My Revolutionary War Patriots - Major Andrew Munroe of Lexington, Massachusetts

 

Yours truly and granddaughter in front of the

Munroe Tavern in Lexington, Massachusetts

This is Patriot #2 I have written about for this series on my Revolutionary War ancestors.  Major Andrew Munroe was born 31 March 1764 in Lexington, Massachusetts, the son of Andrew Munroe (1718 - 1766) and Mary Mixer (1727 - 1783).  His mother was married three times, first to Daniel Simonds, second to Andrew Munroe and third to Caleb Simonds.  Caleb had been married three times, too, and with his second wife, Susanna Converse had a daughter named Ruth Simonds.  Ruth was Andrew Munroe's step sister, and they married 22 March 1785 in Burlington, Massachusetts. 

Andrew Munroe was the great grandson of William Munroe ( about 1625 - 1718), a Scots Prisoner of War who was captured at the Battle of Worcester in 1650 and sent in chains to be sold into servitude on the docks of what is now Charlestown, Massachusetts.  He lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts briefly and then removed to Cambridge Farms, now known as Lexington, Massachusetts in a part of town near the Woburn line that became known as "Scotland".  He had fourteen children by three wives, and left many descendants in Lexington and Middlesex County who eventually fought in the Revolutionary War. 

When Andrew was only eleven years old the Battle on Lexington Green took place.  Many members of his Munroe family were at this battle, including his uncle William Munroe who was captain of the Lexington Militia.  Several family members were killed including his two uncles, Robert Munroe (1712 - 1775) and Jonas Parker (1722 - 1775), who was married to his father's sister, Lucy Munroe. I'm sure that this event shaped Andrew's life in many ways, since he enlisted in the war very young.  At age 16, on 15 July 1780, he enlisted in the Continental Army for six months under the command of Capt. James Cooper in the 16th division. He served under Brigadier General Patterson at Camp Tottoway on 25 October 1780 for another six months.  Later Andew enlisted as a private in the Danvers Militia Company, where he served from 1796 to 1817.  He applied from Danvers for a pension on 14 August 1832.  

Andrew and Ruth were married in Burlington, and had two chidlren born in Woburn.  His next two children, twins Andrew and Ishmael, were born in New Grafton, New Hampshire on 1 April 1789.  Andrew had been given a land grant in New Grafton for his military service.  It doesn't appear that he stayed very long in New Grafton, but returned to Danvers, Massachusetts where seven more children were born. 

I couldn't find his being promoted to Major in his military records, but his gravestone at the King's Burial Ground in Peabody (formerly part of the town of Danvers) read:

"In the memory of Major Andrew Munroe Formerly of Lexington Soldier of the Revolution who died Aug. 7, 1836 aged 73 Erected by his daughter Mrs. Mary T. Taylor."   

I descend from the youngest child of the eleven children, Luther Simonds Munroe (1805 - 1851) who married Olive Flint, daughter of John Fint and Phebe Flint (second cousins), on 3 September 1826 in Reading, Massachusetts.  

More information on Major Andrew Munroe for the truly curious: 

Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolution

History and Genealogy of the Lexington, Massachusetts Munroes by Richard S. Munroe, 1966

Report of the Committee Appointed to Revise the Soldier's Record by Danvers, Massachusetts, 1895 (see page 142) 

other blog posts about Andrew Munroe and the Munroe family:

2012 "Surname Saturday - Munroe of Lexington, Massachusetts"   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/06/surname-saturday-munroe-of-lexington.html  

2012 "5 November 1789, George Washington Dined Here!"   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/11/5-november-1789-george-washington-dined.html  

2013 "He married his step sister?"   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/02/he-married-his-step-sister.html  

2015  "The woeful life of a colonial woman"  (about Mary Mixer Munroe)   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-woeful-life-of-colonial-woman.html  

#1 in this series Colonel Joshua Burnham of Milford, New Hampshire:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/02/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-colonel.html  

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "My Revolutionary War Patriots - Major Andrew Munroe of Lexington, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 10, 2026, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/03/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-major.html: accessed [access date]). 

Clarissa Goldsmith Wilson, d. 1874, Peabody, Massachusetts for Tombstone Tuesday

 This tombstone was photographed at the Wilson Burial Ground in Peabody, Massachusetts.  This little cemetery is located behind Kappy's Liquor Store off Route 114, near the North Shore Mall.  All the land around the mall was the Wilson Farm in the 1700s and 1800s.  Route 114 was "The Andover Road".  

Clarissa Goldsmith, daughter of Jeremiah Goldsmith and Sarah Converse, was born 11 April 1797 in Andover, Massachusetts.  She married John Wilson, son of Robert Wilson and Sarah Felton (my 5th great grandparents) on 1 June 1831 in Andover.  John was born 18 January 1778 in Danvers and died 26 June 1863, leaving Clarissa a widow.  She died on 1 January 1874. 

When I photographed this cemetery about 10 years ago it was in the fall and there was not good sunlight.  Since the cemetery is located next to a highway cloverleaf, and behind a mall, it was in bad shape.  Clarissa's gravestone was precariously tipped to one side.  If you look up Clarissa's gravestone on Find A Grave you will see that it is now lying flat on the ground, and it is no longer standing.  

