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]). 

Missing Vessel in the Pacific Ocean, 1846

 

Newsclipping from The New Bedford Mercury, New Bedford, Massachusetts, Friday, May 21, 1847, Volume XL, page 3. 

transcription:

"MISSING VESSEL - On the 5th of August last, the Brig Wm. Neilson, of this port, Capt. Weston, sailed from Honolulu, Sandwich Islands, for Manilla and Canton, since which nothing has been heard of her, although there are dates from Manilla to Feb. 11.  As this run is usually made in about 30 days, it is feared that she foundered in a typhoon, and all on board perished.  The dates from the Sandwich Islands are to Dec. 26, and if she had been lost at any point between the two places, it is altogether improbabable that accounts should not have been received from her at one or the other.

The Hon. Geo. Brown of Beverly, late US Commissioner to the Sandwich Islands, was a passenger, with his son.  Capt. John Dominis, formerly a highly repectable shipmaster of this city, but more recently a merchant of Honolulu, was also a passenger.

When the Wm. Neilson sailed from this port, Nov 5, 1845, her roll of equipage contained the names of the following persons, who, it is believed, were all in her at the time she left Honolulu; they were mostly young and enterprizing New England men: Church Weston, of Duxbury, master; Ovander M. Hammett, of Chilmark, 1st officer; Joseph M. Bryant, of Nobleboro', Me, 2d do.; Amherst Peterson, of Marshfield; Seth F. Peterson, of do; David J. Mann, of Hanover, Walter S. Tribou, of do; Joseph Gilbert, of Salem; John Pitts, of Bell Haven (supposed a foreigner) seamen; Alfred Dorsey, of Baltimore, colored man, cook; Moses H. Ganges, of Philadelphia, colored boy, steward.

The Wm. Neilson was a fine clipper brig, built, we believe, in Baltimore.  She had some cargo on board, and a considerable amount of specie belonging to the owners of the vessel and others.  There is insurance in this city for $8000 on the vessel, $2000 on freight money, and $17,850 on cargo, specie, &c, amounting in all to $27,850. - [Boston Daily Advertiser]"  

Captain John Dominis

Who was Captain John Dominis?  According to the world famous genealogist Donald Lines Jacobus, he was an Italian who married a woman from Boston (and Jacobus could not find her ancestry). I'm happy to say that I have solved this mystery that Jacobus could not. [See The American Genealogist, New Haven, CT: D.L. Jacobus, Volume 32 (1956), page 70.]

John Dominis was probably born in Trieste, in what is now Slovenia.  On 5 October 1824 he married my 5th great aunt, Mary Lambert Jones, in Boston. Mary was the daughter of  Owen Jones (about 1768 - 1850) and Elizabeth Lambert ( about 1775 - 1834).  Mary had 7 siblings, including Catherine Plummer Jones (abt 1799 - 1828), my 4x great grandmother.  Mary was born on 3 August 1803 in Boston, and died 25 April 1889 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her father Owen Jones, was born in Wales, and was the son of a Boston customs collector, another Owen Jones (1735 - 1798). Elizabeth Lambert's ancestry is still a mystery to me. 

Captain John Dominis first appears in Boston records on 1 February 1823 when he declared his intention to become a US citizen at the US District Court. This record states "that he came from said Trieste to Boston AD 1819 ".  On 19 May 1825 he applied for his citizenship in Boston, and there was a statement signed by Josiah Marshall and Daniel C. Bacon "that the said John Dominis has resided with the US five years at least and within the State of Massachusetts during the five years last past except being absent occasionally on voyages at sea; and during the time he behaved as a man of good moral charcter, attached to the principles of the constitution of the US and well diposed to the good order and happenings of the same." 

John Dominis also obtained a Seaman's Protection Certificate that was issued in Boston on 28 October 1825.  This record lists him as being 28 years old, 5 feet 9 inches tall, and of dark complexion.  It states that he was from Trieste, Italy, and was a naturalized US citizen. 

