasant hours among its shady retreats and attractive drives over forest roads.

                The dust of our kindred moulders in its quiet church-yards, and the ever hearty welcome and country cheer of living representatives of the family makes it a second home to us.  It is with pleasure therefore that we antedate our vacation by an early summer holiday, spent amid scenes rendered familiar by visits neither few nor short.

                Our route lies along our old sea line to Salem, thence through the brown leather fields of Peabody and almost as brown canker worm ravaged orchards of Danvers, the meadows of Middleton golden with butter cups, on to Lawrence with its hum of spindles, thence over the line into the Granite State to the scotch-irish settlement of Derry nee Londonderry nee Nutfield.  Here at Windham the boys have dug through a sawdust bank into a bed of preserved snow, and are having a game of snowball on the ninth of June – snowballing, while further on at Derry the jaded horses are struggling through pulverized sandheaps and blinding clouds of dust.

                And this is Derry, where we pass the night and wake in the morning at the summons of joyful bells and booming cannon. – Is this your quiet country town, with a constant stream of teams pouring in from early dawn, and the railroad trains landing carload after carload of passengers, until they are numbered by thousands.  Or is this ancient muster-day, or the still more antiquated and equally famous Londonderry Fair, celebrated in ancient legend.  Is yonder canvass the cattle-booth, and are the crowd that fills the plain engaged in wrestling matches and sack races and all the unique Irish games brought to this section by the first settlers?

                No!  the days of the Londonderry Fair are among the things of the past, and the young men of our day have known service on other grounds than the muster-fields of their fathers.  To-day (Thursday) we meet to celebrate the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of ancient Nutfield.

                One hundred and fifty years ago to-day sixteen families, toilsomely and wearily, with ox-teams doubtless, and such rude house-hold effects as were suited to their time and condition and long journey, made their devious way over these hills and across these vales, then tree-covered, to the brookside where a few rough huts had been put up for their accommodation, and there set up their household goods, and founded new homes in an untried country.  They left their mother country, as long before their ancestors had left the heaths of Scotland and emigrated to the north of Ireland.  A whole colony them, five ship-loads, had arrived at Boston in the late summer of 1718, and had scattered to various settlements of the colony of Massachusetts Bay.  These sixteen families had passed a severe winter, mostly on shipboard, in Casco Bay, and when spring opened had sailed up the Merrimac to Haverhill whence pioneers had come over the hills to Nutfield, and prepared the way for the infant settlement.

                Sixteen families then.  Now the rough places have been made smooth, fertile fields and fruitful orchards have driven back the walnut, chestnut and butternut from which the old town took its name, and substantial farm buildings and handsome villas have taken the places of the rude log hut.

                Less than a hundred souls a century and a half ago, - today ten thousand people gather from far and near, some across a continent, to do honor to the occasion.

                Gilmore does not save all his music for the Peace Jubilee, but enlivens this day with melody worthy of his fame, and Arbuckle adds to the musical treat as Arbuckle can.  The Manchester Veterans are here, with their black velvet knee breeches and yellow top boots, their blue swallow tails with white lappels, and old fashioned cocked hats, accompanied by the Manchester Concert Band.

                Here are horses and teams enough, and varied enough, for a camp meeting, tied in every yard and along every fence and under nearly every tree:  here is the knife sharpener and the ballad vender, the soap man and the pop corn peddler, and all the auxiliaries of the muster field: and here is the diluted lemonade and the spiritless soda and leathery sponge cake and all the requirements for a picnic; here also is an antiquarian tent,  worthy of a modern fair.

                And here are people, people, people, to be talked to and played for and fed- yes, fed, with more to be gathered up at the close of the feast than in the days of the five small loaves and two fishes.  To be taked to, hour by hour, by those who have gone out, or whose ancesters have gone out from the old township, and who have earned a position and influence in the country at large.

                Here is the sage and benign Horace, himself born in Londonderry, who write for more readers daily through the Tribune than we shall reach in a lifetime.  Here is Senator Patterson and ex-senators and ex-governors and dignitaries, almost without number, all of whom claim a scotch-irish ancestry, but, paradoxically, disclaim Irish blood.

                And the burden of their talk is the same, the glorification of their ancestors, and through their ancestors of themselves.  One might well wonder where would have been free schools, and religious toleration and civil liberty, but for this little settlement in New Hampshire.  The Scotch-Irish were honest- they bought their lands the Indians; they were brave – their ancestors fought at Marathou; they were patriotic, - their fathers starved rather than surrender at the siege of Londonderry; they were witty – they had lived in Ireland, the home of wit.  What, then! Shall we claim no virtue, no valor, no humor, because our ancestors reached these scenes via Agawam and the banks of the Merrimac instead of more directly from the old country?

                It is a great day for Derry, whose like will not be seen for a half century to come.  It is to Derry what the Peace Jubilee will be to Boston, the event of the century, to be looked back upon and talked of for a lifetime to come.  And Derry has given her visiting sons and daughters such a generous and abundant welcome as the importance of the occasion demands; such a welcome as few small towns can equal and none surpass. 

                The show is not over, but we turn our back upon the busy scene and upon friends who would fain detain us longer, and hastily write out this sketch of our holiday, while we are “jogging along” homeward in the cars.

                Back over the Boston & Maine to Lawrence rolls the heavily laden train, with steadily decreasing numbers, disgorging its living freight at station after station, so numerous that it is a matter of surprise that any were left for other conveyance than by rail.  Salem in one State is left far behind, and now we approach Salem the first.  There just ahead is the tunnel into whose gloom we are about to plunge, with full faith however of reaching the light beyond; and here, on the left, speeds the merchandize train which was to have taken us to our journey’s end, leaving us a night’s delay and Whittier’s refrain ringing in our ears – but for the thronging depots, but for the crowded train, but for the unavoidable delays of large travel – “it might have been.” "

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Another Nutfield Anniversary Account from an 1869 Gloucester, Massachusetts Newspaper", Nutfield Genealogy, posted April 9, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/04/another-nutfield-anniversary-account.html: accessed [access date]).

Surname Saturday ~ TYBOTT of Gloucester, Massachusetts

TYBOTT, TIBOTT, TIBBETT

Walter Tybott (1584 – 1651), my 10^th great grandfather, was from Wales. He was a member of Rev. Richard Blynman’s congregation.  This group of Puritans followed Rev. Blynman to New England about 1640 when he was forced from his church in Chepstow, Monmouthshire for his Puritan preaching.  It is thought that “The Blynman Party” (also known as “The Welsh Party”) was recruited by Gov. John Winslow.  They arrived in Plymouth, settled in Marshfield, and then Gloucester, Massachusetts in 1641.  Some went on to New London, Connecticut ten years later.  Apparently Walter Tybott and his family remained in Gloucester.

The Plymouth Colony records indicate that on 2 March 1640/41 Walter Tibbott, and others were nominated to become Freemen.  He was made Freeman on 19 May 1642. Sometime soon after becoming Freeman Walter Tybott went to Gloucester with others from The Blynman Party.  He was elected Selectman 1642 – 1645.

His will was proved at Salem Court 5 June 165 and it names his children and grandchildren "item i giue to my dafter mari harskol the wif of william hasskole fifteene pound in good pay. I gieu to josef hasskol son of william my farm at chebake. I guie to william hasskolls other sonnes twenti shelenes a pece to put to som good implement.” He also named his grandchild "Richard Dicke," granddaughter Elizabeth Dike, "son clark" [his daughter Agnes’s second husband] and "Sabelone" [Zebulon] Hill, soon-to-be-husband of granddaughter Elizabeth Dike.

Apparently he had only two daughters, Mary and Agnes.  I descend from Mary Tybott (1628 – 1693) who married William Haskell in Salem, Massachusetts in 1643.  They had nine children all born in Gloucester. Mary died on 16 August 1693 in Gloucester, and William died four days later.

Some TYBOTT resources:

"Henry Tibbetts & some of his Descendants", NEHGS Register, Vol 98, page. 58.  

“The Blynman Party," NEHGS Register, Vol 53, page. 234 - 241.

Ira J. Haskell, Chronicles of the Haskell Family, Ira J. Haskell, 1943.

Plymouth Records, Vol. 2, page 8.

My TYBOTT lineage:

Generation 1: Walter Tybott, born about 1584 in Wales, died 14 August 1651; married Mary UNKNOWN.  She remarried to John Harding on 22 April 1652 in Plymouth.  Mary died 21 February 1681 in Gloucester. Two daughters with Walter Tybott.

Generation 2: Mary Tybott, born 6 November 1628 in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, Wales, died 24 August 1693 in Gloucester; married 6 November 1643 in Salem to William Haskell, son of William Haskell and Elinor Foule.  He was baptized 8 November 1618 in Charlton, Musgrove, Somersetshire, England, and died 20 August 1693 in Gloucester. Nine children.

Generation 3: Mark Haskell m. Elizabeth Giddings

Generation 4:  Mark Haskell m. Martha Tuthill

Generation 5:  Lucy Haskell m. Jabez Treadwell

Generation 6:  Nathaniel Treadwell m. Mary Hovey

Generation 7:  Jabez Treadwell m. Betsey Jillings Homan

Generation 8: Eliza Ann Treadwell m. Abijah Hitchings

Generation 9:  Abijah Franklin Hitchings m. Hannah Eliza Lewis

Generation 10:  Arthur Treadwell Hitchings m. Florence Etta Hoogerzeil

Generation 11: Gertrude Matilda Hitchings m. Stanley Elmer Allen

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ TYBOTT of Gloucester, Massachusetts”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted July 8, 2017, (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/07/surname-saturday-tybott-of-gloucester.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ HASKELL of Gloucester, Massachusetts

HASKELL / HASKEL / HASKLE / HASCOLL / HASCALL

This is a case of my 9^th great grandfather who married my 10^th great grandmother.  Sounds funny? Well, it is a very tangled family tree.

William Haskell, my 10^th great grandfather, was born about 1578 probably in Charlton Musgrove, Somersetshire, England, where he also died and was buried on 11 May 1630.  He left a widow, my 10^th great grandmother, Elinor Foule, and seven children.  Sometime later Elinor remarried to John Stone, who happens to be my 9^th great grandfather through his first marriage to Elinor Cooke [See this link for my STONE lineage through their son Nathaniel Stone:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/12/surname-saturday-stone-of-beverly.html  ]

In 1635 John Stone brought his own two Stone sons, his second wife Elinor, and some of Haskell children to Massachusetts.  They settled at what is now Beverly, Massachusetts and owned a farm near the Bass River, close to where the United States Shoe Machinery Corporation, now the Cummings Center, was located.  If this sounds familiar, three generations of my family worked at “The Shoe”, including my own father, and it was just a few blocks from my childhood house on 7 Dearborn Avenue. Can you believe my family lived in this neighborhood for nearly 400 years? 

Of these four Haskell children who appear later in the Massachusetts records, much is known about Roger, who appeared to be here first.  According to an article in the New England Historic Genealogy Society Register: “Mark was apprenticed to John Whiting, broadweaver of Shepton Mallet, in 1635 for nine years. He does not appear in Massachusetts before 1652 he likely completed his apprenticeship before joining his brothers in New England.  Roger, the oldest, appears in Charlton Musgrove records as late as 1635 but received a land grant at Beverly, Mass., in 1636, which considerably narrows the probable date of his arrival.  William does not appear in any known New England records before 1643, but it seems likely he and Roger arrived together.  Roger died at Beverly, in 1667 and his will he gives 'to my sister Jone a heifer...' so we can surmise she was then in New England and perhaps married, though no marriage record survives." NEHGS Register, Volume 138, pages 225 - 226.

William Haskell, Jr., my 9^th great grandfather, was born 8 November 1618 in Charlton Musgrave.  He settled in Gloucester, Massachusetts in 1643 where he was a mariner.  He was a selectman for a few years and a representative to the General Court six times.  He became lieutenant of the militia in 1661, and later promoted to captain.  When the first church was settled at Gloucester he was one of the first two deacons chosen.  He married a Mary Tybott, whose father, Walter Tybott, followed Reverend Richard Blynman from Wales to Gloucester. They had nine children, and both William and Mary died in 1693 only four days apart.

Their son, Mark Haskell, my 8^th great grandfather, married Elizabeth Giddings of Ipswich and had three children before he died young in 1691, age 33 years and 5 months. Elizabeth remarried to John Dennison. Her son, Mark Haskell, Jr., my 7^th great grandfather, lived a long life to 87 years.  He married Martha Tuthill and had thirteen children!  Martha was the great granddaughter of Remember Allerton, a Mayflower passenger.  She passed away in 1763 and Mark took a second wife, Elizabeth Porter, in 1767, who had been widowed three times by Daniel Gilbert, Joseph Goodhue, and John Burnham (who was my 7^th great grandfather with his first wife Anne Choate).  There was a lot of intermarriage in this branch of my family tree, don’t you think?

Lucy Haskell (1715 – 1789) is my 6^th great grandmother.  She married Jabez Treadwell, a cooper from Ipswich, in 1736.  I own an original copy of Jabez’s will, written on old linen paper, and written in 1781.  Lucy and Jabez had eleven children, and I descend from their son Nathaniel Treadwell (1753 – 1822).  You can see this written last will and testament at this link:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/10/jabez-treadwells-will.html

There is a great quote in the book Saga of Cape Ann, by Elliott Copeland & Melvin T. Rogers, 1960, page 135 “In the 18th Century, Bearskin Neck was the site of fishermen's shanties, boat building shops, stores which sold boat gear, bait, and clams, an old tavern, and the 'lean-to' where Wm. Haskell, who wore earrings and did up his hair on curl papers, sold home made ginger pop & molasses candy...."  I’d like to think that this was William Haskell (1618 – 1693), my 9^th great grandfather, but I really don’t know which William Haskell this excerpt describes.

Some HASKELL sources:

Chronicles of the Haskell Family, by Ira J. Haskell, 1943, Ellis Printing Co., Lynn, MA

“John Stone: First Ferryman of Beverly, Mass and some of his descendants 1635 – 1900”, by James B. Stone in The Essex Genealogist, Volume 7, pages 67 - 70.

“English Origins of the Haskell Family”, by Winthrop Allison Haskell in the NEHGS Register, Volume 138, pages 225 - 226

Look at this wonderful HASKELL family tree I photographed at the New England Historic Genealogical Society (first floor near the elevator):  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/02/haskell-family-tree.html 

My HASKELL genealogy:

Generation 1: William Haskell, born about 1578 in Charlton Musgrove, Somersetshire, England, and buried 11 May 1630 in Charlton Musgrove; married to Elinor Foule. Seven children.  Elinor remarried to John Stone.

Generation 2: William Haskell, baptized 8 November 1618 in Charlton Musgrove, died 20 August 1693 in Gloucester, Massachusetts; married on 6 November 1643 in Salem, Massachusetts to Mary Tybott, daughter of Walter Tybott, born 6 November 1628 in Chepstow, Wales and died 24 August 1693 in Gloucester.  Nine children.

Generation 3:  Mark Haskell, born 8 April 1658 in Gloucester, died 8 September 1691 in Gloucester; married on 16 December 1685 in Gloucester to Elizabeth Giddings, daughter of John Giddings and Sarah Alcock.  She was born about 1666 in Ipswich, and died 15 September 1725 in Gloucester. Three children.  Elizabeth remarried to John Dennison.

Generation 4:  Mark Haskell, born 16 September 1687 in Gloucester, died 25 August 1775 in Ipswich; married about 14 January 1710 in Gloucester to Martha Tuthill, daughter rof John Tuthill and Martha Ward.  She was born 21 November 1690 in Ipswich, and died 15 May 1763 in Ipswich.  Thirteen children.

Generation 5: Lucy Haskell, born 21 May 1715 in Gloucester, died 21 September 1769 in Ipswich; married on 20 November 1736 in Ipswich to Jabez Treadwell, son of Nathaniel Treadwell and Hannah Unknown.  He was born 9 August 1713 in Ipswich, and died 22 December 1780 in Ipswich.  Eleven children.

Generation 6:  Nathaniel Treadwell m. Mary Hovey

Generation 7:  Jabez Treadwell m. Betsey Jillings Homan

Generation 8:  Eliza Ann Treadwell m. Abijah Hitchings

Generation 9:  Abijah Franklin Hitchings m. Hannah Eliza Lewis

Generation 10:  Arthur Treadwell Hitchings m. Florence Etta Hoogerzeil

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

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

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ HASKELL of Gloucester, Massachusetts”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 24, 2017, (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/06/surname-saturday-haskell-of-gloucester.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ GYLES of Salem, Massachusetts

GYLES, GILES

Edward GYLES is of unknown ancestry, and it is unknown exactly when he arrived in New England.  In The Great Migration Begins, Anderson guesses that he was in Salem by about 1633.  Edward Giles was also known as Edmond or Edmund, and GYLES had many spellings in the old records.

Apparently Edward Gyles was married first to an unknown woman and had two children, Hannah and Matthew.  Hannah (about 1620 – 1687) is my 9^th great grandmother, who married her step brother, Thomas Verry on 6 May 1650 in Gloucester.  They were married by Deputy Governor Endicott.

There is no marriage record,  but on 6 October 1635 “Edward Gyles was fined 40s, for knowing his wife carnally before marriage”.  [Massachusetts Bay Court Records Volume 1: page 163].  We know that his wife was the widow Bridget Verry from her will, where she names her children.  See the article in The American Genealogist, Volume 60, page 174 or my blog post last week for more about my 10^th Great Grandmother Bridget ( ----) Verry Gyles.   http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/01/surname-saturday-verry-of-gloucester.htm    I descend from Bridget’s son, Thomas VERRY (see above).  Edward and Bridget had another five VERRY children together.

 Some GYLES resources:

Great Migration Begins, Volume II, pages 764- 766

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ VERRY of Gloucester, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 28, 2017,  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/01/surname-saturday-verry-of-gloucester.html

My GYLES genealogy:

Generation 1:  Edward Gyles, born about 1610 in England, died between 17 December 1649 (when he sold land) and 10 December 1656 (when Bridget appears as “widow” in a probate record); married first to unknown (at least two children); married second to Bridget Unknown, widow of Thomas Verry.  Five children.

Generation 2:  Hannah Gyles, daughter of Edward Gyles and his first unknown wife, born about 1627, died 25 August 1687 in Gloucester, Massachusetts; married on 6 May 1650 to Thomas Verry, her step brother, son of Thomas Verry and Bridget Unknown.  He died 28 March 1694.  Nine children.

Lineage A:

Generation 3:  Hannah Verry m. Bartholomew Foster

Generation 4:  Benjamin Foster m. Susanna Andrews

Generation 5:  Lucy Foster m. William Younger

Generation 6:  Levi Younger m. Mary Wotten

Generation 7:  Levi Younger m. Catherine Plummer Jones

Generation 8: Mary Esther Younger m. George Emerson

Generation 9: Mary Katharine Emerson m. George E. Batchelder

Generation 10: Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

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

Lineage B:

Generation 3:  Abigail Verry m. Ralph Andrews

Generation 4:  Susanna Andrews m. Benjamin Foster (see above)

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

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ GYLES of Salem, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 4, 2017,  (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/02/surname-saturday-gyles-of-salem.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ VERRY of Gloucester, Massachusetts

VERRY, VERY, VERREY, VARY

My 10^th great grandfather, Thomas Verry, died 29 October 1631 in Strood, Kent, England.  He left his wife a widow with four small children (another one had died about a month before his death).  The widow, Bridget, remarried to Edward Gyles sometime before 1635, which was about the time he immigrated to Salem, Massachusetts.  Bridget (my 10^th great grandmother) and Edward Gyles (also my 10^th great grandfather, see below) had five children together. 

Bridget is probably a granddaughter or kinswoman to Henry Scudder of Strood, Kent, England, who was the ancestor of other immigrants to New England.   There is an article in The American Genealogist, Volume 72, pages 285 – 300,  by Jane Fletcher Fiske, that explores her English origins.

On 6 October 1635 Edward Gyles was fined 40 shillings for “knoweing his wife carnally before marriage”.  By his first wife, he had two children, Hannah and Matthew (who died on Isles of Shoals in 1667).   Hannah Gyles was the step sister to Thomas Very, one of Bridget’s sons.  Hannah and Thomas Very were married by Governor Endicott "upon the 6^th of the 5^th mo. 1650” in Gloucester.   They were my 9^th great grandparents.

I descend from two of the daughters of Hannah and Thomas Very. The eldest daughter Hannah Very (my 8^th great grandmother) married Bartholomew Foster.  Abigail Very (also my 8^th great grandmother) married Ralph Andrews.  Abigail’s daughter, Susannah Andrews, married Hannah’s son, Benjamin Foster – they were first cousins and also my 7^th great grandparents.

Some VERRY resources:

The American Genealogist, Volume 60 pages 174 – 184; Volume 72, pages 285 – 300 (for the English origins of the widow Bridget Verry Gyles). 

Be very cautious using the VERRY family articles written by Jones Very for the Essex Institute Historical Collections in Volume 1, pages 115 – 116, and Volume 2, pages 35 – 38.  These articles were corrected in the TAG articles above.

The Great Migration Begins, page 764, page 2386 – see the sketch of Edward Giles (second husband of the widow Bridget Verry)

The Giles Memorial, by John Adams Vinton, 1864 for the GILES/GYLES family

My VERRY genealogy:

Generation 1:  Thomas VERRY, died 29 October 1631 in Stood, Kent, England; married Bridget Unknown.  Five children.  Bridget remarried to Edward Gyles as his second wife and had two more children.

Generation 2: Thomas VERY, born about 1625, died 28 March 1694 in Gloucester, Massachusetts; married on 6 May 1650 in Gloucester to Hannah Gyles (his step-sister), daughter of Edward Gyles and Unknown.  She was born about 1625 and died 25 August 1687 in Gloucester. Nine children, and I descend from two daughters.

Lineage A:

Generation 3A:  Hannah Very, born 31 March 1653 in Gloucester; married on 9 September 1668 to Bartholomew Foster.  He was born about 1646 and died 5 December 1689 in Gloucester.  Ten children.

Generation 4A:  Benjamin Foster m. Susanna Andrews (first cousins)

Generation 5A:  Lucy Foster m. William Younger

Generation 6A: Levi Younger m. Mary Wotten

Generation 7A: Levi Younger, Jr. m. Catherine Plummer Jones

Generation 8A:  Mary Esther Younger m. George Emerson

Generation 9A: Mary Katharine Emerson m. George E. Batchelder

Generation 10A: Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

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

Lineage B:

Generation 3B:  Abigail Very, born 16 June 1661 in Gloucester; marriage intention filed 12 December 1682 in Gloucester to Ralph Andrews.  He died on 25 February 1718.  Six children.

Generation 4B:  Susanna Andrews m. Benjamin Foster  (see above)

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

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ VERRY of Gloucester, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 28, 2017,  (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/01/surname-saturday-verry-of-gloucester.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ WOTTON of Gloucester, Massachusetts

WOTTEN   WOOTEN   WOTTON   WOLTEN

There was an early settler named John WOTTON in the Piscataqua region in the 1600s.  According to Savage’s Genealogical Dictionary of New England, Volume IV, page 624 the General Court ordered him home to England in 1654 “to go home to his w. [wife]”.   There is no reason to believe this man was kin to my 7^th great grandfather, John WOTTON of Gloucester, Massachusetts.  There was also a John WOODIN of Ipswich, who appears to be a different man, too.  There was also a Revolutionary War pensioner, John Wotton, of Northfield, Massachusetts who appears to be no relation.

John Wotton, born about 1700 is of unknown origins.  I don’t have a birth or death record for him, just his marriage recorded in the Gloucester vital records and his son’s birth naming him as the father.  He also appears on a list of early settlers in Babson’s History of Gloucester, on page 261 under “a list of settlers from 1701 to 1750 inclusive, which contains all new-comers who are known to have been heads of families during that period.”

John Wotton, Jr. was born in 1720.  He is another mystery since I don't know much about him either.  I know that he had nine children in the Gloucester birth records, including Mary, born on 15 August 1755, my 5^th great grandmother.  She married to mariner Levi Younger, a Revolutionary War veteran, and had five children.  He died sometime before 1801 when she remarried to John Carter.  There is a guardianship docket 4776 in the Essex County probate records naming her as guardian for John and Mary Carter, dated 19 August 1828.

Some WOTTON resources:

I have only found WOTTON records in the Gloucester vital records, and in Essex County probate records.  There are no WOTTONs (nor any of the spelling variations) listed in FindAGrave, nor any other mentions in compiled genealogies, journals or local histories. 

My WOTTON lineage:

Generation 1:  John Wotton, born about 1700; married on 12 July 1720 in Gloucester, Massachusetts to Mary Allen.  . 

Generation 2:  John Wotton, jr., born 13 September 1720 in Gloucester; married on 6 October 1739 in Gloucester to Mary Hall.  She was born about 1720.  Nine children.

Generation 3:  Mary Wotten, born 15 August 1755 in Gloucester; married on 17 July 1784 in Gloucester to Levi Younger, son of William Younger and Lucy Foster.  He was born 7 February 1756 in Gloucester and died before 4 February 1806 in Gloucester.  Five children.

Generation 4:  Levi Younger m. Catherine Plummer Jones

Generation 5:  Mary Esther Younger m. George Emerson

Generation 6:  Mary Katharine Emerson m. George Batchelder

Generation 7:  Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 8:  Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

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

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ WOTTON of Gloucester, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 7, 2017 (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/01/surname-saturday-wotton-of-gloucester.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ FOSTER of Gloucester, Massachusetts

FOSTER, FORSTER, FOSTOR

I have another line of descent from Reginald Foster (1595 – before 1681), an early immigrant to Ipswich, Massachusetts. You can read all about this lineage at this blog post here:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/07/surname-saturday-foster-of-ipswich.html

Today’s sketch is about Bartholemew Foster, (about 1646 – 1689), my 8^th great grandfather, an early settler at Gloucester, Massachusetts – which is located very near Ipswich with my other line of FOSTERs.  He was the brother of Thomas Foster who settled in New London, Connecticut.  In 1669 he married Hannah VERY and also bought a house lot on what is now Front Street in Gloucester.   He owned a sloop (mentioned in his will) and was a mariner.  Apparently it was rare for a mariner in Gloucester (at this time period) to own property, and this fact was mentioned both in the Foster compiled genealogy book and in the History of Gloucester by Babson.

The Foster family was blessed with sons.  I found ten sons listed in the births for Gloucester, Massachusetts, and eight of those sons were mentioned in his will, along with his wife, Hannah.  They had no daughters.

I descend from Bartholemew’s youngest son, Benjamin (my 7^th great grandfather), who was born just a few months before his father Bartholemew’s death in 1689.  My 8^th great grandmother, Hannah (Very) Foster, remarried to Thomas Sawyer (b. 1674).  He was the great grandson of John Sawyer (1582 – 1660) and Agnes Sharpe of England, who was also my 9^th great grandfather.   You can read all about my Sawyer lineage at this blog post here:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/03/surname-saturday-sawyer-of-lancaster.html

My FOSTER lineage daughters out early with Lucy (Foster) Younger.  Benjamin Foster’s daughter Lucy (b. 1723) married William Younger of Gloucester.  They had four children, and I descend from their son Levi Younger (1756 – 1806), a mariner in Gloucester, my 6^th great grandparents.

Some FOSTER resources:

The Foster Genealogies, by Frederick C. Pierce, page 60 and page 1015

Torrey’s New England Marriages Prior to 1700, Volume 1

The History of the Town of Gloucester, Cape Ann, by John James Babson, page 94

The Genealogist, Volume 17: 96-108, 234 – 248.

The Foster family sketch, in Jacobus, Donald Lines. Families of Ancient New Haven. 1974, 3:620.

My FOSTER genealogy:

Generation 1:  Bartholemew Foster, born about 1640, died on 5 December 1689 in Gloucester, Massachusetts; married on 9 September 1668 in Gloucester to Hannah Very, the daughter of Thomas Very and Hannah Gyles.  Ten children.

Generation 2:  Benjamin Foster, born 13 September 1689 in Gloucester; married on 23 August 1711 in Gloucester to Susanna Andrews, daughter of Ralph Andrews and Abigail Very (sister to Hannah Very above).  Eight children.

Generation 3:  Lucy Foster, born 15 June 1723 in Gloucester; married on 6 March 1750 in Gloucester to William Younger.  Four children.

Generation 4:  Levi Younger m. Mary Wotten

Generation 5:  Levi Younger, Jr. m. Catharine Plummer Jones

Generation 6:  Mary Esther Younger m. George Emerson

Generation 7: Mary Katharine Emerson m. George E. Batchelder.

Generation 8:  Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

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

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

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ FOSTER of Gloucester, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted December 31, 2016,  (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/12/surname-saturday-foster-of-gloucester.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ YOUNGER of Gloucester, Massachusetts

The first YOUNGER in this lineage is William Younger, My 6th great grandfather, who married Lucy Foster in Gloucester, Massachusetts in 1750 and had four children.  I don't know his origins, nor his birth or death information.  According to Babson's History of of Gloucester, William Younger is listed on page 261 under  "a list of settlers from 1701 to 1750 inclusive, which contains all new-comers who are known to have been heads of families during that period."

I descend from William's third child, and second son, Levi Younger (1756 - about 1806), my 5th great grandfather. Gloucester is a famous New England fishing port, and has been the home of mariners and fisherman from the beginning of its history until today.  Levi served in the Revolutionary War as a seaman.  He was enlisted in Captain Bradbury Sanders 2nd company on 13 January 1776 "for defense of the seacoast".  Apparently Levi was captured by the British.  He was exchanged for a British prisoner named James Price,  and sent to New York on the Favorite.

Apparently Levi Younger was imprisoned in Forton Prison in England, which was an infamously bad place.  Try Googling it to read some hair raising stories.  Among the Franklin Papers I found this interesting letter written to Dr. Benjamin Franklin in 1782.  I have transcribed Levi Younger's name in bold  [from http://franklinpapers.org/franklin/framedVolumes.jsp?vol=37&page=116a  accessed 22 August 2015]:

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.


I have not found a death record for Levi, but there was a newspaper notice in the Salem Gazette on 11 March 1806, page 4:

 "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."

Mary Wotten is my 5th great grandmother.  She married Levi Younger in 1784, and then when widowed she remarried to John Carter in 1801.  She is the Mary Carter named in this newpaper notice.  The court record for Levi Younger, mariner of Gloucester, intestate, first court date 9 Oct. 1806 (No. 30803). Essex County Probate.

I descend from Levi and Mary Younger's eldest son, Levi, Jr. (1786 - 1858), my 4th great grandfather.  Just like many other men from Gloucester, including his father, this Levi was also a mariner.  And coincidentally, he was also captured by the British during the War of 1812.  During this war many seamen were "impressed" by the British into the British Navy.  Those who refused to serve for the British when captured were thrown into prison.

I found the following letter in  "The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States" Thirteenth Congress, first and second sessions, May 24, 1813 to April 18, 1814 inclusive- compiled from authentic materials, Washington: Gales and Seaton, 1854, page 2267.  Again, I have transcribed Levi's name in bold letters.
E. Cooke to R. G. Beasley
Foreign Office, Oct. 19, 1812
"In Consequence of your letter to Lord Castlereagh of the 12th instant, I am directed by his Lordship to desire that you will furnish me with the names of the American sailors who have been so punished, and of the ship they are on board...Thomas W. Marshall, Peter Lazette, Edward Whittle Banks, and Levi Younger, on board the Royal William, gave themselvers up as prisoners and were in consequence thereof put into close confinement for eight days."

Levi, Jr. made his way home and appears in many certificates of protection as a mariner from Gloucester "light complexion".  These certificates were voucers for citizenship, and include identification such as place of birth, age, physical description, etc. They were to discourage impressment, but didn't work in Levi's case!  You can find the original certificates of protection at the National Archives.

Levi, Jr. married Catharine Plummer Jones of Boston in 1816.  I found this record in the Gloucester vital records, Boston Marriages, and in the newspaper Boston Daily Advertiser, 6 November 1816, page 2.  They are my 4th great grandparents.   Catharine had a famous sister, Mary Lambert Jones (1803 - 1828) who married Capt. John Dominis and removed to Honolulu, and became the mother-in-law to Queen Liliuokalani of the Kingdom of Hawaii.  Catharine had at least five children and died before the age of 30 in Boston.  Levi remarried two more times, and died in Boston in 1858. 

Their daughter, Mary Esther Younger, is mentioned in letters found in the Hawaii State Archives in the files of Queen Liliuokalani, written by her first cousin, the Queen's husband, Governor John Owen Dominis. When Mary Esther's mother died, she had been adopted by an aunt, the sister of Levi Younger, Mary Younger (1788 - 1873), who had married David Harris.  She was known as Esther Harris in some documents, but others listed her as Mary Esther Younger, which was a clue to this lineage, and to the connection to the Queen of the Kingdom of Hawaii.  

My YOUNGER genealogy:

Generation 1.  William Younger; married on 6 May 1750 in Gloucester, Massachusetts to Lucy Foster, daughter of Benjamin Foster and Susanna Andrews.  She was born 15 June 1723 in Gloucester.  Four children. 

Generation 2.   Levi Younger, born 7 February 1756 in Gloucester, died before 4 February 1806 in Gloucester; married on 17 July 1784 in Gloucester to Mary Wotten, daughter of John Wotton and Mary Hall.  She was born 15 August 1755 in Gloucester.  Five children.

Generation 3.  Levi Younger, born 1 May 1786 in Gloucester, died 8 December 1858 in Boston, Massachusetts; married first to Catherine Plummer Jones on 23 October 1816 in Gloucester.  She was the daughter of Owen Jones and Elizabeth Lambert, and the mother of five children.  Levi remarried second to Jane Unknown, and third to Margaret Unknown.  

Generation 4.  Mary Esther Younger, born 17 Feb 1826, probably in Boston, and died 7 January 1913 in Boston;  married on 11 August 1845 in Boston to George Emerson, son of Romanus Emerson and Jemima Wyman.  He was born 11 July 1817 in South Boston and died 11 January 1890 in Dorchester, Massachusetts.  Eight children.

Generation 5.  Mary Katharine Emerson m. George E. Batchelder

Generation 6.  Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 7.  Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

Blog posts about this family:

The Last Will and Testament of Levi Younger:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/10/levi-younger-last-will-and-testament-10.html

An adoption in the 1800s
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/03/an-adoption-in-1800s.html

You can also click on the keywords YOUNGER, JONES, etc in the right hand column to pull up more stories about these families.

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ YOUNGER of Gloucester, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted December 17, 2016, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/12/surname-saturday-younger-of-gloucester.html:  accessed [access date]). 

Levi Younger, Last Will and Testament, 10 June 1857

Suffolk County (Massachusetts) Probate Records, 1636-1899; Author: Massachusetts. Probate Court (Suffolk County); Probate Place: Suffolk, Massachusetts


[transcription]

“Know all men by these presents, that I, Levi Younger of Boston, in the County of

Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, being of sound disposing mind and memory

do make and publish this my last Will and Testament.  First, I give and be-

queath to my daughter Catharine five dollars.  To my daughter Mary Ester and

each of her children I give and bequeath one dollar.  Second, The rest and resi-

due of my personal property after paying my debts and the amounts already-

y named as named as given to my daughters,  Catharine and Mary Ester and her child-

ren,  I give and bequeath to my beloved wife, Margaret A. Younger and her heirs

forever.  Third, I give and bequeath to my beloved wife, Margaret, all my

household furniture and wearing apparel.  Fourth, I ordain and appoint

my beloved wife, Margaret Younger, as Executrix of this my last will and tes-

tament. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal and pub-

lish and declare this to be my Last Will and Testament in the presence of the wit-

nesses named below this tenth day of June, in the year of our Lord eighteen hun-

dred and fifty seven.                           Levi Younger, L.I.

Signed, sealed, published and declared by the said Levi Younger as and for his last

Will and Testament in the presence of us, who in his presence, and in the pres-

ence of each other, and at his request have hereunto subscribed our names as

witnesses.               Joseph I. Coolidge,  John T. Coolidge, Jr.,  A. C. Slater

L. I. Suffolk ss.  Commonwealth of Massachusetts. At a Probate Court holden

In Boston within and for the Country of Suffolk, on the tenth day of January

in the year 1858. By the honorable Isaac Ames Esquire, Judge of Probate, At-

torney.  The annexed Will presented by Margaret A. Younger the Exec-

utrix therein named for Probate.  And all the heirs.  A?? of said Levi Younger

deceased having in writing requested that said Will might be admitted to Pro-

bate upon the testimony of any one of the subscribing witnesses thereto without

further notice to them.  A. C. Slater appears and makes oath that he saw the said

Levi Younger sign, seal, and heard his publish the same Instrument as his

Last Will and Testament, and that he was then, to the best of his discernment of a

sound, disposing mind and memory and that he with Joseph I. Coolidge and

John T. Coolidge, who are absent, subscribed their names thereto, as witnesses in

the presence of said Testator and of each other, and I do prove, approve, and al-

low the same and order it to be recorded.  Given under my hand, and seal

[new page]

Of office the day and year above written.  Isaac Ames, Judge of Probate & Insolvency

Examined Mr. C. Brown, Reg.

Levi Younger

Heirs Consent to Prob. Of Will

42095

To the ??  Judge of Probate & Insolvency in and for the County of Suffolk.  The un-

dersigned being all the heirs at law of Levi Younger late of Boston in said Coun-

ty deceased do hereby request that the last Will of said deceased being late June

 10^th in the year 1857 may be admitted to Probate upon the testimony of any one of

the subscribing witnesses thereto, without further notice to us. Boston Dec. 28, 1858

Catherine Wise                 Mary E. Emerson

Examined     Mr. C. Brown, Reg.

 ------------------

Levi Younger was my 4th great grandfather.  He was born on 1 May 1786 in Gloucester, Massachusetts, the son of Levi Younger and Mary Wotten.  He married first to Catherine Plummer Jones on 23 October 1816 in Boston.  She was the daughter of Owen Jones and Elizabeth Lambert, and the older sister of Mary Lambert (Jones) Dominis who went to Hawaii with her husband and became the mother-in-law to Queen Liliuokalani.

Levi was a mariner.  He was relatively poor compared to his wife's family.  She died very young, on 2 May 1828, at age 29 after having five children.  Levi remarried to a woman named Jane, who died 26 November 1845, and then remarried a third time to Margaret (named in the will), who survived Levi and died on 21 February 1895 in Boston. 

At the time I discovered Levi's will on the new Ancestry.com collection of probate records, I didn't know that he had a daughter named Catharine.   I descend from the younger daughter, Mary Ester (Younger) Emerson (17 Feb 1826 - 7 Jan 1913).  It was quite a surprise to me to learn about this daughter.

Catharine was born in 1817 in Gloucester, Massachusetts.  She married Henry Wise on 29 May 1836 in Boston, and I haven't been able to find any census records, nor any records of children born to Henry and Catharine.  She died on 17 October 1859 in Boston of consumption.  There was a Henry Wise in the Boston City Directory in 1839 as a printer on Franklin Street, and again in 1842 living on Nassau Court.  In the 1855 the Boston Directory shows a Henry Wise, peddler, living at 22 Oneida (this street was demolished in 1956 as part of urban renewal).   In the same 1855 Boston Directory there was a "Mrs. Kate Wise" living at 28 Vine (there is a Vine Street both in Charlestown and in Dorchester).  

My 3rd great grandmother, Mary Esther Younger married George Emerson on 11 August 1845 in Boston and had eight children.  According to the Will, she, and each child received a dollar.  I descend from Mary Esther's eldest daughter, Mary Katharine (25 December 1847 - 23 April 1932).   Levi's sister-in-law, Laura Williams Jones (1809 - 10 December 1887) married a John Lee and named one of her daughters "Catharine Younger Lee" (born 1835).  This Catharine married Lorenzo Virgil Morse and had a daughter "Catharine Morse" (born 1875 in Omaha, Nebraska).   You can see that the name Catharine/Katharine was passed along in this family!

As a mariner, during the War of 1812 Levi was captured by the British and impressed to join the British Navy. In other words, he was a prisoner of war.  I know from certificates of protection that he was of light complexion, living in Gloucester and I've recorded the years of those certificates (from 1801 - 1815).  The Boston City Directories list him as a mariner living on Love Lane (now Tileston Street in the North End, and Ship Street (now Atlantic Avenue), and then on Fleet Street, Hanover Street and Charter Street (all in the North End), from the 1820s to the 1850s.  

Despite his reduced circumstances, Levi Younger left money to his daughters, and his household goods to his third wife, Margaret. The will mentions that the money for daughter Catherine was to go to her and her heirs.  I wonder if I will be able to find those descendants?

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Levi Younger, Last Will and Testament, 10 June 1857", Nutfield Genealogy, posted October 19, 2015 ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/10/levi-younger-last-will-and-testament-10.html : accessed [access date]).