The Wilson Cemetery in Peabody, Massachusetts

John and Clarissa Wilson had two boys:

1.  John Wilson, Jr., born 13 October 1832 in Danvers, died 17 July 1867, and married Elizabeth Abbott Waldo in 1856.

2. Edward Hooker Wilson, born 14 March 1835 in Danvers. 

1870 Federal Census, Peabody, Essex County, Massachusetts
Post Office: Peabody Roll: M593_612 Page: 342 Image: 184
Wilson, Clarissa, age 73, keeping house, real estate $6500, personal $5000, b. Mass.
          Edmund H. age 33, farmer, real estate $4000, personal $2500, b. Mass.
          John B., age 10, attending school, b. Mass.
Peabody, Abigail, age 60, domestic servant, b. New Hampshire
McPherson, Jason, age 20, farm laborer, b. Nova Scotia

On the page for the 1870 census Clarissa Wilson, the widow, was living a few houses down from my 3x great grandfather Aaron Wilkinson, and only two houses away from Aaron's son William Prescott Wilkinson (my 3x great uncle) and many other Wilson families.   

For the truly curious:

Another blog post from 2009 about the Wilson Cemetery:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/09/buried-at-mall.html   

My WILSON Surname Saturday post:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/01/surname-saturday-wilson.html   

Clarissa Wilson's memorial at Find A Grave:   https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/141545305/clarissa-wilson    

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Clarissa Goldsmith Wilson, d. 1874, Peabody, Massachusetts for Tombstone Tuesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 21, 2024, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2024/05/clarissa-goldsmith-wilson-d-1874.html: accessed [access date]). 

Cornelius and Elizabeth Tarbell, Merrimack, New Hampshire - Tombstone Tuesday

 This double tombstone was photographed at the Turky Hill Cemetery in Merrimack, New Hampshire.

In memory of Mr. Cornelious

& Mrs. Elizabeth Tarbell

Mr. Tarbell             Mrs. Tarbell

died Dec. 11             died June 7

1803 in the              1797 in the

82 Year of             77 Year of

his age.               her age.

Erected by Mr. Daniel Ingalls

Cornelius Tarbell was born 29 March 1722 in the part of Salem, Massachusetts that is now the town of Peabody. He was the son of Cornelius Tarbell and Mary Sharp. Cornelius, Jr. married Elizabeth Giles, and their intent to marry was file on 19 October 1745 in the Salem vital records.  Cornelius died 11 December 1803 in Merrimack, New Hampshire.  He is buried with his wife, and his mother Mary is buried nearby. 

Elizabeth Giles was born in Danvers, Massachusetts around 1720, and she died on 7 June 1797 in Merrimack.  She had at least four children, Elizabeth, Mary, Ruth and Cornelius.  The daughter Mary married Daniel Ingalls who paid for this double tombstone.  Daniel and Mary Ingalls are also buried at the Turkey Hill Graveyard. 

Cornelius Tarbell was a veteran of the Revolutionary War. He removed from Danvers to Andover to Merrimack where he served as the town moderator and tythingman.  Cornelius owned three lots of land in Merrimack, one was across from the meetinghouse.  He sold his land to his sons-in-law Daniel Ingalls and Deacon Benjamin Franklin Nourse.  

For more information on this Tarbell family see the book Thomas Tarbell and some of his descendants, by Charles Henry Wight, published in 1907 by the New England Historic Genealogical Society. 

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Cornelius and Elizabeth Tarbell, Merrimack, New Hampshire - Tombstone Tuesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted December 5, 2023, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2023/12/cornelius-and-elizabeth-tarbell.html: accessed [access date]).   

Great Great Grandpa Wilkinson's Store, circa 1865

Several years ago I blogged about my Great Great Grandfather Robert Wilson Wilkinson ( 1830 - 1874) and his little shop in Peabody Square, in Peabody, Massachusetts.  You can read that blog post HERE.  In that post I described how I was surprised to learn that my ancestor owned a small store at 13 Main Street.  The city directory described it as selling "periodicals", "confectionaries", and "fruits and vegetables".  The 1870 census listed his occupation as a "huckster"!

Since he was described as a huckster, and not as a store owner or store manager, I imagined his store to be very small.  There was not much else available on this business from town records, directories or from the historical society.  I didn't even know the name of his shop!

One of my hobbies is creating miniatures. This started when I was a girl.  I bought a dollhouse kit with my babysitting money and created a farmhouse, which I furnished with miniature furniture and small creations I built from kits or collected over the years from shops or antique stores.  In the 1990s I built a similar dollhouse for my own daughter, and last year I renovated that dollhouse for my granddaughter.  Over the years I've collected boxes of extra miniature "stuff".  A few months ago I decided that I would take all those extra miniatures and create a shop to display it all.  Somewhere along the way I thought maybe I could recreate Great Great Grandpa's store.

Since I really don't know what Robert Wilkinson's store looked like, I was free to create this store from my own imagination.  Peabody Square today is full of brick buildings, so I decided to recreate that look.  I knew his shop was small.  Other than that, the rest is not based on any historical fact.  Somewhere along the way I posted a photo of my store when it was half built, and a cousin, descended from Robert Wilkinson's wife's family, sent me this photo of her ancestor's store, Raymonds, which operated in the same location about 25 years after Robert Wilkinson's store (see below).  I loosely used these photos as reference for the Wilkinson store.

