My Revolutionary War Patriots, Levi Younger of Gloucester, Massachusetts

 

The Gloucester Fisherman's Memorial

This is #5 in a series of posts I am publishing this year for the 250th Anniversary of the USA. 

My 5th great grandfather Levi Younger was born on 7 February 1756 in Gloucester, Massachusetts, the son of William Younger and Lucy Foster.  He was the second of three sons, and his sister was the famous Thomasine AKA Tammy Younger, "The Witch of Dogtown".  All three brothers were mariners. 

On 17 July 1784, after the Revolutionary War, Levi married Mary Wotten in Gloucester.  She was the Daughter of John Wotton and Mary Hall of Gloucester. Mary was one of nine children in the Wotten family.  Together they had five children of their own, and I descend from their eldest son, Levi Younger, Jr. 

There is very little known about Levi's life in Gloucester.  I know he was a mariner, but was he a sailor?, a fisherman? a whaler? On 13 January 1776, when he was almost 20 years old he enlisted in Captain Bradbury Sanders' Company for a service of 7 months and 18 days.  This company was stationed at Gloucester for defense of the seacoast.  Gloucester is at the tip of Cape Ann, north of Boston, and a strategic seaport for New England.

At some point after his initial enlistment Levi must have re-enlisted in the militia, or perhaps he served as a privateer with a contract with a ship captain.  I can't find any further information on a re-enlistment.  However, he was apparently a seaman captured during the war, imprisoned on a prison ship Favorite, and later sent to prison in England and later exchanged. I found him listed as a mariner aboard the ship General Glover, captained by Nicholas Bartlett, with a crew of 66, captured on 18 October 1779 by the British navy. 

In the book Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the American Revolution, Volume XVII, page 1039: 

Younger, ------, List of prisoners to be returned in exchange for British Prisoners sent to New York in the cartel "Favorite" as returned by Robert Pierpont, commissary of Prisoners (year not given); said Younger, Seaman, to be exchanged for James Price, Seaman.

To confirm that this was actually Levi Younger, I was able to find this document in the Franklin Papers:

From Daniel Edwards et al.

als: American Philosophical Society

L’Orient April 8th: 1782.

Sir

Haveing had the good fortune to make our Escape from Forton Prison in England on the 13th March last and to take a small Sloop from Portsmouth in the Night in which 32 of us landed safe at Cape Bellflour from whence we marched to Le Hague where we met with a French Gentlemen a Commissary who gave us a Pass a pair of Shoes & 10 Livres each to go as far as St. Maloes. When we arrived there 19 of us being not able to travell any farther they went on board a Privateer for a Months Cruize 5 got Passes and have gone to Nantes in order to make the best of their way to America & 8 of us came here for the like purpose wanting to get home as soon as Possible haveing been a long time prisoners some of us sent to England from the West Indies & some from New York. We arrived here the 25th: Ultio. & the American Agent not being here nor no Continental Ships we were Obliged to take Lodgeings for 11 Days before we could get a Vessell to go on Board off & the Capt. has it not in his power to give us any thing but our Victuals for our Work he haveing his Complement of hands already Shipped however he has promissed us a passage home but cannot give us any Money untill he Arrives in Philadelphia. And as there is no other Vessell in the Harbour Bound to America that will Sail this 3 or 4 Months and this Ship being almost Ready to sail we have thought it best to come on Board of her upon them Conditions.

And as we are destitute of both Money and Clothes we have made bold to apply to your Excellency requesting (If you please) some Assistance that will enable us at least to satisfy the Gentleman who was so kind as to take us in and Board us for the above mentioned time. (his Name is John Dager)

Two of us belong to Continental Ships Joshua Goss Midshipman belonging to the Boston Frigate was taken in one of her Prizes on the 8th: of July 1778 by the Porcupine Ship of War of 24 Guns and Carried to England where he has been a Prisoner ever since untill this present Escape.- The Other Eliphalet Rogers belonging to the Alliance Frigate was taken in one of her Prizes the 18th: Septr. 1779 and has likewise been a Prisoner in Forton Prison untill this present time. Therefore they would be extremely Obliged to your Excellency (if in your Power) to advance them a trifle of their Wages as their Necessities at present are very Pressing- Your Excellencie’s granting this our Humble Petition would be gratefully Acknowledged by your Excellencies Most Obdt. Humble Servts.

Daniel Edwards Joshua Goss George Clark James Fuller Elipalet Rogers Robert Fulton Isaac Allen William James His Mark

p.s. There is two more prisoners arived here that wrote to your Excellency from Havre de Grace and two of their Companions that Escaped in the Cartell with the french are detained in the [Kian] at Brest who would be glad of your assistance in setting them at Liberty. their Names are Levi Younger & Bartholemew Cashwood

His Excellency Doctr. Franklin Esqr.

Addressed: His Excellency / Doctr. Franklin Esqr. / At / Paris.

Notation: [torn: Edwar]ds Daniel, [torn: Goss J]oshua, &c. L’ori-ent [torn] 1782.

It appears that when the ship General Glover was captured, the seamen were imprisoned by the British at the imfamous Forton Prison in Gosport, England. Some of the prisoners made an escape in March, and were taken to the Netherlands, and later to St. Malo.  They were separated, and some made it back to the colonies. It must have been quite an adventure, but by 1782 they were back home. This document addressed to Benjamin Franklin, who was the ambassador to Britain during the war, asks for Levi Younger to be released from the cartell in Brest, France. We know that Levi made it home, because in 1784 he married Mary Wotten in Gloucester. This is interesting to me because Benjamin Franklin is a cousin on my paternal side, and Levi Younger is on my maternal side of the family tree. 

Forton was an infamous prison.  It was originally a naval hospital, but later used during the American Revolution and the war of 1812 as a prisoner of war camp. The conditions were brutal, and many prisoners died or were hanged as traitors and pirates.  Most of the prisoners had spent time on prison ships in New York Harbor before being transferred to Forton.  

In the Salem Gazette, 11 March 1806, page 4, there was a notice for the estate of Levi Younger of Gloucester. "Notice is hereby given that the subscriber has been duly appointed administratix of the estate of Levi Younger of Gloucester, mariner, deceased, and has taken upon herself that by giving bends, as the law directs.  All persons having demands against the said estate, are requested to exhibit them for settlement- and those indebted to make payments to: Mary Carter, Admin'x Gloucester, Feb. 4th, 1806."  The Essex County Probate records state that Levi Younger died intestate.  His wife, Mary, had remarried to John Carter on 24 October 1801 in Gloucester.  We have not found a death record for Levi Younger, but he must have died sometime before 1801, leaving Mary with five children between the ages of 6 and 15 years old. 

I find the story of Levi Younger to be fascinating for many reasons. First, although we know almost nothing about his personal life, his harrowing capture, imprisonment and escape survive through federal records.  He must have had a very hard life, as a mariner in New England and died young. Perhaps he died at sea? Perhaps he died from his hardships as a prisoner of war.  Perhaps we will never know? 

In a twist of fate, Levi Younger, Jr., my 4th great grandfather, was also a privateer during the War of 1812, and he was also captured by the British.  He was held on board the prison ship Royal William. I'm not sure of how he was released, but by 1816 he was back in Gloucester and married my 4th great grandmother Catherine Plummer Jones on 23 October 1816.  She was the sister of Mary Lambert Jones Dominis, the mother-in-law to Queen Lili'oukalani. 

For the truly curious:

Kaminkow, Marion and Jack. Mariners of the American Revolution. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore, 1996 

 Franklin Papers, Volume 37, page 116, letter from Daniel Edwards about the Escape from Forten Prison

Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the American Revolution, Vol. XVII, page 1039

The first blog post in this series

Patriot #1 Colonel Joshua Burnham of Milford, New Hampshire:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/02/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-colonel.html   

Patriot #2 Major Andrew Munroe of Lexington, Massachusetts    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/03/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-major.html  

Patriot #3 Jonathan Flint of Reading, Massachusetts    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/03/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-jonathan.html  

Patriot #4  Daniel Glover of Marblehead, Massachusetts    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-daniel.html  

The Younger family:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/12/surname-saturday-younger-of-gloucester.html   

Tammy Younger, the Witch of Dogtown:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/02/tammy-younger-witch-of-dogtown.html  

A blog post on Levi Younger, Jr. and his capture during the War of 1812:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/01/levi-younger-mariner-and-prisoner-of.html  

Also,

An interesting article about Forton Prison during the American Revolution:

https://allthingsliberty.com/2021/01/plight-of-the-seamen-incarceration-escape-or-secured-freedom/  

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "My Revolutionary War Patriots, Levi Younger of Gloucester, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted April 14, 2026, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2026/04/my-revolutionary-war-patriots-levi.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ JONES of Wales and Boston, Massachusetts

Vincent and I at Washington Place, Honolulu, Hawaii
the home built by my 4th great aunt
Mary Lambert (Jones) Dominis, born in Boston, 1803.
This was Queen Lili'uokalani's last residence,
and the current governor's residence.

My 6^th great grandfather, Owen Jones, born about 1735, was a Royal Customs agent at Aberystwyth, Wales and also a customs agent at Boston, Massachusetts (probably before the Revolutionary War).  His son, Owen Jones, my 5^th great grandfather, was born about 1768 in Wales and he married Elizabeth Lambert in Boston.  Apparently the rest of the family returned to Wales, and Owen, Jr. stayed in Boston.  Owen’s sister, Ann, is buried at Aberystwyth with the following epitaph:

“Here lies the body of Ann, the daughter of Owen Jones, Collector of the Customs at Aberystwyth, by Ann, his wife, who was born at Boston, New England on the 17th of February 1769, and departed this life the 18th of February 1791, aged 22 years. Also to the above named Owen Jones, who departed this life the 28th of February 1798, aged 62”

Owen Jones, Jr. was a mariner, and he lived at Ship Street in Boston’s North End in the 1810, 1820 and 1820 censuses and city directories.  In the 1842 Boston directory he was living at 199 Hanover Street, also in the North End.  His death notice in the New England Historic Genealogical Society Register, Vol. 4, page 293 (July 1850) reads: “Jones, Mr. Owen, Dorchester, 22 April, ae 82, formerly of Boston”.    His obituary in the Boston Evening Transcript, 22 April 1850, page 2 reads “At Dorchester, this morning, at the residence of Wm. Hart, Mr. Owen Jones, 82, formerly of this city.  Funeral services at the house of Enoch H. Snelling, No. 108 Salem Street, on Tuesday, at 3 ½ o’clock PM. Relatives and friends are invited to attend.”   William Hart was his son-in-law (married to his daughter Agnes Jones), and Enoch Snelling was another son-in-law (married to his eldest daughter Sarah Dargue Jones).

Owen Jones married Elizabeth Lambert and had eight children.  Six daughters, and two sons (one died young, the other died at sea unmarried).   One of these daughters was my 4^th great grandmother, Catherine Plummer Jones (about 1799 – 1828).  Another daughter was Mary Lambert Jones (1803 – 1889), who married Capt. John Dominis and removed to the Kingdom of Hawaii where she became the mother-in-law to Queen Liliuokalani.  Two other daughters are named above, and the other two were Laura Williams Jones, who married John Lee, and Anne Marie Stanwood Jones, who was the first wife of Robert William Holt who also removed to the Kingdom of Hawaii.

Catherine Plummer (Jones) Younger died at age 29 and left her husband a widower with young children.  Their daughter, my 3^rd great grandmother Mary Esther Younger, was adopted by her aunt Mary (Younger) Harris and raised in Boston.  It was a letter written by her nephew, William Lee, to his aunt Mary Dominis in Hawaii that told me the connection to Queen Liliuokalani.  This letter in the Hawaii State Archives, dated May 9, 1887, was written when Princess Liliuokalani, her husband Governor John Owen Dominis, and Queen Kapiolani were visiting relatives in Boston enroute to Queen Victoria’s Jubilee celebration in London.  “…I tell you Aunt Dominis, the Jones & Lambert race will never die out!... [mentions Esther Emerson]… you can easily see the coming of the Queen and her party has been a marked event with our people.”  [M-93 Lili’uokalani Collection, Box 9, Folder 94 (years 1185 – 1888, #1164, s.n. 1305, Hawai’i State Archives]. 

Another letter dated May 11, 1887 from Governor John Owen Dominis to his mother says “Yesterday forenoon we had a reception for all my Cousins and aunts and nearly all were here…. The Queen and Lydia [Liliuokalani’s Christian name] had quite a jolly time with our cousins – Lydia has the names of all who were here.”  [ibid]

Esther Emerson, who met the Royal party in Boston, lived at #57 Nixon Street in Boston.  Her 1913 death record in the Massachusetts vital records gives her maiden name as Younger and her adopted name of Harris, as well as her parents and husband’s names.  She is buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Boston.   My great grandmother, Carrie Maude (Batchelder) Allen, died during my lifetime, and she was alive during the Queen’s visits to Boston both in 1887 and later after the overthrow of the monarchy.  She remembers visiting with “Auntie Lydia” and was one of the cousins mentioned in the letters above.   It was Great Grandmother Carrie’s insistence that we had a princess in our family tree that led me to start tracing this line back in the 1970s – my first foray into genealogy!

My JONES genealogy:

Generation 1:  Owen Jones, born about 1735, died 28 February 1798 in Aberystwth, Wales; married to Anne Unknown.  Two known children (probably more)

Generation 2:  Owen Jones, born about 1768 in Wales, died 22 April 1850 in Dorchester, Massachusetts; married on 11 May 1793 at the 2^nd Baptist Church, Boston, Massachusetts to Elizabeth Lambert.  She was born about 1775 and died 6 February 1834 in Boston.  Eight children

Generation 3:  Catherine Plummer Jones, born about 1799, died 2 May 1828 probably in Boston; married on 23 October 1816 in Gloucester, Massachusetts to Levi Younger, son of Levi Younger and Mary Wotton.  He was born 1 May 1786 in Gloucester, and died 8 December 1858 in Boston.  Five children.

Generation 4:  Mary Esther Younger, born 17 February 1826, died 7 January 1913 in Boston; married on 11 August 1845 in Boston to George Emerson, son of Romanus Emerson and Jemima Burnham.  He was born 11 July 1817 in South Boston, and died 11 January 1890 in Dorchester.  Eight children.

Generation 5: Mary Katharine Emerson m. George E. Batchelder

Generation 6:  Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 7: Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

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To cite/link to this blog post: 

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, " Surname Saturday ~ JONES of Wales and Boston, Massachusetts ", Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 14, 2017,  (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/01/surname-saturday-jones-of-wales-and.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ WOTTON of Gloucester, Massachusetts

WOTTEN   WOOTEN   WOTTON   WOLTEN

There was an early settler named John WOTTON in the Piscataqua region in the 1600s.  According to Savage’s Genealogical Dictionary of New England, Volume IV, page 624 the General Court ordered him home to England in 1654 “to go home to his w. [wife]”.   There is no reason to believe this man was kin to my 7^th great grandfather, John WOTTON of Gloucester, Massachusetts.  There was also a John WOODIN of Ipswich, who appears to be a different man, too.  There was also a Revolutionary War pensioner, John Wotton, of Northfield, Massachusetts who appears to be no relation.

John Wotton, born about 1700 is of unknown origins.  I don’t have a birth or death record for him, just his marriage recorded in the Gloucester vital records and his son’s birth naming him as the father.  He also appears on a list of early settlers in Babson’s History of Gloucester, on page 261 under “a list of settlers from 1701 to 1750 inclusive, which contains all new-comers who are known to have been heads of families during that period.”

John Wotton, Jr. was born in 1720.  He is another mystery since I don't know much about him either.  I know that he had nine children in the Gloucester birth records, including Mary, born on 15 August 1755, my 5^th great grandmother.  She married to mariner Levi Younger, a Revolutionary War veteran, and had five children.  He died sometime before 1801 when she remarried to John Carter.  There is a guardianship docket 4776 in the Essex County probate records naming her as guardian for John and Mary Carter, dated 19 August 1828.

Some WOTTON resources:

I have only found WOTTON records in the Gloucester vital records, and in Essex County probate records.  There are no WOTTONs (nor any of the spelling variations) listed in FindAGrave, nor any other mentions in compiled genealogies, journals or local histories. 

My WOTTON lineage:

Generation 1:  John Wotton, born about 1700; married on 12 July 1720 in Gloucester, Massachusetts to Mary Allen.  . 

Generation 2:  John Wotton, jr., born 13 September 1720 in Gloucester; married on 6 October 1739 in Gloucester to Mary Hall.  She was born about 1720.  Nine children.

Generation 3:  Mary Wotten, born 15 August 1755 in Gloucester; married on 17 July 1784 in Gloucester to Levi Younger, son of William Younger and Lucy Foster.  He was born 7 February 1756 in Gloucester and died before 4 February 1806 in Gloucester.  Five children.

Generation 4:  Levi Younger m. Catherine Plummer Jones

Generation 5:  Mary Esther Younger m. George Emerson

Generation 6:  Mary Katharine Emerson m. George Batchelder

Generation 7:  Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

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

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

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ WOTTON of Gloucester, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 7, 2017 (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/01/surname-saturday-wotton-of-gloucester.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ FOSTER of Gloucester, Massachusetts

FOSTER, FORSTER, FOSTOR

I have another line of descent from Reginald Foster (1595 – before 1681), an early immigrant to Ipswich, Massachusetts. You can read all about this lineage at this blog post here:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/07/surname-saturday-foster-of-ipswich.html

Today’s sketch is about Bartholemew Foster, (about 1646 – 1689), my 8^th great grandfather, an early settler at Gloucester, Massachusetts – which is located very near Ipswich with my other line of FOSTERs.  He was the brother of Thomas Foster who settled in New London, Connecticut.  In 1669 he married Hannah VERY and also bought a house lot on what is now Front Street in Gloucester.   He owned a sloop (mentioned in his will) and was a mariner.  Apparently it was rare for a mariner in Gloucester (at this time period) to own property, and this fact was mentioned both in the Foster compiled genealogy book and in the History of Gloucester by Babson.

The Foster family was blessed with sons.  I found ten sons listed in the births for Gloucester, Massachusetts, and eight of those sons were mentioned in his will, along with his wife, Hannah.  They had no daughters.

I descend from Bartholemew’s youngest son, Benjamin (my 7^th great grandfather), who was born just a few months before his father Bartholemew’s death in 1689.  My 8^th great grandmother, Hannah (Very) Foster, remarried to Thomas Sawyer (b. 1674).  He was the great grandson of John Sawyer (1582 – 1660) and Agnes Sharpe of England, who was also my 9^th great grandfather.   You can read all about my Sawyer lineage at this blog post here:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/03/surname-saturday-sawyer-of-lancaster.html

My FOSTER lineage daughters out early with Lucy (Foster) Younger.  Benjamin Foster’s daughter Lucy (b. 1723) married William Younger of Gloucester.  They had four children, and I descend from their son Levi Younger (1756 – 1806), a mariner in Gloucester, my 6^th great grandparents.

Some FOSTER resources:

The Foster Genealogies, by Frederick C. Pierce, page 60 and page 1015

Torrey’s New England Marriages Prior to 1700, Volume 1

The History of the Town of Gloucester, Cape Ann, by John James Babson, page 94

The Genealogist, Volume 17: 96-108, 234 – 248.

The Foster family sketch, in Jacobus, Donald Lines. Families of Ancient New Haven. 1974, 3:620.

My FOSTER genealogy:

Generation 1:  Bartholemew Foster, born about 1640, died on 5 December 1689 in Gloucester, Massachusetts; married on 9 September 1668 in Gloucester to Hannah Very, the daughter of Thomas Very and Hannah Gyles.  Ten children.

Generation 2:  Benjamin Foster, born 13 September 1689 in Gloucester; married on 23 August 1711 in Gloucester to Susanna Andrews, daughter of Ralph Andrews and Abigail Very (sister to Hannah Very above).  Eight children.

Generation 3:  Lucy Foster, born 15 June 1723 in Gloucester; married on 6 March 1750 in Gloucester to William Younger.  Four children.

Generation 4:  Levi Younger m. Mary Wotten

Generation 5:  Levi Younger, Jr. m. Catharine Plummer Jones

Generation 6:  Mary Esther Younger m. George Emerson

Generation 7: Mary Katharine Emerson m. George E. Batchelder.

Generation 8:  Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 9:  Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

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

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ FOSTER of Gloucester, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted December 31, 2016,  (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/12/surname-saturday-foster-of-gloucester.html: accessed [access date]). 

Surname Saturday ~ YOUNGER of Gloucester, Massachusetts

The first YOUNGER in this lineage is William Younger, My 6th great grandfather, who married Lucy Foster in Gloucester, Massachusetts in 1750 and had four children.  I don't know his origins, nor his birth or death information.  According to Babson's History of of Gloucester, William Younger is listed on page 261 under  "a list of settlers from 1701 to 1750 inclusive, which contains all new-comers who are known to have been heads of families during that period."

I descend from William's third child, and second son, Levi Younger (1756 - about 1806), my 5th great grandfather. Gloucester is a famous New England fishing port, and has been the home of mariners and fisherman from the beginning of its history until today.  Levi served in the Revolutionary War as a seaman.  He was enlisted in Captain Bradbury Sanders 2nd company on 13 January 1776 "for defense of the seacoast".  Apparently Levi was captured by the British.  He was exchanged for a British prisoner named James Price,  and sent to New York on the Favorite.

Apparently Levi Younger was imprisoned in Forton Prison in England, which was an infamously bad place.  Try Googling it to read some hair raising stories.  Among the Franklin Papers I found this interesting letter written to Dr. Benjamin Franklin in 1782.  I have transcribed Levi Younger's name in bold  [from http://franklinpapers.org/franklin/framedVolumes.jsp?vol=37&page=116a  accessed 22 August 2015]:

From Daniel Edwards et al.
als: American Philosophical Society
L’Orient April 8th: 1782.
Sir
Haveing had the good fortune to make our Escape from Forton Prison in England on the 13th March last and to take a small Sloop from Portsmouth in the Night in which 32 of us landed safe at Cape Bellflour from whence we marched to Le Hague where we met with a French Gentlemen a Commissary who gave us a Pass a pair of Shoes & 10 Livres each to go as far as St. Maloes. When we arrived there 19 of us being not able to travell any farther they went on board a Privateer for a Months Cruize 5 got Passes and have gone to Nantes in order to make the best of their way to America & 8 of us came here for the like purpose wanting to get home as soon as Possible haveing been a long time prisoners some of us sent to England from the West Indies & some from New York. We arrived here the 25th: Ultio. & the American Agent not being here nor no Continental Ships we were Obliged to take Lodgeings for 11 Days before we could get a Vessell to go on Board off & the Capt. has it not in his power to give us any thing but our Victuals for our Work he haveing his Complement of hands already Shipped however he has promissed us a passage home but cannot give us any Money untill he Arrives in Philadelphia. And as there is no other Vessell in the Harbour Bound to America that will Sail this 3 or 4 Months and this Ship being almost Ready to sail we have thought it best to come on Board of her upon them Conditions.
        And as we are destitute of both Money and Clothes we have made bold to apply to your Excellency requesting (If you please) some Assistance that will enable us at least to satisfy the Gentleman who was so kind as to take us in and Board us for the above mentioned time. (his Name is John Dager)
        Two of us belong to Continental Ships Joshua Goss Midshipman belonging to the Boston Frigate was taken in one of her Prizes on the 8th: of July 1778 by the Porcupine Ship of War of 24 Guns and Carried to England where he has been a Prisoner ever since untill this present Escape.- The Other Eliphalet Rogers belonging to the Alliance Frigate was taken in one of her Prizes the 18th: Septr. 1779 and has likewise been a Prisoner in Forton Prison untill this present time. Therefore they would be extremely Obliged to your Excellency (if in your Power) to advance them a trifle of their Wages as their Necessities at present are very Pressing- Your Excellencie’s granting this our Humble Petition would be gratefully Acknowledged by your Excellencies Most Obdt. Humble Servts.
        Daniel Edwards Joshua Goss George Clark James Fuller Elipalet Rogers Robert Fulton Isaac Allen William James His Mark
p.s. There is two more prisoners arived here that wrote to your Excellency from Havre de Grace and two of their Companions that Escaped in the Cartell with the french are detained in the [Kian] at Brest who would be glad of your assistance in setting them at Liberty. their Names are Levi Younger & Bartholemew Cashwood

His Excellency Doctr. Franklin Esqr.
Addressed: His Excellency / Doctr. Franklin Esqr. / At / Paris.
Notation: [torn: Edwar]ds Daniel, [torn: Goss J]oshua, &c. L’ori-ent [torn] 1782.


I have not found a death record for Levi, but there was a newspaper notice in the Salem Gazette on 11 March 1806, page 4:

 "Notice is hereby given that the subscriber has been duly appointed administratix of the estate of Levi Younger of Gloucester, mariner, deceased, and has taken upon herself that by giving bends, as the law directs.  All persons having demands against the said estate, are requested to exhibit them for settlement- and those indebted to make payments to: Mary Carter, Admin'x
Gloucester, Feb. 4th, 1806."

Mary Wotten is my 5th great grandmother.  She married Levi Younger in 1784, and then when widowed she remarried to John Carter in 1801.  She is the Mary Carter named in this newpaper notice.  The court record for Levi Younger, mariner of Gloucester, intestate, first court date 9 Oct. 1806 (No. 30803). Essex County Probate.

I descend from Levi and Mary Younger's eldest son, Levi, Jr. (1786 - 1858), my 4th great grandfather.  Just like many other men from Gloucester, including his father, this Levi was also a mariner.  And coincidentally, he was also captured by the British during the War of 1812.  During this war many seamen were "impressed" by the British into the British Navy.  Those who refused to serve for the British when captured were thrown into prison.

I found the following letter in  "The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States" Thirteenth Congress, first and second sessions, May 24, 1813 to April 18, 1814 inclusive- compiled from authentic materials, Washington: Gales and Seaton, 1854, page 2267.  Again, I have transcribed Levi's name in bold letters.
E. Cooke to R. G. Beasley
Foreign Office, Oct. 19, 1812
"In Consequence of your letter to Lord Castlereagh of the 12th instant, I am directed by his Lordship to desire that you will furnish me with the names of the American sailors who have been so punished, and of the ship they are on board...Thomas W. Marshall, Peter Lazette, Edward Whittle Banks, and Levi Younger, on board the Royal William, gave themselvers up as prisoners and were in consequence thereof put into close confinement for eight days."

Levi, Jr. made his way home and appears in many certificates of protection as a mariner from Gloucester "light complexion".  These certificates were voucers for citizenship, and include identification such as place of birth, age, physical description, etc. They were to discourage impressment, but didn't work in Levi's case!  You can find the original certificates of protection at the National Archives.

Levi, Jr. married Catharine Plummer Jones of Boston in 1816.  I found this record in the Gloucester vital records, Boston Marriages, and in the newspaper Boston Daily Advertiser, 6 November 1816, page 2.  They are my 4th great grandparents.   Catharine had a famous sister, Mary Lambert Jones (1803 - 1828) who married Capt. John Dominis and removed to Honolulu, and became the mother-in-law to Queen Liliuokalani of the Kingdom of Hawaii.  Catharine had at least five children and died before the age of 30 in Boston.  Levi remarried two more times, and died in Boston in 1858. 

Their daughter, Mary Esther Younger, is mentioned in letters found in the Hawaii State Archives in the files of Queen Liliuokalani, written by her first cousin, the Queen's husband, Governor John Owen Dominis. When Mary Esther's mother died, she had been adopted by an aunt, the sister of Levi Younger, Mary Younger (1788 - 1873), who had married David Harris.  She was known as Esther Harris in some documents, but others listed her as Mary Esther Younger, which was a clue to this lineage, and to the connection to the Queen of the Kingdom of Hawaii.  

My YOUNGER genealogy:

Generation 1.  William Younger; married on 6 May 1750 in Gloucester, Massachusetts to Lucy Foster, daughter of Benjamin Foster and Susanna Andrews.  She was born 15 June 1723 in Gloucester.  Four children. 

Generation 2.   Levi Younger, born 7 February 1756 in Gloucester, died before 4 February 1806 in Gloucester; married on 17 July 1784 in Gloucester to Mary Wotten, daughter of John Wotton and Mary Hall.  She was born 15 August 1755 in Gloucester.  Five children.

Generation 3.  Levi Younger, born 1 May 1786 in Gloucester, died 8 December 1858 in Boston, Massachusetts; married first to Catherine Plummer Jones on 23 October 1816 in Gloucester.  She was the daughter of Owen Jones and Elizabeth Lambert, and the mother of five children.  Levi remarried second to Jane Unknown, and third to Margaret Unknown.  

Generation 4.  Mary Esther Younger, born 17 Feb 1826, probably in Boston, and died 7 January 1913 in Boston;  married on 11 August 1845 in Boston to George Emerson, son of Romanus Emerson and Jemima Wyman.  He was born 11 July 1817 in South Boston and died 11 January 1890 in Dorchester, Massachusetts.  Eight children.

Generation 5.  Mary Katharine Emerson m. George E. Batchelder

Generation 6.  Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 7.  Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (my grandparents)

Blog posts about this family:

The Last Will and Testament of Levi Younger:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/10/levi-younger-last-will-and-testament-10.html

An adoption in the 1800s
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/03/an-adoption-in-1800s.html

You can also click on the keywords YOUNGER, JONES, etc in the right hand column to pull up more stories about these families.

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

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ YOUNGER of Gloucester, Massachusetts", Nutfield Genealogy, posted December 17, 2016, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/12/surname-saturday-younger-of-gloucester.html:  accessed [access date]). 

Levi Younger, Last Will and Testament, 10 June 1857

Suffolk County (Massachusetts) Probate Records, 1636-1899; Author: Massachusetts. Probate Court (Suffolk County); Probate Place: Suffolk, Massachusetts


[transcription]

“Know all men by these presents, that I, Levi Younger of Boston, in the County of

Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, being of sound disposing mind and memory

do make and publish this my last Will and Testament.  First, I give and be-

queath to my daughter Catharine five dollars.  To my daughter Mary Ester and

each of her children I give and bequeath one dollar.  Second, The rest and resi-

due of my personal property after paying my debts and the amounts already-

y named as named as given to my daughters,  Catharine and Mary Ester and her child-

ren,  I give and bequeath to my beloved wife, Margaret A. Younger and her heirs

forever.  Third, I give and bequeath to my beloved wife, Margaret, all my

household furniture and wearing apparel.  Fourth, I ordain and appoint

my beloved wife, Margaret Younger, as Executrix of this my last will and tes-

tament. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal and pub-

lish and declare this to be my Last Will and Testament in the presence of the wit-

nesses named below this tenth day of June, in the year of our Lord eighteen hun-

dred and fifty seven.                           Levi Younger, L.I.

Signed, sealed, published and declared by the said Levi Younger as and for his last

Will and Testament in the presence of us, who in his presence, and in the pres-

ence of each other, and at his request have hereunto subscribed our names as

witnesses.               Joseph I. Coolidge,  John T. Coolidge, Jr.,  A. C. Slater

L. I. Suffolk ss.  Commonwealth of Massachusetts. At a Probate Court holden

In Boston within and for the Country of Suffolk, on the tenth day of January

in the year 1858. By the honorable Isaac Ames Esquire, Judge of Probate, At-

torney.  The annexed Will presented by Margaret A. Younger the Exec-

utrix therein named for Probate.  And all the heirs.  A?? of said Levi Younger

deceased having in writing requested that said Will might be admitted to Pro-

bate upon the testimony of any one of the subscribing witnesses thereto without

further notice to them.  A. C. Slater appears and makes oath that he saw the said

Levi Younger sign, seal, and heard his publish the same Instrument as his

Last Will and Testament, and that he was then, to the best of his discernment of a

sound, disposing mind and memory and that he with Joseph I. Coolidge and

John T. Coolidge, who are absent, subscribed their names thereto, as witnesses in

the presence of said Testator and of each other, and I do prove, approve, and al-

low the same and order it to be recorded.  Given under my hand, and seal

[new page]

Of office the day and year above written.  Isaac Ames, Judge of Probate & Insolvency

Examined Mr. C. Brown, Reg.

Levi Younger

Heirs Consent to Prob. Of Will

42095

To the ??  Judge of Probate & Insolvency in and for the County of Suffolk.  The un-

dersigned being all the heirs at law of Levi Younger late of Boston in said Coun-

ty deceased do hereby request that the last Will of said deceased being late June

 10^th in the year 1857 may be admitted to Probate upon the testimony of any one of

the subscribing witnesses thereto, without further notice to us. Boston Dec. 28, 1858

Catherine Wise                 Mary E. Emerson

Examined     Mr. C. Brown, Reg.

 ------------------

Levi Younger was my 4th great grandfather.  He was born on 1 May 1786 in Gloucester, Massachusetts, the son of Levi Younger and Mary Wotten.  He married first to Catherine Plummer Jones on 23 October 1816 in Boston.  She was the daughter of Owen Jones and Elizabeth Lambert, and the older sister of Mary Lambert (Jones) Dominis who went to Hawaii with her husband and became the mother-in-law to Queen Liliuokalani.

Levi was a mariner.  He was relatively poor compared to his wife's family.  She died very young, on 2 May 1828, at age 29 after having five children.  Levi remarried to a woman named Jane, who died 26 November 1845, and then remarried a third time to Margaret (named in the will), who survived Levi and died on 21 February 1895 in Boston. 

At the time I discovered Levi's will on the new Ancestry.com collection of probate records, I didn't know that he had a daughter named Catharine.   I descend from the younger daughter, Mary Ester (Younger) Emerson (17 Feb 1826 - 7 Jan 1913).  It was quite a surprise to me to learn about this daughter.

Catharine was born in 1817 in Gloucester, Massachusetts.  She married Henry Wise on 29 May 1836 in Boston, and I haven't been able to find any census records, nor any records of children born to Henry and Catharine.  She died on 17 October 1859 in Boston of consumption.  There was a Henry Wise in the Boston City Directory in 1839 as a printer on Franklin Street, and again in 1842 living on Nassau Court.  In the 1855 the Boston Directory shows a Henry Wise, peddler, living at 22 Oneida (this street was demolished in 1956 as part of urban renewal).   In the same 1855 Boston Directory there was a "Mrs. Kate Wise" living at 28 Vine (there is a Vine Street both in Charlestown and in Dorchester).  

My 3rd great grandmother, Mary Esther Younger married George Emerson on 11 August 1845 in Boston and had eight children.  According to the Will, she, and each child received a dollar.  I descend from Mary Esther's eldest daughter, Mary Katharine (25 December 1847 - 23 April 1932).   Levi's sister-in-law, Laura Williams Jones (1809 - 10 December 1887) married a John Lee and named one of her daughters "Catharine Younger Lee" (born 1835).  This Catharine married Lorenzo Virgil Morse and had a daughter "Catharine Morse" (born 1875 in Omaha, Nebraska).   You can see that the name Catharine/Katharine was passed along in this family!

As a mariner, during the War of 1812 Levi was captured by the British and impressed to join the British Navy. In other words, he was a prisoner of war.  I know from certificates of protection that he was of light complexion, living in Gloucester and I've recorded the years of those certificates (from 1801 - 1815).  The Boston City Directories list him as a mariner living on Love Lane (now Tileston Street in the North End, and Ship Street (now Atlantic Avenue), and then on Fleet Street, Hanover Street and Charter Street (all in the North End), from the 1820s to the 1850s.  

Despite his reduced circumstances, Levi Younger left money to his daughters, and his household goods to his third wife, Margaret. The will mentions that the money for daughter Catherine was to go to her and her heirs.  I wonder if I will be able to find those descendants?

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

Published under a Creative Commons License
Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Levi Younger, Last Will and Testament, 10 June 1857", Nutfield Genealogy, posted October 19, 2015 ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/10/levi-younger-last-will-and-testament-10.html : accessed [access date]).

What an 1848 letter between two 16 year old cousins taught me about my family

Ann Marie Holt's gravestone
at the Oahu Cemetery, Honolulu, Hawaii

The following letter, written in Dorchester, a village outside of Boston, to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) in 1848 was written by Ann Marie Holt.  She was my first cousin five generations removed. Ann Marie wrote to her first cousin, John Owen Dominis.  She was about sixteen years old, and John was the same age.

Cousin John had gone to Hawaii when he was about five years old with his mother, to meet up his father, a sea captain who had made Honolulu his new residence.  Captain John Dominis was lost at sea in 1846, about two years before this letter was written. The Captain had built his Boston wife a fine home out of local wood and from parts shipped from Boston to Honolulu. He was going to China to buy furnishings for the new house when his ship was lost.  Auntie Mary (Jones) Dominis (1803-1889) decided to stay in Honolulu, and at about this time John was starting out on his own in business.  The fine home, known as “Washington Place”, mentioned in the letter, is still standing in Honolulu and serves as the Hawaiian Governor’s residence.

Auntie Mary had six sisters. One was my 4^th great grandmother, Catherine Plummer (Jones) Younger (1799 – 1828) who was already dead by the time this letter was written.  Ann Marie’s mother was another sister, Ann Marie Stanwood (Jones) Holt (1811 – 1832), who had also died young in Boston.  Ann Marie’s father, Captain Robert William Holt, was also a sea captain who made many trips to Hawaii.  He had remarried to a native Polynesian woman in 1835 and his second wife and children were living in Honolulu.  When Ann Marie and her sister, Elizabeth (1830 – 1865), were a bit older, they traveled to Hawaii to reunite with their father. Unfortunately, Anne Marie, the author of this letter, died on 15 May 1851, at Washington Place, soon after disembarking at Honolulu. 

This letter is especially poignant to me because I knew that these two teenaged cousins, long separated by two oceans, would meet again in a few years under tragic circumstances.  Ann Marie must have arrived in Honolulu very ill, and died in cousin John’s own home soon after.

I am also imagining how difficult it was for family members to be separated in 1848.  How long did it take for a letter to get from Boston to Hawaii?  You can guess in the last paragraph that the family must have located a ship bound for Hawaii, and rushed to get letters on board before it sailed.

The “Aunt Agnes” mentioned in this letter is a fourth Jones sister from Boston.  All the sisters grew up in Boston’s North End, the daughter of Owen Jones, a mariner.  Agnes (Jones) Hart (1816 – 1890) was the youngest daughter.  She must have taken in her Holt nieces while they continued their education in Massachusetts, waiting for the day to join their father in Hawaii.  The “Aunt Lee” mentioned in this letter is the fifth daughter, Laura Williams (Jones) Lee (1890 – 1887).  The only sisters not mentioned in this letter were my 4^th great grandmother, Catherine, already deceased, and the eldest daughter, Sarah Dargue (Jones) Snelling (1794 – 1875), whose husband Enoch Howes Snelling was a Boston glazier who provided the doors and windows for “the handsomest [house] on the Island”, Washington Place.

This letter was found in the Hawaii State Archives.  John Owen Dominis (1832 – 1891), the teenaged boy who was the recipient of this letter, grew up to marry Lydia Kamekeha Paki, who became Queen Lili’uokalani.  Thank goodness he saved this letter, and that his private papers were preserved by his wife and passed on to the Hawaii State Archives.  Finding this letter, and others like it, have helped me to piece together the story of the Jones sisters of Boston.  None of the sisters had their births or marriages recorded in city or state vital records.  Finding their kinship and family relationships has come together from these letters, family documents, oral history, church and official death records.

Source: Hawaii State Archives, Queen Lili’uokalani Collections, M-93, Box 11, Folder 104, Letter from A. M. Holt to John Owen Dominis, dated 13 August 1848.

                                                  Dorchester Aug. 13^th 1848

Dear Cousin

                I found looking over my letters the other day

that I am in debt to you for two.  I thought that I must

do my best to pay you by writing to you this opportunity.

I am at Aunt Agnes’ visiting.  They have a very pleasant

place near Granite Bridge the house is old fashioned

but very good the fireplaces about two yards long wide

and a yard and a half long the panes of glass in the

windows about as large as a sheet of note paper.

I suppose that you have almost set up business for your-

self.  How do you like your house I should like to see it

very much as I understand it is the handsomest on

the Island.  Sarah Ann is in Boston visiting I suppose

she will write to you this opportunity we miss her

and the children very much she has two very pretty

little girls  I know that you long to see them.

Aunt Lee has left Charter St. at last and gone to

Bridgewater to live they have quite a farm I believe

keep cows hens &c.  Uncle William and Aunt Agnes send

love to your mother and she will write if she has

time but she has such a family that if the vessel

sails tomorrow she will not be able to.  Do you

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

ride as much as ever?  Write every opportunity

and believe me yours suffice

A.      M. H.

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

A.M.Holt, Dorchester

Aug. 13/48

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

John O. Dominis

Honolulu

Oahu

S.I.

For more information on the Jones sisters, see this blog post (my very first blog post in 2009!)

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/07/hawaii-boston-connection-to-royal.html     

For more information on Ann Marie Holt and her grave in Honolulu, Hawaii

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/08/hawaiis-holt-family.html     

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/03/annie-maria-holt-1832-1851.html     

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/07/a-memorial-for-annie-marie-holt-hawaii.html     

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

The URL for this post is

http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/06/what-1848-letter-between-two-16-year.html

Copyright © 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

1805 Legal Complaint against my 5th Great Grandmother

To the Honr. Saml. Walton Esq.

Complains Wm. Coffin of Gloucester
that the widow Mary Carter of said
Gloucester holds an Estate belong-
ing to her former husband Levi
Younger formerly of sd. Gloucester, Decd.
that She will neither administer nor ???
the Debts of the sd. Levi Younger
We therefore begs you honor ??  ??
order her to conduct as xxxxxx
you may think proper-  ????
Duty bound wife ever ????

                      Wm Coffin

Glo -  Sept. 2d, 1805

Sept. 2nd 1805
I wrote to Mrs. Carter

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

from the Salem Gazette, March 11, 1806, page 4
"Notice is hereby given that the subscriber has been duly appointed administratix of the estate of Levi Younger of Gloucester, mariner, deceased, and has taken upon herself that by giving bends, as the law directs.  All persons having demands against the said estate, are requested to exhibit them for settlement - and those indebted to make payments to: Mary Carter, Admin'x
Gloucester, Feb. 4th, 1806"

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

Levi Younger and Mary (Wotten) (Younger) Carter, both mentioned in the legal complaint above, are my 5th great grandparents.  Levi was born 7 February 1756 in Gloucester, Massachusetts, the son of William Younger and Lucy Foster.  He served in the Revolutionary War as a seaman, and was captured and sent to the prison ship Favorite in New York harbor.  He was later exchanged for a British prisoner and returned to Massachusetts.   He died intestate at some unknown date, and was listed in the Essex County Probate dated 9 October 1806.

Levi married Mary Wotten, daughter of John Wotten and Mary Hall, on 17 July 1784 in Gloucester.  She remarried on 24 October 1801 in Gloucester to John Carter.

Apparently, after the complaint by William Coffin, she served as administratix of Levi's estate and put the notice in the newspaper in March 1806, and the notice of his intestate status was filed in court in October of the same year.  I can see why the complaint was filed.  Apparently Levi died some time before 1801, and William Coffin was probably owed money or services for about five years before all the accounts were finally settled.

UPDATE:  Thanks to Barbara Matthews, reader and fellow genealogist, who reminded me that the Essex County. Massachusetts Probate File Papers 1638 - 1840 are available online at the New England Historic Genealogical Society website (by subscription)- also Middlesex County, Barnstable County, and Worcester County:
 http://www.americanancestors.org/Blogs.aspx?id=29665&blogid=124069

---------------------------------
The URL for this post is
http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/03/1805-legal-complaint-against-my-5th.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

An adoption in the 1800s

Found at GenealogyBank.com

from the Boston Evening Transcript, Saturday, August 16, 1845

there was a similar marriage notice also in the Boston Recorder, Thursday, August 21, 1845

MARRIAGES

At South Boston, 7th inst. by the Rev. T. D. Cook, Mr. 

GEORGE EMERSON to Miss MARY E. HARRIS

The George Emerson mentioned above is my 3rd Great Grandfather.  I first traced my Emerson lineage more than 30 years ago, when I was a teenager in the 1970s.  I used a book called The Ipswich Emersons 1636 - 1900: A genealogy of the descendants of Thomas Emerson of Ipswich, Mass., with some account of his English Ancestry, by Benjamin Kendall Emerson, privately published in Boston, 1900.  You can read this book at openlibrary.org or archive.org .  I was taking a genealogy class at the time, and I knew I had to back up this book with primary sources.  

What intrigued me was this passage on page 307: 

George Emerson, son of Romanus and Jemima (Burnham) Emerson, was born at South Boston, Mass. 11 July 1817, and died at Dorchester, Mass., 11 January 1890.  He married, 11 August 1845, Mary Esther Harris, adopted daughter of David Harris, and daughter of Levi and Mary Catherine (Jones) Younger of Boston, where she was born 17 February, 1826.  

What happened to Mary Esther's parents?  Who were they?  And who was David Harris, her adoptive father?  I quickly found out that although there were a few legal adoptions in the court records, there was noting there in the Boston, Suffolk County records about this adoption.  I muddled over this for a few years, hoping to find an answer.  

It was upon looking at Mary Esther's extended family that I found the answer.  Her father was Levi Younger, who I found in the Gloucester Vital Records.  Her mother was Catherine Plummer Jones, who died on 2 May 1828, only 29 years old and with four babies (the youngest died 7 July 1828 which made me think something happened during childbirth?)   In building this family tree, I saw that Levi's sister, Mary, had married a David Harris in 1823.  This wasn't in the Gloucester or Boston vital records, but in another newspaper marriage announcement I found years later when I found it during an internet search.  It took 25 years, but it was worth the wait.  Mary Esther had been "adopted" by her aunt.  

So when I found the marriage announcement at the top of this post, I understood who "Mary Esther Harris" was, even though in family letters and some vital records you will find her as "Mary Esther Younger".   Most informal adoptions (without legal papers being filed) were often between family and extended family at this time period.  Filling out the extended family tree helped to solve this mystery.

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

Copyright 2013, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

A Fancy Wedding, and a Family Myth Perpetuated

This clipping is from the Herald Statesman newspaper in Yonkers, New York, dated Monday, July 17, 1933.  It depicts a pretty fancy wedding for the middle of the Great Depression era.    Leonore Esther Elmina Morill was born 13 September 1906 in Boston.  She is named after her mother Leonore Emerson, and her grandmother, Mary Esther Younger.  Mary Esther was my 3x great grandmother, and I descend from Leonore's sister, Mary Katherine Emerson (1847 - 1932).   Leonore Esther Morrill is my first cousin 3 generations removed.

The name Leonore has a long history in my family.  My grandfather's sister was named Leonore Carrie Allen, and the bride Leonore pictured above named her own daughter Leonora.  The name dates back to George Emerson, who was a 49er and left for the gold rush from Boston on a ship named the Leonore.  To read more about that part of our family history see this link http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/08/george-emerson-forty-niner.html

Apparently this side of the family was wealthy.  The bride's father, John Milton Earl Morrill of Boston, was a builder of fine homes in Jamaica Plain and the Boston suburbs.  He was famous for belonging to several riding clubs in the days when there were elegant riding parks in Boston for the wealthy to show off their pedigreed horses and fine carriages and coaches.  I found many newsclippings of John M. E. Morrill mentioned with the "horsey set" and he even patented some elaborate horse tack and bridles.  The riding park in Brookline, Massachusetts is now The Country Club.

Here is a transcript of the wedding announcement in the Yonkers newspaper:


"HIGH - MORRILL 

The marriage of Miss Leonore Morrill and John Meeker High, Jr. took place on Saturday afternoon at 4 o'clock in Christ Church, Riverdale-on-Hudson, the rector of the church, the Rev. Dr. Raymond Brock officating.  The bride is the daughter of Mrs. John Milton Earl Morrill, of Sacremento, Calif. and Boston, Mass., and the late John Milton Earl Morrill, a prominent turfman.  The bridegroom is the son of Mrs. John M. High of Riverdale-on-Hudson and the late John M. High.

The bride was given in marriage by her mother, wore a princess gown of white mousseline-de-soie made with a long train and carried a rose point lace handkerchief  a family heirloom, and a bouquet of lilies of the valley and white roses.  Her veil was of tulle.  The bride's mother wore a blue chiffon gown and blue picture hat and carried a bouquet of pink roses.

Mrs. Jack Fernald of New York City was the matron of honor and only attendant.  She wore a pale green taffeta gown made on princess lines, with puffed sleeves and a white organdie hat.  She carried a bouquet of yellow roses and baby's breath.  Jack Fernald was the best man.

A reception for over a hundred guests was held at "Highwolde", the estate of the Highs in Riverdale, where tables were arranged for the guests in the garden.

After a motor trip to the Adirondacks and Canada  the couple will reside in Riverdale.  the bride, a descendant of Ralph Waldo Emerson, attended  Leland Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. and Barnard College.  The bridegroom, a native of New York City, was graduated from Horace Mann School and Columbia Engineering School where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity.  he is a Fellow of the Radio Club of America and a member of the Institue of Radio Engineers.  He is one the first men to engage in radio phone transmission of power without wires." 


Leonore Morrill married in to a wealthy New York family.  I found them listed in the social registers available via Google Books online in the late 1920 and the 1930s.   Her bridegroom, John Meeker High, was born on 4 December 1899, the son of John Meeker High and Ann Dorothea Harrington.  The High family estate was known as Highwolde while the High family was residing there.  His father's obituary was printed in the New York Times on 26 April 1924, page 15.

There is one big error printed in the newspaper wedding announcement.  We are not descendants of Ralph Waldo Emerson.  This myth has been passed down for generations, and from this news clipping I can see it is not a new myth.   Ralph Waldo Emerson is my 4th cousin, 5 generations removed.  I have to go all the way back to the Reverend Joseph Emerson (1620 - 1680) of Concord, Massachusetts to find a common ancestor, even though my great grandmother was an Emerson from the same family.  Leonore was just a distant cousin to RWE, too.

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

Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Stone Wall Stories - #3 Dogtown, Massachusetts

Near Cherry Street in Gloucester, in a large tract of conservation land surrounding the reservoir, you can find the remnants of an early village.   This was the earliest settled place in Gloucester, when the town grew up inland.  After the War of 1812 the people felt safer about living near the harbor, and most left this area to move to the coast.  Only the poorest people stayed behind in what became known as “Dogtown” because of the abandoned dogs who scrounged the cellar holes and shacks.  Widows, vagabonds and the insane were left behind with the dogs.

This Babson boulder marks the spot
of Dogtown Square

During the Great Depression in the 1930s, Gloucester resident Roger Babson hired Italian stonemasons to carve inspirational quotations on 22 boulders in Dogtown.  At the time, the land was clear of trees, and there were numbers marking the cellar holes of colonial residents identified in his grandfather John James Babson’s “History of Gloucester”.  Now, the area is heavily wooded, and hikers have to search for the numbers, cellar holes and Babson boulders.

An antique postcard showing what Dogtown looked like
before it was swallowed up with forest

I had several ancestors and their relatives live in Dogtown.  I previously posted a story “Tammy Younger, the Witch of Dogtown” at this link: http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/02/tammy-younger-witch-of-dogtown.html

Today’s post is part of a series of stories I wrote for this week all about stones and stone walls:

Story 1 – http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/06/stone-wall-stories-week-1-americas.html

Story 2-  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/06/stone-wall-stories-2-stone-walls-and.html

  

Story 4 - http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/06/stone-wall-stories-4-sheepcote.html

One of Roger Babson's inspirational boulders

Wikipedia story on Dogtown, Massachusetts - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogtown,_Massachusetts

This Dogtown website http://www.thedacrons.com/eric/dogtown/visiting_dogtown_gloucester.php has maps and history, including the location of most of the Babson boulders.

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

Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Another letter to Hawaii, 1887

Hawaii State Archives, Queen Liliuokalani Collections,
M-93, Box 11, Folder 94
Letter from Alice Lee to Mary Dominis, 17 May 1887

Boston, May 17, 1887

My dear Aunt Dominis,

Have been intending to

write to you for years,

but I have hesitated

fearing that I might

not be able to write

much that would

interest you, now,

after seeing “Cousin

John” again and

becoming acquainted

with “Cousin Lydia”

I feel that I must

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

write and tell you

what a pleasure it

had been to us all

to see them and

have them here.  I

think “The Princess”

Is one of the most

charming women I

have ever met and

I congratulate you

on having her for

a daughter.  Both

she and the Queen

made a most

pleasant impression

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

here and I hope

they enjoyed their

visit as much as

we did.  As infirm

John didn’t go

to many of the re-

ceptions given in

their honor, Papa

and I had the

pleasure of expending

a good deal of time

with him, and it

was a great pleasure,

The memory of which

will linger with

me all my life.

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

Although I am you

niece only by adoption

yet I have known

and loved you all

since I was a little

girl and one of

my greatest desires

has been to see you.

I feel ?? I shall

sometime, if not here,

then, perhaps, in the

world beyond.  I

have such a nice

plan in my mind

I want Papa to

Take Grandmother Lee

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

And make you a

visit next winter.

Grandmother is so

well and strong, she

could easily bear

the journey and what

a joyful meeting it

would be between

you two!  And I know

Papa would enjoy

It.  Grandmother Lee

Is the dearest grand-

mother in the world

and I love her

dearly, she and I

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

have thought about

you for hours, haven’t

your ears burned?

if they have that

was when we were

??thing about you!

And now I must

say “Goodbye”, I hope

you will not try

to answer this letter

for I know how hard

it is for you to

write and as much

as I should enjoy

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

Hearing from you

I would rather that

you didn’t give your-

self the trouble.

I send you much

Love and I am

Your affec. niece,

 Alice Lee

Dear Aunt Dominis,

My “big baby” has of

her own free will and

accord written you how

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Glad we were in having

John and Lydia here

with us.  I am intending to

write you and tell you of

the nice reception all

the relatives had.  Some

fifty of us cousins- first,

second, third and friends.

The baby being Christopher

Snelling’s son’s child.

The Queen and the Princess

were very popular with all

of the family.  And all speak

In high praise of John and

his nice wife.  Mother had

the best time.  Affectionately

            William Lee

This letter needs a lot of historical background.  I’ll start with a family tree.

Gen. 1.   Owen Jones (abt 1768 – 1850)  m. Elizabeth Lambert (abt 1775 – 1834)

             My 5x g. grandparents in Boston.  They had 8 children including:

   Sarah Jones               Catherine Jones              Laura Jones

 m. Enoch Snelling      m. Levi Younger               m. John Lee

(children in letter)   (my 4x g. grandparents)    had eight children including

                                                                          William Lee ((1826 – 1906) m. Anna Leavitt

                                                                           His adopted daughter Alice Gookin Lee

                                                                (daughter of Anna’s sister Mary & George Gookin)

Another Jones sister (one of the eight children of Owen Jones and Elizabeth Lambert) was Mary Lambert Jones (1803 – 1889).  Mary married a sea captain, John Dominis (d. 1846) who took her to live on the island of Oahu in Hawaii.  He built her a big New England style home in Honolulu, and then was lost at sea.  Their only surviving son was John Owen Dominis (1832 – 1891) who married Lydia Paki, a native Hawaiian with noble blood.  When Lydia’s brother, David Kalakaua (1836 – 1891) became King of the Kingdom of Hawaii, she became Princess Lili’uokalani.    During Queen Victoria’s Jubilee (50^th Anniversary year on the throne), King Kalakaua, his wife Queen Kapiolani, and Princess Lili’uokalani went to London via Boston.  During the stop in Boston the Royalty visited with the Jones family.

The visit to Boston in 1887 is described in this letter.   I have several other letters from family members about this visit.  This visit was a family story passed down to my generation, but no one believed it until we found letters like this one.  This one is especially poignant to me because you can understand how the family felt so estranged from each other in the 1800s.  Hawaii was thousands of miles away by ships that had to go around South America, and this voyage took months and months. 

Alice and her grandmother never made the trip to Hawaii to see Auntie Mary Dominis.    Mary died just a few years later.   Queen Lili’uokalani succeeded her brother to the throne in 1891, and her husband John O. Dominis died later that same year.  After the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893 she lost the throne.  Queen Lili’uokalani again came to Boston in 1897 on her way to Washington DC to petition the president to reject the US annexation.   During her second Boston visit she again visited the Lees, Snellings and other family members.

Alice Gookin Lee was born 20 February 1854 in Hampton, New Hampshire, and she died on 4 March 1926 in Forest Hills, Massachusetts (a part of Boston now known as Jamaica Plain).  She is buried at the High Street Cemetery in Hampton, New Hampshire where her adopted father, William Lee, is also buried.   She never married, but was an accomplished woman who studied botany.  Alice was about twenty three years old when she wrote this letter.

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Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo