My Loyalist Ancestors - Benjamin Thompson AKA Count Rumford

 

The Count Rumford birthplace in Woburn, Massachusetts

This is the second blog post on a Loyalist ancestor I have written this year for the 250th anniversary of the United States.  Benjamin Thompson is my first cousin, six generations removed.  His mother, Ruth Simonds (b. 1730) is the sister of my 5th great grandfather, Caleb Simonds (1720 - 1811).  Benjamin Thompson was born 26 March 1753 in Woburn, Massachusetts in the house of his grandfather, Captain Ebenezer Thompson.  He attended the local schools until he was eleven years old, when he was sent (along with his young friend and neighbor Loammi Baldwin) to Medford to study mathematics, astronomy and science.  

At age 13 he was bound as an apprentice to a Salem merchant, John Appleton.  Thompson went home to Woburn soon after because Appleton lost his business when the relations between the colonies and England became strained. Then he taught school in Wilmington in 1768 and 1769.  Later in 1769 he again studied science (anatomy and physiology) under Dr. John Hay, a doctor in Woburn. In 1770 he studied at Harvard with his friend Loammi Baldwin.  In 1772 he began to teach school in Rumford (now Concord, New Hampshire). 

By 1772 he married Sarah Walker, the widow of Benjamin Rolfe, and daughter of Rev. Timothy Walker of Rumford. She was a very wealthy woman, age 33, and Benjamin Thompson was only 19 years old. He joined the New Hampshire regiment, and had to chose sides to be an American or a Loyalist.  When he was denied a commission to be an officer in the Continental army he joined the British. Benjamin and Sarah had one daughter, Sarah, born 18 October 1774. 

When the British evacuated Boston on 17 March 1776 he fled to England and left his wife in New Hampshire. He was elected to the Royal Society of Science in 1779, returned to America as an officer in 1781 - 1782, and was knighted in 1784.  Then he left England for Germany, where he served the Prince of Bavaria for 18 years, where he was made a count of the Holy Roman Empire. He chose to be named Count Rumford, after the town in New Hampshire.

In 1803 he settled in France where he remarried to the widow of the French chemist Lavoisier.  His new wife was Anne Marie Pierette Paulze. While in France he invented a calorimeter, a photomete, and a drip coffee maker.  His studies of heat lead him to be the first to understand that heat was a form of motion.

He endowed the Rumford Medals at the Royal Society, and the Rumford Medals at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Rumfor chair of science at Harvard College (now Harvard University). He, along with Sir Joseph Banks, founded the Royal Institution of Great Britain.  He also made some practical inventions such as central heating, the smokeless chimney, the kitchen oven, the first pressure cooker, and other. His name lives on for the invention of the Rumford Fireplace, which reflected more heat back into the room than previous versions of fireplaces. 

As Count Rumford in Europe, he had several love affairs, including a woman Victoire Lafevre (his housekeeper) who bore him a son,  and the Countess Baumgarten with whom he had another daughter named Sophia, born in 1798.  Count Rumford also had an affair with her sister, the Countess Nogarola.  

Benjamin Thompson, AKA Count Rumford, died 21 August 1814 in Auteil, France and is buried there. His epitaph reads "Benjamin Thompson, Conte De Rumford. The celebrated physicist and enlightened philanthropist, whose discoveries on light and heat made his name illustrious and whose work to help the poor will always be dear to the friends of humanity."

President Franklin D. Roosevelt said that Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, was "one of the three greatest minds America has produced" (the others were Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson).  

By Thomas Gainsborough - Corel Photo CD, MASTERS I, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9516763

For the truly curious:

Previous blog posts on Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford:

"Two Cousins", 17 May 2012:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/05/two-cousins.html   

"The Count Rumford House", 14 May 2012:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/05/count-rumford-house.html   

"Colonel Loammi Baldwin", 24 October 2013:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/10/colonel-loammi-baldwin.html  

Memoir of Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, with notices of his daughter, (with an edition of Rumford's complete works) by George E. Ellis, published by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Boston, 1875. 

Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford and the Royal Instituation, by the Royal Society, 1999. 

White Knight, Red Heat: The many lives of Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, by John and Mary Gribbin, 20023

Benjamin Thompson at Wikipedia:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Thompson 

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To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "My Loyalist Ancestors - Benjamin Thompson AKA Count Rumford", Nutfield Genealogy, posted September 15, 2026, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/09/my-loyalist-ancestors-benjamin-thompson.html: accessed [access date]). 

Edmund and Lucy Coffin, Newbury, Massachusetts for Tombstone Tuesday

 These two tombstones were photographed at the First Parish Burying Ground, Newbury, Massachusetts

LUCY,

Wife of Edmund Coffin,

Born

April 17, 1776,

Died

Dec. 3, 1858

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

There remaineth a rest to the people of God. 

In memory of

MR. EDMUND COFFIN

who died Suddenly

Octr. 23, 1825;

aged 61 years. 

A noble mind!  Just generous, bold, sincere

of such a spirit, see!  The dust is here,

But while this ground, with fondest thoughts we tread;

Let no the partial living praise the dead;

The kindest tears that Friendship here can pay,

Is Sorrow weeping all her sins away. 

Lucy and Edmund Coffin, side by side in the Burying Ground

Edmund Coffin was born 14 January 1764 and died on 23 October 1825, the son of Major Joshua Coffin and Sarah Bartlett.   He was married twice, first to Mary Moody on 13 November 1792 in Newbury (six children), and then to Lucy Kimball on 25 April 1809 in Ipswich, Massachusetts (five more children).

Interesting trivia:

“In 1785, the Coffin House, which had for so many years seen multiple generations living as one family, was legally divided. Edmund Coffin, one of two adult sons of Joshua Coffin, reached twenty-one and wanted his share of his deceased father's estate. Consequently, a division was made first between the two sons and their widowed mother, and after her death in 1798, between the two sons, Edmund and Joseph. Each had exclusive use of certain rooms, stairways, and cellars with the right of passage through some of the other rooms. The "families" lived almost completely separately under one roof, using different kitchens and entertaining rooms. The house remained divided this way through the last generation of Coffins to occupy the house.”  [From The Coffin House Facebook page published 2 June 2017]

Lucy Kimball is the daughter of Nathaniel Kimball, born about 1776 in Ipswich, Massachusetts, and Elizabeth Low.  She died on 3 December 1858.  Lucy is my relative through her great grandmother, Mary Thompson of Ipswich (the daughter of my Scottish Prisoner of War ancestor Alexander Thompson (about 1636 – 1695), and her 2x great grandfather, Richard Kimball (about 1595 – 1675), an early settler at Ipswich, Massachusetts.  On her tombstone is a quote from Hebrews 4:9-16 KJV "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his." 

Edmund and Lucy are buried at the First Parish Burying Ground in Newbury, Massachusetts, right across the street from the First Parish Meeting House.  The Coffin House is located nearby and is operated as a museum by Historic New England.  It was built by Edmund’s 4x great grandfather, Tristram Coffin (1632 – 1704), who came to New England from Brixton, Devonshire, England.  Tristram’s parents (Tristram Coffin (1609 – 1681) and Dionis Steven came to New England in 1628 and settled in Salisbury, Newbury and finally the island of Nantucket, and they are also my 11^th great grandparents.

 For the truly curious:

The webpage for the Coffin House Museum (1678) https://www.historicnewengland.org/property/coffin-house/ 

Edmund Coffin’s personal papers and manuscripts are stored at Historic New England Folder C.1.19-C.1.26 and GUSN-296354.  There is a description of these papers online at https://www.historicnewengland.org/explore/collections-access/gusn/296354 

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Edmund and Lucy Coffin, Newbury, Massachusetts for Tombstone Tuesday”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 4, 2025, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2025/03/edmund-and-lucy-coffin-newbury.html: accessed [access date]). 

November 11, 1620 - The Day The Pilgrims Signed the Mayflower Compact

Today a small group (due to COVID restrictions) of members of the New Hampshire Mayflower Society met at Odiorne Point State Park to remember the signing of the Mayflower Compact at Provincetown 400 years ago.  This new memorial to the Mayflower Compact was dedicated here on October 1, 2020 at the spot where a small group of Plymouth Colonists met with David Thompson at his fishing colony in 1623.  The memorial includes a bronze plaque with the Mayflower Compact, and the names of the men who signed the compact in 1620.  

MAYFLOWER COMPACT

"America's First Constitution"

Nov. 11, 1620  - In the name of God, Amen.  We...do by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic,

for our... preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid;... to enact, constitute, and frame, such

just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices... as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony; unto which we promise all due obedience.

John Alden    Richard Clarke       John Howland     George Soule

Isaac Allerton     Francis Cooke        Stephen Hopkins     Edward Tilley

John Allerton    John Crackstone       Edward Leister       John Tilley   

      John Billington       Edward Doty           Edmund Margesson     Thomas Tinker   

William Bradford      Francis Eaton      Christopher Martin      John Turner  

William Brewster    Thomas English     William Mullins   Richard Warren

Richard Britteridge    Edward Fuller     Degory Priest     William White

   Peter Browne         Samuel Fuller         John Rigsdale    Thomas Williams

    John Carver      Richard Gardiner     Thomas Rogers    Edward Winslow

James Chilton     John Goodman     Myles Standish    Gilbert Winslow

In 1623 Pilgrim Captain Myles Standish was given cod fish by English fisherman David Thompson to assist the 

struggling Plymouth Colony.  This plaque dedicated November 11, 2020 by New Hampshire Society of Mayflower

Descendants in honor of their ancestors who signed the Mayflower Compact "America's First Constitution".

If you have not yet visited this lovely memorial, please take some time to walk along the shore of Odiorne Point in Rye, New Hampshire and read our new plaque.  You can watch our October 1st dedication ceremony at this link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZornc-Vh-Q  

New Hampshire Mayflower Society:  https://www.nhmayflower.org/   

The General Society of Mayflower Descendants:  https://www.themayflowersociety.org/    

Odiorne State Park, Rye, NH:  https://www.nhstateparks.org/visit/state-parks/odiorne-point-state-park  

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Cite/Link to this post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "November 11, 1620 - The Day The Pilgrims Signed the Mayflower Compact", Nutfield Genealogy, posted November 11, 2020, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/11/november-11-1620-day-pilgrims-signed.html: accessed [access date]). 

A Moose on the Loose - Weathervane Wednesday

This moose weathervane was spotted above a strip mall on the Daniel Webster Highway in Belmont, New Hampshire.

We spotted this two dimensional moose weathervane along the Daniel Webster Highway, on our way up to Laconia and Lake Winnipesaukee.  I'm always on the lookout for new weathervanes when I go to visit towns that are new to me.  This one was easy to spot since there were no trees or other buildings in the way!

Since this is a very modern building, with very bland architecture, I was pleasantly surprised to see a weathervane.  It was even more fun to realize that the figure on top of this weathervane was a moose!

Some other moose weathervanes featured here at "Weathervane Wednesday":

 Kennebunk, Maine:
 https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/09/weathervane-wednesday-maine-moose.html

Daniel Webster Highway, Merrimack, New Hampshire:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/02/weathervane-wednesday-moose-over-hair.html

North Conway, New Hampshire:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/02/weathervane-wednesday-moose.html

Carson City, Nevada:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/06/weathervane-wednesday-two-unique.html

Click here to see over 400 weathervane blog posts:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/search/label/Weathervane%20Wednesday

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

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "A Moose on the Loose - Weathervane Wednesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 25, 2020, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/03/a-moose-on-loose-weathervane-wednesday.html: accessed [access date]).

John H. Thompson, buried 1845, Derry, New Hampshire ~ Tombstone Tuesday

This tombstone was photographed at the Forest Hill Cemetery in East Derry, New Hampshire.

JOHN H. THOMPSON, ESQ.

Died

Jan. 12, 1845

aged 51 yrs.

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

Dearest Husband thous has left me

Here thy loss I deeply feel,

But 'tis God that hath bereft me.

He can all my sorrows heal.

Yet again I hope to meet thee,

When the day of life is fled,

Then in Heaven with joy to greet thee,

Where no farewell tear is shed.

A beloved husband, father dear,

A sincere friend, lies buried here.

F.A. BROWN

I have no further information on John H. Thompson. I couldn't find him in the vital records or in any town history or genealogy book.  His tombstone is lying flat, encased in a concrete shell.  It appears to have broken off and fallen over, and some dear friend or descendant has lovingly repaired the engraved stone and replaced it over the grave.

UPDATE:  14 February 2020, from Janice Webster Brown, who discovered that John H. Thompson was the postmaster for Salem, New Hampshire (a contiguous town to Derry).  In "The History of Salem" she learned that the house he lived in was also the post office during the time he was postmaster. Janice also found his name in a notice in the Exeter News-Letter and Rockingham Advertiser of April 26, 1847,  "To the Hon. Judge of Probate for the County of Rockingham.  Respectfully represents BENJAMIN E. EMERY, administrator for the Esteate of John H. Thompson, late of Salem, in said County of Rockingham, deceased,, that the personal estate of said desceased is not sufficient to pay the demands against the same, that the said deceased at the time of his death was seized of certain real estate situated in said Salem and Derry, in said County, to wit: - The Hampstead Farm of said deceased in said Salem, containing about fifty acres, bounded Easterly and Northeasterly by land of John H. Dunlap; Northerly by land of Daniel Chase; Westerly by land of William Clendinin, and Southerly by the highway from Derry to Haverhill.  Also, another lot, being a part of said home far, containing about four acres, situated on the Southerly side of said highway, and opposite to the lot last described, bounded Northerly by said highway; Easterly and Southerly by land of Seth Pattee, and Westerly by land of William Clendinin.

    Also, another lot of land in said Derry called the Paul farm, containing about forty acres, and bounded Northerly by land of John Sargent;Easterly by land of Henry Taylor, Oliver Taylor, and John Bassett; Southerly by land of John Bassett, and Westerly by the road leading from Paul Taylor's to Clendinin's Mills.

    Also, one other lot of wood land, in said Derry, containing about three acres, and bounded Northwesterly, Northeasterly, and Southeasterly by land of Henry Taylor, and Southwesterly by land of John Sargent; all the above described real estate being subject to the dower of Abigail P. Nason, late widow of said John H. Thompson. Wherefore he prays that he may be licensed to sell at public auction so much of the real estate of said deceased as may be sufficient to raise the sum of three thousand dollars, being the sum necessary to pay said debts and demands.

BENJAMIN E. EMERY

Dated April 14th, A.D. 1847"

Here is a link to some other THOMPSON gravestones at Forest Hill Cemetery. I do not know if these Thompsons are related to John H. Thompson.   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/10/tombstone-tuesday-thompson-derry-new.html   

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

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "John H. Thompson, buried 1845, Derry, New Hampshire ~ Tombstone Tuesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 11, 2020, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/02/john-h-thompson-buried-1845-derry-new.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ THOMPSON of Westbury, Wiltshire, England and Ipswich, Massachusetts

THOMPSON /  TOMPSON /  TOMSON

I have at least four THOMPSON lineages in my family tree. They are not related at all, but are separate lines.  I have already blogged about David Thompson (1592 – 1628) who owned a trading post in New Hampshire in 1621: https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/12/surname-saturday-thompson.html  ;  Nancy Thompson (1804 – after 1847), my brickwall ancestress from Gilmanton, New Hampshire: https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/05/surname-saturday-thompson-of-gilmanton.html ; and Alexander Thompson (about 1636 – 1696), the Scots Prisoner of War who settled in Ipswich, Massachusetts: https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/05/surname-saturday-thomson-thompson-of.html

My 10^th great grandfather was the Reverend William Thompson (about 1576 – 1623) vicar of the church in Wesbury, Wiltshire, England from 1603 until his death.  Rev. Thompson never came to America, but several of his descendants immigrated to Massachusetts.   His wife, Phillis, died in 1608 and he remarried to a woman named Elizabeth.  Elizabeth gave him two sons, Samuel, who became a vicar in London, and William, who was sent to Massachusetts to live with his uncle John Cogswell.

Rev. Thompson had five daughters from his first marriage with Phillis, including Elizabeth Thompson (1598 – 1676), my 9^th great grandmother, who married John Cogswell and came to America on board the ship Angel Gabriel.   This ship was wrecked in Pemaquid, Maine, but eventually the family made its way to Ipswich, Massachusetts.  John and Elizabeth had twelve children.  In his Great Migration series Robert Charles Anderson speculates that Elizabeth was married young because she had children from 1616 until about 1645.   I descend two of the twelve Cogswell children:  John (about 1622 – 1653) and also from his sister Sarah (about 1645 – 1733) who married Simon Tuthill.

Some Thompson Resources:

The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England 1634-1635, by Robert Charles Anderson, George F. Sanborn, Jr. and Melinde Lutz Sanborn (New England Historic Genealogical Society), Volume II,  page 138.

The Cogswells in America, by Ephraim Orcutt Jameson, 1884

The New England Historic Genealogical Society Register, April 1871, page 187.

Cogswell – Haldeman: The Ancestors and the Descendants of Asa Ferris Cogswell and Arobine Haldeman Cogswell, by Helen Cogswell Trostel, 1966

You might also want to read my COGSWELL Surname Saturday post:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/11/surname-saturday-cogswell-of-ipswich.html 

My THOMPSON lineage:

Generation 1:  William Thompson, born about 1576 in Westbury, Wiltshire, England, died 1623 in Westbury; married first about 1600 to Phillis UNKNOWN (five daughters).  She was buried in Westbury on 19 July 1608. He married second to Elizabeth UNKNOWN (two sons).

Generation 2: Elizabeth Thompson, born in Westbury about 1598 and died on 2 June 1676 in the Chebacco Parish of Ipswich, Massachusetts;  married on 10 September 1615 in Westbury to John Cogswell, son of Edward Cogswell and Alice UNKNOWN.   He was born in Westbury abut 1592 and died on 29 December 1669 in Ipswich. Twelve children.

Lineage A

Generation 3: John Cogswell m. UNKNOWN

Generation 4: John Cogswell m. Margaret Gifford

Generation 5: John Cogswell m. Sarah Brown

Generation 6:  Martha Cogswell m. John Andrews

Generation 7:  James Andrews m. Lucy Presson

Generation 8:  Orpha Andrews m. Joseph Allen

Generation 9:  Joseph Gilman Allen m. Sarah Burnham Mears

Generation 10:  Joseph Elmer  Allen m. Carried Maude Batchelder

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

Lineage B

Generation 3:  Sarah Cogswell m. Simon Tuthill

Generation 4:  John Tuthill m. Martha Ward

Generation 5:  Martha Tuthill m. Mark Haskell

Generation 6:  Lucy Haskell m. Jabez Treadwell

Generation 7:  Nathaniel Treadwell m. Mary Hovey

Generation 8:  Jabez Treadwell m. Betsey Jilling Homan

Generation 9: Eliza Ann Treadwell m. Abijah Hitchings

Generation 10: Abijah Franklin Hitchings m. Florence Etta Hoogerzeil

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

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ THOMPSON of Westbury, Wiltshire, England and Ipswich, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 5, 2017, (https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/08/surname-saturday-thompson-of-westbury.html: accessed [access date]). 

University of Durham Team Is Reaching Out to the Descendants of 17th Century Scottish Prisoners

The Scottish Prisoners of War research team from the University of Durham, UK

Last night in Saugus, Massachusetts a group of ordinary Americans met up to discuss an archaeological dig in Durham, England.  What did these folks have in common?  Not a common interest in archaeology per se,  but each one had an ancestor who had been forcibly brought to New England in chains as a Scottish prisoner of war in 1650 or 1651 during the English Civil War. 

In 1650 in Dunbar Scotland a force of Scottish soldiers faced the English army led by Cromwell and lost the battle.  Over 6,000 men and boys, mostly between the ages of 13 and 25 years old, were taken captive.  After the wounded were released about 5,000 soldiers were marched towards Durham, in Northeast England for imprisonment.  After the 120 mile march, only 3,000 of these starving men arrive and were locked inside the Durham Cathedral.  The rest had died along the way.  Within the next six weeks, another 1,600 soldiers would die.  Their final resting place would remain a mystery for the next 350 years.  Of the survivors, some were sent to Ireland, some to fight in France, and the rest were sent into forced servitude in the New World.

About 250 of these men were placed aboard the ship Unity, which brought them to labor at Hammersmith, the place now known as the Saugus Ironworks.  They arrived in Massachusetts and were divided up – some sent to the iron works, and others to lumber mills in New Hampshire and Maine.  All were sent to do hard labor in the New World.  These young men never went back to Scotland, but eventually made their way to communities scattered over New England and left large numbers of descendants.

In 2013, during an expansion project at the Durham University, a mass grave was found between the cathedral and Durham castle. The excavation site revealed human remains which have been studied by the Durham University team which examined about 17 – 28 bodies, and partial bodies.  They were all male, all between 13  to 25 years of age, all dated scientifically to the time period of incarceration in the Durham Cathedral in 1650.  It appeared to be the bodies of the Scottish soldiers, which had been tossed into a pit by the castle wall.  The findings were released to the public 2015. 

And so the team from Durham University came to Saugus, Massachusetts last night to explain the science and history behind this discovery.  They met early with the descendants of the Scottish Prisoners of War in New England to discuss the discovery, DNA projects, plans for reburial in Durham, and commemoration plans (a plaque near the discovery site and an upcoming 2018 exhibition in Durham).  This was followed by a public lecture co-sponsored by the National Park Service’s Saugus Ironworks.  It was standing room only, and extremely interesting to descendants, Saugus residents and the general public.

Descendants filled the room during a pre-lecture discussion group.
The lecture itself was standing room only!

Members of the Durham University team
answered questions from descendants
and the general public

If you think you might be descended of one of the Scottish Prisoners of War from the Battle of Dunbar, you could be part of this project.  See the links below for more information and for contacts.

  

The Durham team will be next visiting Berwick, Maine; Harvard University; Brown University and then Chris Gerrard, the project leader, will be back to the Old Berwick Historical Society for another public lecture (similar to the Saugus lecture) on November 2^nd, at 7:30pm at the Berwick Academy’s Whipple Arts Center, in Berwick, Maine). 

Contact information:

Website:  www.durham.ac.uk/scottishsoldiers

Twitter:  @durham_uni    or  @arcDurham  #ScotsSoldiers

Email SUBSCRIBE to Scottish.soldiers@durham.ac.uk

Video of the talk given in Saugus 25 October 2016:
https://vimeo.com/190898760

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For more information on the Scots Prisoners of War sent to New England:

My 2015 blog post:  “Discover of Scots Prisoners of War at Durham Cathedral in England!  How is this important to New England Genealogical Research?”  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/09/discovery-of-scots-prisoners-of-war-at.html

2016 blogpost:  “City Square Charlestown, Massachusetts – and so many ancestral connections!”  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/09/city-square-charlestown-massachusetts.html

My SPOW ancestor, William Munroe “Surname Saturday ~ Munroe of Lexington, Massachusetts”  

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/06/surname-saturday-munroe-of-lexington.html

Another SPOW ancestor, Alexander Thompson, “Surname Saturday ~ THOMSON/ THOMPSON of Scotland and Ipswich, Massachusetts”  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/05/surname-saturday-thomson-thompson-of.html

Scottish Prisoners of War genealogy website:   http://scottishprisonersofwar.com/

Scottish Prisoners of War Facebook community  https://www.facebook.com/scottishprisonersofwar?fref=ts

SPOW Yahoo Group   https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/scottish_war_prisoners/info

Scottish Prisoners of War DNA project:   https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/scottish-po-ws/about/background

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eather Wilkinson Rojo, "University of Durham Team Is Reaching Out to the Descendants of 17th Century Scottish Prisoners", October 25, 2016,  ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/10/university-of-durham-team-is-reaching.html: accessed [access date]).

City Square, Charlestown, Massachusetts - and so many ancestral connections!

City Square, Charlestown, Massachusetts *

In the 1970s, 80s and 90s, the Boston “Big Dig” Central Artery project moved all the roads to the tunnels and bridges under City Square in Charlestown.  An archeology project done on the site revealed the foundations of Gov. John Winthrop’s 1629 Great House and the Long family’s Three Cranes Tavern.  

Yours truly, standing in the Three Cranes Tavern footprint

As a Long descendant, I waited a long time to go see the newly developed park at City Square.   Restoration of this area into a park didn’t begin until the mid 1990s.

Then, just recently, Linda Hall Little, another genealogy blogger, sent me a photo of the weathervane atop the fountain at City Square Park.  She lives in Charlestown just a block away.  When I saw the weathervane (a crane of course!) I knew I had to feature it on “Weathervane Wednesday” (see yesterday's post) and I also knew I had to feature the park and the memorial to the Long family Three Crane’s Tavern. 

[Also, I descend from Governor John Winthrop's sister, Lucy Winthrop (1601 - 1669) who married Emanuel Downing.  So, Governor Winthrop, who lived in the Great House for three months, was my great uncle 10 generations removed]

Fountain at City Square
featuring a crane weathervane* 

The foundation stones of Three Crane tavern

An exhibit nearby shows the floorplan of the tavern and Great House,
and plots of land owned by members of the LONG family

Great House and Three Cranes Tavern
1629 - 1775
This reconstructed foundation outline represents the tavern
uncovered by archaeologists during the 1980s.  Postholes
from the Great House timbers were also found among the
stones.  Concrete bands have been added to complete the
outline of the two story tavern.  The building was burned
during the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775.

When I told Linda that I knew the history of the weathervane because I was a Long descendant, she ran over to the park and took dozens of photos for me.  I’m using some of her photos here, and also some of my own photos.  My family was so excited when they saw Linda’s photos* – so we went to see it ourselves a few weeks later and took more photos!  Thanks, Linda! 

History:

In 1630 the Winthrop fleet carried 700 Puritans on 11 ships to New England.  They settled in Charlestown and Governor Winthrop built his Great House.  When the colonists moved to Boston (due to poor water quality in Charlestown) the Great House became a meeting house, and then a tavern in 1635 run by Robert Long (my 9^th great grandfather) and his family.   The tavern remained in the Long family for 140 years until it was burned to the ground during the Battle of Bunker Hill.  In fact, most of the neighborhood burned to the ground.  

Afterward, the area was cleared and became a market.  Market Square was named “City Square” in 1848 when the town of Charlestown became a city.

That is not the only family connection I have to this spot.  In 1650 the tavern was waterfront property.  Ships from England entered Boston Harbor and the entrance to the Charles River right in front of what is now City Square.  The ship John and Sara docked here on 11 November 1651 and the human cargo on board,  272 Scots Prisoners of War from the Battle of Worcester, were sold on the wharf to the highest bidders by Thomas Kemble.  Two of my ancestors, William Munroe (and his two brothers) and Alexander Thompson.  Several other ancestors, like Francis Wyman of Woburn, had several Scots prisoners of war as servants in his tannery.  I can imagine that drinks were sold swiftly at the tavern on the day those Scots were sold into servitude.

For the truly curious:

My blog post about the LONG family in Charlestown

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/02/surname-saturday-long-of-charlestown.html

My blog post about my WINTHROP connection, and descent from Lucy Winthrop:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/09/surname-saturday-winthrop-of-england.html  

“Secrets of the Three Cranes Tavern” by Amy Laskowski, for the Boston University website, posted November 9, 2014 http://www.bu.edu/today/2014/boston-archaeology/

Passenger list  (actually a “statement of goods” record) of the John and Sara prisoners of war, 1651

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/08/ship-john-and-sara-prisoners-of-war.html

My blog post about William Munroe (about 1625 – 1718), SPOW, http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/06/surname-saturday-munroe-of-lexington.html

My blog post about Alexander Thompson (about 1636 – about 1696), SPOW  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/05/surname-saturday-thomson-thompson-of.html

Affectionately known as “SPOW” or Scots Prisoners of War, the online research community is administered by Teresa Hamilton Rust at these four separate websites:

Scottish Prisoners of War Facebook Community

https://www.facebook.com/scottishprisonersofwar?fref=ts

Scottish Prisoners of War website by Teresa Rust  http://scottishprisonersofwar.com/

SPOW Yahoo Group   https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/scottish_war_prisoners/info

Scottish Prisoners of War DNA project:

https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/scottish-po-ws/about/background

Some books:

Emigrants in Chains, by Peter Wilson Coldham, 1992

Directory of Scots Banished to the American Plantations 1650 – 1775, by David Dobson, 2010

 Linda Hall Little's genealogy blog Passage to the Past

https://passagetothepast.wordpress.com/about/   
All photos marked with * are from Linda, otherwise they were taken by Vincent Rojo

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "City Square, Charlestown, Massachusetts - and so many ancestral connections!", Nufield Genealogy, posted September 29, 2016,  ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/09/in-1970s-80s-and-90s-boston-big-dig.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ THOMPSON of Gilmanton, New Hampshire

THOMPSON/ THOMSON/ TOMPSON

My 4^th great grandmother, Nancy Thompson (1804 – after 1847), is a complete mystery to me.  I don’t know when she was born, or who are her parents.  I don’t have a death record for her either.  She was widowed, and then disappeared from any records I have seen – so far.   This Thompson line is a real genealogical brick wall to me.

I also have two other New England THOMPSON lineages.  One is from David Thompson ( 1592 – 1628), the first European settler to live permanently in New Hampshire.  The other is from Alexander Thompson (about1636 – 1696), one of Cromwell’s Scots prisoners of war sent to New England to be sold into servitude.   It would be wonderful to find out that Nancy was from one of these lineages, or even to find out she was from a third colonial Thompson line.  But so far, she is a mystery.

This is what I know about Nancy.  She was born about 1804, probably in or near the town of Gilmanton in Belknap County, New Hampshire.  On 11 February 1822 in Belmont,  Belknap County, New Hampshire she married Jonathan Batchelder (the marriage record lists her place of birth as Gilmanton, a town contiguous to Belmont).  They had two children, the eldest, George E. Batchelder (1822 – 1848) is my 3^rd great grandfather.  The other child is Pauline, who was left an orphan when her father died very young in 1847 in the New Hampshire State Insane Asylum.   I have found the guardianship papers for Pauline, and Nancy was named her guardian.  

After the guardianship case, Nancy disappeared from the records. I have not found a death for Nancy Thompson in New Hampshire. I have not found her in a census record after 1840.  I have found no proof that she remarried.  She was not living with her son or daughter in any census record after 1840.  There are several Thompson families living in and near Gilmanton and the region near Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire, but records do not show a Nancy/Ann/Hannah Thompson born near her supposed age.  I am sure there are missing records because New Hampshire did not require vital records to be recorded until later, and there was not total compliance in recording vital records until 1905.  

This is a very sad story.  I know that George married before his father died.  He married Abigail M. Locke in 1845.  His sister Pauline was only 14 years old when her father died in 1847, but two years later she married David C. Watson.  She seemed to live a nice life after this, since her husband was a merchant tailor in Concord, New Hampshire and Boston, Massachusetts according to census records.

George was emancipated from his father in 1840, the year he turned 18 years old, according to newspaper notices.  Sadly, he also died very young at age 25 in 1848.  His son George, Jr., my great great grandfather,  was born posthumously that same year.  I have no record of what caused his early death.   

George, Jr. was raised by his maternal grandparents in Chichester – Capt. Richard Locke and his wife Margaret Welch.  Young George, Jr. went to Boston and worked as a mechanic, on the railroads and in real estate looking after the estate of R. Esterbrooks in South Boston.  

My THOMPSON lineage:

Generation 1:  Nancy Thompson, born about 1804 probably in Gilmanton, New Hampshire, died after 1847; married on 11 February 1822 in Belmont, New Hampshire to Jonathan Batchelder, son of Elisha Batchelder and Sarah Lane.  He was born about 1800 in Hampton and died before 4 November 1847 in the New Hampshire State Asylum in Concord, New Hampshire.  Two children.

Generation 2:  George E. Batchelder m. Abigail M. Locke

Generation 3:  George E. Batchelder m. Mary Katharine Emerson

Generation 4:  Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 5:  Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ THOMPSON of Gilmanton, New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 14, 2016,  (  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/05/surname-saturday-thompson-of-gilmanton.html: accessed [access date]). 

Discovery of Scots Prisoners of War at Durham Cathedral in England! How is this important to New England Genealogical Research?

William Munroe, born in Scotland about 1625
Died in Lexington, Massachusetts 1718

The news hit the media just yesterday.  Two mass graves found next to Durham cathedral in England were found to contain the skeletal remains of Scots prisoners from the battle of Dunbar on 3 September 1650.  During the English Civil War the Puritans battled the Scottish Covenanters who supported the monarchy.   It was estimated that 6,000 prisoners were taken, and marched from Dunbar to Durham, but 1,000 died on the march.  Another 1,700 died during imprisonment at the Durham cathedral.  150 survivors were put on board the ship Unity and sold into servitude in Puritan Massachusetts.  Of these men, about 20 went to Richard Leader and his saw mill at Berwick, Maine.  62 men were sold to John Gifford for hard labor at the Saugus Iron works.

On 3 September 1651, exactly one year later, during the Battle of Worcester, again the Scottish Royalists were defeated, and thousands taken prisoner.  About 272 men were again sold into slavery and taken to Massachusetts aboard the ship John and Sara.  I had two ancestors,  Alexander THOMPSON and William MUNROE,  on the passenger  list dated 11 November 1651. 

Today is the anniversary, 3 September 2015, of both battles.  There will be commemorative services at the Durham cathedral in honor of these prisoners who died and were exiled.

I don’t know where my SPOW ancestors served their indenture, but Alexander Thompson settled in Ipswich, Massachusetts and married Deliverance Haggett in 1662.  He died between 21 November 1693 when he signed his will, and April 1696 when his estate was settled.   William Munroe settled in Cambridge Farms, now the town of Lexington, Massachusetts and had three wives and fourteen children.  His descendants spread throughout the area, and his grandsons and great grandsons were on the Lexington Green on the morning of 19 April 1775.

Many of these prisoners had names you might not recognize as Scots surnames (names like Jackson, Lowe, Jones, Wilson, Gunn, Perry,  Simpson, Robinson, etc).  You can read the passenger list for the John and Sara HERE.  There were about 422 prisoners sold into slavery, and most survived to have descendants.  I know that the 50 surviving Mayflower passengers from 1620 are estimated to have millions of possible descendants, so how many people could possibly be descendants of these Scottish Prisoners of War from 1650 and 1651?  

If you check the John and Sara  passenger list, you might find a familiar ancestral name.  Most of these men’s biographies will tell you where they lived and settled, which will be a clue for your research.  There are many books, websites and other resources listed below.  Local town and county histories in New England also have biographies and genealogies of these families. 

“Skeletons found near Durham Cathedral were Oliver Cromwell’s Prisoners”, The Guardian, posted 2 September 2015, http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/sep/02/skeletons-durham-cathedral-oliver-cromwell-prisoners accessed 2 September 2015.

Department of Archaeology, Durham University  https://www.dur.ac.uk/archaeology/research/projects/europe/pg-skeletons/ 

Affectionately known as “SPOW”, the online research community is administered by Teresa Hamilton Rust at these three separate websites: 

Scottish Prisoners of War Facebook Community

https://www.facebook.com/scottishprisonersofwar?fref=ts

Scottish Prisoners of War website by Teresa Rust  http://scottishprisonersofwar.com/

SPOW Yahoo Group   https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/scottish_war_prisoners/info

Scottish Prisoners of War DNA project:
https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/scottish-po-ws/about/background

Some books:

Emigrants in Chains, by Peter Wilson Coldham, 1992

Directory of Scots Banished to the American Plantations 1650 – 1775, by David Dobson, 2010

Some of my blog posts:

My John and Sara passenger list blog post:

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/08/ship-john-and-sara-prisoners-of-war.html

My blog post about William Munroe (about 1625 – 1718), SPOW, http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/06/surname-saturday-munroe-of-lexington.html

My blog post about Alexander Thompson (about 1636 – about 1696), SPOW  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/05/surname-saturday-thomson-thompson-of.html

I have many, many blog posts about William Munroe and the Munroe family.  You can use the search bar at the top of this blog, or click on the keyword MUNROE.

Also, this is a good summary of the Scots Prisoners and their relocation to New England (with name lists and a few locations):
http://www.geni.com/projects/Scots-Prisoners-and-their-Relocation-to-the-Colonies-1650-1654/3465

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Discovery of Scots Prisoners of War at Durham Cathedral in England!  How is this important to New England Genealogical Research?", Nutfield Genealogy, posted September 3, 2015 ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/09/discovery-of-scots-prisoners-of-war-at.html : accessed [access date]).

Insanity, Guardianship, Account Books and Family History

Account Book, Jonathan Batchelder (1800 - 1847)

Jonathan Batchelder's Account
                       Book
of Chichester           
New Hampshir        
1831  January the 12

Back in 2004 a wonderful thing happened to me.  A gentleman who had bought a box of books on the West Coast found a small account book dating from 1831.  The name Jonathan Batchelder of Chichester, New Hampshire was written on the first page.  This gentleman spent much time trying to find a descendant of Jonathan.  Someone at the Chichester Historical Society found my online family tree because Jonathan Batchelder is my 4^th great grandfather.

Note:  I had posted a query about Jonathan Batchelder at a bulletin board at GenForum in 2000.  It’s still there fifteen years later, and it still brings me email about the Batchelder family.  It pays to plaster the names of your ancestors everywhere- forums, Facebook, blogs, bulletin boards, wikis, everywhere.  You never know what will happen or who will contact you.

Back in 2009, when my blog was new, I wrote a post about how I received Jonathan Batchelder’s account book.  You can read that story by clicking HERE.  Since that time I have been researching the life of Jonathan Batchelder and his family.  It’s a very sad story.  But it’s amazing that his little book ended up on the West Coast and somehow found its way back to me.

There was nothing of genealogical value written inside this account book.  Of course, there are lots of names of people who lived near Jonathan and probably lived in Chichester, New Hampshire in the 1830s and 1840s. It is fascinating community information.  Some of the names might be relatives because there are quite a few Batchelders and Lanes listed.  Prices listed of items and labor traded are interesting.  The spelling is atrocious.  The biggest surprise was this slip of paper stuck inside:

This is a wonderful find!  This paper has much more information than what I found in the probate records online.   I first went to Family Search where I found an index of probate in this time period, where I found this index card:

Using the date and the docket number from this index card I was able to find the record in this volume and page here:

"New Hampshire, County Probate Records, 1660-1973," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-32660-11094-71?cc=2040537&wc=M797-G68:347815801,348206601 : accessed 18 February 2015), Merrimack > Dockets 1844-1858 no 2275-4869 > image 76 of 339; county courthouses, New Hampshire.

And here is a close up of this case:

Why was Nancy Batchelder named guardian to 14 year old Pauline Ann Batchelder? Well, it’s a long story…

Jonathan Batchelder was born about 1800 in Hampton, New Hampshire, the son of Elisha Batchelder and Sarah Lane.   On 11 February 1822 in Belmont, New Hampshire he married Nancy Thompson.  She was born about 1804 in Gilmanton, New Hampshire.  They had two children born in Chichester: George born in 1822 and Pauline Ann born in 1828.

 In the newspaper New Hampshire Patriot and State Gazette on 21 November 1840, I found a notice on page 3 stating that Jonathan Batchelder had emancipated his son George.  My 3rd great grandfather, George, had just reached the age of 18, and went off on his own to earn a living.  This was a common notice in those days.

However, as I was searching the newspapers I found a more sinister notice in the New Hampshire Patriot and State Gazette on 3 December 1846, page 4:

Guardian’s Notice:

Notice is hereby given, that the subscriber has been duly appointed by the Judge of Probate for the county of Merrimack, guardian of the person and estate of Jonathan Batchelder, of Chichester, in said county, decreed to be an insane person.  All persons indebted to the said Jonathan Batchelder are requested to make immediate payment to the subscriber, and all having claims to present them for adjustment.

David M. Carpenter, Guardian

Chichester, Nov. 24, 1846

A few months later this was found in the New Hampshire Patriot and State Gazette, 11 March 1847, page 4:

Guardian's Sale

"By virtue of a license from the Judge of Probate for the county of Merrimack, the subscriber as guardian of Jonathan Batchelder, of Chichester, in said county, who has been decreed an insane person, will sell at public auction on Wednesday, the 24th day of March next, at ten o'clock in the forenoon, all the right and interest the said Batchelder has in the homestead place on which he the said Batchelder has heretofore resided, containing about fifty five acres of first rate land, on which there is a good lot of timber and wood; the house large and two stories, and recently painted; the barn and shed not old.  Said farm is within about two miles of Pittsfield Village, and on the main road from Pittsfield to Concord and Manchester, on which road Stages pass and repass every day.  Also, about fifteen acres of pasture and wood land, lying about one half of a mile from said farm, adjoining and of David Brown and others.  Terms of payment liberal.  Sale on the premises.

D. M. Carpenter, Guardian

Chichester, Feb. 24, 1847

This was followed by another notice in the fall of the same year, New Hampshire Patriot and State Gazette, 4 November 1847, page 3:

Administrator's Notice

"The subscriber hereby gives notice that he has been duly appointed administrator of the estate of Jonathan Batchelder, late of Chichester, deceased, intestate.  All persons indebted to said estate are requested to make immediate payment, and all having claims to present them to the subscriber for adjustment.

D. M. Carpenter, Adm'r

Chichester, Sept 29, 1847

It is never easy to read that an ancestor was insane and died so young.  The family home was sold and the courts at this time granted guardianship of the minor child, Pauline, to her mother.  This was also common at the time.  Mothers were not  automatically given their children upon the death of the father. 

One clue I have is that according to the book Batchelder, Batcheller: Descendants of Rev. Stephen Bachiler by Frederick Clifton Pierce written in 1898, it states that Jonathan Batchelder died in Concord, New Hampshire.  No date given.  No other details about his life, not even a maiden name for his wife, Nancy.  From the newspaper notices we can guess that he died before 4 November 1847.  There was a state insane asylum in Concord at the time, just a few miles away from Chichester.  Jonathan’s death was not recorded in any vital records.

Nancy Batchelder drops out of the records after her guardianship was recorded.  She is not in any census, nor is she in the vital records as remarrying or dying. I’d love to know what happened to her.  She was my 4^th great grandmother, and I don’t know her origins, parents nor her birthday.  I only learned her maiden name from Pauline’s death record.  Nancy Thompson is a true brickwall ancestor.

Pauline grew up to marry David C. Watson of Vermont sometime before 1849 when her first son, Charles, was born in Pittsfield, New Hampshire.  About 1851 she had another son, and she named him George.  David Watson had a clothing business in Boston on Howard Street with his brother Charles.  David died in Sutton, New Hampshire in 1903, and Pauline died in 1911.

Pauline’s brother, George E. Batchelder, is my 3^rd great grandfather.  He spent the rest of his life in Chichester as a farmer, like his father.  He also died young, at age 26, in 1848.  He married Abigail M. Locke of South Boston in 1845 and had two children before his early death, Abby Ann, born in 1847 and died two weeks old, and George E. Batchelder, Jr., born posthumously on 8 October 1848, one month after his father’s death.  George, Jr. is my great great grandfather. 

You can see that after more than 20 years of researching this family, there still are lots of details yet to find!

Click here to read my previous blog post about Jonathan Batchelder's account book:

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/08/mystery-of-jonathan-batchelder.html    

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The URL for this post is

 http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/02/insanity-guardianship-account-books-and.html

Copyright © 2015, Heather Wilkinson Rojo