Raymond's Store, 14 Peabody Square, courtesy of Sue Bates Gosselin

Interior view of Raymond's Store, 14 Peabody Square, Peabody, Massachusetts
courtesy of Sue Bates Gosselin

For the truly curious:

My previous blog post about Robert W. Wilkinson's store in Peabody, Massachusetts:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/07/who-are-you-calling-huckster.html

My WILKINSON lineage:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/09/surname-saturday-wilkinson.html

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Great Great Grandpa Wilkinson's Store, circa 1865", Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 8, 2019, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/05/great-great-grandpa-wilkinsons-store.html: accessed [access date]).

Weathervane Wednesday ~ A Great Big Apple!

Weathervane Wednesday is an on-going series of photographs I post weekly.  I first started by publishing posts about weathervanes from the Nutfield area, but now I've been finding interesting and historical weathervanes from all over New Hampshire and New England.  Sometimes my weathervanes have an interesting history, and sometimes they are just whimsical.  Often, my readers tip me off to some very unique and unusual weathervanes outside of New England.

Today's weathervane is from Massachusetts.

Do you know the location of weather vane #248?  Scroll down to see the answer!

This big apple weathervane was photographed above the farm stand at Brooksby Farm in Peabody, Massachusetts.  This is a city owned orchard and farm located at the former Felton homestead, built by my ancestor Nathaniel Felton in 1644.  You can read all about Nathaniel Felton at this link HERE.   As you approach the farm stand where this weather is located, you will pass the two Felton homesteads dating from the 17th century, the Smith barn (with a cow weathervane), and a re-located Peabody fire house, Engine Company Number 3, (with a centaur weathervane).   A plethora of weather vanes for fans!

Brooksby Farm is now a recreation area, with orchards, vegetables, berries and opportunities to pick your own produce.  There are also summer camps, a petting zoo, field trips, and rentals for weddings and other functions.

The website for Brooksby Farm:  http://www.brooksbyfarm.org/

Click here to see the entire series of weathervanes at this blog!

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Weathervane Wednesday ~ A Great Big Apple!", Nutfield Genealogy, posted November 25, 2015, (  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/02/weathervane-wednesday-great-big-apple.html : accessed [access date]).

Weathervane Wednesday ~ A Centaur with a Bow and Arrow

Weathervane Wednesday is an on-going series of photographs I post weekly.  I first started by publishing posts about weathervanes from the Nutfield area, but now I've been finding interesting and historical weathervanes from all over New Hampshire and New England.  Sometimes my weathervanes have an interesting history, and sometimes they are just whimsical.  Often, my readers tip me off to some very unique and unusual weathervanes outside of New England.

Today's weathervane is from Massachusetts.

Do you know the location of weather vane #237?  Scroll down to see the answer!

This centaur weathervane is located above this historic building on Felton Street in Peabody, Massachusetts. This firehouse used to be the Peabody Engine Company Number 3.  It was moved from its original location on Endicott Street in 1990, up to the top of Felton Hill where there are several other historic properties owned by the Peabody Historic Society.  The first floor of the fire house has a museum with firefighting artifacts, and the second floor is used for meetings and gatherings of the Society and other organizations.  It is surrounded by the orchards of Brooksby Farm.

The two dimensional centaur weather vane has a bow and arrow.  I was unable to find out if this weather vane is original to the fire station or not.  The very first weathervane of this "Weathervane Wednesday" series was also a centaur, photographed at Mack's Apple orchard in Londonderry, New Hampshire.  You can see that weathervane HERE.


The website for the Peabody Historical Society  http://www.peabodyhistorical.org/

Click here to see the entire series of weathervanes at this blog!

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Published under a Creative Commons License
Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Weathervane Wednesday ~ A Centaur with a Bow and Arrow", Nutfield Genealogy, posted December 2, 2015 ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/12/weathervane-wednesday-centaur-with-bow.html :  accessed [access date]).

DNA Results Help Uncover The Unusual, but Sad, Life of George W Ravell

A guest blog post by Charles K. Wilkinson, my 4th cousin.

Central Cemetery, Beverly, Massachusetts

JOHN A. RAVEL

1838 - 1915

MARGARET HIS WIFE

1843 - 1892

ABBIE F. WILKINSON

1876- 1913

Mystery: 

My DNA results identified a probable third cousin (PTC) on Ancestry.  This means that PTC and I should have common great-great grandparents.   PTC ‘s tree was quite extensive having over 66,000 people.   PTC identified seven of 8 pairs of great-great grandparents, none of which matched any of my great-great grandparents.

Observation:

PTC’s great-grandfather, for which the great-great grand-parents were not identified, was George W. Rowell.  I had a great-grandfather named John Ravell.   John Ravell had a younger brother named George W.  Ravell. 

Question: 

Could George W. Rowell and George W. Ravell be one and the same person?

Central Cemetery, Beverly, Massachusetts

1830 CHARLOTTE S. ROWELL 1914

1896 THOMAS T. STEEVES 1956

1894  ETHEL W., HIS WIFE  1982

1871  CLARENCE W. McNUTT  1926

1872 CHARLOTTE R. HIS WIFE  1950

DAUGHTERS

1897  MINERVA   1897

1891  MILDRED R. BALL 1965

Research on George W.  Ravell   

George W Ravell was born in Salem, MA to parents John and Eliza Jane (Ashby) Ravell on November 18, 1840, the 7^th of 10 children consisting of 7 girls and 3 boys.   George’s father died in an accident in 1850 when George was 9 and his mother died of consumption in 1853 when George was 13.  Four of the five oldest children, all girls, died between 1848 and 1852.  Benjamin, the second youngest offspring, died about 5 months after his mother’s death; he was living with his great-uncle and namesake Benjamin Pickering Ravell in Lynn.  (The elder Benjamin was born just 4 months before his nephew, George’s father.)  The MA 1855 census revealed the location of the 5 remaining Ravell children.    The two youngest living children, both girls, – Martha and Emeline (Emma) – lived with their older sister Ellen (Ravell) Buxton in South Danvers.   The two boys did not live with family.   John, my great-grandfather, age 17, was living with the Hood family in Danvers; George, now 15, was living with the Tyler family in Middleton.  The occupations of the heads of both of those households were shoemakers.

George Ravel married Eliza Ann Reed in South Danvers, MA in 1860.  He and Eliza were listed in the 1860 Federal Census (last name spelled Ravels).   George registered for the Civil War Draft in 1863 (last name spelled as Ravell), and was listed in the 1865 MA census with his wife and 2 children,  Benjamin P. – age 4, and Eliza E. – age 1.  In the two listings in 1860, George’s occupation was shoemaker.  In the 1863 Draft Registration and the 1865 Census, his occupation was morocco dresser[1].   The family resided in South Danvers[2] in all the above listings.  After 1865, George Ravel (Ravell) disappeared from the records, with one notable exception which will be discussed later.  His wife Eliza and 2 children appeared in the both the 1870 and 1880 Federal Censuses, residing in Peabody with Eliza’s aunt, Harriet Very.

Research on George W. Rowell:

George W. Rowell was listed in both the 1870 and 1880 Federal Censuses.  His wife was Charlotte (Steele) and they had four children born between 1869 and 1875.   The oldest, George Washington Rowell, was born in Pennsylvania and the other three in Delaware.  George’s ages, 29 and 39 respectively, were consistent with a birth-date in late 1840.   His occupation in both censuses was morocco dresser, the same as George W. Ravel.  George’s place of birth was MA, and Charlotte’s was New Brunswick.  Their 1870 residence was in Wilmington Division 28, New Castle, Delaware.   By 1880 they had moved to Beverly, MA.   There were two revealing entries in the 1880 Federal Census: 1. George was suffering from liver problems, and 2. he had been unemployed for 6 months during the census year.

Death Record for George W. Ravel, alias Rowel:

The Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, Bridgewater Deaths for 1887 gave the death record for ‘George Ravel, alias Rowel’.   He died at the Bridgewater State Farm[3], the cause of death was ‘insane’, and place of burial was ‘Salem’.  As was common in most records of the past, there were certain discrepancies: he was recorded as single, as having been born in Beverly, his parents were listed as ‘Jake and Eliza’ instead of John and Eliza, and his age was given as 47, not 46.  These could have been recording errors or intentional misinformation by either George or whoever was responsible for him.  Without doubt, this is our George W. Ravell, alias George W. Rowell.

Charlotte Steele:

Charlotte Steele’s death record, filled out by her daughter, Charlotte Steele McNutt in January 1915 gives useful information about Charlotte, the widow of George W. Rowell.  Charlotte was born in St John’s, New Brunswick on Nov. 26 1830 of parents Joseph Steele and Charlotte Jackson, both born in New Brunswick.   How did George, as a married man, meet Charlotte Steele?  One first suspects as logical that George might have been on duty down south during the Civil War when he met Charlotte Steele.  The records provide a very plausible, quite different,  explanation.  In June of 1868, George’s youngest sister, Emma, married John Steele, Jr.  John emigrated from New Brunswick in 1862 according to the 1900 Federal census.  The 1861 Canadian census listed John, age 14, his parents John and Charlotte, and siblings Charlotte, age 30, and Christopher, age 7, living in St. Andrews, New Brunswick.  Emma’s marriage to John Steele took place approximately 2 years before George W. Rowell and Charlotte were living in Delaware with an 11 month old son.  Circumstances between George and Charlotte in MA in 1868 appeared to have forced them to make a decision to flee rather than stay and face the consequences of their actions.

Comments:

If Charlotte’s father was indeed Joseph, and not John, she possibly was the half sibling of John, Jr. and Christopher.  I have found no evidence of a certificate of marriage for George W. Rowell and Charlotte Steele.  Charlotte was 10 years older than George and, while ‘married’ to George, lied about her age.  In the 1870 Census she was listed as 33, not 39; in 1880 she was listed as 45, not 49.

George’s parents were John Ravell and Eliza Jane Ashby.  His father John Ravell's parentage is not well documented, but the similarity of given family names point strongly to John being the grandson of Adam Ravell and Elizabeth Pickering of Salem; he was possibly the son of their son John, or the illegitimate son of one of their younger daughters.  Eliza Ashby's brother Nathanial (born the same year as the Prophet Joseph Smith) became a Mormon, and travelled west with a large group.  The Ashbys have a rich history as shipwrights in Salem, MA.

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[1] "Morocco" was a type of goat skin leather that was much lighter in weight than what had been typically used in shoe manufacturing.. The "dresser" was the person who actually tanned or softened the leather.

[2] South Danvers separated from Danvers and incorporated as a town on May 18, 1855.  The name was changed to Peabody, after George Peabody, on April 30, 1868.

[3] The Bridgewater State Farm was one of three state Almshouses that cared for the ‘Sick Poor’ of Massachusetts. Bridgewater existed as an Almshouse from 1854-1887, at which time it was called a State Farm.  Later it evolved into Bridgewater State Hospital for the care of the insane. 

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Charles K. Wilkinson and Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "DNA Results Help Uncover The Unusual, but Sad, Life of George W Ravell", Nutfield Genealogy,  posted September 7, 2015 ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/09/dna-results-help-uncover-unusual-but.html : accessed [access date]). 

Felton Family Reunion 2015, Peabody, Massachusetts

Mary Kate Felton, President of the Felton Family Association,
welcomed everyone to the 27th annual Felton Reunion in Peabody, Massachusetts

Cora Felton Anderson, from Washington state,
gave a genealogy talk to the attendees,
on new information about Ellen/ Eleanor (Thrower) Felton,
mother of early Salem settler, Nathaniel Felton, Sr.

My first cousin, Sue Wilkinson Parker,
showing the Phebe Cross Munroe sampler.
Phebe was our great- great grandmother,
and a Felton descendant

There were twenty one attendees today at the first day of the 27th annual Felton Family reunion at the Felton homesteads in Peabody, Massachusetts.  We enjoyed breakfast, lunch and dinner together, with genealogy talks and tours of the Nathaniel Felton, Sr (1615 - 1705) home and the Nathaniel Felton, Jr. (1655 - 1733) homesteads.  It was a beautiful day, and great weather for exploring the grounds.

Tomorrow will be the family association business meeting, and another luncheon.

Felton descendants visiting the Nathaniel Felton, Sr. House on Felton Road, Peabody, Massachusetts
built circa 1644

This is hanging in the Nathaniel Felton, Jr. homestead.
John Proctor is my 8th great grandfather, and Nathaniel Felton, Sen. is my 10th great grandfather

"We, whose names are under written,

having several years known John Proctor and his wife,

do testify that we never heard or understood that they

were ever suspected to be guilty of the crime now charged

upon them, and several of us being their near neighbors,

do testify that, to our apprehension, they lived Christian like

in their family, and were never ready to help such as stood 

in need of their help"

[signed] Nathaniel Felton, Sen., and Mary his wife

Smeul Marsh, and Priscilla his wife

James Moulton, and Ruth, his wife

John Felton, Nathaniel Felton, Jr.

Samuel Frayll, and Ann, his wife

Samuel Endicott, and Hannah his wife

Samuel Stone, George Locker

Samuel Gaskill, and Revidal, his wife

George Smith, Edward Gaskill"

[in the original paper, there were some, perhaps many, names cut 

off by scissors, according to C. W. Upham's History of Witchcraft)

"Court of Oyer and Terminer, Essex County, File Papers 1, 110, Petition for John and Elizabeth Proctor, 1692 (on deposit at the Essex Institute, Salem, Mass.) Courtesy of James D. Leary, Clerk of Courts for Essex County"

This family tree hanging in the Nathaniel Felton, Jr. home
shows Sarah Felton, my 5th great grandmother, daughter of
Malachi Felton, and wife of Robert Wilson

A beautiful back garden behind the Nathaniel Felton, Jr. House

The Nathaniel Felton, Jr. Homestead, built circa 1685,
located right next door to the Nathaniel Felton, Sr. Homestead
My 6th great grandmother, Sarah Felton (1750 - 1836) was the last Felton born here.

Nathaniel John Felton, a direct descendant of Nathaniel Felton
enjoyed his first visit to the Felton homesteads and the family reunion! 

The Felton Family Association website http://www.feltonfamily.org/

The Peabody Historical Society (who own and operate the two Felton homesteads
http://www.peabodyhistorical.org/


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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Felton Family Reunion 2015, Peabody, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted 24 July 2015, (  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/07/felton-family-reunion-2015-peabody.html:  accessed [access date]).

Tombstone Tuesday ~ William Frederick Munroe, 1912, Peabody, Massachusetts

This tombstone was photographed at the Monumental Cemetery, Peabody, Massachusetts

WILLIAM FRED'K MUNROE

1864 - 1912

CLARA BAILEY, HIS WIFE

1868 - 1939

William Frederick Munroe is my first cousin three generations removed.  His father, William Calvin Munroe (1833 - 1891) is the brother of my 2nd great grandmother, Phebe Cross (Munroe) Wilkinson.  William Frederick was born 31 March 1864 in Peabody, and died 10 June 1912 in Peabody.  He married Clara Bailey Mansfield on 2 June 1892 in Salem, Massachusetts.  She was the daughter of Edward Gelen Mansfield and Rebecca Stacey Breed, born 14 September 1868 in Wakefield, Massachusetts, died 25 March 1939 in Peabody.  William and Clara had nine children.

from Municipal History of Essex County in Massachusetts by Benjamin F. Arrington, Volume III, New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1922, page 137-138:

"William Frederick Munroe, son of William Calvin Munroe and his first wife, Adeline B. (Jones) Munroe, was born in Peabody, Massachusetts, March 31, 1864, there spent his life in honorable usefulness and died June 10, 1912.  He was educated in Peabody schools, and the Bryant and Stratton Business College, then began his business career with his father, founder of the express business which was son long known as the Munroe and Arnold Express Company.  At the death of his father, William C. Munroe, he succeeded him as head of the business and conducted it for the benefit of the Arnold estate.  In 1904 the Munroe and Arnold Express Company bought the old established express business of David Merritt, and in 1905 acquired the J. H.  Moulton Express Company of Salem, and both those companies were merged with the Munroe and Arnold Express company.  On September 1, 1905, the business was incorporated under the Massachusetts laws as the Munroe-Arnold-Merritt Express Company, William F. Munroe president, a position he held until his passing seven years later.
In civic affairs Mr. Munroe was the interested patriotic citizen.  In politics a Republican, he served as member of the party town committee for ten years; in 1896 was elected a trustee of Peabody Institute; member of the School Committee and chairman of the board until his death; and in 1910 represented Peabody in the Massachusetts Legislature.  He was held in the highest esteem by his townsmen, and at the spring election preceding his death he was re-elected to the School Committee to serve threee years.  He was a director of the Warren Five Cents Savings Bank, a member of the Investment Committee, and deeply interested in these duties as he was in all the business and other organizations with which he was connected.  He was a Master Mason of Jordan Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; a companion of Washington chapter, Royal Arch Masons; a sir kight of Winslow Lewis Commandery, Knights Templar, all of Salem; past noble grand of Holten Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; a member of Abbott council, Order of United American Mechanics; Peabody Board of Trade; Danvers Gold Club; Colonial Club of Salem; and was active in the affairs of the Universalist church.
Mr. Munroe married, June 2, 1892, Clara Bailey Mansfield, born in Wakefield, Massachusetts, September 14, 1869, daughter of Edward Galen and Rebecca Stacey (Breed) Mansfield, born January 15, 1841, died June 8, 1889, was a daughter of Captain Hubbard Breed an old time deep water master of ships.  Edward Mansfield was born April 14, 1813.  Clara (Bailey) Mansfield was born September 15, 1868.  Nine children were born to William F. and Clara Bailey (Mansfield) Munroe, sevn in Peabody and two in Salem.  1. Eleanor Vinton, born March 26, 1893, died October 18, 1897.  2. Ruth, born June 15, 1894, a graduate of the Massachusetts State Normal School at Framingham, 1915; married January 15, 1916, Charles H. Wentworh, and has two daughters Clara Munroe, born January 15, 1917, and Viginia Alan, born June 23, 1920.  3.  Alice Hubbard, born November 11, 1895, a graduate of Burdett College, class of 1915; married June 26, 1920, Samuel Oliver King.  4. Marjorie, born November 27, 1898, married February 9, 1915, Ralph K. Raymond, and has two children; John Munroe, born 19 July 1916, and Eleanor Wilson, born November 11, 1918.  5. Allen Breed, born March 11, 1900; he entered the United States service in March 1918, and was honorably discharged in September 1919.  he was in training at the United States Radio Station in Cambridge, Massachusetts, prior to entering the service, being in teh navy.  He crossed the ocean three times and saw active service.  Since the war he attended Eastern Radio Institute at Boston, Massachusetts, as a student, is now a radio operator, first class, and has again crossed the ocean three times.  6. William Calvin, born May 20 , 1902, a  student at Brown University, class of 1923.  7.  Edward Mansfield, born March 9, 1904, a student at high school.  8. John Vinton, born August 6, 1905, a student at high school.   9. Frederick Galen, born July 4, 1910.  The family home was in Peabody, but a summer home was maintained in Salem many years.  Mrs. Clara Bailey (Mansfield) survives her husband, and continues her residence in Peabody, Massachusetts at No. 25 Orchard Street."

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The URL for this post is
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/03/tombstone-tuesday-william-frederick.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Mary Munroe and Jonathan Clough, Peabody, Massachusetts

This tombstone was photographed at the Monumental Cemetery in Peabody, Massachusetts.

MARY MUNROE

wife of

Jonathan C. Clough

Died

Feb. 4, 1888

AEt. 78 yrs.

JONATHAN C. CLOUGH

DIED

Mar. 2, 1877

AEt, 66 years

Mary Munroe is my first cousin four generations removed.  Her father, Isaac Munroe (1785 - 1822) was the brother to my 3rd great grandfather, Luther Simonds Munroe (1805 - 1851).  Mary was born 30 November 1808 in Danvers, Massachusetts and died 4 February 1888 in Peabody.  She married Jonathan C. Clough on 5 June 1836 in Danvers.

Jonathan C. Clough was the son of Stephen Clough and Betsey Carr.  He was born 16 December 1810 in Weare, New Hampshire and died 2 March 1877 in Peabody.  He was listed as a tanner in the 1850 census and as working in a morocco factory in the 1870 census.  Peabody was known as the "Leather City", and morocco is a fine leather used in book binding.  

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/03/tombstone-tuesday-mary-munroe-and.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Sally Peasley Wilkinson

This tombstone was photographed at the Monumental Cemetery in Peabody, Massachusetts

IN LOVING MEMORY

SALLY R. WILKINSON

1831 - 1914

HELEN A. POTTER

1859 - 1946

1886  GEORGE O. POTTER    1974

Sally Richardson Peasley was the daughter of John Peasley and Dorcas Osborn, born in South Danvers (now the city of Peabody), Massachusetts on 25 January 1832, and she died on 24 December 1914 in Peabody.  She married my 2nd great grand uncle, George Washington Wilkinson, on 28 September 1856 in Danvers, Massachusetts.

George was born 10 February 1832 in Salem, Massachusetts.  He was the son of my 3rd great grandparents, Aaron Wilkinson and Mercy F. Wilson  I descend from his older brother, Robert Wilson Wilkinson (1830 - 1874).  George Washington Wilkinson died in 1865, but I don't know where he is buried. 

Sally and George had two children, Frank Augustus Wilkinson (1856 - 1941) and Helen Augusta Wilkinson. Helen is listed on this stone, too, under her married name.  She was born 22 November 1857 in South Danvers and died 13 March 1945 in Danvers.  Helen married Stephen Franklin Potter on 14 November 1880 in Salem.  I don't know where he is buried either!

Helen and Stephen had three sons, Frank Taggard Potter (1882 - 1966), George Osborn Potter (1886 - 1974) listed on this stone, and Chester Wilkinson Potter (1890 - after 1930).   It appears that George O. never married and died a bachelor.  

Where are the men in this family buried?  These would be 2nd cousins once removed to my father, John Warren Wilkinson (1934 - 2002).  

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/03/tombstone-tuesday-sally-peasley.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Munroe, Peabody, Massachusetts

This tombstone was photographed at the Monumental Cemetery, Peabody, Massachusetts

In memory of

MRS. MARY MUNROE

wife of 

Mr. Isaac Munroe

who died 

Dec. 7, 1842

Aged 57

In Memory of

Mr. Isaac Munroe

who died

Feb. 18, 1822

Aged 38.

Isaac Munroe is my 3rd great grand uncle.  I descend from his youngest brother, Luther Simonds Munroe (1805 - 1851).   Isaac and Luther were the sons of Andrew Munroe, a Revolutionary War patriot from Lexington, Massachusetts, and his wife Ruth Simonds.  Isaac was their eldest child, named for Andrew's brother.  Isaac was born 19 July 1785 in Woburn, Massachusetts and died 18 February 1822 in Lynn, Massachusetts.  He was killed "by his team [of horses] in Lynn" according to his Danvers death record, and he was only 38 years old.

He married Mary Curtis on 8 September 1807 in Danvers, Massachusetts.  She was the daughter of Andrew Curtis and Hannah Small, born 14 March 1783 in Danvers and died 7 December 1842 in Danvers.  They had seven children.  Isaac's occupation was cordwainer (shoemaker).

According to the complied Munroe genealogy book by Joan Guilford "Isaac d. intestate and on 4 March 1822 w. Mary declined admin., which was given to Nathan Poor and approved by Andrew, Edmond and Uriah, Isaac's bros.  On 2 Apr. 1822 Mary petit. ct. for support stating she 'is left destitute with seven children, six of them daughters, the eldest a cripple, youngest a son of four months.'  Court allowed her $150 Essex probate No. 19099."

These are lovely gravestones, quite identical with intricate carving.  I wonder who paid for them if Mary was left destitute?

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The URL for this post is:
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/02/tombstone-tuesday-mr-and-mrs-isaac.html 

Copyright (c) 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Luther and Olive Munroe, Peabody, Massachusetts

This tombstone was photographed at the Monumental Cemetery in Peabody, Massachusetts

LUTHER S. MUNROE

DIED

Dec. 21, 1851

Aged 46

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Blessed are the dead who die

in the Lord

OLIVE

Wife of

Luther S. Munroe

Died

Nov. 26, 1875

Aged 70 yrs.

Reached, we trust, an heavenly home

And they Savior's blest abode

Luther Simonds Munroe is my 3rd great grandfather.  He was the son of Andrew Munroe, a Revolutionary War patriot, and Ruth Simonds, born 10 May 1805 in Danvers, Massachusetts.  He was a "huckster", with a newspaper stand about two blocks from this cemetery in Peabody Square. He died young, at age 46, on 23 December 1851.

His had married on 3 September 1826 in Reading, Massachusetts to Olive Flint.  She was the daughter of John Flint and Phebe Flint (second cousins).  They had six children born in Danvers and Salem, Massachusetts.

Several years ago a distant Munroe cousin contacted me via the internet about genealogy.  She lived in Hudson, New Hampshire, right next door to me in Londonderry.  We have met several times to exchange Munroe information.  She descends from Luther and Olive's son, William Calvin Munroe (1833-1891).  I descend from his elder sister, Phebe Cross Munroe (1830 - 1895). She took me to Peabody to visit the Monumental Cemetery, where many Munroes and Wilkinsons are buried.  We had a fun day together exploring the cemetery with her dog Hamm, and we even had time to drive over to Farnham's in Essex for fried clams for lunch.

Children of Luther and Olive Munroe:

  1.  William Calvin Munroe, born 20 March 1827 in Danvers, died 9 September 1830 in Danvers

  2.  Luther Simonds Munroe, Jr., born 31 December 1823 in Reading, no further information

  3.  Phebe Cross Munroe, born 28 October 1830 in Danvers, died 31 January 1895 in Salem; married Robert Wilson Wilkinson

   4.  William Calvin Munroe, born 21 December 1833, died 10 August 1891 in Salem; married Adeline Bradley Jones.

   5.  Olivia Adeline Munroe, born 18 January 1836 in Salem, died 29 November 1905 in Charlestown, Massachusetts; married first to Corydon B. Green, married second to John Henry Grout.

   6.  George Warren Munroe, born 2 August 1840 in Salem, died on 2 February 1867 in Danvers of consumption, unmarried at age 26.  He is buried with a Civil War marker.  He served as a private in Co. A of the 59th Infantry Regiment of Massachusetts between 16 November 1863 and 11 May 1865.

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The URL for this post is
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/02/tombstone-tuesday-mr-and-mrs-isaac.html 

Copyright (c) 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Phebe's Sampler, 1844

This sampler hangs in my cousin’s house.  We have tried several times to take photographs of this sampler, and it’s not easy through the glass. The sampler is much too fragile to risk handling it or taking it from its frame, so this is the best we could do for an image.

Phebe Cross Munroe (1830 – 1895), my great great grandmother, sewed this sampler when she was 13 years old, starting on 30 August 1844.  But it is unfinished. I have searched the family tree for a reason why she never finished the sampler.  Perhaps there was a death in the family (the verse is from a very depressing hymn about death)?  But she hadn’t lost a parent, sibling or grandparent in 1844.  Her namesake, Aunt Phebe Upton Munroe who married William Cross in 1828, didn’t die until 1891. Her father died of diabetes, very young at age 46 in 1851. Was he first diagnosed with this fatal disease in 1844? 

On the brighter side, perhaps Phebe tired of this mournful verse, and tossed this sampler aside for another one with a less depressing hymn or poem.  I don’t know what happened to any other sampler.  This is all we have to remember Phebe.

Family Sketch:

Phebe Cross Munroe, daughter of Luther Simonds Munroe and Olive Flint, was born 28 October 1830 in Danvers, Massachusetts, died 31 January 1895 in Salem, Massachusetts; married on 24 November 1853 to Robert Wilson Wilkinson, son of Aaron Wilkinson and Mercy F. Wilson.  He was born 26 May 1830 in Salem, and died 23 March 1874 in Peabody, Massachusetts.  They had three children born in Danvers:

     1. Robert Henry Wilkinson, born 14 January 1855, married Eliza Harris Poor

     2.  Walter Wilkinson, born 3 November 1856, died 2 April 1858

     3.   Albert Munroe Wilkinson, born 7 November 1860, married  on 18 October 1894 in Salem 

           to Isabella Lyons Bill (my great grandparents)

The full lyrics of the verse on Phebe’s sampler:

When youth and age are snatched away

By Death’s resistless hand,

Our hearts the mournful tribute pay,

And bow at God’s command.

While love still prompts the rising sigh,

With awful pow’r impressed,

Let this dread truth “I too must die!”

Sink deep in every breast!

May this vain world o’ercome no more

Behold the opening tomb!

It bids us use the present hour;

To-morrow death may come.

The voice of this instructive scene

Let every heart obey!

Nor be the faithful warning vain

Which calls to watch and pray.

O let us fly, to Jesus fly,

Whose pow’rful arm can save!

Then shall our hopes ascend on high,

To triumph o’er the grave!

From A Selection of Psalms and Hymns, with many new Compositions, adapted to Public Worship,  by Richard Whittingham, Vicar of Potton,  1835, pages 144 – 145

A closeup of the stitching on Phebe Munroe's sampler.

Her name is on the top, in faded thread.

It is all worked in tiny cross stitches.

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Copyright 2013, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

The 25th Annual Felton Family Reunion, Peabody, Massachusetts

Sometime in 1633 Nathaniel Felton settled in Salem, Massachusetts with his mother "Misstress Eleanor Felton", his sisters Judith and Margaret, and his Uncle Benjamin Felton.  He was only 17 years old when he arrived in New England.  He married Mary Skelton, the daughter of Salem's first minister, Reverend Samuel Skelton, and he built the house on Felton Hill in 1644.  The Nathaniel Felton, Jr. house, next door, was built later.  They both survive, surrounded by apple orchards.  These two Felton houses are the property of the Peabody Historical Society.

The Nathaniel Felton, Sr. House, circa 1644

Felton Hill was part of Salem, Massachusetts in the 1600s.  It was west of the town, on the "frontier" and the Felton house was a garrison.  Today, the Peabody Historical Society runs tours of the homes, and rents them out for special events, as well as the Smith Barn across the street, and the Fire House Museum, which was moved to behind the barn.  Surrounding the property are malls, stores, Routes 114 and Route 128, but when you are on Felton Hill it still seems like the 17th century.

The Nathaniel Felton, Jr. House, circa 1683

The 2013 Felton Family Reunion was held in July, and started at the Fire House Museum. Feltons and Felton descendants from all over the United States met for a business meeting, genealogy lectures, and tours. Everyone had a great time, even in the pouring rain on Friday, July 26th when I attended.  I doubt there is another family reunion in the USA where descendants visit TWO of their ancestor's 17th century houses on one property!

Genealogist Richard Tivey told us all about our English ancestors, back to Charlemagne!

The Fire House Museum was Engine Co. No. 3, home of  "The Torrent"

The Felton Family Association met upstairs, above the museum.

My cousin Charlie Wilkinson found his ancestor Frank Wilkinson's photo

on the staircase of the Fire House.  Frank was a Peabody firefighter. 

Roger Felton created a shield with Sir Thomas de Felton's coat of arms.

He showed it at the Felton Family Association meeting,  and everyone loved it!

The Felton Family Association website http://www.feltonfamily.org/ 

Yours Truly was made the administrator of the Felton Family page on Facebook.
Please join us at this link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Felton-Family-Association/260085384006425

The Peabody Historical Society  http://www.peabodyhistorical.org/
Tours of the two Felton houses are free, and available by appointment by calling 978-531-0805

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Copyright 2013, Heather Wilkinson Rojo