Tombstone Tuesday ~ Mary Betton, Derry, New Hampshire

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

You never know what sort of historical trivia you will find when wandering around a cemetery! 

MARY BETTON

wife of the late

HON. SILAS BETTON

& daughter of the late

HON. MATTHEW THORNTON

one of the Signers of the

Declaration of Independence

died May 28, 1845:

aged 77 yrs.

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Faith hath an overcoming power

And triumphs in the dying hour. 

Mary Betton was the daughter of Dr. Matthew Thornton and Hannah Jack, born in 1768 in Merrimack, New Hampshire.  Both of her parents were from Londonderry.  She married Silas Betton, who was born in Londonderry (now Derry) on 26 August 1768, the son of James Betton and Elizabeth Dickey.  He graduated from Darmouth College in 1787, studied law and practiced as a lawyer in Salem, New Hampshire.  He was a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, a member of the New Hampshire Senate, and a United States Representative. He also served as the high sheriff of Rockingham County from 1813 - 1818.  He died on 22 January 1822 and was buried at the Old Parish Cemetery in Salem.  Mary died on 28 May 1845 and was buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in Derry, New Hampshire. 

Mary Thornton and Silas Betton had seven children: Caroline, George, Harriet, Mary, Wealthy, Thornton and Charles. 

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/12/tombstone-tuesday-mary-betton-derry-new.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Tombstone Tuesday ~ James Bonaparte THORNTON of Merrimack, New Hampshire

The Thornton Cemetery in Merrimack, New Hampshire is the burial site of Dr. Matthew Thornton, signer of the Declaration of Independence and many members of his family.  Dr. Thornton had five children, four grew to adulthood and had descendants.  James Thornton lived across the street in the tavern, and several of his children had unusually interesting lives.  His son James Bonaparte Thornton, born 11 May 1800 in Merrimack,  was a lawyer in New Hampshire, as well as member of the House of Representatives in 1829 and 1830, and was a comptroller of the US Treasury under President Jackson.  He was appointed to be charge d’affaires at Callao  in Peru in 1836, but died there in 1838.  He was married to Sophia Shepard of Litchfield, Connecticut and had two children – Mary Parker Thornton and James Shepard Thornton, naval officer in the Mexican War and the Civil War.

Sacred

to the memory of

HON. JAMES BONAPARTE THORNTON

Son of James & grandson

of Hon. Mathew Thornton,

Born at Thorntons Ferry

A.D. 1800 After honorably

filling various posts under

the state and national gov-

ernment, he died at Callao,

A.D. 1838, while representing

the United States as charge

D. affaires to Peru.

    His remains were remov-

ed to this spot by his son and

Interred A.D. 1871.

A memory of his merits still lives

Where he once lived and records his praise.

For more information on the Thornton Family:

The Family of James Thornton, Father of Hon. Matthew Thornton, by Charles Thornton Adams, New York: 1905 – available to read online at Archive.org

Matthew Thornton’s Family and Descendants at New Hampshire Search Roots by Janice Webster Brown http://www.nh.searchroots.com/HillsboroughCo/Merrimack/familytrees3.html

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/11/tombstone-tuesday-james-bonaparte.html

Copyright © 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Haunted Hannah Jack’s Tavern

The Common Man Restaturant, formerly the Hannah Jack Tavern, in Merrimack, New Hampshire

This building was constructed by Edward Goldstone Lutwyche, a Tory whose property was seized during the American Revolution.  Dr. Matthew Thornton, signer of the Declaration of Independence, bought the property at auction and it was inherited by son James.  He named it Hannah Jack’s Tavern, after his mother.  She was born in Chester, New Hampshire in 1742.  Today this restaurant is known as The Common Man Restaurant on the Daniel Webster Highway in Merrimack, New Hampshire, but until 2004 it was known as Hannah Jack’s Tavern. 

Hannah and Dr. Thornton are buried across the street at the Matthew Thornton cemetery.  You can read all about their gravesite HERE at this blog post.

Hannah Jack Thornton's gravestone in Merrimack, New Hampshire

UPDATE!

Over the years many restaurant workers have claimed to see ghosts in the building.  Some have reported seeing an Indian; some see servants in colonial clothing.  A few of the sightings have been in the basement, and some on the stairs.  I’ve been to this restaurant many times, and it seems bright and sunny, not at all dark and creepy, but I admit that I’ve never been down in the basement.   In October 2008 the Nocturnal Society of Paranormal research and Investigations surveyed the restaurant for "ghostly activity".  People believe that James Thornton hung himself off a rafter in the dining room, but I hadn’t seen proof of a suicide in any historical record.  Then reader and fellow genealogy blogger Janice Webster Brown sent me this item from the 5 July 1817 Farmer's Cabinet newspaper!

