Tabitha Longfellow Lewis Willey for Tombstone Tuesday

 

Sacred

To the Memory of

Tabitha L.

wife of 

Dea. Stephen Willey,

DIED

Sept. 23, 1847

AEt. 40. 

Thou art gone to the grave, but we will not deplore thee,

Since God was thy ransom, thy guardian, thy guide;

He gave these, he took thee, and He will restore thee;

And death has no sting, since the Saviour that died. 

This tombstone is in a location I prefer to keep secret.  For more information on why it is not being made public, see this blog post:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2025/10/this-story-will-give-you-willeys.html 

Tabitha Longfellow Lewis was born 23 September 1807 in Bridgton, Maine, the daughter of George Lewis and Ruth Lincoln.  She married Deacon Stephen D. Willey on 9 January 1826 in Bridgton and had five children.  She died 23 September 1847 in North Conway, New Hampshire.  

Stephen’s parents were Captain Samuel Willey 1785 – 1844 and Elizabeth “Betsy” Glazier.  He was enumerated in the Onalaska, LaCrosse County, Wisconsin Federal Census in 1860, and died December 1860 in Dover, New Hampshire. He is buried in the Willey Cemetery, too.  Stephen was the brother of Samuel Willey, who died in the famous1826 landslide in Crawford Notch that killed his entire family.  Deacon Stephen Willey was part of the party that tried to rescue his brother's family after the disaster, and he auctioned the contents of their house after burying the few remains that were recovered.  

Tabitha’s children:

1.           1. Samuel Willey, born about 1827

2.          2. George Lewis Willey, born 3 April 1829 in Conway, married Sarah Elizabeth Nutting 22 June 1856 in Kewaunee, Wisconsin.

3.          3. Sarah Peabody Willey, born 23 April 1831 in Conway, married Joseph Colley Dole 1865 in Coles, Illinois

4.        4. Ann Judson Willey, born 27 February 1837 in Conway, married John Henry Hale 1855 in Conway, died in Hamilton, Fillmore County, Minnesota

5.       5. Katherine Willey , born 1839 in Bridgton, Maine

For the truly curious:

My 2020 Willey Landslide blog post  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/10/happy-halloween-story-of-willey-family.html  

 

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 To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tabitha Longfellow Lewis Willey for Tombstone Tuesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 3, 2026, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/02/tabitha-longfellow-lewis-willey-for.html: accessed [access date]). 

Tombstone Tuesday ~ LEWIS family plot, Manchester, New Hampshire

This tombstone was photographed at the Piscataquog Cemetery in Manchester, New Hampshire

1831 HENRY LEWIS 1917

1831 HANNAH E. LEWIS 1923

1865   BABY   1865

1866 WALTER H. LEWIS  1937

1869 S. ABBIE LEWIS  1952

1856 FREDERIC H. LEWIS  1898

1856   ANNIE SOULE LEWIS 1989

1881    WALTER ANTON LEWIS   1888

1879  PERCYVAL LEWIS   1949

Henry Lewis, son of Warren Lewis and Mary Dean Morse, was born 7 October 1831 in East Walpole, Massachusetts, died 5 September 1917 in Manchester, New Hampshire; married Hannah Elizabeth Beach, born 1831 in Salisbury, Vermont, died 1923 in Manchester. In 1848 Henry Lewis removed from Walpole, Massachusetts to Hooksett, New Hampshire.  He began to work with the Amoskeag mills and the Manchester Corporation.  He was a Civil War veteran and a 32d degree Mason, Mystic Shriner, Knight Templar, Odd Fellow and a member of the Unitarian Church.  He was a member of Walter Dignam’s 1^st Regimental Band during the Civil War. [see pages 193 to 194 of Lewisiana: The Lewis Letter, Volume 16, which was an old newsletter for the Lewis Family Association] 

Three children:

a.       Frederick Henry Lewis, born 1856, died 9 September 1898 in Woburn, Massachusetts; married on 29 August 1878 in Taunton, Massachusetts to Annie Maria Soule, daughter of Leander Soule and Caroline Lucinda Graham, a descendant of George Soule the Mayflower passenger. Teacher at the New England Conservatory of Music.  Children:  Frederick Percyval, born 29 June 1879 in Woburn, Walter Anton Henry born February 1881.

b.       Walter Lewis, born 17 Feb 1865, died 9 May 1865

c.       Walter Lewis, born 31 March 1866, died 1937, graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music in 1890; married on 26 June 1895 in York, Maine to Sarah Abbie Bridges. He was an Independence League candidate for Governor of New Hampshire in 1908.  He wrote operas and music.  He also drew cartoon for the newspapers under the name “Penn” and many occult articles under the name “Zariel”.  Died 1937.  No children.

The sphinx is a neo-Egyptian symbol found in the 20^th century.  It was mean to “guard the tomb”, like foo dogs, or lions, which are more common.  It is also a symbol of the Shriners, a subgroup of the Masons.  It represents strength and protection.

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday ~  LEWIS family plot, Manchester, New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted October 23, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/10/tombstone-tuesday-lewis-family-plot.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ LEWIS of Salem, Massachusetts

Gloucester Fisherman's Wife Memorial

My 4^th great grandfather, Thomas Lewis, is named as the father of Frederick Augustus Lewis on his 1850 death record, and on Thomas Russell Lewis’s marriage record in 1852.   Frederick Augustus and Thomas Russell were the twin sons of Thomas Lewis. I don’t know my 4^th great grandfather’s origins at all.