Professor Samuel Eliot Morison, who wrote about maritime history including the Mayflower, wrote about Captain John Dominis, who became the master of the ship Owhyhee owned by Josiah Marshall of Boston. The Owhyee (the old spelling for Hawaii) explored the Pacific northwest, the Columbia River, and Willamette Valley.   Dominis also was the master of the brig Bolivar, the Nye, and the Joseph Peabody, which sailed to the Sandwich Islands from New York City in 1839.  

Captain John Dominis brought his wife, Mary, and his little son, John Owen Dominis, from Boston to live in Hawaii aboard the Joseph Peabody in 1839.  He left two small daughters at a boarding school in Schenectady, New York.  The captain and his wife began to build an impressive house in Honolulu. Mary sent to Boston for the windows, doors, and other parts for her new home.  Her brother in law, Enoch Snelling, designed the front entrance to this house. 

In 1846 Captain John Dominis set sail again for China to buy furniture for his new mansion in Honolulu.  He was never heard from again, and there were many newspaper accounts, like the one above, presuming he was lost at sea.  Mary was forced to take in boarders in her new house, to keep up the appearances of her status in society.  One of these boarders, Anthony Ten Eyck, consul to the United States, nicknamed her house "Washington Place" because it was similar to George Washington's mansion at Mount Vernon.  Many of these boarders were Americans and some foreign consuls. 

In 1862  John Owen Dominis married Lydia Kamakaeha Paki, the future Queen Liliuokalani. The married couple lived in Washington Place.  Mary Dominis died in 1889.  After the Queen was desposed in the illegal takeover of Hawaii, she spent her retirement years at Washington Place.  This home served as the governor's mansion for the governor of Hawaii for many years, and is now a museum. 

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For the truly curious:

Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen, Liliuokalani, by Liliuokalani (Queen of Hawaii), 1898, Lee and Shepard of Boston, reprinted by Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2007. 

My very first blog post on July 27, 2009:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/07/hawaii-boston-connection-to-royal.html  

I have written many blog posts about Washington Place.  You can scroll through these stories by clicking at this link:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/search?q=washington+place   

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Missing Vessel in the Pacific Ocean, 1846", Nutfield Genealogy, posted July 9, 2024, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2024/07/missing-vessel-in-pacific-ocean-1846.html: accessed [access date]). 

The First Christmas Tree in Hawaii 1858

2002 Washington Place ballroom

My great aunt (sister to my 4x great grandmother) was Mary Lambert Jones. She was born in Boston in 1803, married a sea captain, and removed to Chittenango, New York where her children were born. On April 23, 1837, aboard the bark “Jones” she arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii with her husband, Captain John Dominis, and their little boy, John Owen Dominis. They had left two daughters in New York at school. Her brother-in-law, Robert W. Holt preceded her to Hawaii, but her sister, Ann Marie, had died in Boston.  Aunt Mary’s two young daughters died in a boarding school in New York before joining up with the rest of the family in Hawaii.

Captain John Dominis was a trader who had traveled from Europe to North America, Alaska, and to China. He wanted to build the finest house in the Pacific for his wife and family. She wanted a house in the New England style, and he wanted to furnish it with imported pieces from China. Windows, doors and trim work were imported from Boston, from the workshop of a great uncle Enoch Snelling, a North End glazier (married to another Jones sister). In 1846 Capt. Dominis left for a voyage to China to buy her items for the new house, and his ship disappeared. He was never heard from again.

Mrs. Dominis moved into the Honolulu house in 1847 and, because of her reduced circumstances, she had to rent out rooms to dignitaries and visiting Americans. One boarder, Commissioner Anthony Ten Eyck, suggested the name “Washington Place” for her mansion, since it looked like the first president’s home at Mount Vernon. King Kamehameha III said "it has pleased His Majesty the King to ... command that they retain that name in all time coming." And so the name has remained as Washington Place for Aunt Mary’s house.

In 1862 her son moved his new bride into his mother’s home at Washington Place. Her name was Lydia Kamaka‘eha Paki. After her mother-in-law’s death in 1889, Mrs. John Owen Dominis was also known as Princess Lili’uokalani, who became the Queen and last monarch of Hawai’i in 1891. Washington Place was her home during her monarchy, and since 1921 it has become the home of the Hawaiian Governors. It is now a museum in Honolulu, open to the public for tours.

