Do you know the roots of Margaret (Welch) Locke (about 1796 – 1860)?

 

MARGARET
wife of
RICHARD LOCKE
DIED
March 1, 1860
Age 64
[poem illegible]

Most of my “Brick Wall Ancestors” are females, usually unknown wives of ancestors.  Some of these mystery grandmothers are missing their maiden names (surnames), which makes it even more difficult to trace them.  Finding a maiden name is usually the key to smashing down the brick wall.  But for some of these mysterious ancestresses I know their maiden name, but nothing else about their background stories.

One of these mystery ancestresses is my 4^th great grandmother Margaret Welch Batchelder.  She was born Margaret Welch about 1796 according to her gravestone record.  Her death record in Chichester, New Hampshire lists her birthplace as Kittery, Maine.  Her son William F. Locke was the town clerk of Chichester at the time, so this is probably accurate.  Kittery has excellent records, but no record of my Margaret.

There were many Welch families in Kittery and York County, Maine at the time Margaret was supposedly born there.  They are descendants of Phillip Welch (born about 1638 and died 1700) of Ipswich, Massachusetts.  His son Moses Welch removed to York, Maine. 

On 21 October 1823 Margaret Welch married Captain Richard Locke in Chichester, New Hampshire.  He was a sea captain, and the son of Simon Locke and Abigail Mace of Rye, New Hampshire on the seacoast.  According to the Locke Genealogy compiled by the Locke Family Association, he went to Boston around 1811 to learn to be a blacksmith, was a sea captain, and removed to Chichester as a farmer. 

Richard Locke was enumerated in the Federal Census as living in Chichester in 1850 and 1860 as a farmer.  In the 1860 census Margaret is missing, and Richard Locke was living with his widowed daughter Abigail (Locke) Batchelder and her 11-year-old grandson, George, (my 2^nd great grandfather).  He was also enumerated with another widowed daughter, Mehitable (Locke) Brown and her 3-year-old daughter.  Poor Margaret had died about a month before this 1860 census, one son-in-law had died in 1848 (My 3^rd great grandfather George E Batchelder) and another (Elihu Brown) in 1859.  At least he had two daughters to care for him before his death in 1864.

I have been researching this family for over 40 years and looking for Margaret (Welch) Locke’s roots just as long.  I searching for any researchers of the Welch family in York County, Maine to assist me with this family history.  

My WELCH lineage:

Generation 1:  Margaret WELCH, born about 1796, maybe in Kittery, Maine, and died 1 March 1860 in Chichester, New Hampshire; married on 21 October 1823 in Chichester to Captain Richard Locke.  Three children.

Generation 2:  Abigail M. Locke born 10 September 1825 in South Boston, Massachusetts, and died 15 January 1888 in Chichester, New Hampshire, married on 7 September 1845 in South Boston to George E. Batchelder, son of Jonathan Batchelder and Nancy Thompson.  He was born 13 August 1822 in Chichester and died 3 April 1848 in Chichester. Two children.

Generation 3:  George E. Batchelder, Jr., born 8 October 1848 in Chichester, and died 28 July 1914 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, married on 28 October 1869 in Chichester to Mary Katharine Emerson, daughter of George Emerson and Mary Ester Younger.  She was born 25 December 1847 in South Boston, and died 23 April 1932 in Roxbury, Massachusetts.  Nine children.

Generation 4:  Carrie Maude Batchelder was born 22 September 1872 in Chichester and died 21 January 1963 at the Sea View Convalescent and Nursing home in Rowley, Massachusetts, married on 1 November 1892 in Essex, Massachusetts to Joseph Elmer Allen, son of Joseph Gilman Allen and Sarah Burnham Mears.  He was born 24 September 1870 in Essex and died 12 March 1932 at the Masonic Home in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts.  Five children.

Generation 5:  Stanley Elmer Allen, born 14 January 1904 and died 6 March 1982 in Beverly, Massachusetts, married on 14 February 1925 in Hamilton, Massachusetts to Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents) daughter of Arthur Treadwell Hitchings and Florence Etta Hoogerzeil.  She was born 1 August 1905 in Beverly and died 3 November 2001 at the Pilgrim Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Peabody, Massachusetts.  Seven children.

A blog post about finding the tombstones of Richard and Margaret Locke:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/11/tombstone-tuesday-bumping-into-great.html 

My LOCKE “Surname Saturday” blog post:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/05/surname-saturday-locke-of-rye-new.html 

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To Cite/Link to this post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Do you know the roots of Margaret (Welch) Locke (about 1796 – 1860)?”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 15, 2021, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2021/03/do-you-know-roots-of-margaret-welch.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ WELCH of Kittery, Maine

WELCH

This is another “brickwall” ancestress mystery.  Margaret Welch was born about 1796.  I don’t know if she was born there or not, but Kittery was listed as her birthplace on her death record.  (Interestingly, her son William F. Locke is listed as the town clerk on the death record in Chichester, New Hampshire)  There are WELCH families listed in the vital records of Kittery and York County, Maine, but I could not find a match to Margaret, who is my 4^th great grandmother.   Phillip Welch (about 1638 – 1700) of Ipswich, Massachusetts was a colonial settler who left many descendants in York, Maine through his son Moses.

In 1823 in Chichester, New Hampshire Margaret Welch married Captain Richard Locke, who was a sea captain.   He was listed in the 1850 and 1860 Federal censuses as living in Chichester, New Hampshire as a farmer.  In the 1860 census Richard Locke was living with a widowed daughter Abigail (Locke) Batchelder and her 11 year old grandson, George, my 2^rd great grandfather.  He was also living with her other widowed daughter, Mehitable (Locke) Brown, and her little granddaughter, Etta, age 3.  Poor Margaret had died about a month before this 1860 census record!

Sometimes, just knowing an ancestress’s maiden name can help break a brick wall, but in this case I still don’t know Margaret’s parents or even her true place of birth. 

My WELCH lineage:

Generation 1:  Margaret WELCH, born about 1796, maybe in Kittery, Maine, and died 1 March 1860 in Chichester, New Hampshire; married on 21 October 1823 in Chichester to Captain Richard Locke.  Three children.

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

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

Generation 4:  Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 5:  Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ WELCH of Kittery, Maine", Nutfield Genealogy, posted April 28, 2016,  (  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/05/surname-saturday-welch-of-kittery-maine.html: accessed [access date]).  

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