Memories of 1976 and 2001 Anniversaries of the Revolutionary War

 Do you remember the Bicentennial in 1976?  Or the Quasquibicentennial in 2001? Growing up in Massachusetts, we always celebrated a year early, for example April 19, 1975 was the 200th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Patriot's Day is coming soon, and it reminded me of these special anniversary memories. 

On April School vacation in 1976 my family took a roadtrip to Walt Disney World in Florida. It was Patriot's Day back home in Massachusetts, and the Bicentennial was being celebrated everywhere!  Disney World was brand new, having opened in 1971.  It was our first trip driving as far as Florida in our big Pontiac Safari wagon.  We loved it!  The parade on Main Street USA in Disney World featured scenes from American history, of course, for the 200th anniversary.  Everyone was patriotic in 1976. 

Back home in Holden, Massachusetts there was a Fourth of July parade in 1976.  I remember that I rode on a float with the "candy stripers" from Holden Hospital (which is now defunct). This photo shows a young man from my high school class who drove his oxen from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston during the re-enactment of the Knox Trail. I wish I could remember his name. 

On the night of the Fourth of July 1976 I remember going to see fireworks at the Worcester airport.  My friend, Marion, and I had made a blueberry pie and decorated it like an American flag.  It is the only photo I have of that night.  We ate the pie in the backyard with all the neighbors, and listened to the fireworks all around us. 

In 2000 it was the 225th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington, and we attended all the events with our daughter, who had just turned thirteen years old.  She laid a bouquet of flowers on the monument to the fallen on Lexington Green, in honor of two great uncles (many generations removed) who fell during the battle, Robert Munroe and Jonas Parker. Our ancestor, Andrew Munroe (1718 - 1766) had died before the battle, but his son, Andrew (1764 - 1836), my 4th great grandfather, probably witnessed seeing his relatives fight and die during this battle.  He would have been about eleven years old. He was a Major by the end of the war. 

On the fourth of July 2001, the 225th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we were on a family vacation to Williamsburg.  In this photo we are sitting on the lawn in front of the Governor's mansion, waiting for the fireworks show at dusk.  We wore matching US flag t-shirts, and there were huge crowds. 

2001, the 225th anniversary was a very patriotic year. There was a big Revolutionary War re-enactment in Windham, New Hampshire, and we all attended.  Here is my Dad trying on some 18th century garb at one of the sutler's tents.  He looked pretty good in that patriotic uniform.  I wonder if he resembled some of his ancestors who fought in this war in 1975 and 1976.  

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

To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Memories of 1976 and 2001 Anniversaries of the Revolutionary War", Nutfield Genealogy, posted April 16, 2026, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/memories-of-1976-and-2001-anniversaries.html: accessed [access date]). 

Two Weddings in Holden, Massachusetts

 

We were married at the First Congregational Church in Holden, Massachusetts on this day, July 2nd, many years ago.  For a long, long time I thought that we were the first family members to be married this far west in central Massachusetts.  Then I found some interesting family history!

On 27 February 1787, my 5th great grandparents, Stephen Cree and Hannah Smith, were married in Holden, too.  Hannah was born in Worcester on 22 May 1763, the daughter of Joseph Smith.  Stephen Cree was born in Topsfield, Massachusetts on 30 October 1760.  There is no evidence that they lived in Holden, and all five of their children were born in Topsfield, where Stephen and Hannah both died and were buried.  In 1797 Holden was a new town in central Massachusetts, broken off from North Worcester in 1741.

In 1968 my family moved to Holden from Beverly, Massachusetts. We joined the First Congregational Church. My parents were very active members and joined many committees at this church. My mother still volunteers in the thrift shop.  I had my confirmation and wedding here, my nephew was baptized at this church, and my father had his funeral there.

I'm still wondering what brought my 5th great grandfather 70 miles from Topsfield to Holden to find his bride in 1787.  I'm glad he did, or I wouldn't be telling you this tale!  Vincent traveled 1,600 miles from Puerto Rico to Holden to marry me.  You can see us standing in the rain, in the photo above, taken nearly 40 years go, in Holden.  