With this information from the son’s vital records, and their father’s name, I was able to find a death announcement in the Salem Gazette, 24 August 1824, page 3 for “Mr. Thomas Lewis, aged 54”.  There is no corresponding death record in the vital records.  Is this their father?  The birth record for both boys appears in the compiled book of Salem Vital Records with only their mother listed (no father’s name) baptized on 26 June 1825 at the Howard Street or Branch Church in Salem, Massachusetts.  Were the twin babies born posthumously?

In his probate records, Thomas Lewis is described as a ropemaker of Salem.

To throw a monkey wrench into the mix, I don’t know the full name of the mother of these twin boys.  She is listed as “Amelia” in their baptism records.  I cannot find a marriage between a Thomas Lewis and an Amelia in any Massachusetts records.  “Amelia Lewis” remarried again in 1827 to Thomas Johnson in Salem, and then “Amelia Johnson” remarried again in 1843 to John Adams in Topsfield.    John and Amelia Adams were listed in the Wayland, Massachusetts 1860 Federal Census Mortality Schedule as “paupers”.   Such a sad life for my 4^th great grandmother, Amelia!

I descend from Capt. Thomas Russell Lewis (1825 – 1853), my 3^rd great grandfather.  He married young to Hannah Phillips, my 3^rd great grandmother, in 1841, and had three children.  She died in 1851, and he remarried quickly to Lydia Pickering in 1852, probably so his very young children had a stepmother to care for them.  However, two years later, in 1853, Capt. Thomas Russell Lewis died in Surinam, in the West Indies.   The newspaper Salem Register on 6 October 1853, page 2 reads “Mortuary Notice: At Surinam, August 22, of erysipelas, Capt. Thomas R. Lewis of this city, master of the brig Gazelle.”  (Erysipelas is a strep infection of the skin).

Upon Capt. Lewis’s death, the probate record states that Lydia, the step mother, went to court and stated that “She has three small children, & has no means of support for herself & them, that the whole of the estate of said Thomas amounts only to the sum of $120 or appraisal…”  Another generation, another sad story!

My 2^nd great grandmother, Hannah Eliza Lewis (about 1844 – 1921), was only seven years old when her mother died, and only nine years old when her father died at sea.  Her stepmother remarried to John Bradbury Hardy of Lynn, Massachusetts.  I don’t know where little Hannah was raised, with her stepmother or some other relatives?  I couldn’t find any guardianship court records.

In 1864 Hannah married my 2^nd great grandfather, Abijah Franklin Hitchings.  He was known as “Frank” or “Dada” Hitchings by my grandmother.  Frank was a veteran of the Civil War, and had been injured at the Battle of Fredricksburg.  His leg injury bothered him for the rest of his life, as his pension papers show many, many medical reports from the “Old Soldiers Hospital” in Chelsea, Massachusetts.  Frank had been a sail maker before the war, but after the war he became the Deputy Collector of Customs at the Salem Custom House.  He held this job until his death in 1910.  

Hannah outlived Frank by another eleven years, but she was not well.  She received a Civil War widow’s pension, but in those documents I found many, many letters from her son, Arthur, my great grandfather, who described that she was suffering from dementia and had been committed to the Asylum at Danvers. His letters begged for a raise in her widow’s benefits to cover her care.  Hannah died in the Asylum at Danvers in 1921, and she is buried in the Harmony Grove Cemetery in Salem in the large plot owned by her father, Capt. Lewis, where many Lewis, Hitchings and other relatives are buried. A third generation, and a third sad story!

Some LEWIS resources:

Salem Vital Records,  Essex County Probate Records, Salem Gazette newspapers via GenealogyBank online database, Harmony Grove Cemetery in Salem archives, US Federal Census records, and Civil War pensions documents.  This LEWIS family does not appear to in any compiled genealogy or journal articles. 

My LEWIS genealogy:

Generation 1:  Thomas Lewis, born about 1770, died 31 August 1824 in Salem, Massachusetts; married  to Amelia Unknown.  She was born about 1790 probably in Stoughton, Massachusetts, and died 22 April 1860 in Wayland, Massachusetts.  Two twin sons.

Generation 2:  Captain Thomas Russell Lewis, baptized 26 June 1825 in Salem, died 22 August 1853 in Surinam, West Indies; married on 4 March 1841 in Salem to Hannah Phillips, daughter of James Phillips and Sarah Cree.  She was born about 1821 in Topsfield, Massachusetts and died 17 October 1851 in Salem. Three children.

Generation 3:  Hannah Eliza Lewis, born about 1844 in Salem, died 15 February 1921 in at the Danvers State Hospital, Danvers, Massachusetts; married on 22 September 1864 in Salem to Abijah Franklin Hitchings.  He was the son of Abijah Hitchings and Eliza Ann Treadwell, born 28 October 1841 in Salem, died 19 May 1910 in Salem.  Two children.

Generation 4:  Arthur Treadwell Hitchings m. Florence Etta Hoogerzeil

Generation 5:  Gertrude Matilda Hitchings m. Stanley Elmer Allen (my grandparents)

NOTE:  I have written another Surname Saturday blog post on another LEWIS family, showing my descent from another Thomas Lewis, who lived in Maine in the 17th century: 
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/06/surname-saturday-lewis-of-saco-maine.html

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ LEWIS of Salem, Massachusetts”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 10, 2018, (   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/02/surname-saturday-lewis-of-salem.html: accessed [access date]). 