"DIED- .... - In Merrimack, 3d inst. Capt. James Thornton, aet. 53 - (suicide
from derangement.)"

Thanks, Janice!

For more information:

Ghosts and Legends of the Merrimack Valley, by C. C. Carole, published by Haunted America, A Division of The History Press, Charleston, SC, 2009, pages 66 -69.

Haunted Pubs of New England: Raising Spirits of the Past by Roxie J. Zwicker, published by Haunted America, A Division of the History Press, Charleston, SC, 2007, pages 73 – 77, and it is also readable online at Google Books.

“Ghost hunters look for proof Merrimack eatery is haunted”, on the website of the New Hampshire Business Review, published 10 October 2008, accessed 21 October 2014  http://www.nhbr.com/October-10-2008/Ghost-hunters-look-for-proof-Merrimack-eatery-is-haunted/

Nutfield Note:

It is interesting to note that Edward Goldstone Lutwyche’s unusual surname was the middle name of Reverend Edward Lutwyche Parker, the Nutfield, New Hampshire historian and the author of The History of Londonderry in 1851.  Rev. Parker was a graduate of Dartmouth College and ordained in 1810.  He served as pastor at the First Church in Derry until his death in 1850, and his son published his history posthumously.  Rev. Parker's father was a great friend of Edward Goldstone Lutwyche, and named his son after him.  

Edward Goldstone Lutwyche was also one of the Loyalist men who assembled a posse to arrest the protesters at the “Pine Tree Riot” in Weare, New Hampshire.  This was one of the first acts of resistance to British authority in the American Colonies, taking place on 13 April 1772.  His loyalty to the crown must have made Lutwyche very unpopular with his neighbors.  Thornton and Lutwyche also had a long standing feud over the rights to a ferry across the Merrimack River to Litchfield.  This area was known as Lutwyche’s Ferry, but is now known as Thornton’s Ferry in Merrimack, New Hampshire.

Other ghostly haunted locations posted at this blog:

The Coach Stop Restaurant in Londonderry:

 http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/01/coach-stop-restaurant-and-tavern.html

Pinkerton Tavern in Derry (no longer standing):

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/10/pinkerton-tavern-ghosts.html

The Towne Burial Ground in Londonderry:

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/09/tombstone-tuesday-towne-family-burial.html

Fort Warren in Boston Harbor:

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/02/fort-warren-boston-harbor.html

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The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/10/haunted-hannah-jacks-tavern.html

Copyright © 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

4th of July ~ Celebrate the Signers of the Declaration of Independence

The Matthew Thornton homestead in Merrimack, NH
is now a restaurant "The Common Man".
It was formerly a restaurant called "Hannah Jack" his wife's maiden name. 

If you live in one of the thirteen original colonies, then somewhere near you lived someone who signed the Declaration of Independence.  This is what the 4th of July is all about, not hot dogs, fireworks, or parades.  Most of these men are relatively unknown heroes, except for a few who have famous names like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.  New Hampshire was the home state of three signers, all are fairly unknown souls: Matthew Thornton, Josiah Bartlett (not the president on the TV show "West Wing"), and William Whipple.  Thornton and Bartlett were both physicians.

Matthew Thornton was born in Northern Ireland and settled as a doctor in Londonderry, New Hampshire (did you know three of the signers were born in Ireland?).  He became a colonel of the Londonderry militia, and led his men to Louisburg, Nova Scotia in 1745.  As a doctor he was able to keep his casualties down to only six men, although the army suffered great losses in that expedition.  During the American Revolution he was too old to serve again in the army, but served instead in the many provincial congresses and was chairman of the Committee of Safety in 1775.   He was elected to the Continental Congress but did not arrive in Philadelphia until November of 1776, and was allowed to sign the Declaration of Independence after the fact.

Across the street from the Thornton homestead is this grand memorial.
Matthew Thornton is NOT buried here, but is buried several yards south
in the family plot, with his wife and several children.

The actual Thornton family plot

Erected
To the Memory of
the Honble
MATTHEW THORNTON
who died june 27th
1803
Aged 89 Years
The Honest Man

After his retirement from public life he removed to Merrimack, New Hampshire.  He farmed and operated a ferry across the Merrimack River.  This part of Merrimack is still known as Thornton's Ferry. He died while visiting his daughter in Newbury, Massachusetts.  He is buried in Merrimack in a simple grave that reads "An Honest Man".  The large memorial obelisk was raised in his honor many years later.

A previous blog post about Matthew Thornton:
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/07/fourth-of-july-matthew-thornton-signer.html

A webpage about the Thornton Cemetery from Janice Webster Brown's website:
http://www.nh.searchroots.com/HillsboroughCo/Merrimack/thornton-cemetery.html

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "4th of July ~ Celebrate the Signers of the Declaration of Independence", Nutfield Genealogy, posted July 4, 2012, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/07/4th-of-july-celebrate-signers-of.html: accessed [access date]).

Fourth of July - Matthew Thornton- Signer of the Declaration of Independence

Matthew Thornton's gravesite at Merrimack, NH

Fifteen or twenty years ago, when my daughter was in elementary school, we visited Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We toured the city, saw the Liberty Bell, Ben Franklin’s house, and ate some cheese steak sandwiches. Of course, we didn’t miss Independence Hall, either. The tour was guided. When we came to the room where the Continental Congress delegates met, my daughter raised her hand and asked to see in which chair Matthew Thornton sat. The other tourists looked puzzled but the guide smiled and said “YOU must be from New Hampshire!”

He is not as famous as Thomas Jefferson, or John Hancock, or Benjamin Franklin, but nonetheless little Londonderry, New Hampshire produced Dr. Matthew Thornton. Like many other Nutfield Settlers, he was born in Northern Ireland, and immigrated when only three years old first to Wiscasset, Maine and then to Worcester, Massachusetts before settling in a part of Londonderry now known as Derry in 1740. He was a physician, justice of the peace, and a member of the militia. Locally, he was a Londonderry selectman, a representative to the Provincial Assembly, and the first President of the Committee of Safety which produced New Hampshire’s first draft of its constitution after the royal government was dissolved.

Later he was elected to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. He arrived too late to participate in the debates, but he did sign the Declaration of Independence. He became the first president of the new New Hampshire House of Representatives. He retired from his medical practice in 1780 and removed across the river to the part of Merrimack, New Hampshire known as Thornton’s Ferry. He died on 24 June 1803 whilst staying with his daughter in Newburyport, Massachusetts, but he is buried in the Thornton Cemetery in Merrimack with his wife and other members of the family.

According to myth, Dr. Thornton had promised Hannah Jack he would marry her when she was a child unwilling to take some nasty medication. She was 18 and he was 46 years old when they married. Her family members were also Scots-Irish Presbyterians.

Of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, six arrived in time to only sign (not participate in drafting the document), eight were foreign born (three were born in Ireland), and four were doctors. Matthew Thornton was all three of these! There is a memorial to Dr. Thornton along Rt. 3 in Merrimack, a plaque in front of his home in Derry, and a school named in his honor in Londonderry. The town of Thornton, New Hampshire was named for Dr. Matthew Thornton.

Across the street from this graveyard on Daniel Webster Highway stands the Thornton homestead.  It was a tavern style restaurant in named “Hannah Jack’s” but it is now part of the Common Man Restaurant chain.  If you stop by the restaurant, the rooms are decorated with information and images from the Thornton family, especially Matthew Thornton.  The staff will gladly show you around!

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Matthew Thornton’s family tree:

Generation 1: James Thornton, born about 1684 in Northern Ireland, died 7 November 1754 in Londonderry, New Hampshire; married to Elizabeth Jenkins, arrived in Boston on 17 August 1718 from Northern Ireland. Eight children, including:
Generation 2: Matthew Thornton, born about 1714 in Northern Ireland and died 24 June 2803 in Newburyport, Massachusetts; married in 1760 to Hannah Jack, daughter of Andrew Jack and Mary Morrison of Chester, New Hampshire, born 1742 and died 5 December 1786, Five children:

1. James, b.20 December 1763 in Londonderry and married to Mary Parker
2. Andrew, b. about 1766 in Londonderry, died 22 April 1787
3. Mary, b. 1768 in Londonderry, married to Hon. Silas Betton of Salem, New Hampshire
4. Mathew, b. 1770 in Londonderry and married to Fanny Curtis
5. Hannah, b. 25 Jul 1774 in Merrimack, married to John McGraw, of Newburyport, Massachusetts

For more information:

http://www.nh.searchroots.com/HillsboroughCo/Merrimack/familytrees3.html Family Trees of Merrimack, New Hampshire

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=T000242 from the Biographical Dictionary of the United States Congress

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Fourth of July - Matthew Thornton-  Signer of the Declaration of Independence", Nutfield Genealogy, posted July 2, 2010, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/07/fourth-of-july-matthew-thornton-signer.html: accessed [access date]).