Down the Rabbit Hole with Greenleaf Cilley Batchelder (1805 - 1855)

Exploring Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2012

This relative's name sent me down a rabbit hole, searching for more information on his name "Greenleaf" instead of researching his brother, my 4th great grandfather Jonathan Batchelder. 

Greenleaf Cilley Batchelder, the son of Nathaniel Batchelder and Mary Perkins, was born about 1805 in Chichester, New Hampshire.  He is my 5th great grand uncle, since I descend from his older brother Jonathan Batchelder.  Greenleaf married to Elizabeth Clesby on 20 November 1839 in Boston, Massachusetts.  He had three children, including his eldest, Captain Greenleaf Williams Batchelder, (1841 - 1888) who served in the Civil War.

What struck me as interesting was the name "Greenleaf".  I knew that Nathaniel Batchelder's grandfather (my 7th great grandfather) was Jonathan Longfellow.  But I couldn't find a Greenleaf in Nathaniel's family, nor in Mary Perkins' family.  Where did the name "Greenleaf" come from? 

After looking deeper into the family tree (at the names of the sons-in-law in several lineages) I found my answer.  Jonathan Longfellow had a daughter Mary (my 6th great grandmother), and also a daughter Sarah (AKA Sally) who married Revolutionary War General Joseph Cilley (1735 - 1799) of Nottingham, New Hampshire. Sally's grandmother was Elizabeth Greenleaf (1677 - 1724) who married Henry Clark of Newbury.  Sally and Joseph had a son named Major Greenleaf Cilley (1767 - 1808).  Another Greenleaf! 

According to the complied genealogy Batchelder, Batcheller Genealogy: Descendants of Rev. Stephen Bachiler by Frederick C. Pierce, 1898 "Greenleaf Cilley Batchelder...was the youngest of this family; left his home very early in life and came from New Hampshire to Boston.  He became interested in the lumber business, having contracts with the government to supply ship timber for the Charlestown Navy Yard.  At age 35 he thought he had enough money to retire upon, and invested it in real estate, mostly at the west end of Boston [note: across the Charles River from the Navy Yard in Charlestown].  He wa a man of dignity and strong character; his manners were those natural to good breeding.  He was fond of fine horses, and owned some of the best in the city.  At the age of 45, one of the horses ran away with him.  He was on his way to a farm which he owned in Roxbury (now a part of Boston) with his foreman.  They were both thrown from the carriage, and his skull was fractured, and after lingering several months, he died from the effect of this accident." 

Greenleaf Cilley Batchelder was buried in the very fine Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, contiguous to Boston.  He must have been a wealthy man.  I have requested a photograph of this tombstone through Find A Grave.  Let's see if that happens soon, or I will have to take a road trip to Cambridge! 

While I was searching the internet for more information about Greenleaf, I found an interesting newsclipping from the newspaper American Traveller, Boston, Massachusetts, Friday, Dec. 6, 1839, page 3 "Marriages... By Rev. Mr. Lothrup, Mr. Greenleaf C. Batchelder to Mrs. Elizabeth W. Davis". What?  Her death record lists her father as Bartholomew Clesby.  Where does the DAVIS come from?  Hmmmm...  another rabbit hole!  

For the truly curious:

Frederick C. Pierce, Batchelder, Batcheller Genealogy: Descendants of Rev. Stephen Bachiler, of England, A Leading Non-Conformist Who Settled in teh Town of Hampton, N.H., and Joseph, Henry, Joshua, and John Batcheller of Essex Co., Massachusetts.  Chicago, Illinois, 1898. 

My Surname Saturday blog post for BATCHELDER:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/09/surname-saturday-new-batchelder-lineage.html  

My Surname Saturday blog post for LONGFELLOW:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/11/surname-saturday-longfellow-of-newbury.html

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

To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Greenleaf Cilley Batchelder (1805 - 1855)", Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 28, 2023, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2023/03/down-rabbit-hole-with-greenleaf-cilley.html: accessed [access date].