Tombstone Tuesday ~ A Knight Templar and His Effigy

WILLIAM MARSHAL
first Earl of Pembroke (died 1219)

Believe it or not, the Knights Templar were not a fantasy created for a Dan Brown novel. They were living people in the middle ages.  Thanks to genealogists like Gary Boyd Roberts and William Addams Reitwiesner, I have traced my family tree back to William Marshal (about 1146 – 1219), my 23^rd great grandfather.  He was buried as a Knight Templar in the Temple Church of London in 1219.  Because of this, I have always wanted to return to London and visit the Temple Church, and see his effigy.

I descend from his daughter Eve Marshal (about 1206 – 1246) who married William de Braiose.  This lineage goes down through Judith Lewis (1626 – 1688), my 9th great grandmother, who married James Gibbons (about 1614 – 1692), an early settler at York County, Maine.  This kind of ancestor is called a “gateway ancestor” because they connect you to a noble or royal lineage.  This is the kind of ancestor you can find in books by Gary Boyd Roberts or on the Reitwiesner website.  There are only a few of these immigrants who qualify as “gateway ancestors”, but they fill up books with names like Medieval English Ancestors of Certain Americans or The Royal Descents of 600 Immigrants to the American Colonies or the United States. This line from William Marshal to James Gibbons was confirmed in the book Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists who came to America before 1700, by Frederick Weis Lewis and Walter Sheppard, 1995.

It’s not often you can go back 23 generations in your family tree. But because noble and royal marriages were (and in some cases still are) so important for legal contracts, political alliances, and family connections they were always carefully documented.  The lower classes often had no record at all of marriages, births or deaths until about the late 1500s when one of the Pope passed an edict on record keeping.  The Protestant churches followed up with records, too, after the Reformation. 

About 1850 a cast was made of the effigy of William Marshal, and it is usually
displayed at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
However, it was on display this year in the Temple Church, right next to the real effigy.
The actual effigy was damaged in 1941 during "The Blitz" when a German
firebomb hit the roof, and molten lead landed on the effigies on the church floor.

detail of the face of William Marshal's cast effigy

The Temple Church, London

 The Temple Church dates from 1162, and is a round church to represent the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.  A rectangular chancel was added in 1240.  It was built by the Knights Templar as their London headquarters.  During the crisis that lead to the Magna Carta in 1235, King John took shelter here in the Temple Church.  William Marshal, the First, and his son, William Marshal II are both buried here, and both were at Runnymede for the signing of the Magna Carta.  

In the 14th century the Templars were suppressed, and James I gave all the Templar land including the church to the societies of the Inner and Middle Temple, which are two of London's famous Inns of Court.  It was interesting to learn about the Templar's connection with the Magna Carta, and the current legal system in London which is centered in this area of the city. 

The Temple church was restored after World War II after extensive bombing damage destroyed the roof, and molten lead heavily marred and broke the effigies. It is still a working church with a community of parishioners.  This church was featured in Dan Brown's book The Da Vinci Code, in a scene where Langdon is searching for clues left by the Templar Knights. 

I was not aware of the damage done to William Marshall's effigy until I visited the Temple Church last month and saw the displays, including this information board (above).  The bomb damage to the effigy is heart breaking.  Fortunately it was skillfully repaired, and I cannot explain how wonderful it was to see the cast of the original effigy made in 1850.  I can only compare it to finding an LDS microfilm of a church register for a congregation that had burned and lost or damaged all its documents! 

More information on William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke
"The Greatest Knight That Ever Lived!"

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Tombstone Tuesday ~  A Knight Templar and His Effigy", Nutfield Genealogy, posted November 7, 2017, (https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/11/tombstone-tuesday-knight-templar-and.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ LEWIS of Saco, Maine

The Saco River in Maine

LEWIS

Thomas Lewis (1590 – about 1640), my 10^th great grandfather, was a draper and a wine merchant, educated at the Shrewsbury School between 1600 and 1605.  On 12 February 1629 in London the “Council for the Affairs of New England in America” granted him and Capt. Richard Bonython land north of the Saco River. Thomas Lewis came to Maine on the ship Elizabeth in 1631.  His wife and children came from England to Maine in 1637.

In 1640 the executors of his estate left his daughters Judith (Lewis) Gibbons of Saco, Maine and Elizabeth (Lewis) Haywood of Barbados, part of the estate originally held by Richard Bonython and Thomas Lewis.  Judith Gibbons is my 9^th great grandmother.   She inherited 32 square miles of the great Saco patent.  Her husband, James Gibbons acquired another 100 acres of the Biddeford side of the Saco River in 1642.

There is a book The Ancestry of Charity Haley, 1755 – 1800, by Walter Goodwin Davis, 1916 that describes Thomas Lewis, his property in Maine, and Judith’s descendants.   The English ancestry of the Lewis family at St. Chad’s church in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England was published in the New England Historical Genealogical Register Volume 101, 1947, pages 3 to 23 in the article “Ancestry of Thomas Lewis and his Wife Elizabeth Marshall of Saco, Maine” by Walter Goodwin Davis.  There is a great sketch of Thomas Lewis in The Great Migration Begins, by Anderson, Volume II. 

My LEWIS genealogy:

Generation 1:  Thomas Lewis, son of Andrew Lewis and Mary Herring, born about 1590 in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, died before 28 April 1640 in Maine; married 29 August 1618 at St. Chad’s Church, Shrewsbury, Shropshire to Elizabeth Marshall, daughter of Roger Marshall and Katherine Mytton.  Eight children.

Generation 2: Judith Lewis, born 1626 in Shrewsbury, died 1699 in Saco, Maine;  married about 1646 in Saco to James Gibbons.  He was born about 1614 in England and died after 1692 in Maine. Eight children.

Generation 3:  Hannah Gibbons m. Robert Mace

Generation 4:  John Mace m. Sarah Frost

Generation 5:  Ithamar Mace m. Rachel Berry

Generation 6:  Abigail Mace m. Simon Locke

Generation 7: Richard Locke m. Margaret Welch

Generation 8:  Abigail M. Locke m. George E. Batchelder

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

Generation 10:  Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

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

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ LEWIS of Saco, Maine", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 25, 2016,  (  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/06/surname-saturday-lewis-of-saco-maine.html: accessed [access date]).

Amelia! What is your maiden name?

For many years I have been researching Amelia, my 4^th great grandmother.  In the 1970s, when I was a teenager, I found my first record of her through her son’s birth record (Thomas Russell Lewis, is my 3^rd great grandfather) in the published Salem, Massachusetts Vital Records.  According to the “Tan Books”, Thomas Russell Lewis is listed as “LEWIS, Thomas Russell, s. Amelia, bp. June 26, 1825. CR 10”.  The notation CR10 refers to the Howard Street or Branch Church.   Two sons were baptized on the same day. 

Thirty five years ago I am still finding records about Amelia, but none give her maiden name.

This baptism record was odd, since most of the births and baptisms list both parents.  Why was Amelia listed as the sole parent of these boys?   I could not find a marriage record, and there was a death of a Thomas Lewis listed on August 21, 1821 in the Salem records.  Was this her husband?    There was also a death announcement in the Salem Gazette, 24 August 1824 for “Mr. Thomas Lewis, aged 54”.  Was this her husband?  He is another brickwall, and I don’t know his parents or ancestry.

There are two Thomas Lewis’s listed in the book Old Marblehead Sea Captains and the Ships in which they sailed by the Marble head Historical Society, page 87

     1)      Thomas Lewis born 15 June 1776 master of the schooner “Hawk” 90 tons in 1792

     2)      Thomas Lewis, Jr. born 28 May 1775, master of the schooner “Susanna and Lucy” in 1812

In the Gloucester death record of the other son, Frederic Augustus Lewis, Thomas Lewis was listed as the father.  I also found Thomas Lewis listed as the father on both Thomas Russell Lewis’s and Frederic Augustus Lewis’s marriage records.  Which Thomas Lewis is my 4^th great grandfather?

I couldn't find a death record for an Amelia Lewis, and so I searched to see if she had remarried and gained a new name.  Yes! She had been married three times!  First to Thomas Lewis.  Second to Thomas Johnson on 16 October 1827 in Salem, and then a third time on 11 June 1843 in Topsfield, Massachusetts to John Adams.  Amelia is listed as Amelia Adams on her death record in Wayland, parents unknown, died 22 April 1860 as a paralytic in the poorhouse, born in Stoughton.   Since she died in a year ending with a zero, I searched the federal census mortality schedules and found this sad entry (both husband and wife died the same month in the poorhouse):

1860 Federal Census Mortality Schedule

Wayland, Massachusetts

Amelia Adams, age 72, married, d. April, b. Mass.  pauper, paralysis, 4 days

            John, age 69, married, d. April, b. Mass, pauper, lung fever, 3 weeks

Also:

1850 Federal Census, Topsfield, Massachusetts

John Adams, age 60, m, shoemaker, b. Mass.

            Amelia, age 60, f, b. Mass

            Joseph H, age 18, m, shoemaker, b. Mass

            Susan S., age 16, f, b. Mass

William H. Garrett, age 16, m, shoemaker, b. Mass

The clue here in the 1850 census is the names of the children, Joseph H and Susan S.  With this information I was able to find this family record published in the Essex Antiquarian journal, Volume 1, Number 6, 1897, page 92

“FAMILY RECORDS.

In the possession of Mr. William C. Peabody of Georgetown is a book entitled "Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul," by Philip Doddridge, D.D., and published in Boston in 1818, having on the first fly-leaf the following words, written in ink: "John Adams from his brother Joseph Adams," and on two other blank pages the following family records:

John Adams Born Sept. 17th, 1789.

Sarah Adams Born Decr. 5th, 1790.

John Quincy Born March 17th, 1815.

Abigail Bowles Born April 25, 1816.

Sarah Ann Born Nov. 8th, 1817.

Ruth Bowles Born Augt 11th, 1819.

Nathl Hayward Born April 24th, 1821.

Lydia Towne Born Febry 18th, 1823.

Abigail Bowles 2 Born Janry 30, 1824.

Nathl Niles Hayward Born June 29th, 1825.

Susan Hayward Born April 1st, 1828.

George Washington Born Janry 27th, 1830.

Joseph Hayward Born Decr 30, 1831.

Susan Irene Born Oct. 28, 1833.

My wife Sarah Adams Died April 9th on Fryday at 6 1-2 Clok 1841 P.M.  Intered on Monday Following.

Abigail Bowles 1st Died July 2d, 1817.

Nathl Hayward Died Sept. 10th, 1822.

Abigail Bowles 2d Died March 2d, 1824.

Lydia Towne Died Sept. 14th, 1824.

George Washington Died May 1st, 1832.

Susan Hayward Died May 5th, 1832

Sarah Ann Wildes Died July 14th, 1853.”

This fleshes out her 3^rd husband’s family, but provides no clue to his marriage with Amelia, two years after the death of Sarah.  No maiden name, no birthdate. 

I have been unable to find any information on the 2^nd husband, Thomas Johnson. But here is a big clue from the Essex County probate records.  These have recently been added to the online database of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, 35 years after I started my search for Amelia.

The image of the probate record for Amelia Johnson
from the New England Historic Genealogical website database
of Essex County, Massachusetts probate records at americanancestors.org 

[transcribed]

To the Honorable Daniel A. White Esquire, Judge of

Probate for the County of Essex

HUMBLY shews Amelia Johnson of Salem

In said County, widow that Thomas Lewis, last

An inhabitant of Salem in said county, ropemaker, has lately viz.

1821, August 31 died intestate, leaving goods and estate, of which administration

Is necessary: - That your petitioner is a widow, and was the widow (the children being not of the commonwealth) of

Said deceased, and has a legal right to take such administration, and is ready to give bond with sufficient sureties for the faithful discharge thereof.  Wherefore he prays, that your honor would appoint her administratrix as aforesaid, agreeably to

Law in such cases made and provided.

Dated at Salem this seventeenth day of August, A.D. 1841

                        Amelia Johnson

ESSEX, ss. At a Court of Probate holden at Salem in and for said

County, on the third Tuesday in August, A.D. 1841

The foregoing petition being duly considered, it is thereupon decreed by the Court here, that administration, as therein prayed for, be granted to said Amelia Johnson, she giving bon

According to law her faithful discharge of that trust.

                        D. A. White JUDGE OF PROBATE

Know all Men by these Presents, That we Amelia Johnson, widow, as principal

And John Downs, trader, as surety, both of Salem, and John I. Baker, of

Beverly, esquire, as surety, - all in the county of Essex.

Within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, are holden and stand firmly bound and obliged unto Daniel A. White

Judge of Probate of Wills, and for granting administration with the County of Essex, in the full

and just sum of one thousand dollars, to be paid to the said Daniel A. White,

and his sucessors in said office; to the true payment whereof we do bind ourselves and each of us, and each of our heirs, exec-

utors and administrators, jointly and severally, by these presents, sealed with our seals.

dated the seventeenth day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred

and forty one.

THE CONDITION of this Obligation is such, That if the above bounden Amelia Johnson

Administratrix of all and singular the goods and estate of Thomas

Lewis, late of Salem in said county, ropemaker, deceased, do make,

or cause to be make, a true and perfect inventory of all and singular the real estate, goods and chattels, rights and credits of said de-

ceased, which have or shall come to the hands, possession or knowledge of her the said administratrix or into the hands or

possession of any other person or persons for her and the same, so made, do exhibit, or cause to be exhibited into the Registry

of the Court of Probate of the said county of Essex, at or before the seventeenth day of November

next ensuing; and the same goods and chattels, rights and credits and all other the goods and chattels, rights and credits, of the said

deceased, at the time of his death ^ and two deeds of real estate which may be sold for payment of debts which at any time after shall come to the hands and possession of the said administratrix

or into the hands and possession of any other person or persons for the said administratrix do well and truly administer ac-

cording to law; and further do make, or cause to be made, a just and true account of her said administration upon oath, on or

before the seventeenth day of August, which will be in the year of our Lord one thousand eight

hundred and forty-two:- and all the rest, residue and remainder of the said goods and chattels, rights and credits, which

shall be found remaining upon the said administration account, (the same being first examined and allowed by the Judge, for the time

being, of Probate of Wills and for granting administrations within the County of Essex aforesaid,) shall deliver and pay unto such

person or persons respectively, as the said Judge, by his decree or sentence, pursuant to law, shall limit and appoint: - And, if it shall

hereafter appear, that any last will and testament was made by said deceased, and the executor or executors therein named do exhibit

the same into the Court of Probate of the said County of Essex, making request to have it allowed and approved accordingly; if the

said Amelia Johnson above bounden, being thereunto required,

do render and deliver the said letter of administration (approbation of such testament being first had and made) into the said court:-

Then the before written Obligation shall be void and of none effect; or else shall abide and remain in full force and virtue.

Sealed and delivered in presence of us:-

(signed)

Charles Kimball                                   Amelia Johnson

Nathan. Lord Jr.                                  John Downs

                                                            John I. Baker

ESSEX, ss. At a Court of Probate holden at Salem in and for said County, on the

Third Tuesday in August, A.D. 1841

The foregoing bond, having been duly examined, in approved, and ordered to be recorded in the probate office.

                        D. A. White     JUDGE OF PROBATE

John S. Williams esq.

John Downs

James Odell

                                                Sal. Reg.

This document gives the date of death of Thomas Lewis as 1821, four years before the boys were baptized, and two years before her marriage to Thomas Johnson.  It says that her children, Thomas Russell and Frederic Augustus (maybe more children?), lived “not of the commonwealth”, so did the Johnsons live in another state?  Another country?  I’ve found no records of Thomas Johnson, her husband.  It also states that in 1841, the year of this document, she was twice widowed.  She did not marry John Adams until 1843 in Topsfield. It also lists that her husband Thomas Lewis was a ropemaker, which was interesting to learn.  Was he former sea captain, too?

My 3^rd great grandfather, Salem sea captain Thomas Russell Lewis (before 1821 – 1853) died in Surinam, West Indies.  I found a death notice in the Salem Register (newspaper) dated 6 October 1853 “Mortuary Notice.  At Surinam, August 22, of erysipelas, Captain Thomas R. Lewis of this city, master of the brig Gazelle”.  Erysipelas is a strep infection of the skin, and deadly in the ages before antibiotics.

I had often wondered why Captain Thomas Russell Lewis was not buried with his family at the large family plot in Salem’s Harmony Grove Cemetery. It took me many, many years to find this newspaper notice.  I suppose he was buried at sea off the coast of Surinam in South America.  He was married twice.  His first wife was Hannah Phillips (abt 1821 – 1851), daughter of James Phillips and Sarah Cree of Topsfield. 

Hannah (Phillips) Lewis was my 3^rd great grandmother.  His second wife was Lydia S. Pickering (1834 – 1866), daughter of Benjamin Pickering and Lydia Stanley, who lived for thirteen years after her husband’s death.  None of Thomas Russell Lewis’s records list his mother’s maiden name, nor do they give any clues to his father’s origins.

Over 35 years the clues to build this sketch of Amelia have slowly been uncovered. I had to use books, vital records, newspapers, census records, probate records, cemetery records, journals and online resources.  These are all resources YOU can use to help identify the missing maiden names of you female ancestors, too.  I hope that in the next few years I might learn her maiden name and origins.  I just hope it doesn’t take another 35 years to learn more about Amelia and Thomas Lewis!

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/09/amelia-what-is-your-maiden-name.html

Copyright © 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

My Top Ten Brickwall Problem Ancestors

This is a shot in the dark, but last September Diane Boumenot posted her top ten genealogy research problems HERE and she has already solved two of them.   Readers and Google searchers found her post and sent her enough information or clues to break down those genealogical brickwalls.  So… here is my list.  I’m hoping for a reader or distant cousin to read this and help me to solve a few genealogy mysteries, too!

Diane listed the skills and strategies she thought she might need to solve her research problems.  This is a good idea, and working through this list has got me thinking of new ways to attack these mysteries.  Maybe I’ll solve them at least one brickwall before I get a mysterious “cousin connection” email or comment?

My 10 “Brickwall” ancestors:

1.   Elizabeth Lambert (about 1775 – 1834) is my 5x great grandmother.  She married Owen Jones, a native of Wales and son of a British customs officer, on 11 May 1793 at the Second Baptist Church in Boston, Massachusetts.  They lived in the North End, and had six daughters who were described as debutantes and all married very well.  I’m hoping she is from a well-connected, wealthy family in Boston who left lots of good records.  Unfortunately, there were many Lambert/Lombard/Lumbard/Lamport families in Boston at this time, and I have searched them all for Elizabeth.  A consultation with a professional genealogist at a conference leads me to believe I should search probate and deeds for Elizabeth among the many Lambert families.

One clue- Elizabeth had a sister, Sarah, who married John Dark/Dargue on 1 December  1793 in Boston.  Elizabeth (Lambert) Jones named her first daughter Sarah Dargue Jones in her honor.  The sister Sarah (Lambert) Dargue died on 3 September 1796, no parents listed.

Problem- I’ve never really done probate or deed research, so this will be my first test case with these types of records.  Searching for Jones records in the courthouse won’t be fun, neither will it be fun searching through all those Lambert/Lombard/Lumbard/Lamport etc. variations.  Elizabeth Lambert was born at about the time of the Boston siege during the American Revolution (many residents fled the city), so she may have been born somewhere else in Massachusetts or New England.

2.  Margaret Welch (about 1796 – 1860) is my 4x great grandmother.  Her death record in Chichester, New Hampshire does not name her parents.  She married Richard Locke on 21 October 1823 in Chichester.   Her children’s marriage and death records say she was born in Kittery, Maine.  Census records say she was born in Maine.

Problem - I cannot find a Welch/Welsh family at all that might be her possible parents or ancestors.  This is the opposite of the Elizabeth Lambert above where I have too many possibilities.  Perhaps searching York County, Maine probate and deeds would work, like my brickwall #1? 

3.  Nancy Thompson (about 1804 – after 1847) is my 4x great grandmother.  She married Jonathan Batchelder on 11 February 1822 in Belmont, New Hampshire.  Her children’s marriage and death records say that she was born in Gilmanton, New Hampshire.  There were several Thompson families in Gilmanton and Belmont (contiguous towns) but no record of Nancy/Ann/Hannah.  Jonathan Batchelder died in the Concord State Hospital after being declared insane.  I have his account book, and inside it I found guardianship papers dated 1847 making “Nancy Batchelder” the guardian of her minor daughter, Pauline.  No further trace of Nancy can be found in the New Hampshire vital records or census records.

Problem – Did Nancy remarry? Pauline’s death record name’s her mother as “Nancy Tompson”.  Is that a clue? The Gilmanton Historical Society is stumped.   I’ve searched all the Thompson/Tompson genealogies and vital records.  Perhaps I’ll need another probate and deeds research trip to Belknap County, New Hampshire?

4. Hannah Phelps (1728 – 1805) is my 5x great grandmother.  She married George Flint on 13 November 1753 in Andover, Massachusetts.    I’m not even sure of her surname, it was given as “Phelps” in a compiled Flint genealogy.  This is a real stumper.  I’ve very little information on George Flint, too, except what was found in the Flint book.

5. David Lyons (about 1759 – 1812) is my 5x great grandfather.  He was from Connecticut and removed to Cornwallis, Nova Scotia where he appears in many land records.  He was married in Cornwallis on 25 May 1779 to Elizabeth Ratchford.   I have no idea where he came from in Connecticut, and few clues.  I don’t know if he was a planter or a Loyalist.  Another real stumper.

6. James Radsford/Ratchford  b. about 1719 is my 7x great grandfather.  He married Margaret Ball on 26 December 1738 in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts.  They had five sons and all their births are recorded in the Bridgewater vital records.  This surname seems to have a lot of variations, and perhaps it was a corruption of some other name altogether?  There are no Radsfords or Ratchfords in earlier Massachusetts records.  No death record has been found.

7.  Margaret Ball (see above)  I have no birth or death record on Margaret, just a marriage and her name listed on her children’s births as “Margaret”. 

8. Amelia Unknown (born about 1790 – 1860) is my 4x great grandmother.  Her death record lists her birthplace as Stoughton, Massachusetts but no birth record has ever been found.  She died as a pauper in Wayland, Massachusetts the same year as her husband, who was also listed as a pauper.  Amelia had a colorful life with at least three husbands as listed below….

     #1 Amelia gave birth to twins in Salem on 26 June 1825 as Amelia Lewis, no husband listed.  Her son’s death records list their father as “Captain Thomas Lewis” but I haven’t found a marriage record.  Her twins were possibly born after he died.   Did he die at sea?  No record has been found for him in Massachusetts.

     #2 Amelia remarried to Thomas Johnson in 1827 in Salem

     #3 Amelia remarried third to John Adams in 1843 in Topsfield, Massachusetts.  Her death record lists her parents as “unknown”.    Both sons died very young before 1853, and their records do not give her maiden name.   She married often, so perhaps there is even another earlier marriage I am missing here?

9.  James Phillips (about 1792 – 1820) is my 4 great grandfather.  He married Sarah Cree on 6 August 1815 in Topsfield, Massachusetts.  His death record in Topsfield says he was a “native of Rowley” but I cannot find him in the Rowley records.   There is a James Phillips enumerated in the 1820 Census in Andover, Massachusetts, which may or may not be this James.   Again, Phillips is a common surname in Essex County, Massachusetts, which makes this as difficult as the Jones brickwall #1.

10. Mary Hovey (about  1751- 1832) is my 5x great grandmother.  She married Nathaniel Treadwell on 1786 in Ipswich, Massachusetts.  I have no clue as to her birthdate, birthplace, parents or ancestry.  Mary is listed on my lineage papers to the Mayflower Society, showing my descent from Mayflower passenger Isaac Allerton.  No one at the Mayflower Society can find her parents either!   There is plenty of information on her husband, who served in the American Revolution and was from a noted Ipswich, Massachusetts family.  I’d love to beat the professionals who have attempted to identify Mary Hovey, but so far I’ve been unsuccessful, too.

Please read Diane Boumenot’s blog post at this link, she inspired my list!:

http://onerhodeislandfamily.com/2012/09/17/how-to-solve-the-next-ten-problems/

Another blogger with a similar idea is Colleen Pasquale, who posted a list of 12 puzzles from her family tree on 12 December 2012 (12/12/12)  at this link:
http://leavesnbranches.blogspot.com/2012/12/121212-twelve-genealogy-questions.html

and Randy Seaver picked up the meme at his blog at this link:
http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/12/12-genealogy-mysteries-id-like-to-solve.html

Barbara Poole posted her top Ten Brickwall Ancestors at her blog back in 2010 and she is still waiting for her big break.  Keep your fingers crossed for her!  Read about her list at this link:
http://lifefromtheroots.blogspot.com/2010/10/top-ten-brick-walls.html

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Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Died at Sea? Amanuensis Monday

The Gloucester
Fisherman's Memorial

My 3x Great Grandfather Thomas Russell Lewis is listed as a twin in the Salem Vital Records, born to a mother named only as Amelia Lewis on 26 June 1825. No father is listed. In searching for more information I decided to concentrate on researching the twin brother. Sure enough, Frederick Augustus Lewis’s marriage and death records lists his parents as Captain Thomas and Amelia Lewis. No maiden name for Amelia, who remains one of my brick walls. I suspect that Captain Thomas died at sea before the twins were born, making Amelia a widow. She married twice after this.

The twin, Frederick Augustus, also died at sea. His death was listed among eight mariners drowned and reported by John Tucker in Gloucester on 22 February 1850. His death lists him as being born in Danvers.

from the website: http://www.downtosea.com/1800-1850/wwallace.htm

“April 13, 1850 Missing Vessel-

For two months past the fishing vessels which have been on Georges' Bank report having experienced very severe weather. They have caught but few fish, and consequently as far have done a very poor business. Were this all the result, however, we should be glad; but where there are from ninety to one hundred vessels in business, having on board seven or eight hundred men, it would be extremely fortunate, during such rough weather, if all escaped harmless. We have not thought it proper when reports have been in circulation respecting any of our vessels, to give publicity to the facts of the case until a reasonable time had elapsed, and until all hopes of their safety are given up. A different course would, in any cases, create unnecessary alarm and distress in the families of those particularly interested. By many the announcement of a case of this kind in the public prints is considered as the extinguishment of all hopes, and to thus suddenly crush all hopes in a sensitive mind is a cruelty which we shall endeavor always to avoid.

        From time to time, during the past two months, some anxiety has been felt regarding the safety of several of our fleet of vessels, but most generally these fears have been groundless. They are most frequently based on the fact that the particular vessel has not arrived in port or been seen by others after an absence of two or three weeks. The vessels are generally provisioned for four or five weeks, but do not often remain out more than three, and hence, when one has been out the usual time, the slightest story respecting her is often greatly magnified, but most generally proves false. At the present time, however, the fears respecting the fate of one of our vessels are too deeply founded and of too long standing to be disregarded. We refer to the schooner William Wallace, Stephen D. Griffin, master. This vessel sailed from this port on Friday, Feb. 22d, and was seen on the Tuesday and Wednesday following, by three different vessels, one of which ran across the southern part of the Bank in company with her. Since that time nothing has been seen or heard from her. There is a possibility that she may have been run down by an outward bound vessel, and her crew taken off, but all hopes of this kind are extremely faint. There were on board at the time she sailed the following named eight persons:

Stephen Decatur Griffin, of Annisquam, master
Daniel Adams, of Gloucester
George Brown, 3d, of Gloucester
Frederick A. Lewis, of Gloucester, formerly of Danvers
William Grant, of Maine
John Linedall, of Townsend, Me.
William Mansfield, of Halifax, N. S.
Thomas Ingalls, of Orleans, Mass.

 Mr. Griffin was married last fall, and Adams and Lewis leave families.

The William Wallace was a first class vessel of sixty-seven tons, five years old, and valued at $2600, for which amount she is insured at the Gloucester Mutual Fishing Insurance Office.”

I also found this entry in the book The Fisherman's Memorial and Record Book by George H. Proctor and Joseph Garland, Published by The History Press, 2005, page 14

"1850 This proved a most disastrous year to the Georges fishery, resulting in the loss of four vessels and thirty-nine lives, as follows:  Schooner WILLAM WALLACE, lost in February, with eight men, Stephen Decatur Griffin, of Annisquam, Master; Daniel Adams, George Brown, 3rd, Frederick A. Lewis, William Grant, John Linedall, William Mansfield, Thomas Ingalls. Owned by Fitz E. Riggs & Bro. Valued at $3,000; insured for $2,600...."

Not only did Fredric Augustus die at sea, and perhaps his father, Captain Thomas Lewis, but I suspect my own ancestor, Thomas Russell Lewis died at sea, too. He bought a large burial plot at Salem’s Harmony Grove Cemetery, but he is not one of the thirteen people buried in the plot. I have not found a death record, nor a newspaper account of how he died. He disappears from all records after about 1854. I am going to the Phillips Library in Salem to continue this investigation. Solving this mystery would add a new branch to my family tree!

Lewis Lineage:

Captain Thomas Lewis, died about 1825; married before 1825 to Amelia Unknown, born about 1790 in perhaps Stoughton, Massachusetts, died 22 April 1860 in Wayland, Massachusetts. Amelia married second to Thomas Johnson on 16 October 1827 in Salem, Massachusetts and she married third to John Adams on 11 June 1843 in Topsfield, Massachusetts.

Two Children:

1. Thomas Russell Lewis (twin), 26 June 1825 in Salem, Massachusetts, died before 1854; married first to Hannah Phillips on 4 March 1841 in Salem, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of James Phillips and Sarah Cree, born about 1821 in Topsfield, Massachusetts, died 17 October 1851 in Salem, Massachusetts. He married second on 22 June 1852 in Salem to Lydia S. Pickering, daughter of Benjamin Pickering and Lydia Stanley, born 1834 in Salem, died 9 August 1866 in Lynn, Massachusetts.

1. Hannah Eliza Lewis, born about 1844 in Salem, died 15 February 1921 in Danvers, Massachusetts; married on 22 September 1864 in Salem to Abijah Franklin Hitchings, son of Abijah Hitchings and Eliza Ann Treadwell, born 28 October 1841 in Salem, died 19 May 1910 in Salem. Hannah and Abijah are my Great Great Grandparents.  
2. Lydia Ann Lewis, born about 1845 in Topsfield, died 23 December 1882 in Salem; married on 13 May 1872 in Salem to James Henry McCartney, son of James McCartney and Lucy H. Andrews, born 12 May 1846 in Manchester, Massachusetts, died 20 June 1928 in Beverly, Massachusetts 
3. Thomas Lewis, born about 1847

2. Frederick Augustus Lewis (twin), born 26 June 1825 in Salem, died 22 February 1850 at sea, recorded at Gloucester, Massachusetts; married on 15 August 1847 in Gloucester to Catherine Stanwood, daughter of Nehemiah Stanwood and Catherine Miller Smith, born 1828 in Gloucester, died 15 June 1888. She remarried second to Elias Daggett on 14 August 1853 in Gloucester.

1.  Frederick Augustus Lewis, born 9 October 1849 in Gloucester; married on 25 December 1876 in Gloucester to Iola Lowell, daughter of Alfred Johnson Lowell and Eliza Mary Crockett, born about 1857 in Bath, Maine. One child: Eva B. Lewis, born 28 July 1877 in Gloucester

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo