Weathervane Wednesday ~ This one has family history!

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 weather vanes 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 weather vanes outside of New England.

Today's weathervane is from Massachusetts.

Do you know the location of weather vane #238?  Scroll down to see the answer!

The Newfy Girl was the lobster boat operated by Frederick D. Penney on the Saugus River in Massachusetts.  He was born 10 April 1939, and died 18 June 2006 in West Boxford, Massachusetts.  Fred was the grandfather to my son-in-law, and great grandfather to my new grandchild.  Fred was a fisherman, and very proud of his boat.  The Penney's tell me that Newfy Girl is still on the water in Saugus. 

Fred Penney (1939 - 2006)

Fred Penney's parents were born in Keels and Southern Bay, Newfoundland.  The family came to Massachusetts in the 1920s, where Fred and his siblings were all born.  

This wooden Newfy Girl weathervane was given to my son-in-law's family as part of a Yankee Swap at Christmas time. The swap was rigged so that he would win the weathervane, since they were getting married in a few months.  My son-in-law has his grandfather's name and an oar tattooed on his leg, in honor of Fred Penney.  This summer my daughter and her husband placed the Newfy Girl weathervane in the backyard of their new house in Malden, Massachusetts.  It is a custom made weathervane painted to look just like Newfy Girl, and the lobster buoy is painted in Fred's colors. (Every lobster fisherman has a uniquely colored buoy)

The name Newfy Girl reminds me of the Dick Nolan song "Newfie Girl" from 1972.  I'm a big fan of folk music, and New England sea shanties, and I've heard several performers play this song at festivals.  You can hear this song, and a list of the lyrics at this link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZJx2v72vSI   

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

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Published under a Creative Commons License
Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Weathervane Wednesday ~ This one has family history", Nutfield Genealogy,  posted December 9, 2015 ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/12/weathervane-wednesday-this-one-has.html

Surname Saturday ~ CHAPIN of Springfield, Massachusetts

CHAPIN

"The Puritan" at Springfield, Massachusetts

Samuel Chapin and his family were in Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1635.  His first five children were born in England, and then one born in Roxbury and the last in Springfield, Massachusetts.  His English origins are described in the book Thirty One English Emigrants (see below).

Chapin followed William Pynchon who left Roxbury in 1636 with a dozen families for Springfield which was first known as Agawam.  He was very influential in his new settlement, and served as one of the first five selectman, magistrate and was a deacon of the church for 25 years. He died in 1675 a few months after the town of Springfield was attacked by Indians and burned during King Phillip’s War.  His wife survived him by seven year, and his seven children all lived to adulthood and produced 72 grandchildren.

There is a large bronze statue of Deacon Samuel Chapin in Springfield.  It is called “The Puritan” and was sculpted by Augustus Saint-Gaudins in 1887.  You can read a blog post about this statue HERE.

Sources for Chapin family information:

Thirty-One English Emigrants Who Came to New England by 1662, by Dorothy C. and Gerald E. Knoff, Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1989, pages44 to 51.

Search for the Passengers of the Mary & John, 1630, Volume 17, pages 27 to 28.   See the website http://www.maryandjohn1630.com/

The Chapin Book of Genealogical Data of the Descendants of Deacon Samuel Chapin by Gilbert Warren Chapin, in two volumes, Hartford, Connecticut: Chapin Family Association, 1924 reprinted by Higginson Book Company.

Life of Deacon Samuel Chapin of Springfield, by Howard Miller Chapin, Providence, Rhode Island: Snow & Farnham, Co. Printers, 1908. Available to read online at www.Archive.org  

My Chapin genealogy:

Generation 1: Samuel Chapin, son of John Chapin and Phillippa Easton, baptized 8 October 1598 in Paignton, Devonshire, England, died 11 November 1675 in Springfield, Massachusetts; married on 9 February 1624 in Paignton to Cicely Penney.  She was the daughter of Henry Penney and Jane Unknown, born on 27 February 1602 in Paignton, died 8 February 1683 in Springfield. Seven children.

Generation 2: Catherine Chapin, baptized in April 1626 in Berry Pomeroy, Devonshire, England; died 4 February 1712 in Springfield; married on 20 November 1646 to Nathaniel Bliss, son of Thomas Bliss and Margaret Hulins, baptized on 28 December 1622 in Rodborough, Gloucestershire, England, died on 18 November 1654 in Springfield.  Four children.  Catherine Chapin remarried in 1655 to Thomas Gilbert, and in 1664 to Samuel Marshfield.

Generation 3:  Margaret Bliss m. Nathaniel Foote

Generation 4: Eunice Foote m. Michael Taintor

Generation 5: Eunice Taintor m. Aaron Skinner

Generation 6: Charles Skinner m. Sarah Osborn

Generation 7: Ann Skinner m. Thomas Ratchford Lyons

Generation 8: Isabella Lyons m. Reverend Ingraham Ebenezer Bill

Generation 9: Caleb Rand Bill m. Ann Margaret Bollman

Generation 10: Isabella Lyons Bill m. Albert Munroe Wilkinson

Generation 11: Donald Munroe Wilkinson m. Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents)

"The Puritan" at Boston's
Museum of Fine Art

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/11/surname-saturday-chapin-of-springfield.html

Copyright © 2013, Heather Wilkinson Rojo