LAMPREY of Hampton, New Hampshire

The Lamprey River Forest in Epping, New Hampshire

LAMBREL / LAMPRAILL / LAMPRILL / LAMPRELL / LAMPRY / LAMPREE / LAMPY

There are many family stories about my 9^th great grandfather, Henry Lamprey (about 1616 – 1700), and some of these have been disproved by Alicia Crane Williams in her Early New England Families Study Project for NEHGS.  These stories claim that Henry Lamprey and his wife came from London in 1653. They claim that Henry, a lower class cooper, married an heiress.

According to Joseph Dow’s History of the Town of Hampton, New Hampshire, there was “a pretty story (of the truth of which there is little doubt) has been handed down from generation to generation that this little wife received for her marriage dowry a scale, containing her weight (one hundred twelve pounds) in gold. The chest which held the treasure is still preserved, being now [1893] owned by the children of the late Morris Lamprey, Esq. of St. Paull, Minn.”  No proof has been found for this pretty story.

The truth is that we barely know Lamprey’s wife, whose name appears as Julianne or Gillian in various records. We know that Lamprey lived in a house in Boston because of a deposition from 1697 where he stated he lived in a house during Bezaliel Payton’s lifetime (Payton died before 21 November 1651 when an inventory was taken on his estate). Lamprey was a co-signer on a mortgage in Boston on 20 December 1651.

Henry Lamprey was poor and in debt from the time he lived in Boston until his death in New Hampshire. There were court records for debts in Boston in 1652, and 1654, and 1660. There were court records for more debt in Hampton in 1662, 1668 and 1677.  In 1659 “Mr. Lampree & wife warned out of town” [Portsmouth]. By 1660 he removed to Hampton, New Hampshire, and he received a grant of 60 acres of land there in 1670.  He took the oath of allegiance at Hampton with Danll Lamprey and Benjamin Lamprey. 

Henry and Gillian Lamprey had eight children The first four born in England, the next two in Boston, and the rest in Hampton, New Hampshire:

     1.      Henry, born about 1641, died 1721 in Stratham, NH m. Elizabeth Mitchell

     2.      Unknown, born about 1644, died after 1668

     3.      Elizabeth, born about 1646, m. Daniel Dow

     4.      Daniel, born about 1649, died 1732 in Hampton

     5.      Mary, born 8 March 1653/4 in Boston, died before March 1657

     6.      Mary, born 19 March 1657/8 in Boston, died 7 June 1663 in Hampton

     7.      Benjamin, born 29 November, died about 1660

     8.      Benjamin, (see below)

I descend from the youngest child, Benjamin (1661 – 1751/2) who married first Jane Batchelder, mother of his twelve children. He married a second woman, Mary Unknown. He lived all his life in Hampton.

Children all born in Hampton: 

     1.       Benjamin, born 9 October 1688 in Hampton, m. Sarah Dow

     2.      Deborah, born 1690 in Hampton, m. Samuel Palmer

     3.      Daniel, born 23 February 1691/2, died 2 April 1718, unmarried

     4.      Sarah, born July 1695, m. Robert Moulton

     5.      Nathaniel, born before 26 June 1698, m. Ruth Palmer

     6.      Jane Lamprey (see below)

     7.      Henry Lamprey, born 25 February 1700/1, m. Esther Palmer

     8.      Elizabeth, born 18 February 1703, m. Jonathan Moulton

     9.      Abigail, born 3 May 1705, m. Josiah Batchelder  

    10.  John, born 17 August 1707, m. Mary Johnson

    11.  Hannah, born 13 November 1709, m. John Moulton

    12.  Morris, born 20 December 1711, m. Elizabeth Batchelder

I descend next from Jane Lamprey, baptized on 30 April 1699 and who married her first cousin Stephen Batchelder (1701 – 1748/9), son of Stephen Batchelder and Mary Dearborn.  They lived in North Hampton at North Hill. They had nine Batchelder children born in Hampton.

I have lived in New Hampshire for 37 years and have driven past the Lamprey River many times. I always thought it was named for the fish that inhabit these waters near the Great Bay.  However, I recently discovered it was named for a John Lamprey that lived nearby.  The Lamprey River runs through Epping, Lee, and Durham.  I'm not sure which John Lamprey this river was named after, but I'm sure he was a distant cousin! 

For more information on the LAMPREY family:

Early New England Families Study Project, 1641 - 1700 (Original Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2013. (By Alicia Crane Williams, Lead Genealogist.)   https://www.americanancestors.org 

Sybil Noyes, Charles T. Libby, and Walter Goodwin Davis, Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire (Portland, Me: 1928 - 29, 1972) , page 409

George Freeman Sanborn, Jr. and Melinde Lutz Sanborn, Vital Records of Hampton, New Hampshire to the End of the Year 1900, 2 Vols. (Boston: NEHGS, 1992)

Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts, Volume 2, edited by William Richard Cutter, page 663

References to Henry Lamprey and Edmund Johnson and their descendants, prepared by Henry Cadle (Bethany, Missouri, 1893?)

Lamprey River Advisory Committee  https://www.lampreyriver.org/   

My LAMPREY genealogy:

Generation 1:  Henry Lamprey, born about 1616 in England, died 7 August 1700 in Hampton, New Hampshire; married about 1641 in England to Julianne (sp?) Unknown.  She died May 1670 in Hampton. Eight children.

Generation 2: Benjamin Lamprey, born 28 September 1661 in Hampton, died 23 January 1751/2 in Hampton; married on first 10 November 1687 in Hampton to Jane Batchelder, daughter of Nathaniel Batchelder and Deborah Smith. She was born 8 January 1669 in Hampton, and died 17 September 1735 in Hampton, and was the mother of twelve children. He married second to Mary Unknown.

Generation 3:  Jane Lamprey, baptized on 30 April 1699 in Hampton; married on 1 August 1721 in Hampton to Stephen Batchelder, her first cousin, son of Stephen Batchelder and Mary Dearborn. He was born 19 July 1701 in North Hampton, and died 6 March 1748/9 in North Hampton. Nine children.

Generation 4: Nathaniel Batchelder m. Mary Longfellow

Generation 5: Nathaniel Batchelder m. Mary Perkins

Generation 6: Jonathan Batchelder m. Nancy Thompson

Generation 7: George E. Batchelder m. Abigail M. Locke

Generation 8: George E. Batchelder m. Mary Katharine Emerson

Generation 9:  Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

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

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

To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo,” LAMPREY of Hampton, New Hampshire”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 10, 2019, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/08/lamprey-of-hampton-new-hampshire.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday – CLARKE of Newbury, Massachusetts

Newburyport Custom House
today it is the Maritime Museum

Don’t believe what you see on the internet about Nathaniel Clarke’s parents and ancestors, his origins are completely unknown.  There are several possible candidates for his father, including three different Thomas Clarkes in Ipswich, Massachusetts.

The first record of Nathaniel Clark (born? – 1690) is his marriage to Elizabeth Somersby in Newbury, Massachusetts on 23 November 1663.  The marriage was recorded by Joshua Coffin in a letter stating “Nathaniel Clarke and Elizabeth Somerby were married in the house occupied … by Tristram Coffin, step father of the bride in 1663” [ Nathaniel Clarke and his Descendants, 1902, page 12]

His first land deed was recorded in 1664.  He lived near the Merrimack River, in what is now Newburyport, just about where the corner of Water and Lime Streets are now.  He owned a wharf and a warehouse northeast of the custom house.  He was listed in records as a cordwainer or tanner. [Family History of New Hampshire, by Stearns, Volume 4, pages 1697 -1697) He served many elected positions in Newbury such as constable, tythingman, and selectman in 1682, 1687, and 1688.  He had eleven children with his wife Elizabeth Somerby. He was mentioned as “The Honorable Nathaniel Clarke” in Newbury records.  Nathaniel Clarke’s will included mentions of property valued at 714 pounds, including two dwelling houses and seven lots of land. 

Again, don’t believe the internet that Nathaniel Clark, Sr. died at sea.  The famous Judge Sewall mentioned in his diary on 29 August 1690 “Nathan’ Clarke of Newbury buried this week, died Aug’ 25.” And also mentions seeing Nathaniel at the funeral of Capt. Gerrish at Salem, on 11 August 1687.  His son, Nathaniel Clarke, Jr. is recorded in the Newbury deaths as “d. on board the sh. Six Friends, soon after sail, in the expedit. Against Quebec, 25 Aug. 1690, from an injury, aged 46”.   It is coincidence that the son, Nathaniel, Jr. died at sea on the day of his father’s burial, but not to be confused with his father. 

On board the ship Six Friends was also Nathaniel, Jr.’s future step father, the Rev. John Hale of Beverly, who wrote his will, which was signed and witnessed.  Mr. Hale gave the will to Nathaniel, Jr.’s father-in-law Peter Toppan, who never gave it to the probate court. However, there is a deposition on file at the Salem Court House by Rev. John Hale and his cousin Henry Somerby.  [NEHGS Register, Volume 46, pages 188 – 189].   

I descend from Nathaniel Clarke, Sr.’s son Henry Clarke (1673 – 1749) who owned land in Newbury, but removed to Greenland, New Hampshire.  In deeds and other records he was mentioned as gentleman, lieutenant, and cooper.  He was married first on 7 November 1695 in Newbury to Elizabeth Greenleaf, his second cousin, and second in 1724 to Mary Peirce.  In 1724 his first wife, Elizabeth, eldest son and three daughters all died of throat distemper within the same week. 

 Over the years Henry Clarke was a grantor or grantee on about twenty-five deeds in Essex County before moving to New Hampshire around 1731.  Henry Clarke, Sr., and his sons Enoch and Henry, Jr., signed a petition in 1739 in an attempt to annex Greenland to the province of Massachusetts.

In the third generation I descend from his daughter Mercy Clarke (1714 – 1798) who married Jonathan Longfellow.  They had twelve children, half born in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, and the rest born in Nottingham, New Hampshire.

My CLARKE genealogy:

Generation 1:  Nathaniel Clark, died on 25 August 1690 in Newbury, Massachusetts; married on 23 November 1663 to Elizabeth Somerby, daughter of Henry Somerby and Judith Greenleaf.  She was born 1 November 1646 in Newbury and died 15 March 1716 in Exeter, New Hampshire.  She married second to Rev. John Hale as his third wife. They had eleven children all born and recorded in Newbury:

1.       Nathaniel b. 5 Dec. 1664, died 6 June 1665

2.       Nathaniel b. 13 Mar 1666, died October 1690 at sea, married Elizabeth Toppan

3.       Thomas b. 9 Feb 1668, died 25 Apr. 1722, married Sarah Noyes and Lydia Moodey

4.       John b. 24 Jan 1670 died 25 July 1705, married Elizabeth Woodbridge

5.       Henry (see below)

6.       Daniel b. 16 Dec. 1675, died before 1709

7.       Sarah b. 17 Jan. 1677, died 25 Aug. 1741, married Nicholas Gilman

8.       Josiah b. 7 May 1682, died 29 Apr. 1717, married Sarah Woodwell

9.       Elizabeth b. 15 May 1684, died 24 Jan. 1762, married 1st Rev. Robert Hale, 2nd Col. John Gilman

10.   Judith b. 3 Jan. 1686, died 1763, married Thomas Jenkins

11.   Mary b. 25 Mar. 1689, died before 21 Aug. 1690

Generation 2: Henry Clarke, born 5 July 1673 in Newbury, died 9 June 1749 in Greenland, New Hampshire; married first on 7 November 1695 in Newbury to Elizabeth Greenleaf, the daughter of Stephen Greenleaf and Elizabeth Gerrish.  They were second cousins, both descended from Edmund Greenleaf (1574 – 1671) and Sarah Moore (1588 – 1663) early settlers at Newbury, Massachusetts.  He married second to Mary Pierce.  He had twelve children with Elizabeth, all born in Newbury:

1.       Stephen b. 21 Feb. 1697, died 1724

2.       Henry b. 21 Nov. 1698

3.       Judith b. 15 Aug 1700

4.       Elizabeth b. about 1701, married Daniel Thing

5.       Sarah b. 7 Aug. 1702

6.       Eunice b. 15 Oct. 1704

7.       John b. 20 July 1706, died 25 July 1706

8.       Mary b. 5 Aug. 1707, married Samuel Page

9.       Enoch b. 1 Sept 1709, died 1759, married Hannah, and Mary

10.   Anna b. 20 Feb. 1711

11.   Mercy (see below)

12.   Henry, b. 23 Apr. 1717, married Kezia Brickett, Catherine Bean, and Abigail Francis

Generation 3:  Mercy Clarke, born 26 December 1714 in Nottingham (now Deerfield), New Hampshire, died 1798 in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia; married on 28 October 1731 in Nottingham (now Deerfield) to Jonathan Longfellow, so of Nathan Longfellow and Mary Greene.  He was born 23 May 1714 in Nottingham (now Deerfield), and died 1774 in Machias, Maine.  Twelve children.

Generation 4: Mary Longfellow m. Nathaniel Batchelder

Generation 5: Nathaniel Batchelder m. Mary Perkins

Generation 6: Jonathan Batchelder m. Nancy Thompson

Generation 7: George E. Batchelder m. Abigail M. Locke

Generation 8:  George E. Batchelder m. Mary Katharine Emerson

Generation 9:  Carrie Maud Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

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

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

To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday – CLARKE of Newbury, Massachusetts”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 3, 2019, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/08/surname-saturday-clarke-of-newbury.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ LONGFELLOW of Newbury, Massachusetts

SITE OF GARRISON HOUSE BUILT BY
CAPT. JONATHAN LONGFELLOW
IN 1743
THE FARM PAID FOR IN SLAVES
----------------
BOUGHT IN 1785 BY
MAJOR SIMON MARSTON
WHO SERVED DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR
AND SINCE OCCUPIED BY HIS DESCENDANTS
-----------------
ERECTED BY THE ELSE CILLEY CHAPTER DAR IN 1908

This monument is in Deerfield, NH

My 9^th great grandfather, William Longfellow, was born in Horsforth, Yorkshire, England about 1650, well after the Great Migration of Puritans to New England.  Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans had control of the government, and Puritans no longer had to flee persecution.  He was the only one of his siblings who left England for New England, and he probably did not flee for religious reasons.  He appears for the first time in the Newbury, Massachusetts tax records around 1676. 

William Longfellow appeared in quite a few Essex County court records for misdemeanors and for debt.  In one case in 1677 he was found guilty of stealing wine.  In one 1677 case he was unable to pay his debts and so the court made him a servant for seven years.  In 1679 he was in court for fighting.  In 1681, the most curious court case had Longfellow confess to killing a steer. 

He married Anna Sewell and had six children.  Her brother, Samuel Sewell, was a famous chief justice involved in many famous early cases including the Salem Witch Trials. His diary contains a lot of information about his family, including the Longfellow family.  This diary states that there were eight Longfellow children, but the Newbury records only have six Longfellow births. 

In 1687 William Longfellow returned to England upon hearing of his brother’s death.  This left him the only male heir, and perhaps he was hoping to bring back an early inheritance from his father, who was still alive.

In 1690 William Longfellow joined the Newbury Company that went with Sir William Phips to Canada in an expedition against Quebec.  There were 32 ships with over 2000 men.   The New Englanders were driven back and encountered several storms on the way to Boston.  Many ships were wrecked, and four never returned, including the ship with William Longfellow which disappeared off Cape Breton near Anticosta on 31 October 1690.  Another 1000 died from an illness that was probably smallpox.  The expedition was a disaster. His wife was left a widow with six small children, and a large debt that William had accumulated during his lifetime.   Anna remarried to Henry Short in 1692.

I descend from William’s youngest son, Nathan (1690 -1731), my 8^th great grandfather, who was only a year old when his father died.  He must have been raised by his step-father, Henry Short, who had another eight children with his mother, Anna.  Nathan removed from Newbury, Massachusetts to Hampton, New Hampshire where he accumulated many lots of land.  He married Mary Green in 1713 and had nine children. 

Nathan Longfellow was the constable and tax collector for Hampton.  The ongoing border war between the province of New Hampshire and the Massachusetts Bay Colony came to blows during his tenure of collecting money from residents who had already paid taxes in Massachusetts.  He was arrested by the town of Salisbury, Massachusetts over this border dispute.  See my blog post about the Shapley Line:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-shapley-line-one-of-old-borders.html 

Nathan Longfellow died young in 1731 at age 40.  His widow, Mary, remarried to Joseph Macress.  I descend from the oldest son, Jonathan, who was of legal age upon the death of his father and did not require a guardian like the rest of his siblings.  He was eventually given guardianship of his brother Jacob, age 14, and they together inherited their grandfather’s (Jacob Greene) estate in Hampton. 

Jonathan, my 7^th great grandfather, was a wealthy landowner, who removed to Nottingham, New Hampshire.  This town is now called Deerfield because of some deer that Jonathan Longfellow  gave to Governor Benning Wentworth, the governor of New Hampshire, in 1765 as a bribe to separate their town from Nottingham.  He was wealthy enough to own several African slaves which he sold to buy his land in Nottingham.

Jonathan married Mercy Clark in 1731 and had twelve children.  They removed to Cornwallis, Nova Scotia during the planter movement in 1764 but only stayed 5 years.  They sold their land in Canada to their son, Nathan, and removed to Machias, Maine with the 3 youngest sons.  Mercy is buried in Cornwallis, and Jonathan is buried in Machias.   I descend from his daughter, Mary (1735 – 1814), who married Nathaniel Batchelder.  Her sister, Sally (1739 – 1811), married General Joseph Cilley, a hero of the 1^st New Hampshire Regiment with Robert Rogers during the French and Indian War. 

Mary Longfellow and her husband Nathaniel Batchelder, my 6^th great grandparents, had eight children born in Deerfield.  Nathaniel at Valley Forge in 1778. Mary received a Revolutionary War widow’s pension.  In the pension papers there was a testimony sworn by a Benjamin Page which stated “in Scammel's Regiment about one year until he died at Valley Forge in March 1778.  Stephen Batchelder, a brother of Nathaniel, Senior, and an uncle of Nathaniel, Jr. also served in Scammel's Regiment with me until he died in the fall of 1777. I further testify that Nathaniel Batchelder, senior, who served with me in Scammel's Regiments was a sergeant, and my recollection is that his son, Nathaniel Batchelder of Cilley's Regiment, was a corporal."

The Granite Monthly newspaper ran a short note "Nathaniel Batchelder, who was a brother-in-law of Col. Cilley [Joseph of Nottingham] fought in the battle of Bunker Hill, under Capt. Dearborn and was Adjutant in Col. Drake's regiment which did brave service in the battle of Stillwater, Saratoga, and the surrender of Burgoyne.  He died of fever at Valley Forge, March 18, 1778"

Some Longfellow resources:

The Garrison: Built by Jonathan Longfellow in 1743, by John Scales, 1966 (16 pages)

History of Nottingham, Deerfield, and Northwood, by Rev. Elliott C. Cogswell, 1878

A Longfellow Genealogy: Comprising the English Ancestry and Descendants of the Immigrant William Longfellow of Newbury, Massachusetts, Russell Clare Farnham, 2002

My Longfellow genealogy:

Generation 1:  William Longfellow, born about 1650 in Horsforth, Yorkshire, England, died July 1690 at sea off the coast of Anticosta, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia; married on 10 November 1678 in Newbury, Massachusetts to Anna Sewell, daughter of Henry Sewell and Jane Dummer.  She was born 3 September 1662 in Newbury, and died 18 December 1706 in Newbury.  Eight children.  Anna remarried to Henry Short.

Generation 2:  Nathan Longfellow, born 5 February 1690 in Newbury, died 15 January 1731 in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire; married on 28 May 1713 in Hampton Falls to Mary Greene, daughter of Jacob Greene and Sarah Unknown.  She was born 17 April 1693 in Hampton and died about 1763 in Nottingham, New Hampshire.  Eight children.  Mary remarried to Joseph Macress/Macrest.

Generation 3: Jonathan Longfellow, born 23 May 1714 in Nottingham (now Deerfield), died 1774 in Machias, Maine; married on 28 October 1731 in Nottingham (now Deerfield) to Mercy Clark, daughter of Henry Clarke and Elizabeth Greenleaf.  She was born 26 December 1714 in Nottingham, and died 1798 in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia.  Twelve children.

Generation 4:  Mary Longfellow, born 15 July 1735 in Hampton Falls, died 1814; married Nathaniel Batchelder, son of Stephen Batchelder and Jane Lamprey.  He was born 9 June 1732 in North Hampton, and died 1778 in Valley Forge.  Nine children.

Generation 5:  Nathaniel Batchelder m. Mary Perkins

Generation 6:  Jonathan Batchelder m. Nancy Thomson

Generation 7:  George E. Batchelder m. Abigail M. Locke

Generation 8:  George E. Batchelder m. Mary Katharine Emerson

Generation 9:  Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

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

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

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ LONGFELLOW of Newbury, Massachusetts”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted November 3, 2018, (  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/11/surname-saturday-longfellow-of-newbury.html: accessed [access date]).  

Blog Caroling ~ Longfellow's "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day"

Posted today for Footnote Maven's traditional blog caroling, held every year at Christmas time by the genealogy blogging community!  You can see her announcement here at his link (and there is still time to post YOUR favorite carol, too!)
 http://www.footnotemaven.com/2017/12/fms-tradition-of-blog-caroling-2017.html 

First Church,
Cambridge, Massachusetts

My Dad's favorite carol was "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day".  I don't know if he knew the story behind this carol, but I tend to think that perhaps he did.  My Dad was a history buff, and he liked to recite lots of poems by Longfellow. He and his brother, my Uncle Bob, could recite the entire "Wreck of the Hesperus" from memory.  Dad knew most of "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" as well as the parody version about William Dawes.  This carol featured today was originally a poem written by Longfellow in 1863 in the middle of the Civil War.

The Civil War was a horrific time for all Americans, but especially for Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  In 1861 his wife was burned to death when her dress caught fire.  In 1863 his son was wounded in battle.  The entire poem includes several references to the war that are not included in the carol version put to music in 1872.   I'll include all the verses below. 

In the poem, a man (Longfellow himself?) hears the bells peal on Christmas Day, but he doubts there will ever be peace on earth because "hate is strong".  The bells call back the hopeful message that "The Wrong shall fail, The Right prevail, With Peace on Earth, Good Will to men."  

I went to college in Cambridge, Massachusetts just a few blocks from Longfellow's house.  There are several churches near here, just across from Harvard Yard which also has chapels with bells. I remember hearing the bells and thinking of this poem.  Recently I went back to Cambridge to photograph some of these churches for my usual "Weathervane Wednesday" blog posts, but I'll include some of the photos for this blog post, too. 

Christmas Bells

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1863

I heard the bells on Christmas Day

Their old, familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet

The words repeat

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And though how, as the day had come,

The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along

The unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till, ringing, singing on its way,

The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime

A chant sublime

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth

The cannon thundered in the South,

And with the sound

The carols drowned

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent

The hearth-stones of a continent

And made forlorn

The households born

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;

"There is no peace on earth", I said:

"For hate is strong

And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

"God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!

The Wrong shall fail,

The Right prevail,

With peace on earth, good-will to men!"

First Unitarian Church,
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Blog Caroling from previous years:

2009 "Christmas in Boston"
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/12/blog-caroling-christmas-in-boston.html

2010  "Jingle Bells"
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/12/blog-caroling-james-pierpont-and-jingle.html

2011 "The Holly and the Ivy"
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog-caroling-holly-and-ivy.html  

2012 "O Little Town of Bethlehem"
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/12/blog-caroling-o-little-town-of.html

2013  "Si Me Dan Pasteles"
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/12/blog-caroling-si-me-dan-pasteles.html

2014  "Over the River and Through the Woods"
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/12/blog-caroling-over-river-and-through.html

2016 "O Holy Night"
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/12/blog-caroling-oh-holy-night.html

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

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Blog Caroling ~ Longfellow's "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day", Nutfield Genealogy, posted December 21, 2017, (  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/12/blog-caroling-longfellows-i-heard-bells.html: accessed [access date]).