For the truly curious:

First Congregational Church, Holden, Massachusetts:  https://www.fccholden.org/  

A blog post written on our 35th anniversary, about our wedding day:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/07/thirty-five-years-ago-today.html    

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

To Cite/Link to this post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Two Weddings in Holden, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted July 2, 2021, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2021/07/two-weddings-in-holden-massachusetts.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday - Worcester

WORCESTER

William Worcester's signature
in the 1635 Olney Parish Register

The Reverend William Worcester attended St. John’s College at Cambridge University in England in 1620.  He was ordained as a deacon on 21 December 1622 at Peterborough Cathedral, and was vicar of Olney from 1624 to 1636 until he was suspended for refusing to read an edict from the King which allowed sports and games on the Sabbath.  His beliefs had begun to mirror the Puritans.  He came to America after this and was settled as the pastor of the first church gathered at Salisbury, Massachusetts about 1638.

The place in Salisbury's Colonial Burial Ground, believed to be his burial spot, was marked with a bronze tablet which reads “Here lies buried the body of Rev. William Worcester, the first minister of Salisbury, who came from England about 1639 and died 1662. This stone was laid on his grave to prevent disinterment by wolves. This tablet is affixed by his descendants, 1913." 

As I mentioned in my sketch of Reverend Joseph Hull http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/12/surname-saturday-hull.html, it is a blessing to have a minister as an ancestor because they left so many  interesting records.

The Worcester Genealogy:

Generation 1:  William Worcester, probably the son of Joseph Worcester of Rugby, Warwickshire, England, married first Sarah Unknown.  She died in Salisbury, Massachusetts 23 April 1650, married second on 23 July 1650, Rebecca Swaine, who died in Ipswich, Massachusetts on 21 February 1695.  She had been previously married first to Henry Bylie, second to John Hall.  Her fourth husband was Samuel Symonds.  Thirteen children:

1. Mary, buried about 1630 in Olney

2. Patience, buried 19 November 1630

3. Samuel, born in England, died 1681 Lynn, Massachusetts, married Elizabeth Parrott

4. Susannah (see below)

5. John, baptized at Olney on 26 March 1636 and buried at Olney on 26 March 1637

6. William, baptized at Olney 15 January 1638, died at Boston 1683; married Constant Unknown

7. Sarah, died at Salisbury 1 April 1641

8. Sarah, born at Salisbury 4 April 1641

9. Timothy, born at Salisbury, 14 May 1642, died 1672, married Susannah Unknown

10. Moses, born at Salisbury 10 November 1643; married first Elizabeth Stuart, second Sarah Remick Soper

11. Sarah, born at Salisbury 22 April 1646, died 9 January 1649/50

12. Elizabeth, born at Salisbury 9 April 1648, died 1649

13. Elizabeth, born at Salisbury 9 November 1649, died before 1662

Generation 2:   Susannah Worcester, baptized at Olney on 5 May 1634; married on 4 October 1653 to Thomas Stacy.  He was born about 1620 in England and died 23 July 1690 in Ipswich. Five children:

Generation 3:  William Stacy married Mehitable Weymouth

Generation 4: Mary Stacy married John Thompson

Generation 5: Mary Thompson married Richard Nason

Generation 6: Mercy Nason married William Wilkinson

Generation 7: Aaron Wilkinson married Mercy F. Wilson

Generation 8: Robert Wilson Wilkinson married Phebe Cross Munroe

Generation 9: Albert Munroe Wilkinson married Isabella Lyons Bill

Generation 10:  Donald Munroe Wilkinson married Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents)

William Worcester’s will was proved in the Norfolk county court, Massachusetts.  A copy made from the original is on file in the probate office at Salem, and can be read in The Essex Antiquarian, Volume XI, #2, pages 60 -61.  There is a book The Worcester Family in America by John P. Worcester, 2005, available to view online at familysearch.org.  An article in The American Genealogist Volume 71, pages 50- 51 discusses his possible English origins.

There is also a good website http://www.worcesterfamily.com/first.htm

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

To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday - Worcester", Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 7, 2012, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/01/surname-saturday-worcester.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday - Stacy

STACY

There is a record for the marriage of Simon Stacy and Elizabeth Clark  in Chester’s “London Marriages”  that reads: "Simon Stacy of Bocking, Essex County, Clothier, and Elizabeth Clerke of Theydon Garnon, said county, spinster, daughter of Stephen Clerke of same, Yeoman, married at Theydon Mount, Essex County, November 6, 1620."   Simon Stacy arrived in Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1637 with his family.  He left no will, and there is no death record.  His wife left a will in 1669 naming many items for her children, which showed she was living well as a widow, even after her husband’s death.  

  

The Stacy Genealogy:

Generation 1:  Simon Stacy, son of Thomas Stacy, born about 1602, Bocking, Essex, England, and died in Ipswich, Massachusetts; married 6 November 1620 at Theydon Mount, Essex, England to Elizabeth Clark, daughter of Stephen Clark and Elizabeth Reynolds.    Seven children:

1. Susannah, born about 1629, married Joseph French

2. Thomas (see below)

3. Simon, born about 1637, married Sarah Wallis

4. Ann,  born about 1641, married

5. Mary, born about 1645, married Samuel Mears

6. Sarah, married William Buswell

7. Elizabeth, married William Adams

Generation 2: Thomas Stacy, born about 1630 in Bocking, England, and died 23 July 1690 in Salem, Massachusetts; married 4 October 1653 in Salisbury, Massachusetts to Susannah Worcester, daughter of the Reverend William Worcester and Sarah Brown.  She was born about 1630 in England, died in 1688.  He was about 16 years old when he arrived in the New World.  He removed to Salem, where he was a miller. Five children:

1. Thomas, born 6 July 1654, married Hannah Hicks

2. William, (see below)

3. Rebecca, born 7 Dec 1657, married James Burleigh

4. John, born 16 March 1666, married Mary Clarke

5. Susanna, born 16 January 1667, married John Marston

Generation 3:  William Stacy, born 21 April 1656, died 5 March 1706 in Kittery, Maine; married on 25 May 1685 in Kittery to Mehitable Weymouth, daughter of Edward Weymouth and Esther Hodson.  She was born in 1669, and died 13 January 1753 in Berwick, Maine.  William inherited the mill from his father.  He was a witness in the trial of Bridget Bishop for witchcraft in 1692.  Seven children:

1. Mary (see below)

2. Hester, born 22 November 1693, probably died young

3. William, born 12 January 1696

4. Samuel, born 19 April 1698, married Mary Pray

5. Elizabeth, born 10 August 1701, probably died young

6. Benjamin, born 17 November 1704, married Lydia Libby

7. Mehitable, born 4 April 1706, married Joseph Emery

Generation 4:  Mary Stacy, born 6 April 1690 in South Berwick, Maine, and died 12 January 1753; married on 22 June 1709 to John Thompson, son of John Thompson and Sarah Emery.  He was born about 1684 in Kittery, and died in 1753.  Three children

Generation 5. Mary Thompson married Richard Nason

Generation 6. Mercy Nason married William Wilkinson

Generation 7. Aaron Wilkinson married Mercy F. Wilson

Generation 8.  Robert Wilson Wilkinson married Phebe Cross Munroe

Generation 9. Albert Munroe Wilkinson married Isabella Lyons Bill

Generation 10. Donald Munroe Wilkinson married Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents)

There is a sketch of the Stacys in Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire by Charles T. Libby and Walter G. Davis.  There are also sketches of Simon, Thomas and William in the Genealogical Dictionary of New England, Volume IV, pages 159 – 160. The name is spelled STACY, STACIE, STACE, or even STASY in records.   There is a book Simon Stacy and his Descendants by Virginia McCann, Ukiah, California, 1978.  

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

Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

The Worcester Tornado, June 9, 1953

A young Senator John F. Kennedy and two teens
tour the tornado disaster in
Shrewsbury, Massachusetts 1953

News and photographs of the Joplin, Missouri tornado are filling the airways and newspapers this week. As the death toll mounted, the news reporters began to compare the storm to the Worcester Tornado over sixty years ago. This brought chills up my spine, and my skin began to crawl…

When I was growing up in Central Massachusetts, the adults would speak in hushed tones about the Worcester tornado. We moved to Holden in 1969, more than 15 years after the tornado, but the effects were very visible. The area was heavily forested, but the tornado’s path was still empty and barren of trees. I could follow the path through Holden into the nearby city of Worcester by seeing the lack of woodlands as we drove into the city for shopping or doctor’s appointments. My parents would casually mention that certain landmarks were “due to the tornado.”

Several neighbors had survived the tornado’s devastation. The young mother who lived next door had three toddlers, and would come to hide in our cellar whenever there were thunderstorm warnings. My mom would bring out boxes of Ritz crackers and peanut butter, and my sister and I would entertain the babies whenever storms passed over. At the time I didn’t understand her fear. She was just a small child herself when her home was destroyed in the Burncoat neighborhood of Worcester.

I would overhear women telling of how their children were injured in the storm, including a boy who was sucked out a living room window. Men would tell my Dad how belongings were found miles away, and miraculously returned. As a child I had visions of Dorothy and Toto’s flying house racing through my mind whenever we had severe storm warnings. It all seemed like fairy stories, too terrible to believe.

In my hometown of Holden, nine were killed, and then the tornado moved through Worcester, where another sixty residents died. A total of 94 people died, 1288 were injured and 10,000 were homeless. This was a staggering loss for the time, with a loss of 4,000 buildings and hundreds of automobiles. The damage was estimated at $53 million dollars in 1953. Debris was later found in the Atlantic Ocean off of Weymouth, Massachusetts- over 50 miles away. Worcester is a thousand miles away from tornado alley, but it was still a victim.  It held the unfortunate record of most destructive tornado for over 60 years, until this month when Joplin was hit.

When I was much older I saw the photographs of the tornado damage, and there were annual TV news reports on the storm’s anniversary. Not too long ago my daughter applied to Assumption College in Worcester. I took her to the main office for her entrance interview and spent my time perusing a display about the tornado. I didn’t know the campus was originally on Burncoat Street in Worcester. I didn’t know that the original campus was destroyed.  Later in 1953 Miss Jacqueline Bouvier, fiancée of Senator John F. Kennedy, presented a $150,000 gift from the Kennedy Foundation towards rebuilding a new campus on Salisbury Street. A priest and two nuns died in the storm, but no students died since summer break had just begun.

Today, the storm damage is barely visible. The great empty fields near the Great Brook Valley housing development are now covered with mature trees and new industrial buildings. There are no more vacant lots, since they have long been rebuilt with new homes or businesses. The earth has healed. I know that for now the people in Missouri will think that peace of mind is a fairy tale, but their pain will also fade and become barely visible. Barely… because I know at least one woman in Holden who still hides in the cellar when the thunderstorms pass through.

[The above photo is from MSNBC.com, at this link you can read about the Worcester tornado and also see a rare movie about the tornado  (in three parts on YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJciyLvvfKI&feature=youtu.be  ]

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

To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "The Worcester Tornado, June 9, 1953", Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 26, 2011, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/05/worcester-tornado-june-9-1953.html: accessed [access date]). 

The Wilkinsons present Uncle Tom's Cabin

from The Clipper, a New York City newspaper, on 21 April 1877 (Vol. 25, P. 30)

"THE WILKINSON COMBINATION is reported as doing finely in New England with "Uncle Tom's Cabin," and Miss Lillie Wilkinson as Topsy. The play reaches its one hundredth consecutive performance this season by this company at Nashua, N. H., APril 14. The veteran Charley Wilkinson is the manager."

