Betsy Holmes Shaw, died 1795, Plymouth, Massachusetts for Tombstone Tuesday

 This tombstone was photographed at Burial Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts

 

Epitaph:

To the memory of

Mrs. BETSY SHAW

wife of

Mr. ICHABOD SHAW Jun.r

who died Dec.r 26, 1795

aged 20 years.

Also her infant daughter

Betsy Holmes by her side

aged 7 months & 15 days.

 Betsy Holmes Shaw was born 10 May 1774 in Plymouth, the daughter of Captain Ichabod Holmes and Rebekah Ellis.  She married Ichabod Shaw on 29 March 1795 in Plymouth.  When Betsy died on 26 December 1795, Ichabod remarried to Esther Homes (1769 – 1846) , her sister.  Esther outlived Ichabod, who died on 26 July 1837 in Plymouth. All three are interred at Burial Hill.

The top of Betsy’s tombstone shows a cherub, and a brick tomb, next to a funeral urn.  All three are common images by gravestone carvers in the early Federal period.  It is possible that Betsey died from complications of childbirth? She was buried with her infant daughter.

 For the truly curious:

Graven Images – New England Stonecarving and Its Symbols, 1650 – 1815 by Allen Ludwig, 2000, (pages 202 and 205 discuss this tombstone).   

Also see Epitaphs from Burial Hill by Bradford Kingman, 1892. See #1448 for Betsy Holmes Shaw.

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 To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Betsy Holmes Shaw, died 1795, Plymouth, Massachusetts for Tombstone Tuesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 11, 2025, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2025/03/betsy-holmes-shaw-died-1795-plymouth.html: accessed [access date]). 

The 300th Anniversary of the Scots Irish Diaspora

The next two years are going to be a very interesting time here in New England as we commemorate the Scots Irish diaspora.  Although a few Scots Irish migrated to Massachusetts, like my minister ancestors Rev. William Holmes and Rev. Thomas Craighead, who arrived in Boston in 1714 from Londonderry, Northern Ireland.  The organized mass migration began in 1718 when Rev. William Boyd obtained permission for a grant of land from Governor Shute of Massachusetts. That same year Rev. James McGregor brought a large portion of his flock from Aghadowey, to Boston.  These Ulster Presbyterian families spent a cold winter in Maine, where some remained, and some went on with McGregor to found the Nutfield settlement in New Hampshire in the spring of 1719, and others spread out in Massachusetts.

The 300^th anniversary of these events begins this year, and the kickoff event will be The Scots Irish Reunion at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine 14 – 16 August 2018.  It will be hosted by the St. Andrews Society of Maine and the Maine Ulster Scots Project.   This reunion will include:

-  Identifying the people who left Northern Ireland, their home villages, and their settlements in New England

-  Exploring the uniqueness of the diaspora and the folkways brought to America

-  Academic lectures, articles, conferences, archaeological reports, genealogy, and publications

-  Tours of points of interest: First Parish Church, cemeteries, archaeological sites

Next year celebrations will be held in Nutfield (Londonderry, Derry, Windham and Derryfield (part of Manchester), New Hampshire) with a kickoff  for the300^th anniversary of the 1719 sermon by Rev. McGregor on the shore of Beaver Lake in present day East Derry.  A heritage day will be held on 13 April at the Meetinghouse with historical presentations, artistans, and a musical performance.  There will be a special church service that weekend to conclude the weekend.

There will be also be commemorations in 2019 during Wndham’s June Strawberry Festival, Derry’s Fourth of July, and Londonderry’s August Old Home Day. 

Nutfield Genealogy will be celebrating, too!  I plan on switching my “Surname Saturdays” to cover the Scots Irish families who settled in Nutfield/Londonderry.  The first posts will be the first 16 families who arrived with Rev. James MacGregor in 1719, and then I will feature some of the other Scots Irish families.  Stay tuned to see if your ancestors are included, and stay tuned to learn more about the Nutfield commemorative events next year.

For more information:

Maine Ulster Scots Project:    www.MaineUlsterScots.com

                                                https://www.facebook.com/maineulsterscots/

St. Andrews Society of Maine   http://mainehighlandgames.org/

                                                   https://www.facebook.com/SASMaine/

The 1718 Migration    http://www.1718migration.org.uk

The 1718 Society at Facebook    https://www.facebook.com/groups/1485652625086099/

Nutfield History    http://www.nutfieldhistory.org/   

The following links will be updated soon:

Derry’s Fourth of July   https://www.derrynh.org/parks-recreation/events/75953 

Londonderry’s Old Home Day    http://oldhomedays.com/ 

Windham’s Strawberry Festival  http://www.flowwindham.org/strawberry-festival

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "The 300th Anniversary of the Scots Irish Diaspora", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 19, 2018, (  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/02/the-300th-anniversary-of-scots-irish.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ BISHOP of Salem, Massachusetts

Edward Bishop, my 9^th great grandfather,  was born in England and appears in the Salem, Massachusetts records in 1645 when he was admitted to the church.  He was a farmer and a sawyer.  Edward was married three times, and I descend from his marriage with his first wife, Hannah, but I also descend from his second wife, Bridget (Playfer) (Wasselbee) Oliver, who is best known for being the first person executed in the Salem witch hysteria of 1692.

Edward Bishop, was appointed guardian of Susannah Mason, the only child of Christian, who was the only child of Bridget by her husband Thomas Oliver.  Thus my 9^th great grandfather was appointed guardian to my 7^th great grandmother in a different lineage.  

Edward’s son, Edward Jr. and his wife Sarah Wildes, were also arrested during the witch hysteria, but avoided execution by escaping the Boston jail.  Sarah’s mother, Sarah (Averill) Wildes, was executed on 19 July 1692.  The escapees were my 8^th great grandparents, and their son, James, (my 7^th great grandfather) was born about seven years later.   James was a bricklayer and a mason in Ipswich, Massachusetts.

My BISHOP lineage:

Generation 1: Edward Bishop, born about 1620 in England, died about 1705 in Salem, Massachusetts; married first about 1645 to Hannah Unknown, mother of three children; married second in August 1667 to Elizabeth Lambert; married third to Bridget Playfer, widow of Thomas Oliver and Samuel Wasselbee.

Generation 2: Edward Bishop, born 23 February 1648 in Salem, died 12 May 1711 in Rehoboth, Massachusetts;  married about 1675 to Sarah Wildes. Three children.

Generation 3: James Bishop, baptized 14 August 1699 in Salem, died between 31 October and 10 December 1764 in Salem; married first on 28 March 1724 in Ipswich to Sarah Holmes, mother of ten children. Married second on 13 December 1750 to Sarah Millet.

Generation 4: Sarah Bishop, baptized on 19 May 1728 in Ipswich; married on 18 October 1747 to Daniel Poland, so of John Poland and Abigail Davis.  He was born about 1724 and died 19 August 1768 in Salem. 

Generation 5: Martha Poland, born 4 August 1754 in Ipswich, died 17 February 1843 in Essex, Massachusetts; married on 22 April 1773 in Wenham, Massachusetts to  Alexander Mears.  He was born about 1750 in England, died 3 April 1824 in Essex. Twelve children.

Generation 6: Samuel Mears, born about 1798 in Essex, died 28 August 1879 in Essex;  married on 29 March 1823 in Essex to Lydia W. Burnham, daughter of Asa Burnham and Polly Bray.  She was born 19 September 1802 in Essex, died 5 September 1864 in Essex.  Nine children.

Generation 7: Samuel Mears, born 29 December 1823 in Essex, died 13 January 1904 in Lynn, Massachusetts;  married on 20 April 1844 in Essex to Sarah Ann Burnham, daughter of Henry Burnham and Sally Poland.  Five children.  Samuel  married second on 26 December 1848 in Wenham to Lydia Gray, mother of four children.

Generation 8: Sarah Burnham Mears, born 30 November 1844 in Essex, died 4 March 1913 in Essex; married on 23 May 1863 in Essex to Joseph Gilman Allen, son of Joseph Allen and Orpha Andrews.  He was born 22 May 1830 in Essex and died 9 April 1908 in Essex. Ten children.

Generation 9: Joseph Elmer Allen, born 24 September 1870 in Essex, died 12 March 1932 at the Masonic Home in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts;  married on 1 November 1892 in Essex to  Carrie Maude Batchelder, daughter of George E. Batchelder and Mary Katherine Emerson.  She was born 22 September 1872 in Chichester, New Hampshire, and died 21 January 1963 at the Sea View Convalescent and Nursing Home, Rowley, Massachusetts. Five children. 

Generation 10: Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

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My lineage from Bridget (Player) (Wasselbee) (Oliver) BISHOP – this lineage lived for the first nine generations in Salem, Massachusetts, until my grandmother removed to Beverly (a contiguous town) and Hamilton, Massachusetts:

Generation 1:  Bridget Player,  died 10 June 1692 in Salem when she was hung as a witch; married first on 13 April 1660 at St. Mary in the Marsh, Norwich, England to Samuel Wasselbee ; married second about 1664 to Thomas Oliver, who died 1678; married third about 1685 to Edward Bishop (see above).

Generation 2:   Christian Oliver, daughter of Thomas Oliver and Bridget Playfer; born 8 May 1667 in Salem, died about 1693; married about 1686 in Salem to Thomas Mason.

Generation 3:  Susannah Mason, born 23 August 1687 in Salem, died after 1769; married 20 September 1711 in Salem to John Becket, son of William Becket and Hannah Sibley.  He was born 10 August 1684 and died 1763 in Salem.

Generation 4: John Becket born 28 February 1715 in Salem, died 29 August 1781 in Salem; married first on 3 May 1738 to Rebecca Beadle, mother of thirteen children.  She was the daughter of Lemon Beadle and Rebecca Atwater, born 31 January 1714 in Salem, died 13 January 1758 in Salem.  John married second on 25 November 1762 in Salem to Sarah Rue.

Generation 5: Hannah Becket, born 17 November 1751 in Salem, died 18 August 1837 in Salem; married on 20 June 1770 in Salem to Joseph Cloutman, son of Joseph Cloutman and Mary Webb.  Seven children.

Generation 6: Mary Cloutman,  born about 1775 in Salem, died 28 November 1853 in Salem; married 21 December 1795 in Salem to Abijah Hitchings, son of Abijah Hitchings and Mary Gardner.  He was born about 1775 in Lynn, Massachusetts, and died 26 July 1868 in Salem. Eleven children.

Generation 7: Abijah Hitchings, born 18 January 1809 in Salem, died 18 January 1864 in Salem; married 4 December 1836 in Salem to Eliza Ann Treadwell, daughter of Jabez Treadwell and Betsey Jillings Homan.  She was born 27 August 1812 in Salem, and died 31 January 1896 in Salem.  Four children.

Generation 8: Abijah Franklin Hitchings, born 28 October 1841 in Salem, died 19 May 1910 in Salem;  married on 22 September 1864 in Salem to Hannah Eliza Lewis, daughter of Thomas Russell Lewis and Hannah Phillips.  She was born about 1844 in Salem, and died 15 February 1921 at the Danvers State Hospital, Danvers, Massachusetts. Two children.

Generation 9: Arthur Treadwell Hitchings, born 10 May 1868 in Salem, died 7 March 1937 in Hamilton, Massachusetts; married on 25 December 1890 in Beverly, Massachusetts to Florence Etta Hoogerzeil, daughter of Peter Hoogerzeil  and Mary Etta Healey.  She was born 20 August 1871 in Beverly and died 10 February 1941 in Hamilton. Eight children.

Generation 10: Gertrude Matilda Hitchings m. Stanley Elmer Allen (my grandparents) (see above)

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/04/surname-saturday-bishop-of-salem.html

Copyright © 2015, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy - The 4th Commandment

On Genealogy Bank I found that my 9th great grandfather, the Reverend William Homes (1663 - 1746), had written a book on the Sabbath.  This is a small advertisement, dated 1727 for his book Religious Observation of the Lord's-Day.

from GenealogyBank.com
New England Weekly Journal, Boston, Massachusetts, Thursday, 10 July 1727, Issue XVI, page 2

I have read excerpts from Rev. Homes's personal journal, but I didn't know he had written a book.  You never know what you're going to find in historic newspapers.  I almost didn't look for his name at Genealogy Bank because I considered it too early in American history to find anything about him.  Now I know better!

Do you think I can find a copy of this little book on eBay?

You can read all about the life of the Reverend William Homes at this blog post:
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/02/surname-saturday-homes-of-northern.html

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The URL for this post is
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/08/remember-sabbath-and-keep-it-holy-4th.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Tombstone Tuesday - Grizel Holmes

These head and foot stones are located at Forest Hill Cemetery, Derry, New Hampshire.

ERECTED

IN MRMORY OF

Mrs. GRIZEL HOLMES

wife of

Eldr. JOHN HOLMES

who departed this life

Febr. Ye 25th 1788

Aged 78 years

Retire my friends, dry up your tears

all life when Christ appears

Grizel Givean was the wife of Elder John Holmes of Londonderry, New Hampshire.  She was born about 1712 in Northern Ireland.  John Holmes was born in Aghadowey, Londonderry, Northern Ireland about 1709 and he died on 7 December 1777.  He signed the Association Test in Londonderry, New Hampshire in 1776.  This was written by the New Hampshire Committee of Safety, and required that all adult males take up arms against the British, and to collect the names of those who refused to sign.

On page 277 of Rev. E. L. Parker's History of Londonderry, 1851 (in the genealogy section of the book there is a chapter on Abraham Holmes, father of John Holmes).

"His son, John, who was ten years old when he came to this county, was also an elder in the same church, during the long ministry of the Rev. Mr. Davidson.  He settled on the farm now owned and occupied by William M. Holmes, in Londonderry.  He married Grizel Givean.  They had nine children, three sons and six daughters; namely, Sarah, Margaret, Abraham, Eleanor, Robert, Mary, Thomas, Mary Ann, and Martha..."

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To Cite/Link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday - Grizel Holmes", Nutfield Genealogy, posted October 10, 2012, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/01/tombstone-tuesday-grizel-holmes.html: accessed [access date]). 

Samuel Eliot Morison’s Nutfield Connection

My daughter used to live in Back Bay, Boston when she was a student at Simmons College. It’s a lovely neighborhood for walking, and my favorite section has always been the Commonwealth Mall. It’s a green oasis in the city, a long avenue divided by a green park dotted with statuary of famous Bostonians. I had never examined these statues up close, and then I noticed that all the statues seemed to be literary figures. One of my favorite statues is that of Samuel Eliot Morison.

Morison was a famous Boston Brahmin, an Admiral, and most famously, a Harvard professor of history. However, his statue shows him wearing casual clothing, perched on the edge of a rock in a pose that looks as if he were gazing out to sea. Since he was very famous for his books on maritime history, it seems appropriate. His most famous books were about New Hampshire’s own John Paul Jones (John Paul Jones, 1960), the 1952 edition of the Mayflower Pilgrims,  and Christopher Columbus (Admiral of the Ocean Sea, 1943). He was a sailor, as well as a scholar, and earned two Pulitzer Prizes and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Morison was very outspoken and fairly old fashioned for the twentieth century, and he was criticized for justifying slavery, and parents often boycotted some of the textbooks he co-authored - even in the mid 1900s! The elementary school textbook Growth of the American Republic was criticized since its first publication in 1944,  and unfortunately changes were not made to its racial distortions until 1962. Morison is also well known for being the last professor to ride a horse to the Harvard campus. FDR was so impressed with his book on Columbus that he allowed Morison to join the Navy as a historian, where he wrote his fifteen volume set “History of the United States Naval Operations in World War II”. I supposed this was equivalent to today’s “embedded journalists” in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I began to wonder about the name Morison when examining the statue, and since Londonderry has a plethora of Morrisons in its history, I soon found a match in the professor’s family tree. He was indeed a descendant of some of the original Nutfield settlers, and also a descendant of U. S. Senator Harrison Gray Otis, of Boston.

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The Morison lineage:

Gen. 1: John Morison born 1628 in Aberdeen, Scotland, died 16 Feb 1736 in Londonderry, New Hampshire; married to Unknown. He immigrated to America between 1720 and 1723 with his brothers James and Halbert, and settled in Nutfield (Londonderry, New Hampshire.) He married secondly to Jeanette Steele.

Gen. 2: John Morison born in Ireland, died 14 Jun 1776 in Peterborough, New Hampshire; married to Margaret Wallace, born 1687, died 18 April 1769.

Gen. 3: Thomas Morison, born about 1710 in Ireland, died on 23 November 1797 in Peterborough, New Hampshire; married on 2 October 1739 in Lunenburg, Massachusetts to Mary Smith, born in 1712, died on 29 November 1799.

Gen. 4: Robert Morison, born on 29 November 1744 in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, died on 13 February 1826; married to Elizabeth Holmes, daughter of Nathaniel Holmes and Elizabeth Moor, born on 23 June 1754 in Londonderry, New Hampshire, died on 17 May 1808 in Peterborough, New Hampshire.

Gen. 5: Nathaniel Morison, born 9 Oct 1779 in Peterborough, New Hampshire, died 11 September 1819 in Natchez, Mississippi; married on 13 September 1804 to Mary Ann Hopkins, daughter of John Hopkins and Isabella Reid, born 1781 in Londonderry, New Hampshire, died 27 August 1848 in Medina, Michigan.

Gen. 6: Nathaniel Holmes Morison, born 14 Dec 1815 at Peterborough, New Hampshire; married to Sidney Buchanan Browne.

Gen. 7: John Holmes Morison, born Jan 1856 in Baltimore, Maryland, died 1911; married 26 Jun 1886 in Boston to Emily Marshall Eliot, daughter of Samuel Eliot and Emily Marshall Otis, born 14 Feb 1857 at Roxbury, Massachusetts, died in 1925.

Gen. 8: Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison, born 9 July 1887 at Boston, Massachusetts, died 15 May 1976; married to Elizabeth Shaw Greene, and second to Priscilla B. Shekelford.

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Several other books by Samuel Eliot Morison:

The Life and Letters of Harrison Gray Otis, Federalist, 1765–1848 (1913)
The Story of Mount Desert Island (1960)
Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647 editor (1952)
Samuel De Champlain: Father of New France (1972)
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For the truly curious:

The History of the Morison or Morrison Family, by Leonard Allison Morrison and Frederick William Thomas, Boston, Mass: A. Williams & Co, 1880.

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Samuel Eliot Morison's Nutfield Connection", Nutfield Genealogy, posted December 10, 2009, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/12/samuel-eliot-morisons-nutfield.html: accessed [access date]).