Washington Place is a much beloved landmark in Honolulu, but it is also famous for being one of the first places where Christmas was celebrated in Hawai’i. The New England missionaries in Hawai’i were descendants of Puritans. In the Calvinist tradition Christmas was not celebrated, especially not with Christmas trees and parties. But Aunt Mary was not a missionary, and she was the daughter of a Welsh immigrant to Boston.  Perhaps when she lived in Chittenango, New York (near Schenectady) she learned how the Dutch celebrated Christmas. 

On Christmas Eve in 1858 Mary Dominis brought 100 children to Washington Place to see her Christmas tree and Santa delivered gifts to each child. The Christmas tree was an imported Douglas fir. The children were later sent home and the parents held a grand ball and dinner. The missionaries frowned on her display, but it was the beginning of a Victorian Christmas tradition in Hawaii. Four years later, in 1862, the same year that John Owen Dominis married his royal bride, King Kamehameha IV proclaimed Christmas a national holiday in the Kingdom of Hawai’i. The past curator of Washington Place, Corinne Chun, said that Mary Dominis’s Christmas tree may have been the first Christmas tree in Hawai’i.

In 1863 there was another Victorian era style Christmas celebration at the home of Elizabeth Holt Aldrich, the daughter of Robert W. Holt, and niece of Mary Dominis. It is described in a series of articles written for the Honolulu Star Bulletin named “The Fabulous Holts.” Article number 17 is titled “An Aldrich Christmas” and it outlines how Elizabeth Aldrich had a Christmas tree arranged by building a wooden form and decorating it with maile and fern wreaths. Colored candles, toys and dolls were hung on the tree. There were 18 different dollies dressed in handmade outfits. According to the article “Thirty-eight children and forty adults attended the Aldrich party at 7 p.m. Christmas. The children let out many squeals of delight when the parlor folding doors were opened to display the lighted tree. Elizabeth Aldrich took Puritan Maria Rice to attend Episcopalian Christmas Eve services and the two hour high church service on Christmas day. Maria Rice thought the lighted candles and singing were beautiful.” Maria Rice was the wife of missionary William Harrison Rice who had come to Hawai’i in the ninth missionary company.

An excerpt from a book about the first Christmas Tree party in Hawaii in 1858:

"Christmas passed off in good old fashioned style. The eve was ushered in by the assemblage of a large number of children and their parents at Washington Place, the mansion of Mrs. Dominis, where Santa Claus had given out that he would hold his court.... A magnificent Christmas Tree had been provided... and the little folks as they gathered about it...found it all lighted up with candles, and the branches bending with the weight of gifts. Prompt as old Father Time ever was, bells were heard at the windows... and in a moment old Santa Claus stood at the door before the youthful group, who greeted him with a volley of merry shouts. He was dressed in the garb in which children love to image the saintly old elf.  For an hour he bestowed his gifts with princely lavishness among the 100 children present, creating one of the happiest groups ever witnessed in Honolulu... who will long continue to talk of Santa Claus of Washington Place."  [from Hawaiian Annual for 1922, Thomas G. Thrum, compiler and publisher, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1921, page 60, available to view at Google Books.]

Washington Place, Honolulu, today

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Jones/Dominis Family Tree

Gen. 1: Owen Jones, born about 1735 in Wales, died 28 February 1798 and buried in Aberstwyth, Wales; married to Anne (maiden name unknown) served as a customs inspector for some time in Boston where his daughter, Anne was born in 1769.  My 6th great grandparents.

Gen. 2. Owen Jones, born about 1768 in Wales, died 22 April 1850 in Dorchester, Massachusetts; married on 11 May 1793 at the 2nd Baptist Church in Boston to Elizabeth Lambert, born about 1775 in Boston, died on 6 February 1834 in Boston. Eight children.  My 5th great grandparents.

Gen. 3: Mary Lambert Jones, born 3 August 1803 in Boston, died 25 April 1889 in Honolulu, Hawaii; married on 5 October 1824 in Boston to Captain John Dominis, born in Trieste (now Slovenia) and died in 1846 at sea. Three children.  Mary is my 4th great aunt, sister to my 4th great grandmother, Catherine Plummer (Jones) Younger (about 1799 - 1828).

Gen. 4: Governor John Owen Dominis, born on 10 March 1832 in Chittenango, New York, died on 27 August 1891 at Washington Place, Honolulu, Hawaii; married on 16 September 1862 in Honolulu to Lydia Kamekeha Lili’uokalani, daughter of Caesar Kaluaiku Kapa'akea and Analea Keohokalole, born on 2 September 1838 and died on 11 November 1917 at Washington Place, Honolulu, Hawaii. They had no children. John O. Dominis also had a relationship with Mary Purdy Aimoku, and one son.

Gen. 5: John Owen Aimoku Dominis, born 9 January 1883 in Honolulu, died on 7 July 1917 in Honolulu; married on 27 June 1911 in Honolulu to Sybil Francis McInerny, daughter of Edward Aylett McInerney and Rose Kapuakomela Wond. Three children.

Washington Place, Honolulu, with Queen Lili'uokalani in the late 1800s

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Sources:

“Hawaiian Annual for 1921” by Thomas G. Thrum, Honolulu, 1920 (see pages 59 – 60 for information on the first Christmas party)

Honolulu Star Bulletin “The Fabulous Holts” (date unknown) (This was a series of newspaper articles written about the Holt and Dominis families of Hawaii).

http://hawaii.gov/govnat/washington_place/ Official Website of the Hawai’i Governor’s office

http://www.washingtonplacefoundation.org/  The Washington Place Foundation

See my blog post on July 27, 2009 for more information on the Jones family of Boston

The photo at the top is courtesy of the Hawaiian Star Bulletin, 2002, showing the Christmas Tree at Washington Place for the annual Holiday public tour.

Paula Rath, “Recreating Hawai’i’s first Christmas Tree”, Honolulu Advertiser, ( http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Dec/03/il/il01a.html  December 3, 2004) 

And for the latest article I could find mentioning Mary Dominis’s Christmas Tree, here is one by Trustan Kekauoha, “Holiday Classic, with a Twist!”,  https://www.kaleookalani.org/3113/features/entertainment/holiday-classic-with-a-twist/ December 4, 2018.

This blog post is an update of one written originally on December 7, 2009:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/12/advent-calendar-christmas-in-hawaii.html

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To Cite/Link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “The First Christmas Tree in Hawaii 1858”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted December 19, 2019, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-first-christmas-tree-in-hawaii-1858.html: accessed [access date]). 

Along the Pilgrim Trail ~ The Mayflower returns to Rotherhithe, London, England

Along the Pilgrim Trail, Part 23

The Mayflower Pub, Rotherhithe, London
and 43 members of the Mayflower Society Tour

Vincent and I recently took the General Society of Mayflower Descendants Historic Sites Tour of England, Wales and The Netherlands along with 41 other enthusiast participants (known as "The 43").  We traced the footsteps of the Separatists and the Mayflower passengers and crew all around these countries with some amazing tour directors, guides, historians and authors.  We were given access to places off the usual tourist trails, and behind the scenes.  We had a wonderful time, and this is the last blog post of this series.

Since October I have been blogging about our tour to England and Holland with the General Society of Mayflower Descendants.  For 22 posts I have traced the footsteps of our Pilgrim ancestors from the origins of the Separatists in Babsworth and Gainsborough, to the home villages and parishes of the Pilgrim Fathers and Mothers, to their escape to Holland, and back again to England before finally departing Plymouth in Devonshire in 1620.  Many readers never knew all these stories, and it has been interesting to relive the adventures of these early colonists before they even came to the New World.

In the 22^nd post the Separatists and the adventurers left Plymouth.  Most of you know what happened next when they crossed the stormy Atlantic Ocean for 66 days, landed at Cape Cod, searched for a place to plant their colony, and endured a terrible winter when 50 of the 102 settlers died.  However, by springtime they had made alliances with the Native Wampanoag people, planted their first crops, and were on their way to surviving in New England.

On 5 April 1621 Captain Christopher Jones and his crew returned to England.  None of the colonists decided to return with him, although he offered to bring anyone who wanted to return.  They returned to London in 31 days, less than half the time it took to get to Cape Cod. 

Less than a year later, Captain Jones died in Rotherhithe, a neighborhood along the Thames River in London.  This was where the Mayflower landed on her return.  Jones’s widow and the other three owners of the Mayflower (Jones was the fourth owner) applied for an appraisal of the ship in 1622. It appraised for 128 pounds, 8 shillings, and 4 pence.  The ship was then probably scrapped.

Rotherhithe is a place where you can see many memorials to Capt. Christopher Jones, and to the Mayflower.  My two favorite memorials are the statue called “Sunbeam Weekly and the Pilgrim’s Pocket,” and the Mayflower Inn.  The Mayflower Pub, where descendants are invited to sign a book and list their Mayflower ancestors.  The Mayflower originally sailed from near this pub, which was originally called “The Shippe”, and then rebuilt in the 18^th century and renamed “The Spread Eagle”, and then renamed “The Crown”. We also visited St. Mary’s Church, where Capt. Jones is buried, and there is a plaque commemorating the Mayflower.

This is the last of the blog posts, because this is where the Mayflower came to rest, and was eventually scrapped.  The story doesn’t end here, because the colonists that Capt. Christopher Jones left behind prospered, and were eventually joined with their beloved kinfolk and friends from Leiden when the ships Fortune and James arrived in the subsequent years.

You know the rest of the story!

Sunbeam Weekly and the Pilgrim's Pocket
This statue is named for a popular series of children's historic comic books.
The little boy is reading about the history of America,
and a Pilgrim is looking over his shoulder. 
The Pilgrim's pocket includes a lobster, a guide to London, and a cross.  

St. Mary's Church, Rotherhithe, where Capt. Christopher Jones is buried

This is Yours Truly, signing the book for descendants at the Mayflower Pub in Rotherhithe.
We all had a nice lunch, and all signed the book.  This was one of the highlights of the entire trip for me!

The Mayflower Pub in Rotherhithe website:  http://www.mayflowerpub.co.uk/

Other blog posts in this series:

  

Part 1 of this series "Babworth, Nottinghamshire":

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/10/along-pilgrim-trail-babworth.html   

Part 2 of this series "Scrooby Manor"

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/10/along-pilgrim-trail-scrooby-manor.html   

Part 3 of this series “Gainsborough, Lincolnshire”:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/10/along-pilgrim-trail-gainsborough.html   

Part 4 of this series "Harwich, Essex, home of the Mayflower"

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/10/along-pilgrim-trail-harwich-essex.html      

Part 5 this series "Stephen Hopkins of Upper Clatford, Hampshire"

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/10/along-pilgrim-trail-stephen-hopkins-of.html   

Part 6 of this series "William Mullins of Dorking, Surrey"

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/10/along-pilgrim-trail-william-mullins-of.html    

Part 7 of this series “Edward Winslow of Droitwich, Worcestershire”

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/10/along-pilgrim-trail-droitwich.html

Part 8 of this series "The Fullers of Reddenhall, Norfolk":

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/10/along-pilgrim-trail-fullers-of.html

Part 9 of this series "John Howland of Fenstanton, Cambridgeshire":

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/11/along-pilgrim-trail-john-howland-of.html

Part 10 of this series "Tilley and Sampson of Henlow, Bedfordshire":

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/11/along-pilgrim-trail-tilley-and-samson.html

Part 11 of this series "William Bradford of Austerfield, Yorkshire":

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/11/along-pilgrim-trail-william-bradford.html  

Part 12 of this series "Francis Eaton of Bristol":

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/11/along-pilgrim-trail-francis-eaton-of.html  

Part 13 of this series "James Chilton, Robert Cushman of Canterbury, Kent, England":

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/11/along-pilgrim-trail-james-chilton-and.html    

Part 14 of this series "Fishtoft, Lincolnshire where the Pilgrims were betrayed":

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/11/along-pilgrim-trail-fishtoft.html

Part 15 of this series "Boston, Lincolnshire, where the Pilgrims were jailed":

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/11/along-pilgrim-trail-boston-lincolnshire.html     

Part 16 of this series "Immingham, Lincolnshire to Holland":

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/11/along-pilgrim-trail-1608-immingham.html    

Part 17 of this series “In Exile in Amsterdam”:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/11/along-pilgrim-trail-in-exile-in.html

Part 18 of this series “St. Pieterskerk in Leiden, The Netherlands”:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/11/along-pilgrim-trail-st-pieterskerk-in.html 

Part 19 of this series "Touring Leiden":

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/12/along-pilgrim-trail-touring-leiden-in.html     

Part 20 of this series "Delfshaven, Holland"

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/12/along-pilgrim-trail-speedwell-leaves.html 

Part 21 of this series “Dartmouth, Devonshire”

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/12/along-pilgrim-trail-speedwell-is.html 

Part 22 of this series “Plymouth, Devonshire”

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/12/along-pilgrim-trail-mayflower-leaves.html 

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

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Along the Pilgrim Trail ~ The Mayflower returns to Rotherhithe, London, England”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted December 18, 2017, (  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/12/along-pilgrim-trail-mayflower-returns.html: accessed [access date]). 

Weathervane Wednesday ~ A church in England with ties to the Mayflower

I post another in a series of weather vane photographs every Wednesday.  This started with images of weathervanes from the Londonderry, New Hampshire area, but now I've found interesting weather vanes all across New England and across the globe.  Sometimes my weather vanes are whimsical, or historical, but all are interesting.  Often my readers tip me off to some very unique or unusual weathervanes, too!  If you know a great weather vane near you, let me know if you'd like to have it featured on this blog.

Today's weather vane was photographed in England.

Do you know the location of weathervane post #338?  Scroll down to find the answer.

"London Borough of Southward
Sailing of the Mayflower
In 1620 the Mayflower sailed from
Rotherhithe on the first stage of
its epic voyage to America
In command was Captain
Christopher Jones
of Rotherhithe
Voted by the People"

This weathervane is on top of the steeple of St. Mary the Virgin in Rotherhithe, London, England.  This is the church attended by Captain Christopher Jones of the Mayflower.  He was buried here in 1623, a few years after returning from New England.  The weathervane is a simple banner, and probably dates from 1714 - 1715 when it was rebuilt, and not contemporary to when Capt. Jones attended services.  There has been a church here in Rotherhithe since the 1200s. 

St. Mary's Church, Rotherhithe, London:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Mary%27s_Church,_Rotherhithe  

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

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Weathervane Wednesday ~ A church in England with ties to the Mayflower", Nutfield Genealogy,  posted November 22,  2017, (https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/11/weathervane-wednesday-church-in-england.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ LAMBERT of Boston

LAMBERT / LOMBARD / LAMPORT / LAMPERT / LUMBARD

Lambert family, probably of Boston, is one of my biggest brickwall mysteries in my family tree.  My 5^th great grandmother, Elizabeth Lambert (about 1775 – 1834) was described as a Boston debutante by her grandson, Governor John Owen Dominis of Hawaii.  However, I am unable to find out anything about her LAMBERT family except for one tantalizing clue.  She had a possible sister, Sarah, who married a John DARKE/DARGUE in 1796.   Elizabeth named her eldest daughter, Sarah Dargue Jones (about 1794 – 1875) after this sister. 

Elizabeth and Sarah Lambert would have been born in Boston around the time of the Boston military occupation by British troops prior to 1775. They probably were not even born in Boston at all.  Civilians fled Boston during the occupation.  In 1768 the British had deployed two regiments, or 2,000 soldiers, to restore order.   A fleet of British war ships crowded the harbor, which was closed.  Then, in 1775, the British retreated from the battles of Lexington and Concord to Boston, which was held under Seige by militas and the Continental Army.  Most civilians fled, or at least sent their wives and children out of the city.  Most of those left behind were Loyalists.  If the Lamberts were here before or during the military occupation and the Seige, where did they go during the conflict?  This might be where Elizabeth and Sarah were born, or where their parents married. 

Bostonians reclaimed Boston after “Evacuation Day” on 17 March 1775 when the British fleet departed Boston Harbor with troops and Loyalists aboard.   Citizens returned to Boston to rebuild the city, which had been ransacked.   The population of Boston in 1765 had been about 15,000 people.   The number of people in Boston fell by 2/3 during the 1770s to a low of less than 6,000. 

In 1793 Elizabeth Lambert married Owen Jones, the son of a British customs official.  Were they loyalists? I have no proof one way or another.  They had eight children, six daughters who all married well, and two sons who died young.  One son died as a young child, the other died unmarried at sea.  My Lambert lineage daughters out, and my 4^th great grandmother was Catherine Plummer Jones (1799 – 1828) who also died young after giving five children to her mariner husband, Levi Younger, of Gloucester.

The Lamberts and the Joneses lived in Boston’s North End neighborhood.   Owen Jones lived on Ship Street,  Hanover Street, and Tileston Street.   Records were found in the New North North church and at the 2^nd Baptist Church. 

Interestingly, Elizabeth (Lambert) Jones’s obituary was carried in the Nantucket Inquirer on 11 February 1834.  Did she have relatives on the island of Nantucket?  

Unfortunately, It is difficult to find vital records or any other type of information on Boston families during and before the Revolutionary War.  And LAMBERT and all its spelling variations were very common.  There were many LAMBERT families in Boston and other parts of Massachusetts.  I have had some luck searching church records, newspapers, and other sources. 

If anyone has a clue as to the identity of this LAMBERT family, please leave a comment or email vrojomit@gmail.com

My LAMBERT genealogy:

Generation 1:   Unknown Lambert; married and had two daughter (probably more children)  1.) Elizabeth 2.) Sarah Lambert born about 1776 and died 3 September 1796, married on 1 Dec 1793 to John Darke/Dargue

Generation 2:  Elizabeth Lambert, born about 1775, died 6 February 1834 in Boston; married on 11 May 1793 at the 2^nd Baptist Church, Boston, Massachusetts to Owen Jones, son of Owen Jones and Ann Unknown.  He was born about 1678 in Wales, and died 22 April 2850 in Dorchester, Massachusetts.  Eight children.

Generation 3:  Catherine Plummer Jones, born about 1799, died 2 May 1828; married on 23 October 1816 in Gloucester, Massachusetts to Levi Younger as his first wife.  He also married Jane Unknown, who died 26 November 1845 in Boston;  and Margaret Unknown, who died 21 February 1895. Five chidren.

Generation 4:  Mary Esther Younger, born 17 Feb 1826 and died 7 January 1913 in Boston.  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)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~  LAMBERT of Boston", Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 21, 2017,  ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/01/surname-saturday-lambert-of-boston.html: accessed [access date]).  

Surname Saturday ~ JONES of Wales and Boston, Massachusetts

Vincent and I at Washington Place, Honolulu, Hawaii
the home built by my 4th great aunt
Mary Lambert (Jones) Dominis, born in Boston, 1803.
This was Queen Lili'uokalani's last residence,
and the current governor's residence.

My 6^th great grandfather, Owen Jones, born about 1735, was a Royal Customs agent at Aberystwyth, Wales and also a customs agent at Boston, Massachusetts (probably before the Revolutionary War).  His son, Owen Jones, my 5^th great grandfather, was born about 1768 in Wales and he married Elizabeth Lambert in Boston.  Apparently the rest of the family returned to Wales, and Owen, Jr. stayed in Boston.  Owen’s sister, Ann, is buried at Aberystwyth with the following epitaph:

“Here lies the body of Ann, the daughter of Owen Jones, Collector of the Customs at Aberystwyth, by Ann, his wife, who was born at Boston, New England on the 17th of February 1769, and departed this life the 18th of February 1791, aged 22 years. Also to the above named Owen Jones, who departed this life the 28th of February 1798, aged 62”

Owen Jones, Jr. was a mariner, and he lived at Ship Street in Boston’s North End in the 1810, 1820 and 1820 censuses and city directories.  In the 1842 Boston directory he was living at 199 Hanover Street, also in the North End.  His death notice in the New England Historic Genealogical Society Register, Vol. 4, page 293 (July 1850) reads: “Jones, Mr. Owen, Dorchester, 22 April, ae 82, formerly of Boston”.    His obituary in the Boston Evening Transcript, 22 April 1850, page 2 reads “At Dorchester, this morning, at the residence of Wm. Hart, Mr. Owen Jones, 82, formerly of this city.  Funeral services at the house of Enoch H. Snelling, No. 108 Salem Street, on Tuesday, at 3 ½ o’clock PM. Relatives and friends are invited to attend.”   William Hart was his son-in-law (married to his daughter Agnes Jones), and Enoch Snelling was another son-in-law (married to his eldest daughter Sarah Dargue Jones).

Owen Jones married Elizabeth Lambert and had eight children.  Six daughters, and two sons (one died young, the other died at sea unmarried).   One of these daughters was my 4^th great grandmother, Catherine Plummer Jones (about 1799 – 1828).  Another daughter was Mary Lambert Jones (1803 – 1889), who married Capt. John Dominis and removed to the Kingdom of Hawaii where she became the mother-in-law to Queen Liliuokalani.  Two other daughters are named above, and the other two were Laura Williams Jones, who married John Lee, and Anne Marie Stanwood Jones, who was the first wife of Robert William Holt who also removed to the Kingdom of Hawaii.

Catherine Plummer (Jones) Younger died at age 29 and left her husband a widower with young children.  Their daughter, my 3^rd great grandmother Mary Esther Younger, was adopted by her aunt Mary (Younger) Harris and raised in Boston.  It was a letter written by her nephew, William Lee, to his aunt Mary Dominis in Hawaii that told me the connection to Queen Liliuokalani.  This letter in the Hawaii State Archives, dated May 9, 1887, was written when Princess Liliuokalani, her husband Governor John Owen Dominis, and Queen Kapiolani were visiting relatives in Boston enroute to Queen Victoria’s Jubilee celebration in London.  “…I tell you Aunt Dominis, the Jones & Lambert race will never die out!... [mentions Esther Emerson]… you can easily see the coming of the Queen and her party has been a marked event with our people.”  [M-93 Lili’uokalani Collection, Box 9, Folder 94 (years 1185 – 1888, #1164, s.n. 1305, Hawai’i State Archives]. 

Another letter dated May 11, 1887 from Governor John Owen Dominis to his mother says “Yesterday forenoon we had a reception for all my Cousins and aunts and nearly all were here…. The Queen and Lydia [Liliuokalani’s Christian name] had quite a jolly time with our cousins – Lydia has the names of all who were here.”  [ibid]

Esther Emerson, who met the Royal party in Boston, lived at #57 Nixon Street in Boston.  Her 1913 death record in the Massachusetts vital records gives her maiden name as Younger and her adopted name of Harris, as well as her parents and husband’s names.  She is buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Boston.   My great grandmother, Carrie Maude (Batchelder) Allen, died during my lifetime, and she was alive during the Queen’s visits to Boston both in 1887 and later after the overthrow of the monarchy.  She remembers visiting with “Auntie Lydia” and was one of the cousins mentioned in the letters above.   It was Great Grandmother Carrie’s insistence that we had a princess in our family tree that led me to start tracing this line back in the 1970s – my first foray into genealogy!

My JONES genealogy:

Generation 1:  Owen Jones, born about 1735, died 28 February 1798 in Aberystwth, Wales; married to Anne Unknown.  Two known children (probably more)

Generation 2:  Owen Jones, born about 1768 in Wales, died 22 April 1850 in Dorchester, Massachusetts; married on 11 May 1793 at the 2^nd Baptist Church, Boston, Massachusetts to Elizabeth Lambert.  She was born about 1775 and died 6 February 1834 in Boston.  Eight children

Generation 3:  Catherine Plummer Jones, born about 1799, died 2 May 1828 probably in Boston; married on 23 October 1816 in Gloucester, Massachusetts to Levi Younger, son of Levi Younger and Mary Wotton.  He was born 1 May 1786 in Gloucester, and died 8 December 1858 in Boston.  Five children.

Generation 4:  Mary Esther Younger, born 17 February 1826, died 7 January 1913 in Boston; married on 11 August 1845 in Boston to George Emerson, son of Romanus Emerson and Jemima Burnham.  He was born 11 July 1817 in South Boston, and died 11 January 1890 in Dorchester.  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)

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

To cite/link to this blog post: 

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, " Surname Saturday ~ JONES of Wales and Boston, Massachusetts ", Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 14, 2017,  (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/01/surname-saturday-jones-of-wales-and.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 ~ 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]).