Charles DeWitt Clinton Wilkinson began his theatrical career as a comedian, with his first appearance in Worcester, Massachusetts on 10 December 1850. There is a complete biography of his life at FindAGrave http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=39609203 even though there is no grave indentified in this sketch. The biography was taken from Memoirs of the Wilkinson Family in America, by Reverend Israel Wilkinson, 1869, Biography No. XXIV, on  page 268. This book is available fully transcribed at Rootsweb.ancestry.com  and also at  Archive.org

The Worcester Music Hall took over the Worcester Fruit Preserving Company building in 1868, and became known as the Worcester Theater. In 1883 Charles DeWitt Clinton Wilkinson took out a six year’s lease on the building for $3,750 yearly rent, which sounds like it must have been a lot of money in those days! His widow, Leila (Layton) Wilkinson, retained the rental until the building was destroyed by a fire in 1889.

The “Lillie” in the poster is actually Leila, who was born in England, and was a renowned actress in her own right. A collection of broadside posters and playbills for "Wilkinson's Dramatic Company" can be seen at the Antiquarian Society in Worcester, at North Carolina State University library and also at the Boston Public Library. Charles DeWitt Clinton Wilkinson participated in the presentation of the play "Uncle Tom's Cabin" more than six hundred times!

Genealogy:

Generation 1: Lawrence Wilkinson, born about 1620 in Durham, England, died 9 August 1692 in Providence, Rhode Island; married to Susanna Smith, daughter of Christopher Smith and Alice Unknown.

Generation 2: Samuel Wilkinson, born about 1650 in Durham, England, died 27 August 1727 in Rhode Island; married on 18 September 1674 in Providence, Rhode Island to Plain Wickenden, daughter of William Wickenden, born about 1650 in Newport, Rhode Island, died about 1695.

Generation 3: Joseph Wilkinson, born 22 January 1683 in Smithfield, Rhode Island, died 24 April 1740 in Scituate, Rhode Island; married Martha Pray, daughter of John Pray and Sarah Brown, born 1689 in Providence Rhode Island, died 22 May 1784.

Generation 4: Joseph Wilkinson, born 1721, died 20 September 1755 in Scituate, Rhode Island; married on 6 December 1741 to Alice Jenckes, born 1724, died 1790, daughter of Obadiah Jenks and Alice Eddy.

Generation 5: Joseph Wilkinson, born 11 March 1751 in Scituate, Rhode Island, died about 1814; married on 25 October 1797 in Scituate to Elizabeth Brownell, born 13 October 1749 in Little Compton, Rhode Island, died 30 October 1841, daughter of Thomas Brownell and Hannah Potter.

Generation 6: Brownell Wilkinson, born 20 May 1785 in Scituate, Rhode Island, died 15 February 1861 in Worcester, married first to Tabitha Thomas about 1803, and had six children. He married second to Maria Spalding about 1814, no children. He married third to Sally Ann Phillips, daughter of Simon Phillips and Sarah Bailey, born 25 October 1810 in Worcester, died 25 May 1879. Five children, including Charles D. C. Wilkinson below.

Generation 7: Charles DeWitt Clinton Wilkinson, born 21 April 1830 in Plainfield, Connecticut, died on 2 March 1888 in Worcester, Massachusetts; married first to Sarah E. Fogal (age 15!) in July 1853 at Bridgeport, Connecticut; married second to Leila Lawton on 22 October 1866 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, daughter of Sidney Lawton and Rachel Carter of England.

One child, by wife Sarah Fogal, a son Frank Marshall Wilkinson, born 22 January 1858 in Worcester, died 20 February 1892 in Worcester.

----------

For more information:

Memoirs of the Wilkinson Family in America, by Reverend Israel Wilkinson, 1869, Biography No. XXIV, page 268.

Records of the Bailey Family, compiled by “a descendant”, Providence, RI, 1895, see pages 106 and 107.

History of the American Stage: Containing Biographical Sketches of nearly every member of the Profession that has appeared on the American Stage from 1733 to 1870, by Thomas Alston Brown, 1870.

Dictionary of Worcester and its Vicinity, Second Issue, by Franklin Pierce Rice, Worcester: Blanchard & Co, Publishers, 1893, pages 71 and 119.

-------------------
Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo