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]). 

Surname Saturday ~ CREE of Topsfield, Massachusetts

CREE / CRAY / CREIGH

My 7^th great grandfather, Nicholas Cree, is a mystery.  I don’t know his birth or death, but only that he married Keziah Dwinell of Topsfield and had six children born there.  His marriage record says he was “Of Marblehead”.   This brickwall ancestor has many researchers searching for his origins, probably in Scotland. 

Not much is known of his son, Richard Cree (1727 – 1769), my 6^th great grandfather.  I have his vital records, and his death record states he was “a middle aged man who was drownded”.    I descend from his eldest son, Stephen Cree (1760  - 1821), who married his bride, Hannah Smith, in the town of Holden, Massachusetts, many miles from Topsfield.  The interesting thing is that I was married in the town of Holden, too, about 200 years after the marriage of Stephen and Hannah Cree.  Hannah’s origins are unknown, but I found her birth record in Worcester in 1763, to her father, Joseph Smith.  Perhaps he is related to the Smith family of Topsfield? Another mystery.

My 4^th great grandmother, Sarah Cree (1792 – 1835) married first at age 16 to John W. Ham in 1808 and had one child.  Then she remarried to James Phillips in Topsfield in 1815.  They had two children and he died young in 1820.  Sarah never remarried and died young herself in 1835.   Her daughter, my 3^rd great grandmother, Hannah Phillips (about 1821 – 1851) also died young after having three children born in Salem.  

The Cree surname is considered to be Scots, a derivation of the same CREIGH or CRAY.  There are several DNA studies ongoing to find the origins of Nicholas Cree, the immigrant ancestor in New England.

Some CREE resources:

The CREE One-Name Study   http://www.cree.name/usa/topsfield.htm

The Historical Collections of the Topsfield Historical Society (some volumes available online at Archive.org, including Volumes nine and ten with the Topsfield marriage records)

The True Genealogy of the Dunnel and Dwinnell Family of New England, by Henry Gale Dunnel, 1862.

My CREE genealogy:

Generation 1:  Nicolas Cree married on 7 October 1723 in Topsfield, Massachusetts to Keziah Dwinel, daughter of John Dwinell and Mary Read.  She was born 14 December 1703 in Topsfield.  Six children born in Topsfield. 

Generation 2:  Richard Cree, born 13 August 1727 in Topsfield, died 15 April 1769 in Topsfield; married on 5 February 1756 in Topsfield to Ruth Johnson, daughter of Stephen Johnson and Rebecca Towne.  She was born 30 August 1731 in Topsfield and died 29 June 1800 in Topsfield.  Five children.

Generation 3:  Stephen Cree, was born 30 October 1760 in Topsfield, died 15 October 1821 in Topsfield; married on 27 February 1787 in Holden, Massachusetts to Hannah Smith, daughter of Joseph Smith of Worcester.  She was born 22 May 1763 in Worcester, and died 19 October 1839 in Topsfield.  Five children.

Generation 4:  Sarah Cree, born 30 September 1792 in Topsfield, died 3 May 1835 in Topsfield; married 6 August 1820 in Topsfield to James Phillips.  He was born about 1792 probably in Rowley, and died 5 April 1820 in Topsfield.  Two children.

Generation 5:  Hannah Phillips m. Thomas Russell Lewis

Generation 6:  Hannah Eliza Lewis m. Abijah Franklin Hitchings

Generation 7:  Arthur Treadwell Hitchings m. Florence Etta Hoogerzeil

Generation 8:  Gertrude Matilda Hitchings m. Stanley Elmer Allen (my grandparents)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Surname Saturday ~ CREE of Topsfield, Massachusetts”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 27, 2018, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/01/surname-saturday-cree-of-topsfield.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

Blog Caroling ~ "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and Phillips Brooks

Phillips Brooks is a distant cousin, but we don’t just share one common ancestor.  We share so many common ancestors I can’t keep track.  Our common surnames are Gorham, Call, Cotton, Gardner, Phillips, Kettell, Coffin, Howland,  Tilley, Emerson, Simonds, etc.  the list goes on and on.   Reverend Phillips Brooks (1835 – 1893) was an Episcopal pastor who was once the Bishop of Massachusetts.   He was the rector of Trinity Church and an impressive statue of Brooks by Augustus Saint- Gaudens stands outside. 

Trinity Church itself is an impressive building, often described as one of the gems of American architecture.  The church, the fancy statue and the story of Phillips Brooks impressive career don’t match what he is most famous for – the gentle, lullaby-like Christmas carol “O Little Town of Bethlehem”.  I often wondered about this when I passed by Copley Square, where Brooks’s statue stares down at the traffic.

After some research, I found that Brooks wrote this carol after a visit to the Holy Land in 1865.  He wrote the poem three years later, and his church organist arranged the music.  Perhaps these simple lyrics are more reflective of Phillips Brooks than his famous sermons and career.  The peaceful spirit of the song seems to express a longing for a simple return to faith in days long gone by. 

Phillips Brooks manuscript of his famous Christmas hymn
from Wikipedia Commons
Benson, Louis F. Studies of Familiar Hymns.
Philadelphia: The Westminster Press. 1903. Page 3.

Lyrics:

O little town of Bethlehem

How still we see thee lie.

Above thy deep and dreamless sleep

The silent stars go by.

Yet in they dark streets shineth

The Everlasting Light.

The hopes and fears of all the years

are met in thee tonight.

Reverend Phillips Brooks was born 13 December 1835 in Boston, and died unmarried in Boston on 23 January 1893.  In the Episcopal calendar, his day is remembered as 23 January.  

He was the son of William Gray Brooks (1805 - 1879) and Mary Ann Phillips.   

He was a descendant of Reverend John Cotton, and of Samuel Phillips, Jr., the founder of Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He was also a descendant of John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley, Mayflower passengers.  Through his Cotton and Saltonstall ancestors, he is also a descendant of Richard III of England. 

The annual "Blog Caroling" event is hosted by the Footnote Maven at her blog http://www.footnotemaven.com/   Check the roll up list for links to all the participants.

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Copyright 2012, 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